Good people (of South Carolina especially), please take your responsibility seriously. I know you will differ with me on many views, but just do a little research. Please don't vote just based on who is the most handsome and/or who is the best speaker. More important than that is: a) What that person has done and b) What they say they will do (and how believable those promises are). Anyway, you know all that, but just please take the time to do some research.
Those of you who are regular readers, besides being wiser and thoroughly entertained, you have also heard my feelings on the debt. I can't see how any other issue can come close to the importance of 15.2 trillion dollars of debt and a budget that is 1.5 trillion over every year. Maybe abortion is more important (because the killing of fetuses is serious stuff), but all republican candidates pretty much agree on abortion.
Last year's budget was 49% over-budget (1.5 trill)
Here's a little breakdown of the candidates on this topic:
-Romney plans to cut 5% of non-military spending while increasing the size of our navy significantly (that isn't free). So, decrease 5% of a budget that is 49% over.
-Gingrich has no plan to cut anything. He did balance a budget four times as speaker, but that was when the economy was rolling and the govt. was quite to OOC (out of control) status
-Perry has no plan to really cut anything, but he would try to pass a balanced budget amendment, which is very good. But we need action now.
-Santorum actually does understand the importance of the deficit and wants to cut 5 trillion over the next 5 years. His cuts actually cut into things that he probably would never get done like Medicare, Medicaid, etc. Plus, he would blow all that savings on a war with Iran (more on that later).
-Paul would cut 1 trillion the first year. 4.1 trill over five years. He would probably struggle to make any of these cuts, as all candidates would. Which leads to the next biggest issue which is extremely inter-woven with the first.
Many republicans feel you cannot cut military/defense spending. They also claim it is "small potatoes" compared to other entitlements. Well, that may be true, but it is still 20-25% (depending on which bean counters you believe) of our huge bloated budget.
Even more importantly, it is the part of the budget that is most easily decreased or increased by a commander-in-chief. Most republican candidates will continue to bomb Iran and other Middle East targets until there is eventually a regional war over there. Can you cut money to defense/military and be safer? Yes. The last three generals of Centcom (commanders of the middle east region) have ALL advised against preemptive air strikes in Iran. The only reason the current general isn't openly against it as well is because he doesn't want to get fired by his war hawk commander-in-chief.
Since I don't believe much of what I hear from other people without verifying here is a link. It is not the only site reporting this.
http://www.larouchepac.com/node/20347
No one wants a nuclear Iran, but those generals and Ron Paul realize a preemptive strike and/or sanctions will be ineffective and only stir up a hornets nest. Even Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke to congress last fall and pleaded for the U.S. to stay out of it. He thanked us for the weapons and expertise, but he knows a war in Iran is awful for everyone in the Middle East. Anyway, I know the US has promised in the past to help and protect Israel. I also know there are some questionable biblical reasons to help Israel. But the best way to protect and help Israel is to mind our own business. A lesson we should have learned in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. A lesson we will continue to learn in a long terrible war in Iran. Please take your voting seriously. The other four Republican candidates want war. If you want war, then vote for them, but please do your homework. If you agree with these candidates after careful research then vote your conscience. Just please don't let our national media choose for you (they don't want any significant changes). Thank you.
A great video on foreign policy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8RAog2RnRc
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
2011 Clemson Best Moments
I could complain about a lot of things, in particular every republican candidate besides Ron Paul, but in the new year let me try to stay positive.
Top off the field moments for 2011 Clemson football season
12. Deciding NOT to go to the Orange Bowl
11. Kevin Steele being fired. I think he is a good guy and a great defensive mind. But today’s Div. I athletes aren’t brain surgeons and need a simple, but effective defense. His defense was very good last year, but Daquan Bowers was the best player in college football. Unblockable. Any coordinator could have had that defense playing well. It should have been a top 5 defense in the country, especially against an ACC schedule. He would have survived, but Orange Bowl was just too embarrassing.
10. Dabo’s tirade about Clemson being better than the Cocks. Really didn’t think it was the thing to do at the time, but maybe it did help the boys distract themselves from how much they had sucked for nearly a month.
9. Getting CHEAP tickets from a nice Clemson alum to see the undefeated Tigers play at Georgia Tech. At the time a great moment. Little did we know four hours later I wish I would have watched the game in my own living room with plenty of Jamison available. Also, able to see a young man in Atlanta run by us and yell, “I got a motherf$#%ing plate!” Still not sure what that means, but very exciting.
