Gold at 1200 and rising!

Does anyone understand this nonsense?

The Stock Market is up. Oil is up. Gold is way up! Where's the catalyst? Where's the money coming from?

People, nationwide unemployment is almost at 20%. Yes, I meant to write 20%, not the bogus 10.2% figure quoted by most in the media and government. With so many folks out of work there has to be less money floating around to buy things. Remember, even the Cash for Clunkers and First-time Home Buyer tax credit is not an influx of cash into the market. They are an increase in the indebtedness that we cannot pay back.

Many economists already predict that there will be massive repossessions within six months, in part because the fools who fell for the Clunkergate did not realize how much their insurance would go up for a new car versus the more than likely liability coverage they carried on their paid off clunkers. This only adds to how much they will have to fork out to keep paying on their new car. Not to mention that they still need to pay their rent/mortgage, put food on the table, and gas in that car.

Recently it was reported that home buyers are already in arrears for homes they bought just this year. Come on, we're gutting ourselves here! Mark my words, if we don't stop this keeping-up-with-the-Joneses mentality our world is going to come crashing down hard and fast.

Things are very bad, folks. Very bad.

Still, the consumer robots are running around to all of these so-called Bleak Friday sales (yes, you read right). Buying flat screen TVs because they can, because they want one. I guarantee you these same folks have a perfectly functioning CRT TV in their homes right now. What are they going to do with that? Read one of my earlier blogs to get the gist of how I feel about HD and all that. My CRT TV happens to be over ten years old. I will NOT buy a flat screen TV until I absolutely have no choice. Yes, that means my CRT TV will have to go out completely. Dead. Kaput.

I spent today with family thankful for them and only them on this Thanksgiving Day. I am not thankful for my government, I am not thankful for the greedy and selfish among us, and I am not thankful for the apparent stupidity that is working to destroy this the greatest nation on earth.

Gold at 1200. Please!

A Day to Think

Like many Americans today, I spent time reflecting on what happened September 11, 2001, and continue to try to make sense of it all. You can't really.

Some have said we need to identify who did this to us and not be so politically correct. Others go on believing and espousing that George W. Bush was behind the attacks, or knew of them in advance. The conspiracy theories abound across the web. Others, still, think we have not gone far enough or done enough damage to the "other side" to make a difference in the conflict.

It is not enough, I don't think, to say Muslims did this to us. Islamic extremists attacked before 9/11, attacked on 9/11, and go on attacking. They want an end to America so don't kid yourself thinking otherwise. I stopped blaming Muslims a long time ago, even though they make that difficult. After all, one is hard pressed to find any Muslim anywhere who publicly denounces what Islamic Extremists do.

September 11th comes and goes every year and I don't really do much about it, not really. Then I come across a video on YouTube from a young man just talking to his audience and partway through his talk he says something brief, yet absolutely remarkable. "What can you say [about 9/11]?...a day to think..."

Wow! That hit home. Of course, it is so simple, it takes a young man to explain it to me. Today is not a day to remember; it's not a day to grieve; it's not a day to blame. September 11th is a day to think. And that is exactly how I will honor the victims of 9/11 from now on.

Wow! A day to think.

Arcadian's Got Talent (or Bring Arcadian Back)

What happened to Arcadian Broad was completely wrong and unprofessional. I, for one, am very proud that he stood up for hisself.

The young man can dance! My feeling is he was set up to lose out. He was given a routine he did not want to perform (his words). Why was he assigned a partner when he auditioned as a single act? The producers did not separate the Three Tenors into a single act and tell two to go home, did they? Why wasn't Kevin Skinner partnered for a duet instead of being allowed to remain a solo act?

And the folks running the show wonder why people think America's Got Talent is rigged.

Arcadian auditioned and performed as a single dance act, not part of a gesticulating, poorly choreographed, and bumbling aggregation as the High School Musical routine seemed to me to be.

