Private wealth under attack again

I was perusing my favorite blogs this morning and found an interesting topic over at Althouse: Hey, everybody! Let's raze Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Memphis. (http://althouse.blogspot. com/2009/06/hey-everybody-lets-raze-detroit.html).

Just how far will this government go to destroy the idea of private wealth?

I have no problem with any individual willingly selling their property to the government for any purpose. It’s the taking of that property that gives me chills.

Its bad enough when private property has to be taken for a public purpose, like a road. Lets face it, it is not feasible to route a road around a specific piece of property, so the idea of eminent domain is not completely crazy.

But for a school? Does a school really need to be in a specific spot? Will a mile or so in any direction really make a difference? I doubt it.

What about a sports stadium? Sure their city owned, but then leased back to a private enterprise (the Packers excepted) and unavailable for most public use, like a city park would be, and the entity they are leased to makes a profit on the space.

What about a shopping mall or a factory? Again, who put the government in charge of what constitutes the best use of a piece of ground? How can they decide that a car plant is a better use of a piece of ground than my farm is, and then take my land against my will to give it to another entity?

It was the urban renewal of the ‘60s that really started all of this crap, and nobody fought it then, as it had a good purpose. We HAD to take these slums away from the owners and let the government make the decisions on how to use the ground.

First they came for the Slumlords
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Slumlord.

Then they came for the Neighborhoods
and I did not speak out
because I was not in those neighborhoods.

Then they came for the farms
and I did not speak out because
I was not a farmer.

Then they came for the businesses
and I did not speak out
because I was not a small businessman.

What if the Feds decide that a family of 6 who lives in the ghetto in two rooms is actually entitled to your 4 bedroom home, because it’s just you and the spouse?

Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.


Kelo may have been a start, but we have a long way to go. The fight needs to start now.

Cousin Throckmorton checks in again

Dear Cousin Red,

Y’all may not believe this (Hell, I barely believe it myself, an’ I’m the one that done done it), but I got me one of them computer things. I got it up at the Wal-Mart and had one of the youn’uns hook it up.

Have y’all got one them things?

Hellfire I ain’t never seen the like. I did a search on a thing they call GOOGLE for Wal-mart, and the first thing I find is an article from some magazine called Forbes. I misread it the first time an’ thought it said Fords an’ I thunk that if Ford is a goin’ to sell cars through Wal-mart, them other two that the government owns ain’t gonna have a chance.

But I was wrong. This Forbes magazine (http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/0608/024-opinions-retail-health-on-my-mind.html) said Wal-mart a-comin’ to town meant folks would get thinner, because Wal-Mart makes salad cheaper than potato chips. That maybe, but try grabbin’ a handful of salad while y’all is drinking beer and watchin’ NASCAR. It just ain’t right I tell; it just ain’t right.

All I got to say is this guy ain’t as smart as he thinks he is. If’n he thinks it’s the cheap salad that is makin’ folks at Walmart thinner, he ain’t never spent a Saturday lookin’ through a Super Walmart, trying to find an Alan Jackson CD, a quart of oil for the John Deere, a 6 pack a’ beer and some .30-06 ammo for the deer rifle.

It ain’t cheap salad; it’s the 40 miles a’ walkin’ y’all have to do while your inside!

Well Cousin, I guess that’s about it. I hope to hear back from you as soon as y’all is able.

Best wishes from all of us in the Holler,

Throckmorton Q. Sheisseschnitter

D-Day; The 6th of June

Yesterday was June 6th; the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings.


I did what I always do on June 6th. I watched ‘The Longest Day’.


I don’t know if there is a more accurate movie about D-Day (‘Saving Private Ryan’ doesn’t count- D-Day is a part of the movie, not a focus), but then, I haven’t seen them all. I do know you’re not going to find a more entertaining one.


I am a history buff, and one of the problems I have with the way history is taught is the initial focus (like when your in 2nd grade) on Who, What, When, Where. The Joe Friday approach; Just the facts ma’am. And memorize them; you WILL be tested.


And then everybody wonders why by 5th grade the kids hate history.


Not that the facts aren’t important, and some dates SHOULD be carved into your memory (July 4th, 1776; April 8th, 1865; December 7th, 1941; June 6th, 1944 and September 11th, 2001 for examples), but it is the bare rote style that kills an interest in history just when a lifelong interest could be nurtured.


Which is why every year I watch ‘The Longest Day’, and when they were younger, encouraged my kids to watch it with me. Some years they did, some years they didn’t.


And sometimes I catch them watching it without me.

The mail has brought another letter from my Cousin

Dear Cousin Red,

I was up in the big city t’other day and saw some of the funniest ads on the TV in the bar… I mean place I was in. As usu’l I am a bit cornfused and reckon you can straighten me out.

I kept seein’ ads for all kinds of things to save work around the house. Which ain’t bad. I’m all for workin’ only as hard as I need ta.

But why do the same folks who spend 5 grand on a machine to cut grass that they can ride, so they don’t have to walk though the yard, then go and spend another thousand dollars on a machine they can walk on in their livin’ room?

I ain’t figured that out yet Cousin.

If’n these folks would start chasin’ that lawnmower ‘round the yard twice a week, they could quit paying money to work up a sweat.

That’s another thin’ I just can’t get my head ‘round. Why does a feller pay somebody so hey can work up a sweat?

I’m here to tell ya; if I’m sweatin’, and money is changin’ hands, I sure as there’s foam on beer ain’t gonna be a’spendin’ it. I’m gonna be earnin’ it.

Well Cousin, I guess that’s about it. I hope to hear back from you as soon as y’all is able.

Best wishes from all of us in the Holler,

Throckmorton Q. Sheisseschnitter

Age Appropriate Television

Okay, so last weekend I watched a couple of shows a man of my age shouldn’t have.

And no, I’m not talking about SpongeBob Squarepants and Penguins of Madagascar (those are only with the granddaughter; I pinky swear). I watched the lumberjack competition and the Strongest Man contest on ESPN. You ought to have to verify you are under 30 before you can watch something like that.

I spend a half hour watching a group of guys throw around 4 and 5 hundred pounds like its nothing and then go cut the yard- with a pushmower, like I am a he-man too. Well, I ain’t. Anymore.

Toby Keith has a great song and video, As Good As I Once Was (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9f-lXqUZ18) that I think has become the anthem of the seasoned gentleman, like me. Old enough to know better, still young enough not to care. Until the next morning.

The Computer in My Pocket

I will admit to probably being the only person in the world who consistently wears a pocket watch and carries an iphone.

I like the pocket watch; it was a gift from my Granddaughter, and it has a small picture of her inside.

I like the iphone too, although I won’t say it often; especially around my kids.

For years I carried an old Nokia. Greyscale screen, no pictures, no music, one or two crappy games, but it did what a phone is supposed to do- it MADE PHONE CALLS!!!

Then my kids started getting phones. They had all the toys on ‘em. And I would always comment- when they failed to call home or report in at the specified time- ‘Nice device. Can it MAKE A PHONE CALL!?!?!?’

And now I have an iphone, and it drives them crazy. I carry some of my favorite music around, take pictures of things I find interesting and have downloaded a few apps I think are neat. If I can’t remember some archaic factoid, I can Google it.

There are a couple of faults, and they are basically issues because this is an Apple product. Why can’t I get the Adobe Flashplayer? Why no verbal turn by turn directions? I mean, this thing can track me as I move around my backyard, for craps sake, why can’t it merge the directions and the GPS?!?!?

But, as they say, ‘There’s an App for that’. Yeah, for twenty bucks.

Okay, they do have some cool apps. I like the level. Yeah, like a real (and fairly accurate) level. I got the free one. I ain’t ready to cough up 2 or 3 bucks for the whole app.

Plus I got a couple of books in a kindle like app, but reading anything on this small screen is like trying to read a newspaper through a keyhole. A short story is fine, but War and Peace would probably drive me insane.

I also have an app that basically turns my phone into a transistor radio. For those of you too young to understand that concept a transistor radio was the first radio small enough to fit in your pocket. As long as you had a big pocket.

My son and I took a road trip the other day and we were running through the wilds of West Virginia, listening to a radio station from Atlanta, on the car stereo, through my phone.

That still blows my mind. I guess that means I’m old.

Oh, and I use it to make phone calls.

My eldest thought he would throw me a curve the other day by sending me a text. I blew his mind and sent him one back.

But I don’t twitter. I’m a little too verbose for that.

Another Letter From my Cousin

Dear Cousin Red,

I am a little worried ‘bout sumthin’ an’ I hope y’all can help me figur’ this out.

I hear tell that we have a new robot President. I am kinda glad we have a new President. I warn’t too fond of the old one. I mean hellfire, we ain’t had a real President since Reagan, and before him tha last real President we had was Jeff Davis.



Sorry ‘bout the break there. Talkin’ ‘bout Jeff Davis reminded me I had ta bring in the flag. Where was I? Oh yeah- the new robot President. What I want to know is this here. Can a robot be President? I mean hellfire, we start putting machinery in the White House I’d rather have John Deere in there than that Obama feller.

