672. PSU and NCAA Sanctions

OK. My son wanted me to blog something about the NCAA sanctions placed on Penn State. These were obviously based on the Sandusky trial and the Penn State investigative report by Sporkin and Sullivan. LLC.

The NCAA is an athletic organization. thus, my opinion is that they should be viewing any information from the viewpoint of how the athletic department and teams responded to the Sandusky affairs AND how the university reacted to isolate and protect the athletics (money maker) at Penn State.

The investigative report was quite informative, but still left a lot of questions in my mind. For example, Paterno's involvement. The report reiterates details we all herd of through the media and trials. I do NOT see any convincing evidence re Paterno other than he passed the ball to the executives of the university to handle rather than trying to do something beyond his legal knowledge.

What I find strange is that in 1998 when the an abuse was first reported,  the university police and Department of Welfare (after a County organization accused itself for conflict of interest with Second Mile), and the DA knew almost immediately -- thus, it was reported (by the mother of the victim). Unfortunately, a "bear hug" was NOT deemed sexual abuse by any of them and the investigation was CLOSED. So, I ask you, if you were the president of Penn State and in addition to these three groups plus another independent consultant who reviewed the case and agreed with them, would you not have reacted the same way, i.e., that it was close? Well, they did not stop there and did consult Sandusky to inform him of potential inappropriate conduct with children and asked him to be more aware.

When McQueary reported an incident in February 2001, all things changed! First off, why was Sandusky even there and did he not understand that touching a boy was off limits? He was told this in 1998. Yet, the Penn State executives did NOT take immediate action and report it this time despite their winnings in 1998. So, yes they screwed up, as their emails attest too. Getting back to Joe Paterno, he did too. He also knew the results of the 1998 investigation and words said to Sandusky, yet, he tipped toed around and passed the ball off ignoring his moral obligations.

That leaves me to believe the abuse process at Penn State was faulty and never corrected in 1998. This led to the 2001 incident also being mismanaged to the point of covering it up. I could excuse Penn State after the 1998 incident because it was the DA and DPW that dropped the ball and told Penn State all was fine legally. But, I cannot excuse Penn State for the 2001 incident and failure to even report the incident and investigation to its board. I can not excuse the board after they did learn about it for not initiating their own investigation immediately.Too many high level officials of the university were at fault at the mercy of the victims who continued to accumulate.

Now, the sanctions. Paterno ignored his moral values. Values that should be positive and constructive and passed along to his staff and team. Legally, he is probably not liable for anything since he was relying on executives to handle it. But, he dropped the ball badly by letting Sandusky continue to prey on victims ON THE CAMPUS! Paterno should be penalized by the NCAA, and taking wins from him since 1998 was the worse case. Maybe I would have done it from 2001 instead, but regardless, he will now not the the winningest coach in history. So be it. Since the university has already collected millions of donations targets for abuse organizations, the alumni and students should NOT be penalized. Nor should the active football team and new coach who would like nothing more than the time to clean things up. I do not agree with banning the team from bowl games for four years. If anything, I would allow them to go but to turn over any proceeds from the bowl games to a fund for abused children. Why punish college kids who have earned scholarships at Penn State? Just wrong. AS far as the $60M fine. Good.

The real problem was that everybody wanted to take the most direct and easiest way out of the situation, rather than to thoroughly investigate it as a crime against young boys! This was the crime Penn State is guilty of. They should never have accepted the incorrect (my opinion) reports of their own consultants or local authorities without taking some action to prevent it from happening again.

Students at Penn State can still be proud. Proud of the excellent opportunities to learn and to participate in sports and other organizations of choice. This will pass in their mind. I just hope the university gets their act together and improves their abuse process AND TESTS it! We are Penn State.

671. Another mistake in Obamacare Law

This article points out a mistake in wording that could be challenged yet by more states and organizations to prevent the Federal government from doling out subsidy money for those who can't afford health care. In short, the law does not specifically state that the Federal Government can subsidize people who obtain insurance from FEDERAL EXCHANGES. I doubt if this is going to hold up the Feds from shoving this down our throats. Still, the law does specifically state that subsidies could be granted if insurance is obtained from a STATE exchange. It also questions the penalty to employers who decide not to offer insurance and it's employees must go to a Federal Exchange -- NO penalty. What a poorly written law. in addition to poor policies. Repeal the BAD parts NOW!

