Swine Flu Attacks the Blogosphere

During the last three days I have read more about the impending Swine Flu epidemic than I have about the President or the US Economy. Maybe this is good news.

Not only are all the major newspapers and news services bombarding us, but also the Blogosphere. Some of these Bloggers are seemingly bordering on the brink of insanity about this topic. Just do a Blog search on Google for Swine Flu and you’ll see what I mean.

For example one Blogger writes (in depth) that this is an Al-Qaeda plot to eliminate their enemies (the infidels) via biological warfare. Members of the Islamic faith do not eat pork (or at least they are told that they shouldn’t eat pork), so therefore, there are no pigs in Islamic countries (well at least none of the four-legged variety).

But the Blogger fails to mention that Al-Qaeda’s arch enemy, (Israel and people of the Jewish faith) does not raise pigs nor do they eat pork (or at least they are told that they shouldn’t – something to do with the Bible – cloven hoofs, chewing cud and all that nonsense).

Another Blogger espouses a theory that it (Swine Flu) is the Obama’s administration’s way of distracting the media away from his first 100 days in office. If this is true, it has worked. Unlike the Blogger, I don’t think that Barack Obama has done a terrible job, just a little less that I expected. I never understood why a benchmark for the presidency is 100 days. Given what he has to deal with, I give him a higher rating (for his first 100 days) than Bill Clinton or George W. Bush.

Finally the Blog theory, about the Swine Flu, that I like the best.

This Blogger alleges that the Swine Flu "pandemic" is an US Government plot to keep Mexicans out of the United States. He goes on to state that it is the intention of the US Government is to ship all illegal aliens back to Mexico (does this include illegal aliens from countries other than Mexico?).

If this is true (which I doubt) I will stand up and applaud the people in our Government that have fostered this cause. I salute them for their ingenuity. Let’s keep the Swine Flu and illegal aliens in Mexico where they both belong.

As for me, I’m staying out of contact with any Mexicans or friends and family that have been in contact with a Mexican during the past two weeks. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

The Beach Bum

Shoot First - Ask Questions Later

I, like so many others, have been following the latest Somali Pirates episode. The media is bombarding us with the most current pirate attack. We hardly heard anything about the other 5 ships that they have commandeered during the past week or so.

Now it’s a different ballgame. This time the Somali pirates attacked a ship flying a United States flag with an American crew. As my Dad would have said “They really pulled a boner.”

For years the pirates have been seizing ships in the Gulf of Aden and holding them and their crews for ransom. Most of the pirates are militarily trained and have a good arsenal of weaponry. It’s not like the days of yore with just cannons and swords.

To prevent them from taking ships from the heavily traveled Gulf of Aden a joint naval task force was established in the Gulf and surrounding waters. This curtailed the piracy for a few months. Now the pirates have to go elsewhere to collect their booty. This is a more costly endeavor for them, therefore ransom amounts must increase.

Freighters and other ships have been avoiding the Somalia coastline and have ventured farther out into the Indian Ocean for this reason. Realizing this, the pirates have also gone farther offshore into the Indian Ocean.

Now here’s what I don’t understand about this entire situation!

I would assume that all of the captured ships had radar plus a GPS navigational system, and in most cases they are linked together. They also have a radio (VHF) of some kind which includes a Global Maritime Distress Safety System (GMDSS). Many sailboats and smoke pots on Lake Michigan are so equipped (it’s great to have these electronic devices if you are in the middle of the lake and caught in fog; listening to the fog horns emanating from one of the ore barges traversing the lake).

Small craft radar units and linking GPS units sell for $2000 or less. The radar has a range of about 24 nautical miles. I would imagine that the larger sea going ships have a much more sophisticated system. Or at least I hope they do. But let’s say they don’t.

Let’s assume that I am the Captain on a heavy laden freighter, 300 miles off shore, in the Indian Ocean, moving at approximately 12 nautical miles per hour. My low cost 24 mile radar/GPS system detects a ship coming at me doing about 36 knots per hour. There is a simple mathematical formula used to calculate how long it will be before I am overtaken by this ship. But I don’t need to use the formula because my GPS system informs me that I will be overtaken in roughly 48 minutes.

Being the astute Captain that I am, I assume that any ship traveling towards me at that speed, in pirate infested waters, must, in fact, be a pirate ship. Therefore I send out a distress signal. But there is no help available within 500 miles of my location. I now have only 45 minutes to plan my strategy. What to do, what to do, what to do?

I could pull a MacGuyver by making a few Molotov Cocktails to greet my attackers or heat up cooking oil to 500 degrees and dump it on them as the attempt to board my ship. I also have several rescue flares that could be used to ignite the flammable materials that I have just used to fend off my attackers.

But the pirates have threatened to sink the ship and kill my crew if I don’t comply with their demands. I’m no hero and I don’t want to risk the lives of my crew.

So let’s get back to reality and replay the scenario.

Now I have a 60 nautical mile radar system with a GPS interface. This system advises me that there is ship heading towards me at high speed. Again, I assume that it is a pirate ship. No warships in the vicinity will arrive before it overtakes my vessel. But now I have a lot more time before the pirates arrive. So I get on the horn (VHF).

