Housing market falls - again

I'd like to post another follow up to my original post about the pending second fall of the housing market. Just as I stated here, the housing market *has* fallen and will yet continue to fall over the next 3 to 6 months before starting to improve. This is a direct result of the housing credit that ended in April.

I'm not the only one calling for this. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37867779/ns/business-real_estate/. Now that there is nobody in the housing market, since they all already purchased to take advantage of the housing credit, the housing market will continue to fall and prices will get better than ever.

One of the houses we were looking at buying has sold, I don't know the amount, but the second, smaller house continues to sit on the market, unsold, and now with a price tag $5,000 smaller. $5,000 is a really big deal on a home this size and at this price.

We will continue to watch and wait for some decent signs of recovery before we choose to buy. We're thinking 6 months to a year should give themarket some time to recover and start the steady trend upwards. We'll buy then.

Do you agree with me? Post your comments.

Make Note of houseing data.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37303800/ns/business-real_estate/

While the numbers looked good last month, it's clear that I'm not the only one that believes the market will fall again before truly improving. Last months numbers only showed what I explained earlier, which is: People who were going to buy in the next 12-18 months already purchased their homes so that they could take advantage of the tax credit. But now that those people are no longer in the market, house prices will fall again for a lack of buyers.

And when it does - we'll buy, new tax credit or not.

Flying made - uh - easy?

I'm into model airplanes. Not the little toy ones, but the ones that you actually put an engine on and fly into the air. No - not the kind you sit in, but the ones you control via a remote control. My older brother got me into RC airplanes many, many years ago and through the years I've had a few. I consider myself an experienced, but not exceptional pilot. I can fly a plane, I can do fun stuff, but I don't know any of the competition patterns or flight moves.

Yesterday I experienced something new. My plane's wing folded, right in flight. It's a sad thing, to lose a plane, but it's fun to push the limits, make the plane do things a little more extreme. Unfortuneatly, what I was doing was simply pulling out of a simple tail stand and fall.

We went out to the farm lands where there is a perfect paved road, and the breeze was just perfect. So I setup, started the enging and all was good.



After the wing fold:


My wife was filming, and even though she missed the actual fold of the wings on tape, the audio is very, very clear:



Now I have to find a new plane.

Alt-Enter : Excels new-line command within a single cell

I consider myself an Excel student. I've studied, I've learned, I've mastered. I've never, ever, met an excel problem I could not master. Sure, sometimes it takes hours, days - even weeks and sometimes lots more, but in the end, I find the way to do it and I do it.

For many years now, I've believe there was no way to do a 'new-line' within a single cell of Excel. In fact, just a few days ago my wife called asking me how to do it. My answer? Combine all the other columns into 2 cells and leave the one column as two different rows. Yes, I really did think that was the only way to do it.

Even at work, I've been working on a reporting function that is to be run through Excel for formatting and data extraction purposes, and there were times I needed to do a new-line within a single cell. My answer? Same as above. It was a mess and I hated doing it, but it worked and I believed there was no other way.

Those days are now behind me - forever. This new command: 'Alt-Enter' has now become melded to my brain - bonded with my knowledge, forever to know that if you want to make a new-line within a single cell of Excel, simply use 'Alt-Enter'.

I can't even begin to express my excitment to know, now, how to do this. Me and 'Alt-Enter' are now very, very good friends.

Housing Tax Credit to Drop Home Prices - Again

The $8000 Housing Tax Credit runs out tomorrow. Tomorrow night at midnight to be exact. Have you got your home? Have you made your purchase? Or, perhaps more importantly for those waiting until the last minute, have you signed the contract?

I read this article this morning about a $25 down payment on a new home:
http://realestate.msn.com/blogs/listedblogpost.aspx?post=1748382&_blg=1,1748382

$25 down payment, open late to get the contract signed, discounted upgrades and extra low interest rates. There are lots of reasons to buy a home before the $8000 tax credit runs out tomorrow night. And I'm not just talking about the 8,000, One Dollar bills to be had. There really are a lot of reasons to buy before midnight on Friday.

But my wife and I have chosen another thought process. It goes something like this:

When the $8000 Tax Credit runs out, and people stop buying housing to take advantage of the credit, what happens to home prices then? If a home that has been on the market for 'a time' (whatever that happens to be in your area), AND it has been discounted to intice buyers to take advantage of the Tax Credit, BUT it still hasn't sold ... What becomes the strategy? My guess? Yet another drop in pricing.