670. Voter ID's for Free, but an inconvenience!

Come on you losers who want to make up excuses for NOT having a photo ID. According to this article, the states requiring photo IDs will give you one for free. However, read the article and get ready to chuckle at the lame excuses somebody came up with why it is still not going to happen. For example, 300,000 do not have vehicles to get to a center. THEN HOW DO THEY GET TO THE VOTING BOOTH? As I said in post # 653, my mother who NEVER had a driver's license or vehicle had a photo ID from Pennsylvania decades ago! She took a BUS to get it taken! Wow, how lame are people who came up with this excuse? Take a TAXI, go with a friend who does have a vehicle. I would almost guarantee that people who can't find a way to get a photo ID SHOULDN'T BE VOTING! Another stupid article by YAHOO! The TICKET, the most current liberal press organization. Get a life.

669. Timmy NOW BELIEVING

Wow. Tim Geithner, the Treasurer of United States, FINALLY got the message re Europe's effects on America. I've blogging about his dumb claim back in Post #551 (followup were 586 and 649) that Europe's crisis won't affect the U.S. It shows to pay that common street smarts are much more valuable than ill learned rote knowledge. I wish I could say Timmy learns from experience, but, obviously, he doesn't. This article points out his bags are packed to leave after OBlunder's first term ends. Adios Timmy.

668. Book Reviews Update

It's been a while since I updated my reviews of books read. I'll try to remember them all since last time:

Nonfiction
Age of Deleveraging by Gary Shilling - Same old Shilling. Some interesting points. B-

In His Own Words by Mitt Romney - Excellent summary of Mitt's beliefs on EVERY imaginable topic. A must to know what Mitt is all about. A+

The Behavior Gap by Carl Richards - Started out ok, but then it went downhill without anything new. B-

Currency Wars by James Rickards - Excellent book ties together the way nations manipulate their currencies to get an edge on other nations. Both history and current events. A+

Fiction
Event by David Goleman - The first of a series (Event Group). All Gloeman's books begin with history and myths that are made true and tie in with an mystery, intrigue, and actions to resolve a current Event (something that affects the world or many people). I suggest starting with this book to learn the characters. All following  books start where the last left off (or close to it). You can start any where, but you'll then know who is left from the previous book -- you don't won't to know that. His remaining books are in order. All are Science Fiction and very entertaining. This one was based on the Roswell UFO incident with the new event being a return visit. A

Legend by David Goleman - Takes place in a lost valley along the Amazon. You'll meet interesting creatures and be entertained by the clash of different factions, some after gold, some on a rescue mission. The Event Group is a secret organization. Think Jack of the show 24 to relate to the main charcter Jack Collins. A

Anchients by David Golemon - A lot better than what Amazon's ratings were. Remember, Golemon's books are action books and science fiction.Read them as such and they are good. Recovered weapons from Atlantis is this basis; artifacts that could destroy the entire world. A

Leviathan by David Golemon - Rember Jules Verne? The futuristic submarine he described was "actually" built and modified twice and now has a mission to keep the waters clean at all costs. A

Primeval by David Golemon -  Russian treasures including Peter the Great's twin diamonds, a nuclear bomb that never made it to its destiniation of the Soviet Union during Kennedy's administration, Big foot-like animals, and, of course, many factions clashing in the same place with different objectives with no objective of sharing. A

Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King - I liked this one. this was a NEW story within the Dark tower series. A

The Taking by Dean Koontz - This was an old Koontz book and therefore still readable. He hasn't impressed me lately. I probably read this a long time ago, but remembered little. Enjoyable story about aliens who come to take over earth. B+

The Haunted by Bentley Little - Bentley hasn't written a good book since his 3rd or 4th. This one about a haunted house is as bad as a campfire story being made up by kids! Couldn't take any more after forcing myself through 10 chapters. I think the wife made it to chapter 12! D-

Heart-shaped Box by Joe Hill - Joe is Stephen King's son. This story of a soul sold to someone for the purpose of vengence was OK and entertaining. B

Firestarter by Stephen King - This was a reread that I didnt' remember. I recorded the movie and wanted to read the book again first. Another good one from Stephen's younger days. A

667. Finally! Crawl back in you hole Ron Paul

I think Ron Paul has done enough harm to the Repubican Party. He may have had a few, very few, constructive ideas, but most of his proposed policies were totally off the wall. Some were catastrophic. So, Mr. Paul, we really don't need to hear you at the Republican convention. Goodbye. Your official pink slip is documented in this article.

