The Preamble to the Constitution

WE THE PEOPLE of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Monday, December 22, 2008

How can I help you?

 
How can I help you? You ever hear these words in a restaurant or C-Store? You walk up to the counter or you sit down in the restaurant or call someplace and the first thing they say to you is "....How can I help you?" Then, in the flash of an eye, you get put on hold or interrupted or told "I don't handle that". Next !

Wait a minute, did you want to help me or not? I haven't even finished explaining to you what it is I want yet and already you are yelling next ! Give a me the common courtesy of you undivided attention and try to figure out how to help me solve my friggin problem !

Why do people say things like this anyhow? It means no more than the usual "How are you?" greeting that you get from most folks when you first see them. If you answer this phrase as it is asked, they look at you like you just ran over their foot with their car. They don't really want to know, they just want to hear you say fine. Irks me to no end. You don't want to know , don't ask.

Here's another one. There are about 300 million people in the USA (estimate). Most of those people are born here, educated here, work here, vacation here, retire here and die here. Almost all of them speak English (in varying degrees). Yet, when you call some place, the automated menu says "To continue in English, press one". Like I need to know what language to speak in , in my own country?

I am not insensitive to non-English speakers. Whenever I can I try to learn conversational phrases in the language of the area in order to be able to communicate in the language of the people around me, or I take somebody who can translate for me. Why on gods earth then do I need the phone company to ask me if I want to continue in English?

Assume I want English, I live in America, ask If I want to communicate in another language. "To continue in Espanola, press dos". Seems pretty ignorant to ask the high 99 % majority of the people who call if they want to communicate in the predominate language in the country you are in. If I was in Japan, I wouldn't expect for the voice prompt to say, to continue in Japanese, press one, I would expect the message to be in Japanese, because I am in JAPAN !!! - duh!

You ask me , we have went too far to the left in our cultural sensitivity.

Oh I'm sorry, you don't speak English or you are deaf, don't worry, I'll talk louder !

Here is another stupid decision, where we are busy trying to be all things to all people and never to risk offending anyone with our products, goods or services.

I'll bet almost everyone in America has used a drive thru ATM. Most people have used them more than the inside of the bank. I am sure there is a segment in America who has never used anything but an ATM. The access to the keypad is designed so that you can use it from your car. The drivers side of the car is usually the side you transact your business from.

If all of that is true, then why pray tell are there Braille indicators on the keypads at a drive thru ATM? Who is ever going to use that particular function anyhow? Is this designed for the legally blind yet totally functional driver who will occasionally need to go to the ATM late one night who does not want to get out of the car because the seeing eye dog is afraid of the dark?

What the heck is this all about anyhow?

How did we become such a society of idiots anyhow?
 
Thankx for reading my rant ! 
 
bigmike
 
Visit my blog online at http://bigmikerant.blogspot.com/  
 
I encourage you to leave your own comments or reactions to my rants (even if you don't agree with me) in the comments section on each post.
 

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Simple things that are just stupid

I saw this sign above the doorway of a Flying J travel plaza.

The question it brings to mind is almost too simple to ask.

Who in their right mind thinks the cashier at a truck stop, knows more about Homeland Security threat levels than the average person does?

To me , this is just another one of those idiosynchratic messages we see all the time that nobody pays attention to, except maybe lawyers.

The message on matches that says " Warning, when struck against the attached rough surface, may cause flame", is about the same , maybe the same category at least. The message on peanuts that says "May contain nuts", (no kidding saw that one at a McDonalds, in happy meal stuff.

What exactly is the message here?

Just what is it they are trying to say?

Maybe the message is "Oxymorons unite !

FYI : An Oxymoron is a combination of contradictory or incongruous words, such as 'Cruel Kindness' or 'Jumbo Shrimp' (Jumbo means 'large' while Shrimp means 'small'). It is a literary figure of speech in which opposite or contradictory words, terms, phrases or ideas are combined to create a rhetorical effect by paradoxical means.

Try this : http://www.oxymoronix.com/

Some of my favorites are:

  1. Military Intelligence

  2. Unbiased Opinion

  3. Microsoft Works

  4. Exact Estimate

  5. Virtual reality

Seems to me they over thought this.

They should have just put it on a T-Shirt (or a sign).



Thanks for reading my Rant !

-bigmike
http://bigmikerant.blogspot.com/




Monday, December 1, 2008

Life is really just 2 questions



Life is really just 2 questions...





Should I get a dog.....?













OR



Should I have children?







Thankx for reading my rant !




bigmike




Visit my blog online at http://bigmikerant.blogspot.com/




I encourage you to leave your own comments or reactions to my rants (even if you don't agree with me) in the comments section on each post.




























Sunday, November 30, 2008

This guy is a hoot. Visit His website !!

Fricking Hilarious !!!

-BigMike

You Tube downloader -Free







You ever wish you could download YouTube videos? I do it all the time for free !

You can too. Go here -
http://www.download3000.com/

Its pretty cool and fairly easy to use. NO Nagware, Adware, Malware or Spyware.

5 Stars rating on Download3000.com

You know me, I don't recomend anything that doesn't work.

