Yes, to tell everyone else what you Twitards know from the title of this post, Nicole and I went to see Twilight Eclipse tonight. My review- if you like the first ones you will like this one. If you found the first ones boring you will find this one boring. Its pretty much the exact same thing as the last movie except... um... uhh... oh yeah! There is a girl wolf. There are some super sweet action poses that Nicole would think were stupid if they were in Hot Rod, but since they are not they are totally rad (even though they were intended to be cheesy in Hot Rod whereas in Twilight they are totally serious). I am always happy to see Bryce Dallas Howard in stuff (in the series's Bewitched moment).
I do not get the appeal, and I do not think I ever will. It is what it is. Girls/women and Ben seem to love it (the same can be said for Bradley Cooper, although that I can see). Most men seem to be perplexed by its appeal. I give up and take my medicine every few months.
-J
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
web-land quiz time!
So, I went from not having a single post in nearly two years to now having a post three days in a row. It appears I have had some things on my mind. Will I continue to update this often? I do not know, maybe. I do know I have some ideas for the rest of the week. But now, for the moment you have all been waiting for: a new web-land quiz!
Here are four recent United States Supreme Court nominees:
Here are four recent United States Supreme Court nominees:
Two are Democrats and two are Republicans. Can you guess who without knowing anything about their platforms or beliefs? The answer is below....
ANSWER:
The two on the left were nominated by Barak Obama, a Democrat. The two on the right were nominated by George W. Bush, a Republican. Do you want to know an easy way to tell? That's right Democratic nominees are always fugly (if you don't know what this means ask someone under 35). Thanks for playing.
-J
Monday, June 28, 2010
To boldy go?
Pugsley (our dog) has had to be dipped every other week for the last two months to take care of demodectic mange. So, today was one of those days. When I went to the vet's office to pick him up I saw something rather peculiar in the parking lot. It was the USS HAISE, otherwise known as the Jackson (metro?) chapter of the Star Trek fan club. See it for youself above. Here is their website. As you can see they are quite dedicated. To be honest, on the photo gallery, I have really no idea what is going on in some of those pictures. I do think it is pretty funny that they had a Halloween party where they dressed up as they generally seem to be dressed up most other days as well. Also, whoever dressed up as the Alien needs some kind of award. I also am very amused at the trip they took to Sonny's BBQ. It has a certain fish out of water appeal. It seems like they do quite a bit of philanthropy in the area and that is to be commended. And hey, if they enjoy it, more power to them. Who are we to judge? Still, it made for an interesting trip to the vet.
Needless to say, the pet picked up at the vet's office was a cat.
-J
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Around Another Bend...
I am sure with my long absence from blogging I have alienated my only two or three readers yet, I feel like it is time for me to get back into this again. Even if it's not being read, I at least get some egomanicial pleasure out of seeing my thoughts floating through cyberspace. I have found myself saying more and more often lately, I would write a blog entry about this or that. Those thoughts (that word looks strange typed) now have a home again. Incidentally, I didn't really have anything on my mind to write about tonight. So, I will leave it at that.
-J
-J
Monday, September 29, 2008
An Interesting Turn of Events
As many of you may know, the bailout compromise has failed. This of course means the average American has won. At press time, the House of Representatives stated that private money should stay in private hands. The vote was close, but in all honesty the bill was killed by a bi-partisan effort.
Democrats such as Nancy (pause for shiver) Pelosi and the fabulous Barney Frank immediately pointed the finger at the Republicans in Congress. They did so because they think you, the American people, just fell off of the turnip truck. They probably do not think you can read and/or access the Internet. Here are the real facts:
Democrats have a pure majority in the House of Representatives of 235 to 199. This means if the Democrats had their own house in order, they could have passed the bill anyway.
Of the Mississippi delegation, the three Democrats voted AGAINST the bill while Chip Pickering, who is not seeking re-election, voted for it.
Even though the bill was supposed to be bi-partisan, during the debate Pelosi called out the Republicans. This obviously made some of them pretty angry.
President Bush has absolutely no credibility/power when it comes to the rank and file Republicans.
End of fact.
Now, for some inferences we can make from these facts. The two major political parties are in shambles. There is no party unity in either case. This is great for the country. George Washington, a name that often engenders a bit of respect from many Americans, abhorred political parties and warned the United States to not form them. We would probably be better off had Hamilton and Jefferson followed this advice. Instead of listening to Pelosi or Bush, the members of Congress worried about their constituents, how novel.
