Say Anything Blog

It seems our new President hasn’t realized the race is over and he won. I mean, why can’t he spend one week in Washington? I understand his need to introduce himself to other world leaders. But he seems to keep on campaigning. Town hall meetings somewhere in the U.S. to push health care reform and support for the stimulus package just seem to keeping him hopping all over the place. He doesn’t even have all his Cabinet positions filled. Mr President, stay home and take care of business in Washington like we are paying you to do. And please give us a break from the constant banter about health care reform. It is complicated. So let’s go slow on this one. And I must admit, I am getting bored with seeing your face on TV every night and day. Give the nation a break. Please. Get your team together first. Then strike out on the many agendas you have. You promised change. It looks like the same-old/same-old to me. PS: Do we really need all the czars you have created?

So, the President, officer Crowley and Bob Gates, Jr are planning on having a little beerfest to discuss the incident that happened over 2 weeks ago, that the media can’t seem to get enough of. This is just plain dumb. I mean, what is this meeting supposed to accomplish? And do you think anything really productive will come of this? First of all, if I were Crowley I would not attend. Gates, unless he has cooled down and come to his senses, seems bent on teaching a white man about race. So you can bet he will have some choice words for Crowley. The President is there because he let his loyalty to his friend, Mr Gates, overrule any impartiality and caused him to stick his foot in his mouth. Will this help race relations in this country? I doubt it. If you dingbats haven’t “gotten it” by now, you never will. Whatever happens, I am sure
it will be fodder for the media on Friday, if not late Thursday night. Gates acted like an asshole, pure and simple. But I doubt if you will ever get him to admit it. You see, he is one of those black people who see racism around every corner. This blinds him to the reality of life. I hope Mr Obama is as good a referee as he is a speaker.

Yes. That is right. I believe it is time to get out of Afghanistan. Do you remember why we went there in the first place. To hunt down and kill Osama Bin Laden and his cohorts in Al-Quaida and
the Taliban in revenge for the 9/11 attacks. Next thing you know we are talking about nation-building. Make life better for the natives so they would not fall sway to the terrorists. In the past 8 years we have not made a dent in the terrorist operations. Numerous innocent civilians have been killed. Hundreds of Americans and allied soldiers have died, also. Now we are talking about sending another 22,000 troops to support the 57,000 already there. People in the U.S., Britain and even Canada are questioning the wisdom of continuing in this endeavor. In this time of economic hardships around the world, people are reexamining their priorities. I think we should, too. Short of flattening the mountains with nuclear weapons we cannot win or bring a truce to end this war. You would think that we had learned our lessons in VietNam, Lebanon and Iraq. But no. We want revenge and Osama must pay. Poppycock. Over 3,000
people died in the attacks of 9/11. How many have died in our so-called “War On Terror”? As one wise man once said it makes no sense causing such chaos just to find one man (Osama). We cannot force the Afghan government and people to adopt to our way of life. We have had our troops fighting somewhere in the world for over 20 years now and we have not had one victory. It is time to end this foolishness. There is no shame in admitting that you can not achieve your goal. A true leader knows when to quit. We are in the midst of the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. What the hell are we fighting this stupid war for? Revenge is not the right answer.

I admire President Obama for his attitude of letting go of the misdeeds of the past administration. No good will come of an investigation of Gitmo or any other policies enacted by George and company. We are in a freefall economically and our precious financial resources can be better spent elsewhere other than on a senate panel playing gotcha. This is the mark of a man who has his priorities in the right place.

I am really impressed by the way Barry and the U.S. military handled the pirate situation. I thought for a while there it was Jimmy Carter all over again. I am very proud to be an American!

Today, 11 Apr 09, I heard on the news that a U.S.
warship, which was sent to shadow the lifeboat carrying Somali pirates, quickly retreated after it (the warship) had gotten too close to the dingy and the pirates fired shots at it. This is totally UNACCEPTABLE! I, like many other Americans, would like to see the captain come out of this alive and safe. However, I think a line has been crossed here which we as a nation cannot tolerate. We are a strong capable nation with armed forces capable of defeating any nation on earth. Why the heck would our Commander In Chief have us act like jackals. If a small group of pirates do not fear us, who will? The negotiations are over. We should demand the quick and unconditional release of the captain immediately with a warning that we will use whatever force is necessary to affect that release. If it doesn’t happen, we should take swift offensive action to let the pirates (and the world)know that America is not to be fucked with. The captain may perish in the action. However, I feel that American prestige is more important than one man’s life. Many in our military have given their lives in service to our country. I do not mean to sound heartless. However, this strikes me deep in my soul. Jimmy Carter was a bumbling idealist who unnecessarily left Americans in harms way in Iran. Bill Clinton went into Somalia to show the world that we cared about Africa and left with his tail between his legs. If Barry fails this test, nothing else he does will matter.

A lone Canadian citizen crossed the northern border into U.S. airspace and flew all the way to Missouri where he hitched a ride to a diner and waited for the police to arrive. Why did this happen? The pilot did not communicate with U.S. air traffic control, flew willy-nilly all over the place for 6 hours and avoided flares that were fired at it by F-16’s that were scrambled to intercept it. My question is this. Why wasn’t this plane shot down? The actions of the pilot amounted to a possible hostile threat reminiscent of terrorists. We have spent millions, no billions, beefing up the northern border in anticipation of a possible incursion by terrorists.We even have an imperialistic “No Fly” list to prevent suspected terrorists flying through Americn airspace on passenger jets. Yet, when it happens we do nothing.
The steps we have in place were ignored. I have heard that early on someone decided that the pilot was not a threat. I wonder how that decision was made. Supposedly, the pilot was depressed and wanted to be shot down. We should have obliged him. Supposedly, he had immigrated to Canada from Turkey, changed his name to one which sounded more American and left a suicide note. If I was a terrorist, that is exactly what I would do. Maybe if his name was Abdullah, he would have been seen as a definite threat. Remember Oklahoma City? So, my friends, terrorists are now assured that nothing has changed. The entities charged with keeping us safe are doing the same as they did before 9/11.
Maybe this was a probe to test us. If it was we failed. Somebody needs to explain to the American people why the system failed.

I’m not quite sure what the response to this should be, but it definitely needs to be more than the strongly-worded response Obama has issued thus far.  I don’t think a military response is necessarily out of the equation.  Not an invasion, mind you, but the destruction of some key North Korean military installations would certainly be important at this juncture.

Question is: Does Obama have the nerve to do it?  My guess is no, and that was undoubtedly North Korea’s guess as well.  Else they wouldn’t have fired off this missile test.

(more...)

Between now and June, the Fargodome will be hosts to Sugarland, Billy Joel & Elton John and Kenny Chesney. All big money draws. What does the Alerus bring to Grand Forks? Nothing. Ask a manager at Alerus and we get the same lame excuse. Yet they cheated the city out of over $800,000.00. I say let’s throw the bums out!

On Tuesday, 10 Mar 2009, we were hit by a blizzard. I love blizzards. They bring out the true idiots of the great north. In near zero visibility,idiots drive with their lights turned off. Idiots are not smart enough to know that even though they have x-ray vision, noone can see them through the blowing smow. Idiots just love to say “fuck you” to authority and venture out against just plain common sense. They end up in snow drifts, blocking roadways or getting a good case of frostbite. But they are too stupid to learn. This is fun. Got something to brag to the buds about. Idiot feels a sense of belonging because all his friends are idiots like him. Idiot school administers refuse to close schools until the conditions get so bad that sending children home would put them in mortal danger. Same idiot school administrators obviously believe the everyone owns a snow plow because the following morning schools open and buses run 1 to 2 hours late. Idiot doesn’t consider that you may be drifted in and will take you quite a while to get out. Hell. This state has laws and you can only miss so many school days. That’s right. Can’t break the law. Idiots been living and driving in this country longer than I have and they are still stupid. NoDaks. Idiots of the great north.

