Long time no blog

Okay, so I haven't blogged in a while. I have my reasons but I'm not sharing them. So there.

Foreign Policy

The days of the US taking a single-minded approach to foreign policy is past. I'm not convinced it was ever a good idea but regardless, its an idea whose time has come and gone. I'm not a fan of President Obama and did not vote for him, so let me just say that right out of the gate. He is doing everything he said he'd do in his campaign and that is to change the face of the US government. I disagree with the direction he's taking but that's why I didn't vote for him. I'm not going to get into his domestic policies in this particular rant: there's enough fodder there for quite a few posts/rants. This particular post is in regards to his rather disastrous thus far foreign policy.

It is popular among certain groups of intelligentsia to malign the United States or previous administrations and that's fine for them to do as private citizens. No nation is perfect and we have plenty of skeletons in our closet, however I do not want to see my President, the leader of the United States going into other countries and apologizing for the previous administration. That's airing dirty laundry that doesn't need to be aired and it's taking a pot-shot at someone who is no longer a threat to your own policies. It has no place on the international stage. If a Democrat wants to stand up in Congress and say they hate all Republicans, fine - I'll applaud their honesty if nothing else. But to have the sitting President go in front of the leaders of other nations and basically say "hey that guy I replaced was an idiot and I'm sorry you had to deal with him" isn't being politically savvy. Its not a way to get other leaders on our side. It doesn't buy political points with anyone. All it does is make it look like you cannot get past the previous administration and are more interested in pointing fingers than getting results. If behind closed doors you say it in the course of negotiations, that's fine. Stating it in a speech is amateurish and childish.

When is someone going to do something positive with South America? Here's a quick catch-up to those who haven't been paying any attention to our fellow Americans south of the isthmus. Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez is more than just a petty dictator who hates America and will malign the United States to anyone willing to listen: he has dreams of turning South America into one unified government under his despotic rule.

He came to power in Venezuela after failing in a coup to take over the nation in 1992. He then went to visit his friend and colleague in Cuba, Fidel Castro and came back with a number of Cubans loyal to him. They became citizens of Venezuela and through the use of the Bolivarian Circles voted him into office in 1998 mostly by strong-arming those who weren't going to vote for him, much like ACORN does here in the United States, only more successfully. The same tactics have been used in his "re-elections" that good ole' Jimmy Carter "certified".

The official story however is that he worked hard after being released from prison to earn the trust of the public. He created the Fifth Republic Movement on the ideas of basically dismantling then recreating a new republic. He claimed that the constitution at the time preserved the two parties in control of Venezuela. Basically he took "hope and change" to an extreme and used community organizations organized by people from Cuba get himself into the top spot.

Once in office, his Bolivarian Circles became his grassroots organization: they found his political opponents who he then suppressed and denied services to. They intimidated the politically ambiguous into voting for him and act as a sort of Hitler Youth for his administration. He started making overtures to other governments and created the Union of South American Nations which he rightfully thinks will be the first step to creating a single continent-wide country. He has also been working with FARC to undermine the governments in other South American nations that are not on good terms with him. His allies in Ecuador and Brazil are particularly stringent in their support of their fellow socialist/communist. At one point, Venezuela and Ecuador had their military units stationed along Columbia's border as a threat.

But wait! you say - isn't Columbia pretty much owned and run by the Drug Cartels? Not really, not anymore. Presidente Alvaro Uribe of Columbia has been rather successful in driving them out or lowering their influence, so much so that much of Mexico's problems stem from the fact that Columbia is no longer a safe haven for them run by a puppet government. Columbia is perhaps our staunchest ally south of the border at this point.

So why should we care?

Draw the connections. Venezuela has ties directly and through Cuba to Russia and China and therefore to North Korea. As a member of OPEC, Venezuela also has ties to Iran, Lybia and Saudi Arabia and therefore to Hamas. Hugo Chavez has been very vocal in his support of FARC and has 'demanded' that the US and the UN Human Rights Council removes them off their Terrorist Watch lists. Venezuela also undermines the United States' foreign policy at every opportunity at one point even calling the sitting President of the US the Devil himself.

Good thing President Obama apologized to the world then, isn't it? Never mind that the alliance is forming right under our very noses of a global network of terrorist supporters. Never mind that the very act of apologizing places you in a position of weakness. Never mind that because of the still tunnel-vision aspect of foreign policy North Korea, who has nukes and missiles to put them on, has been relegated to be dealt with by Russia and China who are both supporters of North Korea.

