Aloha Dump

Here is a lesson on cutting through the financial doublespeak from our politicians and getting down to the nitty gritty of our financial crisis by substituting the obscenely large numbers into something more tangible and relevant. U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000 Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000 New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000 National debt: $14,271,000,000,000 Recent budget cuts: $ 38,500,000,000 Let's now remove 8 zeros and pretend it's a household budget: Annual family income: $21,700 Money the family spent: $38,200 New debt on the credit card: $16,500 Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710 Total budget cuts: $385 If there is no hope for this family budget, then how can there be any hope for our nation's? We need new leadership in the White House. Obama had his chance for 2 years, with both the House and the Senate controlled by the Democrats, to get this economy rolling again and he failed. Cash for Clunker...

Newt Gingrich is gaining momentum and losing headway on a daily basis and I am very surprised to hear anything about him at all. I remember in the late 80's and early 90's when he was an upcoming Minority Whip (and bouncing checks left and right) when he captivated us with his directness and ability to "tell it like it is", long before Oprah coined phrase with that loser Dr. Phil. But the fascination wanned as we found out Newt was just another whacko with a big mouth. He faded into obsurity until recently when he decided to run for POTUS. Quite a shell shock to me. He reappearance in the forefront of politics reminds me of the new fashion trend that put the "ug" in "ugly". Boot wearing became popular fashion faux pas in the 80's with the pant legs tucked snuggly into the tops. I was in high school at the time and only the sluts wore them. Sorry ladies, Uggs fall into this same myopic view for me. Anyway, Gingrich has a tangenical parallel to...

It has been a few months now since the OWS crowd has descended upon our cities. At first, my preconceptions of them were "dirty, stinky hippies" since I could not fathom anyone with a job being able to hang out in parks all day and all night. Boy was I wrong. After caring enough to dig a little deeper into the movement I found that most of them in fact do have jobs. Granted there are only a few polls but perhaps there is more to these people than meets the eye. The Week reports high numbers of job holding, educated and high earning people who went online to complete the survey. The first quesiton that came to mind while reading the survey result is if the 1639 participants an indicative sample of the OWS crowd. Most news agencies do not portray the 13% making over $75k a year or even the 1% that report making >$300k. Why don't the media cover the people that make up this minority? Only 1/3 have no job or are making minimum wage, but we only see or hear of the yet ...

I can't even remember the last time I had the opportunity to post something ragging on the State of Hawaii. I don't keep up with the nonsense as much anymore and usually just laugh at the ridiculousness of the island mentality in some cases. But this recent story rekindled my belief that although people are stupid where ever you go, the people who live in Hawaii are a special kind of stupid. Last week an Air Force couple was arrested for shoplifting and their 2 year old daughter placed in Child Services for about 18 hours. the condensed version of the story goes like this: Add caption The couple allegedly got lost looking for a grocery store and when they finally found a Safeway they stopped in the deli for a few sandwiches. Some stories report the couple getting lost and others do not. The wife is pregnant and needed food. Instead of paying for their food, they opened the sandwich wrappers and started munching away, allegedly intending to pay for the sandwiches a...

I spent 20 years in the military and was subjected to random urinalysis. If I failed I would have been kicked out of the military with a dishonorable discharge. When I retired, I had to submit a urinalyis sample to start working at my current job. I work. I pay my taxes. The government distributes my tax money as they see fit to government assistance programs. Fine. Give my money to bums as you see fit- I don't have a problem with that. What I do have a problem with is giving my taxes to bums who don't have to pass a urine test. If I had to pass urinalysis during my military career and also to secure a job as a civilian, shouldn't people who collect welfare, unemployment and other goverment assistance also pass a urinalysis?  Reply to: Reply to: gary smith All Reply to gary smith Send

I will not be watching September 11th stories today- in fact, I have never and I never will never call this day 9-11.  Pearl Harbor Day is not called 12-7 and I will not discredit the bravery of the American military with a catchy abbreviation. In my opinion, it is the equivalent of the internet and texting shorthand and it does not make me LOL.  I will not be scouring online news sources for remembrance stories. I will not be writing an emotionally charged blog entry filled with images of that day. For some Americans, the true patriots, September 11 will be a time of horror, disbelief and anger- something that we do not need to be reminded of. Montages of people taking stock of their life, as they watch the inferno of the Towers above quickly rush away, is not what this day is about. Some Americans think this day is about the lies of the President as we invaded Iraq and started a war to bring an insane, cruel and evil man to justice. The mismanage...

