Icewind's Ramblings

It has been one of those weird Saturday’s with various things going on and nothing in particular. It was a bits and pieces kind of day with morning coffee and waiting for the concrete guy to show up to start his forms for pouring a slab in the garage.   Needless to say it was about noon before the phone call came in that he would not be here until Monday.   Possible morning golf missed before the weather turned, typical for this summer so far.   Then it was debated on heading out to the lake with golf tomorrow but the boat is still in for a tune up and not ready until next week so again no golf. Have a tee time for noon tomorrow so it allows time to piddle around finish laundry and other chores so not totally a wash plus I went to Lowe’s this afternoon and bought a BBQ grill and a couple chairs for the deck. A friend of mine emailed me this joke once he heard I was installing drains in the garage and possibly was going to install a urinal along with a slop sink in t...

Remember back before the election during all of the campaigning and coverage of the presidential primaries how MSNBC was gushing all over Barack Obama? Well it is interesting now a year later to see how things have changed.  Its not the same now as reality sinks in.  Did you watch Obama's TelePrompTer reading last night?  What a mess we are in and a joke of a speech.  I couldn’t watch all of it because my bullshit meter kept going off and pegging the “get out your chest waders” because we are in deep shit.  He didn't read anything that was unexpected. Holding BP accountable.                        Yep we’ve heard that for 58 days now. We've been on the job from day 1.      Yep typical ‘no urgency’ gov’nment job. Clean up the Gulf Coast .                ...

How are we doing? With health care and the struggling economy on the minds of most Americans right now I wanted to think back almost a year ago and see if you come up with the same answer I did about our first out of the box stimulus program.  Remember Cash for Clunkers ? Question? What was the most positive result of the "Cash for Clunkers" program? ANSWER: It took 95% of the Obama bumper stickers off the road. With many people still out of work it is now probably about the time that all of those vehicles are being repossessed and a second round of ‘deals’ can be had by those lucky people who get a second chance for those vehicles. Living the Life now, aren’t we? Ice

With the ongoing problems with people trying to do harm to our country there is a way that these ‘enemy combatants’ . . . yes we are still at ‘war’ after the attack on our country on 9/11 . . . could be handled that is workable for almost everyone. Trying to solve the world’s problems with style takes thinking outside the box.  This administration has been trying to figure out what to do with the Gitmo detainees.  Do we close the facility or continue to keep them in Gitmo? De we set them free to wander off to parts unknown to continue their mission?  What about sending them back to their home country to be revitalized into their organized cells?  Do we let them loose inside America to wreak havoc on our soil again? How do we get our heads around this so that it makes sense and can be monitored to ensure our safety?  This might work and can be done with technology that is already used . . . just modified somewhat in scope and magnitude.  Each detai...

Politics lately have been really boring with all the in fighting between all parties on almost any talking point.  No one is happy about the Health Care proposals and the stimulus money is being squandered away like many people thought it would be with little oversight or accountability. The economy is in disarray with the jobless rate continuing to rise “as things are getting better” and the vehicle rebate program flooded the nation with scrap metal and the upcoming wave of repossessions as those who traded in cannot afford to make the payments. “Change” was promised and that is what we have received . . . like it or not. I am into being positive each day and sometimes you need those little positive affirmations to set the tone for the upcoming day.  Tony Robbins says those things help break the cycle of negativity and can change habits and thought processes. Here is my daily routine when I get up in the morning before heading off to work.  I grab my cup of coffee...

This whole fiasco with Obama, Dr. Henry Lewis Gates, Sgt. Crowley, and the Cambridge Police Force has drawn attention from both sides of a tired argument about the state of our nation’s health . . . our racial health. In the movie Forrest Gump he states: “Stupid is . . . as stupid does.” Maybe its stupidity that is running rampart in America today. Before I comment here is a copy of the police report. Police Report Short version (If there is one): Respected Harvard professor Dr. Henry Lewis Gates (a black man) returns from an overseas trip from China to his home, (probably exhausted) has trouble getting into the front door, enlists help from another man (also black) who is seen by a neighbor attempting to “break in” or force the door open (not the first time at this residence). Neighbor calls police where Sgt. Crowley who is close by responds being the first to arrive. ( Crowley is a admin type officer, not a “beat cop”) Crowley is...