8. After a great defeat of Auburn, playing the incomparable hit, Auburn sucks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m6Sw26gUQo
7. After Auburn went up 21 to 7 early I announced, “We can leave now!” I was half kidding, but I did have to go to the bathroom to calm down. I was braced for Clemson to stink this year, but I can’t stand when my team’s defense is awful.
6. The wife and I going on like a seven game corn hole run at the UNC game tailgate.
5. The band playing Tiger Rag like 4 straight times before FSU came out for their last drive. It was a successful attempt to whip the crowd into a frenzy.
4. Getting hammered while doing drinking games during the first Va Tech huge win.
3. After the big sack Tiger Rag played and the band going silent during one of the loudest C-L-E-M-S-O-N. Reminder that when it is rocking Death Valley is as good a venue as any in the country.
2. Jumping around in joy with the wife after the Cat Man made a clutch field goal to beat Wake. That play hopefully ended a lot of the problems of never making the clutch play at Clemson. Oh, the crazy reaction was done in a side room at the house of my boss. We were there because I don’t get ESPNU at the apartment and he was watching Ohio State in the main room.
1. Being in Too Big To Fail Stadium when the Tigers clinched the overly elusive ACC Championship.
Top off the field moments for 2011 Clemson football season
12. Deciding NOT to go to the Orange Bowl
11. Kevin Steele being fired. I think he is a good guy and a great defensive mind. But today’s Div. I athletes aren’t brain surgeons and need a simple, but effective defense. His defense was very good last year, but Daquan Bowers was the best player in college football. Unblockable. Any coordinator could have had that defense playing well. It should have been a top 5 defense in the country, especially against an ACC schedule. He would have survived, but Orange Bowl was just too embarrassing.
10. Dabo’s tirade about Clemson being better than the Cocks. Really didn’t think it was the thing to do at the time, but maybe it did help the boys distract themselves from how much they had sucked for nearly a month.
9. Getting CHEAP tickets from a nice Clemson alum to see the undefeated Tigers play at Georgia Tech. At the time a great moment. Little did we know four hours later I wish I would have watched the game in my own living room with plenty of Jamison available. Also, able to see a young man in Atlanta run by us and yell, “I got a motherf$#%ing plate!” Still not sure what that means, but very exciting.
8. After a great defeat of Auburn, playing the incomparable hit, Auburn sucks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m6Sw26gUQo
7. After Auburn went up 21 to 7 early I announced, “We can leave now!” I was half kidding, but I did have to go to the bathroom to calm down. I was braced for Clemson to stink this year, but I can’t stand when my team’s defense is awful.
6. The wife and I going on like a seven game corn hole run at the UNC game tailgate.
5. The band playing Tiger Rag like 4 straight times before FSU came out for their last drive. It was a successful attempt to whip the crowd into a frenzy.
4. Getting hammered while doing drinking games during the first Va Tech huge win.
3. After the big sack Tiger Rag played and the band going silent during one of the loudest C-L-E-M-S-O-N. Reminder that when it is rocking Death Valley is as good a venue as any in the country.
2. Jumping around in joy with the wife after the Cat Man made a clutch field goal to beat Wake. That play hopefully ended a lot of the problems of never making the clutch play at Clemson. Oh, the crazy reaction was done in a side room at the house of my boss. We were there because I don’t get ESPNU at the apartment and he was watching Ohio State in the main room.
1. Being in Too Big To Fail Stadium when the Tigers clinched the overly elusive ACC Championship.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Clemson Vs. Univ. of South Florida (again)
This was a couple of weeks ago, but still funny.
I had a great interaction with my friend who is a Univ. of South Florida alumni (kind of). Anyway, he at least attended a few classes there. USF will be hence forth mentioned as USelessF
USelessF friend: Did you know Spiller had his best game as a pro last week, but still fumbled?
Me: I watched him play yesterday. He is not bad if you give him holes. He will get cut from the Bills after next season and get picked up by a team with a good offense. They will use him as just a slot receiver and he will look good.
Useless F friend: He is a bust of monumental proportions.
Me: Why does Spiller’s failures make you so happy?
Useless F friend: Cause he went to Clemson and he sucks and he was drafted 9th overall
Me: Anytime you mention Clemson you need to refer to them as ACC Champion Clemson. I’m quite certain they’ve earned it. (editor’s note: Reference to Jack Nicholson’s great scene in A Few Good Men)
Useless F friend: Don’t they just hand that out to a new awful team each year: Wake, BC, Ga Tech, Marland.