Youch- 14 million Americans out of work with about 40% jobless for 6 months or more for the month of August.  To make matters worse, there was no increase in jobs for August - at all - and we remain stagnant at 9.1%. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over? The Times reported a few factors that contributed to this depressingly bleak outlook of the (once) great financially secure nation of the United States. Of course the debt ceiling debacle made the top of the list. Who can blame employers for cutting back hours and trimming the fat when there was so much at steak stake? Thank you, elected officials, for screwing us (again) without the common courtesy of flowers and chocolate. I have made up my mind; in 2012 I will not be voting for ANY incumbent on that ticket. Not a one. So bring it on crazy third party fruitcakes! Let's see what you got. Obama has his work cut out for him next week as he addresses a war-worn, economically depressed, record high levels of government as...

Bad things happen in three's, this is especially true with celebrity deaths, but this week was a ringer for The Fates. First, earlier this week our debt ceiling was raised. It was a long process marred by sophomoric behavior on both sides and in the end the Democrats caved and Obama tried to pin the compromised on the American taxpayer under the guise of, "it has been your voices that have compelled washington to act." I don't think so, pal. Watching the recaps and reading the pundits I think the Republicans and the Democrats only got it half right. They kept their own best interests in mind and in the end we are not really that much better for it. What good is it to reduce spending and not raise taxes when we can't get people back to work? What good is a debt ceiling when the new Congress will wring their hands like a teenager with a new credit card waiting for something to break it in on. Mark my words, if Obamacare passes the resulting tax ...

Happy Birthday America. It's been a hard 235 years and those familiar with our nation's history will know what I'm talking about. There were so many times during the fight for our country where the outcome rested on a single event that, had it not happened, would have changed the course for our country. I'm not just referring to the fight for our independence from Great Britain but all the fights we have endured throughout the last 2 centuries plus- the right to be our own country, the right to live how we please including what we say, what gods we pray to and how we choose to express our feelings and sentiments. **WARNING - Debbie Downer paragraph** At the risk of sounding cliche, Americans take these liberties for granted- they are so ingrained in our minds that we cannot comprehend an opposing culture that would kill a woman because she wasn't covering her face when we deem it appropriate to let our teenage daughters wear string...

Climate change is such a hot topic right now, no pun intended, and I have spent a long time sifting through both sides. The war between the deniers, the skeptics, the consensus and the alarmists is all based on evidence from both sides and both sides make compelling arguments. But that's not what I want to talk about since, at this point, you aren't going to sway either side. I recently found out where icebergs come from and why it is such a big deal.  Climate change protagonists claim rising temperatures will melt the icebergs which will then cause sea levels to rise. My initial thoughts have been, "Huh?" If you take a glass and put an ice cube in it then fill it to the rim the melting ice will not cause the water to spill over. I used this analogous image to simulate the icebergs in the arctic and antarctic. They are already in the water, how will their melting cause the oceans to rise? I was browsing the Huffington Post las...

Today is a time of remembrance when we pause, and in our own way, pay our respects to the men and women who have fought for this country, some even giving the  ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms. For some Americans ('some' being a conservative number) it is just another few-and-far-between three day weekend to get drunk, sleep and have an unexpected Valentine's Day baby while most consider today the official kick off of summer. I can count on one hand the number of duty free Memorial Day weekends I had  in my 20 years of service- par for the course for most submariners and something most of us came to grips with very quickly. For most military members family separation is the highest sacrifice they will make or endure. For a growing number of military families over the last 10 years the separation anxiety is compounded by the fear of combat injury or death as our fighting force is spread thin around the world fighting what many also fear as wars we cannot win. I...

It appears that I have the only still photos of Mike Alessi's spill at Hangtown last weekend that left him KTFO for a few minutes. I missed the shot of him actually hitting as there was a sponsor sign in the way. But I also have the first shots of him lying on the ground with the first responders on the scene. Ha! Suck it pro MX photographers! 1. First pass 2. Airborne. First sign of "Oh shit, not again" feeling. 3. KTFO The video replay: