Out of Context- TMC Day 7

Today's out-of-context remarks are courtesy of an overcrowded S-320 Mercedes, and a naïve Concordia student...

Kristin:
"He's hot and he's making me sweat."

"By the time we get to the site my leg will be all wet again."

Jeebus, I'm riding with a bunch of pervs.

TBG, riding shotgun.

Something to Think About

From Charles:

"When was the *last* time you did something for the *first* time?"

Hmmm...

TBG - thinking it over...

Yet Another...

Neal: You just squirted cheese out of your sausage onto her jacket!

TBG, ewww!

More Out of Context @ Tennis Masters Cup

Kristin: "Can you stop moving half my butt please?"

Judith "I want the straight hair and not very sticky."

From two days ago:
"Oh Jeebus. Andy has dick hanging over the side of his bench."
"I wonder if we should hide the dick?"

TBG, the fun never stops.

Mercedes Benz Out of Context

(Spoken with deep Croatian accent)
Deni: "Now I am having the hot ass and the cold ass at the same time. So good."

TBG, watching my ass.

Change

Well now...

Here's a change...

Back during the election we had Barry Obama's position on 2nd Amendment issues:
(from The One's website)
- Address Gun Violence in Cities: As president, Barack Obama would repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, which restricts the ability of local law enforcement to access important gun trace information, and give police officers across the nation the tools they need to solve gun crimes and fight the illegal arms trade.
- Obama and Biden also favor commonsense measures that respect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners, while keeping guns away from children and from criminals who shouldn’t have them.
- They support closing the gun show loophole and making guns in this country childproof.
- They also support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent, as such weapons belong on foreign battlefields and not on our streets.

But...

The page is missing now...
Can't find anything on His Oneness' website regarding gun policy or 2nd amendment issues.

Oh yeah- one more thing...

Change.

For a guy who was harping on changing everything, Hussien's advisory board is loaded up with former Clinton administration members:

Obama-Biden Transition Project
Co-Chairs

John Podesta
Former White House Chief of Staff

Valerie Jarrett
President and Chief Executive Officer, The Habitat Company

Peter Rouse
Chief of Staff, Senator Barack Obama

Advisory Board Members

Carol Browner
Principal, The Albright Group
Former Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency

William Daley
Vice Chairman, JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Former Secretary of Commerce

Christopher Edley, Jr.
Dean, Boalt Hall School of Law
Former Associate Director, Office of Management and Budget

Michael Froman
Managing Director, Citigroup
Former Chief of Staff, Department of the Treasury

Julius Genachowski
Co-founder, LaunchBox Digital; Special Advisor, General Atlantic
Former Federal Communications Commission Official

Donald Gips
Group Vice President, Level 3 Communications
Former Chief Domestic Policy Advisor to Vice President Gore

Mark Gitenstein
Partner, Mayer Brown
Former Chief Counsel, Senate Judiciary Committee

Edward Kaufman
President, Public Strategies
Former Chief of Staff, Senator Joseph Biden

Janet Napolitano
Governor, State of Arizona

Federico Peña
Managing Director, Vestar Capital Partners
Former Secretary of Transportation and Secretary of Energy

Susan Rice
Senior Foreign Policy Advisor, Obama for America
Former Assistant Secretary of State

Sonal Shah
Head of Global Development Initiatives, Google.org
Former Treasury Department and National Security Council Official

Change, indeed.


TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Food for Thought

4000 years of civilization, and they still haven't figured out cheese.

Welcome to China, baby.

TBG

Say what?

Out of Context #1

"She painted a moose and now she can't get it out of her apartment."

Yeah...wait. What?

TBG

Axiom from Charles

From Charles Smith, during a walkthrough:

"Don't expect it, if you don't inspect it."

That's a good one...

TBG

You've Got What You Wanted.

...now let's see what happens.

Concerns and thoughts:

Obama is the President.
In addition to his radical policies, my newest concern, based upon his acceptance speech, is that he is a President to African-Americans FIRST, if not ONLY, and that we will be punished for slavery in fairly short order.
Update-
When I watched the video of the victory speech, I was watching with a biased view. When I wrote this piece I think I was a bit (ok, more than a bit) heavy handed. I went back and watched it again because in reviewing my post, it struck me as a bit overly reactionary. And after viewing it and then reading the transcript, I'm not sure I took everything in the correct context.
So I will rescind this part of my post...
(/update)

A Democrat in the Whitehouse and a Democratic legislature. Say goodbye to checks and balances.