Yes, the $8000 Housing Tax Credit is going to cause yet another drop in home prices when it runs out. Owners (and home-owning banks and lenders) are going to find themselves with what remains of the homes on the market. This includes both new and used. They will find that even with a lower home price, and the option for buyers to get yet another $8000 off the house price, these homes are going to still be on the market. And their only options to sell will be to actually drop the home price.

So let's take a home that we were looking at buying in our local market. We were looking for a smaller home, something of a fixer-upper so we could take advantage of some 'sweat-equity'. We found two homes in an older neighborhood that interested us. The two homes were the same price: a very, very low $120,000.

Both homes had descriptions talking about the reduction in price because the owners wanted to get it sold. Both homes are still on the market today. When the housing credit runs out tomorrow night, what can these owners do to now move these houses? Lower the price of course. So now they'll drop another 5-10K to re-make them appealing to those who now can not get the tax credit.

So what's the difference? If the home is $8000 cheaper or if you get $8000 tax credit for buying a home that is $8000 more expensive than the first? Good question. For one - you aren't relying on a government payout to buy a house, but more likely, the majority of the people who get the tax credit aren't putting it directly into the home, they are using it for other purposes.

In the end, as this $8000 tax credit runs out, the homes that are still left on the market are going to have to make a difference and drop prices to entice additional potential buyers. We have chosen not to buy right now - we'll wait.

Ricksochet Running

Having finished up the rebuild, I decided to do a 'test run' on the engine. The engine was broke-in during the VERY cold Rexburg Winter, so it's going to take some adjusting to get it to run right. So tonight I took it out front, without the wing (don't want it taking off on me), staked the tail and got set.

First, I primed the needle valve by opening full-throttle, holding my thumb over the air intake and turning the prop a couple of times. It sucked fuel through the in-line and I pulled back to idle. I connected the glo-plug clip, put on my leather gloves, and flipped the prop around. Nothing. Flipped it again and it popped, maybe 2 or 3 times. Promising.

On the third finger flip (even without a chicken-stick), the engine kicked over and purred beautifully. I was ecstatic. The idle is set pretty low so I may need to adjust that a bit, but maybe with some fine-tuning I can get it set right.

Then I drove it around our parking lot for a bit. Just cause. I find that sudden throttle dogs a bit, and it wasn't blowing any smoke. I'm thinking it may be a bit lean. But then, due to the low idle, it died, and without a battery on hand to kick it over again with the power starter, I called it a night. It ran well-enough for me for tonight and I hope I can fly it this Saturday.

Ricksochet Rebuild (the 's' is silent)

I've rebuilt a model airplane. It's a Phoenix Dolphin .40 ARF. It was a fun challenge and I'm impressed with my first real attempt at rebuilding a plane. Following is information and pictures of the process.

As a background - a friend of mine had this plane. He is still learning to fly and just after take-off on his second flight with this plane, it caught a wing, cartwheeled and snapped the fuselage in half right behind the pilot. He decided the hobby was too expensive and gave me his plane, engine, radio, and other parts and pieces.

First, I pulled back the covering and tried to keep it in decent shape. I didn't want to have to do a massive re-covering job.



Then it was a process to line up the plane from front to back. Fortunately, there are 4 main spars that run the length of the plane. 2 on the top and 2 on the bottom. One of the top spars had simply broke so it was fairly easy to know where that connection was to be made. On the other side, shown in the picture below, I had the missing piece so I could easily get that spar to line up correctly as well.



So this gave me the correct connections for the top side of the plane, but I didnt have the parts for the bottom two spars. So I had to guess at the angle of connection. I didn't think much of it the first time, focusing more on the alignment from left to right:



I then began the bracing using balsa and CA glue to hold it in place.



Then came the bigger pieces and the 7 minute epoxy and sanding.



-- At this point, I realized I had the angle wrong. The tail was too low, so I had to cut the lower brackets, lift the tail, rebrace, reglue and resand. I had already put some TrimCoat on the upper section so I was fortunate to be able to lift and lower the tail without the fear of the left-to-right angle going crazy on me.

After that - I still wasn't comfortable with the elevation of the tail, so I talked to a hobby shop. They weren't too much help, but they thought the tail was too high. So, I cut it again and lowered the tail some.

