Who Owes Who?

I find this chart very interesting. It just doesn’t make sense in a normal businessman’s way of thinking. Maybe it’s time to call in some debts. Maybe it’s time to forgive some.

Just how does Japan own so much of our debt? Didn’t we rebuild them after World War II? How did this turnaround happen? Didn’t we again help them out after the tsunami’s? Did any of that aid or assistance go toward the debt or was all of that pro bono?

People make national debt so complicated that it is near impossible to either fix or understand. It shouldn’t be that way.

Take a Pic of Me with a Dead Bad Guy

Here we go again. Yet another round  of scandals involving American warriors taking photographs with dead goons.

Not sure what you think about these incidents, but you’re welcome to let me know. Scream, yell, make an argument for or against. Just watch the profanity or I’ll censor the comments.

I come from a long line of Vikings. More recently, I’m a third generation American warrior. Back in the olden days of combat before the killing of human beings somehow became civilized, you wouldn’t believe the things they’d do with dead bodies. After an enemy was vanquished, he simply became an uninhabited meat puppet. Now I’m not saying I’d do that or even condone what some of my forefathers used to do, so don’t misquote me or pull a snippet out of context.

Nowadays though we’ve blurred the idea of what actual combat is so much that we somehow expect trained warrior-killers to kill only in a civilized and professional manner. Would someone please explain the terms ‘civilized death’ or ‘professional killing’?

Death and combat are a messy business. Bailing out third world nations from despotic dictators, their own complacency, and the absence of self-rule is also a messy business.

I think what really gets me mad is who’s complaining most about these photo incidents. The Afghans and Pakistani’s are mad about it? Really?

“Pot, this is the kettle. You’re black.”

An entire culture of folks who maim women, behead enemies on video, and could care less about anything that’s not covered by CNN or sharia law doesn’t really have the right to complain. Or are they really mad simply because we’re posing with the bad guys they wanted us to kill because they couldn’t?

A quote from a recent article jumped out at me…”It is a violation of Army standards to pose with corpses for photographs outside of officially sanctioned purposes.” I’m not sure what a sanctioned purpose would be, but apparently it happens.

So, here’s the thing guys, and I’m speaking to the troops here…

If you’re gonna mess with the bodies, don’t take photos or video.

If you’re gonna film it or take photos, don’t share them.

If you’re gonna share them, be sure that it’s properly sanctioned.

Turning a Trash Dump into Usable Space

Kudos to my local Solid Waste Authority here in Horry County, South Carolina. They’re undertaking a huge project to turn closed landfills into usable greenspace. Great job, guys!

Government Inefficiency Floats Upstream

Here’s a shining example of how the government, specifically my local government here in Horry County, forces the rest of us to take an active part in the time dump known as government inefficiency.

On my property tax statement for my vehicles there is the following verbiage…

After seeing this the first time, I expected to turn the paper over and see the qualifications for the discount. Nope, but I still look every year hoping it’ll actually be there. Here’s what’s on the back…

Whabamm! It’s not a list of the qualifications. It’s an invite to visit your local Auditor’s office. Here’s a cost breakdown for you to find out about the discount…

Number of minutes for a round trip commute to the closest Auditor’s office + (number of miles for the round trip x cost of gasoline per gallon) + number of minutes waiting in line at the Auditor’s office = TOTAL WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY FOR BOTH YOU AND THE AUDITOR’S STAFF.

Now, just to be fair, I checked Auditor Lois Eargle’s page on the Horry County website to see if they offered us the information that might save someone a trip to the office. I figured they could save some ink and printing cost by not placing the chart on the bill, but by placing it on the website. Here’s what it said under the FAQ’s page…

• How can I get a high mileage discount on my vehicle? You must bring your actual mileage into one of our offices in the month in which your taxes are due. We will look up your information and give you a discount if you qualify.

I’ll let you decide though. Good use of your time or poor use of it? Inefficient or not?

Play Toys in a Combat Zone

Here’s a gem of an example of the height of intelligence. I’ll let you read for yourself. After you do, you tell me if you’re at all surprised that the little toy plane was shot down. After all, if you choose to fly into a hail of lead, what do you expect?

Gun Buyback Programs are Pointless

I’m just not really sure that these gun buyback programs work. They’ve had several near me recently. I’d love to see what kinds of guns my tax dollars are buying back. Are they actually functional firearms that we’re taking out of the hands of criminals or are we only purchasing rusted hunks of metal that would only make good weapons if thrown at someone with a modicum of accuracy and force?

There’s a lot of viewpoints out there that make very logical arguments that the programs not only do not work, but actually cause an increase in the sale of new weapons. There’s one HERE. Of course, the various police chiefs and other officials tell us they work with no quantifiable research that I’ve been able to find. But, of course, they’re obligated to tell us that. After all, it’s their program, their idea.

