Friday, December 12, 2008

CORRUPTION AND POLITICS

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, Democrat, is learning a huge lesson and is probably going to learn a great deal more as time goes forward. The first lesson is that if you are in politics somebody is probably taping everything you say and do. There are no unopened mikes. There are no secrets. Lest you think I am going to pick on the democrats, no way. The ink is not even dry on the conviction papers of Ted Stevens, Republican, Alaska. Corruption is not exclusive to any particular political party. Corruption pervades the entire political system.

A few years back when legislation was proposed to “get the money out of politics”, I wondered then, who is kidding whom? We were told that good people are corrupted by all the money that is floating around. Nonsense. You cannot corrupt good people with money or anything else. Corrupt people are just looking for ways to steal more money. It is a question of which came first. Will Rogers said back in the 30s that we have the best congress money can buy. Apparently nothing has changed.

We have learned over the past few days that the seat of Senator Obama was for sale to the highest bidder. We were further told that one young congressman had offered $500,000.00 for that job. What? Why would anyone pay that kind of money for a job that pays $165,200.00 a year and it is only a temporary appointment at that. What do you suppose the young congressman was intending to do in that job? Protect the Constitution, promote the general welfare, protect the people of America, any of the above? Call me crazy but I think he might just have had a different thought in mind. Something like stealing millions for himself personally and insuring his seat for many years to come. Well he got caught and also is in trouble with the prosecutors.

William Jefferson, Democrat, Louisiana, was caught by a hurricane with some $90,000.00 in his freezer that was allegedly a bribe from an outfit trying to put up a TV station. He will go to trial next year. He was defeated for re-election, but just barely.

I am sure that with proper investigation I could come up with many more examples, but I think you get my point. The question is can we do anything about this mess? Can we change the system that seems so totally bankrupt?
I have a few thoughts that would appear on the surface to be revolutionary but may deserve closer examination.

I think the money comes from the act of re-election. People buy influence in order to promote their causes, personal or otherwise, by contributing to campaigns. Some would call it freedom of speech. I call it bribery.

You want to get the money out of politics? It really is simple. Make a new rule. No one can be re-elected for any office, period. That would end seniority in the Congress. Our Legislators would then be citizen law makers for a term and then go back to their normal lives. Secondly, anyone caught taking any money or gifts for any reason while running for office or while serving would be sent to prison for life. To whom much is given, much is expected. Next I would disband the Senate. We need this group of millionaires like we need a hole in the head. Let them get a real job. That exclusive club has long since outlived its usefulness.

Those who feel the need to contribute to campaigns could continue to do so. The money would be put in a pot and equally divided among individuals of any party that could prove their viability for the office they were seeking. Probably by petition or something like that. How much money do you suppose would flow if there was no way of determining who would receive it at the time it was contributed?

I can hear you now. Ron you’ve gone over the edge. You’re crazy. Okay, you are probably right. But, we don’t have to take this from our so-called leaders. This country and its government belongs to us the people.

So, short of the revolutionary changes that were proposed earlier, maybe a more workable solution might be this. I propose a chain scream. A loud, long scream that can be heard from coast to coast. Let these clowns hear from you and all your friends. Don’t let them think for a moment that it is business as usual. As Bill Cosby used to say to his kids, I brought you into this world and I can take you out. Our legislators need to know they work for us. We are the only special interest they need to concern themselves with. I understand that this is just a small act but the longest journey begins with one small step.

I know this will not solve the problem, but it might just be a good beginning.

Ron Scarbro December 12, 2008

Sunday, December 7, 2008

ORENTHAL JAMES SIMPSON

Again this will be something of a departure from my normal essay. This subject is not political nor is it financial. No, it is none of those things. This is a personal thing with me.

I followed O.J. when he was at USC. I watched with awe his prowess as a runner of the football. I watched as he then moved up to the NFL. Of course with the initials O.J. he acquired the nickname “the Juice”. For years I thought no one would ever compare as a runner. He would seem to explode through the secondary and no one could catch him. Toward the end of his career he was sought out for movie roles and television commercials. Remember the airport runs for some car rental company I think. I only remember O.J. not what he was pitching.

Then one day, I was fishing at a lake in central Washington, the news reported his ex-wife’s murder and that of a young man who was bringing her glasses home from a restaurant. I, along with I suppose the world, was shocked. O.J. was in Chicago it was reported.

I won’t bore you with a rehashing of the details that followed, the investigation, the attempted arrest, and of course the infamous slow car chase in the white Bronco. Then came the trial. Ah yes, the trial. A.K.A the trial of the century. I watched virtually every minute of the trial.

No person of reasonable intelligence given the testimony and evidence presented at trial could find any verdict but guilty. Guilty of murder. There was never any doubt. He not only murdered his ex-wife and the young man, Ron Goldman, but he did it viciously and with his own children upstairs asleep in their beds.

The jury found another way. O.J.’s legal team figured out a way to nullify the jury and thus subvert the justice system. This cold blooded killer was then released back on a society that for the most part didn’t seem to care.

Most of you know the rest of the story, how he went looking for the real killers on the golf course. He had minor scrapes with the local law enforcement in Florida, but for the most part he stayed out of trouble.

Then the inevitable happened. His arrogance got the best of him. He decided that he was going to retrieve what he said was his property from some so-called memorabilia dealers. To insure his success, he called together a group of thugs with guns and stormed the room and took possession of this memorabilia. Sadly for this moron, everything was on tape. Everything was recorded. O.J. was arrested along with his co-conspirators. Most of his thug friends took the prosecutor up on his offer to turn states evidence and confess. They got reduced sentences.

O.J.’s arrogance once again got in the way. He probably thought, “Hey, I got away with murder, this should be no sweat.” He was wrong. This time the jury found him guilty on all counts. Last Friday he was sentenced to thirty three years in prison. He won’t even be eligible for parole for nine years.

You may wonder how this is personal to me. It is because I was so greatly disillusioned by the trial of the century. I watched as a media star with money, along with the help of his (dream team high dollar) lawyers, made a mockery of the police department of Los Angeles, the Judicial System of Los Angeles County, and the entire jury process. Not only was I disillusioned but I lost confidence in the judicial system. I frankly haven’t gotten over it yet and probably never will.

But, here’s what I know now. This arrogant murderer will probably never again breathe free air. He will be warehoused in a cage for the rest of his miserable life. It is my hope that he sees his dead victim’s bloody faces every time he tries to close his eyes.

Now the media circus is over. The main clown is in prison. I also hope the media just forgets that O.J. ever lived or became a star. That is what I intend to do.

Ron Scarbro December 6, 2008

Sunday, November 30, 2008

TOO BIG TO FAIL

Too big to fail. How many times have you heard this lately? Lehman Brothers, A.I.G. Insurance, and now the auto makers specifically General Motors. Lehman represented all the banking business in the country. AIG represented all the insurance. Of course the auto makers represent millions of our workers. We have been told that all the surrounding support companies will go down if the auto makers fail. They are all just too big to fail.

My aim in this essay is to ask the question, too big to fail or just too big? I think it is a fair question. Have we as a country come to rely too much on a few businesses to support this economy? I don’t fault the businesses for growing. I fault some of the decisions during that growth, but that is another essay. No, this is about our putting too many eggs in too few baskets.

Here are a few other examples of what I’m talking about. We are now hearing that gasoline tax receipts are at such a low that highway improvement projects will have to be curtailed. What did the powers that be think was going to happen when gasoline hit $4.00 a gallon? There has been a natural cutting back in the use of gasoline. We will either have to find other sources of funding these projects or reduce our expectations for a time.

When the auto makers were going strong, they probably felt that they were invincible. They negotiated contracts with the UAW that put themselves and their unions in real jeopardy. Now those chickens have come home to roost. In previous writings I have commented on how the auto makers have borrowed the future buyers out of the market and now have fewer and fewer potential customers. They and their unions are going to have to reduce their expectations for a while.

How about the banks? They have shelved good judgment in favor of huge short term profits and they now are seeing the only possible result of that lapse in judgment, delinquencies and foreclosures. What else could they have been thinking? Is it in the best interest for we the people to now take on their potential losses so that they can continue with their excesses?

