An Apologetic for Plaxico Burress.

          Preseason NFL football games may actually be necessary to prepare new signees and old hands for the upcoming rigors of a sixteen game season. But candidly most of the games are of little interest outside of the 27 diehard fans that watch them. Nevertheless there I was watching the NY Jets stumble through a preseason game against someone. I found myself rooting for the one behind in the score hoping to keep some degree of interest going. It was at the halftime that my viewing buddy mentioned that the NY Giants had traded Plaxico Burress to the Jets after his release from jail where he had spent almost two years in the “hoosegow” for shooting himself in the leg.

          For those of you who may not remember, here is a review of that incident as captured from “Wikipedia”:

“On November 28, 2008, Burress suffered an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound to the right thigh in the New York City nightclub LQ when his Glock pistol, tucked in the waistband of his sweatpants, began sliding down his leg; apparently in reaching for the gun he inadvertently depressed the trigger, causing the gun to fire. The injury was not life-threatening and he was released from an area hospital the next afternoon. Two days later, Burress turned himself in to police to face charges of criminal possession of a handgun. It was later discovered that New York City police learned about the incident only after seeing it on television and were not called by New York-Presbyterian Hospital as required by law. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the hospital actions an "outrage" and stated that they are a "chargeable offense". Bloomberg also urged that Burress be prosecuted to the fullest extent, saying that any punishment short of the minimum 3½ years for unlawful carrying of a handgun would be "a mockery of the law. Burress had an expired (concealed carry (CCW)) license from Florida, but no New York license.”

(With a Mayor like that sticking up for you, you don’t need any enemies.)

“On Monday, August 3, 2009, prosecutors announced that Burress had been indicted by the grand jury on two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and a single count of reckless endangerment in the second degree, both felonies”. (How they came up with ‘two counts of weapon possession' for this is a mystery to me since he had only one Glock, but then again so is ‘second degree’. Is there a first and third degree level of disobeying the law if you carry a hand gun in NY?)

Well, with all that governmental impetus behind the DA, they refused to entertain a plea deal and Plaxico was indited by the Grand Jury; ended up serving almost 2 years in prison. (I could find no record concerning the prosecution of the NY Presbyterian Hospital for their failure to report the incident. Guess that they have better friends down at the Mayor’s or DA's office.)

During the halftime festivities my buddy and I discussed this shooting episode. Turns out that my buddy carries a weapon legally and was all upset over this incident. Says that Plaxico, having had a Florida CCW permit knew that carrying a gun in the waist band and not in a holster was dangerous and stupid. He did commend him on owning a Glock 9mm however. He dragged me over to the computer and showed on an internet site for “USCCA” how article after article warns to carry hand guns in a holster, and in a holster that covers the trigger so that you don’t accidentally shoot yourself. I asked him if the old west gunmen used that kind of holster, but he just waived me off.

After he left I began to review the whole situation in my very active mind. Seems to me the Hospital was egregessly remise in their legal responsibilty and something should be done to get their attention. After all, when two gangbangers have a shoot out, about the only ones that will know about the firefight will either be the Coronor or some local hospital or doctor. Especially since most of those exchanges seem to occur in neighborhoods that eschew calling 911 for anything.

Then my thoughts turned to Mr. Burress. The guy got a bum deal in my opinion.

          Everyone living in NY City should be allowed to carry at least one handgun. Sure Mr. Burress should have registered like he did in Florida, but two years in the slammer? If I lived in the Bronx, Queens, or the like, I’d want to carry at least two semis and wear body armor, of only the most decorative style of course. Add the wealthy target that Mr. Burress presents to every perp that wants to” take yourin and make it hisin”, and the need is increased to go “armed”.

