Politics = Frustration

We've all been entranced by the media (both left and right) lately about all of this "bailout" hullabaloo and quite frankly I've come to the conclusion that the average person is out of his/her freaking mind!! I had heard that the education system in this country had gone to shit in the last 10-15 years, but my god...people are really DUMB. It seems 80% of americans actually BELIEVE that Obama's "policies" will "save" our economy. To quote one article in the Times Union, "Obama said, 'and the cost to the tax payer will be almost nothing'". Now, if you read further in that article you'll see outlined a plan to spend over $75,000,000,000 (that's BILLION for those who have trouble counting that many zeros) to "rescue" the housing market. Ok, follow this closely: it doesn't cost the tax payer anything, but we're going to spend (spend means to disburse, to use up) $75 billion dollars....so this begs the question, who is going to pay for this?
The greatest part was yesterday Obama said that in the next 4 years he'll cut the deficit in half....HE JUST DOUBLED THE CURRENT DEFICIT AND IS STILL SPENDING MONEY! So, how does he plan to do this? Well, during the campaign he ran on the platform of tax cuts, tax relief and prosperity for all. So, in order to decrease the deficit we will have to pay back the money that has been borrowed (mostly from China. if that doesn't scare you blind then you're asleep at the wheel my friend), which means that we will not only have to decrease spending, which it seems Obama has no plans of doing anytime soon, and we will have to increase taxes to boost revenue to pay back moneys that were spent in the first 60 days of his freaking presidency!!! OH MY GOD WHAT THE HELL, PEOPLE!!!
I am not a finance major, hell, I'm not even that good with money. But even I can see that the math simply does not hold water here! $800 billion in new spending just in the first 30 days. That equates to over $1.2 Trilllion ($1,200,000,000,000) once you factor in interest to pay back the loan. What is going to happen when/if this "plan" doesn't work? Will Obama draft a new "stimulus" package to throw at the economy?
When is the government going to realize that the Free Market Economy is the closest thing we have in this world to a perfect economic system. I read a blog just this morning. A man was talking about the Savings and Loan Crisis in the early 80's during Reagan's first term (not his fault by the way). Did he put together a huge stimulus package to send every american that couldn't afford their mortgage a check to "reward" them for making poor choices? No, Hell NO, not a chance. And what happened? Well, there were lots of Americans that lost their homes and went on to RENT homes to keep a roof over their families heads (now enter the construction boom of the 1980s to build enough apartment complexes to choke a small galaxy). Now, I know what you're asking. What happened to all of those foreclosed houses? The banks took possession, of course. After a while the banks had a surplus of homes to get rid of, so the market said "hey, this is what they're worth. sell them." And they did. Hundreds of homes were sold at rock bottom prices and they were bought by people who were responsible enough to own a home.
Now, boys and girls, what was the outcome of the government keeping their nose out of this little disaster? Well, the economy, our wonderful free market, RIGHTED itself in a very short time (much shorter than what we're dealing with now). The government is not the answer. Obama will not pay your mortgage, he will not pay for your gas, he will not send you a check each month so you can live happily ever after. Someone has to pay for all this spending, and that is you, me, your children and your grandchildren.
These are serious times ladies and gentlemen. We are about to enter a time where the government will have more control and more say in your daily life than any time in American History. This is not a game anymore. It's time for everyone to start writing their congressmen/senators/mayor

s/city council and let them know that we want, NEED the government to step back and let our Free Market Economy do what it does best. Step up to the mic people! The government won't save you, but YOU can.

The Death of a Nation

The Election 2008.
Getting up very early yesterday and spiriting myself over to the polls to cast my vote as a responsible American I was filled with pride for having the privilege and the right to effect a small amount of change in our country. Then came the results of the election early this morning. I felt as though I were on candid camera. Surely this could not be true, I said to myself. But, of course, it is true. We have elected quite possibly the worst candidate in the history of America. Barak Obama will tear this country apart with his socialist policies and dangerous and destructive foreign campaign. He'll pull us out of Irag and the middle east without resolving what we have worked so hard, and shed so much blood, for (even though I've opposed the war for some time now we still have a responsibility to finish what we started) at a time when we are making real progress towards establishing a functioning democracy. His economic plans are insane and mostly idiotic at best. The middle class is going to suffer greater hardship in this generation than in any other generation since the Great Depression.
It is a truly tragic day in American politics. I dread the next 4 years and pray to God that he isn't elected to a second term.