Consider the plight of BWM Inc. This is not to be confused with BMW Inc. That would of course be Bavarian Motor Works. No, I’m talking about Buggy Whip Makers Inc. Imagine if you will the buggy whip makers going before Congress and begging for a bailout. Further imagine that such a bailout had been granted. We would now have warehouses filled to the rafters with buggy whips. The horseless carriage eliminated the need for buggy whips. Those makers of buggy whips had to figure out another business strategy to stay alive or they perished. Keeping them alive served no purpose to the country as a whole. I wonder how the buggy whip makers would have traveled to Washington to ask for the bailout. Oh how the mind wanders.

During prohibition several beer makers resorted to soft drinks to stay alive. They probably knew down deep that their problem was temporary and they just needed a strategy to keep going until America came to its senses.

I remember many years ago when I was given my first management assignment. My supervisor told me that management was the process of making decisions. If you make more right than you do wrong you will be successful. Nothing has changed in business.

So what are we to think of these latest events? Sadly in my view we have no choice but to continue to bailout the businesses in question. But, and this is a huge but, with restrictions. Restrictions in executive compensation, restrictions in executive retreats, restrictions in executive travel, and finally restrictions in union contract negotiation. It can no longer be business as usual. Those agencies whose job it is to audit banks must get serious about their jobs. Boards of Directors in companies must hold their executives feet to the fire. Unions must get real in their demands. They gain nothing for their members if their demands put companies in jeopardy. Finally Members of Congress must take a long look at their allegiances. Their only special interest is the American people. It is past time for them to start acting like it.

We as a country are not too big to fail, but we might get too big for our britches so we have to get smarter. We the people have to expect better from those we employ to guard the hen house.

Ron Scarbro November 28, 2008

Sunday, November 23, 2008

EXPERT FINANCIAL ANALYST

I have decided to apply for the job of “expert financial analyst”. It seems to be a job for which I am uniquely qualified. I have no formal degrees from any prestigious universities. I don’t have many years of experience studying these matters. I don’t even have a bunch of letters after my name. What I do have however is an opinion and from all indications, it is as good as, if not better than, most I have seen or heard these past few years.

Consider if you will just last week, job numbers came out and they were in fact dismal. I don’t know about you but I sorta figured they would be dismal. The experts were astounded. They were surprised. What? Were they looking at the same news I was looking at these past few days or were they looking at something else? What kind of moron would be surprised to see an increase in the unemployment numbers?

Our financial markets have been distressed for this past year. The banking system has stepped into problems that will take years to get out of. The automobile manufacturers have made poor business decisions that they may not be able to recover from. The current financial experts say “Well nobody saw that coming”. If nobody saw that coming, why on earth do we need these experts?

As of Friday’s close of the stock market, you could buy a share of each of the big three auto maker’s stock for less than a trip to Starbucks. But nobody saw this coming. What is your financial advisor saying to you? Did he warn you of the rapid and dramatic downturn in the market? Did he tell you of the problems of the banking and auto industry? My guess is that he did not. My guess is that it was as much a surprise to him as it was to all the other “experts”. Exactly where does their expertise lie? What are you and I paying for when we employ a financial advisor? I wonder what the job pays?

That got me to thinking, Hell I can do that. I have time on my hands. I don’t have much else going on right now. Apparently you really don’t have to know very much. It seems to me all I have to do is add “expert” after my name. Who could doubt my qualifications? Who could question my prognostications? If they did, I could just say, “well nobody saw that coming”. It works for the Wall Street experts so it must be legal. It could work for me.

To give you an advanced picture of my abilities, I am going to make some astounding predictions. Are you ready? First, I do not believe that all of America’s great companies are going to go out of business. I believe going forward that there will continue to be a need for food, clothing, housing, transportation, medicine, and technology. While it is true that 6.5% of our people are currently unemployed, 93.5% are working. While 2% of mortgages are in trouble, 98% are not. The people who inhabit this country are not going to disappear and neither are their needs and wants. Secondly, the financial markets will improve and do so dramatically when investors, (traders), come to realize this fact. As has been the case in the past, markets recover. Yes it will take some time, but, as a wise man once told me, “What’s time to a hog eating corn?”

Some of you who read this will say “Ron, sometimes you can be so sarcastic. How can you be this optimistic?” I could be wrong. I could miss by a mile and the whole country will go into the toilet. If that happens, I’ll just put on my expert’s hat and say, “Hey, nobody saw that coming?”

Ron Scarbro November 23, 2008

Thursday, November 13, 2008

WHAT WE NEED FOR A SECURE FUTURE

The following are some thoughts that, if implemented, would bring about a real change. That’s a word we’ve heard a lot lately. Consider with me these ideas.

First and foremost is this country’s practice of waging limited war. War by its definition is an unlimited exercise. Armies, by their nature, are forces of destruction, not nation builders. I therefore propose the following. America will only go to war when she decides to win quickly and decisively. Our forces are superior in every regard. We should never have to put boots on the ground. We have the ability to, from a perch in this country, send all out destruction to any corner of the world. Within minutes, we could, if we chose, eliminate any country or army or war making facility in the world. To go into these backward countries and fight street to street is allowing our enemy to dictate the rules of engagement. We should instead just eliminate the streets and anyone who happens to live on them. But Ron, you say, that could kill thousands of people. My question would then be, “what is the difference between limiting your killing to a few hundred or a few thousand”? Truman had to make the decision to bomb Japan killing thousands in order to prevent the killing of many thousands more. Such is often the nature of war. This country has proven time after time that she has no stomach for prolonged war. Our wars are lost not on the battlefield but here in this country with the assistance of an ultra liberal media with way too much influence. People who commit treason should be arrested and treated like the criminals they are.

My next suggestion has to do with illegal immigration. As of this writing we are approaching seven percent unemployment. How many American’s jobs are currently being held by illegals? My suggestion is simple. Arrest any employer who knowingly hires and retains an illegal. Arrest any agency employee who makes available welfare aid to any illegal. Arrest any city or church official who attempts to provide sanctuary to these illegal aliens. The result will be that illegal aliens will deport themselves when they find no job or free handout. At the same time this government must make available to employers and providers systems whereby individuals can be checked out to determine their citizenship. By the way, legal immigration should be encouraged and welcomed.

My next suggestion has to do with elections. We absolutely must verify the veracity of voters at the polls. No picture ID, no vote. You have to have picture ID to cash a check, welfare or other, to check out a CD from Blockbuster, or for most business done in this country. The only reason we don’t have this ID requirement at the polls is one particular political party has stopped it. They don’t want an honest election because they know that would have a bad result for them.

I now want to address the treatment of veterans and members of active duty military. The military is our champion. They alone stand between us and anyone in the rest of the world who would wish to defeat our system and our people. No expense should be spared in the medical treatment of our veterans or any active duty member. VA hospitals should be state of the art in every sense. They should be staffed with the best doctors and nurses medicine has to offer. Military hospitals should be the best in the world. These are our warriors. They deserve the absolute best money can buy. Anything less is a travesty.

Senior citizens have a life long contract with the government. That includes both Medicare and Social Security. This contract is inviolate. Anything and everything necessary must be done to insure the health of these systems. If government chooses to include non-senior citizens in this program, they absolutely must provide the necessary funding for those inclusions.

These are but a few of the thoughts I have recently had concerning the future of America. No doubt changes need to be made, but only those changes for the better. As time goes by I intend to offer commentary on the success and yes the failures of the new administration. I’m pretty sure that President-elect Obama is not sitting around waiting for my thoughts, oh well. For him to have a successful presidency, however, I and people like me will have to be considered. I have nothing but best wishes for his success because his success will be America’s success.

Ron Scarbro November 12, 2008

Monday, November 10, 2008

THOUGHTS ON THE ELECTION

America has made her choice. Like many of you reading this blog, I have seen many elections. Some I have agreed with and some I have not. I want to share some thoughts with you regarding this particular election.

It is historic for sure. We have elected our first black President. That part of it is far less important than who this black President is and his politics. He campaigned as a far left liberal and was elected with those credentials. That pretty much tells you where the country stands at this time. I do not believe, however, that a socialist government can co-exist with a capitalistic economic system. So something will have to give. I therefore believe that the socialist tendencies of this President will be greatly tempered. In other words he will move to the middle in order to govern with any efficacy at all. Let us just consider some of what he will have to face as President.