I know that both the Ethiopian and Yemeni Air Force have bases within 400 miles of my position. I also know that both Air Forces have fully armed MIG aircraft capable of exceeding 600 knots per hour. Twenty minutes before the pirates reach my ship, they are blown out of the water. The country responsible for the kill would be handsomely rewarded for their effort. They have now become bounty hunters, so to speak.

At least this is my simple solution to the Somali Pirate problem.

The Beach Bum

Taking From the Poor and Giving to the Rich

I shouldn’t be complaining because I am currently living off of tax payer’s dollars. I draw a monthly Social Security check and my medical treatment and hospitalization is provided by the Veterans Administration. I do not work and therefore do not put any monies into the tax pool (except for Federal taxes on Tobacco and Alcohol).

I will say this for myself; I will not go on the Government dole until I reach 68.2 years old. This is accounting for a 6% benefit increase annually and the monies that I and my employers had paid into Social Security taxes (FICA).

I will also go on to say that during my last full year (1969) in the Army I earned $3719, whereas my civilian counterparts were earning three and a half, if not 4, times that amount per year. The civilians would argue that I got free room and board and medical care. This is true. I got a cot with a two inch thick mattress in a 14X16 foot room, in the barracks, shared with another GI. If I had been of a lesser rank, I would have been in a 32 man bay. The food that I rarely ate in the Mess Hall was free, but instead I paid for food outside of the Mess Hall, especially after I saw a local Pig Farmer picking up the leftovers. I guess that the pigs liked green beef liver.

However, I do feel a compulsion to complain when something truly appalling is in all of the online newspapers and the television newscasts 24 hours a day. There is story after story after story without any definitive answers.

Monday night, Steven Colbert said that it was time for us to pick up pitchforks and torches. Meaning it was time to go after the monster called AGI. At least that’s the way that I understood it.

AGI CEO Edward M. Liddy justifies the $165 million in bonuses, by saying that they were promised and that they were only going to “the brightest and the best” executives. Eleven of whom are no longer working for AGI. The best and brightest seemingly are like rats deserting a sinking ship; but they still want their full ration of Rum and Hardtack. It appears that the “brightest and the best” didn’t do that well in managing AGI. I say no more Rum!

Years ago my Dad told me that “promises were meant to be broken; just listen to any politician.” But CEO Liddy says that this promise should be kept so that AIG can keep “the brightest and the best”.

My solution is that our Government (since they – meaning the taxpayers - are now a major investor in AGI) should decide who, if anyone gets a bonus. If it were up to me, I’d scrub the entire executive staff and hire new people.

Maybe we can hire the Chimpanzees featured in the youtube video posted below. I'm sure that even they would do a better job and work for bananas and peanuts and not expect a Bonus.




The Beach Bum

Desperate Times

Today I read some alarming facts and figures about the Florida County in which I currently reside.

First is the unemployment rate. On December 31st it was at 10.9%. On February 28th it was 12.6%. The available County work force is less than 65 thousand (30% of the County’s residents are age 65 or older and retired). In addition twenty three percent of the people that are employed work out of County.

The County’s largest employer is Wal-Mart (2 Super Wal-Mart stores, a distribution center and a Sam’s Club). Wal-Mart recently laid off many of its part-time employees and cut hours of some full-time employees during the last two months. Our newest National Retailer, Kohl’s, has already cut back on its staff.

I’m not really sure, but I don’t think that the Unemployment figures included people that are unemployed and not collecting unemployment compensation. If so, this would increase the unemployment percentage as stated above.

Second is the housing market. Back in 2004/2005 there was a housing boom in this County. It drove up the prices of the existing homes. This wasn’t unique to the County, it was happening throughout the US.

Many of the new (construction) homes still lie vacant and they no longer have sales agents on duty in the model homes, just a number to call for a showing. I doubt that the phone rings very often.

In our zip code (probably the largest residential zip code in the County) there are 490 single family homes listed on Realtor.com, of these 450 are Bank owned. In addition realtytrac.com lists 1137 in pre-foreclosure and another 240 as Sheriff Sales (unpaid property taxes). I would guessitmate that this is more than 40% (if not 50%) of the single family dwellings in this zip code.

Third is the small business crisis. Last year (2008), 47 small businesses closed in our County. Some were franchises. In addition, some businesses, with multiple locations, have consolidated. The shopping centers have many “For Lease” signs in the vacant storefronts. The place where I got my Chicago Hot Dogs and Italian Beef Sandwiches has been closed for 8 months. When your sales do not cover the cost of your rent and utilities; you close (I wish they would have warned me – I would have bought their Vienna Franks supply).

And finally a not so shocking statistic, but nonetheless alarming. In 2008, County applications for concealed weapons permits had increase by 28% over the last year. In December alone, it was a 21% increase over the previous December. I haven’t seen the figures or the first two months of 2009 yet, but I’m sure that the numbers are escalating. It’s a Fear Factor, when people are desperate they will do desperate things. One has to be prepared for the worst case scenario.

The Beach Bum

She Looks Like a Butterfly but Stings Like a Bee

One of the headlines in yesterday’s St. Petersburg Times was “Prostitution Sting Nabs 10 in Clearwater.” The first thought that came into my mind was that they were cleaning up the streets before the Spring Breakers (Clearwater and Clearwater Beach are very popular Spring Break destinations) arrived. By running these sting operations it keeps the Hookers off of the streets for a while.

