Looming problems that are coming to America

For those of you that are paying attention, the current financial crisis in Greece bears a grim resemblance to scenes that may be coming to a street near you in America. If we don't soon realize that the current policies that we are following are leading us down the path of financial ruin you may see those scenes sooner rather than latter.

The only thing that is going to fix this problem is for "us" you and me the citizens working to insists that those that hold the purse strings at the local, state and federal level bring us back to some semblance of sanity with our money.

The government can't keep on promising government workers salaries for life, in the form of pensions, after twenty or thirty years of work and we are going to have to start planning for our retirement when we are young in some other method than simply paying social security tax and expecting that to supply our total retirement compensation. If that is what we want to do we are going to have a radical downward adjustment in how we plan to spend our retirement years.

Which ever path we choose to go we need to start thinking about it and having a real and open conversation about the choices and we need to do it now.

To see where we could be headed read the entire Market Watch article by following the link below.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- With all this talk of Greece going to Hades it's time to brush up on Greek mythology.

Read the entire article here.

To find out how to join a group of concerned citizens who will help you exert some influence with the "holders of the purse strings" please follow this link.

Pittsburgh TEA Party Members.

The Blind Side gets an Oscar

I haven't watched the Oscar awards on television for several years now despite that fact that I have always been an avid movie fan. In recent years Hollywood has forgotten how to make good movies. I worked for a theater owner who used to tell me that if Hollywood made good movies people would come to the theater to see them. Long before "Field of Dreams" was produced Joe knew that "if you build it they will come".

I feel that Hollywood has lost touch with their audience especially when it comes to what is fit to put on the big screen. There have been some great movies come out of tinsel town in recent years and not all of them were rated G. We have however come a long way from the days when Clark Gable paid a hefty fine, actually the studio payed it for him, for saying the word "dam" at the end of "Gone With The Wind". It used to be that using a four letter word starting with F would get a film an R rating while now days it barley rates a PG-13. This despite in some cases it is used in every other sentence in the script.

I don't live in a fantasy world and I know those words are used everyday. I have even uttered a few of them myself on occasion. I do however try my best not to use them even when I'm angry and I really see no reason that they have to be incorporated in a part of our culture that is labeled "entertainment". It is just not necessary. Likewise it seems that whatever the cause celeb happens to be this year that Hollywood seems to have to make it the center piece of their efforts at Oscar time. Whatever the message is be it anti war, gay rights, perceived government corruption in foreign policy and the list goes on. Much like the crowd in Washington DC the makers of movies have come to believe that their little worlds in the inner circles of New York and Los Angeles are not only what real life is like but that it is the way the rest of the country views it.

I have been a big fan of movies since I was a teenager and have sat through some real stinkers when it comes to feature length films. I had never gotten up and walked out on a film though until I went to see "Natural Born Killers". I went to see it because it had an excellent cast and the "buzz" was that it was going to be an outstanding film. I had never in my life seen such a waist of time, talent and film in my life. This was in 1994 and I have to say that things have not improved a lot since then.

That is why I was surprised that "The Blind Side" got a nomination this year for best picture of the year even though it didn't win. It also brought a nomination for Sandra Bullock in the best actress category for which she did take home the statue. The reason I was surprised was that this film doesn't fit in with how I think Hollywood looks at our society. It also portrays religion in a favorable light something that is extremely rare these days. Linda and I went to see this movie several weeks ago and I wrote a review of it here on the blog. You can read it here THE BLIND SIDE if you like.

I'm not sure if the terrible economy has gotten the attention of those producing films to rethink their product or if the changing technology is making them think that if they don't amend their ways that they could find themselves in the position of the recording industry in a few years. What I do know is that movies like The Blind Side offer a glimmer of hope that they can produce movies that tell a story, entertain the public and while doing so and make them buckets full of money along the way.

I don't expect every movie to be one that you could take a ten year old too. There is a place for movies geared to an adult audience in the film industry. Even those however don't have to go out of their way to shock the senses of the audience to draw them into the theater. It is my sincere hope that the industry is waking up to this fact and will continue to make more movies like The Blind Side.

Proof positive that congress has lost all touch with reality

Here is a quote from Nancy Pelosi the current Speaker of The House of Representatives regarding the current legislation before both the House and the Senate concerning health care.

“But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy."