Finally, after checking and double checking - I decided I had it close enough and began the coating process. I had purchased black, white and blue trimcoat and started with the black on the bottom, the whites on the sides. I pulled the existing blue coating back over the top, behind the pilot. With a couple of pieces of the blue and black, I have the end result:



You can see that some of the trims pieces were just a little bit off, but overall I think it turned out well.



And after adding the internal stuff, radio, engine, landing gear, etc.... The plane is ready to go.





If I hadn't glued it wrong the first two times, I probably only put about 8 hours of work into this. It was kindof a fun project, I learned some great lessons and look forward to taking this thing into the air soon.

What do you call a group of Chickens? Flock? Gaggle? what is it?

We are working on editing Anna's book tonight and we needed to know what a group of chickens is called. So we searched google and found this page:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_a_group_of_chickens_called


Answer:
A group of chickens is called a flock...

-- but I also note this: --

Alternate:
congress



I couldn't help but laugh - an alternate name for a group of chickens is 'Congress'. You know - like Senate, Congress, Whitehouse.... I didn't need a google search to tell me that!!!

Let the Truth be told!

Spanish 302 Final - how I did it.

What follows is a method of study in an effort to remember authors, storys and plots. It is a random connection of names, words, thoughts, and ideas that connect them all together. It was written while going over the titles and authors so some may be duplicated, there are misspellings and other issues. But it works and I just might pass this final test tomorrow.

This is a personal study guide for Spanish 302 at BYU-Idaho for Winter Semester 2010, produced by Johnathan Duncan with help from a VERY patient spouse, Anna-Liisa Duncan.

Miguel de Unamuno - unamuno - is like a monk - he wrote about a priest - San Manuel Bueno, martir

no oyes ladrar los perros - dogs bark - woof - roof - rulfo - Rulfo My name is johnathan: john: juan - I hate dogs. Juan Rulfo

Carlos Fuentes - futnes is like fire - fire makes statues - statue of Chac Mool

Isabel Allende - allende sounds like thin - two words are thin - dos palabras

gabriel garcia marquez - gabriel is an angel - un senor muy viejo con unas alas enormous -

mi caballo mago - a little boy captures the horse - ulibarri sounds like a boyish name -

don quixote - went crazy in his head - beer makes you go crazy - beer is cervesa - like cervantes - he is a duplicate of miguel de - so - miguel de cervantes

cancion de pirata -

adios cordera - someone wrote adios clarin on the board - like the movie - clarin is last name - the boy is leaving 'to the' which is 'alas' - leaving to war - leave: leo: leopoldo alas clarin

gustavo adolfo becquer - adolf hitler wanted what he couldn't have, men want what they can't have - like rihanna - who rhyms - Rima XI

Ricardo Palma - palma: palm - a scorpian in the palm, el alacran de Frey Gomez

oda a la alcachofe - alcachofe: artichoke which you eat while walking around nude. nude: nerudo - Pablo nerudo who also wrote walking around.

sensemaya - is song - the guy Nick I know doesn't write songs - so it's nicolas guillen. he also wrote - chant - of la balada de dos abuelos

jorge luis borges - borges: bored - while in the hospital - sick, second realism - El sur - Juan dahlman goes back in time/el sur - and fights - George: jorge

continuidad de los parques - death - cut short - cortezar - parques - like parking - a motorcycle - or metal insect - motorcycles arn't ridden by big fat men named julio.

las medias rojas - red socks - hookers wear red socks - about a girl whos a hooker - her dad beats her up so she won't leave and go to the US - red socks - underwear - brazzier - bra - bazan - emilia pardo bazan

satira filosofica - filosofica: philosphical, who is? Tom Cruise - cruz, inez de la cruz - sor juana inez de la cruz

Ruben Dario - a roosevelt (I just happen to know this one.)

la noche boca arriba - crashed - motorcycle - on back - mouth up - motorcycle: metal insect - indians don't ride motorocycles, like the aztecs, that cortez found - cortez: cortezar: big fat man - round like a hula hoop - julio cortezar - also wrote - cortezar - cut - cut short - life, man reading about his own coming murder - continuidad de los parques.

horacio quiroga - horacio cane from CSI miami - investigates odd deaths - like EL HIJO who died on the fence and the public accountant who eats EL MIEL SILVESTRE - and gets eaten by ants.