As I have stated before, I am for legalizing prostitution. I’m one of those people that believe that prostitution is a victimless crime (unless the prostitute has AIDS and doesn’t inform you of that fact). Obviously the City of Clearwater, Florida is also in favor of legalizing prostitution; just Google “Escort Services Clearwater Fl”. An Escort can cost as much as $400 per hour. Some even have a minimum of 3 hours.

There are also several (meaning more than 6) “Gentleman’s Clubs” in Clearwater; where you can get 4 to 5 minute semi-nude Lap Dances for about $25 to $35 a pop. If you are a high roller (5 lap dances plus extra tips), there is a good chance that you can set up a rendezvous for later that evening or the next day with your favorite dancer (future tip negotiated before services rendered). The guy says something like “What time do you get off tonight” or “What are you doing tomorrow” and then leaves his address or a hotel room number written on a cocktail napkin.

The girls that work for the escort services as well as the lap dancers are very attractive women. As a general rule, the girls that work the streets are, well, not quite that attractive. But they charge one hell of a lot less for services rendered. Seemingly there is nothing more appalling in the public eye than a cut-rate prostitute.

Last year there were several sting operations in Pinellas, Hillsboro and Hernando counties. The police go to areas that are known for having “Streetwalkers” and set up shop. They make it known (how, I don’t really know) to the real prostitutes that they will be working in that area for the weekend. So the real hookers stay home or work elsewhere.

Last fall a 6 day sting operation, in Hernando County, netted 16 guys looking for a little Nookie. One defendant’s Lawyer argued that it was entrapment, saying, that the officer dressed, sounded and acted like she was a prostitute. She walked up to his client, smiled and said Hi. She approached his client first, but he was the one to make the offer. If something looks, sounds and acts like a goat; it must therefore be a goat. Good argument, but faulty logic. But horny men do not act logically.

This past Sunday, there were 10 guys sitting in the Pinellas County Jail waiting for Monday’s arraignment. They were not so innocent victims of a victimless crime. I’ll bet that they were swearing off goats forever, or at least saving up their money for a Lap Dancer or an Escort.

The Beach Bum

Trickling Up - Part II

I enjoyed the Super Bowl yesterday – it was a very good game, for a change. However the Commercials were not as good as they are normally. The Halftime Show was good but not as good I had expected. And I’ve been a Bruce Springsteen fan since 1973.

Now let’s go back to Jon Stewart’s Trickle Up proposition. I’m sure that at least one person on President Obama’s staff watches the Daily Show. I’m also sure that the President himself has viewed the Gwen Ifill interview. This should give him something to think about when they re-hash (or should I say un-pork) the Economic Stimulus Bill.

Don’t bailout the large Corporations or the Banking Industry; give the money to the people. Give the money to the people is something that I have been saying for the past 7 or 8 months.

I have a simple plan and here’s how it works. And this plan will stimulate the Economy.

The first issue that I will address is Mortgages.

Many people bought overpriced homes between 2003 and 2005. They panicked because prices were escalating monthly. There was a construction boom here in Florida at that time. It kept a lot of Illegal Aliens of Spanish descent working. But it also increased the price of the used homes on the market. Real Estate Agents use a tool called comparables to judge the market value of a resale home.

At the same time the banks and mortgage brokers were loaning people money that were marginal credit risks at best.

For example – there is a house on the market (2 miles from where I am living), that was built in 1997, it has 3 bedrooms and 2 and ½ Baths, with a screen enclosed swimming pool, mahogany flooring, nearly 2000 sq. ft. of living space, sitting on a half acre plus of property. Assessed Value of $207,000 (Public Record) and an asking price of $132,905 (this is not a short sale).

The people that bought it in 2003 and paid $170,000 for the property went into foreclosure last year and the bank took it back and has listed it with a Realtor. It’s been on the market for 238 days. No nibbles no bites.

My proposal to use the Economic Recovery money wisely is:

1) The Fed would pay the mortgages down to the current fair market price of the property (For example; if you have a $200,000 mortgage and the fair market value of your home is $140,000 they would give $60,000 to the lender, reducing the mortgage to $140,000) This money would go directly to the lending institutions that are holding the mortgage. In turn these institutions (or others) would refinance the new loan at current rates. Thus lowering the mortgage payment.

This would only apply to people that have owned and lived in their homes for at least a year as of December 31st 2008. The homes must be valued at less than $750,000 to qualify (most of the homes over that amount have probably increased in value, despite the current economic downfall).

Now this is an Economic Stimulus.

The Government would have to create about 5000 new jobs (knowing the way the government (HUD) works probably closer to 10,000 jobs) to work this program.

Now this is an Economic Stimulus.

What about people who rent? Shouldn’t they get a break? Yes they should.

For people paying less that $2500 per month (if you pay more than that for rent, you are either well off, insane or live in New York City) in rent, the Government should pay 6 months of their rent in advance. This is a maximum total of $15,000 per household. This program would also create new Government jobs.

And what are these people (home owners and renters) going to do with this money saved. They will spend it, invest it or bank it.

Now this is an Economic Stimulus.

Parts III and IV will follow shortly.