Me: Yes. They do. Just like the Big Least. When is USF’s turn….2018? What a joke of a program. More talent within 150 miles of campus than any other school outside of Miami.
Useless F friend: You lost to that joke of a program less than a year ago (editor’s note: A point I had truly failed to remember. Suppression of a bad memory.) We have only had football since 1997.
Me: That was a blip on the radar. Don’t give me that ’97 crap. UConn started football in like ’01 and they are in CT and they have won the Big Least.
Useless F friend: Clemson was a blip on USFs radar and nothing more. UConn has had football since 1896…Leo (editor’s note: reference to my father’s propensity to make up statistics. I was in fact nearly right since they didn’t enter I-A football until 2000, which is when you actually noticed they had a program.)
Me: Well, they were I-AA till recently. Quit making excuses for your program. That is how mediocrity starts.
Useless F friend: Since ’97 we have won more games, been ranked higher and beat Clemson head to head. We’ve also had 578 less chokes.
Me: Are you counting all those marvelous I-AA wins. You can’t make me angry, because I can hardly hear you over the clanging of championship rings.
Useless F friend: ACC champs and no one can take that away from you except the NCAA when they investigate how a Choke school got Sammy Watkins
Me: Haha, that is exactly what someone else said. Nothing will take it away. If they take it from us I will claim the ’09 championship vacated by Georgia Tech.
Editor’s note : Clemson has more wins since Useless F joined the I-A ranks: 95 to 88. Not by much though for a program that is pretty new. They do play in a joke league with only 8 teams and play one tough out of conference and then four cupcakes. Clemson usually plays 8 conference games and S. Car and one other tough game leaving only two cupcakes. Useless F has been ranked higher, 2 versus 3 and does have a lot less chokes. They do have one less championship as well.
I had a great interaction with my friend who is a Univ. of South Florida alumni (kind of). Anyway, he at least attended a few classes there. USF will be hence forth mentioned as USelessF
USelessF friend: Did you know Spiller had his best game as a pro last week, but still fumbled?
Me: I watched him play yesterday. He is not bad if you give him holes. He will get cut from the Bills after next season and get picked up by a team with a good offense. They will use him as just a slot receiver and he will look good.
Useless F friend: He is a bust of monumental proportions.
Me: Why does Spiller’s failures make you so happy?
Useless F friend: Cause he went to Clemson and he sucks and he was drafted 9th overall
Me: Anytime you mention Clemson you need to refer to them as ACC Champion Clemson. I’m quite certain they’ve earned it. (editor’s note: Reference to Jack Nicholson’s great scene in A Few Good Men)
Useless F friend: Don’t they just hand that out to a new awful team each year: Wake, BC, Ga Tech, Marland.
Me: Yes. They do. Just like the Big Least. When is USF’s turn….2018? What a joke of a program. More talent within 150 miles of campus than any other school outside of Miami.
Useless F friend: You lost to that joke of a program less than a year ago (editor’s note: A point I had truly failed to remember. Suppression of a bad memory.) We have only had football since 1997.
Me: That was a blip on the radar. Don’t give me that ’97 crap. UConn started football in like ’01 and they are in CT and they have won the Big Least.
Useless F friend: Clemson was a blip on USFs radar and nothing more. UConn has had football since 1896…Leo (editor’s note: reference to my father’s propensity to make up statistics. I was in fact nearly right since they didn’t enter I-A football until 2000, which is when you actually noticed they had a program.)
Me: Well, they were I-AA till recently. Quit making excuses for your program. That is how mediocrity starts.
Useless F friend: Since ’97 we have won more games, been ranked higher and beat Clemson head to head. We’ve also had 578 less chokes.
Me: Are you counting all those marvelous I-AA wins. You can’t make me angry, because I can hardly hear you over the clanging of championship rings.
Useless F friend: ACC champs and no one can take that away from you except the NCAA when they investigate how a Choke school got Sammy Watkins
Me: Haha, that is exactly what someone else said. Nothing will take it away. If they take it from us I will claim the ’09 championship vacated by Georgia Tech.
Editor’s note : Clemson has more wins since Useless F joined the I-A ranks: 95 to 88. Not by much though for a program that is pretty new. They do play in a joke league with only 8 teams and play one tough out of conference and then four cupcakes. Clemson usually plays 8 conference games and S. Car and one other tough game leaving only two cupcakes. Useless F has been ranked higher, 2 versus 3 and does have a lot less chokes. They do have one less championship as well.
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