Downtown - Autumn AM

As I rode into work this morning, via the Riverwalk, as I do each day of the week, I had to stop a few times just to take in the view. While we all get frustrated with those in power for their inaction and sometimes seemingly outright raping of The Core, we need to stop and realize that we have a gorgeous city here sitting along the St. Johns River. So here are a couple shots of what my morning commute looks like these days. With views like this, a city like this, we really need to step up and make the most of what we've been entrusted with. Shouting at the rain is no longer going to cut it. Words now need to be followed by action. I'm not entirely sure what that "action" needs to be just yet, but I know that there are enough of us out there of the same mind that change can be affected in our city. It's time for our generation to take a greater responsibility for the future of Jacksonville.

Politicians and Politics

I think this image just about sums it up, don't you?
So, who's following the race these days? It seems you can't turn on the tv or the radio without hearing something about one of the candidates and their running mates. Personally I hate politics and I think politicians should be fired from government and made to actually work for a living. But, I understand that we live in a society that needs laws, boundaries, safeguards and rules in order to properly function in at least somewhat of a dignified way. Without these elements in place our society would crumble in a matter of minutes, so a necessary, if unpleasant, evil.
But what I'll never understand is how political campaigns have been reduced to name calling and backbiting. I mean, these are grown men and women who are, theoretically, running to be our representatives, to be our "man on the hill", our "go to" guy/girl, whatever. So, who cares if they slept with an aid, or an intern, or even a freakin goat! I could care less about your sexual resume. I could care less about most of the crap that gets thrown out over the air waves these days, because almost none of it has anything to do with finding solutions for the problems that this country is facing. Things like unemployment, taxes, welfare, abortion, adoption, national debt, war, national security and education are barely mentioned througout the course of your average politcal debate. And if they are mentioned it's only one pointing out what the other has NOT done to rectify whatever issue it is. Who cares what you haven't done in the past. What ARE you going to do today? Tomorrow? Over the next four years? When are we going to have a candidate step up who will hold themselves accountable for the people? I think we've had some who have made a valiant go of it, but in the end political maneuvering overrules what is good for the country and for the people at large.
It's a sad day when you can't trust ANYONE in your governing body because they're all on the take, they're all out to get whatever they can for themselves and stay in office for as long as they can without doing much of anything. It is a sad day.

Idiots

People are idiots.
I have noticed, frighteningly, that the vast majority of people do not pay attention to their surroundings AT ALL. This should come as no surprise when you listen to the news in the morning and get the traffic update for Jacksonville: crash on this road, crash on that road, crash over here, someone going to the hospital over there. It's insane!!! PAY ATTENTION PEOPLE! I ride a bike to work. I take the Riverwalk. It is a wonderful ride in the mornings, so peaceful and calm. Accept for the idiot people walking WHO ARE NOT PAYING ATTENTION! It's a good thing that I pay attention to my surroundings otherwise I'd be running these people down left and right.
It gets me to wondering if most people are just that self absorbed and self obsessed that they have no concern whatsoever for anything else going on outside of their own personal bubble. Ugh. It's so frustrating. Why can't they wake up!? Maybe I ask too much. Perhaps my standards are too high. It could be, even, that I am a minority in a world that does not want, and cares not, to change! Especially with such an important election coming up in the next couple of weeks, one would think that we could all take a step outside of ourselves, look around, and take note of what is going on around us. Again, perhaps this is too much to ask. Perhaps "people", the majority, simply can not handle such vast responsibility as this. It could be too much for their delicate sensibilities, their fragile constitutions. But I digress.

Ciao.

The Dark Side

Anyone who knows me knows that I am, and always have been, a liberal. Not always in the political sense, but definitely in my values. Politically I try to go with the candidate that is the least full of shit. That obviously is a little difficult in today's political arena. However, lately I have been spending a lot of time listening to talk radio on both sides of the spectrum, getting both points of view, and trying to weed out the bullshit. And one thing that I have come to know for sure is the Obama is not the least interested in what is right and just for this country. He is interested in doing whatever it takes to get elected as the first black president and get his name in the history books. Well, I don't give two shits if you're black, white, blue, purple or green. If you want to be a leader for this country you have to be willing to put politics aside and do what is right for the future of this country and the future of our children. So far, McCain has done that. He postponed his campaign in order to go back to D.C. to debate this so called "bail-out" plan and try to get to the right solution for our country. Not a political move, though everyone turned it into one, but the right move for the U.S. Obama on the other hand, had to be ORDERED by our president to bring his ass back to D.C. to vote on this measure. What kind of message does that send when your campaign is more important than the current crisis of our country? It sends the clear message that he cares nothing for what is right, only what gets him elected.
I am not a republican, I'm not even a conservative (though my wife may disagree). I am a liberal, but I tell you, there is not one chance in hell that I would vote for Obama as the next president of our country. We need leaders with the knowledge, fortitude, humility and patience to do what is right and take this country out of the pit of dispair that we find ourselves in right now. So, as of today, I cast my vote for John McCain. Not because he's the lesser of two evils, not because I just don't want Obama in office, but because over the last two weeks I have seen in both the liberal and conservative press/media that he has the best interests of this country at heart. I was wrong about Bush in 2000 when I voted him into office. I hope this time I'm right. The next 4 years will tell the tale.
I would ask anyone who reads this to do the same as I have done. Don't vote your party. Party politics are just that, Politics. Politics has nothing to do with what is right for the future of our country. Far too often we vote the party line because we don't want this or that in office. Well, at some point it has to be about what is truly right and just, not party. We have real problems that need real solutions, and the guy who is just totting the party line is not going to deliver what we need. Look at the issues, watch the debates, find out their voting records, see where they really stand and vote accordingly.