Thankx for reading,

BigMike


http://www.bigmikerant.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Here is some real stupidity


Student arrested for 'passing gas' at Fla. school
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1120ap_odd_flatulence_arrest.html?source=mypi
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
STUART, Fla. -- A student at a Florida school has been arrested after authorities said he was "passing gas" and turning off his classmates' computers. According to a report released Friday by the Martin County Sheriff's Office, the 13-year-old boy "continually disrupted his classroom environment" by intentionally breaking wind. He then shut off some computers other students were using.
The Spectrum Junior-Senior High School was arrested Nov. 4.
A school resource officer placed the boy under arrest after he confessed about his behavior, according to the report. He was charged with disruption of school function and released to his mother.
---
Information from: The Stuart News, http://www.tcpalm.com/



http://www.bigmikerant.blogspot.com/

This is (in my opinion), absurd.


He was arrested for intentionally "passing gas". You can now be arrested for having a bodily function at an inappropriate time and place.

If someone could please tell me how, I'd like to learn this skill, so I can pass it along to my children. He really got arrested for turning off the computers and causing a disruption, however it is sensational to report it this way.

What a load.

Thankx for reading my rant !

bigmike

Visit my blog online at http://bigmikerant.blogspot.com/

I encourage you to leave your own comments or reactions to my rants. They will be posted even if you don't agree with me in the comments section on each post.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

And then the fight started........



AND THEN THE FIGHT STARTED……

  • My wife sat down on the couch next to me as I was flipping channels. She asked, 'What's on TV?' I said, 'Dust.' And then the fight started....
  • My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary. She said, 'I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 150 in about 3 seconds.' I bought her a scale. And then the fight started...
  • When I got home last night, my wife demanded that I take her someplace expensive... so, I took her to a gas station. And then the fight started...
  • After retiring, I went to the Social Security office to apply for Social Security. The woman behind the counter asked me for my driver's license to verify my age. I looked in my pockets and realized I had left my wallet at home. I told the woman that I was very sorry, but I would have to go home and come back later. The woman said, 'Unbutton your shirt'. So I opened my shirt revealing my curly silver hair. She said, 'That silver hair on your chest is proof enough for me' and she processed my Social Security application. When I got home, I excitedly told my wife about my experience at the Social Security office. She said, 'You should have dropped your pants. You might have gotten disability, too.' And then the fight started...
  • My wife and I were sitting at a table at my high school reunion, and I kept staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table. My wife asked, 'Do you know her?' 'Yes,' I sighed, 'She's my old girlfriend. I understand she took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear she hasn't been sober since.' 'My God!' says my wife, 'who would think a person could go on celebrating t hat long?' And then the fight started...
  • I rear-ended a car this morning. So, there we were alongside the road and slowly the other driver got out of his car. You know how sometimes you just get soooo stressed and little things just seem funny? Yeah, well I couldn't believe it... he was a DWARF!!! He stormed over to my car, looked up at me, and shouted, 'I AM NOT HAPPY!' So, I looked down at him and said, 'Well, then which one are you?' And then the fight started...

Bob was in trouble. He forgot his wedding anniversary. His wife was really pissed. She told him "Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in the driveway that goes from 0 to 200 in 6 seconds AND IT BETTER BE THERE !!"The next morning he got up early and left for work. When his wife woke up, she looked out the window and sure enough there was a box gift-wrapped in the middle of the driveway.Confused, the wife put on her robe and ran out to the driveway, brought the box back in the house. She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale.

Bob has been missing since Friday.

Thankx for reading my rant !

bigmike

Visit my blog online at http://bigmikerant.blogspot.com/

I encourage you to leave your own comments or reactions to my rants (even if you don't agree with me) in the comments section on each post.


Marketing is still a big fat lie !



OK. I'll be the first one to admit, in order to use the rest of this article as any basis for conversation, you are asking marketing geniuses to not put their best product foot forward. They get paid to make you think you absolutely have to have their junk or their service and you will not be a fit human being without it.

Here's the issue as I see it.

Most Marketing is a big fat lie. They (ad agencies) call it sales techniques.

I call it lying to sell Junk.

It's not a stretch, it's not a fib, it's not a shading of the truth, it's a big fat lie.

Here's why I think like that.

  1. Yelling the name of a car or product or dealership 74 times in the course of a commercial along with the phone number, does not create urgency in the mind of the consumer. It does not create "impressions". It just invites the gullible to buy a product that they now cannot forget even if they wanted to. Similar to having a song stuck in your head.

  2. No one really has a shape anywhere remotely close to the shape of any supermodel or anywhere close the shape of any magazine model or porn star. Out of all the women I know, not one of them has ever spent $100,000 on the necessary plastic surgery it takes to create this illusion. The problem is that our daughters think they are "fat" when they don't look like some surgically enhanced, photoshopped, airbrushed version of the real person.

  3. It does not matter if you call in the next ten minutes or 10 hours. You'll still get the same deal as anybody else who calls in from their trailer park to order the junk they saw on the infomercial at 3am. The technology does not exist which allows ad agencies to control call centers based on when a commercial ran in your time zone on your cable outlet. Also on a related note: If a commercial says "Wait, that's not all- we'll double your order, etc", then the crap you are ordering is not worth anywhere near their "value price" in the first place. When they say "that's a 75$ value", what they really means is we tried to sell it for 75$ and nobody would even come close to this junk for that price so we had to cut the price in half in order to sell it to you. Guess what? The markup is still more than 99%. Plastic caulk edgers can be made from any cool-whip lid for nothing. Molded plastic, while not free, is never worth more than a couple of cents by the time you see it on an infomercial.