The Republican party has taken the populist mantle from the Democrats. The Democratic Party is up in arms that their plan to save the salaries of a few already rich (probably white) men. Now the Republicans are on the side of the everyman. I am both a Republican and a populist and you can ask my wife, I thought that meant I was crazy. The Democrats have long been the party of factory workers, rank and file, and labor organizations. Now, the Republican party is protecting the yeomen, who are the backbone of our Nation.
President Bush has jumped the shark. Wikipedia the phrase. Once you read it, if you know anything about the bailout package he tried to push through, you will understand exactly what I mean. I don't completely blame him. I believe Bernake and Paulson gave him bad advice and only one option. Doesn't say much for Harvard business degrees though.
Finally, the Democrats have squandered their advantage gained from general dissatisfaction in the Bush administration. Rank and file Democrats just want to hold on to their seats so they vote against this great communist scheme. The big knock against the Democrats for the last 15 years is that all they do is B!tch and Whine. In response, they whined that they had no power to do anything. Once they got power, they promptly did nothing with it. But they had a President from the other party so all of their bills go vetoed right? According to Wikipedia, President Bush has had the least number of vetoes since Warren Harding. So, deal with it. The American people should take note that even though they may dislike President Bush, the Democrats have squandered their chance. The Republicans have made it well known that they are no longer loyal Bushies. So, my suggestion, in your local congressional race this fall, vote Republican.
-J
Democrats such as Nancy (pause for shiver) Pelosi and the fabulous Barney Frank immediately pointed the finger at the Republicans in Congress. They did so because they think you, the American people, just fell off of the turnip truck. They probably do not think you can read and/or access the Internet. Here are the real facts:
Democrats have a pure majority in the House of Representatives of 235 to 199. This means if the Democrats had their own house in order, they could have passed the bill anyway.
Of the Mississippi delegation, the three Democrats voted AGAINST the bill while Chip Pickering, who is not seeking re-election, voted for it.
Even though the bill was supposed to be bi-partisan, during the debate Pelosi called out the Republicans. This obviously made some of them pretty angry.
President Bush has absolutely no credibility/power when it comes to the rank and file Republicans.
End of fact.
Now, for some inferences we can make from these facts. The two major political parties are in shambles. There is no party unity in either case. This is great for the country. George Washington, a name that often engenders a bit of respect from many Americans, abhorred political parties and warned the United States to not form them. We would probably be better off had Hamilton and Jefferson followed this advice. Instead of listening to Pelosi or Bush, the members of Congress worried about their constituents, how novel.
The Republican party has taken the populist mantle from the Democrats. The Democratic Party is up in arms that their plan to save the salaries of a few already rich (probably white) men. Now the Republicans are on the side of the everyman. I am both a Republican and a populist and you can ask my wife, I thought that meant I was crazy. The Democrats have long been the party of factory workers, rank and file, and labor organizations. Now, the Republican party is protecting the yeomen, who are the backbone of our Nation.
President Bush has jumped the shark. Wikipedia the phrase. Once you read it, if you know anything about the bailout package he tried to push through, you will understand exactly what I mean. I don't completely blame him. I believe Bernake and Paulson gave him bad advice and only one option. Doesn't say much for Harvard business degrees though.
Finally, the Democrats have squandered their advantage gained from general dissatisfaction in the Bush administration. Rank and file Democrats just want to hold on to their seats so they vote against this great communist scheme. The big knock against the Democrats for the last 15 years is that all they do is B!tch and Whine. In response, they whined that they had no power to do anything. Once they got power, they promptly did nothing with it. But they had a President from the other party so all of their bills go vetoed right? According to Wikipedia, President Bush has had the least number of vetoes since Warren Harding. So, deal with it. The American people should take note that even though they may dislike President Bush, the Democrats have squandered their chance. The Republicans have made it well known that they are no longer loyal Bushies. So, my suggestion, in your local congressional race this fall, vote Republican.
-J
Saturday, September 20, 2008
fREDeral loan buyout
This is a pretty serious post, on par with my Rumba warning from last year.
I am sure by now most of you (if anyone actually reads this) have heard of the recent Bush administration proposed buyout of essentially bad loans to the tune of around $1 Trillion or in actual terms: $1,000,000,000,000.00. That is a lot of zeros. The bad loans the government is buying out relate to mortgages. The major companies involved are Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, and AIG.
I think this is a bad idea. The government believes (in the Bush administration read this as Prays) buying these bad loans will save the backbone of American financial institutions. This outcome is merely a possibility. Another possibility is that this will do us no good at all.
What it will do is have the United States take possession of heretofore private loans. To me this is too large an intervention into the private sector by the government. That is why I titled my post the way I did. This public purchase of private debt reeks of the kind of state ownership unseen since the fall of the U.S.S.R.