          Then there is the issue that he shot himself. Yes, he should have been charged with gross stupidity and sentenced to some type of “potty cleaning” community service reserved for only the most mentally challenged weapons' violators. But two years for shooting yourself? It is obvious that this is the type of justice that you can expect in the eastcoast dominated by pointee headed, liberal, commie pinkos that hate guns more than they hate shutting down an abortion mill, ACORN, or Planned Parenthood. Had Mr. Burress been so fortunate to live in the South when this mishap occurred, the Grand Jury would probably have sentenced him to “punishment already received”. After all, he shot himself in the leg at point blank range with a 9mm Glock, the wound cost an entire season of gainful employment and remuneration with the NY Giants, a Super Bowl Winner, and he was traded to the Jets! Wasn’t that enough?

          Yep, Mr. Plaxico Burress got a bum deal in my opinion!

I Control the Price of Gold! Well at least its Direction.

            Yes, this is a bold statement, and I understand that it opens me up to investigation by and potential prosecution from the SEC. But after I provide you with the empirical evidence for such a claim, I’m certain that you will agree with it, as well as concur that I have not engaged in any illegal or immoral activity, as to the above assertion.

            It all began some 30 years or so ago. I was watching an “Investment Program” on TV. Some commentator was interviewing a small, wizened Frenchman, Ives Gilliard (?) or something like that, who was the manager of a mutual fund named, as I recall, “The SoGen Fund”. The commentator was berating the Frenchman for maintaining a 5% ratio of gold in the fund. He pointed out that gold didn’t return any dividends or interest and was just “dead” money and hurt the return of all the fund holders. The Frenchman looked at him with mild forbearance, such as you would grant to the Village Idiot, and explained his logic. “The gold is my insurance policy. If everything goes to Hell in a hand basket, the value of the gold might rise sufficiently to offset some of the portfolio’s other losses.”

            Well, that made sense to me and so that very week I went out and bought a gold coin. As I remember we were in some type of financial fiasco even back then and the price of my gold coin was around $800.00. Well within weeks the price of gold plummeted and finally settled down into the $200.00 range. Keeping faith with Mr. Guillard(?), I held onto that gold coin for 20 or more years.

            Again watching the financial pundits on TV, I was finally convinced by one that gold was a terrible investment. It paid no interest or dividends and had not only not gone up in value over the ensuing twenty odd years after having fallen from the ridiculous price of $800.00 an ounce, but I was sitting with a big loss. This last point hurt me personally, as you might appreciate.  So I went out and sold my gold coin for around $300.00, took my loss bravely, and used the coin’s selling proceeds to invest in some hot, but safe investment. I can’t recall if I bought Enron or MCI, but that’s not important as both soon went to zero. Which only reinforced my feeling that my gold investment had been a complete and total disaster.

            Within just a few short years after my exiting the gold market, the price is now above $1,800.00 an ounce.

            You can see my logic. I bought at $800.00 and it went down, and stayed down for decades for as long as I held onto that gold coin. I sold at $300.00 and within a relatively short time it’s up above $1,800.00. Ergo I have this uncanny ability or skill or supernatural power to influence the price of, or at least the direction in which the price of gold moves, by my very action. If I purchase gold, it retreats to the basement level and remains for the duration of my ownership. If I sell gold, it zooms into the stratosphere. Ergo I control the price direction of gold by my personal investment in that barbarous metal.

            I’m thinking that I should purchase some gold now as the world’s financial situation seems to be unraveling before our very eyes. Two things can happen, both beneficial. First the price of gold could continue to rise, at which event I’ll make back some of my earlier loss and really feel astute and vindicated. I might even forgive Mr. Elliard(?). The Second possibility is that the price of gold would plummet. This would only confirm my above claim to control of the price direction of that barbarous, but lovely metal. It would obviously harm my personal financial situation, but would probably signal that the crises that are flaming around the world are diminishing and that the panicky flight into gold has abated as the world returns to more normal financial and monetary calm. Yes, my wealth would be gone, but I would be recognized as the benefactor of all mankind.

            Well Gold reached the heavenly heights above $1,800.00 and as I listened to the learned advice from MSNBC experts I realized that their expectations of gold reaching $5,000.00 an ounce without me was just not acceptable. So guess what I did?

