Just me, a hub, dad, grandad --who thinks young, acts like an adult (most of the time), who thinks technology is wonderful. A transplanted Canadian who has dual citizenship, but pays taxes to the US...works in DC lives in Northern Virginia.
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One of the more interesting soundbites that have emminated from both the Obama and Clinton campaigns have been their comments on NAFTA--the North American Free Trade Agreement, which allows for easy flow of goods and services between the US and its northern (Canada) and southern (Mexico) neighbors. Both of them have stated that they want to cancel out the agreement, or at least revise the terms, because they blame NAFTA for the loss of jobs in the US. Much of the rhetoric has taken place in Ohio due to that state's loss of many jobs. The rhetoric has not reached similar heights in Texas because NAFTA has been relatively good to that state in terms of trade with Mexico. No doubt much of the verbiage has to do with garnering union support, but if their diatribes reach the level of taking action if either are elected Pres,. then the US does so at its own peril. Simply put, such protectionist policies are not in America's best interest, and could very well put our economic health further into the toilet. One simple fact..... if we were to bring back many of the jobs that have left the country due to labor costs, then we would be faced with huge increases in the price we pay for much of the same goods. Somebody has to pay for those $25/hour jobs in the US, which are much more expensive than those $10/hour jobs in Mexico.
Another factor should NAFTA be put on the chopping block is its relation to our energy consumption. One of the real values of NAFTA is that it protects the cost the US pays for oil from Canadian sources. Canada is the largest single source of imported oil for the US. With the huge amount of production now coming out of the Athabasca tar sands in Alberta, it becomes, given what is happening in the Middle East, perhaps the only reliable source of such energy in years ahead. Should the US wipe out NAFTA, as both Obama and Clinton have said they would do, Canada is then free to re-negotiate its oil trade...... and we would now be competing with China, India, and other up and coming economic powerhouses for this rapidly becoming scarce commodity. Given the rising power of these giants, we could find ourselves sucking hind tit when it comes to any kind of price competition.
It is one thing to spout out the political rhetoric to obtain the votes of a special interest group...it is another thing to think through reality, and the implications of what they say. Be careful....
Based on my own experience of dealing with slimy, unethical lawyers, crooks who think they are above the law, unbelievable litigation, and an experience that my wife is going through right now----this makes my heart jump for joy! And I hope to hell that Duke, the City of Durham, and all those involved in the prosecution loose everything they have! Serves them right! It was political correctness run amok!
I haven't blogged much at all lately. Although I stop by and read other Motime blogs quite often, I just haven't had much inspiration to write much about anything...hell, I haven't had much inspiration to DO anything, never mind write.
I have always tended to keep my worries and woes tied up inside me. As a result, I don't blog much about my personal life. Most of you know very little about the inner me. The one time I started to really let loose, I got nailed to the cross by some readers...so have basically said to hell with it.
But today was one of those days I just hate. I was supposed to go to work today. I woke up at my usual time, and went to the john for my morning ritual. By the time I was finished, my wife had left for work. I crawled back into bed, and the next thing I knew it was 10am. I called my staff and mumbled something about feeling the shits, begged for their indulgence, and fell back to sleep. I just didn't want to get out of bed, but by 11:30 the guilt was too much, so I got up. And for the rest of the day I have just plain mopped around the house. I tried reading..couldn't concentrate; tried editing some photos-- that lasted 5 minutes; watched some movie on TV-- fell asleep. Now I have woken up so damn groggy that I feel rather nauseous.
All of this has become a fairly common occurrence lately, and to be honest it scares the hell out of me. So I spend a lot of time trying to figure out why....which I tend to do, very curious sort I am. Here is where I find myself in my life, in a nutshell...what the hell am I going to do with the rest of it? My job has become a living hell..the litigation I have had to endure for the past 2+ years has become unbearable. I now have a board President whose loyalty to me and the organization is questionable. I want to retire, but she is not encouraging me one bit. I have cut back to working 3 days a week, but even that is too much. I started my own consulting business, but I don't have the energy to move much in that direction. It would be hard financially to retire now, but for my own sanity, and my own life, I don't think I have much other choice.
But then, so I do retire. And the thought has crossed my mind quite often....how in the hell will my wife and I be able to live with each other in such close proximity--i.e. live in the same house. She is very wrapped up in her career. Will she be able to leave that, and the two of us find things in common that make our life together abundant and full. That, too, scares the hell out of me. I have broached the subject....she poopoo's it. Will my life be satisfying, or will it be a living hell?
Lot's of decisions....but I must make them; and soon.
And thanks for listening....
OK, FEMA has just announced a speed up of relocation of folks living in the "temporary trailers" in Katrina Land due to the high concentrations of formaldehyde.
And this question comes to mind...... What about any kind of trailer? If all these trailers, undoubtedly built by some large trailer company, contain the gas, wouldn't any trailers, including those in many trailer parks around the country, have it as well? hmmmmmmm...
I voted yesterday in the Virginia primary. I got there just in time, though. I left work around 4:15 and had no trouble getting home....stopped at the polling place on the way, which is about 5 minutes from the house. But if I had left much later I would have had problems....we got hit by an ice storm last night...started around 345 and this morning, the commute was, to put it mildly, treacherous!
Back to the primaries. As I predicted, Obama and McCain won all three of the Chesapeake Primaries--VA, MD and DC.. What I didn't predict was the very wide disparity in the vote in VA between Obama and Clinton....64% to 35%. I thought it would have been much closer. McCain was worried early in the count as his margin over Huckabee was very tight, due to the conservative vote in the western and southwestern part of the state. But once the vote was counted in Northern VA, McCain pulled ahead and won handily.
Virginia is an interesting state, with real political, cultural and ideological differences between residents in Northern VA and the rest of the state. VA has traditionally been a red state, staunchly Republican. It was not voted for a D Presidential candidate in over 40 years. The southern part of the state continues that way, but changes in the demographics of Northern VA have significantly changed the political landscape. Northern VA has had an explosion in growth over the past decade. It has become home to a very highly educated and wealthy group, who have liberal, Democratic tendencies, and it is now the significant force in VA politics, never mind being the economic engine that drives the rest of the state. NoVa played a big role in the election of both Mark Warner and Tim Kaine as the last two governors, both D. Jim Webb (D), a resident of NoVa, defeated George Allen in a closely fought Senatorial campaign last fall. Additionally, the State Senate in Richmond was won by the D after long being held by the R's. And in the next state election, it is entirely possible that the House will become D.
All this is to say that in the upcoming Presidential election, it is possible, nay probable, that Virginia will change its color from red to blue, and could be a pivotal state in the entire election. One interesting tidbid from yesterday's primary-- there were almost 1 million votes cast in the D primary, less than half that in the R. It could mean that the D's are much more enthused about the election than the R's, or perhaps it is a sign that the state has moved much more toward being blue than red than in previous years.....interesting huh?
So tomorrow are the Chesapeake Primaries....with Maryland, DC and Virginia going to the polls.
I have never voted in a primary before and was curious as to how it is handled. I vote in Virgina...the process is that anyone can vote, it is not closed to party registrants. You go to the voting place, but you must declare what party primary you are voting in....and then, someone with a loud voice announces your name and your party to all present!. As all of you can imagine, I shall vote Democrat...but I am sure glad I am in Northern VA, which has become very D in the past few years, and not voting in the southern part of the state--my guess is that some of those red neck R's would probably lynch me when I got out of the polling booth! (just kidding....wellllll, maybe not!)
My take on what is happening.....me thinks Obama will take it, not only the primaries in all three states, but will probably end up being the D nominee. And that is fine with me. I like Hillary, and still am a fan of Bill, but I am not sure she has what it takes to end up leading the country. I think we are in bad need of someone who can challenge us to bigger and better things, give us a vision of where we want to be and should be, who rouses us from the doldrums we have been in for the past 7+ years and takes us to greater heights- never mind mending fences with our allies. To my mind Obama is the only candidate, D or R, who can do that. He reminds me very much of JFK, who was the one who really turned me on to politics when I was a freshman in college- even though I was in Canada. He was a breath of fresh air, who gave not only the US hope, but also the entire western world.
Yes I am concerned about his lack of foreign policy experience. But really, if you take a look at the last half dozen or so Pres, which one of them had any foreign policy experience....Bush the elder may have been the only one. Carter, Reagan, Clinton, and Dubya were all Governors, who had a lot of experience with local issues, but none on the international scene. Hell, none of them were even in the Fed govt.---at least all the candidates this time are Senators (yes, I know Huckabee is not, but he doesnt count in my books...and god help us if he is elected. I am sick and tired of religious types screwing around with the country---as I read on one blog here, how can we vote for someone who doesnt believe in evolution, photosynthesis or gravity!)
My concern right now is that if the D party takes until the convention to pick their nominee, and the R's have theirs well before their convention (read- McCain will be their nominee pretty soon), then the R's will have much more time to lay into whoever the D nominee is.... and that could have a disastrous effect come November.) The saving grace there is that McCain may have to move too far to the right to maintain his support with those wingnuts in the R party that he will turn off the Independents, who I think may very well control the outcome.
'Twill be interesting won't it?
Over the past short while I have taken to reading the "Comments" section which appears on the tab. My conclusion...a lot of blogs have been taken over by some kind of virus, and to be honest I am not sure how much longer I want to stay here...the longer I stay, the greater the chance of being hit by one of the viruses.
Go take a look at the comment section, and see what is in there for tempsdecanvi....does this not sound like a virus attack..".massanatan waterpark paid reseach san bernardino county r&e reynolds yarn supplies billmelater orchardcredit dental radiographs zorro federal tax forms county 20clothing the beacon theatre "..or this from Sheol
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It is all gobbledy gook.....
Is this something we need to worry about? Is it contagious? Howard....any explanation?
Here we are, on the eve of another Stupor Bowl, and the NFL shoots itself in the foot.....and another reason why pro sports can go to hell...and they just might!
Now the gods of football are not allowing churches to have Super Bowl parties and show the game on TV sets over 55 inches...copyright infringement you know.
I am not a big fan of the megachurches, heck, I have really lost faith in almost any church--religion, whether it be Christian, Muslim, Catholic, or Buddhist have caused so darn much trouble in the world over their history and most of what I see the churches doing is so darn hypocritical--but that's a topic for another post. But why can't a church, school, synagogue, VFW hall, or any group show the Super Bowl on a large screen to a bunch of people if they are not charging admission? It is interesting that the NFL allows sports bars to do it!!!
To me, the nonsense being portrayed by the NFL is just another nail in their coffin. Games are too expensive to attend, rowdy behavior of drunken fans at the stadium prevents many parents about even thinking to take their kids--that is if they can afford it; and my guess is that if wasn't for the marketing arm of teams buying influence in their local papers, few people would have interest (you should see the Washington Post and their bowing down to the Redskins---- 4-5 pages each day, with a ton of articles about Redskin minutiae is not uncommon during football season, and at least 4-5 articles in the summer is standard operating procedure!). Football as a sport is even hurting, unless you live in Texas or Florida. Many high schools now have trouble finding enough kids wanting to play, and community kids football is disappearing in many places---simply not enough kids showing up to play, with soccer taking up the slack. My guess is that it won't be long until there simply not enough players coming up through the ranks to fill NFL teams.....may be an exaggeration, but their is a huge loss of interest.
And why do they allow sports bars to do it and not churches....seems to me that a bunch of people storming out of a church after the game would provide for much safer roads then the idiots who crawl out of the bars and into their cars.....
Sheesh.....
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