Is America number one??

I had the good fortune to watch this video this morning..... I realized that i could not add anything that would better say how I feel..... 

Windows and Linux

In my opinion, the difference between Windows and Linux the difference between user and geek. I have used both. I am now using Linux on my home computer mainly because it is less vulnerable to cyber attacks and malware.

Windows users tend to only want their tech products to get things done. They don't care how it does it. Whereas Linux is the preferred platform for geeks who love to know how to disassemble phones and  computers to see how they work... then put them together again.

The reason windows is so much more popular is the fact that, for most people it is so much easier to use. It is based on GUI or graphic user interface, or pictures. Point at the image of a letter and you get to write emails. Point to the image of a globe and you can surf the Web.

Underneath the  images are lines of code that gives your device the actual details of how to get the job done. Linux users love knowing this code, they love to tweak the code to make it different.... That is the thing that makes most Linux users different... They want to  control things... They like the feeling of superiority to the average windows user.

I am not going to promote one over the other here, again I use both. Each has its pros and cons.

Side-note to the Linux guy on you tube who helped me root my phone...stop loading your site with pirating malware....if I wanted my stuff stolen I would leave it on my front lawn....

Prosperity beach, USA

I read  today that Carl Icahn, a multibillionaire investor tweeted that he felt Apple stock was under valued. Coincidentally he had just purchased a very large amount of said stock. The value at the time of his tweet was about 1.5 billion dollars. Within 1 hour, the value of his stock increased to almost 2 billion....that is 500 million in less than one hour...how is that for making fast money.....that is more money than 500 average American workers will make in a lifetime, combined.

Lets say the earth is a beach, we will call it prosperity beach. The average worker is a grain of sand and lets say that Carl Icahn represents the 1% of the world that controls 80% of the wealth. Now lets say wealth is represented by seashells.

Carl strolls down the beach enjoying the beautiful view and thinking about how he can collect more seashells today..he already has a huge amount,  but he feels he must have more...he is not sure why. 

Carl is enjoying his day almost totally unaware of the grains of sand beneath him supporting his weight thus allowing him to continue his journey.

Carl is so big compared to the grains of sand that each grain has a hard time seeing him.........

it is like trying to imagine the size of the universe........even Stephen Hawking can't.

Carl's world would not exist if not for the millions of grains of sand he and others like him walk on every day...every grain of sand is very important to his existence...but will he stop to notice them?? 

Will he appreciate the contribution that each grain makes to support his weight?

I hope so..But the divide today in america between the rich and the poor is great and increasing every day....spreading the wealth should not be a four letter word...it should not be associated with hand-outs, welfare or socialism, but it all to often is.....these are tactics used by a few Ichans of the world so they may keep more seashells for themselves without feeling bad....

How does this sound...instead of "shared wealth" let us all start saying

 "shared opportunities"...

Now .....that sounds a lot better doesn't it????

How ironic

In my opinion, the two best shows on cable are The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.

I love their style of humor. They take the art of ironic humor to a whole new level....irony is the art of saying one thing, but meaning the opposite....and both Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are experts at it.

In today's age of immediate news, and our tendency to focus on bad news, it is a blessing to have at least one news show that delivers it with a much needed humorist twist....and yes I do consider the daily show to be a news program..the fact they use humor to deliver it is a definite plus......

Colbert is a little more ironic commentary than news, but Stephens ability to be ironic with a straight face is second to none.

So, allow me to paraphrase....The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are a complete waste of electrons, Jon and Stephen are idiots..and if I ever get the chance...I will punch them both in the face..........how ironic.

The president and the 1st gentleman???

In my opinion, Hillary Clinton will be the next president of the United states. That will make Bill the first gentleman.......?????

Let me repeat that....Bill Clinton will be the first gentleman????




How sad for Hillary, even though she will be the first female president of the United states of America.....Bill will still be the one in the spotlight....

Hillary has done a fine job, first as the first lady, then as senator then as secretary of state.
She was most likely the brains behind Bills presidency.

She has endured much, and survived. She knows first hand how the dirty game of politics is played, and she is willing and able to get dirty with the best of them.