cancion del pirata - pirates go on the sea to esponCida - Think JOE the pirate - joe: jose - jose esponcida

un senor muy viejo con unas alas enormous - el senor es un angel - gabriel is an angel - Gabriel (Garcia marquez)

adios cordera - bye, leaving - 'alas' - "to the" - to war - like Christ - clarin - leaving - leopoldo - Leopoldo alas clarin

mariano jose de larra - larra is like long - something long - long until tomorrow - manana - vuelva usted manana

Don quixote - crazy in head - because of beer - beer: cervessa, who servers beer? Servantes - servantes - cervantes

carlos funtes - fire - statue, Chac Mool

alacran de frey gomez - in hand - palma ricardo palma

sabinne ulibarri - young type name - a boy - who catches a caballo mago

el sur - con juan dahlmann - bored in the hospital due to illness - bored: borges, he fights george - jorge luis borges

a rooselvelt - ruben dario

el conde lucanor - rich man: don Juan - and kills with his hands, manuel - don juan manuel

emelia pardo bazan - brazan bra brazzirre - underwear, socks red socks las medias rojas

la casa de bernarda alba - casa house want good food in house - like garcias food - f before g - F: Fredrico G: Garcia mexican food is too hot for orcas - orca; lorca - fredricao garcia lorca

san manuel bueno Martir - was a preist so a monk wrote about him - a monk is una muno - or unamuno - he is a duplicate of miguel de - miguel de unamuno

juan rulfo - roof woof - dogs, no oyes ladra los perros

satira filosofica - philosophical tom cruise - sor juana inez de la cruz.


*** tell me what you think of this method of study and - if you find this useful, please let me know.

Iomega NAS Setup

I got our new NAS Drive out of the box. It's a bit bigger than I expected, but still about 18X smaller (literally) than what we are currently using.

I started by setting up a restore point, just in case. Then I followed the 'Quick Start' quide to a 'T'. At the very end of setup, the install sent me online to register the Hardware. Registered, Done. But - the installation window hungs. Ugh. Then, still following the Quick Start guide, I double-clicked on the Discovery Tool icon on the desktop. This opened a small window that appeared to be searching my network for drives, and it looked like it found the new one, except then that window hung as well. Ugh. Then - just to add insult to injury, the whole system hung and I could do nothing but hard-reset my machine.

After the reset and reboot, I chose to do the system restore and try again. Done. Re-ran the CD software and it installed fine. This installed the Discovery Tool and the EMC Retrospect software on my machine. On this turn, I also registered the software (having already registered the hardware on the first attempt).

I've been working as an IT Administrator and Network Adminstrator at my job, so with the networking knowledge I gained there, I was able to get my new drive setup without using the Discovery tool. Now that it is setup and I have access, I then go through the creation of Shares and am now in the process of copying our data over. This could take a while.

Meanwhile, I'm looking into the backup software. I am required to map a network drive so that when I run the backup software, I can set the destination to a 'backups' share I created on the new NAS drive. Now I've setup the software to run backups on my machine.

Next, I need to setup the other computers in the house to do the same.

And Finally - uninstall the Discovery tool because I do not need it.

New Network Hardware

We have received some new network hardware here at our house. An Iomega Reconditioned Home Network Hard Drive Ethernet 500GB. It's a NAS drive that will be used for network storage of pictures, music, data, software and anything else that needs to be stored.

More importantly, it comes with EMC backup software which I am really excited about to backup our computers, and backup the data drive to an external drive. This should provide us with significant peace of mind.

Currently, (before this new drive) we are using a computer from about 1908 (or a little later than that) for our storage purposes. I installed FreeNAS and, despite a semi-difficult installation and setup, it has worked really well for us. It was just time to upgrade.

The box arrived today and I'll bust it open and see what I find.

Obama says: "Good Job Obama"

I'm taking issue after reading this article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35437078/ns/politics-white_house/

On 2 points: #1 - Obama is praising himself, and #2 - All the claims are based on 'what might have been'.

#1 - Is there anything more disgusting than someone talking about how awesome they are?

#2 - "One year later, it is largely thanks to the recovery act that a second depression is no longer a possibility," Really? How do you know? Did you go into the future of the past to see what happened, then returned to the current future to tell us that?