I have enjoyed America's Got Talent (and the many "Got Talent" versions around the world), but I must take a stand here. Bring back Arcadian Broad and let him do what he wants, then let the people decide on that. The judges "threw out the rules" for Fab Five and Voices of Glory, so throw out those same rules and BRING ARCADIAN BACK. If they can't or won't, they may have just lost a fan, for I shall never watch another episode of America's Got Talent ever again.

Sorry to be so direct, but I am troubled by what I witnessed in Part 1 of the Semis.

Le Morte d'Eduord

Ted Kennedy died today. For that there is no denying an era in American history has come to its end. The last king of Camelot is dead. Long live...who?

Who now will take up the grand mantle of bulwark of the liberals who want to change America, not for the better, but for the worse?

What will happen to the liberal causes without their lion to roar for them?

Who will tell the children to shut up when they become too unruly?

No one as I can see will or can step up to the plate. If any doubts this, look at how the Camelotians (that's liberal democrats for those of you who don't get it) treated Caroline Kennedy when she tried to get the nod for the Senate seat vacated by Hillary when that carpetbagger became Secretary of State. If anyone should have been heir to Camelot it was Caroline. Right?

Liberalism is the dog that has had its day. Some -- on Ted's side (gee no surprise there) -- are already exploiting his memory by attaching his name to the reform of health care in America. Have they no shame?

I didn't like Ted Kennedy for his politics, and I really didn't like the man, but even if I had I would never use his name to further a cause of mine. That would be, I don't know, like, attaching Reagan's name to legislation for Alzheimer research just to get it to pass.

I may not be the only one who didn't like Ted, by the way. The family of Mary Jo Kopechne, might not be too upset that he's gone. I'm just saying.

At the end of the day what is most significant about the passing of Ted Kennedy is that it is really, finally, the passing of Camelot. A whole generation of Americans grew up with the Kennedys as their Royal Family. This, when there should not be any royalty to revere.

But the name Camelot, as it has been applied to the Kennedy family, says much about liberalism. Elitists (i.e., royalists) who believe in their own superiority over the common man (i.e., us serfs). Even the kings and queens of old gave alms to the poor, and this is exactly what liberals have done, are doing, and will try to go on doing: being compassionate with other people's money.

I could be pretty darn compassionate myself if I only had other folk's money to spend instead of mine own, but the words of Margaret Thatcher come back to me now: the problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.

Isn't this what is happening today? We're running out of money. We're running out of the jobs that create wealth. We're running out of the money that is available to be taxed to pay for government of any form. We're running out of money.

Many whom I have talked to since our President Obama was elected are terrified that he is out to destroy America, as we know it. I repeat here what I have told others before; I do not fear President Obama or his policies. Why? Because America is greater than him and them.

Obama has a vision of America similar in many respects to the vision Ted Kennedy had. Similar enough that Ted endorsed Obama during the primaries. It is possible that Ted Kennedy knew even back then of his ailment and passed the torch, so to speak. Only, I don't think Obama, or anyone else on the left for that matter, has what it takes to carry it.

Camelot is crumbling away and the last lit torch has dimmed and gone out. Long live America.

Take My Internet, Please!

Would someone please come up with something new and better and FREE! These darn moguls want to charge for everything we do online, and frankly it's getting tiresome. Look, guys! If I'm not going to buy your newspapers off the news stand, why would I buy them online? Your magazines, too, for that matter.

It's bad enough that we have to pay for television programming that is mostly worthless just to catch a bit of entertainment or local news. No more free airwaves, are there? I mean, come on paying for three hours of programming a day, or for infomercials throughout the night and weekends. This is obscene.

Now they want to do it to the internet.

I remember when the net first came on the scene and how exciting it was to explore new things without someone shoving an ad in your face, or making you register with UPPER&lowercasepasswordsthatmusthavea!@#$%^&*(or123456789. Why do they care if my password is secure enough or not anyway?