The first thing on his plate will be the economy for sure. There will be economic stimulus coming from this government very soon. To those among you who are pure conservatives, the new President will have no choice. He will bail out the auto manufacturers if President Bush doesn’t beat him to it. He will put more money into the system through tax incentives and rebate checks to most people in the country. This will be necessary because the government has already interfered in private business. Obama will have no choice but to continue with that interference. We will be witnessing the modern version of the New Deal of FDR. To those among you who will have to pay the bill, I apologize in advance.

Next let us consider his stance on the Second Amendment. Obama is on record as favoring much stricter gun control. Since his election, he has tried to allay the fears of the millions who fear his tampering with the Second Amendment will end private gun ownership in this country. This should be very clear to all and including those people who are in the government, no edict nor any elected politician regardless of his office will cause the American people to turn over their guns. America is armed by the authority of The Constitution for the purpose of defending themselves against the very government officials who would try to disarm them. To even consider messing around with the Constitution is a fool’s game guaranteed to fail. As I have said before, “from my cold dead hands”.

The next issue is much more difficult to get a handle on. That issue is health care. Obama has clearly said that he will bring about some sort of universal health care. Everywhere universal health care has been tried, it has failed. Don’t think for a moment that Canada and England are doing well with it. The cost is prohibitive. But, and this is a huge but, the medical profession including drug manufacturers and hospitals, have killed the goose that has laid their golden egg. They have virtually begged for the government to step in and fix their mess. Once again, the government will have no choice but to step in. Fixing the mess is a bit more problematic however. The government handling our health care is like the DMV or the Post Office handling our health care. It won’t work. We will have an opportunity to revisit this issue.

The far out left want us out of any war anywhere. This will also be a big problem for our new President. By now he will have been given security briefings and will know what this country is up against. His views are bound to change when reality strikes. He is going to have to disappoint his lefty supporters.

Many if not most on the left are in for some serious disappointment in the very near future. As the new President learns the truth about the real world we live in, most of his campaign promises will disappear. What will the liberal press say then? How will the media treat Obama when he turns to the middle in order to govern?

We will all survive the election. Hell we survived Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. The Republicans will reorganize and get a lot stronger in the next two years and probably make huge gains in the off year election. We will all get smarter. I recall the story of the guy who made smart pills out of moose droppings. He sold them to another guy who complained, “That tasted like moose droppings.” To which the seller exclaimed, “See, you’re getting smart already.” Hopefully there is an easier way.

Ron Scarbro November 10, 2008

Monday, October 27, 2008

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE AUTOMOBILE MANUFACTURERS

Dear Sirs, I am in receipt of your request for fifty billion dollars to help you recover from the last few years of down business activity. Before I can act on your request there are just a few little things that might need further clarification.

I have been in or around the automobile and financing business for a little more than forty years and have seen many changes in that time. I remember the first time I saw a contract for twenty-four months. I thought who would finance a car for that long? I remember the first time I saw a car payment of over one hundred dollars. I thought who would take on a car payment of that amount? Well as I said things have changed.

It seems to have started when the price of vehicles began to grow at such a rate that normal financing was not sufficient for the majority of buyers. What was your response? You just raised the price even higher but you began offering questionable financing schemes to lengthen the term of that financing. All the major banks went along with the program. First it was thirty-six months then it grew and grew. Now it is up to seven years or longer. By golly it was successful. People could buy their new cars with all the fancy gadgets and still keep their payment down to a satisfactory level. Everything was just great. What could go wrong with this deal? I am about to tell you what could go wrong with this deal.

The other shoe began to fall. People who for years had traded cars every two or three years found out when they attempted to trade that they were upside down in their current cars. They owed more on the trade than it was worth in the market. What was your response? Why you just financed the minus equity into the new contract and extended the term even longer to keep the payment down. What a great solution. The factories kept on rolling out new cars at bigger and bigger numbers. Everybody was happy.

Oops, another shoe was about to fall. People then found that in order to trade their car, they had to pay on it for about four to five years instead of their normal two to three. Many of these cars then had excessive mileage and were in such disrepair that they were worthless. For a time your rebate scheme helped people with their minus equity situation, but as things are want to do, the problem only grew larger.

So here we are, unhappy people driving worn out cars but still paying on them. Trust me they would love to buy a new car. Your ads are working. People see the new cars and want to buy. The problem is that they can’t. The new car dealers are sitting on multi-million dollar inventories of un-sellable merchandise. Their flooring costs are going through the roof. Many of them will cease to exist as time goes forward.

So what is the answer? Is there an answer? While there are no letters after my name to identify my intelligence, I do have some thoughts.

Through the rebate and financing schemes you have been using, you have borrowed the car buyers of the future three or four years. They are now out of the market. You need to face that. The U.A.W. needs to face that also. Leasing schemes will not bail you out either. You need to pull in your horns and cut back on you expectations. As the old farmer once said, (I’ll clean this up a bit) you have used your feed trough as a toilet. Secondly, if you are going to finance automobiles for five or six years, they need to last that long and still have some value at the end of the contract. They need to be functional for two or three hundred thousand miles. Finally, you need to forget rebates and just bite the bullet and reduce the price of your product to a more satisfactory level. If you cannot, then cut out some of the frills and gingerbread. Just offer a serviceable product and when you advertise, advertise the price, not a phony lease payment.

Seems simple huh? Oh and concerning your money request, I think I’ll pass at this time. Helping you pay for your mismanaged excesses seems a little un-American to me. Good luck on your future endeavors.

Cordially,
An American Taxpayer

Ron Scarbro October 27, 2008

Sunday, October 26, 2008

OUR NEXT PRESIDENT

Very soon now America will go to the polls and elect her next President. If opinion polls are correct, the Democrats will take over everything. Some of you will no doubt be very happy with this result. Most of the readers of this blog however will be very disappointed and concerned. I hope to use this writing to help allay your fears and cause you to re-dedicate yourself to this country and her ideals.

Why are the liberals gaining so much ground? I think the answer is rather simple. There are more and more of them. This happens when the receivers of government money begin to outnumber the ones who pay into the government. As a social security recipient and Medicare enrollee as well as a veteran covered by VA benefits, I should be one of the happy ones. I now receive far more than I contribute. The difference though is that what I receive is based on a lifetime contract with the government and my military service. It is not based on the fact that I don’t want to work for a living. In other words I didn’t just show up on the doorstep of this country and expect to be financed and supported for the rest of my life.

Like most of you I have witnessed and participated in many elections. There were times I was pleased and there were times I was unhappy. I survived them all and you will too.

The American electorate is like a pendulum. It swings to and fro. If it chooses fro this time, it will swing back. The Republicans will gain in influence and probably have great expansion in the off year elections. If the country is in the mess I suspect it will be in, it will only hurry the time when the electorate will demand adults back in power. There is a reality at work here. Somebody has to pay for the excesses of liberal politicians. Somebody has to pay for all the social programs they will dream up. Sooner than you might expect, the ones who pay the bill will say “NO”. One can only hope that it won’t take forever to clean up the mess.

Obama is clearly on record as being opposed to the second amendment. He doesn’t want us to have guns. Well, tough. He and the Democrats can pass all of the unconstitutional laws they choose and that will not reduce the number of guns in this country. What’s the phrase, “from my cold dead hands”? America is armed and will continue to be for the very reason that The Constitution guarantees us that right. Slick politicians in shiny suits should know that. Those politicians should also know that the military of this country does not support the liberal agenda. If it became necessary, they would defend the Constitution and not the whims of a few elected politicians who would choose to ignore the law.

The Congress has an approval rating of nine percent. That is about as low as you can get and the Democrats are in charge and have been in charge for some time. There is the real chance that in the future all the politicians will just be ignored. I also think that for the most part they would prefer it that way. Just let them win their election and draw their paycheck. We are much better off if they don’t even show up for work anyhow. America functions not because of Congress, but in spite of Congress.

When the election is over and the votes are counted, you will see the areas where most of the vote favored liberals. It will be in the big cities, the coasts, and in the Northeast. The balance of the votes will have been cast from the vast middle of the country where the food producers live. Imagine for a moment what would happen if they chose not to produce the food for the big cities. Interesting concept. In the final analysis, there is little doubt where the real power lies in this country.

My counsel is to vote. Vote your conscience and your conviction. America will correct its mistakes. She always has and she always will.