* Warning rant ahead, bifocals optional. I’ve been out of town lately so I have been somewhat lacking in the news department for the last month so when I started to catch up on a few things I was blown away about a few things. Probably many of you were too. Turns out AIG again took millions of dollars of the bail out money the Government gave them and paid more executive bonuses. Now this is the second set of bonuses paid since the financial collapse started. One guy received six million dollars. I read that over fifty others got more than a million. All right, it is an outrage. But wouldn’t you want to work at a company that rewards failure on a historic level with million dollar bonuses? I don’t know about you but I have never screwed something up on a job to the point where we had to go beg the Government for financial help three times and then the boss sat down with me to write a giant check. I wonder what you get for doing your job really well...

“The problem with Socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.” --Margaret Thatcher The $827 billion stimulus package is full of earmarks that probably won’t stimulate the economy. The new bank bailout package was just announced and the markets took another dump. Confidence in the new changes . . . I’m not feeling too warm and fuzzy right now. Ice

I could not resist this one as I have not had much time this week but saw this on the GOC’s Blog and thought I would report it to everyone. The economy is in the toilet and everyone is scrambling around to find a way to turn things around but I think we have our work cut out for us this time. Possibly the smartest president this country has ever had can't tell the difference between a window and a door. Hope? Change? Where is that door? It looks like President Obama hasn't gotten acquainted to his White House surroundings. On the way back to the Oval Office Tuesday, the President approached a paned window, instead of the actual door . . . located a few feet to his right. He was probably thinking about world problems or how many more billions of dollars are going to be given away in our new programs. Maybe it was what kind of dog he is getting for his daughters. Doors didn't open automatically for ...

I awoke this morning much like any other but there were things going on outside my space that had me stirring earlier than normal. My daughter was having a restless night in the hospital and when I turned on the television to see what was happening with the lead up to the Inauguration. There was the spectacle of pomp and circumstance as the crowds gathered from all over the country around the Lincoln Memorial and The Mall. It was a moving sea of people and tonight I learned that there were no incidents in Washington during this celebration so that may be one of the first visible signs of ‘Change’ to come about. There was the gathering of past Presidents and Vice Presidents who have shown the signs of age that has come with the office. They smiled and some seemed to be glad to see each other while others stayed focused on the tasks at hand. Obama`s girls looked great taking in the moment and bringing back younger children living in the White House. ...

President Elect Barack Obama has started his Cabinet appointments. Today he announced his economic cabinet positions . . . I’m still holding out for T. Boone Pickens for Energy Secretary. Ice

Often misquoted but the words still ring true. The Reverend William John Henry Boetcker originally published the Ten Cannots in 1916 in a leaflet entitled " Lincoln on private property." One side had words by Abraham Lincoln, the other side had the "Cannots" that Rev. Boetcker wrote. It was republished by the Inside Publishing Company in 1917 and 1938. “The Ten Cannots” by Rev. William J. H. Boetcker Presbyterian Clergyman in 1916 "You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they should and...

The election is over but I still have to have a little fun with this before it gets to boring and I’m locked into the winter observations found here in the Arctic northland. Watching the election night speeches were a mixed bag for me but I thought both men did a great job both victory and defeat? It was great seeing the mix of all those involved in the celebrations around the country. Hopefully it will continue as we work through the upcoming difficult times we are facing. One of the comments on election night was getting a new dog for his family so their stay in the White House would be like most other first families. I guess having ‘normalcy’ is a good thing but if they have not had a dog in the past getting a new puppy to ‘break in’ will have some added entertainment for those covering the political beat. I cannot wait to see those stories in the near future. He expounded on his pet plans during Friday’s press conference. “With respect to the dog, thi...

Well after months and months it’s over . . . the ‘change’ is in the air and a night full of celebration is over. I am reminded of a line in one of the best movies about political campaigning, “What do we do now?” Solidly the best movie about a political campaign and the rigors of the campaign trail The Candidate , the charming, unapologetically liberal Robert Redford vehicle from 1972. I was considering writing a post on the ways in which the movie predicted this modern campaign but I was busy and like many of us never got to it. See for yourself . . . The question that ends the segment is the question that ends the movie, and it’s the question that’s before our nation today: What now? When Obama was announced last night even an hour before the polling places closed in Alaska , it was Obama and now his party will finally have to come up with an answer. To its credit, the film doesn’t attempt to provide one and we were left with the promise of John ...