I remember when information over the net was as free as if you had jaunted down to the local library. Not no more it ain't! Sure back then there were still some stuff you had to pay for, but it was your choice. Now there's little choice and soon there will be no choices. Pay to play or get lost is what they'll say.

Well they'll do what they want and so be it. I have enough faith in ingenuity that one day (hopefully soon) someone will come up with something that outdoes the internet and makes information free again. Even if only for a short while. Then when the greedy moguls exploit that venue for money something else will come along. And so on and so forth.

For now, take my internet, please!

Independocrats!

All of my life I have heard that Independent party candidates represent the middle-of-the-road American. With no real party affiliation they can do more for the "little guy" while remaining immune to the corruption of power. That independent voters are free thinkers who carry the burden of deciding during national elections who is ultimately the best candidate for the job.

I have never believed this bunk, even though multiple media outlets from print to network TV to Cable News to the World Wide Web have all espoused this to be true.

What I have always believed is that Independent is just another name for Democrat, and I have the proof!

The proof is rather straight forward. Common sense, really. Here it is.

Today we hear constantly from ALL media types that with the win by Al Franken the Democrat Party now has a super-majority of 60 senators. This is not just deceitful it is an outright lie! There are in fact only 58 Democrats in the Senate, 40 Republicans, and 2 Independents.

It is the assumption that the two Independents caucus with Democrats which leads to the filibuster proof majority. Proof enough for me that Independents are just another name for Democrats. The former only slightly more confused than the latter.

When was the last time you heard of an Independent who caucused with the Republicans? I cannot recall a single incident in my lifetime. I have not taken the time to research if and when this may have occurred. Personally this is part of my argument. The fact that I can name the two Independents (Bernie Sanders and Joseph Lieberman), but cannot name a single Independent who caucused Republican tells me either it has not happened or the media have never talked about it enough to make it stick.

More proof? Lieberman was a Democrat and Sanders has always sided with the Democrats (calls himself a democratic-socialist) only he never officially registered with the party.

Legally and technically I say the Democrats do not have a super-majority of seats in the Senate and I know I am right. If others want to perpetuate the lies that they indeed have 60 seats let those know this blogger has not fallen for it.

We can't all get along!

So Obama wants us and the Muslims around the world -- or is it only those around Arabia -- to get along. That's pretty noble, too bad it's unrealistic.

Trying to get along only leads to devastating circumstances. And Muslims around the world don't get along with each other, so how can we expect them to get along with us?

What has succeeded throughout the history of mankind is the survival of the fittest. The greatest nation the world has yet produced is in the throws of economic instability, but America is still much better off than most of the rest of the world.

At least for now.

Pacifists have always thought that their ideals overshadow real world concerns. Statements like "We're trying to negotiate," "Let's exhaust all diplomatic channels," "Convene the UN Security Council to condemn hostile actions." These are failed attempts to end a crisis that ultimately only ended with all out war.

In the early 1900s the League of Nations was born (precursor to the UN), a few years after the Kellog-Briand Pact "outlawed" conflict -- said all conflicts must be resolved through peaceful means -- but these worthless commitments first led to economic collapse around the world and ultimately to the Depression. The Depression ended and the global economy improved only after WWII.

Then we had the formation of the UN and that led to 40 plus years of the Cold War and the countless rise and fall of petty dictators on the blood of millions of innocents. Again military might ended the Cold War. Don't kid yourself, revisionists try to say the Cold War ended without a drop of blood, but this just is not true. Many died in USSR, Eastern Block (trying to escape for one), North/South Korea, South and Central America.

Now we are in a Global War on Terror against Islamic Extremists and a pacifist like Obama wants to talk. Well, unfortunately, we are going to waste a lot of time talking, economies will crumble (including ours), and countless lives will be lost before the world is once again forced to unite against tyranny in a worldwide conflict.

History keeps repeating itself folks because we refuse to learn from it.

Do they think I'm an idiot?

I watched "The Link" on History Channel tonight and thought it was a remarkable show. I really liked how they tied the bones to our modern line of anthropoids. If the fossil is indeed real and not a hoax than they might have something here. I am only slightly suspicious because it just looks too well preserved.

But their explanation of why it is in such good shape is plausible.

Anyway, the show was fascinating all the same. One of the scientists they interviewed kind of ticked me off when he called Darwin's Evolutionary Theory law by comparing it to the same fact that gravity is a law. Sorry dude, but evolution is still only a theory. If you are going to establish it as a law than that is more earth shattering than the discovery of the fossil Ida!

But, even this is not my gripe, thus the title of this blog entry. The show was pegged to run from 8:00PM to 10:00PM CT, but it actually ended at 9:37PM and they filled the remainder of the time slot up with sneak peaks at some of their summer reality shows. I switched over to something else immediately.

Do the folks at the History Channel really think that by deceptively plying their bogus shows into the time slot for what I thought would be two hours of Ida would peek my interest and get me to watch their reality shows when they air later?

I have no intention of watching their reality shows. I cannot stand reality TV. To me it is just more proof of how dumbed down America has become. They hark back to the Freak Shows of the old traveling circuses.

Now, obviously, the History Channel hires idiots to do their programming. If they really wanted to force people to sit through the sneak peaks then they should have run them during the program not after. Running them after gave viewers such as myself the opportunity to flip over to another channel without fear of missing any of the scheduled program.

I guess what I really should be doing is thanking the History Channel, but on this point it's more fun to criticize them.

It's the Gas Prices, Stupid!

I saw things within my personal economy starting to go south back in 2004 when gas prices following Hurricane Ivan shot up 50% within a month after the storm hit. Most people did not seem to care back then because it was seen as a marginal increase, like the cost of milk and bread going up.

Then came Katrina in 2005 and gas prices went through the roof. Even back then, no one seemed really to care. They bitched, of course, but paid the $3.00 plus per gallon. I should actually say they charged their gas. After all they needed to get to work, to play, and to the soccer fields with their ungrateful children. These higher gas prices stayed around for a few years reaching their peak in 2008. By then the damage was done.

Meantime, food prices soared, cost of living soared, adjustable rate mortgages adjusted up, and suddenly, almost overnight it seemed, the economy began its free fall.

Why? Well, people had maxed out their credit cards buying gas for themselves and their ungrateful teenage/college age children; they maxed out their credit cards to buy groceries; some even maxed out the available equity in their homes for non-essentials such as cellular phone bills, eating out, going to the movies, etc...

As a result of all this "on-time" expenditure, mortgages went unpaid, credit card bills went unpaid. When people started losing their homes then they screamed. Only, they screamed for mommy and daddy government to come to their rescue. What they should have been doing was dropping non-essentials, like cellular phones, eating out, and going to the movies for starters. But the majority of the American people were unable to so they asked for a handout.

You see, Americans think that a cellular phone is now an entitlement. Something they have to have. I never thought of a land line phone this way and I'm sure they didn't either.

Also, Americans couldn't stop eating out because the majority don't even know how to cook at home anymore. Unless its something they can pop in a microwave, but they'll tell you that gets old and boring after awhile.

Recently, a certain media mogul stated as one of his indicators that we are passed the low point in this so-called recession was that the movie industry has boomed throughout this bad economy. Well, Sir, I recall the Romans enjoying their bread and circuses as Nero fiddled while Rome burned. No, people going to the movies is not a sign of an improving economy. It is a sign that people need to escape from the reality that this economy is going to tank even further.

I, for one, do not believe we are in a recession. I believe we are in a depression, unfortunately most will not agree with me until they see bread lines rather than lines at your local electronic store for the latest gadget.

Now, here we are approaching the summer of 2009, and gas prices are rapidly rising again. As bad as our economy is right now, and even if it wanted to improve, it cannot, it will not survive $3.00/gallon gas come Memorial Day. Oh, there may be just enough available credit to get people through this summer by charging gas again, and if they do I expect that by October we will see the Stock Market plunge to below 4000, and only then will America learn that she is in a full blown depression.

What a shame it is that our country has to go through that again. Remember, government throwing money at the last depression DID NOT get us out of it World War II did. Unfortunately, most of us do not have the guts to fight another world war.

So I ask you. What will bring us out of the next depression?

HD is Overrated!

I remember when flat panel TVs first started making their way into retail outlets, and by flat panel I mean the Plasma and LCD types, not the bogus and misleading flat screen tube types. Whenever my wife and I would enter a store, and witness people oo-ing and ah-ing over the "wonderful" image and size of the picture when it was actually stretched, squashed, pulled, or letterboxed, we actually would comment "...does anybody else see the Emperor naked or is it just us?"

That was ten years ago.

Today I still see the Emperor naked. He's ten years older and believe me it ain't a pretty sight! Now HDTV is all the rage and everybody and his brother (sister) are trying to keep up with the Joneses, even though the Joneses are being conned.

Let me explain. Last year my father-in-law, who is retired after many years of hard work, decided to treat himself to a 52" HDTV. While I have to admit there are significant quality of image differences between his HDTV and my now 12-year-old CRT TV, I can live with those differences considering the cost and headache that goes with upgrading to HDTV.

Having the HDTV is not enough. Then you have to have an HD receiver for your channel source (be it cable or satellite). Then you have to count on the source station transmitting in true HD (and they can only do that if the program they are sending over the broadband frequency was actually filmed in true HD). Then you have to rely on your provider to send that signal to your receiver in true HD, and only after paying more for the privilege. Then you have to have an HDMI cable to carry that HD signal from the receiver into your TV. Even if all these things were lined up in a row and happening (and they are not) you still have to "tell" your TV to zoom, stretch, s-stretch or normalize the picture leaving you stuck with the old style letterboxes on some channels, full screen on others, and pillar bars on still more channels. Heck, some channels are completely surrounded by black bars!

Basically you cannot watch HDTV today for any length of time without gluing that remote control to your hand. My father-in-law's words not mine. With my SDTV I just flip to the channel and set down the remote until I'm ready to surf again. Now my hands are free to hold my drink and grab up a fistful of popcorn. Don't you HD users miss eating while you're being entertained?

Anyway, getting back to my father-in-law. So after getting his HDTV he obviously contacted his satellite provider to upgrade to a HD package. Why not? He had a HDTV and wanted the HD programming so that he can enjoy better quality...right? Well he's actually had nothing but trouble with the upgrade since, and to be honest, even on his setup the difference between his SD and HD channels was not significant enough to justify the cost of having a HD package.

First there came the install of the upgrade. The tech puts a second dish on the roof pointed in a different direction from the other one that was already in place. Then he cables the two dishes together with splices and a splitter that he plugs into INPUT 1 and 2 on the receiver. Gee, how much further did this degrade an already degraded signal? Now, had my father-in-law been a new subscriber instead of the detestable existing customer he would have gotten a single new dish that would pick up both HD and SD transmissions. So the tech programs the remote to operate both the receiver and HDTV, gets my father-in-law to sign on the dotted line, and goes away.

Needless to say neither my father-in-law nor I was impressed with the so-called HD signals. There just was not a whole lot of quality difference between them. In some cases the SD channel came in better and filled up more of the screen than the HD channel.

For those of you wondering if it might be the TV that's the problem it's not. The Blu-ray player that came with it plays crystal clear movies and this is because there is not any signal degradation between the player and the HDTV so long as you are using an HDMI cable and he is.

A week later my father-in-law calls his satellite provider informing them that he is not happy with what he has just started paying more for. The customer service representative took him through the ridiculous troubleshooting steps. We all know the kind I'm talking about: the person, usually foreign, who reads to you from a binder sitting in front of him (her). The most these folks know is how to turn the page. In the end the problem could not be resolved this way and so another tech was dispatched.

This tech replaces the receiver, programs the new remote, leaves cables between the receiver in the living room and the receiver in the bedroom poking out of the wall and spliced, gets my father-in-law to sign on the dotted line and leaves. Gee another splice. More degraded signal strength.

For a couple of months after this last visit the system worked well enough that my father-in-law could live with it. Then one day recently things only got worse. His satellite remote could no longer manipulate the HD channel from zoom to stretch to normal, but could still operate the HDTV power, volume, and SD modes.

He called and the customer service rep, after taking him again through those ridiculous troubleshooting steps, concluded that my father-in-law would have to use two remotes (the one for his HDTV and the one for his receiver). The man informed the rep that he was damned if he was going to settle for that, especially considering that until that moment he was using only one remote. So the brilliant rep concludes that maybe the remote is bad and he would send out a new one.

The remote comes in, my father-in-law programs it, but the problem persists. So he calls technical support again (I think the patience of this man comes after long years of putting up with idiots). Now the brilliant conclusion is that he will need a replacement receiver and they send that out.

That comes in, my father-in-law installs it, programs that remote and guess what? The problem persists. Now the man is really ticked. I pity the poor rep who got his last call because he tried to take my father-in-law through those ridiculous troubleshooting steps, but was cut short almost as soon as he began, and was informed as politely as possible to just send someone out to get this fixed and make sure they come with the old standard receivers, because if they cannot fix this he wants to cancel his HD upgrade entirely and revert to what he had prior.

The tech comes out today and programs yet a forth remote. The problem persists. My father-in-law asks him if he can see any difference between the HD signal and the SD signal. The tech says, "...I wouldn't know, sir. I don't have HD I'm too poor."

What the heck is that! At least send someone who knows what HD should look like and can do more than plug in a few cables.

Well, even this tech could not get the remote to manipulate the HD signals and has the audacity to tell my father-in-law that to shift between the zoom, stretch, and normal modes he would have to use the SD ZOOM function. Oh, this guy was a real piece of work. Needless to say my father-in-law told him to just revert to his old standard receiver, but the tech did not bring one. So in the end the tech took the standard receiver from the bedroom and installed it in the living room. With the standard receiver hooked up almost all of the channels now fill the screen or have very narrow horizontal bars. No more pillars. No more completely surround with black bars. Go figure, and HD was supposed to be better. I guess if your last name is Jones.

Now you may wonder why the tirade. First of all, I know my father-in-law is not alone and he wanted me to share this experience with others so that the buyer be warned. I write this blog at his behest. What follows is my assessment of what is actually occurring out there in the HD ethos.

Customer service has been the first thing to go out the window since the beginning of this economic downturn and what's left is outright lying to customers or deceiving them. Not only that, but I discovered after perusing the net that it would appear some of the cable and satellite companies may have been purposely downgrading their HD signal transmissions (sometimes not transmitting it at all) to offset the cost of leasing enough broadband to accommodate best quality images. They may have started doing this as recently as the summer of 2008.

[Hmmm, didn't the economy begin its free fall around that time?]

Also they may have been sending more channels down a single frequency, thereby reducing not only the quality of the signal, but their costs as well. And they are not telling the consumer, which leaves people like me open to criticism as conspiracy theorists, further taking attention away from the real problem -- them. So be it.

It's this blogger's opinion that the extension to June of 2009 of the digital conversion is not to allow more time for "the little guy" to get ready, but actually to keep the providers from having to fork out money they don't have right now to invest in their part of the conversion. I look for another extension come this summer if there's not a bailout first, of course.

As it happens I have never had nor do I have any intention of "upgrading" to HD until such time as the technology is second nature or I am forced to. Somehow I believe I will be forced to. Hey, I held onto WindowsME for as long as I could folks!

More, like my father-in-law, may now see the Emperor naked, but because of the lack of outrage from the public and the absence of any media attention to this problem I am left to conclude that too many HD users still see the Emperor arrayed. Maybe you're better off; the true image is really an unattractive one.