Ron Scarbro October 26, 2008

Monday, October 20, 2008

BEST LAID PLANS

Years ago in my working years I would plan a fishing trip for a certain day or a week end. Often I would be rained out, or something would come up that caused me to have to change my plans. Nothing is different now that I am retired. We make plans and something comes up to change our best laid plans. The difference now is that since every day is a Saturday, changes of plans are usually easier and less depressing. As many of you know we were planning to spend part of the winter in Florida but have had to change those best laid plans due to financial considerations and stock market losses. We will try again next winter.

Since this blog is titled “Wisdom for Living,” I wondered if there were lessons in this for anyone to learn? Let’s examine it.

For some time now we have been fed the Kool-Aid from a sector in this country that because we are America, we are somehow entitled to be successful at whatever we attempt. Success should be guaranteed whether one is planning a vacation, a fishing trip, a retirement, or maybe a new business venture. A college education should be a guarantee of a six figure income. Of course all this is nonsense.

I have found that life is a reaction as well as an action. We make our plans and we prepare. We educate ourselves. We save for the event. We get all set and then something happens. Suddenly everything changes. I read the story of a concert pianist who had spent his life perfecting his skills. He had become one of the world’s greatest artists of the keyboard. People would come from everywhere to hear him in concert. Then something happened. He lost the use of one of his hands. I think he was involved in an accident. Imagine how he must have felt. His reaction was to learn to play with one hand. He went on to become the greatest one handed piano player in history. Life handed him lemons and he made lemonade. We have all heard stories of such events that have caused major changes in people’s direction.

In my early life I tried to operate my own business. I was neither mentally nor financially prepared to run that business but that didn’t deter me. I failed miserably. After that failure I was faced with choices that didn’t please me but I did what I had to do to take care of my family. I reacted by going to the big city and learning how to sell cars. With great assistance from my wife and kids, we were able to get to the other side of a bad situation and have a very comfortable life. We all have to sometimes change the direction of our lives and do something different.

Like many of you, we have our retirement tied up in the stock market. Because of the recent crash we have had to change our plans. We are going to have to learn to live on less than we had planned. We are going to have to make our old car go a few more thousand miles. We are going to have to be more careful with all our spending. Will the market come back? Probably. Will we live long enough to see it? The jury is still out on that. Regardless, life will go on. Our choice now is to face it and deal with it. Hell, it might even turn out better than our original plans. Life has a way of doing that.

If you are reading this and you are a younger person, don’t think for a moment that I don’t understand the difficulty of what I’m talking about. I do. The lesson however is that life will go on. You must react to the hand you are dealt. Remember this, we as Americans get to decide for ourselves what success is. We can choose to be happy, or we can choose to be sad. Trade your Kool-Aid for some lemonade, and Cheers!!!

Ron Scarbro October 20, 2008

Saturday, October 11, 2008

DIETS, ETC.

On July first of this year I decided to do something about my weight. By way of some history, I weighed ten pounds at birth and never looked back. I was raised in the south by an overweight mother who came from a lineage of overweight people. Virtually everything I ate as a youngster was fried in pork fat. Even the few vegetables I ate were seasoned with bacon grease. I have been heavy most of my life. So as you can see, I have had every excuse to live my life as a fat man. It is my genetic propensity you see. While all of this is true, I still have been less than careful with my diet as an adult. I have been very lax in exercise. It has only gotten worse after retirement.

I have tried all the easy diets. Carbs, grapefruit, you name it, I’ve tried it. For me they don’t work.

My first problem is that I don’t like diet foods. I like fried foods. I like desserts. I like potatoes especially with gravy. So how on earth was I going to pull this off? By the way my Dr. told me that if I didn’t lose some weight I was going to have to go on diabetes medicine. At the time my blood sugar was 128. She also told me that my condition could be solved with just weight loss.

The following is my regimen beginning July 1st.

First I decided to consume no more that 1500 calories a day for two weeks and then to reexamine how I was doing. I also decided to write down everything I ate or drank and to be brutally honest with myself. Further I asked my lovely wife, Linda, not to help. I had to do this myself. Any suggestions from her would probably be interpreted by my fat side as nagging. She agreed to stay out of it.

After the first two weeks, I decided that it was doable at least for a while longer. I used Pam spray instead of added fats. I measured my drinks at cocktail hour and cut back almost half. I reduced my portion size by about half. I ate slower. Still I was able to eat my normal foods. I stayed away from diet foods.

My first official weigh-in was scheduled for August 13 at the VA so I decided to stay with it at least until that date. I started at gulp 360 pounds. At the weigh-in I topped the scales at 326 pounds. My blood pressure reduced so much that the Dr. cut my meds in half. My blood sugar reduced by over 20 points. My total cholesterol dropped to 123. My reaction was “wow”, and at the same time “whew”. The Dr. said I was losing too fast and to increase my calorie intake. What???

I am now over three months into this project. My average daily calorie intake for July was 1398, August 1539, and September 1578. My highest on any day during each month was, 1631 for July, 1805 for August and 1826 for September.

I have learned some things that I wish to share. If you weigh 320 pounds, you need 3200 daily calories to maintain that weight. If instead you consume 2000 calories, you will lose one pound in three days. Each 3500 calories represents one pound of gain or loss. A great web site is www.thecaloriecounter.com. It has the count of virtually anything you can imagine.

With the above formula, one should be able to track one’s success or failure based entirely on your intake. Exercise of course helps but the real weight loser is calorie awareness. Linda or I prepare most of what we eat from scratch and we therefore know the ingredients. I can make shrimp alfredo with cream sauce and have a good sized portion and stay under 350 calories. The same is true for spaghetti and meatballs. The key is to know what goes in it and to keep portion size down. Also stay away from bread.

My normal breakfast has been two eggs, two pieces of bacon, one piece of ten grain toast with one teaspoon of butter and six ounces of tomato juice. That folks is 406 calories. Lunch usually consists of a salad which includes a ½ cup of leftover meat from dinner and Caesar dressing (two tablespoons). Cardinis is 80 calories per tablespoon. Most salad greens are negligible in calories. I charge myself about 350 calories for lunch. Cocktail hour is usually 350 calories. If I keep dinner under 500, then I’m there. I do not snack between meals and I try to eat slowly. As you can see, it isn’t brain surgery. My next weigh in is October 10 and I will report to this writing my result.


Well today is October 10 and I just returned from the VA. If my formula was correct, I should have weighed 310 pounds. That is precisely what I weighed. All the blood numbers were in line. There was a problem however. The Doctor again said that I was losing too fast and that I had to increase my calorie intake. At this point he doesn’t want me to lose more than twenty pounds in the next year. There are apparently almost as many problems with fast weight loss as there are with being overweight. I am now reconsidering my diet and trying to decide how I will do this. I intend to continue losing and posting my results. If this helps anybody out there, great. Next week, to celebrate my birthday, I am going to have a pizza.

Ron Scarbro October 10, 2008

Thursday, October 2, 2008

DEBATES OR DEBACLES

As I am writing this the Vice Presidential debate is imminent. I won’t be watching it. I didn’t watch the Presidential debate either. But Ron, you’re such a political junkie, how could you not watch? Easy answer. The so called debates are not debates at all. They are instead gotcha politics. This one especially is a joke. The moderator, Gwen Iffil, has written a book praising Obama and it is scheduled to be released sometime around inauguration day. She is also a regular on that bastion of fair and balanced viewpoints, PBS. She has a definite interest (money) in seeing that Obama is elected. She will be making up her own questions. Call me crazy but I think Biden will have a pretty easy time of it.

What concerns me is that there are apparently still people out there who haven’t made up their minds about this election. We only have two choices. This ain’t brain surgery. If you are, at this point, on the fence about whom you would support for President, I suggest you stay home. What on earth could one of the candidates say in this televised debacle that would sway you? Or are you instead watching to see if there is a train wreck?

I ask myself, what could Obama say that would cause me to change my opinion and vote for him? That’s pretty simple too. All he would need to say was that he was totally and completely changing his entire political philosophy, throwing off his socialism, and adopting a pro-American stance. That would be the conservative philosophy. He would also need to suddenly and dramatically gain about twenty or so more years of life and experience. It wouldn’t hurt if he could gain a military background either.

Obviously I don’t need to waste an evening watching a TV show to make up my mind. I made it up months ago. On Election Day Obama will still be a one term junior Senator from a predominately liberal, democrat state with little or no foreign policy knowledge or experience. He will still be an advocate for tax increases. He will still attempt to destroy our medical system by trying to adopt a universal health care program. He will still believe that America is an unfair country to him and his ilk. He will still think that American citizens shouldn’t have the right to keep and bear arms. He will still be looking for liberal judges who would attempt to re-write the Constitution rather than their job of interpreting it. No debate is going to change his mind, so why should it change mine?

Handing America over to the liberal left will bring about a financial disaster of monumental proportions. It will take generations to fix the mess that such a handover would cause.

No, I will not be watching this debate/debacle. If I wanted to see and hear liberal agenda spewed, I could always just tune in any PBS program, or MSNBC, or really just about any major network show, news or otherwise.

I have said before, if this wasn’t so serious and dangerous, it would be fun watching the liberals face the reality of governing this great country. One thing is certain, I will have plenty of material to write about. Stay tuned.

Ron Scarbro October 2, 2008

Monday, September 29, 2008

BATTLESHIPS

Recent news is reporting that Russia and Venezuela are teaming up to hold war games in the Caribbean Sea. This wouldn’t even attract my attention except that it is so silly. Make that dangerous and silly.

Let’s see if I have this right. Hugo Chavez, tin horn thug from South America, and Vladimir Putin, former would be absolute ruler of Russia, are teaming up to show the world their military might. I think they call this saber rattling. It seems to me if you are going to rattle a saber, you should not play with paper swords. Is this the same Russia who, when playing with nuclear submarines, sank their prized vessel and lost their entire crew? They did finally call us up and try to get us to help them pull the ship and crew back up, but it was, unfortunately for the crew and their families, too late.

Is this the same Russia, who when playing with nuclear power, poisoned hundreds of miles in and around Chernobyl? We will never know how many died initially and have died since because of their malfeasance.

Now they want to once again get out and play big boy games. It reminds me of Frick and Frack playing battleship. Odds are they will more likely have serious problems in these alien waters.

I have some recommendations. I think we should dispatch a couple of our most impressive aircraft carriers fully loaded with the latest jet fighters. We should cruise down to the Caribbean and just let both would be warriors get a glimpse of what real armaments and weapons of war look like. We do not need to get in their way, just cruise around to let the sailors see what they would be up against if they allowed their over ambitious governments to get sillier. Besides, we would then be close at hand when the Russians and Venezuelans begin colliding with each other or running aground. We would be in much better position to bail them out by having this head start.

Of all the things these governments need to be spending their treasure on, war games have to be the least important. I have seen pictures of the thousands of poor wretched souls living in cardboard shacks in Venezuela. The Russian economy is in the tank and without extreme high oil prices might cease to operate in the world. The same is true for Venezuela.

Being the ever helpful individual that I am, I am now offering even more suggestions for these two would be world powers. Chavez, you need to get back to the work that your country does best. That is producing outstanding baseball players. Russia, this is your task. You need to get back to the job of producing vodka and world class female athletes who look more like starting fullbacks in the National Football League than like women. This is what you do best. Your female weight lifters and shot putters used to be the envy of the world. Leave the job of world security to the people who have the ability to take care of it. We promise not to invade either one of your countries. After all, we have enough baseball players and female shot putters for now, and very soon now we won’t even be a buyer for your oil. Oh, and look out for that big rock.

Ron Scarbro September 29, 2008

Monday, September 22, 2008

POLITICAL CHOICES

Like most of you, I have been receiving a lot of forwards lately on matters political. Within my e-mail group are many and varied opinions. There are some die hard conservatives and some equally passionate liberals. I still count them all among my friends regardless of how misguided some are. I started trying to verify most of the forwards through snopes.com but after a while I grew weary of the effort. Now I just read them for the information and in some cases the humor.

This blog posting will serve to clearly identify my position on the coming Presidential election.

First of all, I believe all four of the candidates are people of high integrity. They are probably people that we all would enjoy having a drink with or going to a football game with. I don’t think you can rise to the position they have reached without being good people.

Secondly, none of the four would be my first choice for the office they are seeking. I believe the office of President is an awesome responsibility and very few could do the job as I would like it done. Today it would be very difficult for me to name an individual who would be my first choice.

This then is my dilemma and this is my answer. I believe Barak Obama is a socialist. I believe his vision of America is alien to mine. As a socialist he believes in re-distribution of wealth. He would take from those who have and give to those who don’t. I do not think he truly understands that the only people in this country who produce wealth and jobs are the people at the upper end of the financial scale. As a liberal, he is less willing to make the hard decisions regarding the defense of this country. He would be far more likely to reduce our military might than to add to it and make us even stronger. He would surround himself with liberal sympathizers whose interests are not the interests of America. These are people who would change America to more resemble Europe and we all know what a mess Europe has become. After all, our ancestors have already escaped there once. He is apparently not convinced that we need to get our energy house in order. He seems to be more concerned with far out environmentalists than with people traveling to their jobs or heating their homes this winter. He no doubt buys into the global warming nonsense. Finally he doesn’t believe that personal responsibility is a trait of America. Let the government take care of you. After all they know what is best. To all this I say nonsense. This is not the America I know and wish to pass on to my grandchildren.

On the other hand we have McCain/Palin. Is Palin ready to be President? About as much as Obama is ready to be President. McCain is a veteran and as such knows the true meaning of war and commitment. Obama may have read about war in a book but that is as close as he has come to this reality. In an emergency, who would you rather have at the helm of the Ship of State, a proven veteran or a neophyte community organizer? That seems pretty clear to me. Someday, when he is much older and has gained the experience of those years, Obama may well become a serious contender for the Presidency but not until he has grown a few more years.

So that is my take on this election. We have a choice. We can choose a seasoned veteran of the military and of life, or we can choose a kid with virtually no experience at anything. What I don’t understand is how is this a choice? Tip O’Neill once said “Politics ain’t beanbag”. That is certainly the case now. This election ain’t beanbag. It is very serious. Choose wisely. The country you save may be your own.

Ron Scarbro September 29, 2008

Monday, September 8, 2008

HURRICANE GUSTAV

As I am writing this, I am watching the breathless coverage of Hurricane Gustav. One would think in viewing this that this was the first hurricane ever to hit the coast of Louisiana. Some of the networks, the cable channels, and the weather channel have wall to wall coverage of this storm. If I am not mistaken, storms have hit our gulf coast several times a year for all eternity. Some strong and some just so-so. So what is so special with this storm? I have a few thoughts on this subject.

This is the PC coverage requirement. This is the make up for Katrina. This is the media doing their mea culpa for previous sins. The sin of omission. When Katrina hit, several people died. Hundreds of homes were lost to flooding. The left jumped on this as an indictment of President Bush and the rest of America. We let the people of New Orleans down. We didn’t take care of them. We just let them suffer and die. We didn’t physically evacuate them. Finally we haven’t re-built their city.

You can think what you wish, but I deny responsibility. Consider this. If you lived in a city that was in the path of several major hurricanes every year, and you lived below sea level, and you were somewhat protected by some very questionable levees, and you didn’t evacuate when you were given plenty of time to do so, and you didn’t carry flood insurance, and you suddenly lost everything, how much of this loss would be your responsibility? How much of it should be mine?

New Orleans is supposed to be the city where the party never ends. Perhaps it is past time for the party if not to end, at least to be tabled until the adults have time to get their city ready to deal with the nature of their normal weather patterns.

This reminds me of the California problem. Every summer they have brush fires. Every summer hundreds lose their homes. Every winter rains bring mud slides and what homes are left slide down the mountain. It never fails. People, when asked, plan to re-build. Right in the spot where Mother Nature has told them that homes should not be located. Of course their insurance goes through the roof, but so does yours and mine. Ultimately we all pay for the excesses of the few. I am told that some insurance companies are trying to deny coverage for these multiple losers. I wish them luck.

Every Spring, in tornado alley, twisters spring up. Homes and farms are lost. People are killed. It is the nature of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Indiana. Often other states feel the power of these storms. Still people choose to live there and to re-build. How much of their loss should be the loss of the American people? How much should be theirs because of their choices?