  4. Just because it says "New and Improved" on the box, does not mean the product is new and improved. Most of the time, the packaging is what is new and improved. Anytime you see these words it really means that the manufacturer had to figure out a way to raise the price somehow, so they reduced the amount in the container by 1% and increased the price by 5%. Now, that is a new and improved box and a new and improved price , and the product is "Old and the same". Don't fall for that one either. Their is really no value in the words "Lifetime Guarantee" either, unless it is from one the three companies that will probably be around in ten years. If you buy a widget from "Aqueduct sales" with a lifetime guarantee, it will not help you when they go out of business 2 weeks from now. No company= No guarantee. Put the guarantee on a box and take a dump in it. You will then have a guaranteed box of crap.

  5. No One has ever ran through a meadow of three foot tall grass into their lovers arms. Too many stickers, burrs, insects, uneven ground and broken glass. Nobody ever runs through a meadow with freshly washed hair, only to have it get all hot and sweaty and need to be washed again to remove the junk in it from the sweat.

  6. The offer you saw advertised on TV at the car dealership has never been used or offered.. No one ever gets Cash back. The money is added and applied to the price of the car. There is no deal. the price of the car was increased by the amount of the incentive in most cases, Or they want a bigger down payment and have a higher interest rate than you want or the "bank" wants the payments extended longer, or you have to buy an extra warranty. There is no DEAL. There is no "Boss" in the back approving your car deal or purchase. The salesman went to the candy machine. They leave you sitting in the room with the door closed on purpose to make you sweat, to get you to be emotionally invested in the car. Walk away, fast. . Come back in an hour and ask if they are ready to really deal. You will get better results. Trust me

  7. No matter how cool it may look on TV, trust me, never and I mean never, dance your way down a NY city street looking at your shadow, while listening to your music device. It is an invitation to a mugging. And you will look stupid.

  8. A very low percentage of people who join the military (like less than one half of one percent) ever get to fly an airplane, command a large ship, fly a jet, fire a major weapon system, carry a cool sword and dress up in the cool blue uniform. Most of the time you join, you work your butt off doing mundane things, you wait and then you get out. Nobody ever climbs cool mountains all by themselves, flies a jet for the fun of it, or just applies to be a sub commander and walks right into the job. All of those jobs are taken by people who have dedicated their lives to being the best at their craft as they can be. You will peel potatoes and empty garbage cans just like you would be doing in your home town, only you will do it in Podunkviklle aboard a ship somewhere or on a remote base in a hostile country.

  9. There is not a product made on this planet that will get red kool aid out of white carpeting. No matter how many times Billy Mays says so, OXY-CLEAN or whatever junk anybody is selling on TV, the red stain is there to stay even if you had a towel and some of that crap ready as soon as you spilled it. The are only three methods for getting it out. One, the carpet must be treated with a stain blocker like scotchguard or something like it, Two, Cover it up with a throw rug (or try to bleach it out and when the first two fails(and they will, believe me) , replace the carpet. Same for magic glue (yeah right), 50 machine washings, The last car polish you will ever need and any of the rest of the junk in this category. Two words. Barbie - Unrealistic. Two more words . GIJOE- Gay.

  10. A mop is a mop. A broom is a broom. A spray nozzle is a spray nozzle. Nothing they do to it and no color they make it will ever make it worth $19.99. Ever. Even if they say order in the next ten minutes and we'll double your order for free, keep in mind that they are selling a plastic broom handle, with plastic bristles for $10 each. It just ain't worth it. No air purifier is worth three easy payments of 69$. Why would you pay $300 for a fan ? A rubber tip on the end of a rubber broom don't make it worth $29.95




Thankx for reading my rant !


bigmike


Visit my blog online at http://bigmikerant.blogspot.com/


I encourage you to leave your own comments or reactions to my rants (even if you don't agree with me) in the comments section on each post.

Microsoft Office 2007

As some of you may know, I write a little bit of code sometimes. Usually things like automated forms, database applications, Outlook automation and etc.
 
For the last couple of weeks I have been updating one of my projects for a client of mine, that was started way back when Office was Office 97. Every year they make changes to their programs, I update the automation and things go on. Not this year. The parent company of the guy I work for, switched from Office 03 to Office 07.
 
Gawd, what a mess they have made out of what was a pretty good product. You leaned to navigate, to do certain things to use the bells and whistles and how to make the program do what you want it to do and wham ! Nothing works anymore like it should. Nothing is easy, Nothing is where it should be, code is screwed up, templates are plastered all over the place, projects blown completely up.
 
To upgrade what I have would be more than $950 (but it is supposedly not about money?)
 
The bottom line is this:
 
It (Microsoft Office 2007 - All versions) sucks.
The price sucks, the ribbon sucks, compatibility sucks, It just sucks.
I hate it when a big company like this pillages us and collapses our wallets just because their last product (remember Vista?) tanked.
It sucks too.
They took a pretty good product that took them more then ten years to get right and screwed it up royally.
 