I've been thinking about next steps and how to move forward.
Stoic silence ?(No doubt to be applauded by the Commie-Symp-Pinkos in the crowd, you-know-who-you-are....)
Venom-and-vitriol-filled rant on how the country is going to hell in a handbasket.
Or maybe just throw in the towel and drink the KoolAid.

None of the above.

Here's where I'm going...

There are some things we need to do.

We stand up for our principles and morals.
In my case, Florida US Congressmen and Senators as well as the State House of Representatives will be sick of hearing and seeing my name in regards to issues that I deem relevant... I will email, phone and sky write commentary every time I think they need guidance- which I believe will be quite often.

We stay positive and focused. The race for 2012 begins NOW.
It will start by holding The One accountable for every broken promise,
every false pledge and every outright lie with I-told-you-sos and unabashed finger pointing, just as my Commie-symp-pinko friends have been doing the last 8 years.

We pay respect to the office of the presidency.
I will never accept Barack HUSSEIN Obama as my president. I didn’t support him before, and him being elected doesn’t change that.
He will send this country down in flames, and there’s no way I can respect him for that. He didn’t win on the up and up. I can’t prove it, but I know it anyway.
He is a dishonorable man who spent half a billion dollars and 2 years to buy an honored position. I respect the office, not its inhabitant.

We count our blessings and recommit ourselves to our constitutional republic.
We fight.

First up is the defense against the Fairness Doctrine.
Watch Fox and anyone who spoke out against The One get bent over the back of the sofa...
Next, protecting the second amendment.

After that, an assignment for fiscal conservatives in Washington:
Oppose the Democrats’ next stimulus boondoggle.
Oppose Obama’s windfall profits tax proposal.
Oppose new bailouts for states deep in debt.
Oppose new foreclosure prevention measures that will simply provide perverse incentives for borrowers to walk away and delay a needed market correction.
No more federal loan guarantees for corporations

Other items:
Do not accept liberal premises. Get facts.
Do not quote to me liberal statistics you cannot back up with facts.
Do not blame conservatism.
Do not listen to the networks that you know are liberal spin machines.
Never go to the polling place alone, take a friend, co-worker, elderly parent, neighbor or even first-time voter.

Last-
I'm declaring a moratorium on pleasantries to liberals here.
The sheeple need to wake the hell up.
They don’t know what a “mean conservative” is.
We’ve been too nice to them and given them too much rope.
That ends today.

For me, at least.

TBG - ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

A Disgrace.

The Treatment of Bush Has Been a Disgrace
What must our enemies be thinking?
By JEFFREY SCOTT SHAPIRO - WSJOnline

No doubt our all-seeing, all know readers like Skunk and Travis will not bother to read Mr. Shapiro's well thought out piece, but it is very accurate...

I'm reminded of Kipling's poem "Tommy"

'Tommy'

I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play.

I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";
But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,
The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.

Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.

We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",
But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.

You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!

Well, there you have it.

Congratulations, all you who voted for hope and change.

Enjoy.

1457 days until the next election.

TBG, holding my breath.

Change.

This is the kind of change we can look forward to.


Philadelphia. City of Brotherly Love.

"We are five days from fundamentally transforming the United States of America"

TBG, Making a shopping list.

Change we don't need or want.

"We are five days from fundamentally transforming the United States of America"

I'm sorry... Excuse me, but, isn't the job of the President of the Unites States
supposed to be "Preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States"?
(Thats Article II, Sec 1 for you Democrats who want everything spoon-fed to you...)

I guess "Community Organizer in Chief" has a different job description...


Get out and vote. I don't care how long the line is....
TBG

Obama Love 3.0

Love is in the air....

Musical Interlude

Amy G and her amazing kazoo.
(...and she uses it to play a mirliton.)

Speechless.

(And I'm feeling very patriotic right now.)

TBG, humming right along.

Ooooh! Sexy!

(Man, I have got to start getting out more...)


from
The Man Store

Features:
* Board Straightener
Adjusts board into proper positions before tacking. Use on standard board sizes.