Our enemies are circling and forming alliances. They are approaching foreign policy with a global view and unless and until we do the same and assume a position of strength, we will continue to set ourselves up for failure. If we're lucky in another fifty years, historians will be wondering if President Obama turned a blind eye to what was happening so that we'd have an excuse to enter World War III just like our historians wonder the same about President Truman and World War II.

3rd Shift Woes

I work 3rd shift now and I have worked 3rd shift at previous places of employment. One thing I've noticed during that time is that having a 24/7 operation requires much more effort on the part of management. Otherwise, there will be things that 1st shift knows that 2nd and 3rd don't and stuff that 1st and 2nd know that 3rd doesn't. I believe - and I am now in a management position - that keeping everyone properly informed is a function of management.

To me it doesn't matter what you do, who you do it for or where you do it, your job is to make your boss look good. Their job is to make sure you have everything you need to make them look good. That's it. How you go about making your boss look good depends on your job and situation but that's it. If everyone followed this 'work philosophy' then work would be much easier to deal with.

Then again if everyone just did their own jobs that would help too.

I'm in a rather bad mood and I don't really know why.

It's Official!

I hate this administration. When I say "this" I really mean "both the state and the federal administrations that are conspiring to make me bankrupt". They've conspired between the two of them to seize an additional 3.7% of my income. I've lost a noticeable chunk of my take-home pay thanks to these two morons.

That's right - morons. I'm flat out stating it: Deval Patrick and Barak Obama are fiscal morons. JFK that Democrat pipe-dream once said that it is an irony of the economy that lowering taxes increases the state income yet these two have imagined that doing the opposite will increase it even more. Because of that I've lost what is equivalent to my car loan payment to the feds and the state.

Please, someone explain to me how this can possibly help the economy by taking more money out of the people who drive the economy: the paying public? Think of it this way: if you want people to spend more money, should you take money away from them? How will that encourage us to spend money? How will seizing a car company or two as well as controlling the banks help? The last guy that did that when he got in power was considerably shorter and had a goofy moustache. But wait! President Obama is going to make Chrystler and GM make cars that are more eco-friendly and efficient! That'll make people more likely to buy them!

That other guy had a similar idea: he made a government controlled car company make a new division that would sell cars for the common people of his economically devastated nation. They called it the Folks' Car a.k.a. Volkwagon.

Yes, I am comparing the socialist nationalist policies of our President with the socialist nationalist policies of Hitler. Are you going to report me to the American Youth Council? Will you shut me down with the Fairness Doctrine?

Anyone who votes for anyone who is currently in office - regardless of what party - is an idiot. They're all in on it. Every last one and I don't care which parenthetical letter follows their name. They're all guilty of selling out the American Dream and the Constitution they're supposed to defend from all enemies foreign and domestic.

I'm not unhappy - I'm getting pissed off.

We need a return to the Constitution. We've swung far enough to the left it's time to swing back to the right. Enough Progressive nonsense: its time for some Conservative nonsense! They've gone too far. I've been holding my tongue. I really have. With all the international policy disasters, the poorly thought out economic policies, the frankly devastating response to the current financial crisis (which is not truly improving in spite of what the talking heads on the propaganda channels say), the aspirations to nationalize healthcare and all hospitals as well as the frighteningly inept approach to North Korea I think I'm ready to say that in my not very humble opinion that the Obama Administration is a failure that does not deserve a second term. The banks have not started loaning money. Until that happens the economy is not on the recovery trail. I don't care what the stock market says.

Today is a weird day

So David Carradine died by apparent suicide while filming a movie in Bangkok.  President Obama gave a speech in the Middle East and I almost liked it.

Today is a weird day.

More sketches

More sketches ....

AAAAHHHHH!!!

Ever have one of those days where no matter what you do you can't seem to get things done right?  It feels like I've had one of those sort of years.  I need a break - a night out with my beautiful bride should work.  I hope so.  My other ways of blowing steam haven't been working and I really really really need to blow off some steam.

Work stuff is terribly frustrating.  There are things I need to do yet the universe seems stacked against me.  I feel like I'm dragging an elephant uphill by the tail and it's struggling against me.

*sigh*

Calgon take me away!!