You may as well get used to it though, if they cared what we thought they would spend the money making what they already have better and not force feed us this crap to have to stop and learn all over again.
 
It may be a better piece of software, but I don't have the time to stop everything and learn all I know all over again just so they can make more money.
 
What the Hell is a ribbon anyhow ? That sucks too.
 
Another wonderful product from Microsoft.
 
Oh and by the way ? Microsoft suc.....
 
 
Thankx for reading my rant ! 
 
bigmike
 
Visit my blog online at http://bigmikerant.blogspot.com/  
 
I encourage you to leave your own comments or reactions to my rants (even if you don't agree with me) in the comments section on each post.
 
Check out my business at http://answrtek.com
 

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

This is bassackwards !!!


This is bassackwards !!!

How is it that a corporate CEO can make millions of dollars per year and millions more in bonuses and then feel justified in laying off people in his company in order to bump up the share price for the shareholders? Don’t the shareholders realize that at some point they could bump up their own share price, invest directly in their own companies and make more profit by having a nimble well trained and well staffed company?

At least they would if it wasn’t the same 250 people on every board in every company in America. There is no glass ceiling anymore, its an ASS ceiling. Sarbanes Oxley is a joke. It is still the same good old boys network running everything, and they still have all ten fingers in the till. Shoot, I know people who have 800 + credit ratings right now, run successful businesses, and the banks will not loan money for any reason. they are afraid to because they view it as their duty to protect the bank, and not to protect their depositors, their communities or the people in it.

Thank the FED and Ben Bernanke for that. I appreciate it Warren. Thanks a lot Mr. Gates. Keep pumping up the banks, somebody has to protect the billionaires money I guess.

In the same train of thought, Why is it that the news will report that a company laid off thousands of people, or closed a plant or sold a whole division and that bumps up the share price, and they paint it out like it is a good thing ? Are these people really that stupid?

Or are we?

Seems to me bad news (less capacity and less employees to do the work), should key the directors and the shareholders and even the general Public that they have the wrong upper management in the first place. Seems to me they ought to hold the CEO responsible for the problem, not the hourly staff. The CEO can hang on for 10 years and he has a contract they have to buy him out of to get rid of him. Us? It’s a greased banana and don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

They think the current money crisis was caused by credit swaps? By subordinated debentures? They are crazy ! (and mistaken) Here is a word of advice. Even if you have to eat crap with a serving spoon at work right now, keep your job no matter what you do. You lose your job today and you are screwed. Another one at the same money is highly improbable. You better stay focused on keeping that paycheck coming right on in.

The new world economy is stacked against us. This current crisis wasn't caused by a bank, it was caused by greed. Wall street greed. The rules were made up by people lining their own pockets with our money. 25 points different in a complicated credit score based on obscure no logic reasoning and they figure out how to charge you thousands more dollars to buy a house or a car. You wonder why nobody is buying houses or cars right now?

It makes very little practical sense to fire the older workers because of high wages, to hire younger workers because of low wages, because to do so makes the purchasing power of the money they are paid (the younger worker) worth less. You earn less, everything costs more and your dollar doesn’t go anywhere as far as it used to.

Global warming? Yeah right, after we burn all the couches and chairs and dinner tables to keep warm maybe.

This crisis is because we are busy allowing companies to not pay taxes. It is because we are busy allowing employers to please their pocket books by merging with each other and then firing thousands of workers at once to manage their share price. Fannie mae and Freddie mac failed because the price of food went up, because ethanol increased the price of everything that is made with corn by 45%. They failed because we sat idly by and watched our auto makers pay workers 81$ per hour and then wondered why they lost money and cannot sell cars. They failed because the price of a gallon of gasoline doubled in 8 months and a fill up was 2 times as expensive at the end of the year as it was on the first day of the year. They failed because electricity, natural gas, jet fuel, diesel fuel and heating oil rose to levels never seen before while we did nothing but wring our hands.

You wonder why credit card companies are going under? Simple, everybody they gave credit to, has lost their jobs. they are in foreclosure, their cars have been repossessed, their bank accounts are empty and most are contemplating some form of bankruptcy, suicide, divorce or all three.

You think I worry about my 401k? Not my biggest worry right now, I assure you. I could care less what the price of a share of Ford, GM or Chrysler is right now as long as I can afford a gallon of gas to get to work, I'm good thanks. Heck, I care more about what a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk costs right now than an automakers share price.

Hundreds of Thousands of people have lost their jobs since January 2007. Most of them had to take work at less than one-half the salary they used to make. You wonder why banks failed? Hell, I wonder how I'm going to eat, how I'm going to afford to get to work. I drive 3 times as far , to make half as much, on gas that is twice as expensive. And you want me to feel sorry for a bank or an auto maker? The numbers these idiots ought to be concerned with is the jobless number. Fix the jobless problem and you have fixed everything else. If I have a job, I'll pay my mortgage, my credit cards, my bank loans and etc.

You do not have to "fix" really anything else. Just quit screwing with my job. !!!!Stop rewarding CEO's who think they have to trim expenses by firing thousands of workers to make wall street analysts happy so their share price doesn't drop. Just stop the stupidity.

In companies like the ones I just alluded to, the CEO’s of those firms have one common personality type. They think, for some strange reason that laying off people, constantly firing and constant criticism will shake up the place and make people more productive. I just don’t get it. What happens when you constantly shake up the place is everybody starts looking for a way to protect their job and keeps their head down, with very little effort going towards getting and productive work done in the first place. Dilbert makes more and more sense every day.

For some years now corporate America has been chasing a share price at the expense of everything else. We have almost wiped out our ability to manufacture everything from tube socks to washing machines in our quest for lower costs and higher share prices. Large retailers like Wal-Mart have contributed to this idiocy for a long time and I’ve yet to hear anybody ask the question that seems pretty obvious to ask.

How are we going to be able to buy anything in this new “World Economy” , if we don’t have anywhere to work that pays a decent wage and if there are no companies left to be loyal to? What are we supposed to be loyal to now anyway? A Brand? “Yes maam, I’d like one TIDE t-shirt and two pairs of Viagra socks please”. Get a grip !

See the thing is , we are in the middle of a fallacy that is a downward spiral and everything we are doing right now is managing that spiral downwards.

Less jobs is less money. Less money is less purchasing. Less purchasing is a negative economic trend. We will not be able soon to buy anything made in China because we won’t have any money to buy it with.

Who are all these poor third world nations going to sell to if they can’t sell it to us?

I couldn’t tell as I am late for my shift at McDonalds.

Today is dumpster clean out night and the kids are starving !!

Thankx for reading my rant !
bigmike
Visit my blog online at http://bigmikerant.blogspot.com/
I encourage you to leave your own comments or reactions to my rants (even if you don't agree with me) in the comments section on each post.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Americans

I've had this for several years and originally got it off the internet, somewhere. I didn't write this but thought it was a good time to post it again.

 

Thankx for reading my rant ! 
 
bigmike
 
Visit my blog online at http://bigmikerant.blogspot.com/  
 
I encourage you to leave your own comments or reactions to my rants (even if you don't agree with me) in the comments section on each post.
 
________________________________________________________
 

Finally someone says it right !!!

 

You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but  there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone  who killed an American, any American.

 

So an Australian dentist wrote the following to let everyone know what an American is, so they would know when they found one:

 

An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German,Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese,Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan. An American may also be a Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.

 

An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses. An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.

 

An American is from the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God given right of each person the pursuit of happiness.

 

An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need.When Afghanistan was overrun by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country. As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan.

 

Americans welcome the best, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best athletes. But they also welcome the least.The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty,welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America.. Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2001 earning a better life for their families. I've been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 other countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists. So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and every bloodthirsty tyrant in the history of the world. But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.

 

Pass this around the World.

 

Sunday, November 9, 2008

These are Headlines. Yeah right.

These are Headlines. Yeah right.
I'm a fairy friggin godmother.
 
Click a link to read the stories (if you can call them that !)
 
 
 
 
 
 
No wonder the rest of the world doesn't really take us seriously  a lot of the time.
 
We think this is what people are interested in.
 
Thankx for reading my rant ! 
 
bigmike
 
Visit my blog online at http://bigmikerant.blogspot.com/  
 
I encourage you to leave your own comments or reactions to my rants (even if you don't agree with me) in the comments section on each post.
 
Check out my business at http://answrtek.com
 

.......And the Headlines said " OBAMA Wins !" The youtube debate !

.......And the Headlines said " OBAMA Wins !"
 
Note ** There is a few youtube links in this Rant. If they don't click, just copy and past them in a browser that can play youtube video files. All of them are from the youtube site.
 
I woke up on the morning of November 5th, 2008 and Obama won the election.
 
Was I sad? Was I angry? Was I depressed? Am I indignant? Am I bitter?
 
The answer to those questions and every one like them is No
 
I am not. I am an American. I participated, I voted, I made my choice, I advanced my ideals and I was outnumbered.
 
This time.
 
Obama will be president for 8 years, mark my words.
 
Nobody could fix this mess in 4 years, trust me.
 
The reason is very simple. Stunning simplicity in its formation and irreversible in its logic.
 
It's a great day in America Everybody ! Why ?
 
The fact is, he (Obama) is a Democrat, and I am not. Mathematically and logically 1 out of 2 had to win. One wins and one loses. That is the promise of American politics. Always has been and always will be. The fact is though that more people voted in this election cycle than had voted in any of the past 5. More first time voters actually registered and then voted than any other point in history. The only demographic group McCain won totally on election day was Male, White , 64 plus years of age. Live to fight another day. Get over it. Stay focused on today.
 
Bush was not a poor President the whole time he was in office. He was right for a part of the time. I would argue we needed somebody just like him at a certain point in our history. His time is now past, but we needed him just the same. Bush was the right guy at the right time in our history for 2 or 3 years after 9-11. We needed a tough guy to say , "This is BS and we are not gonna take it." At that singular point in time, I was never prouder of an American president who said "Bring it on". I was never prouder of an American President who while touring and climbing over the rubble at ground zero, heard a firefighter say "Mr. President, We can't hear you", to which he responded with a bullhorn " Well I can hear you, and soon the whole world we hear all of us!", or something like that. You tube link of that moment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiSwqaQ4VbA
 
After that we lost our way (as Republicans) . Just about when he landed on the carrier and pronounced an end to major combat operations in Iraq, proclaimed "Mission Accomplished " , and put some idiot named L. Paul Bremmer in charge of rebuilding Iraq (who screwed the pooch in a very, very big way ), is when we forgot what the hell we were trying to accomplish as a nation.  What were they thinking ? AAARRRGGGHHH !!!
 