* Nail Puller/Tile Ripper
Pull nails and get underneath tile to rip up tile.

* Demolition Axe
Rip through dry wall, wood slots, shingles and strip conduit.

* Precision Balance
Our overall weight-to-length ratio creates the same perfect "balance" all Dead On® products are known for.

* Demolition Hammer
Use the demo hammer for breading down hard surfaces, as well as other general hammer uses. Includes Dead On® bottle opener.

* The Grip
Made of shock absorbing durable rubber to prevent slipping.

* Chisel
Smash, crack and chip away at tile, brick or other pry bar uses.

* Multi Purpose Wrench/Nail Pulle
Use this wrench for releasing concrete forms and other general uses.

Mmmm. Daddy want.
It usually takes a large-caliber weapon to induce these feelings...

TBG thinks:When the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Follow Up - Tick Tock...

(I've been under the weather, sorry for the delay on getting back with you guys on your comments.)
----------

So... Apparently all you good Obama disciples got the memo on how to counter the right-wing racist smears about The One's socialist leaning.

It's pretty amazing, actually.
All 3 of you guys send me the same article.
Was it included in the Oh-Bama! "Morning Marching Orders" email you get daily?

Let me make 3 points:

You didn't answer the question. Typical Democrat methodology.
You used the question to cast aspersions on someone else. Ditto.
You used someone else's labor to do your job. Double ditto.


Everyone sent links to, or quotes from the New Yorker Mag's article on the election and the recent focus on the position that Barry Barack Hussein Obama's allusion to socialistic wealth distribution and trying to tie McCain and Palin to socialistic comments or policies...

Point 1 - Answer the question, Claire...

My question was: Why is the Urkel plan for wealth distribution not socialism?
Answer: None. That's because it is socialism. See below for discussion.



Point 2 - Aspersions:

This article makes the case (at the end where, as any writer will tell you, is where you make the point that you want the reader to take away from the article) that Sarah Palin is a socialist, and thus has no business throwing stones at His Obamaness' glass house.

Anyone want to hazard a guess as to why the proffered example in Alaska is not socialism? Anyone?

How about I just lay it out for you? Easier, eh?
(Quel Suprise! Democrats loooove having everything given to them.)

It's called "Dividend Distribution".

The State of Alaska owns land. There is oil under this land.

The State of Alaska makes a business deal on behalf of the people of Alaska with an oil company to sell the oil.
The State of Alaska is paid on the people's behalf for the oil.
Part of the oil money goes to public works projects - schools, roads, etc.
These things benefit all the people of Alaska.
After the public works are paid for there is still money left.
This is called a surplus.
The surplus belongs to the people of the State of Alaska.
The State of Alaska pays it's people their share of the profit from selling the oil.
This is called a dividend distribution.

It's capitalism at its best.

Point 3 - Lazy bastards.

Seriously... Did you get that from some "How to counter Republican criticism" website or from a "talking points" memo from The One's campaign?

Although everyone kinda said "Just look at this" and didn't make any guarantees, you implied that it was an answer to my query.
(Another Democratic hallmark - Vagueness.)
Apparently you took this article at face-value and didn't do any fact checking or digging.

tsk tsk.

Does someone from the Urkel's staff come over and scroll your screen and move your mouse around for you too?



And if you want to be taken seriously, make sure that you at least quote something reasonably unbiased.
Your boy Hertzberg is so far in the tank for Urkel it is re-dicking-fuckulous. Read some of his other stuff.
It's a joke.
(We can debate this in another entry if you wish.)

Let's talk Socialism...

Let's look at the first step in the process- "Nationalization".
The process of taking an industry or asset in to public ownership of a national government...
One cause for nationalization is when a needed service or industry in critical to the operation of the country, and it is mismanaged (or is perceived as being so) to the point of bankruptcy; Typically the national government will step in and take over.
Airlines are often a case for this kind of nationalization- Quantas was nationalized back in 1947, Greece nationalized Olympic air back in 1972, and Air India was taken over in 1952.
Railroads are too... France has nationalized SCNF and RATP (Paris Subway). The US nationalized all railroads during WWII but restored previous status immediately thereafter.