There is no place for wild animals in people’s homes. All states should enact laws to prohibit the ownership of wild animals in the interest of public safety. I am not concerned about the idiots who think they just have to have a wild animal. I am talking about the innocent people who become victims of these “pets” when their natural instincts kick in. Wake up, America!

As far as the mom who had octuplets is concerned, I have an idea about how to pay for their delivery and future care. The clinic and hospital should absorb the cost of prenatal, delivery and post-natal care. An injunction should be leveled against the clinic to cover the cost of child support for all eight babies until they are 18 yrs old. I’m surprised a quick witted DA or legislator hasn’t thought of this.

As usual, the media has made the situation with Burris a “racial” issue. Even though I think the way this thing was handled by the Dems suck, where did the race issue come from? Then the first face you see on TV is THE REVEREND AL SHARPTON. Getting a photo op and giving his slant on things. Next up will be THE REVEREND JESSE JACKSON. Then come the usual talking heads who seem to be EXPERTS on everything RACIAL. Give me a break.

Officials ordered nine Muslim passengers, including three young children, off an AirTran flight headed to Orlando from Reagan National Airport yesterday afternoon after two other passengers overheard what they thought was a suspicious remark.

Members of the party, all but one of them U.S.-born citizens who were headed to a religious retreat in Florida, were subsequently cleared for travel by FBI agents who characterized the incident as a misunderstanding, an airport official said. But the passengers said AirTran refused to rebook them, and they had to pay for seats on another carrier secured with help from the FBI.

Kashif Irfan, one of the removed passengers, said the incident began about 1 p.m. after his brother, Atif, and his brother’s wife wondered aloud about the safest place to sit on an airplane.

Irfan said he and the others think they were profiled because of their appearance. He said five of the six adults in the party are of South Asian descent, and all six are traditionally Muslim in appearance, with the men wearing beards and the women in headscarves. Irfan, 34, is an anesthesiologist. His brother, 29, is a lawyer. Both live in Alexandria with their families, and both were born in Detroit. They were traveling with their wives, Kashif Irfan’s sister-in-law, a friend and Kashif Irfan’s three sons, ages 7, 4 and 2.

AirTran spokesman Tad Hutcheson agreed that the incident amounted to a misunderstanding. But he defended AirTran’s handling of the incident, which he said strictly followed federal rules. And he denied any wrongdoing on the airline’s part.

Hutcheson confirmed that it was ultimately the pilot’s decision to postpone the flight. But he said the pilot was influenced not only by the complaints from passengers but by the actions of two federal air marshals on board, who had learned of the incident and reported it to airport police.

As a result of that report, federal officials made the decision to order all 104 passengers from the plane and re-screen them and their luggage before allowing the flight to take off for Orlando—two hours late and without the nine passengers.

Ellen Howe, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration, said the pilot acted appropriately.
Howe added that the TSA’s involvement was limited to conducting a security sweep of the plane after the passengers were removed. Airport police officers’ only involvement was to hold the passengers in custody until the FBI arrived.
AirTran is not likely to reimburse the passengers for the additional cost of their replacement tickets on USAirways. They were given a full refund for their AirTran fares and may fly on the carrier now that the investigation is complete.The detained assengers said that is not likely.

“It was an ordeal,” said Abdur Razack Aziz, the family friend who was also detained. “Nothing came out of it. It was paranoid people. It was very sad.”

(more...)

I must admit ignorance on this subject. I must ask: In the cases where CEO’s and others are found guilty of fraud (Such aa a Ponzi scheme) what happens to the assets held by the defendant?
Are they seized to pay back investors who have been jilted out of their money? Or do the investors have to take them to court in order to recover their losses?