Second thoughts

Here’s some thoughts on marriage and life for the weekend. For
the most part the words aren’t mine but come from a collection of
witty sayings I’ve amassed over the years.

Too many couples marry for better, or for worse, but not for good.

Many girls like to marry a military man — he can cook, sew, make
beds, is in good health and he’s already used to taking orders.

When a man marries a woman, they become one; but the trouble starts when they try to decide which one.

By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you’ll become happy;
if you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher.
— Socrates

I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury.
— Groucho Marx

Old age is when former classmates are so gray and wrinkled and bald,
they don’t recognize you.

Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what happened.

Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people
to know “why” I look this way. I’ve traveled a long way and some of
the roads weren’t paved.

The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese in the trap.

Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.

Just remember – if the world didn’t suck, we would all fall off.

One more to think about-

How come stealing from one book is plagiarism, but stealing from many
is research?
Comments are always welcome.

Some weekend events

It looks like the weather might co-operate this weekend which
means my mind goes to cruise-ins and my body does yard work.
If you get out and about you may want to check out one of the
events listed below.

Today, July, 30th, is the Mustang Round-Up & Performance Fords
at Hughes Tire & Brake. They’re located at 380 Avenue of the
Cities, East Moline, Illinois.

Tonight, from 6-9 pm, the Classy Chassis Cruisers Cruise will
be held at the Sycamore Mall in Iowa City, Iowa.

Saturday, July 31st, is the Norway Cruise Night in Norway,
Illinois from 5-8 pm. This event is held rain or shine.

Sunday, August 1st, is the Jackson County Fair Car Show in
Maquoketa, Iowa.

Also Sunday is the LaSalle County Cruisers Summer Car Show
held at Lincoln-Douglas Park in Ottawa, Illinois. The show will
run from 8 am to 4 pm.

There are more events going on, but since I’ll be out working
in the yard again this is best I could do. We will return to
regular posting as soon as time allows.
Comments are always welcome.

Another rant

Some days I just have to wonder what people are thinking. Lately
we’ve all been hearing how bad fossil fuels are and how we have
to go ‘green’. We’ve heard how this administration is going to
lower the sea levels and save us from a certain grim future.

Problem is that when people with good intentions and no practical
experience in business study a problem they come up with an academic
solution and not a practical one. The difference is clear, an
academic solution looks good on paper but a practical one will
actually work.

What we don’t hear about is the cost of an academic solution.
We’ll touch on that now. First a little about what it costs to run our
vehicles. Oil is subsidized at 10 cents per megawatt hour while
the beloved ethanol and biofuels receive $19.52 per megawatt hour.
That seems like a big spread to me.

All right, how about if you get an electric car? Wouldn’t that put
you in a greener place? Perhaps, but with less money. Obama has made no secret he wants wind and solar power and not coal or nuclear power plants. Let’s look at the numbers. Electricity from coal is subsidized at 44 cents per megawatt hour, nuclear is subsidized at $1.59 per megawatt hour, wind at $23.37 per megawatt hour and solar at $24.34 a megawatt hour.

Once again I don’t see how something that costs that much more per
unit is called a viable alternative. Especially when one considers that
wind and solar account for a little over 1% of our electricity and
electric vehicles make up a quarter of 1% of vehicles on our roads.

Yes, Obama said he would double our solar and wind generated electricity during his tenure. But Bush did the same thing in 2005-2007. At up to 195 times the cost of what we’ve been using we only have about 98% more to go to be rid of coal, oil, and our money. After all, we taxpayers will be paying the bill.

So we aren’t greening up anything, not putting a dent in oil consumption,and are likely to see a huge increase in utilities and gas prices, but it’s progress. We need real leaders and lawmakers with real ideas to get us back to work and give us some real alternatives.

Figures used here are available all over the internet so I won’t supply
a link. If you wish to look them up yourself, the Energy Information
Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy is good start.
Comments are always welcome.

Odds and ends

First we want to get a few links out of the way then we’ll
have a little fun with a reconstituted joke. The press release
about drug abuse treatment got my attention because of the age
listed, 12 and up. The second link is to the FBI publication
page which has been updated.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy press release states that between 1998 and 2008, substance abuse treatment for prescription drugs increased by 400% by those age 12 and older.

The FBI has updated its reports and publications webpage. things covered are the FBI, terrorism, cyber issues, white-collar crime, violent crime,
law enforcement services, and statistics.

A joke that has been around for a long time seem to define the
way this administration thinks. The problem is it’s a Swedish joke
and I don’t want to seem racist, sexist, or bias against any
nationality. I’ll solve the problem by changing the names to protect
the innocent.