Banks-
It started with the creation of Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddy Mac (FHLMC), and the now they are in the process of being nationalized.
Now the Wall Street bailout is underway which will entail more Govt involvement...
(Problems the Gummint created due to lack of oversight and poor management. Had the free market been allowed to take its course, the system would have shaken the problems out. Painfully so, probably, but business is business. Nut up, Wall Street scumbags.)

So now, if the The Messiah takes office, we'll have the Gummint step in and "fix" the health care system too, with Universal Health Care (Socialized Medicine)...
I went to a Doc-in-a-box this morning... I had a 12 minute wait in the waiting room and about a 5 minute wait in the exam room... I don't think I was there more than 30 minutes total...
I shudder to think what it will be like when the process is taken over and organized with the efficiency of, oh, say The Post Office? Or maybe the DMV?

So when things start getting screwed up, or when the Gummint thinks there is "good reason" for involvement...Can you foresee a time when some faction decides that Uncle Sam would be better at running the oil business?
They get tired of just regulating it; They want more control of when the refineries are running, how much is being charged for a gallon of unleaded... Let's just nationalize that baby.
(It's worked out so will in Russia with Gazprom and China's Sinopec.
Corruption is so rampant that it is a joke.)

And just imagine how well that will go in the US, considering the attention to detail and reliability of most Gummint employees.

What's next to be taken under the wing of His Oneness?
Power and Utilities? ConEd and that ilk?
Yep- another blackout like back in '03? Ok, we can run it better First Energy and ConEd.
I wonder how well that will work out?

What else...
Insurance?
Let a couple more Glowbull-Warmening hurricanes kick then snot out of us and we'll see the fallout in the form of the Gummint taking over the insurance system...
I can see the Telecommunications (Internet) industry getting absorbed so it can be "improved"...
And how about we follow out good friends in the UK and watch as the Uncle Sam takes over the airwaves (look at the BBC), so they can make sure we see all the video they think we should see...

It's a slippery slope, folks. Once it starts, it tumbles fast.
And to reverse the process (privatization) is painful and expensive process...

Now then...Onward, through the Fog...
Next time- Socialism: Urkel thinks he's Robin Hood.

Any constructive (and original) comments or concepts to share?

(I know individual thought is frowned upon by The One, but give it a chance. It's actually a pretty cool thing.)

TBG, taking my meds...

Now there is a surprise...

From our "Thanks, Captain Obvious" department...

Fuel costs are less than they were a year ago, but the fuel surcharges are the same.

Well. Who'da thunk it?

TBG, always amazed, never surprised.

Tick tock...tick tock...

Still waiting on someone, anyone to get back to me on why Barak Barry Hussein Soetoro Obama's plans for wealth distribution is not socialism.
I'm taking any reasoned, well-phrased response here...
I know you're out there... Don't make me start calling on people from the class.
The questions will just get harder.

And just to short circuit any half-assed copy & paste from the '08 Oh-Bama' playbook...
Don't be coming at me with the old "It wasn’t, because socialism calls for State ownership of the means of production, and The One has never advocated any such thing."

What a load of legalistic hair-splitting!

Wealth redistribution is the sine qua non of all socialist models—ownership of production is simply the means to that end—and whether The Messiah wants to get there by the Fed owning General Electric or by 90% tax rates is irrelevant.


Anytime someone talks about the government taking wealth from one group and redistributing said takings among another group who didn’t work for it, that person is a socialist.

Redistribution of wealth is what The One supports, that’s what he’s always supported, and that makes him a socialist.

TBG, Still waiting...

Shoplifting - You're doing it wrong...

We interrupt our regularly scheduled election year angst for this breaking news...

Fort Pierce woman accused of shoplifting, brandishing a ....

Jeebus! Only in Florida!

TBG, Ewww!

Hollow Rhetoric

Separated at birth, but not political ideology.

A crowd of 100,000 in Denver, 50,000 in St. Louis and 100,000 in Ft. Collins?

Break out the loaves and fishes...