            Gold has plummeted down to below $1,750.00 per ounce from a high of $1,917.00. If you’ve been paying attention, you know what I must have done.

            I’m considering a new business venture in light of the above. What would you think of paying a small fee, to be informed of when I buy or sell that glittering seductive metal? (No Shirley, I’m not talking about buying you some gold jewelry. I’m talking about buying the real stuff in bulk. You know, like a full ounce gold coin or gold bar.)

European Nations’ Reactions To Current Financial Crisis.

Some are still able to view the current European financial crisis with a sense of humor. Below is the assessment by John Cleese of “Faulty Towers” and “Monty Python” fame.

“ALERTS TO THREATS IN 2011 EUROPE:  BY JOHN CLEESE (British writer, actor and tall person) 

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from “Run” to “Hide.”  The only two higher levels in France are “Collaborate” and “Surrender”.

The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France’s white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country’s military capability.

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent events in Libya and have therefore raised their security level from “Miffed” to “Peeved.”  Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to “Irritated” or even “A Bit Cross.”  The English have not been “A Bit Cross” since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out.  Terrorists have been re-categorized from “Tiresome” to “A Bloody Nuisance”.  The last time the British issued a “Bloody Nuisance” warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.

The Scots have raised their threat level from “Pissed Off” to “Let’s get the Bastards.”  They don’t have any other levels.  This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.

Italy has increased the alert level from “Shout Loudly and Excitedly” to “Elaborate Military Posturing”.  Two more levels remain:  “Ineffective Combat Operations” and “Change Sides”.

The Germans have increased their alert state from “Disdainful Arrogance” to “Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs”.  They also have two higher levels:  “Invade a Neighbor” and “Lose”.

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy.  These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from “No worries” to “She’ll be alright, Mate”.  Two more escalation levels remain:  “Crikey!  I think we’ll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!” and “The Barbie is cancelled”.  So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.

– John Cleese - British writer, actor and tall person”

It is comforting to observe that the current U.S of A. leadership takes a much calmer view toward the current economic situation. They've all gone on vacation to Martha's Vineyard or somewhere while we poor folks fret and worry about our next meal or mortgage payment. (Did Martha really have a vineyard there?)

Federal Budget 101

The following was sent to me by a friend. I’ll not mention his name as Ted is sensitive about gaining unwanted notoriety. Nevertheless, it is such a great reduction in detail and scope of the current fiscal issue facing this great nation, I’m passing it on as if I some how were the originator, which I’m not. It makes our current situation , in simple illustration, very understandable.

“Federal Budget 101:
The U.S. Congress sets a federal budget every year in the trillions of dollars. Few people know how much money that is so we created a breakdown of federal spending in simple terms. Let's put the 2011 federal budget into perspective:

U.S. income:     $ 2,170,000,000,000

Federal budget: $ 3,820,000,000,000

New debt:         $  1,650,000,000,000

National debt:  $14,271,000,000,000

Recent budget cut: $ 38,500,000,000 (about 1 percent of the budget)

It helps to think about these numbers in terms that we can relate to. Let's remove eight zeros from these numbers and pretend this is the household budget for the fictitious Jones family:

Total annual income for the Jones family:        $21,700

Amount of money the Jones family spent:        $38,200

Amount of new debt added to the credit card:  $16,500

Outstanding balance on the credit card:         $142,710

Amount cut from the budget:                                $385

So in effect last month Congress, or in this example the Jones family, sat down at the kitchen table and agreed to cut $385 from its annual budget. What family would cut $385 of spending in order to solve $16,500 in deficit spending?
It is a start, although hardly a solution.

Now after years of this, the Jones family has $142,710 of debt on its credit card (which is the equivalent of the national debt).

You would think the Jones family would recognize and address this situation, but it does not. Neither does Congress.

The root of the debt problem is that the voters typically do not send people to Congress to save money. They are sent there to bring home the bacon to their own home state.