Another one bites the dust

Does anyone know what has happened to Dona Maria's in 5 Points? My wife and I would frequent that place at least once a week or so, but for the last two weeks it has been closed up with a large dumpster out front. Last night as I drove over to Publix after work I noticed all of the kitchen equipment sitting outside under the canopy. Have they closed for good? Are they remodeling? Is something else slated for the space? I've seen nothing in the papers and nothing on the local blogs so I have to wonder "what's the story morning glory?"

5 Points at Night

Lately I've started taking my dog, Eddie, for a walk at night before bed. It's nice to get out and just walk around and see the neighborhood. But lately I've been despairing a little at the lack of activity in our neighborhood. There were very few people out and about and even fewer even on their front porches.
My wife and I like to sit on our porch and drink coffee on the weekends, but our view is of I-10, so there isn't usually a whole lot of excitement on our street. You would think that other streets in the 5 Points area would be bustling with more energy, but the reverse is true. It seems that the days of neighborhood bar-b-ques, block parties and National Night Out get-togethers are over. I wonder what could get people out of their homes and enjoy the night air a little bit?
This is a question that we have asked ourselves often in our Neighborhood Watch Group. We still don't have an answer. I think we've all grown up for too long in sprawling sub-urban neighborhoods where everyone lives on a 2 acre parcel of land and your neighbor is so far away that you just don't even care to go over and say hello. We've gotten to the point where, in an age of instant communication all over the world, we've lost the simple skills of "chit chat". I count that as a big loss in our society, and especially in our generation. But then we do have First Friday's and ArtWalk and the Riverside Arts Festival and I'm sure one or two others that I am forgetting. If we can get together for these events on a regular basis why can't we get out on a regular night and just say "hello"?
Last night I walked past three people. One gentleman was doing some kind of work on his minivan and the other two were sitting (are you ready for this) on their porch playing a guitar. I made it a point to wave and salute each party as I walked by with Eddie in tow. Both times I was greeted with a smile and a return wave. This gets me to thinking that perhaps my fellow neighbors would like to be out on their porch drinking coffee/beer/whiskey/whatever with other neighbors. But how to get them out in the first place.
Our Neighborhood watch decided to do kind of a door-to-door recruitment to get people involved. We even had flyers and everything. So maybe that can work. I'm thinking about getting the word out and scheduling a "porch night". One night each month where everyone gets out on their porch or in their front yard just to chill for an hour or so. Say hello to a neighbor, learn their names, see them in their natural habitat, if you will. Perhaps this could be expanded into something more involved, like a couple of block parties or just getting people to walk around a little, see the neighborhood for all its grandeur.
Is this too lofty a goal? I hope not.

Riverside Neighborhood Group Meeting

What: Riverside Neighborhood Group Meeting
When: Thursday Aug 21st at 630 pm
Where: Steamworks in 5 Points

We're working to strengthen and protect our neighborhood through better relationships and better communication. Come join us!

New Artists Pavilion

I'm jumping on the coat tales of this post from Jennifer McCharen over at RADO. There will be a new artists pavilion opening soon under the Fuller Warren Bridge near Fidelity. The pavilion is an addition to the Riverwalk extension that is underway and also provides a link, via pedestrian pathways, to Riverside Park on the other side of Riverside Ave and Park St. Hopefully it will be open in the coming weeks, perhaps just in time for First Friday? I think we should all get the work out about this. Riverside has a real opportunity to embrace and take hold of this pavilion and make it something really special. I don't want to see it turned into a resting place for more of Jacksonville's transients, like the pocket park on Main.
Complete with terraced landscaping, an auditorium and ample space for gathering, this could be a widely used space. Perhaps a Riverside Farmers' Market like the one in Hemming Plaza on Fridays? Perhaps an open air theatre on the weekends showing old movies or the occasional live act play? The possibilities are endless if we but grab hold.