It bothers me to see him, and any leader, make claims of such a nature. They don't know - it's all rhetoric and it bothers me. How does Obama know that a great depression would have / could have happened? He doesn't. He just uses this method of speaking to make himself look awesome <-- see point #1 above.

Lost Generation Video

A Fantastic video clip made for AARP U @ 50. Fantastic message - simple delivery.

Happy birthday to me!

My birthday is on the 10th and I had a great day. It's great to be able to share your birthday with your family. I have a great family and love them very much. Happy birthday to me!

Bailout repayments

I would be remiss if I didn't post this:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34350133/ns/business-us_business

Bank of America has repaid their loans they received through the TARP program. Citi Bank claims to be repaying this week as well.

I'll admit I wondered if any of the money would be returned/repaid so it's good news to me that some are repaying. I don't have the numbers, but I'd be interested in knowing what percentage of monies loaned has been repaid now.

I also think that this repayment is a sign of economic recovery. It's good to know that these banks now have sufficient funds to repay, suggesting that they are doing much better now. Perhaps this is the result of a turnaround in the economy, or maybe they are just now learning to cut back on their spending. Either way, the fact that they don't need government help gives me good feelings towards the overall outlook of the US economy.

H1N1 to save Millions on Obamacare!

That's right. It's official. With the first recorded incident of a possible side effect of the H1N1 vaccine, we see how the government has set this up from the beginning. Yes, that's right, set up the H1N1 flu virus, so they could dole out the H1N1 vaccine, so that they can save millions of dollars on ObamaCare.

Some may call me a conspiracy theorist, but I say it's more likely 'government as usual'.

It's no surprise that no one, and I mean even those who wrote the blasted thing, has any idea how to fund Obamacare. The health bill runs us Millions, Billions of dollars and no one is truly counting the numbers to see where the funds will come from. The American people, in general, dislike the idea of nationalized healthcare. Government isn't listening.

But government doesn't need to do all the math because they have been working for years now on a way to save millions of dollars on this health care plan. It's simple really. Hang on - here it is:

The H1N1 flu is no more deadly than the regular yearly version of the flu. And yet, media, in general, has hyped up this 'swine flu' tremendously, claiming it is a world wide pandemic. You may recall a previous post of mine when the media claimed the swine flu was 'sweeping the globe', when in reality, at the time, the swine flu had barely reached 25% of the geographical world, let alone actual people. Of course, the media is heavily controlled by government. Yet, the media said it, and backed it, and continues to push it suggesting that H1N1 is bound to kill us all...... unless ---- we get the H1N1 vaccine!

In sweeps government with their all so timely H1N1 vaccine and who do they suggest get the shot first? From this link:

"These include pregnant women, people living in households with babies under 6 months old (since infants cannot be immunized, they must be protected by preventing illness in those around them), emergency medical personnel who are likely to be in contact with infected patients, young people between 6 months and 24 years old, and nonelderly individuals who have underlying conditions, such as asthma, respiratory illness or a compromised immune system, that put them at higher risk of flu complications."

So - this brand new vaccine, for a brand new type of flu virus, with minimal testing(yet 'safe' we are told), is being given to those who are struggling with their health already, are around young children/babies and the medical profession who have multiple, daily contact with the average joe.

And here is the connection - the way government will save Millions of dollars on Obamacare. They provide this vaccine to those 'high risk' people, who, since their health is already at risk, then develop complications, that kills them off and now Obamacare doesn't have to cover the Billions of dollars on those 'high-risk' people.

Yup - Government develops the Swine Flu, then 'fixes' it by producing a vaccine, but gives it to the young and the weak first, who then die and government saves millions on Obamacare.

The Amazing Power of Love.

It regularly amazes me; the power of love. Today, we went to the church to practice the Primary program. After the program, I was sitting around waiting for all the kids to have something to eat, and then we would head home. My two boys were one of the first to get their pizza slices and they sat down together on the blanket. I was happy to see them willing to sit together, for I am very much aware that in the not too distant future, this may not always be the case.

As more of the children come in after the practice, get their food, and start sitting down, my older boy stands up and tells me he wants to sit by his friends. He takes his plate and moves 5 feet and joins a group of boys his age. My older daughter had already moved to a group of her friends so it left my younger boy sitting all alone. As he sat there, all alone, eating his pizza, he seemed somewhat lost, kind of staring off into nothingness. He sat there for just a minute longer.

