August 2009 Archive
Remembering Teddy Kennedy
I have been watching the coverage of the passing of “The Lion” and thought of the two times I met the man.
Back in 2003, where I had joined the Kerry Campaign, we were in the DC office working away - and with the Dean Campaign having waves of good press and momentum, our office felt somewhat like a dead man walking. When JK brought on Mary-Beth Cahill, the office had an almost “game-over” feel - and suddenly, we were brought into the main conference room for a “meeting”.
As we were milling about in the room, suddenly - this enormous personality walked in with two dogs. I had never met Senator Kennedy before - and from television and other appearances, I assumed him to be a tall man like JK. This man was jovial, enthusiastic and here to raise our spirits.
He gave one of his patented “Kennedy speeches” which was designed to lift our spirits. And, truthfully, it did.
It is a shame to see a man with his legacy of service pass - but it is an honor to his memory that we commit to his work and carry on - beyond the short time he was with us on the earth.
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Is this what Socialism looks like?
A friend of mine from Genius Rocket sent this to me this morning, and I thought it was quite funny in its informative sarcasm:
I then took a shower in the clean water provided by a municipal water utility.
After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC-regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like, using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
I watched this while eating my breakfast of U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
At the appropriate time, as regulated by the U.S. Congress and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration-approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal Departments of Transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve Bank.
On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the U.S. Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.
After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to my house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and Fire Marshal’s inspection, and which has not been plundered of all its valuables thanks to the local police department.
And then I log on to the internet — which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration — and post on Freerepublic.com and Fox News forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can’t do anything right.”
Posted in Political Thoughts | 4 Comments »
Another thought on Obama and the vision of Hope
by Tom Tomorrow
What has me thinking is - where is the direct impacting investments?
Why did the Cash for Clunkers not actually be directed for better gas-mileage, lower polluting cars versus just any car?
Why has the TARP investment now not focused the energies on freeing credit for small business and rather resolving the issues of the accounting rules to ensure solvency?
Why does the Fed allow for big banks to borrow at incredibly low rates, but charge exorbitant rates on small and medium size business loans? An article in the Financial Times on August 2nd had me thinking about how the bigger banks are leveraging their position in the market where they are the gatekeepers to the American market for small and medium sized businesses and consumers.
The sad part is - with their need to generate profits - are they forgetting that the situation that is being created is still driving to an imbalance that will need to be rectified?
Will someone please stand up and point this out - without the usual partisan rhetoric?
When will the situation turn around?
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