During the Christmas holiday it’s customary among Christians and others to extend a “Merry Christmas” greeting. There’s no harm in doing so, it’s like wishing someone a “Good Day”. I have Jewish friends to whom I wish “Happy Hanukkah” during the holiday of their belief, and they graciously wish me a “Merry Christmas” in return. It’s a way of wishing someone well while respecting their respective beliefs.
I know a guy, let’s call him John, to whom I extended a “Merry Christmas” greeting and received a “Yeh, You to” in return. (more…)
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You don’t need me to remind you that the “Great Tea Party Movement of 2010” missed Maryland completely. Except for Andy Harris’ victory, we were pretty much left out of the action. Thankfully, other states participated and there will be a new freshman class in Congress – a class that can’t help but get the message. It’s too bad that common sense is scarce in Maryland. (more…)
I ran for the Maryland House of Delegates this year, but lost in the primary election. Despite the outcome, I really enjoyed the process. I met a lot of wonderful people going door to door in northern Baltimore County, which is one of the most beautiful places in the country. The support I received was marvelous. I thank my supporters and all those who welcomed me at their door. The experience was gratifying.
I’m quite proud of our effort. We worked hard and ran a good campaign. We ran against two other candidates for one position, and received just short of thirty percent of the vote. Not bad for a total unknown taking his first foray into politics. We lost to a man who was running for his tenth term (forty years) as a Delegate. I would rather have won, so I am disappointed, but other election-related things disappoint me more.
I wonder what happened to all the Tea Partiers who swore to vote against any and all incumbents. I would like to have seen it happen – I might have won. Winning or losing aside, I am perplexed by the election results. (more…)
I’ve been baffled as to why Nancy and Harry are so obsessed with giving Barry legislation the public doesn’t want; then it occurred to me – I’ve been saying it all along. It’s all about winning, not about what America needs or wants. This is an example of the left wanting to get even with the right as payback for the years of Republicans rule. As I said before, we sit in the middle paying for the artillery firing over our heads. (more…)
In the recent series on banks there were two additional issues I wanted to address, but, in the interest of brevity, did not. In Part Three I mentioned “too big to fail” and I mentioned “proprietary trading” through the example of the rogue trader who broke the American arm of Allied Irish Banks. These deserve further mention.
There’s a law that limits the size of any one bank’s control of customer deposits to ten percent of all deposits in the US. Bank of America has reached that limit, with JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo close behind. If any of these banks were to fail, the Federal Deposit Insurance Company (FDIC) would also fail, and taxpayers would, once again, be asked to pony up. (more…)
My personal view of Social Security and Medicare is simply this: “entitlements” are promises made by the government that should never be broken. People pay taxes all their working lives to pay for them. You can bet your sweet bippy that when my time comes, I’m collecting, and I’ll fight anyone who tries to stop me. I paid plenty, and expect to collect my fair share. (more…)
Donora, Pennsylvania is located about 25 miles south of Pittsburgh in the Monongahela Valley. It means something to me, because it’s about six miles down river from my home town of Charleroi. Donora might be remembered as the birthplace of Stan Musial, Ken Griffy, Sr. and his son Ken Griffy, Jr., were it not for a few days around Halloween, 1948. That was when a temperature inversion descended on the valley trapping poisonous gasses in its deadly embrace. The resulting yellowish, acrid smog blanketed the valley and crept quietly into homes as people slept. (more…)