The Beach Bum

Trickling Up

I had originally intended to write this Blog last Wednesday, when the topic was fresh. I didn’t because I was suffering from one of my gastrointestinal aliments. I was in pain! I don’t use pain killers or analgesics of any kind. Therefore the thinking and reasoning part of my brain doesn’t function as well as it should. In other words - I cut back on my alcohol intake.

Last Tuesday night’s guest on the Daily Show (on Comedy Central) was Gwen Ifill touting her new book “The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama”. Near the end of the interview, Jon Stewart (the Daily Show host and inquisitor) turned the subject to economic policies.

Speaking about the billions (or a trillion)of dollars for the bailout, Stewart said “Give us (meaning individuals rather than the banking industry) the money, but only for consumer debt and mortgages.”

Stewart called it his “Trickle up” theory of Economics. The people get the bailout money and give it to the financial institutions.

I had written several Blogs last summer and fall advocating that the Government give the bailout money to the people rather than to the Corporations that had raped us and put us in the economic crisis that we are currently facing.

Last week I was looking at the Economic Stimulus Bill that passed the House. I don’t see many of sections (of the bill) that will help stimulate our Economy. If you have a few spare hours to waste you can view H.R. 1 here.

Jon Stewart didn’t go into depth on his “Trickle up” proposal.

I have my own proposal for trickling up the Economy. I’ll Blog about that later.

The Beach Bum

Mister Knows Most of It

The third love of my life (aka my wife) is currently here visiting her daughter and tormenting me. I guess that I was not a good boy last year and “that invisible man in the sky” has decided to punish me.

But I will admit that she does have her moments. The other day asked two questions about the Presidential Inauguration. Why was held in January, when the weather is so miserable in Washington D.C. and why Inauguration Day wasn’t a National Holiday (so that more people could attend or watch it on television).

Being a “Mister Knows Most of It”, like my friend Richard Feder, I gave a snappy reply. She bought my answers; they made sense, whether they were correct or incorrect. That’s the good part about being a “Mister Knows Most of It”, if you are right 75% of the time, people tend to believe you are right the other 25% when you don’t know Jack about the topic. The quicker you answer, the more believable you become.

In a telephone conversation with Mr. Feder (he’s right 75% of the time and answers quickly) last night we discussed the issue of the January Inauguration. We both knew that Inauguration Day had been in March and that it was changed to January in the Twentieth Century. Feder then tells me that it was change to lessen the transition time between Presidents. This made sense – so I bought his answer.

My next question was is why we hold our elections on the first Tuesday in November? He answered that it was because of the Farmers (at that time we were primarily an agrarian society). He also informed me that it isn’t always on the first Tuesday (if the first Tuesday falls on November first - All Saints Day – all of the farmers would be in Church rather that at the polls). Feder is usually 75% correct so I believed this without looking it up.

Here is my proposition. If after one year Barack Obama is doing a good job and has a high approval rating, we should change the dates of the General Election and Presidential Inauguration. I believe it will take a Constitutional Amendment to do so. We change Election Day to the first Tuesday in April and Inaugural Day to June 20th.

Why did I choose these dates?

First, it will remind the voters of their tax obligation and what the current President has done to relieve their burden. And the day before the Summer Solstice is usually a nice day.

The Beach Bum

Never Give A Sucker an Even Break

In one of his movies, W. C. Fields said that his grandfather's last words, "just before they sprung the trap", were "You can't cheat an honest man; but never give a sucker an even break or smarten up a chump."

Big Business and the United States Government (Strange Bedfellows) seem to be using this quote as their motto.

I consider myself to be an honest man and yet I’m being treated as sucker and a chump. My mistake was to trust our Government to make the right decisions. Therefore, I am a sucker and a chump.

But I’m not alone, over 90 percent of our population fall into the Sucker/Chump category. I like being in the majority, but this is one majority that bothers me. I don’t want to be in this majority, but I’m trapped and cannot find a way out.

My Dad always used a phrase about my spending habits; he said that “I was throwing good money after bad money”. Dad never said that to the “powers that be” in Washington. He should have!

Now the Big 3 Auto Makers are looking for a Federal Bailout Handout. Their CEO’s are even willing to reduce their pay to $1 per year.

Phooey! They (the CEO’s) just want their shares(those additional compensation words after their posted salaries) in their respective Companies to be worth more money or at least be worth something.

We are being told that we must invest in America. I have invested in America; I bought US Savings Bonds. As an honest man, I never looked to make a quick or an exceeding high profit on my investment.

Honest men, as a general rule, do not get conned by a con man.

But, obviously, they do get conned by their elected officials and their government. We are all suckers and chumps.

The Beach Bum

A Piece of the Pie

I received an email today asking me why I haven’t written a Blog in the past 7 days. The underlying question was about my health issues, not about my Blog. This time my health problems are not of a physical nature.

I’ve been enduring a horrible domestic situation for the past week. It has been beyond my scope of imagination. The stress factor has become overwhelming. In addition, the financial news has been driving me to the edge of insanity (a short drive).

I have unsuccessfully attempted to stop reading the daily news.

Back in my school daze they always used a pie to demonstrate how the Federal Government allocated our tax dollars. Some pies are broken into as few as 5 sectors of the Economy, while others delved deeper, basically know as sub-sectors. There are also pies for GNP, GND (AKA GFD) as well as many other individual sectors of our economy. I’m sick to near death at looking at the current pies.