666. Rollback Rx Virtual File can't be removed

Rollback Rx has a function where you can EXPLORE what is actually backed up in a snapshot. It does this by creating a VIRTUAL DISK (make believe, not physical, but appearing like one) that shows up under My Computer. Well, after it is created (a long time), a window asks if you want to view it or DISMISS it; it also states that it can be explored now by going to My Computer. Well, DON'T close that window. Because this is the only way to remove it from My Computer. I did, and hit the problem with it now residing there and no way to remove it. You would think Microsoft would the option to just EJECT it like a physical drive. Nope. It's the application's responsibility to give you a function to remove it.

Solution for Rollback Rx: Go back into Rollback and do a second EXPLORE of the SAME snapshot. It will immediately sense that the virtual disk (VDRIVE) exists and present you with the window that again allows you to DISMISS it. Do so. Voila.

You would think someone at Rollback would know this. Well, no. Not yet after about 3 days. The Rollback Community Forum flags this as a problem for a long time. After a lot of reading and many attempts to provide a solution, I finally found this solution there and thanked the provider.

665. *.chm file not working? Navigation canceled?

Here's an odd problem and workaround. Apparently Microsoft closed some security problems with an implementation that prevented .chm files from being accessed without proper installation/configuration/access. I had installed Rollback Rx to handle system backup and roll back if needed. However, when I tried to use its HELP it presented me with the HTML window to view the help with proper Contents/Index/Search on the left side, but an error message on the right side: Navigation to the Webpage was canceled. This led to 3-4 hours searching the Internet with no permanent solution that fixed the problem.

Some differences: My .chm file (help.chm) was on the local PC (mine of course) under rollback's main directory (Shield). The solution below applies to that. However, if your .chm file resides on your network server or the Internet, the workaround below will not work and my suggestion is to contact the application owner to get it corrected.

Workaround: Sometimes right-clicking the .chm file, selecting properties, and hitting the UNBLOCK button will resolve the problem. In my case, the system made it look like it took the UNBLOCK, but subsequent display of properties showed it did NOT. So, copy the .chm file to a different directory, e.g., My Documents, and now do the UNBLOCK. Display properties a 2nd time to ensure it took. If it did, clicking on the file will bring up the HELP window and everything will be working properly.

Note: this did NOT resolve Rollback Rx program code. Only the developers can fix it permanently by properly coding the file and installing/configuring it to run on your local machine.  

664. People LIKE Ralph Lauren more than you Harry!

As reported in Post 662, Harry Reid jumped on the U.S. Olympic team for accepting blazers made in China under the Ralph Lauren name. This article clarifies how much the U.S. clothing manufacturing has changed, thanks to politicians who won't allow our businesses to competitive by not lowering their corporate tax rates! Looks like Boehner was also one of the OLD-minded politicians, along with Pelosi. Why don't we find politicians who understand the current world and businesses? That's why Romney needs to lead this country!

663. Angry Black Man disses OBlunder & Unemployed

I need to thank this guy personally. Although he is addressing the Blacks, his message is applies to all Unemployed Welfare People who are taking advantage of the system. His message also holds the right people accountable -- it is OBlunder INSPIRING them to stay on welfare. If they would only understand that they are slaves to the government. The government has you in their pocket and you will NEVER get above poverty or where you are at taking their meager handouts. Get a JOB! Get education. Get a LIFE. Get OBlunder out of the White House!