To effect budget change, we need to change the job description and give Congress new marching orders.

It is awfully hard (but not impossible) to reverse course and tell the government to stop borrowing money from our children and spending it now.”

In effect, what we have is a reverse mortgage on the country. The problem is that the voters have become addicted to the money. Moreover, the American voters are still in the denial stage, and do not want to face the possibility of going into rehab.

Bring on the aspirin.

As this is written for you the "T.E.A (Taxed Enough Already) Party" is being maligned and called “terrorists”. Which in fact must seem true to all of those folks who depend on the Federal Government to fund their lifestyles. That some how this loosely associated band of concerned citizens could by demonstration and pressure on political candidates change the fiscal culture in Washington would be no less than a miracle. God bless them everyone.

A Leadership Vacuum or Just Failure at Department of Workforce Services?

          Arkansas Governor Beebe and Retired but now Rehired Workforce Services Director Artee Williams confirmed publicly this week that they had failed in one of the fundamental requirements of leadership. (No Shirley they didn’t admit it, but their actions absolutely confirmed it.)

            Neither executive had insured that the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services had the depth or competence of management to replace Mr. Artee Williams when he retired. Thus the Governor was forced, forced to rehire Mr. Williams and put him into that growing group of ignominious but legal “double dippers”.

            Of course this failure of leadership on the part of both men was covered up with this glowing announcement from the Governor, ”You can always hire somebody cheaper. The question is: Are you hiring somebody cheaper who can do as good a job? That was the critical position that, especially in light of the unemployment issues going forward, Artee’s expertise was really, really needed.” The Governor defended the rehiring of Williams on the basis of ‘Williams overall performance and, in particular, his management of the state’s unemployment trust fund’. This last is curious since the state had to borrow over $300 million from the Feds to cover the cost of unemployment over the past three years. (Yes Shirley, that’s $300 million dollars!)

            Since not a single person on the current staff at the Department of Workforce Services is competent to step up in responsibilities and assume the Directorship, one can only expect that Mr. Artee Williams will immediately clean shop by firing or demotion and bring in a new group of potentially more competent and upwardly capable executives. (No Shirley, I’m not holding my breathe on that.)

And When You Thought That Our “Potentates” Couldn’t Do Any More Stupid Things.

          The University of Central Arkansas (UCA), once a proud institution that was noted for training very competent teachers and others, has entered a new phase of notoriety. And it’s not that UCA invented “Stupid Executive Decision Making”, but it appears that they are offering some type of advanced degree in its pursuit.

For those of you that may have short memories, this is the same university that was duped by one Lou Hardin, then their president, out of several hundred thousand dollars via forgery and fraud; I guess those are the legal definitions. Seems he had a gambling problem and honored his gambling losses more, well, more than his own honor, reputation, responsibilities, family, God, state, country, etc.; you get the idea. So he forged some signatures of folks to a letter extolling his own worth and endorsing immediate payment to him of a couple hundred grand. “He’s in the jail house now!”

Next the UCA finds themselves the proud owners of a 1930s President’s Mansion in which they’ve sunk $800,000.00 in renovations over the past few years only to have the current resident, President Allen Meadors, move out and apparently allege that it is unfit for proper entertainment of important people, you know “High Moguls” and “Mucket-T-Mucks”. So UCA must now decide if they wish to sink another small fortune into this “hallowed house of history” or buy a new mansion for President Meadors, or just give him $1,500.00 per month housing allowance.

Perhaps that it was to discuss this very issue that prompted the UCA Board of Trustees to sneak off to the Red Apple Inn and Country Club in Heber Springs for a “retreat”. It only cost UCA $3,684.00 for this “Trustee Tryst”. It is unknown at this time what, if anything, they discussed or decided. Some good news for the Trustees is that they are also eligible to collect “mileage” for their retreat trip.