Now the Auto makers want a piece of the bailout money. Only $25 Billion, a mere drop in the bucket, compared to the $800 Billion plus bailouts. Everyone now wants a piece of the pie

Let’s take GM for example. G. R. Wagoner, Jr. GM Chairman & CEO whose compensation was $14,415,914 in 2007 and who knows what he’ll earn in 2008. Then there is R. A. Lutz, Vice Chairman, Global Product Development, who was compensated $6,894,024 in 2007.

Now let’s drop a comma. I could live a life of luxury on $415,914 or better yet $894,024 per year. Deferring their salaries down to reasonable levels would save GM $20 million per year. A condition of a bailout to any company should require the top compensated person in the company to make less than $500,000.

Think about it, if you can’t live on a half million dollars a year you have a major drug problem.

To hell with the corporate bailouts! Let’s try to bailout the people who really need to be bailed out. Those are the people who were conned into massive debt attempting to attain the American Dream; home ownership. And now due to the economy, they are facing foreclosure. If they received the money instead of the financial institutions and the big corporations, they would spend it more wisely. But these monies would only be given to people that lived in their homes and not the real estate speculators and investors (they deserve to lose their ass).

This all reminds me of the mid 1970’s movie Network, starring Peter Finch as a News Anchor who lost it all when he was told that he was he was losing his job due to low ratings. He was losing everything that mattered to him.

This is the way many people feel now.

From IMDB:

“I want you to get up right now, sit up, go to your windows, open them and stick your head out and yell – “I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!” Things have got to change. But first, you've gotta get mad! You've got to say, I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! Then we'll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it:
I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!”

We should feel this way and shout:
I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!

It’s doubtful that any of the “Powers that Be” will listen, but at least we got it off our chests.

The Beach Bum

Gay Marriage - An Interesting Proposition

In the late 1970’s a very attractive young lady was one of the many part-time employees that I employed. She was attending Georgetown Law School. She was from Darien, Connecticut. She was svelte and highly intelligent; two of the three qualities that I seek in a woman. I never found out if she possessed the third quality.

Unfortunately we were both involved with the “loves of our life”. I was married with three children and she was living with her “soul mate”. She had met her soul mate while attending Smith College in Massachusetts; they were, on campus, roommates and lovers from their sophomore year until graduation. For those of you that may be unaware, Smith is a Women’s College.

After completing Georgetown Law she and her soul mate moved back to Connecticut. Her plans were to pass the Bar and work for her father’s Law Firm in NYC. I never kept in contact with her after she left my employ. Until yesterday, I hadn’t even thought about her once since she had moved back to Connecticut. I have even forgotten her surname.

Why yesterday?

I was reading an article in the New York Times about the first eight same sex marriages in Connecticut after the State Supreme Court lifted the ban on Gay Marriage. I immediately thought of Candace (Candy) and her soul mate. I wondered if they were still together as a couple and if they were contemplating marriage.

I have stated before that I was all for same sex marriages. Not that I am a Champion of Gay Rights; I don’t fight for any cause that doesn’t directly benefit me or my family’s wellbeing. On the other hand, Gay Marriage does affect the Economy, which indirectly affects all of us.

Twenty-Five years ago one of my Bartenders asked me why Gay males tipped so well. I facetiously said “they probably like your ass.” He became very self conscious (and started to wear baggy pants), so I then told him the real reason; they don’t have to pay for a big wedding or pay alimony and child support.

This brings us to California’s recently passed Proposition 8. California is currently in the Economic Trash Can.As far as I know they still haven't passed a budget. The Governator is saying that he needs to raise taxes, not to balance the budget but to keep the State from sinking deeper into the financial quagmire in which it is currently embroiled. Good luck Arnold!

What did Proposition 8 do for the California state economy; it pushed it deeper into the quagmire. Weddings generate a lot of income for the State as well as many small businesses. It also brings in out-of state people who will be spending money in that State instead of their home State. Plus the attorneys will eventually make out like bandits.

The bottom line is that Gay Marriage is good for the US Economy. And that’s why I’m for it.


The Beach Bum

Critical Issues

Yesterday I called a boyhood friend (we went to the same Chicago Grammar School and High School together). He is now living in North Carolina and I called to get his take on the Presidential Election. Barack Obama was leading by a thin margin in a State that I thought would definitely be a Red State.

It didn’t really matter because Senator (now President Elect) Obama already had enough electoral votes to be the new US President. I was just curious and he was the only person that I know in North Carolina that would be home at one in the afternoon. He is retired.

He is also a lifelong Democrat that did not vote for Obama. I asked him if it was a race issue, as we were both reared to dislike people of different races and of certain nationalities. We were carefully taught by our families, at an early age, to dislike the same people that they disliked. He said “not really”.

His major concerns were gun control, abortion (he is a good Catholic, who hasn’t been inside of a church for years) and gay marriage. We discussed, at length, these three issues. I disagreed with him on two out of three.

The one issue that I agreed with was gun control. I’m anti gun control. Of the thousands of friends and family members I have known to have firearms; not a one has ever committed a crime or intentionally killed a person with a gun. I’m an adherent of the philosophy that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people”. Criminals will get weapons even if guns were made illegal.