Since when do those in Washington DC have to pass bills in secret so we poor confused citizens don't have to be bothered with all that discussion on the merits of those bills? After all that might mean that we would have to analyze the pros and cons and actually think about which we believe are the better options of those available. Heaven forbid that we be left in a "fog" from all this effort piled on our feeble brains.

Washington DC and its "inside the beltway" mentality have gone so far off the path that it boggles the mind. In some cases they have given up any pretense of acknowledging the fact that they were elected by the people to represent their wishes in the operation of the government. They have decided that due to their years of understanding how the system works that they know what is best for us and in cases like Pelosi are actually getting annoyed that we won't go away and quit bothering them so they can do what they know is right.

If you feel as I do that these matters which are now bordering on madness need to be brought back into line you need too become involved in the process. The first thing you have to do is educate yourself. Start watching CBS, ABC and NBC for their news coverage. Then watch Fox News and spend some time listening to talk radio. Next you need to start reading. I know I'm asking a lot especially of the current generation but trust me you might even find out that you like it. Start off small. Read the founding documents of this country. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of The United States. Take you time and read them more than once. Now that you are warmed up go to the library or visit you favorite book store and get a copy of "A Patriot's History Of The United States" by Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen. Allow me to put in a home town plug here and recommend Mystery Lovers Book Store on Allegheny River Boulevard. You may not find this volume on the shelf but the will get it for if you ask. Nice people to deal with and a friendly reader atmosphere.

Next question, are you registered to vote? If the answer is no please go and register to vote. I have been registered for so long that I'm not quite sure how the "motor voter law" passed in 1993 affects Pennsylvania. If you need help or more information contact the League of Women Voters for the Pittsburgh area. Once you are registered take a little time, it won't be as much as you think, to learn who the candidates are and what they say they will do if elected. If they are already in office ask your friends and neighbors what they think of them and look up what their voting record is.

So now you are going to tell me that all of this is way too much effort. That you don't have the time. In short it is more bother than it is worth. I hate to be cynical, but you may be right. I have been waiting for decades for real change to come to the Pittsburgh area at least in the form of having the political system return to being a two party entity. So far it hasn't happened. Still I keep voting and asking other to do the same.

Despite the winter we have just had I still like Pittsburgh and I love Oakmont. Taxes however are driving so many people out of the area that at some point we are not going to be able to keep our standard of living and the city and towns that we love are going to suffer. If we as citizens don't become involved we will have only ourselves to blame.

Daylight savings time coming to a clock near you.

Daylight Savings Time 2010 and DST 2010 Breaking Updates.

March 14th is a big day. This is Daylight Savings Time 2010 and we set our clocks forward one hour, extending daylight in the evening hours, with the hopes of conserving energy.

Whether or not Daylight Saving Time actually saves energy or not is still up for debate. Back in the past, people didn’t rise until sunrise. Now, people have to get up on set schedules, and when it’s dark during morning hours, the use of synthetic light is still required because it is dark out. This could reduce net energy savings.

Arizona, Hawaii, parts of Indiana, Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, and American Samoa all stay on Standard Time all year round. This means that not everyone in the US is affected by the Daylight Savings Time Spring Forward.

In 2005 Energy Legislation was passed that extended Daylight Savings time with the hopes of conserving more energy. The changes in DST extension began to take place in 2007.

On March 14, before you go to bed make sure that your clocks are turned ahead. In November, you will be able to switch the time back to Standard Time.

Instead of dreading the loss of an hour, look forward to an extra hour of daylight in the evening hours to enjoy with your families.

Source:

National Geographic

Words of wisdom from our founders

If only we had the ability to see our problems of today with the reason and clarity of those that gave us our founding documents and structure.


"It would reduce the whole instrument to a single phrase, that of instituting a Congress with power to do whatever would be for the good of the United States; and as they would be the sole judges of the good or evil, it would be also a power to do whatever evil they please. Certainly no such universal power was meant to be given them. It [the Constitution] was intended to lace them up straightly within the enumerated powers and those without which, as means, these powers could not be carried into effect."

--Thomas Jefferson, Opinion on a National Bank, 1791

So far I have been involved in three

I sometimes start writing a blog entry and get sidetracked to the point that it winds up in the "drafts" section of blogger patiently waiting for me to complete it. I have to admit that there are occasions when, by the time I return to the text I find that whatever spirit it was that brought me to the keyboard to express my thoughts has left me and I can't manage to gather them again and organize them into a coherent order that seemed so clear when I started typing. This dear reader is one of those cases, sort of. I started writing this the Sunday after the big snow storm last month. While I am able to pick up where I left off from the saved text, I know there were other points that I wanted too make at the time. Those I'm afraid have faded into oblivion. Yet another reminder that like so many of my friends and relatives I am not as young as I used to be and this is just one of God's ways of letting me know it.

So I find myself this afternoon finishing something that I started over a month ago. I should be outside enjoying the sun but I returned to work this past week and am finding it a bigger challenge than I though. My body is having a hard time adjusting and I am battling fatigue much more than I though I would be. I do manage to relax by beating on the keyboard though so I beg your indulgence as I once again ramble on.

This blog entry was originally started on February 7th 2010 at 1:12 PM in the afternoon.

Well they are saying that this weekends snow storm has been the third largest in the Pittsburgh. Exceeded only by the "blizzard of 1993" and the "Thanksgiving snow of 1950". Now I didn't directly experience the 1950 storm at least not that I remember. My mother was waiting to go to the hospital to find out if I would be male or female when it struck. I spent the first twenty some years listening to tales of the big storm and how deep the snow was that year. Also what all my Dad and Grandfather did to keep the roads clear from my house, which was the last block on a dead end street and seldom saw a snow plow or salt truck, in case it was necessary to make a fast trip to the hospital. Something that did in fact manifest its self resulting in my "being involved" without any first hand knowledge of the events of the day. That is a story that I'll tell another day.

I vividly remember the storm of 1993 watching the snow pile up by the minute and thinking that it would take me until spring to dig my car out of its parking spot. What a strange thing it was to see an entire city and its surrounding areas brought to a grinding halt. All normal day to day business just stopped. Oh, there were exceptions to be sure most of which involved medical and emergency services workers. For the most part though Pittsburgh was a ghost town, something rarely seen in these modern times. I remember as a boy when the Pennsylvania "blue laws" were in full force and I could ride my bicycle down through the business section of town in the afternoon or evening on a Sunday and see almost no on on the streets and very few vehicles traveling on them. It truly was a different time, one that I admit that I long for on occasion.

Now we come to the great snow of 2010. Since I have some current health problems that keep me indoors and off the highways most of the time my world is restricted to the intersection of Fifth Street and Maryland Avenue which is were I rode out the duration of the storm. I did follow the "outside world" talking to some fellow amateur radio operators as well as listening to radio, television and my public safety scanners. Often times they, the scanners, give me a much better picture of what is going on during storms such as this one than the local news media who in order to gain ratings will attempt to whip the general public into a frenzy that is a cross between the sky is falling and the end is nigh.

We were fortunate in that this event began on a Friday afternoon and really didn't get a full head of steam until after the evening rush hour when most people had made their way home and were off the highways. There were still plenty of those that really had no choice, or so they thought, to be out on the roads when the brunt of the storm hit the area that found themselves in situations that they had not planned for.

There were a number of people who became entrench on the Pennsylvania Turnpike that had to be rescued by snowmobile. I listened to fire departments respond to a house fire that involved two burn victims that they could not reach with the emergency vehicles so they sent someone to get a police officers four wheel drive pickup truck from the station and that got them to a position where they could bring the patient to the ambulance to transport to the hospital. All of this reminding me that situations like this one sometimes bring out the best in people. I heard a number of calls where a driver had become stuck and one or more good Samaritans had come to his or her aid and then just moved on.

Will this be the last "big snow" of 2010? Only time will answer that question. In my years on earth almost all of which were spent in Pittsburgh I have seen snow on Easter Sunday and beyond. We can only hope that this winter which appears to be on track to provide new entries in the record books will soon be one of those memories that we tend to reminisce about years after they take place with much fonder memories than they deserve. Stay warm if you can.

The Farmers Almanac

This past weekend my lovely wife Linda brought me the Farmers Almanac opened to the page where where they predicted that we would have forty inches of snow in the month of February in 2010. The last time I looked at official totals I think we were up to forty eight inches for the month before it ended. Then she proceeded to show me where the same Farmers Almanac is predicting that we will have forty inches of snow in the month of March.

So, now as soon as I track down and kill that ground hog I have to start looking for the writers of the Farmers Almanac!

Just kidding. I for one will be very glad when spring once again returns to the south western Pennsylvania area, Pittsburgh and Oakmont in particular. Somehow I think I am not alone in these thoughts. Think spring, it really is coming.