We didn't win this election and lost seats in Congress because we deserved to lose. The best we could offer America was attack ads, pit bulls and My Friends.
The candidates were a bunch of do nothing same as always , elitist, professional politicians who couldn't put together an effective message, execute an coherent strategy and did not have the ability manage the events in any tactical sense of the word. We blew it.
 
I think that you live in the moment. Sometimes those are great moments in our history.
All are monumental and defining points in American History.
Some good, some great, some notorious, and some pretty stupid things said by some pretty smart people.
 
I voted for Clinton twice. Why? For the exact same reason I voted for Bush twice.
 
Who were my choices when Bush ran ? Al Gore and John Kerry?
 
That's the best you could do?
 
Who were my choices when Clinton ran ? George H.W. Bush (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP9_kkzfN-w) and  Bob Dole?
 
Jesus get a grip ! I couldn't imagine somebody saying the 6 scariest words in America " Ladies and Gentlemen, President Al Gore. "
 
A couple though are imbedded in our psyche and are pretty awesome.
I profess to be a Republican, but not one cut from the crazy cloth of the right wing Neo-Conservative branch of my party. I'm not cut from the can't make a decision elements in American politics either. I'm not a religious nut or a gun nut or a zealot. I generally vote for the candidate, sometimes it is a republican , but not always.
 
Fact is my candidate this time was Fred Thompson.
 
He didn't make the cut.
 
I have an opinion and am not afraid to express it.
 
A lot of facts played into Obama's win, and win he did.
 
"Win big he did", is what Yoda would say.
 
Convince, Overwhelmingly and Stunningly. 
 
John McCain ran and he lost. 
 
Convince, Overwhelmingly and Stunningly. 
 
I didn't vote for Obama, but he is now my President too.
 
Criticize him, but understand you'll probably piss me off if you make fun of America in the process.
 
Just so we understand each other. !
 
P.S. - I hope he gets it right.
 
 
 
 
Thankx for reading my rant ! 
 
bigmike
 
Visit my blog online at http://bigmikerant.blogspot.com/  
 
I encourage you to leave your own comments or reactions to my rants (even if you don't agree with me) in the comments section on each post.
 
Check out my business at http://answrtek.com
 

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

One week to go and we still have not got one real decent answer from Obama about anything

 
The first thing I want to say is " aaaarrrrrgggggghhhhhh !!!!!"
 
There is one week to go before the election and things are as silly as they ever have been in the Presidential race. For the first time in history, the entire media industry is trying to make the election go the way they want it to by refusing to report real news and ask a single tough question. Obama has never had to answer for any of this stuff and we are all responsible because we haven't objected to the obvious bias and liberal attitude represented in their coverage.
 
You wonder why newspapers are failing ? Its not because they are not relevant, it is because they have made them irrelevant with their coverage.
 
We're less than a month from the election, and we still haven't unmasked the real Sen. Barack Obama, the radical, extremist, leftist with dangerous associations and dangerous plans and platforms. With the help of the dishonest, fraudulent, and biased mainstream media, Sen. Obama not only hasn't answered critically important questions, but also hasn't even been asked these questions. And apparently some voters are ready to vote for a candidate whose only accomplishments are pretty speeches.
 
The way I see it, a totally qualified Candidate, John McCain , is the one the media can't wait to dig up bad news about I cannot understand how they can continue to beat the bushes dead with so many non-issues day after day, week after week and somehow we just put up with it and continue to go along with it. Obama has essentially said hundreds of times that McCain is just like George Bush, and really nothing could be further from the truth. George was dependant upon and is controlled by neo-conservative, ultra right wing ideology and he never made it close to the center in managing his Presidency. McCain has always been about the middle point of view, except for a couple of issues. The fact that he and his family own 7 homes , 5 of which are not homes they live in is the story? Real estate investing is not allowed in politics? 
 
Obama on the other hand has had issue after issue arise from his past and from his record and somehow none of it matters. He can have all the things that have been exposed about him wrote up in one long story and somehow it slides right off of him and it somehow does not matter. I just don't get it. I don't see how anyone can be fooled by this guy. Smooth talker and so are most lawyers and criminals for that matter. Barack Obama has displayed extremely poor judgment in his association with Jeremiah Wright, a black separatist; William Ayers, a domestic terrorist; Tony Resko, arrested for bribery and extortion; and Raila Odinga, a Kenyan politician who has slaughtered thousands in the opposition party. Journalists have yet to verify Obama's platform on taxes, health care or education. A tax break for 95 percent of taxpayers can't be done; IRS shows of the 132 million tax returns, 40 million paid no tax at all. But increasing the capital gains and dividend taxes will hurt individuals earning as little as $42,000 a year. Basic economics tells us companies don't pay taxes, those purchasing their goods and services do. And, increasing taxes on small businesses, they can attempt to pass the costs along, lay off employees, reduce benefits or all of the above. Obama's plans of tax, spend, nationalize and redistribution of wealth will destroy the very pillars that make this country great.
 