Nature, by its nature, isn’t very friendly to humans and other living critters. It is therefore incumbent upon us to take responsibility for our own safety and for the security of our possessions. Why should the people in Bangor, Maine be held liable for the irresponsible people in New Orleans? Why should the people in Fargo, North Dakota be held to account for the hillside dwellings in southern California? Whether through insurance or more probably through taxes we all pay.

I have this message for the political left of this country. The biggest flaw in your philosophy is the absence of personal responsibility. As more and more people grow weary of supporting the so-called wards of the government, this problem will only get worse. Those who pay are rapidly being overtaken by the people who receive. This does not bode well for the continuing general welfare.

To the media, you’ll forgive me if I change the channel or turn the thing off entirely. I have seen enough hurricane coverage to assuage my guilt for generations to come.

Ron Scarbro September 1, 2008

Monday, September 1, 2008

PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS

The democrats have held their convention and the republicans will do so this week. Obama’s choice for veep is Joe Biden and McCain’s choice is Sarah Palin. I have been asked by a number of people my opinion of these choices. With this writing I hope to offer some commentary on that question as well as other matters we face as the election draws near.

The office of Vice President is mostly a ceremonial office with little importance or function up until it becomes the most important office in the free world. That, of course, is if or when the President becomes incapacitated or worse yet dead. The Vice President must be able to step in and be the President.

Let’s examine what it takes to be the President. I am not talking about the constitutional requirements of age or citizenship, I’m talking about their preparedness for the job. As a sidebar, if a draft dodging, womanizing, redneck from Arkansas can be President, anyone can. We survived him and we will survive anyone America chooses. That having been said, we all have our preferences. Sometimes, however, good has to be sacrificed for just good enough. That’s called compromise. We make our choice for elective office from among the choices available to us. Obviously not voting is also a choice. While that may make you feel better, it only serves to force others to make the choice for you. You may or may not be happy with the result.

Barak Obama is a young inexperienced fellow from who knows where. His total resume is that of a “community organizer”, and a one term U. S. Senator. His total time in the Senate however has been spent running for President. So he brings us nothing but good speech making. Joe, me too, Biden is a lifer politician who has always been running for the presidency. The democrats continue to offer very little to America in the way of leadership.

John McCain is a war veteran, some might say hero, who has spent many years in politics. He also has been running for President forever. He has sponsored some questionable legislation but for the most part has been a good soldier. Sarah Palin is a first term Governor from Alaska who was previously the mayor of Wasilla, AK. She is an avid moose hunter, ice fisherman, and a life long member of the NRA. She is a strong advocate for the second amendment. While those qualities do not qualify her for leadership of the free world, they do make her special to me. She also apparently is a very honest person who is a thorn in the side of the political establishment of Alaska with all their iffy practices.

There isn’t much else to report. These will be our choices. How will you vote? What is important to you? With your kind permission, I will offer my thoughts.

First and foremost our President must be ready to protect and defend this country. Sometimes that means bombing and killing. It also could mean using diplomacy, sitting down and having conversation but only if that has a positive end result. You can’t match wits with an unarmed person. I suspect the morons who have decided to be our enemies are not given to too much compromise.

Secondly, our President must select the Supreme Court Judges who are supposed to interpret our Constitution. Since the Constitution is not a living document, it does not need to be re-written every time some idiot doesn’t like what it has to say. Laws are made by our elected representatives, not by the judges.

Finally our President should preside over the country and promote the general welfare. Everything we need for life in this country is guaranteed by the Constitution. Presidents do not spend treasure. That is the province of the Congress. Granted the President can veto bills, but the Congress can also override that veto. Historically Presidents have been given credit for things and been blamed for things that they do not have any power over. Most of our financial messes originate in the hallowed halls of the Congress.

We have some awesome challenges facing the next administration among which are energy, terrorism, wars, and the economy. They are all inter-related. If it wasn’t such a dangerous world, it would be fun for me to watch the democrats deal with it. But it is a very dangerous world so I will choose John McCain and Sarah Palin. I encourage you to do the same.

Ron Scarbro September 1. 2008

Monday, August 25, 2008

WINNERS AND LOSERS


I had previously mentioned that I had been watching the Little League World Series. It has been very enjoyable. As of today it is over for another year and the winner is Hawaii. This essay is not about Hawaii however. It is instead my observations of the entire event.

As you watch these youngsters on the field and at bat it doesn’t take much imagination to see big league ball players. They emulate all of the mannerisms you would see in their adult counter parts. They scratch and spit just like the big guys. Their uniforms betray their young years. Some of the plays I have seen on defense would be the envy of any big league team. I have seen home runs, sacrifice bunts, lay out catches of impossible line drives, and double plays. Sometimes I had to blink and remember that I was watching twelve and thirteen year olds. The pitchers were throwing curve balls as well as fast balls. Many also had change-ups in their arsenal. What’s more, the kids could hit them.

I tried, as I watched, to recall when I was twelve or thirteen. It is hard to imagine that I had this kind of maturity or prowess. I might have still been trying to tie my own shoes.

Little League is for a certainty a marvelous way to bring kids together for a team sport. It teaches team concepts. Everybody has a job and success is dependent on everybody doing their job well. Little League teaches respect for rules, authority, and the opposition. It teaches sportsmanship.

Little League also teaches how to win but more importantly, it teaches how to lose. Remember the old Wide World of Sports slogan “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat”? I saw both at these games. As a father and a grandfather I must admit I had a difficult time watching young kids crying their eyes out when their bone-headed play or pitch caused their team to lose. Such is the agony of defeat.

I am sure you are aware that there is within this country a group of people who don’t believe in competitive sports for youngsters. They don’t believe in keeping score or having winners and losers. They think that these kids would suffer irreparable harm to their psyches if they didn’t win every time.

This then is the issue of this essay. Childhood is training for life. Little League is a school for adulthood whether as a ball player or as an engineer. I have this information for the group who would deny these competitive lessons to youngsters, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Sometimes you commit a bone headed error that loses the sale or the account. Life goes on. You may recall as a youngster when you made mistakes during a game and when your screw up cost your team the game. How did you handle that then? You probably survived the event and went on. That lesson may very well have been the spark that caused you to do better the next time.

I mentioned how it affected me watching kids cry at a loss. I wanted to cry with them. Then I remembered that some day those kids will remember not the loss, but the experience. They will remember their teammates. They will remember their coaches. They will remember the pizza they had after the game and how it all washed the tears away.

Life and a baseball game are full of uncertainties. We have no guarantees of success. What we have as Americans is opportunity. Opportunity to succeed and opportunity to fail. The lessons we learn early in life serve us as we continue to grow. The marvelous thing about life in our great free country is that we can define our own success.

Contrary to the line once uttered by Tom Hanks in a movie, there is sometimes crying in baseball.

Ron Scarbro August 25, 2008

Monday, August 18, 2008

YOUR CHEATING HEART.....WILL TELL ON YOU


I can remember when cheating was a shameful act. My earliest memories of my childhood included that admonition from home as well as from school and church. You just don’t cheat. What has happened? The reports that John Edwards had an affair have been filling the news. But, he replied, the affair occurred when his wife’s cancer was in remission, as if that made it more palatable. He joins a myriad of politicians and others whose arrogance causes them to believe that they don’t have to play by the same rules as everyone else. From Bill Clinton to Elliot Spitzer and who knows who else? Edwards has been reported to have said that he still has a political future and that this one little digression will not hurt his chances for national office. Wanna bet?

Have you been watching the Olympics? Have you heard about the Chinese gymnastic team of young girls? How old do you think they are? It has been reported that the Chinese government takes these little girls from the earliest ages and puts them into a military style of barracks and indoctrinates them into their sport. They don’t see their home or their parents. One little girl, when asked by a reporter if her parents had seen her perform, replied that she didn’t know. She hadn’t seen them. Winning medals is apparently so important to the Chinese communists that cheating is perfectly okay. The end justifies the means. I am sure the Chinese are not alone in their practices. I will not even discuss the judging by the Chinese officials except to say that it is pathetic.

I have also been watching the Little League World Series of late. Call me crazy but I find twelve and thirteen year olds with beards a little disconcerting. I suppose it is plausible that some are early to mature but I remain a bit skeptical.

Some professional athletes seem bent on self destruction with the use of performance enhancing drugs in violation of all rules. They believe it gives them an edge over the competition. Do they not realize that the unfair edge they think they get comes with a very high price? Just ask Lyle Alzedo. How about the pro wrestler who killed his family while ripped on drugs? How does their use of these enhancers affect the other members of their teams who play by the rules? This particular form of cheating seems to be somewhat accepted by the ownership of pro teams because the souped up athletes draw more fans to the games. Baseball fans love to see home runs. Football fans love to see the big hits. Team owners love to see huge box offices and big TV contracts. Any way you look at it, any way you try to justify it, it is still cheating.

With all the cheating going on, is it any wonder that students would cheat on their school work? They see the results of cheating and that the cheaters seem to win. Why not get a good grade? Why not go to the internet and download the test and the answers?

Well I have some thoughts for those out there who cheat. Would you like to have your surgeon graduate from school as a cheat? Would you like it if your attorney who is defending you in a big case is only there because he cheated to get his law degree?

If you would cheat to win a Little League game when would you not cheat? If you would cheat on your wife while she is suffering from cancer, when would you not cheat? If you would cheat in the Oval Office of the White House with a young impressionable intern, when would you not cheat? If, as a country, you would cheat to win gold medals, when would you not cheat? Finally if you would cheat to win an election, when would you not cheat?

I am reminded of the old country song that goes something like this. “Your cheatin’ heart will make you weep. You’ll cry and cry and try to sleep, but sleep won’t come, the whole night through. Your cheatin heart will tell on you.” Cheaters never prosper.

Ron Scarbro August 18, 2008

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

LAWYERS AND LEGAL STUFF


You’ve all heard some of the lawyer jokes, like “What do you call a bus load of lawyers going over a cliff? A good start.” Of course there are many more because lawyers are easy to make fun of. If you need one however, you cannot have a better friend. The minute he has the retainer in his hands, he is your advocate. You can be the vilest of the vile and he will stand by you through thick and thin.

This essay is however, a criticism of some recent antics I have witnessed by lawyers.

Just last week the trial of the driver of Bin Laden concluded in a military court. He was found guilty of many offenses and is to be sentenced soon. His lawyer went ballistic. He couldn’t believe that his client could be found guilty of anything. His lawyer is, by the way, a military officer. A law school professor also screamed to the press that such trials were going to put our country in a very poor light with the rest of the world. As a sidebar, this particular professor will soon be defending another one of the detainees at Gitmo. He must believe that he needs to try the case in the press and have world opinion with him before he gets to court. He seems to care very little if his comments and cries are picked up by our enemies and used as propaganda against us. Another thing to consider is that if wartime combatants are expected to be tried in American courts with all the rights of American citizens, many more of them will probably die on the battlefield.

The trial of the woman who ran a stop sign and hit a school bus killing four school children in southern Minnesota has also concluded. You may remember this case. I wrote about it previously as the woman is an illegal alien and had given a phony name at the time of the accident. She was cut out of the driver’s seat by the “jaws of life” and her foot was stuck under the gas pedal. Her lawyer made it clear to the press before trial that she wasn’t even driving the vehicle. He said it was instead her boyfriend who had since disappeared. The jury found her guilty of all twenty four counts and she still has to face federal charges. Her lawyer held a press conference crying that she was innocent. He criticized the trial, the jury, and anything else he could think of. He looked for all the world like an idiot.

So, what to make of these antics. I thought that lawyers were supposed to make sure their clients got a fair trial and that their rights were protected. I wasn’t aware of the fact that they were supposed to determine their guilt or innocence. I thought that was the job of the jury. Today’s lawyers seem to think that to be successful they must get their clients off. Anytime they don’t they see that as a failure. I have a bit of news for them. Sometimes their client is guilty and is deserving of the punishment they are dealt. Just because they are found guilty doesn’t necessarily mean that they received poor representation.

I think lawyers need to back up and remember what their job is. Their canons of ethics forbid their lying to clear their clients. That should extend to press conferences as well. Issuing misleading and critical statements are not a part of their job. They represent by protecting their client’s rights.

Here’s another bit of counsel for attorneys. If you don’t like being the butt of so many jokes, quit acting like a clown. Remember your ethics. Practice law, not propaganda.

Ron Scarbro August 11, 2008

Monday, August 4, 2008

FERAL YOUTHS


Sadly the events I will be discussing today are becoming all too common. In many of our major cities gangs of roving feral children are terrorizing the residents. I am not over-stating the problem when I refer to them as feral. They are for the most part young, often minorities, vicious, uncaring, and deadly. They are totally devoid of any human compassion.

Just this past week in St Paul, MN., a lady was walking in a public park. She happened to be a terminal breast cancer patient who had just completed her chemo therapy. She usually walked in the park after her treatments to settle down. She was confronted by a gang of these feral youths who, without saying a word, proceeded to beat her with bats. No reason. No robbery. Just beating a defenseless woman for kicks. She suffered two broken hands and many broken bones. At this point we do not know her prognosis. There have been no arrests as yet.

Unfortunately when and if arrests are made, these animals will be treated as deprived, misunderstood children and will no doubt be unleashed back on the community to terrorize again and again. Make no mistake, they are terrorists.

This is not exclusively a minority problem. Very recently two young girls from an upper middle class neighborhood in Lake Worth, FL. felt the need to rob a nine year old Girl Scout of her cookie money. It was $164.00. You can read this story from this site. http://www.wpbf.com/news/15194935/detail.html

You can also view the response of these girls by going to my daughter Heather’s blog and clicking on her video of the interview of the girls. http://lessonsforliving.blogspot.com/ dated Friday Aug 1st, “Teens from good homes steal Girl Scout’s money”.

I was saddened and shocked by their reaction to being caught. There is no doubt in my mind that these young ladies will make the news again. They will probably become wards of the state and live on prison food for most if not all of their lives.

I am sure that we could present case after case of these kinds of stories. So why is it happening? Having been accused of simple mindedness, I offer a few thoughts.

First and foremost I believe these are prime examples of rotten parenting. I suspect that these children have been seen by their parents as interruptions of their otherwise selfish lives. I also suspect that in many cases the father is absent if he is even known. These parents are usually members of the “me” generation, and “me” doesn’t include anyone else especially a child with all the responsibility that entails.

Secondly the judicial system is failing these children miserably. In their zeal to show liberal leniency they delay and defer judgment and punishment. They prove time and again that not only does crime pay it also does not cost.

Schools have lost all authority in dealing with miscreants. Truant officers are things of the past. Dress codes and decency have been thrown out of the window. Students reach graduation without even the most basic education. After all we are told you cannot give a failing grade to a child for fear that you hurt his self image.

To all the so-called elite liberals who believe this is a societal problem I say possibly, but, the solution I believe is far simpler than they advocate. Spending more millions on their ridiculous fixes will continue to offer the same results. We just need to get tough. There must be real punishment for real crimes. Parents must be held to account for their delinquent offspring. If they don’t make sure their kids are in school, they should be liable. There should be a cost to the parents for the misdeeds of their minor children. Being able to procreate doesn’t make anyone a mother or a father. Today I am told that over seventy percent of black babies are born to unwed parents and most of them are teen-agers themselves. This is a recipe for disaster.

We have tried it the ways the liberals wanted and it has obviously failed. It is now time for a different approach. Swift and sure punishment for crimes and misdeeds. Tougher educational standards. Holding parents responsible for their offspring. Maybe even re-institution of the draft. It worked when I was a kid and it would probably work now. You screw up and you either go to jail or into the military. Trust me, the military would know how to handle these young thugs.

It is past time for some of these simple solutions.

Ron Scarbro August 4, 2008

Monday, July 28, 2008

THE NEW NORMAL?????


Where will it all end? When New York City passed an ordinance forbidding trans-fats usage in private restaurants owned by free private citizens I thought, oh well what else can you expect from a bunch of northeast liberals? The state of Minnesota has passed a law forbidding smoking in any public facility regardless of whether it is a private business or not. Again, just another bunch of lefties with no regard for the Constitution of The United States. I am sure that other states have also passed such laws. Of course there are the seat belt laws and the cycle helmet laws that pervade our culture. In Mississippi a lawmaker has proposed a law making it illegal to serve fatty foods like french fries and hamburgers to obese people. After all it is for their own good.