What does the government do with the purchased firearms? Most of the time, the guns are melted down into scrap metal. Is there not any way that the government could possibly sell the guns back to legitimate owners and recoup some of the money spent on the buyback? What about collectible firearms? Possibly sell them to legitimate armorers to break down into spare parts. Each step in a resale process could possibly recoup some of the money spent and also stimulate the economy and private business in some way. They can’t do this though. Putting one of these guns back on the street, even in a legal manner, would seem like a failure in this failed system.

Another question. Are the guns fired and checked against firearms crimes to see if the weapon was used in that way prior to the buyback? If it comes back positive, with an anonymous buyback system, what does that really reveal? If you checked for fingerprints on the gun, wouldn’t that destroy the anonymous nature of the buybacks and ruin the possibility of future buyback programs?

I can see it now. “Sir, we found the weapon that was used to kill your family. No, sir. Just the weapon. No, sir. We can tell you definitively that the person who at one time held the weapon, though not necessarily the killer, was at town hall on Friday, the 3rd of May. Yes, sir. We gave him a $100 gift card.”

Oh yeah. A great comfort to the family.

What about the criminal’s point-of-view? “I’m gonna save the weapons I used in various crimes until a buyback program starts up. Then I’m going to use the $100 gift cards to trade for new weapons or I’ll use them to buy ammo for the weapons I didn’t trade in.”

Here’s the point-of-view I like, that of an aspiring gun collector. “I’m going to organize my own private buyback program. I’m going to buy a few thousand dollars worth of gift cards and trade for guns worth ten times that amount. There you go, instant gun collection.”

What do you think?

Who to Vote for in the SC Presidential Primary?

My local paper, The Sun News (a good friend of mine calls the liberal rag The Scum News), printed a rundown of the main GOP candidates for the 2012 South Carolina Republican primary, which takes place in less than a week. Based on the whole, I know who I’m going to vote for, but I thought I’d go through all of their descriptors and stances on particular issues and create an amalgam of my ideal candidate based on all of them.

Now, as a full disclaimer, all of the issues mentioned and specifics quoted are from the paper. I didn’t pick the issues. I wouldn’t necessarily make the stand represented here. This blog is only based on what they said. A “,” comma is used to seperate ideas with the same candidate. A “;” is a seperation between candidates.

Here goes…

Abortion- Federal government should have no authority either to legalize or ban abortion

Debt- Balanced budget, avert a default on US debt payments; eviscerate Federal government, slashing nearly half of its spending, shut five Cabinet-level agencies; cut pay of Congress; oppose the financial industry bailout

Economy- Cut regulations, lower taxes, spur jobs through energy development, repeal Obama’s healthcare law; return to the gold standard, eliminate the Federal Reserve

Education- Do away with the No Child Left Behind Act, more school choice; abolish the Education Department, end the Federal role in education

Energy- Drill offshore reserves of oil and natural gas, end restrictions on Western oil shale development; eliminate the gasoline tax, provide tax credits for alternative fuel technology

Environment- Convert EPA into something altogether different; human caused global warming is a hoax

Healthcare- Repeal Obama’s healthcare laws, generous tax credit to help buy insurance

Gay Marriage- Constitutional ban on same-sex marriage

Immigration- Path to citizenship for illegal immigrant’s children who perform military service, make English the official language; Do whatever it takes to secure the border, end right to citizenship of US-born children of illegal immigrants, no social services for illegal immigrants, aggressive deportation of illegal immigrants; more border agents; opposes education benefits to illegal immigrants

Social Security- give younger workers the option of diverting Social Security taxes to private retirement accounts

Taxes- Eliminate the Federal income tax and the Internal Revenue Service and defund close to half the government; zero corporate tax

Terrorism- Continued use of Guantanamo bay for suspected terrorists; no Constitutional rights for foreign terrorism suspects; airport screeners should employ profiling

War- reducing US involvement in conflicts

So, that’s it. That’s the best I could make from what was said by the candidates. Some of it I would offer differently. Of course, by the time I run for President in 2028, there’ll be a few new issues that I’ll have to deal with, although I’m sure some of the old mainstays will still be around.

Charleston Mayor Joe Riley Saves Us from Personal Responsibility Again

In a knee-jerk reaction to the death of a biker last summer on the James Island Expressway connecting the island to Charleston SC, Charleston Mayor Joe Riley has condemned any bikers or pedestrians who use the bridge to a night in the pokey.

The bridge connects a very heavily populated community with a bustling downtown area that has very limited parking options. Thus, it is more important than ever that we increase the bike traffic and decrease auto traffic. What about the carbon offset, the environmental concerns, the fitness concerns, the concern for people being responsible for themselves and allowing grown adults decide for themselves how they would like to ambulate or pedal into town?

Nah, let’s just do the government thing and decide for people that they don’t need to ride across the bridge and that if they can’t take a car, then they just don’t need to go. Pfooey!

Let people decide on their own, please.