Then he picks up his plate and tells me he wants to go sit by his friends. He stands up and starts moving around my older boys' group and walks another 5 feet or so. Then he stops and looks around a bit. He seemed so lost, even out of place. I could see his eyes looking about, checking the faces of the kids sitting there around where he stood. And it occurs to me, he either doesn't have any friends, or doesn't know where they are. My heart started to ache with the thought of what he might be feeling.

A parent never wants their child to struggle. We never want them to hurt, or feel rejected, or feel alone. What could he be thinking? Did he just want to be like his older brother and 'go sit with his friends'? Maybe, as he stood there, he looked around at all of the kids and saw no one he recognized. Maybe he felt lost and out of place. While I was sitting there watching all of this, the other children gleefully eating pizza and anticipating the contents of the wrapped box, talking with their friends, laughing.... My heart just ached. Even the thought of it now makes me hurt.

It could very well have been, that as he stood there, looking at the other children, he realized that he would rather sit by himself. That he would prefer to sit closer to his dad and just finish his peice of pizza alone. It could very well have been that he never felt any of those feelings of concern, or being out of place, or perhaps anxiousness at finding someone to sit by. Maybe he never felt like he had no friends. Maybe, just maybe, he wanted to 'go sit by his friends', but then simply chose not to.

Nonetheless, as I watched my youngest son try and 'fit in' in this very forgiving, very friendly, church Primary crowd, my thoughts drifted towards the future and the struggles that he will feel as he continues to grow and learn. I thought about the not-so-nice crowds in school and life, maybe the mean kids, or 'too-popular-for-you' group. I thought about girls openly making fun of him with their girlfriends and all I wanted to do was pick him up and protect him from all these things he must face in life. I just wanted to protect him from hurt, disappointment, hate, and loneliness.

Of course, I was sitting in the cultural hall, surrounded by dozens of other adults so I wisely I kept my thoughts and feelings to myself. I didn't pick him up, I didn't give him a hug, I didn't tell him everything would be ok. I just watched him, and hurt a little inside for him.

As the children finished up their pizza, one of the leaders stood and told all of the children that they had practiced so well that they would get to open the multi-colored wrapped box that she had brought. Her eyes darted about for just a moment to find one of the children to 'help' her in opening the package by tearing the paper off. Her eyes fell on my youngest boy, sitting all alone, just finishing up his peice of pizza. She asked him to help her and he did. He proudly went up, helped tear the wrapping paper off and discover it was a box of candy bags that each child would get to take home from the practice. Then he came back to me, smiled as he told me what he had done, then sat down and ate some more pizza, all alone, but seemingly happy.

It's a funny thing what love can do to us. The power of love for our children is inexplicable. I am unable to put into words how I felt for him, just him, in those moments. The terrible hurt and then joy that ran through my heart is something I am very greatful to experience in my life. Multiply all of this by 4 children, 18-20 years at home each, and then a lifetime plus eternity with all of them, and I don't know how my heart will be able to hold all of those feelings in.

How does something as small as a human heart hold the amazing power of love? Ask me in 60 years - maybe I'll have an answer then.

Bailout profits? I don't think so.

Commenting on this article I read this morning:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32623489/ns/business-the_new_york_times/page/2/

In case all the numbers don't make much sense, let me clear it up. The US Taxpayers gave the banking industry $700 BILLION dollars. Now, as repayment comes in, the US taxpayers have 'profited' $4 Billion.

No - that does not mean the US Taxpayer has now has $704 Billion. It just means that of those who have paid back their part, $4 Billion is the interest paid. But the article further states: "But all the profits taxpayers have won could still be wiped out by two deeply troubled institutions."

The truth is, this article is terribly optimistic in this bailout repay process. If all of the money is paid back, and their is a 'profit', then I'll happily admit I was wrong. But I believe there will be no 'profit' from this bailout, other than to enhance the size of the wallets of the CEO's, who in turn will give more of 'their' money to politicians, who authorized the bailout in the first place.

Districts cut bus routes in spite of kids' safety

As school resumes for the year, and with two children in school, and with living within 2 miles of the school they attend, I was informed by my wife that the school district is not going to let our older child ride the bus. It seems that all kindergarten children are picked up for school, and then also given rides home from school on the bus. But it appears that this year, our older child will not be allowed to ride the bus because we live too close to the school. She will have to walk or ride her bike.

