Retired In Omaha

  I am reading Neal Boortz’s “The Fair Tax Book”. It is very interesting and provocative reading. Can you imagine paying less in taxes, having no federal debt and having the Social Security Fund both solvent and protected? This book has finally turned me into a tax activist. If you don’t want to buy a copy go to http://www.fairtax.org/ to learn something about the IRS, the tax code, the tremendous amounts of money we are wasting each and every day under the current system, and the people who are trying to do something about it. 7/16/06

  I want everyone who is incarcerated, no matter what the reason, to be treated at least as well as the members of our Military Services while they are out “Doing The Mission”. For any that are not familiar with military life let me explain what that means:
  The mantra is “Mission, People, Everything Else”. The primary requirement to accomplish the mission is both obvious and trivial in this discussion. The second requirement is stated as taking care of the people who accomplish the mission. What does taking care mean? They are put in no more physical danger than is required to accomplish the mission. They are equipped with the tools they need to accomplish the mission. They are adequately fed and clothed. Their creature comforts are looked to as well as circumstances allow. They are returned to their communities knowing they have honorably completed the mission.
  Let me detail what that meant to me while deployed for 6 months at a time. The work day is set by the tasks to be accomplished and a mere 8 hours of work is a holiday. Sleep is a luxury taken when all the tasks are completed, I have existed for weeks on 4 hours of sleep a day taken in 30 minute cat naps. Tasks include the Warfighter role as well as domestic housekeeping, digging holes, maintaining vehicles, training, hauling trash, guard mount, etc., etc. One shower every ten days makes tactical spacing between individuals a welcomed requirement. Living accommodations are split between under the sky and under canvas. There is no TV, no air conditioning, no recliner, no beer in the ‘fridge. Bed is a cot, a plastic mat on the ground, the front seat of a Hummer, a tree, or any other handy object that will prop you up for awhile. Luxury is being able to take ones boots off for 15 minutes after four days and put on clean socks. Food is defined as two cold and one hot — meaning two meals of MRE’s (dehydrated food out of plastic bag) plus one meal that is actually “prepared”. This hot meal is usually delivered in insulated cans, served lukewarm — whether intended to be hot or cold — and without ceremony eaten in the open. You also can’t be otherwise engaged in combat, training, driving, sleeping, washing, guard, etc., when it arrives because they won’t hold it for you. Clean means the grunge on your fingers and hands is not thick enough to fall into your coffee when eating. When not engaged in the front line mission there is laundry, hair cuts, training, exercise, discipline, maintenance, and rock painting.
  Note that there is nothing in the above discussion that indicates any participant “likes” taking part in these activities. “Like” has nothing to do with it. These people willingly forego ‘like” to accomplish a mission vital, or at least important, to the welfare of the people of the United States. Don’t ask me to treat those who break our laws and harm our residents better than I treat those who bravely and honorably defend our country and our people. I simply will not do that.
  Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Maricopa County, Arizona has the idea. Most military members who have spent any time deployed anywhere in the world would find his jail familiar and comfortable. Our penal system needs to study and learn from his activities. They need to make the penal system effective, efficient, focused, and above all, a place that no one wants to revisit. Recidivism is best corrected by making the penalty substantially less attractive than the alternatives. And I certainly don’t want criminals better treated and more comfortable than our military members around the world.

Let me catalog some observations for you that in my opinion looked like:
  1. Driving a vehicle while talking on a cell phone.
  2. Failing to obey a stop sign.
  3. Failing to look in any direction while entering a public roadway while also failing to signal a turn.
  4. Driving for a city block while straddling the center line.
  5. Stopping in the middle of a public roadway (while straddling the center line).
  6. Failing to signal a turn.
  7. Driving most of another city block while straddling the center line.
  8. Again failing to signal a turn.
  The Vehicle — A Georgia State tagged Department of Human Resources multi-passenger van with a single occupant, the driver.
  The Activity — At no time during the above voyage did the cell phone appear to leave the driver’s hand or ear, possibly being a contributing factor in items 2 thru 8 above. ( I personally find it easier to cradle the phone in my left hand while steering with either one or both legs thus leaving my right hand free to gesticulate unencumbered by steering, signals and the like. )
  The Destination — The drive-up window of a local bank, ostensibly to make either a deposit or withdrawal for the Department of Human Resources. ( One has to opine that no employee of that organization would knowingly divert public property to private use! ) I would hate to think that malfeasance could be added to the above list of possible traffic infractions.
  My Opinion? — I personally am glad my hard earned taxes are apparently being well safeguarded by our State government and its employees.