Barney and Chris had a big truck and decided to make money by selling watermelon. After buying the watermelon for $2 each they quickly got rid of the watermelon by selling them for $1.50. When they counted the money it was decided they didn’t make any money and that’s when Barney said we need to get a bigger truck.
Comments are always welcome.

One more time

Illegal immigrants are a hot topic and everybody seems to have an
opinion as to whether or not they are a drain on our country.
One quickly learns that this isn’t an easy subject to research
as nobody appears to know just how many illegal immigrants we
have in the U.S.

Some of this post will be my opinion and I’ll have links to check
the numbers I list. I do not know, nor do I care, if the sites linked
to are politically to the right or left side of the fence. They are
merely the ones that appeared to have the most information.

The 2004 numbers for the state of Iowa claim we spent $41.3 million
to educate illegal immigrants and $57.8 million to educate legal
citizens. The 2004 cost for the entire country was $11.9 billion
for illegal immigrant education and $16.6 billion for citizens. These
figures can be checked here.

On the health care front one site claims a national total health care cost isn’t available it claims it is clear the total is over $1 billion a year.

Another site is a fact check center with links. It answers claims like “illegal aliens
help the American economy”. The site is an eye opener with statements
like ‘the Federal Bureau of Prisons estimates that fully one third of
current prison populations are comprised of non-citizen illegals.’

There’s also a site that claims illegal immigrants cost the Nevada prison system $28 million
in 2007.

So if you’re really interested in seeing some numbers concerning
illegal immigrants and have a little time, these links should keep
you busy. It’s no secret I believe we should secure the borders and
prosecute illegal immigrants who reside in our country but you are
certainly entitled to believe otherwise.
Comments are welcome.

99 days

The calendar lets us know we now have less than 100 days until
the election. For a number of reasons this will be an important
event for all Americans. This is one election we should all do
our research and vote for the candidate that best echoes our belief.

If you’re happy with the way things are you should vote for the
incumbents. Those of us who think we’re going to hell in a hand
basket will work to vote the incumbents out. If you are currently
undecided you have 99 days to make up your mind.

We’ve heard about greedy businesses, too big to fail, and we’ve
watched the takeover of our healthcare. We have seen the government grow instead of get smaller and bi-partisanship is still a thing of dreams. There is no transparency in government and the change isn’t what most of us would hope for.

Rumors of tax hikes are in the air and the smear campaigns have
began. Almost everyone has opinions on the issues facing us as the
politicians prepare to bombard us with bull to get re-elected. Do
not be fooled by promises made to be broken.

We’ve also heard that we may have to lower our standard of living. We are told we’re living beyond our means and yet are chided for not spending more money. The answer is simple:We don’t have to lower our standard of living, the government has to stop spending money like a fool on an errand.
Comments are always welcome.

Lesson learned

I had one of those ‘Duh’ moments yesterday that turned into
a learning experience. Yes it’s the feeling you get when
you do something stupid. Some weeds popped up in the lower
40 so I decided to get aggressive and yank the little buggers
out by their roots.

Shortly before the red rash started on my arm I remembered
what we learned in Cub Scouts; leaves three quickly flee. I
guess that luck was on my side because the poison ivy didn’t
get me too bad, yet. I hope to remember this when I go out
later today to finish the clean up.

I should have known something like would happen around the
time of the Bix festival. We put a lot of preparation and
thought into race day. From early morning until about noon
we can’t get anywhere on race day anyway so we plan ahead.

We could walk two blocks up to Kirkwood Boulevard and watch
the race there but we prefer to get some lemonade, put on
comfortable clothes, and watch the race on TV. All the comforts
of home because we are at home. And if we want a little realism
we can turn on the surround sound.

To be really authentic we should probably shut off the air
conditioning, open the windows, and let in the heat and humidity
to sweat with the runners. Maybe next year.
Comments are always welcome.

Some weekend stuff

The weekend is here so why not some information about things
going on this weekend that involve vintage vehicles and hot
rods. So, the good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, here’s
a few events going down.

Today there is a cruise in from 6 to 9 pm, at Advance Auto
Parts, 3813 18th Avenue, Rock Island, Illinois.

Starting yesterday and running through Sunday is the National
Nostalgic Nova Nova Nationals in Gettysburg, Pa. For more info
go here.

In progress and running through tomorrow is the IEC Edsel
Convention’s 42nd Annual Edsel Rally at the Ramada Inn in Moline,
Illinois. If you’re a fan of horsecollar grilles and like these
vehicles there should be plenty to look at.