From Obama's Memo to the First Democratic Church of Colorado:

Blessed are the underachievers for they shall enjoy redistributed wealth.
Blessed are the overmortgaged for they shall enjoy bailouts.
Blessed are the lazy for they shall enjoy welfare aplenty.
Blessed are the taxpayers for they shall support all.
Blessed are those cry for Change for they shall feast on food others purchased for them.
Blessed are those who bitch, moan, and groan for they shall be appointed a tort lawyer who will sue in their namesake.
Blessed are the denizens of Code Pink for they shall enjoy a Progressive World.
Blessed are they who allow Me to finish My waffles for they shall enjoy a small share of them, someday.
Blessed are they who retain My favor for thine that faileth to retain My favor must be thrown under the bus.
Blessed are they that runneth My teleprompter for they shall be the scribes of the New Order.
Blessed are the sick for they shall have free health care, paid for by other people's money.
Blessed are the peaceful for they shall cut and runneth in good liberal fashion.
Blessed is he who keeps My brother in Kenya in his hut. His dollar bill a month runneth over.
Blessed is he who believes in the UN for he shall receive justice from the Hague.

Obama's new Commandments:

1. Do nothing corrupt unless ye be able to pin it on the Right.

2. Do it if it feels good, then lie about it if questioned.

3. Raise not your hand to your enemy but rather, pander to him with flowery words and taxpayer funds.

4. Condemn America in the way of Mine Reverend Wright.

5. Let not ye make a mistake and get pregnant but if thine doest such a mistake, seek ye an abortion.

6. Choose ye not "An eye for an eye," unless ye call Bill Ayers first for instructions on bombmaking and terrorism.

7. Seek to collect more in taxes.

8. Do not covet thy neighbor's belongings but ye complain to thine local government office, The Chosen One will redistribute as is the Way.

9. Turn in thy guns for The Chosen One shall cover you with his Truth Teams.

10. Listen not to false gods but rather, lend an ear to High Obama father Pflager.


Jeebus... I remember seeing pictures of another charismatic demagogue...
Dortmund, 1933.



And remember pics Germans pushing wheelbarrows full of worthless Deutschmarks from a few years before? After the Weimar Republic...


Just remember the time line-
1. Economy gets destroyed by idiots, (all kinds, not just one party or the other)
2. Charismatic leader takes over
3. The Country (and the world) goes to hell in a handbasket shortly thereafter

Wake up, Sheeple.

He knows how to manipulate the voter system.
He doesn’t know how businesses work, how to increase employment or to grow the economy. He knows how to organize the masses and get them to believe that they deserve handouts.

No economy will grow on that foundation. It’s time to clean up the government and Obama is not the person who can do it.

IF (Ghod forbid, and I'm still not conceding the election to His Holiness yet...I still refuse to put much faith in polls) he actually gets elected, his followers will be extremely disappointed when the traffic doesn’t flow smoother, they still have to wait in line at the post office, hurricanes still pound the coast, gas prices will go up and they have to pay co-pays on their prescriptions.

Yes, He has promised perfection.

Universal health care?
No, The One will end all disease!
Raising employment and diminishing poverty?
No, The One will provide for all of our needs and desires, and we’ll never have to toil!

Stop drinking the Kool Aid...
He can’t part the waters and the papers will show their historic fickleness and turn on him when he doesn’t pull off the first miracle.
He’ll fall short on this and delivering on his other glowing visions of Utopia, of course.

Given his thin skin, his wife’s temper and the self-righteousness of his minions and pals, his term in office would be overwhelmed with scandal and disappointment.
But the papers will pull out every excuse, and make up any rationalization to cover for him. Their vanity would never allow them to admit that they were wrong, and that their Messiah would be causing/allowing harm for America.

And Hillary and Bill will laugh and laugh, and plan for the 2012 election.

Wanna have some fun? Whenever one of The Messiah’s sheep are bleating about all of the wonderful things he’ll do, ask them why he needs the mere Presidency to work his miracles.
He had his term in the Senate and did absolutely nothing.

His powers are so glorious, yet useless without the White House?

TBG, tired of the utter bullshit, smoke, mirrors and stupidity from the Left.

Watch Him Squirm

Slow Joe getting his ass handed to him...

A glimpse of things to come...
If you dare to ask hard questions, you get shunned.

So... Get ready to have *your* wealth spread around.

TBG, Get off your ASS and VOTE. I already did...

Here's a Shocker

- From the desk of Captain Obvious -

New York Times comes out for Obama

Who didn't see *that* coming?

TBG: Get off your ASSES and VOTE!

So very sure of yourself, are you?