  I keep hearing about other sources of fuel being the salvation of the budding Gasoline Crisis. In particular Alcohol from agricultural sources is being promoted as the “next” big thing. Beyond the fact that the corn and other grains used to make alcohol are heavily subsidized as are the production processes that convert the raw input into something useful, the process that produces the alcohol uses more energy than the end product provides!
  That means we are going to generate even greater demands on our already limited fuel resources (oil, atomic, hydro, coal, natural gas, etc.), generate greater volumes of greenhouse gasses (the by-products of the alcohol production process have to go somewhere), and actually make the problem we are trying to solve worse!
Oil based products, especially fuels, and in particular, Gasoline are very difficult to replace. Gasoline and Diesel fuel are easily separated from their source. They are readily transported and stored. They have very high energy content in relation to volume and weight. And, they are readily converted to useful energy in our various conveyances.
So, what will it take to work us out of our “Gas Crisis”? I drive to work in an 8 cylinder 4×4 pickup truck. The total one way distance is 1.8 miles. Could there be some other form of transport that would be more effective and efficient? A bicycle maybe? Have you ever tried riding a bicycle on any of the roads around your neighborhood or town? Dodging uncaring and/or aggressive drivers is just too exciting for me. The road surfaces don’t promote safe riding either. So how about a golf cart? Unfortunately, most state and local laws don’t allow such vehicles on public roadways, and there are no alternatives to the roadways. Walk? I am fat and old and I need to walk! But, will I? Not a chance!!! An electric or hybrid vehicle? So far they all cost 50% more than my truck if I purchased it new today.
  If we want to work our way out of our “Gas Crisis” we are going to have to fundamentally change the way we live our lives. No hopping into the car to go down to the store for a quart of milk, take the bus or the train, or even walk.
  Look at the parking lot beside most businesses, they are full of cars that each carry one person back and forth. No, no, no! Car pool, the bus, the train. Want to go to Atlanta? Don’t drive, walk down to the station and take the train into town, or take the bus! Convert the roads to accept bicycles, golf carts, mopeds, scooters and pedestrians. Build a mass transit infrastructure that can actually get one to where they want to go. Tear down and rebuild all of our towns and cities to refocus them from car centric to people centric.
  And if pigs could fly Santa wouldn’t need reindeer! I’m not going to change until I’m forced to. Just try to take away my wheels! I’m not going to give up my freedom to travel where ever I want for anybody. Please let me know when the rest of the world changes. That’s when I’ll join in!!!
(By the way, I do have a bicycle and I’m contemplating the purchase of either a golf cart or a scooter.) 7/07/06

  On Being Polite — I stopped to buy gas the other day. While I was there a gentleman in a work truck pulled in parking about six feet from the pump. He had stopped angled away from the pumps in a manner that blocked off both traffic lanes and thus my exit path. It was no big thing to me, I just backed out of the space and went about my business. Later, I got to thinking about how rude this gentleman’s actions were. He had absolutely no concern that he might inconvenience someone else, he was only focused on his wants and needs to the exclusion of the world around him. This man only had to steer a little left then a little right and he would have been parked straight and reasonably close to the pumps. He wouldn’t have inconvenienced anyone, but he simply didn’t care what effect his actions might have on someone else. How many times have we all been like this man? How many times did we simply not care about our fellow man in our daily actions? This is supposed to be “The Friendliest Town In Georgia”. What are we doing to make that true? 5/24/06

  Having just dined at our local Chinese emporium, my wife and I made for the car and began the short trip home. Out of the parking space, pull forward, notice the truck behind me also leaving and… a small car turns the corner, stops in the middle of the road and effectively blocks the way out. The rear driver’s side door opens and a young lady pops out heading for the restaurant. The driver then makes an immediate right turn traveling about 12 more feet to stop in the nearest parking place, whereupon everyone else gets out. I am sitting there, kind of stupefied, wondering just exactly what motivated what I just saw.
  Maybe the first young lady had an emergency Meatball Sandwich order that she just had to pick up. Maybe she had seen her companions eat before and wanted to get her order in before everything was gone. Maybe she and the driver simply demonstrated a momentary lapse of stupid… or possibly, gave everyone insight to a terminal case of stupid. Of course, the first young lady may simply have had to pee, thus explaining everything we had seen thus far. We have all experienced our own pee emergencies and can forgive any and all unusual actions, comments and decisions thusly engendered, can’t we! 5/20/06

  Off in the distance you see it coming, it is completely unaware, without apparent connection to the immediate surroundings and oblivious to external stimuli. At first a pinpoint but growing steadily as the time tics away, it slowly gets closer and closer… What is it??? Another knucklehead driving down the highway with his Hi-Beams on. They come from the front, from the rear, from the side, from everywhere. The most irritating are the ones you overtake, pass, and then… ten more miles with two sun-bright spots in your rear window to enjoy. The next most irritating are the ones who park on the right side of the roadway, facing traffic while getting their mail, pumping gas,…

  Well I have a clue for these folks: If they do not realize they have their brights on, blinding or discomforting other drivers, they are too stupid to drive!

  If they don’t understand they need to turn their lights on so other people can see them in the rain and fog, they are too stupid to drive!

  If they can’t operate their directional signals so the rest of us have some chance of figuring out where they are going, they are too stupid to drive!

  If the string of twelve cars behind them doesn’t say 45MPH in a 65MPH zone is too slow…, they are too stupid to drive!

  If they have to slow down and act like a rubber necked geek every time they see flashing blue lights, they are too stupid to drive!

  If they don’t understand that the load they have on their unlighted trailer eliminates any possibility of seeing their vehicle lights, they are too stupid to drive!

  If they are so unobservant that they don’t realize they are speeding up when another car attempt to pass (or if thy know they are), they are too stupid to drive!

  Everyone should be issued a preprogrammed cell phone with a camera in it. When six different people take a picture of someone doing stupid things with their vehicle, the State Stupid Police come and…

  1. Take away their driver’s license for 30 days and issue them a “Stupid Driver” ID to take its place.
  2. Give them large magnetic signs to place on any car in which they ride that say, “The passenger in this vehicle is too STUPID to drive so “his/her” “_________________” (fill in the blank, spouse, son, brother…) is forced to drive for “him/her”.
  3. Publish their name, picture, tag number and address in the “Stupid Drivers” section of the Sunday paper each weekend while their license is suspended.

  Repeat offenders will be dropped off in East L.A. (California) with a bundle of cash in one hand and a Rolex in the other. 5/12/06