One would have thought that at an institution with so many modern facilities, excepting President Meadors’ mansion, the Trustees might have located a conference room, auditorium, library study, private dining room, executive meeting room or something like that where these erstwhile “Representatives of the Taxpayers” could have gathered and saved the UCA $3,684.00. But what the heck, between the couple of hundred grand to Lou Hardin, the mounting millions at “Meadors Mansion”, this is “chump change”.

          One does wonder why these gentlemen are titled “Trustees”. Shirley has told me quite emphatically that she wouldn’t “Trust” these “Trustees” to boil water

The Beggaring of Allen Meadors

            It’s distressing to learn of the unfortunate plight of University Central Arkansas President Allen Meadors. After spending $800,000.00 for repairs on his University supplied mini-mansion, ($400,000.00 during his tenure), he’s facing the grim prospects of subsisting on a meagerly $18,000.00 annual housing allowance to compliment his $245,140.00 annual salary. (No, he didn’t personally spend the $800,000.00, the university did.)

            He sits strangely silent as the Board discusses putting another $400,000.00 into the place ( a total of $ 1.2 million), or buying him a new mini-mansion, or placing him on near welfare with an $18,000.00 annual housing stipend. One’s compassion is raised to new heights to consider the ignominy into which he would be placed with such a miserly annual stipend.

            Despite all the university’s conference rooms, auditoriums, local conference areas, etc, “The President” is expected to have sufficiently lavish living quarters to entertain “High Moguls”, “Big Money Donors”, plus “Political Potentates”. To expect President Meadors to accomplish this on a mere $18,000.00 per year is patently preposterous. The only reasonable solution is spend upward of another $400,000.00 to a $million to acquire some type of decent living arrangements for this august personage’s position.

            While President Meadors keeps peculiarly silent as the Board fiddles with where and how much to spend, Governor Beebe could offer a solution.

            If Governor Beebe would appoint President Meadors to the Game and Fish Commission, President Meadors would have at least two free cars to drive till retirement and then they could rename the formerly “Lake Conway” the “Allen Meadors Craig Campbell Lake Conway Reservoir”. Surely such would satisfy everyone’s need and ego. And it wouldn’t cost any additional monies since the Game and Fish Commission has more vehicles than employees and the vote to rename lakes, etc after board members is free since the board doesn’t even incur extra travel mileage costs for the board to attend a special “naming meeting” since they all drive state supplied cars anyway.
           I'm available to solve these kind of knotty problems, just call.

Beebe’s Band of Brigands Busting Budgets!

      

            Well I’m Shocked! Shocked to learn that Governor Beebe’s new prisoner “Commit the Crime and Serve No Time” bill is creating budget problems all over the state of Arkansas!

            The Gov and the “lemming like legislature” passed a “le Pew” Center recommendation to reduce felonies to misdemeanors so as to send criminals back onto the streets rather than to state prisons, or in the worst case for local governments, to send the miscreants to city and county lockups. This would save the State over $800 million dollars over ten years since fewer prisons and guards would be needed. Well guess where these recently convicted criminals, at least those not given probation, are being sent? Yep, you guessed it; straight to the local city or county “hoosegow”. Now these municipal governments are discovering that their local lockups are bulging at the seams, or beds, attempting to house this influx of unexpected miscreants formerly sent to state prisons. Some municipal governments are now seeking taxpayer OK to build larger jails or add to their existing one.

            One such proposal sought $5 million to build a new jail. There are over 70 counties in the state. If each must build or increase their current jailhouse within the next ten years and the $5million cost is the norm, well, gee the taxpayers of Arkansas are going to be hit with $350 million in construction costs for jail facilities alone. When you add the cost of new police to guard and control, plus the cost of feed and utilities the $800 million savings that the “le Pew” Center sold to Beebe and the Legislature as savings for the state budget will just be shifted to the local governments.