“Construction is underway for a massive stage in Grant Park where Barack Obama could declare victory on election night.”

Isn’t there an old saying about counting chickens?

Oops… I forgot: standard financially responsible procedures and accountability standards don’t apply to Democrats.

TBG, ignoring the polls.

Out of Context

Knepper to BMitchell:

"You need to reconsider how much you're charging. You're doing Dingo and James, and now I want you to do me."

Yuk!

TBG, averting my eyes.

A Lesson on Taxing

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes,it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that’s what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. ‘Since you are all such good customers,’ he said, ‘I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.’ Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free.

But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100%savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

‘I only got a dollar out of the $20,’declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,’ but he got $10!’

‘Yeah, that’s right,’ exclaimed the fifth man. ‘I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I got’

‘That’s true!!’ shouted the seventh man. ‘Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!’

‘Wait a minute,’ yelled the first four men in unison. ‘We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!’

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works!!

The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

I'm thinking Honduras, myself.

Or maybe Nicaragua.

TBG, doing the math.

Perspective

The last few weeks of travel and events has not been the best...

Arguably, they may rank among the top 10 bad travel experiences I've
had in the last 13 years or so...

I've already articulated a few of the issues-

- A rather close encounter with Customs & Immigration in Canada

- A missed flight in Vermont that caused me to miss other flights

- Two nearly-broken knees on the flight to Stockholm

- A less-than-stellar performance in Sweden

- An insanity-inducing inner-ear infection contracted in Stockholm that resulted in a ruptured eardrum during my flight home

- Less-than-24 hour turnaround at home between Stockholm and Guangzhou

- A travel document problem that caused me a 3-day delay in Hong Kong

- The same mishap causing me undue scrutiny by the illustrious People's Republic and nearly a 5000rmb fine getting back into China

- The 3-day delay causing me to be 3 days behind schedule on my NBA project in China

- (That ear infection still going strong after a week of meds)

- Another less-than-wonderful performance in Gunagzhou

- A hectic post-game schedule trying to wrap our systems and make the charter flight between Gunazhou and Beijing (Part of which involved me schlepping a 70lb case full of computers almost 2km in order to find the airport transport.)

- A red-eye flight (1am to 4am) flight into Beijing

- Northwest airlines "misplacing" my 70lb case of systems needed for the Beijing leg of the Project

- Having to beg, borrow, wheedle and steal equipment to temporarily replace the missing systems

- Spending many hours cajoling said borrowed systems into accepting the NBA's GameStats software to keep the stats at the game in Beijing

- And yet another less-than-impressive performance in Beijing for the game on Saturday

- Midway through the game I was informed that the systems were found, still in Guangzhou, and wouldn't be able to be delivered to me in Beijing in time to get my Carnet counterfoil stamped- so I'm on the hook for $12,000 worth of equipment that the illustrious People's Republic customs officials think that I sold while I was in in Beijing...
So they will be looking for a bribe bond / fine in order to get my paperwork resolved

- And now another 15 hour flight from Beijing to Newark, a 3 hour layover in the Armpit of the Northeast, and a 2 hour flight to Jacksonville...

And you know what...
My life is actually good. Amazingly wonderful, actually.

Know why?

Perspective.

It just takes some perspective to make you realize that your life is actually pretty good.

In my case it started as a text message from The Woman Who Knows Most Things.
As I was working on my systems in Beijing I got a text that read "Call me if you can."
I logged into Skype and called home.
"What's up?"
"Marie Stevens called. Scott was killed on his motorcycle by a hit-and-run driver."

I've know Scott since I was in 7th grade.
I've known his wife Marie since 9th grade.
Their family was a picture of unity and contentment you rarely see these days.
We went to their wedding down in Arcadia years ago. Our 20 year class reunion was held at their house.

Scott was a dedicated family man; three sons, two daughters and a new granddaughter. He was admired and respected in his community and in his work as an emergency room nurse.

I was speechless.
"She left a number to call."
I called Marie and we spent several minutes talking about what happened.

Scott was on his way home on his motorcycle when a pickup crossed the center line and hit him head-on, killing him instantly.
The truck continued off the highway, through a fence and came to rest in a field; The driver took off cross-country.