One merely need look at history (or Star Wars) to see how small events can domino into a world changing catastrophe. Augustus took power in small increments eventually destroying the Roman Republic once and for all. Hitler did the same thing, gradually, taking small steps and then eventually threatening the entire world (See Star Wars Episodes I-III to see the birth of the Empire). Simply put, this mortgage buy out may look like a one time thing on the surface but it could very much be the first (ok the TVA was probably first) in a series of events that absolutely change the fabric of the United States.
So, much for small government at any rate. At the very least even if this does work it represents an unholy intervention by the government of the United States into the daily lives of Americans. This is called Totalitarianism.
These three companies mentioned above got into this mess by giving out these variable interest mortgage rates. They got in trouble because they were acting as predators and using under-educated and unsophisticated purchasers. My solution unfortunately for the people who were the prey (who may still be left unprotected by the government buyout anyway) is to just let their loans fail. As it stands now there is no accountability for these companies. They act like they acted and face small consequences because the government is going to buy them out. So in the future when all of this is behind us, not withstanding the other consequences, other companies are going to do the same thing. If there is no punishment there will be no incentive to change.
According to MONEY magazine's website, the CEO of Lehman Brothers made $22.1 million in 2007. MSNBC reports Merrill Lynch's CEO as having made over $46 million in 2007. Fortune reports the poor white trash CEO of AIG only made $13 million in 2007 (down from around $26 million in 2006). Do you foresee the point I am getting at? I find it difficult to stomach that these companies that paid their bosses this amount of money are essentially getting bailed out by the government while small businesses run by John Q. American fail everyday. Some are failing because they cannot secure loans because of the predatory practices of companies like these. This almost makes me physically ill just to think about it. If the government does succeed in bailing these companies out, I think these CEOs should be publicly executed on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
-J
I am sure by now most of you (if anyone actually reads this) have heard of the recent Bush administration proposed buyout of essentially bad loans to the tune of around $1 Trillion or in actual terms: $1,000,000,000,000.00. That is a lot of zeros. The bad loans the government is buying out relate to mortgages. The major companies involved are Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, and AIG.
I think this is a bad idea. The government believes (in the Bush administration read this as Prays) buying these bad loans will save the backbone of American financial institutions. This outcome is merely a possibility. Another possibility is that this will do us no good at all.
What it will do is have the United States take possession of heretofore private loans. To me this is too large an intervention into the private sector by the government. That is why I titled my post the way I did. This public purchase of private debt reeks of the kind of state ownership unseen since the fall of the U.S.S.R.
One merely need look at history (or Star Wars) to see how small events can domino into a world changing catastrophe. Augustus took power in small increments eventually destroying the Roman Republic once and for all. Hitler did the same thing, gradually, taking small steps and then eventually threatening the entire world (See Star Wars Episodes I-III to see the birth of the Empire). Simply put, this mortgage buy out may look like a one time thing on the surface but it could very much be the first (ok the TVA was probably first) in a series of events that absolutely change the fabric of the United States.
So, much for small government at any rate. At the very least even if this does work it represents an unholy intervention by the government of the United States into the daily lives of Americans. This is called Totalitarianism.
These three companies mentioned above got into this mess by giving out these variable interest mortgage rates. They got in trouble because they were acting as predators and using under-educated and unsophisticated purchasers. My solution unfortunately for the people who were the prey (who may still be left unprotected by the government buyout anyway) is to just let their loans fail. As it stands now there is no accountability for these companies. They act like they acted and face small consequences because the government is going to buy them out. So in the future when all of this is behind us, not withstanding the other consequences, other companies are going to do the same thing. If there is no punishment there will be no incentive to change.
According to MONEY magazine's website, the CEO of Lehman Brothers made $22.1 million in 2007. MSNBC reports Merrill Lynch's CEO as having made over $46 million in 2007. Fortune reports the poor white trash CEO of AIG only made $13 million in 2007 (down from around $26 million in 2006). Do you foresee the point I am getting at? I find it difficult to stomach that these companies that paid their bosses this amount of money are essentially getting bailed out by the government while small businesses run by John Q. American fail everyday. Some are failing because they cannot secure loans because of the predatory practices of companies like these. This almost makes me physically ill just to think about it. If the government does succeed in bailing these companies out, I think these CEOs should be publicly executed on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
-J
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Jeremy D. Litton, Esq.
I found out today that I passed the bar. I don't know anything other than that. I will be getting some information relating to my scores and other administrative things mailed to me. This was just the early notification online.
Yay for me.
-J
Yay for me.
-J
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