662. The Debt Woes are continuing to infest Asia now

South Korea is now showing signs of excessive debt and slow growth. Hold on to your hats for more currency wars and sluggish world economy. Is there any good news out there? Let's hope the Olympics are very successful and change a few attitudes.

661. Reid still crying

Post # 658 highlighted an article with Reid crying that the Olympic blazers were made in Japan -- insulting Ralph Lauren. Hmmm. Are the Olympics an American organization or a world organization? Now he's show his childish tantrums suggesting that Romney couldn'[t be confirmed as a "Dog catcher" because he hasn't released his tax returns. Like Eric Holder didn't release the Fast & Furious papers that included the murder of a Border Agent? How about that Reid! Overlook death and corruptness and insist on tax returns that Romney has already release to the public months ago. Good work Reid. Go steal more money for Nevada and buy more of their votes. People there should realize that there are better candidates out there for Nevada. We seriously need to remove the deadwood from Congress. Especially ones like Reid who become obstacles to progress. Go cry elsewhere Harry.

660. OBlunder still clueless re first 4 years.

Let's hope OBlunder maintains what he thinks has been his worst mistakes in his reign as president: Not good enough rhetoric to convince the people. This article claims he thinks it was his style and the way he presented things and NOT his policies that diminished his success of his presidency. In other words his CON-style wasn't effective against the majority of intelligent U.S. citizens. So, now he's upped his style and presentation to the minorities to pit them against the ones he knows he can't con! You know, if you ever ween the MAD magazine character, he resembles him closely. Even his attitude, "What me worry!" Looks like he's coming around though and is starting to worry. But, he'll have to shed the ears and get new ones before I ever look at him as someone other than the MAD star. I like the end when Rose questions whether he really means EXPLAINING to the people his policies. Basically, he answered, really INSPIRING them. Con all the way. Inspire people to like your BAD policies. If We the People show they like to be inspired rather than led in November, I need to pack my things. Truly there aren't that many dimwits out there.

659. Italy challenges Spain and others for lowest rating

Whoops! There goes another Senor. Italy had been downgraded below A-rating. Will it ever end in Europe? Much, much more depressing actions are forecasted. Still looking at September before any positive news comes out of the world to start the market up to new highs. Meanwhile, jump the bumps.

658. Instead of FIXING problems, Reid is causing more controversy

So, how would you rate a lawmaker who has the power to fix the job, economy, budget, and trade problems for the U.S. and instead IGNORES them and blames things now on the Olympic uniform manufacturer? Yes, like most of the products in the world, the Raulph Lauren blazers being worn by the Olympic team were made in China. What a surprise! I agree with Senator Reid that we should be buying more things made in the U.S.A., but doesn't he realize that we, the U.S., are part of a WORLD economy and corporation are no longer pegged to one country? Sorry, but these are the facts. So, how do we compete (the REAL solution) in the world? Is is still OK to rely on China as a major distributor of clothing -- other countries do! The solution is to cut corporate tax rates so we can compete and maybe get some of the work back to America! Democrats do NOT understand this. Our own government has consistently causing outsourcing problems for years because they are too stupid to understand how to compete and how to increase jobs. OBlunder, you need to reign in the deadwood in the senate and shake our the cobwebs. We are part of a much newer world than the old timers remember. We need NEW solutions. Grow up Reid! Or is it too late and you have regressed beyond hope? We the People DON'T see the label, you jerk, we see the uniform with the bright USA on it and the proud faces wearing them! Go spend some time on the budget you Democrats NEVER presented. And REPEAL Obamacare! Quit spending our money!