The Grand Mound Car Show is tomorrow from 9 am to 3 pm held
in downtown Grand Mound, Iowa.

Sunday, July 25, is the Lee County Fair Car & Truck Show at the
Lee County 4-H Center and fairgrounds in Amboy, Illinois. The
show runs from 11 am to 3:30 pm.

Sunday, July 25, is also the Turning Back Time Car Show in
beautiful downtown Sycamore, Illinois. The event will be from
8 am to 4 pm.

News of 2011 Torquefest just keeps getting better and better. John
has just sent an email that says they now have exclusive access to the Route 61 Drive In on Saturday night and will be showing Two Lane
Blacktop and another feature to be announced soon. This will be
reserved for pre-registered cars first then other rods, and kustoms.

The event will move to the Jackson County Fairgrounds in Maquoketa,
Iowa for the 2011 event. If you pre-registered at this years event,
the DVDs are on the way. John promises to keep everyone updated and as soon as we hear more we’ll pass it along.
Comments are always welcome.

Border rant

Recently I was told that there is no problem along our southern border
because our president says so. Not one to believe that everything is
wine and roses, and with a little help from John Donald O’Shea, I will
respond.

Mexico supplies the U.S. with more pot and meth than any other country.
It also is an entry point for cocaine and herion from other countries
into the U.S. Mexican cartels are now the dominant cocaine trafficers
in the world. Here are five of these cartels which operate along the
border with the United States.

Gulf Cartel- was considered the most powerful in Mexico before a split
with its enforcement arm, the Los Zetas. Formed the New Federation with
La Familia, and the Sinaloa cartel. Violence along the
Texas-Mexico border is increasing.

Los Zetas- made up of former Mexican military who trained in the U.S.
at Fort Benning, Georgia to combat the drug cartels. They are considered
military “special forces”. Some say the Zetas are responsible for
hundreds of murders, executing journalists, murdering people in Dallas,
McAllen, and Laredo, Texas, detaining two DEA agents, and firing upon
Border Patrol agents in Arizona.

Sinaloa Cartel- run by Joaquin “El Chappo” Guzman Loera who is on
Forbes’ list of richest people. At war with the Juarez cartel over
Ciudad Juarez, an important area for massive drug smuggling into
the U.S.

Tijuana Cartel-a weakened cartel but still a threat.

Juarez Cartel- based in Ciudad Juarez, one of the best trafficing routes
into the U.S. At war with the Sinaloa cartel over control of the area
makes Juarez the most violent city in Mexico.

More information and maps of the cartels area of influence can be
found here.

I know this administration doesn’t believe in terrorists, or that
these cartels are anything but charitable organizations, so here are
a few facts. We are told there is no violence on our side of the
border and that it’s safer than it’s ever been. I refer you to a June 4,
2010 story from KVEO News Center 23 in which it reports of an
alleged plot by the Los Zeta cartel to blow up Falcon Dam after
stealing a lot of gunpowder and dynamite.

A web post by reporter Michael Webster claims members of Los Zeta are ordered to
shoot and kill any armed Americans seen on American soil.

Here’s an account of what it’s really like along the border.

A story of how over 19,000 people have been killed in drug violence in Mexico since 2006.
This is a problem and pretending it isn’t happening will not make
it go away.
Comments are always welcome.

Sad times

Some of us know Common Sense died a while back and this post
is dedicated to some of his old friends who have either passed on,
committed suicide, or are on life support. So here, in no particular
order are a few that we will miss-

Cheap Gas has went to his final resting place, joining his
brother ‘Leaded Gas’. In this politically correct, think green
society subsidized ethanol looks to be here for good regardless
of the extra cost and no real improvement to the environment.

The Family Dinner went down fighting but couldn’t compete with
texting, ebay, facebook, Playstation, and the cell phone.

Drivable Roads died of insufficient funds and a sagging economy.
The pot hole money dried up leaving only the money for planting
flowers in the middle of the road. Alignment shops sent several
memorials to the mortuary.

The TV News Reporter has went on to greener pastures. Since the show must go on, they have been replaced by the News Commentator who does politically correct fluff pieces instead of reporting any real news.

Common Courtesy committed suicide yesterday. After years of working against apathy, droopy drawers, profanity, and the ‘what’s in it for me’ attitude she saw no reason to keep trying.

Dessert as we know it may be on its last legs if our first lady has
her way. She can have my Twinkie when she pries it from my cold dead
hand.

There are many more but I don’t want to bum everyone out.
Comments are always welcome.