I found online, yesterday, an article on school district bus route cuts and it got me thinking. This is the article I read: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jETUu9PqaxiHeflQ3H7-dK_eaJ3QD9A983KO0. The important part I want to mention is this:

"Deadly school bus crashes are rare, while past studies have shown riding to school in a car, walking and bicycling account for hundreds of student deaths a year."

Hundreds of student deaths! Hundreds.

So, in my discussion with my wife, she mentions that while Obama and the cash-burning government we currently live under have now spent $3 Billion (with a big 'B') in an effort to get more people to buy NEW cars (don't get me started on who, exactly, this program benefited, because it wasn't the common-folk end user), school districts nation-wide are cutting back on school bus routes due to lack of funding.

Obama says "Buy Cars". Schools say "no buses. Car, walk, or bike to school". Studies show riding a bus is safer than cars, bikes or walking.

Therefore - by natural deduction of facts:

Obama Declares: WE DON'T CARE ABOUT OUR CHILDRENS SAFETY!

No, he clearly doesn't care if our children get run over while walking or biking to school. He wants us to buy cars to benefit corporate America. He wants us to drive our children to school, thus increasing the chances of student injury and death. But he clearly cares about big business - you know, GM, Chrysler - big name corporate companies who are the actual beneficiaries of the Cash for Clunkers program.

If I had an extra million dollars - I'd give it straight to the school system. The ONLY way we will improve our futures is by educating the youth. When the youth grow up, and take over - THEIR education is what will fix the problems that previous and current generations have caused. Obama doesn't seem to care. He'd much rather ensure a CEO's FAT paycheck than to ensure the young, growing mind of a student be better educated. Or in this case - even get to the school safely for the chance to learn.

My daughter can walk or ride a bike to school and back. We live close. But the bus will be coming by our house everyday to pick up our kindergartener. When they were dropped off this morning at the school, maybe 15 students got off, leaving Dozens of open seats. I'll be lobbying the district for sure.

Healthcare - yeah - that.

Eventually, everyone will have to talk about healthcare. As much as I'd like to think it will be shot down and go away, it is becoming more and more clear that Obama will continue to push this issue right until the very bitter end. So I guess I'll talk about it too.

I've been reading recently about the many 'disruptive' town hall meetings with our elected officials. It seems every day their is a new article online about people who dislike the idea of Obamas Universal Healthcare (UH) and the terrible things they are doing in order to express their opinions.

On MSN today: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32385814/ns/politics-capitol_hill/?GT1=43001 "From Ps. to Ga., health protests intensify"
From the New York Times: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32381149/ns/politics-the_new_york_times/ "The roots of rage at a town hall meeting"

They go on and on - everyday we see more. So shouldn't this be a sign? Isn't this the right of every American to speak their mind? We all have the freedom to be heard, in an organized and logical way. So why does one who disagrees with this UH plan get labeled as 'rowdy' and 'protester', when those who are fighting FOR it are getting listed as 'proponants', and 'advocate' or 'defender'? Is this because if it's the Presidents idea, then it's the 'right' idea and everyone else is against it?

Everything I am reading is screaming at me: LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE! LISTEN! Democract Representative (term used very loosely) John Dingell was approached by a citizen he is supposed to represent about his support for Obamas UH plan. What did the citizen get? Police escort from the building with only stays, stops, and the run-around from his 'representative'. Then Mr. Dingell goes on TV and tells us all that these disruptive people are wreaking havoc in the meetings! What???

Let me tell you what is happening - well, has happened - probably a long, long time ago. The citizens elect officials who are supposed to represent the people. Those representatives go to Washington, sit in their cushy offices, meet in nice boardrooms and listen to the president tell them what they need to go tell their constituents. The president says 'This is a good idea' and the 'representatives' (yeah, pretty loose) come back to us and tell us that we should like this idea!

Well - no. No, How about, I tell my representative what I want, and he/she goes and tells the president what WE want! Isn't that the way it is supposed to work? Isn't that the way it was designed? Yes. But now it's become just the opposite and what are we supposed to do? The nation cried foul on the bank bailout. The nation said no to the auto industry bailout. And yet they (and many others) continue to go through! Why? Because WE are not being represented, we are being preached to about all the 'wonderful' things government has planned.