I am looking forward to Hillary's presidency. She will be great. She is seasoned and tough. She will not tolerate our do nothing Senate. She will not play as nice as Obama has.........

If the republicans think they hated Obama they haven't seen nothing yet....

May god bless Hillary Clinton, our next president...and Bill our "1st ", first gentleman......

Side note to Bill...you might want to get one of your old secret service pals to put a camera in the oval office.....you know how tempting some of those young female.....er...I mean ....male interns can be.....

Money..Good or Bad???

In my opinion, money in and of itself is neither good or bad, it is merely a tool. The good or bad part lies in how you use your wealth. If you use it solely to satisfy your needs and the needs of those around you. If the goal of making money is to make more money at the expense of your employees and the people you do business with, then it is bad.

We live in a nation of tremendous wealth and opportunity. At the turn of the century, the industrial revolution gave birth to the true wealthy of this nation. Names like Rockefeller, Carnegie, Rothschild, Morgan, Ford, Edison, Firestone, and Westinghouse are just a few. Most are true self made people, some of them came from money so they had a head start.

It is my opinion that people who come from little or nothing and make it big, tend to be a bit more generous with their wealth than those who are born with it.

The internet revolution has given birth to some very wealthy people, and for the most part very generous people. Washington is a town of old money. Most of our political leaders were wealthy at birth. I believe that it is the fact that these people have never known want, that causes them to feel little empathy for those who have known nothing but need.

So, is your money good or bad??? Count the number of people that your money helps every day, and you will have your answer.

Health care in the USA

In my opinion, if you are fortunate enough to have a good job with health insurance, this is by far the best country in the world to be. However if you are in the 50% of the population that is uninsured or under-insured, not so much.

The reason why politicians in Washington have a hard time seeing a problem with health care is #1 they are very well off and don't need insurance...#2 they all have the best insurance in the world....they are first in line at the hospital....they didn't pay co payments....they don't get denied by the insurance company's ....all at the taxpayers expense.

It is a two tier system. If you are in the top half it hard to see a problem..if you are in the bottom half.....it is nothing but problems. To the haves I say count your blessings. To the rest of us...I say...pray.

Are we a nation that helps the less fortunate, or will we become a nation that turns its back on our poor, and force them to fend for themselves, as the bulk of the rest of the world already does?

Obama-care??? Good or bad? It depends. Our current system works very well, but only for 50% of our population. So I am sure it will depend on the view from pasture you stand in......

Social media and baby boomers

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Foursquare, Tumblr, Blogger.
OK, we all have at least heard the names. If you are my age...say 50ish...then it likely makes you fearful, and your knowledge of these sites are minimal. However ask you kids because they use them daily and they find it funny that you don't know about them. If you want to surprise your kids with your knowledge of said sites just ask your grand kids for help, because they are social media Einsteins.

They are collectively known as social networking sites. They are the way people communicate with each other, and like it or not they are here to stay. The good thing about the internet is that it "gives everyone on earth with a computer or cell phone a voice"..The bad thing about the internet is...er..."reference the good thing"........I mean, do we really need to know what everybody else is doing at all times??? I think not.

Want an example of how communication between people has changed recently. OK...
When I was young and wanted to find out what my friends were up to..I would have to wait till class break at school...then I would spot a friend, or at least some guy I knew the name of...lets say Bobby...then I would say something like Hey Bobby...then he would say "yeah"...then I would say..you wanna come over to my house and listen to some "Floyd"...and he would say..:yeah"...end of communications. Today go into any school and ask a room full of young people what they are going to do for fun tonight, and they will all ignore you because #1 you are old .#2. they did not notice you coming in as they are all twittering on there cell phones to each other, so as not to miss out on any important info like who is fat, who is dating, who has got a big nose, etc....

Old people, and by old I mean"people at least 20 years older than me"!!! are slow to adopt new technologies.  Social networks are here to stay. To all my boomer buddies out there I say embrace them.....After all resistance is futile....you will be assimilated.

Anthony Weiner and Carlos Danger

In my opinion, Anthony Weiner has become the poster child of what's wrong with politics today.

Ask yourself this...why would so many wealthy people fight so hard for a handful of government jobs with a base pay that nearly all of them would not get out of bed for??

Answer...because that is only the tip of the iceberg...the real payoff is the millions they rake in taking bribes ...I mean campaign contributions. Add to that the benefits that most of the rest of us would die for..like free travel..free food..even better than free..they usually get paid to say a few words over lunch. 

They are immune to the very laws they pass to the rest of us. They show up late..leave early...their mail and computer use is protected by the best software the government can buy...They can have fully stocked bars in their offices. They publicly profess to be looking out for the least of us, while secretly passing bills that take care of the people who already have the most.

We, like most of the rest of the world, have a corrupt government that has succumb to the sin of greed.
I believe Thomas Jefferson said it best...he who governs least governs best.

As long as you and I... sit complacently by, and allow our politicians to use our tax money as their own personal piggy bank, we will be stuck with the bad decisions they make.....

This is hard for me to admit, but the only reason I'm not a politician doing the same thing is that I have not been offered a chance....I mean if I could be guaranteed a good retirement plus all the benefits ...and all I had to do was agree to sell my soul....my only question would be....are you sure you have the right guy???

Reality TV

In my opinion, sometime in the recent past, television execs discovered that they did not have to hire expensive actors to provide entertainment to the masses.They found, "to their amazement", that people not only in America..but all over the world would spent hours watching almost anybody doing almost anything. I mean why pay six figures to a Baldwin brother to play a bad guy, when this is clearly not much of a stretch for them, they are already bad....
Enter the exploits of The Turtle Man, who god bless his sole appears mildly retarded. The Kardashians, who poses no talents and make a very comfortable living complaining about various men in there lives, or arguing about there clothes, their hair, their mother, their weight, their wrinkles, their money, and by "their" money I mean the money their mother got due to the fact that their mother married #1 a very wealthy attorney who died. #2 a very popular Olympic gold medalist named Bruce Jenner, who I believe won his medal at the end of the stone age...He is without a doubt the only one in the bunch with a actual talent...sadly he has become a shadow of his former self as he follows his girls around like a puppy, holding their purses at times, as he listens to there nearly constant whining.
The list of these shows continues to grow at a alarming rate, The survivor, ghost hunter, the apprentice, the bachelor, big brother, the biggest loser.
Yes, I am a old fart, but I truly miss the days when "in order to have a TV show" you first must have a talent. 

Obama and the Republicans

OK, I admit it....I voted for Obama...twice. That being said, I blame most of our current woes on republicans. Yes, I said it ...republicans. By which  I mean greedy rich white men...you know..the type that say, own FOX news...or say the Koch brothers. I also blame the war hawks...you know..the ones who benefit financially from war..either directly or indirectly...i.e. the Bushes...you pick..George Sr...George Jr....brother Jeb..all the same...reference Oil....or how about the dark lord himself...Dick Cheney head of Halliburton and former puppet master...er..I mean vice president....haven't heard of Halliburton??? Well it is a very large and powerful company that specializes in blowing things up and then rebuilding them...How large do you say???Lets just say that the entire US military complex should be considered a subsidiary of Halliburton...And just what does Halliburton specialize in blowing up and rebuilding??? Try ...I don't know...maybe...ENTIRE COUNTRIES.... they get paid on the front and back ends...they dont really care who we are at war with..just as long as we are at war.

Okay here is what I don't understand...why are there so many poor people who think they are Republicans. ..all politicians are more for the rich than the poor, but at least Democrats do a better job of pretending to care about poor people. .Republicans are not afraid to come out and say..the poor are useless drags on society. .ie the job creators. .ie Republicans and there friends. .I really don't know any truly rich people. .but I do know alot of poor people who call themselves Republicans. .I'm not sure why, because by all measures they are not rich. Except in their heads. They pretend they are well off, I guess it makes them feel better. .if I were wealthy. .by Washington standards "at least 5 million net", I might be Republican too. .as long as I was willing to sell my soul to the devil too. 

I digress. .Obama is not a bad guy. He is doing the best he can. But he is not the knight in white shining armor that I had hoped for.

He is fighting a Congress that is primarily rich white guys.....and they don't like poor people unless they are mowing there lawn or driving there cars..and they truly hate Obama. .after all, he is not in there club...he is not republican...and worst of all....he is not white. .