657. Ouch Spain

Austerity programs always hurt. But Spain has just committed to another Greece uprising with their latest measures of austerity: Increase Value Added Tax (VAT) on products and services AND cut unemployment benefits and civil services pay. Now, I'm not saying its all wrong. I kind of like the emphasis on GO BACK TO WORK rather than here's a welfare check, and I like the government paying less to THEIR employees to make their wages commensurate with the private sector. Whoa, am I talking about America or Spain?  I saw some interesting statistics on the tube this past week correlating unemployment to the length of time the unemployed are allowed to get a check. In several nations, Denmark one of them, the mass of unemployed people get jobs ONLY when the duration of the welfare program ceases for them. In Denmark's case, they had a 5-year program and sure enough the charts showed that ONLY when the end of the 5 years was upon them did the unemployed get a job. When the cut the program back to 4 years, the people ONLY got a job when 4-years came around. This was consistent with other nations. Is our government interested in these statistics? Of course not, we are run by Socialists. My hypothesis has always been: Stop the hand outs and they will work! As far as increasing the VAT in a time  when growth is just as important, I'm a doubter if this will help in any way other than making the government richer. This austerity change in Spain is going to cause rain on the plains!  I don't know what the solution is -- I don't know the details. All I know is that we as investors and living in OUR economy need to understand what chaos is coming down the line -- from where and how much. Spain isn't doing us a favor and the ECB really needs to evaluate this last measure.

655. I'm a bit more optimistic re oil

Unlike Credit Suisse in this article, I feel the O&G industry will lead us out of the economic doom. I feel they do to, but they are choosing 2013 as the entry point to recovery of O&G. I have watched (not scientifically) the relationship of the dollar (needed to trade most O&G) to the oil prices and have observed that when the dollar is low, the oil prices are higher. I guess I figure that for the O&G corporations to maintain stable profits they must raise prices when the dollar drops and vice verse (just to give people the impression that they are nice). Not a proved theory -- at least I never proved it. But, we must now consider where the Gas products fit in the future economy versus oil products. The ratio has been changing. The demand for gas, now that its prices are still so low, have increased and O&G companies are expanding that business more than oil business. We hold mass quantities of gas. Some of our firms are already shipping gas overseas to China. from Alaska. Hello, OBlunder, WAKE UP CALL. So, instead of embracing the demanding market here to reach a goal of emergency dependency, the greed for money NOW is depending on foreign nations to but our products. When will we get our act together? Anyways, back to the issue. The demand for oil may be decreasing; thus, low demand lowers the price of oil. However, in the same step, gas demand is increasing; hence, higher prices are coming with it. Those corporations who have adjusted to this trend will continue to see better profits. Yes, maybe the oil commodity market will suffer some during the transition (10 years at least) to natural gas, but we are going to see a bumpy ride with oil producers fighting back before its over. I say oil will lead us back in 2012 because gas uses and facilities are not in the abundance necessary to rout oil all as once and nations need to produce! When politics subsides and the currency wars play out we'll be able to get a better picture.

654. Currency War III Continues with China

A little more insight is provided with this article on how China, after two rate cuts already in a single month, will be following up with additional "fine tuning" to induce more spending. The questions become what should their consumers spend it on and what can be done? As we already know, their labor market salaries are ridiculously low compared to ours. A lot of it is because the companies do NOT offer benefits, such as health and retirement.  This further leads the Chinese to save more, instead of spending, to provide health and retirement protection. A double bladed sword -- very low wages and saving! It's like our welfare people, except they ARE working and helping China improve its production of exports. We learn from the article how both China's exports and imports have decreased. Changing rates to print more money (and devalue the yuan) is supposed to increase exports. However, this also makes imports more expensive. A tough situation. I agree with the article that the only solution is a long term solution. Unfortunately, the article ended short and gave no hints to the solution other than "fine tuning" is necessary. I would assume Chinese need to consume more of their products with their yuan -- they do not need more dollars inflating them; this is caused by us lowering our rates (printing more virtual dollars) and flooding their market with U.S. products (or Europe and England with theirs now that they are fighting to win the lowest rate war). I can only see raising wages and benefits being a solution in China. Now, will this ever happen? I doubt it. They can't just print more money (devalues yuan) to pay higher wages! It will have to be that the corporations need to make less profit to pay higher wages. Oh, right, the government holds the high stakes in all the corporations! The greed of the government needs to cease and democracy needs to prevail before we'll see China turn the corner. They climbed out to the last leaf on the branch -- CHECK! Can we expect the selling of assets and ownership and the beginning of a privatization movement? Let's watch.

653. Voter Photo ID's Required

WHY wouldn't anybody NOT have a photo voter ID? According to this article, Pennsylvania has 9% of their voters who don't have an ID! Come on folks. My mother who NEVER drove in her life had a photo ID from Pennsylvania! It certainly isn't hard to obtain! Now ask yourself why some people don't get a valid ID? Or claim they don't have a photo ID! Come on Democrats --- think! Now go back to the article and also the census information on PA and then do a little match to see if the 9% of ALL PA voters and 18% of the Philadelphia area majority black area are reasonable. Notice the apple and oranges comparison already? State-wide (All) vs. specific black area. The Census data tells you that only 11.3% of the state's population is black. Thus 9% of voters, or approximately only 1% of Pennsylvania's population did NOT get a photo ID (127,430 blacks state-wide). Now find Philadelphia's population (1.53M), percent black (43.4%) and take 18%, arriving at 119211 blacks just in Philadelphia. Conclusion using the 9% and 18% figures: almost all of the blacks in the state without a photo ID are in Philadelphia! Does this seem like a PHILADELPHIA problem then? If the problem is that concentrated, open a facility to take pictures and give out IDs IF the people have valid proof of citizenship and birth just like every other law-abiding citizen. What a joke to use Pennsylvania in another racial scandal. Just what is the NAACP trying to pull with data and propaganda like this? The issue ISN'T BLACK. If there are voters without a photo ID, it is about everybody. It just happens that Pennsylvania has had photo IDs, other than driver's license, for over 2 decades! Drop it and move on NAACP! Or, get the ones who need an ID in line with the proper data to get their photos and card. Quit starting racial scandals! Do you think maybe some just AREN'T CITIZENS?

652. Feds Offer $1 Million Reward for Alleged 'Fast and Furious' Killers

Well, they have suspects in Fast and Furious killing of our Border Patrol agent. The Justice Department is offering $1M reward. Wonder how much they are offering for an accomplice right under their nose? Hey Holder, how about the documents the House wants?

651. How the Fed. Gov't manipulates to give them a better image

Every wonder how the government spins the truth and what's right for We the People to better strengthen THEIR hand and NOT ours? Check out this article about how the latest law signed, the one to keep lower student loans and increase transportation construction programs, pays for the law by smoke and redirection of mirrors. In short, they also changed pension laws by declaring a rate companies should use to determine the funding of their plans. Instead of a low rate as we have seen the last two years, they have taken the average of the last 25 years which provides a higher rate. This higher rate translates into the private sector companies being able to contribute LESS to pension plans, but also means their tax write offs will be less, resulting in an assumed more tax revenue to the government to pay for the other things. Got it? Read carefully. So, what's the effect on you? Well, if you belong to a stellar company who still has a full pension program (not 402K), and that is about 15% of private sector, then you could see your pension fund get funded LESS than necessary (15% of the funds are already below requirements) and endanger you payout percent when you retire. A lot of IFs, AND,s, and BUT,s. Yet, this article describes the tricky ways We the People get manipulated to the government's benefit. I hope you do realize that in addition to the income taxes and sales taxes you pay, many more HIDDEN taxes are embedded in inflated product prices that you probably have no idea were put there. BEWARE.

650. Duh! The people being scammed are the ones voting too!

Sometimes I read about crime that may eventually result in good things. I am amazed that people who vote don't read and stay current with things. For example, Scams! It's not that the media does not report the basics of all scams; it's that people don't even listen to the news or read papers! Maybe if you get scammed on something as obvious as this scam, you'll start to take an interest in understanding the economic and political issues BEFORE voting. Those scammed are those who, like in elections, are suckered into believing they are working with a nice guy/gal. Sorry if you fell for this scam -- I just hope I;m wrong and you do NOT vote similarly on the basis of appealing rhetoric instead of the issues and facts.

649. Timmy. You still believing Europe can't hurt America?

Remember Timmy Geithner's comments re the European crisis not hurting America's economy? See posts #551 and 586. Well, here is another that disagrees with that assessment. John Williams, the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President, states "Europe is the most important "wild card" for U.S. growth, he said, and a crisis that escalates there could severely damage the U.S. economy." However, more important in this article is what the Federal Reserve, in particular Ben Bernanke, will bring to the table in the form of rate cuts (printing virtual money and more debt) which would lead to his target inflation rate of 2%. You hear me right. Since Europe, China, and England have turned on the presses for their currency, our defense in Currency War III is to lower our dollar similarly so we keep our exports selling abroad and, thus, can keep our employees working (NOT necessarily lowering unemployment). It's really sad that we have a Treasurer and President who can't see reality! Meanwhile, Brussels have kept the doors open for further ECB rate cuts beyond the latest one! Is this the rush to the bottom (lowest dollar value and lowest Euro value)? You know China is pegged to the dollar, so their currency drops accordingly without further action. Good time to plug a book I finished a while back: Read Mr. James Rickards' his book "Currency Wars, The Making of the Next Global Crisis." Well, we have the rest of the summer to weather out the currency storms -- must be Global Warming that causes the Wars. So, kick up that A/C and read more books until September comes and the market responds to the political moves by Ben and crew.

648. Thank You Mr. Perry

Rick Perry vows not to implement the setting up of health exchanges and expansion of Medicare stated in Obamacare. there are better ways to actually IMPROVE health care AND improve health care costs that Obamacare! Perry knows it, as do many other state governors still fighting the controversial parts of Obamacare. Insurance across state lines would raise the health pools (and risk pools) and make insurance companies more competitive. Obamacare does NOT provide competitiveness and will cost more. For those not on Medicare, take some time to understand that Medicare + supplemental insurance needed to make your coverage equal or a little better than before your ancient days, is NOT significantly less than you are paying today -- unless you get your insurance through work. We old seniors have the large monthly expenditure in our fixed income budgets to deal with until we part to better pastures. Some, like me, have pensions that DON'T increase ever per year, while health costs and insurance do! We need REAL help to lower health and health insurance costs (I'm only asking to lower the annual increases). Maybe the states can work out regional deals and get this accomplished since our federal government has given up! Go Perry and other governors fighting for US and NOT the party.

647. Ban What?

Take your pick: Join NYC in banning soda or Berlin in banning circumcisions. These are right on up there with mandatory health insurance ruled constitutional by the Supreme Court. As you can see, governments can get away with anything and the latest ruling by the Supreme Court just opened the door for exactly that -- ANYTHING! If it looks like a tax, costs you like a tax, and is collected like a tax, then it's a tax. I find NYC's ban real troublesome, but, who am I but one of the majority who agree the ban is ridiculous and costing his state a lot more than it will ever benefit from it. Banning >16 ounce drinks has NO affect other than hiring people in the local government to manage it. A little creativity by the establishments can get around it easily enough: sell smaller size with unlimited refills! Duh! Bloomberg is a nut case on this one! And Berlin! Wow, I wouldn't want to have to wait until I am old enough to consent and then remember going under the knife for a circumcision. Just snip it and let me grow up without the event's recollection. Das ist nicht richtig!

646. Pinocchio OBlunder Continues to Lie

OBlunder's nose continues to grow with his lies, this time caught by several fact watchers. His latest ads against Romney as an outsourcer are pure lies, as usual. He constantly preys on the uninformed by misinforming them to get votes. He continues to divide this country into as many ways as he can to garner support. Pathetic. I am surprised the media is finally reporting the lies. Maybe there is hope.

645. Is California Serious!

How many $m or $B in debt is California today? And now they approved another $4.5B for a rail project we all know is going to be 10x more! Plus, they are banking on the Federal Government, yes, the green stuff in my wallet and yours, to fund them another $3.5B. Another OBlunder handout! Thank Jerry Brown for putting California in deeper debt. A recommendation for my son living in California: stay away from the debt bonds that are going to be sold! I believe everybody can agree that a fast rail system in California would be nice. However, it just isn't practical given the debt of California already and the debt of the Federal Government. Wow, your kid's, kid's, kid's, kid's will still be paying for this rail if it ever even gets finished. Enjoy the construction mess! Well, one way to improve jobs is to BORROW money to support bridges to no-where.

644. Take a break and watch this video

Speaking the truth and a little comical is a video from Pat Condell re Bin Laden capture/death and U.S. butt-kissing in Pakistan. Funny, but so-o-o true. Enjoy this video.