Most of these morons believe that the laws that they conjure up are for the good of the people. What they fail to understand is that Americans have the constitutional right to smoke tobacco, eat fatty foods, or ride in their cars unbelted if they so choose. It is none of the Legislature’s business. These are not the matters that government should be dealing with.

The left coast, not to be outdone, has just passed a law recently signed by the Governator, to outlaw the use of trans-fats in any restaurant in California. We are going to be protected from ourselves regardless of how many of our liberties we have to give up. That seems to be the mantra of these liberals who are growing in numbers. We the people cannot be trusted to take care of ourselves.

My question is simple. What is next? How much of my freedom am I going to have to give up before I say no. My life is my responsibility. My choices are mine. I don’t smoke or use tobacco nor would I even think about getting on a motorcycle, but that is my choice. I do not need nor would I seek permission from any so-called elected leader. By the same token if my neighbor chooses any of these vices for their own pleasure it is none of my business.

What is happening in the new normal? How is it possible that laws are being passed with no regard to the constitutionality of those laws. I am sure that 9/11 had something to do with it. We are now expected to submit to extensive, warrantless searches just to get on an airplane. But Ron, you scream, it’s for our own good. If we don’t do these things the bad guys will kill us all. People will die of lung cancer. People will die of obesity. People will get heart disease from trans-fats. What other choice do we have?

I have a few thoughts on that issue. My grandmother lived to one hundred and died at three hundred pounds. My father smoked most of his life and is in good shape now at ninety. He also lived the majority of his life as did his mother on bacon grease and gravy. Everything they ate was fried. Do you think they are genetic mutations? No, they just drew the right genetic straw. How many people have you heard of who exercise regularly, eat the right foods, look for all the world fit and trim and then fall down dead during that exercise. It happens.

Now for a few final thoughts. Freedom is messy. I love that expression because it is so true. Freedom is allowing people to make their own choices even if those choices are, in your opinion, wrong. By the way, your opinion has no more or less value than theirs. We pass laws for sure and we should as long as they are constitutional, but the problem is we are far less inclined to punish those who would violate the law. We must punish offenders and if necessary take them out of the gene pool forever. This is where we fall down and fail in our responsibility to the American people.

As a free American citizen all I want is accurate, unfiltered information with no agenda attached. I will make my own decisions as I am free to do as an American. The absolute last thing I want or need is the opinion of some elected representative/lawyer who may well be on the payroll of a number of outfits who are trying to sell me something. Quit trying to take care of me. I’ll do it myself. That is my normal.

Ron Scarbro July 28, 2008.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

THE LEFT WING MEDIA


I have said before that I wouldn’t wrap my dead rotting fish in the New York Times for fear that the fish would be contaminated by the process. Never has that been more evident than the latest antic this rag has tried to perpetrate on the American people.

Senator Obama wrote and had published an essay as a letter to the editor a couple of weeks ago. In it he criticized Senator McCain and his plan for Iraq. When McCain wrote a rebuttal piece and sent it to the Times, it was rejected for publication. Their comment to the McCain campaign was that they would have to re-write the piece to be more in line with the thoughts of Obama and, as it turns out, The New York Times. This was the ruling of the moron who is the opinion page editor. It is clear the Times doesn’t want any opinion on their opinion page except the opinion of the Times. So much for a balanced reporting.

Also this recent past saw Obama finally make his long awaited trip to the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan. Accompanying him are the anchors of the big three networks, ABC, NBC, and CBS. FOX was denied permission to go with this group of intrepid reporters. It doesn’t take a mental giant to figure out what is going on here. The big three are in the tank with Obama. This act only serves to further alienate at least fifty percent of the American public.

The network news programs are losing viewers at a rapid pace. This is certainly one of the major reasons. The New York Times has had to lay off a large number of staffers due to reduced ad revenue and lowered circulation. I understand that there is serious competition from the internet but the response of theses so called news agencies is to further entrench themselves with the left wing of the Democratic Party. As a salesman in my former life, I can tell you that the way to certain failure in selling your product is to alienate half of your potential market. We may well be witnessing the demise of network news and hopefully The New York Times.

While I am on the subject of the media, we recently watched as they dealt with the deaths of Tim Russert and Tony Snow. Personally I admired both of these reporters. Of course I didn’t always agree with them but I still admired them. Hell, I don’t agree with my wife all the time either. The point I wanted to make was to point out their response to the loss of these two men. To me, their response was shocking. These two news readers became more important than the news they were reporting on. This then points to another problem with the media. The anchors and the on air reporters become stars and take on a pseudo importance that mitigates their reportage. They become bigger that the news. It reminds me of Walter Cronkite who used to say “well that’s the way it was”. What he in fact was saying was that’s the way I wish it was, or that’s the way I want you to believe it was. He was saying that if I get to be a big enough star, you will believe that’s the way it was if that is what I tell you. What a sad commentary.

This brings me to my final point. It wears me out trying to watch network news programs because I have to spend too much energy trying to figure out which part, if any, is true. I long ago gave up trying to read the Times for the same reason. I can’t be the only person who just wants the agencies to report the news. I don’t want or need them to tell me what they think I should think. I will do that for myself. If all of the so-called big media disappeared overnight I would not be unhappy. Maybe it is time for these stars to go out and find a real job.

Ron Scarbro July 22, 2008

Monday, July 14, 2008

PROBLEMATIC NEWS


This week revealed some strange and at the same time problematic situations which we will soon have to deal with. This is a big world but it seems to be getting smaller with the twenty-four hour news cycles and the presence of news gatherers in every country on this earth. I will discuss a couple of situations which I believe may become a problem for us if we do not get a handle on them.

The first seems silly on its face, but a closer look identifies a dangerous situation. In merry old England a judge in his wisdom has decided that Sharia law is compatible with English law. What? Are you crazy? You may know that Sharia law is the governing law of fundamentalist Islam. While I recognize that England is not America, this ruling nevertheless has far reaching effects. I am not a Sharia scholar but I just know what I am told and what I see in the news.

In America a Pakistani living here just killed his twenty-five year old daughter. This was ostensibly a so-called honor killing. It seems the daughter, who had become somewhat Americanized, objected to the pre-arranged marriage her father had set up for her in Pakistan. Her punishment for this disobedience was of course death at the hands of her own father. This is apparently rather common in Pakistan and other areas of the world where Sharia law is practiced. He killed her by strangling her with his bare hands. Pretty nice, huh? He has since been arrested and is on trial for murder. So far we don’t accept Sharia law as our law. If he is found guilty he should be hung by his male reproductive parts until the buzzards pick his bones dry. That would be a true honor killing. Other so-called honor killings have happened in Canada and in South America. It is getting closer all the time.

The next problem I want to discuss has to do with a cab driver in Atlanta, Ga. He and his wife are green card carrying Pakistanis. They have two boys who were born here and are therefore American citizens. The father decided to send his children to Pakistan to a Madrassa school. He apparently believes, according to the purveyors of this news, that if his children memorize the Koran, he and his wife will be guaranteed a place in Heaven. Madrassa schools are notorious for indoctrinating students into fundamentalist Islam. They are taught that infidels, all those who are not Muslim, must be eliminated. They are also taught that the only law is Sharia law. Well it seems, again according to the purveyors of this news report, the boys wanted to be brought back home. They were homesick. A huge effort was begun with publicity and pressure on the Pakistani Government. At last the precious little future terrorists have been returned to America. I have a simple question. Why? Why do we want them back here? We will have to deal with them soon enough.

It also has been reported that there are hundreds of American kids in these Madrassa schools in Pakistan and in other parts of the world. They are dutifully learning at the feet of Taliban instructors. They will graduate with degrees in murder of women and children. They are learning the fine art of beating defenseless women for improper dress. They are learning the reward of honor killing and of becoming a martyr.

These American citizens with non-citizen parents will return here unfettered and prepared to carry out their missions.

Is this what we want? I suspect not. At best these children are not being educated in any way to prepare them for a life in this country. They do not learn even the most basic of our educational requirements. They will also have to be monitored for the rest of their lives because they will return as explosions ready to go off at any time. It is time we put a stop to this practice. If people from other parts of the world want to come and live here, they had better be prepared to live as Americans. That includes preparing their children for life in a free country. There already are enough of these young terrorists in training for us to have to deal with without creating ones with American citizenship.

Ron Scarbro July 14, 2008