We are gonna get just exactly what we wish for with this guy.
 
You don't like Bush because he has poor Judgment? Fine. Fire him and get somebody else.
 
Replace him with somebody who has better judgment.
 
Barack Obama ain't that guy.
 
  • He's had the Rev. Wright issue. Sat in that church for 20 years and he never objected until Rev. Wright embarrassed him.  Makes a pretty speech and all is forgiven.
 
  • Associates with a criminal ,Tony Resko, the convicted felon who assisted in the funding of Obama’s home.
 
  • How about his ties to the ACORN organization, the ones perpetrating voter fraud now and the ones his campaign gave over $800,000? Has the mainstream media even covered the ACORN story?
 
  • Barack Obama went into a Toledo neighborhood, and while there, came across a man, later known as Joe “the plumber.” Joe asked a question concerning Obama’s economic plan. Obama, among other statements suggesting “collectivism” rather than “individualism,” revealed his overall policy in his words, “when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everyone.” The last time we heard this was from Karl Marx. They spent the next couple of weeks destroying the reputation of Joe the Plumber. God forbid anybody should ask King Obama a tough question.
 
  • How about Bill Ayers? Has NBC stationed a satellite truck outside his hone? It is refreshing to hear that the University of Nebraska, and the people of Nebraska refuse to allow this unrepentant terrorist on its campus. Of course, when he did most of his bombings and killing of people, Obama was only 8 years old. Read all about Bill Ayers at , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Ayers.
 
  • In the last debate, McCain asked Obama, “When have you challenged members of your own party as the governor (Palin) and I have done?” The question went unanswered. Tough times at home and abroad demand leaders of tested mettle.
 
  • Why was it not made known that he is the second highest recipient of money from Fannie or Freddie? How come he gets a free pass from the reporters who are shaping your opinions of him.
 
Why does none of this stuff matter when selecting a president?
 
Why can we say ???
  • Dwight David Eisenhower
  • John Fitzgerald Kennedy
  • Lyndon Baines Johnson
  • Richard Milhous Nixon
  • Gerald Rudolff Ford, Jr.
  • James Earl Carter
  • Ronald Wilson Reagan
  • George Herbert Walker Bush
  • William Jefferson Clinton
  • George Walker Bush
 
But not (because if we do we are racist and unfairly attacking Muslims):
  • Barack Hussein Obama ?
 
 
The following from an online article at : http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-113477
 
1. What precisely was the nature of Senator Obama's relationship with convicted real estate developer Tony Resko? Why did he engage in a real estate deal with Rezko when he was under federal investigation? What "advice" did he give Obama about buying a house in Chicago?

2. Why has Obama proclaimed that he has been fighting alongside ACORN, a radical leftwing organization, his "entire career"?

3. What exactly has been Obama's experience with ACORN?

4. What was the nature of the "training" Obama provided to ACORN activists in Chicago?

5. What exactly occurred during the "actions" that Obama organized as a community organizer? Did the "actions" involve intimidation by any of the participants Obama led?

6. Why did ACORN activists humiliate bankers into giving bad loans after Obama trained them?

7. Why did Obama seek ACORN's endorsement in his state senate race?

8. What, if any, support did ACORN provide Obama in his 2004 Senate race?

9. Why was Obama silent on the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reform package in 2005?

10. Why did Obama say that sub-prime lending was a "good thing"?

11. Why did Obama support $500 million a year going to ACORN-like organizations in the housing bailout this past summer?

12. Why did the Woods Fund and the Joyce Foundation direct millions to organizations such as ACORN while Obama was serving on the board of those foundations?

13. Why did Madeleine Talbot, one time fiery leader of Chicago ACORN, invite Obama to help train their organizers in the 1990s?

14. Why did Obama attend a fundraiser at George Soros's home during his 2004 campaign?

15. Why didn't Obama return campaign contributions from George Soros?

16. Why did Obama vote to raise taxes on people making as little as $42,000 per year?

17. Has Senator Obama or his campaign coordinated with St. Louis law enforcement authorities who are threatening criminal libel charges against critics of Obama who make statements that are found to by law enforcement officials to be "false"?

18. Are the Obama campaign's "internet action alerts" directing supporters to overwhelm call-in radio show that are critical of Obama consistent with the fair and open campaign the Senator has pledged to run?

19. When did Senator Obama first meet domestic terrorist William Ayers? Did Obama know Ayres as a student at Columbia in the early 1980s?
 
 
I can think of at least 10 more questions I cannot read about the answers to in the media, because he has never been made to account for them.
 
Here are 10 that should be answered before you vote for this guy.
 
You want to vote for this guy? Fine, ask him these 10 questions and see what you get as a response.
 
You can't ask the media though, because they are in love with him and will not ask these questions.
 
  • Why do you have a long list of questionable associates that are racists, bigots, anti-Americans and even terrorists? You know who I am talking about: Reverend Jeremiah "God Damn" America" Wright, William "Bomber of Pentagon" Ayers; Bernadine "The Terrorists" Dohrn; Fr. Michael "Racist" Pfleger, Tony "Convicted Felon and Slumlord" Resko, Professor Rashid "Known Terrorist Sympathizer and Spokesman for Terrorist Organization" Khalidi, and the list goes on. Are you aware that you could not get the security clearance required for a federal employee because of your associations?
 
  • Why do you lie about these associations when finally confronted with them? For example, of the terrorist Mr. Ayers you said he's just a guy who lives in the neighborhood. The truth is that you have had a long and close association with him. You launched your political career in his house. You wrote a blurb for one of his books. You served on boards with him. You were on speakers' panel with him. You headed a board of an organization that doled out $100 million of dollars working with Mr. Ayers, money that went to radicalize school children. Does that sound like just a guy who lives in the neighborhood? Your latest doubletalk on  Mr. Ayers was that you thought he was "rehabilitated." That's baloney because as late as 9/11 he told the New York Times he should have done more bombings. Then there's terrorist Mr. Khalidi, who you describe as just another guy in the neighborhood. When you, Mr. Obama, were on the board of the Woods Fund (2002), you participated in awarding $70,000 grant to the American Action Network, A Chicago-based group founded by Mr. Khalidi and his wife. Mr. Khalidi held a fund-raiser for your political run. Was that a payoff for the grant? You knew or should have known what Mr. Khalidi stood for and that he had close ties to the PLO, when the U.S. State Department classified it as a terrorist group. And when Mr. Khalidi left Chicago for New York, you delivered one of the testimonials for this terrorist.
 
  • Why do you use the same incredible line every time one of your questionable associations is exposed? You've said, that's not the Rev. Wright I knew? That's not the Rezko I knew. Why do you have so much trouble figuring out these shady characters even after close associations that run for decades?
 
  • What does you inability to level with the American people on these associations say about your honesty and trustworthiness...and your values and character? What do these associations with radicals, bigots, terrorists and all the rest say about your judgment?
 
  • Can you name another presidential candidate in our history who had so many close associations with terrorists, racists, bigots, and anti-Americans? Birds of a feather flock together. What does that line up say about you, Sen. Obama? Why is it that you have received endorsements from Hamas, the terrorist organization; Fidel Castro, the former dictator of Cuba; Louis Farrakhan, the notorious anti-American anti-Semite who just called you the "Messiah"; and the Black Panther Party? Sen. Obama can't control his endorsements, but he can control which ones he announces on his Web site. The Black Panther endorsement was posted on his Web site. Doesn't that suggest Mr. Obama is proud of the endorsement by the Black Panthers, a group that is openly anti-White, anti-Jewish and anti-American. Only when criticism came in was the endorsement from the site taken down. Why can't you do what's right, before your wrongdoing is exposed and before it becomes politically expedient to act?
 
  • In one of your books, you admitted you sought out Marxist professors at universities. You were attracted to Rev. Wright and his Trinity Church, a bastion of Marxist black liberation theology. You have had a long association with William Ayres who rails and rants against capitalism and America. When running for the Illinois Senate, you sought out and obtained the support of the Marxist "New Party" in Chicago in 1995. You had a communist mentor when growing up. You advocate redistribution of income. You believe in big government as do all the tax and spend liberals that you swim with. Does that explain why there is a heavy touch of socialism in your worldview and in your programs?
 
  • Why did you say American troops in Afghanistan are just "air raiding villages and killing civilians?" Do you want to apologize now for that comment? Is that the way you support the troops? Is that why you refused to wear an American flag on your lapel? Do you support some of the other slanderous comments made by your fellow Democrats about American servicemen? For example, Rep. John Murtha said American soldiers were killing civilians in cold blood and never apologized when these soldiers were acquitted. Then there is Sen. John Kerry who said American troops were terrorizing women and children in the dark of night, or Sen. Dick Durbin who compared our troops to Nazis.
 
  • You'll recall that moveon.org ran the infamous advertisement that said "General Petraeus or General Betray Us." Why did you refuse to vote for the Senate resolution (the Cornyn resolution) condemning that advertisement? Why did you hide in the cloakroom when that vote was being taken?
 
  • Why did you say Iran, Cuba and Venezuela are just tiny countries and are not a real threat to us? Aren't you aware that Iran is now sending in weapons and people to kill our troops in Iraq? Aren't you aware they are now developing nuclear weapons and would not hesitate to give terrorists a dirty bomb that might wipe out an American city? Aren't you aware that Iran is the leading supporter of international terrorism? Do you, as critics often say, still have a pre-9/11 mentality?
 
  • Will you at last admit the surge in Iraq was a success? You opposed the surge and said it would increase ethnic violence and fail. And even after virtually everyone admits the surge has been a success, you still refuse to finally admit you were dead wrong and the surge has succeeded. A characteristic of presidential leadership is the ability to admit a mistake. Would you now at long last admit you were wrong on the surge and it is succeeding?
 
And this Ladies and gentlemen is the candidate that the liberal left wing ultra socialist media would have you believe is the answers to all of your prayers and is the one who will fix all that is wrong with America. It is he , the King Obama who will restore America's reputation and make us the leader we once were.
 
pu-lease. ! What a load of BS.
 
Check these links out. Now there is even a video which purports to show Obama praising a terrorist, and the L.A. times won't release it.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Thankx for reading my rant ! 
 
bigmike
 
Visit my blog online at http://bigmikerant.blogspot.com/  
 
I encourage you to leave your own comments or reactions to my rants (even if you don't agree with me) in the comments section on each post.