I am in a quandary about the abortion issue. I believe in “the right to life” but I am also “pro choice”. This dilemma makes it hard for me to argue in either direction on this subject. But I am against the “Religious Right” attempting to dictate their morals onto the general population. There is a reason that our “founding fathers” believed in and advocated the separation of Church and State.

Finally we come to “gay marriage”. I know a gay couple that has been together for more than 35 years. One is in his early 80’s and a WWII veteran; the other is about to turn 60. They own several properties together (as joint tenants –survivorship rights) but they have separate bank accounts. They are beyond the point that where money is a concern, so they do not see the point of being married (did I mention that both are Catholic and attend mass on a regular basis).

But there are younger gay couples that would benefit by “Gay Marriage”. I have always accepted Gay people (especially women); although it was against my beliefs (I believe that homosexuality is nurtured not natured).

As a good friend once said “Let them get married so that they can suffer like us heterosexuals”.

The Beach Bum

Election 2008 - Bring Out Your Dead

With the Presidential Election just 10 days away, a composite of 10 major Polls shows that Senator Obama is leading Senator McCain by 7.5%

In 1984 Chicago Newspaper columnist Mike Royko suggested that people should lie to the media about who they voted for in television sponsored exit polls. There was sound reasoning behind Royko’s promoting this activity. The television media was calling a candidate a winner before the polls closed. This prevented people who would normally vote, to not vote. Either their preferred candidate was declared a winner or was out of contention; so why bother to vote?

Long before Mike Royko, lying to pollsters was advocated by King Richard I (Richard J Daley – Mayor of Chicago for Life) in the 1960’s. Of course, he didn’t put it in writing or say it to the media. Daley instead passed the word down to the Democratic Aldermen and Precinct Captains. But King Richard I took it one step further; you were advised to also lie in any pre-election polls. This was part of the Daley Machine’s Political strategy.

The Chicago voter turnout has always been far above the National average. It has been purported, but not proven, that even terminally ill registered voters and recently deceased voters (as long as they were registered Democrats) have voted in past elections.

King Richard I also strongly suggested who you should vote for in the elections. As a general rule it was a straight Democratic Party ticket. You would get a hand delivered sample ballot from your precinct Captain or one of his minions. They would then place an X next to the preferred candidate’s name.

In 1968, the first presidential election in which I was allow to vote (the law was 21 years old or older at that time), there was no X next to any of the presidential candidate’s name. However there was an X next to Republican Senator Everett Dirksen’s (from down State Illinois) name as well as Republican Gubernatorial candidate Richard Ogilvie’s (the Cook County Sheriff) name.

Although he publicly endorsed Hubert H. Humphrey as well as all the Democratic Party candidates, King Richard I let his people know who he preferred in the 1968 election. Nixon won Illinois because Daley did not particularly like Humphrey. Dirksen would have probably won without Daley’s support, just by a smaller margin. And Ogilvie became the Governor of Illinois due to Daley’s surreptitious support.

I knew a Black Baptist Minister whose Church was in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago. He was also a Democratic Precinct Captain in his ward. He fervently disliked King Richard I, and told me that he was the most bigoted man that he had ever met. I queried as to why he worked for him. His answer was that “he was good for the City and that regardless of his prejudice he took care of the people in Woodlawn.”

Now there is King Richard II (Richard M. Daley – the current Mare of Chicago). He’s a couple years older than I am. He was raised by a bigoted father and grew up in the Irish Catholic neighborhood of Bridgeport. As I had been, he was taught that Black people were to be tolerated, but not respected or trusted.

Has King Richard II learned to put aside his childhood training, values and beliefs? I doubt it! The apple does not fall far from the tree.

If the new Daley Machine works like the old Daley Machine; you will see many white Democrat voters in Chicago voting for John McCain. But they’ll be telling the Pollsters that they are supporting Obama.

In the polls, Illinois is listed as an Obama state, but it also was listed as a Humphrey state in 1968.

The Beach Bum

To Evict or not To Evict

An anonymous commenter posted a comment to my last Blog about Cook County Sheriff Dart and the eviction process. I will assume that, he or she lives in Cook County, Illinois and understands the eviction process by either being a tenant, landlord or an attorney.

The comment was: “There is also a law that requires the renter to be given 120 days notice before being evicted.”

I don’t know beans about Cook County or Illinois laws, but I have seen the eviction process in action here in Florida (Pinellas County) twice. Both evictions were for non-payment of rent.

The first case involved a friend (the landlord) and the second involved a neighbor (the tenant). In both cases the process took nearly 90 days.

First the landlord must file papers with the intention to evict (best done by a Lawyer). The tenants are then offered the option to pay what they owe to the landlord or appear in court to explain why they shouldn’t be evicted. Most tenants do not appear. The court then orders an eviction notice for 30 days of evacuation of premises. The Sheriff then posts an eviction notice on their door.

But if the Cook County law is 120 days, a non-rent paying tenant could virtually stay for 6 to 7 months rent free before being evicted.

Sheriff Dart’s point was that he was not going to evict renters that were not delinquent in their rent. These were people whose landlords hadn’t paid their mortgages and subsequently went into foreclosure. They were unaware tenants, who had no idea and no warning that their landlord was in default on his mortgage. Innocent victims!

When the Banks take over the property (due to mortgage default), does the standard eviction process still apply. I don’t know. But like Sheriff Dart, I feel sorry for these people. Personally, I couldn’t evict them, but I’m not the Sheriff.

But back to the original point of my previous Blog; Sheriff Dart took an oath to uphold the law in Cook County; he’s not doing his job.

The Beach Bum

My Kind of Town, Chicago Is!

Wednesday night I read two unrelated articles in the online version of the Chicago Tribune that I would like to comment about.

The first was concerning the Cook County Sheriff, Tom Dart and the second was about Chicago Department of Sanitation workers.

Sheriff Tom Dart announced that he would no longer be evicting people from foreclosed homes. He cited the growing number of evictions that involve rent-paying tenants who suddenly learn their building is in foreclosure because the landlord neglected to pay the mortgage. He’s refusing to do any foreclosure-related evictions with the hope is that banks will change their policies. Good Luck!

Mr. Dart I applaud you for trying to ease the pain of the downtrodden masses. You have a good heart, sir.

But on the other hand I must condemn you. You sir, took an oath to uphold the law. This oath didn’t specify which statutes, no matter how repugnant you may find them, that you can bypass for the well being of others. You swore an oath when you took the job as Sheriff. If you can’t keep your promise in good conscious, then perhaps you should resign.

Besides swearing to tell the truth in court, I have taken one oath in my life:
"I, state your name, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

I kept my promise.

The other story in the Tribune was about a report from investigators, who spied on garbage collection workers who were loafing for hours each day. The average slacking time was 2 hours per 8 hour shift. This means that 25% of their on the clock time was spent loafing. That 25% is probably below the average time that a City, State or Federal office worker spends slacking off each day.

But to keep the pressure off of themselves, they must put the pressure onto someone else. Who better to blame than the Garbage man. He’s not sitting at a desk (in an air conditioned or heated office) where he could hide his slack time and pretend to be working. He is out working in the elements, dealing with the putrid refuse of others.

For those of you who complain about the Garbage men loafing on the job, I suggest you trade places with him for one day.

The Beach Bum

Saving the Many at the Cost of the Few

The Vulcan Philosopher Spock once stated “Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”


The White House and the Congress have told us that the 700 billion dollar bailout will help the majority of Americans. They say that the bailout was the logical move to help cure the Nations financial woes.

But who are the many (the majority) and who are the few?

The many made imprudent investments, the few didn’t. The many were looking to make a quick and/or higher level of profit for their investment. The few took a different direction and invested in low yield, but safe, funds and money market accounts that were yielding less than 2%. The few were not happy with their return on investment but thought that being cautious was the proper course of action given the current economy.

The few must now pay for the avarice of the many.

Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio said "This bill does nothing for the Addie Polks of the world." "This bill fails to address the fact that millions of homeowners are facing foreclosure, are facing the loss of their home. This bill will take care of Wall Street, and the market may go up for a few days, but democracy is going downhill."

Pennsylvania Congressman Todd Platts stated “this legislation will put American taxpayers on the hook for the reckless actions of Wall Street and irresponsible lenders with little certainty of truly solving the underlying causes of our nation’s economic challenges.”

I applaud and tip my hat to all of the Congressmen who had the intestinal fortitude to vote nay on the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.

The Beach Bum

It Makes Me Want To Puke

Today the House passed the 700 Billion Dollar Bailout bill; I am appalled but not surprised. Several pork barrel items were added to the bill; again I am appalled but not surprised. This is normal politics, politics at its worst.

My first question is: how does this bill help the Average Joe? You know - the person who is out there busting his bottom to try to make ends meet in this bad economy. My second question is; will the individuals that caused this problem get their just desserts?

Who pays for this bailout and who benefits?

My family and friends will seemingly not benefit. They will end up on the paying end of the stick. If I took an unscientific poll of the 100 or so people that are in my email address book, I would imagine the majority, if not all, of them will not be benefiting from the bailout. I guess it just matters on whom you have in your address book.

How will this bill help the countless people that are currently going into mortgage foreclosure? The bill helps the banks that hold their mortgages; not them. They got screwed, as usual, not helped. Do you, for one moment, think that any of these people need FDIC coverage over $100,000?

The underlying note was that we must help the Banking Industry to keep our Nation financially stable. To avoid another Great Depression! To avoid a Stock Market crash!

I have no pension and I never wisely invested in a 401K plan. The Stock Market is just legalized gambling. Those who invest should have understood the risks involved. Why should I (or any of us) save their asse(t)s?

Will any of the individuals that benefited, at the cost of a possible financial collapse of the Banks and Stock Market, pay? Extremely doubtful! The system doesn’t work that way! They’ll get off smelling like a Rose, and we (the common man, the middle class, the working person and the Average Joe) will pay for their foibles. That’s how the system works.

Yet, we are voters and we are the people that are responsible for putting individuals in office that do not care about our well being. Think about it and then weep!

Personally, I will not vote for any member of Congress that voted aye for the bailout bill.

The Beach Bum

Let the Games Begin

Yesterday I watched all three MLB Playoff games on WTBS. I was disappointed with the outcomes, but not the least bit surprised. All three of the teams that I wanted to win, lost. This is one of the reasons that I do not bet on sporting events.