In riding his motorcycle, Scott was the quintessential safe rider.
Always wore a helmet (including the night he was hit.)
Always wore his leather jacket.

The details I gathered from Marie and from reading several articles on the Internet painted a picture that hit several of my nerve endings...

The driver was illegal alien, driving under a suspended/revoked license, there was evidence that he might have been DUI, and the cowardly bastard didn't have the balls to accept responsibility for his actions, but only acted to save his own ass, and ran away from the scene.

He has since been arrested.

In his life and his work, Scott touched people's lives in a way that few people can. The stories and comments I have read from the articles in the local papers tell how well he was regarded. How he was respected among his peers.

In his job, he had tangible and far- reaching effects on peoples lives.
Helping sick, wounded and injured people; assisting in life-saving procedures.

In my job, I setup machines for collecting data; I move the data around, and move it to databases for storage.

Would that I had the kind of effect on people's lives that Scott had.
But let's face it... If the number of fouls on a box score of a basketball game is three instead of four, it won't shake the pillars of the Earth.
If the data hits the Internet in ten seconds instead of five, no one's life, health or family is at risk.

But back to perspective...

Woe is me... I'm stuck in Hong Kong.
Woe is me... My airplane seat is uncomfortable.
Woe is me... I don't like my hotel.
Woe is me... My luggage is late.

What a short-sighted self-important perspective.

I'm going home. I'll see my wife and daughter tonight.

There is a family in Arcadia that won't be seeing their father tonight. A wife will never see her husband again.

There is a person in the ER in a Bradenton Hospital that needs care and compassion... Someone else will have to give it to them.

The world is poorer today, not because I didn't get an upgrade on my flight...but because we lost someone who truly made a difference in this world.

Godspeed Scott... You will truly be missed.

TBG

Beijing, Again.

Proverbs 26:11

As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.

I think I've used this before...but it is so appropriate.
Especially the vomit-Beijing analogy. So apropos.

Back to the Big Eggroll, this time for a little BBall with my fellow miscreants from The League.

They got me a seat on the team (Golden State Warriors) charter after the game last night in Guangzhou.
The only problem was that the stats guys needed 30 minutes of time post-game to fix the screw-ups, then I needed to break down all my court-side equipment and get it to the shipping drop point and then get to the airport bus.
Much easier typed than accomplished.

By the time I got upstairs to the drop point the rest of the equipment was already gone.
There were 2 buses left, and one of them was pulling out as I got to the parking lot.
I went to the last bus and it was the absolute last bus for the airport, and they were closing the door as I walked up.
I banged on the door and got them to open back up and let me get my equipment case loaded...
I was sweating like a Christian Scientist with an appendicitis by the time I sat down... We took off from the Guangzhou Arena at 11:45pm...
The airport was a relatively painless exercise since it was a charter.
We were in a NWA 777... I got a look at my boarding pass...
Seat 62c. 62C...Row 62? That's outside the back door of the plane!

Basically I was in the back of the plane with broadcast guys and the Dance Teams and Fan Patrol. And since we all left the arena without too much time for luxuries like, say, showers...
the fan patrol was sweaty and stinky just like me. I did, however have the seat next to me empty. So it was a marginal victory.
On my original flight on China Southern I was going to be on a full flight...
(One designed with the Chinese anthropomorphic in mind.)

We were wheels-up at 1:30 am, and at the gate in Beijing at 4:45.
No C&I, and no baggage claim either... they were delivering our luggage to the hotel in the morning.

We walked out to the buses and were in the road tout de suite and at the Hotel (the Westin) in record time.

My luggage did make it to the hotel... I got it around 10 this morning.
(Another little victory. Yay!)
The scoring equipment, not so much, yet.
(For every victory, a matching defeat.)
Fortunately, it is not lonely. All of LP&E's court side stuff is in the same boat...
Or truck, van or level of hell that my systems are in.

We'll see how it all works out.

I feel the need to leave you with a moment of Zen...


A caption?
Yeah... I got nothin'.

TBG, doin' it again...

Guangzhou

Fail.

No...stronger term.

Epic... Epic fail!

No... I hate that term.

Historic. Historic fail.

Close... But still not strong enough.

Mythic.

Ooooh. I like it.

Mythic Fail.

Yeah.
That about sums it up.

TBG-Sofa King tired & pissed.