            Can you hear it? The crowing of the Governor about all the money he saved the state by not building more prisons. But don’t get upset. “The governor has said there were going to be some problems; everyone said that there are going to be some problems”. Per Executive Director of Arkansas Sheriff’s Association “Governor Beebe said that his office will work with us to find solutions or make the necessary changes.” Or as Matt DeCample, the governor’s spokesman said, “the governor’s office is taking a similar approach (?) to possible problems that may arise as the law is implemented. If there are unseen problems we didn’t predict, we’ll be right there to help everyone who is sharing the burden with any issues that arise. This could very well shift some people to the local jails, but right now a lot of what we’re dealing with is hypothetical.”

            The new law took effect on July 27^th and already there is concern from local sheriffs. Since Governor Beebe’s term limit is up in 2014, I wonder how much solace the local jailers are taking from his promise to “be there and help with their future problems”. Well at least the Beebe won’t have to worry about it, he’ll be long gone.

            I guess the real question is this: “Is it less expensive to build about 70 new jails and man them or just to go ahead and build two or three mega prisons and man them?”

            The taxpayers of Arkansas will know the answer to that in about ten years. Of course the “le Pew” Center and the Beebe highly recommended just putting the prisoners back out on the street with a parole promise that they be good fellows in the future. So putting the miscreants into the local jail isn’t following their best advice. So you see, it’s not the Governor’s fault if the local DAs insist on putting criminals behind bars.

Why the U.S. May Have an Unsolvable Long Term Debt Problem.

"I'm always impressed when the absolute truth shows up in short form:
  The problems we face today are there because

the people who work for a living

are outnumbered by those who vote for a living."

Yes, You Do Have a Potentially Terminal Illness. Would you prefer two More Aspirin and a larger band-aid, or would you like to be cured?

            That’s our choice dear Americans; more Aspirins and band-aids or some very distasteful medicine that will cure our disease. What disease you ask? The disease of overspending until we are absolutely, completely, totally, flat-broke and plunged into some type of economic morass that is beyond the comprehension and understanding of most of us.

            The Lord God Almighty, in His manifest wisdom and mercy, has deemed it a merciful intervention to give a glimpse of our future, should we continue down this road into the future. That glimpse is Greece, followed by Ireland then Portugal.

            Our leaders in Washington, fearful of their careers or grasping firm to their belief that the pot of OPM (other people’s money) will never run out, are toying with reducing spending over the next ten years by 1 or 2 trillion dollars. This will leave us with a debt total growing from the current 14+ trillion to over 20 Trillion Dollars by 2021. Wow! What frugality they display!

            Most diseases have a “point of no return” in their pathology. A point which if the disease is detected and treated before reaching, your chances of cure and recovery are almost assured. I fear that the financial soundness of our nation is at, or past (pray God not so) that point.

            The “cure” that you and I must undergo at this time is distasteful. Many will sacrifice; and yes the wealthy always have the resources to survive better than most. But that should not deter us from taking our “medicine” now to save this great and wonderful nation. That some will sacrifice less, others more, a few not at all, isn’t the point or even an issue. If this “ship of state” hits the shoals of financial bankruptcy due to our unwillingness to curtail our profligate spending, we will all sink and drown in the morass to follow.

            Whether you like it or not, this is not a time for our political leaders to “just get it done” as so many of the “pundits” and “bobble-heads” espouse and shout. “Just get it done” with two more aspirin and a larger band-aid will probably ensure our financial downfall some time in the short future. Our children and grandchildren will never forgive us for what we will have done to destroy their future. Of course we will all applaud and breathe a collective sigh of relief that a “budget compromise” was reached without cutting all those needed programs.

            Thomas Paine said it very well in 1775, “That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly”. Only through the pain and misery of cutting our current federal spending by close to 9 trillion dollars over ten years will we have any chance at a sound economic future for our children.

            Thank God for those few members elected by the “T.E.A. Party” who have elected to “Stand”! All of the folks in Congress know what is required to really fix our economic situation. They all know what are the right, correct, needed things to do. It would seem that only those sent up there by the “T.E.A. Party” have decide it’s time to “STAND”!