Being a lifelong Cubs fan the most disappointing game was the Cubs/Dodgers. The Cubs starting pitcher Ryan Dempster had the best regular season home pitching record (14-3) in the National League. He averaged 3.3 walks per 9 innings pitched this season and .3 home runs (6) per game started (20) at Wrigley Field. So what happens? Dempster gives up 7 walks in 4 and 2/3 innings and dishes up a Grand Slam. Seeing this happen, the Cubs bats go silent for the remainder of the game.

I didn’t think that the Brewers would beat Cole Hammels, but I can hope, can’t I. I dislike the Phillies, or should I say that I dislike their fans. This dates back to the 1980’s when I went to see the Cubs play the Phillies at Veterans Stadium (I was living in Maryland at the time). I, of course, was cheering for the Cubs and was surrounded by Phillies fans. The language aimed towards me and my friends (one female) would make a sailor blush. But this didn’t stop me from rooting for my team. What followed then was a threat; that if I didn’t shut my trap, it would be shut for me. We left our good seats and moved to seats where there were no other people. I never went back to the Vet. Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, Bullshit.

The last game of the night was the Angels/Red Sox. This was the best game that I watched yesterday. Both starting pitchers pitched excellent games. Lester pitched a fantastic game. I was favoring the Angels because I like their manager Mike Scioscia. I liked him as a player (Dodgers) and I like him as a manager. Of course I should be rooting for Boston. Because if the Rays beat the White Sox in the Divisional series, I think that they would stand a better of going to the World Series by playing Boston.

This puts me in a quandary. Who should I cheer for this afternoon when the Rays play the White Sox? When I moved to Florida the Rays became my second team (I've watched more than 100 of their games this year), when I lived in Maryland it was the Orioles. But I’m originally from Chicago and I always cheer for Chicago teams. It’s going to be a tough call that I’ll make a game time.

As far as a prediction as to who will win the divisional series and who will go on to the League Championship, I rather not say, for fear that I jinx the teams that I am pulling for. Like most true Cubs fans I am very superstitious about making a prediction.

Yesterday, one of my favorite Bloggers , The Curmudgeon, wrote two Baseball Blogs and made his predictions for divisional series. I hope that he isn’t right!

The Beach Bum

A Field of Broken Dreams

I read a story in today’s online version of the Chicago Tribune that raised my ire. The story was about Little League Baseball in New Haven, Connecticut. I'd passed through New Haven in the 1960's and wasn't impressed (except for the buildings on the Yale campus).

There is this 9 year old little leaguer who has been barred from pitching in this league of 8 teams.

The first thought that comes to mind is that this kid has been hitting a lot of batters. But that is not the case. He’s just too good for the rest of the league.

They told him that he could still play in the league, but he just couldn’t pitch in the league. He possesses a 40 MPH Fastball with very good control. This is seemingly an unfair advantage to the other teams in the league. One team forfeited the game when they saw him on the mound.

However, the kid’s coach and parents say the boy is being unfairly targeted because he turned down an invitation to join the defending league champion, which is sponsored by an employer of one of the league's administrators.

The league administrators want the team to disband and the players be absorbed by the remaining 7 teams.

This reminds me of the Bad News Bears movie. My God, this is Little League Baseball not the World Series. The game should be played for the sake of the game, for the children involved in the game and not for the Parents or Sponsors.

The boy’s mom said "The whole objective in life is to find something you're good at and stick with it. I'd rather he spend all his time on the baseball field than idolizing someone standing on the street corner."

The other team managers and the league administrators are trying to prevent this from happening. And this is the real shame.

The Beach Bum

Advocating Unsafe Sex

During the past few months I been viewing a commercial, actually there are at least 4 different commercials in the group, on a variety of television programs that I watch. And no, it’s not the ubiquitous Caveman series from GEICO.

I am not a mainstream television viewer and I rarely watch programs that are on the major networks. My feeling is that if they are good programs they will end up in syndication on one of the cable channels that I watch. This way I can see a seasons worth of programs in 6 weeks.

So I don’t really know if the aforementioned series of commercials are played on prime time network TV. Nor do I know on what type of programs they are being aired. On the cable stations that I watch they really don’t seem to have a pattern and you can’t tell on which programs they will appear and who they are really targeting with the commercial.

The commercials are for a product called KY Yours & Mine. The theme is the same in all of the commercials; a couple sitting on a bed talking about the great sexual experience they are about to have. The latest one that I have viewed features a couple saying “let’s hurry before the kids get home”.

The couple then hold up two colored test tubes containing gels. The commercials then flash to an old black and white movie clip of an enthralled couple dancing. The final scene is of the elated couple lounging in bed. If I was having sex with someone other than myself, I’d be running down to the Walgreens to try this stuff out, and I’m not usually swayed by television advertising.

The problem that I have with these commercials is that they do not promote safe sex. Did I mention the fact that you cannot achieve the desired effect if you are wearing a condom? Although they always show a seemingly monogamous couple using their product and the implication is that it will bring new life into a relationship, I doubt that the majority of the users will fall into this category.

Let’s face it, if this product was on the market when I was young and sleeping around, I’d be in the Walgreens on a weekly basis. I’d like to see the demographics to whom and where this product is predominately being sold. I’ll bet that stores near college campus rank high on that list.

The Beach Bum