Look at it this way. All that Obama feller has done is take what I make. An’ so far I ain’t seen much of it back. My ol’ John Deere takes from me too, but at last I get a lil’ sumthin’ for what it takes. My A Model takes sum gas an’ oil an’ water and gives we a fair days work. That’s all anybody can ask fer- a fair days work for a fair days pay.

It looks like Obama wants to take my gas an’ oil, tax my water an’ leave me hopin’ for sum change back. (I heared that somewhere an’ have been dying for a place to use it for a week a’ Sundays.) An’ I don’t see nuthin’ fair ‘bout that.

Do y’all figur’ this robot President is gonna be differ-rent, or do y’all figur’ he’ll be ‘bout the same? Y’all know the one thing you can count on is the President puts his pants on one leg at a time, just like plain folks. But can this new President even put on his own pants, or does he need help? I hear tell he needs help with his speechafyin’, so maybe he needs help with his pants too. It wouldn’t be anew thing, now would it? I ‘member that that Clinton feller always needed help with his pants too -sum way or ‘nuther.

I mean, I watch tha robots on TV all the time and tha new ones can do sum purty neat things. But none of them ones on TV wear pants- y’all know what I mean? The one thing a man can count on is that his President has a lil’ sumthin’ in common with folks. Like my John Deere- we both love getting’ out in the spring and feelin’ the dirt in our hands. At least, I think my ol’ Deere loves doin’ it. I ain’t never heared him complain none.

Well Cousin, I guess that’s about it. I hope to hear back from you as soon as y’all is able.

Best wishes from all of us in the Holler,

Throckmorton Q. Sheisseschnitter

Why does this not make sense to me?

I just have to ask. Why are GM and Chrysler cutting dealerships?

It seeems to this Redneck that the fewer outlets I have, the less available my product is, and the less I can effectively sell.

I mean, for cryin' out load; will I sell more widgets if Wal mart distributes them or Kmart?

Where has all the money gone?

Something I have been thinking about for awhile now that I just have to get off my chest.

I read a few years ago that war was a way countries burned off excess production. The context was the Great Depression, and the world-wide cause was an excess of production capability.

We have had a similar problem the last 30 year in this country, probably since the Carter Malaise in the ‘70s, but instead of using the excess capability to make things just to blow them up (except for the Gulf Wars), we have hired that excess work onto the government.

As usual I can’t find the link I want when I need it, but I heard a few years ago that in the ‘60’s one person in 10 worked for the government at some level (municipal through Federal levels) and now that number is up to 1 in 4. Part of the problem is the expansion of women into the workforce (think about the last time you contacted a government office and had a man answer), part is the complete shutdown of manufacturing, and part is a credit market that demands everybody have the latest everything, forcing more couples to become two income households so they can have the plasma TV and the Bahaman vacation.

The trouble is that somebody has to pay all of these wages. A short term expansion of government payrolls to work through a crisis is one thing- think FDR- but we cannot continue to borrow the pay the bill for 30 years like we have done.

There is only one entity in the world that can borrow money without proof it can pay it back- our Federal government. Most states have balanced budget amendments, requiring all levels of government to avoid or restrict their debt. But how any of those same entities have a portion of their budgets paid by Uncle Sam? Not just the State, county and city budgets, but also the schools.

Finding stats for this thesis has been tough. I would love to support my thoughts with facts. Just try to find them. The Bureau of Labor should have the breakdown readily available, but I can’t find it. I did see where in 2006 over 19 million people worked for the government, but there is no breakdown of what they consider as a government worker. Do teachers count? What about civilian DOD employees? Cops and firefighters?

I have gotten bit off my point, but here it is. For the last thirty years governments of the world have spent money on employees instead of war. In some ways I’m grateful, but what is the end game. I can see a temporary increase during an economic downturn, but 30 years? When does a temporary fix become a way of life?

And more importantly- how do we end it now, without another complete worldwide economic crash? We need to wean people off the govern payrolls, but how?

Should I waste this weather?

The weather has been so perfect lately that I have been spending less and less time at the computer, unless I’m working.

Tonight I am supposed to be working, but took a minute’s break to play a little. I feel guilty for it too. The whole reason I’m not out in the yard is because I had real work to do, and here I am playing on blogs instead of getting some work done.

Oh well; I’ll get over it.

I don’t mind missing a good day this time of year; I know we have 3 or 4 months of them coming on behind. What I hate is missing a day like this in October, when the next time we may get a good day is 3-4 months away.

Screw it; I’m turning off the box and heading out to play in the yard for an hour or so. I do have a few tomato plants I could transplant; and the grass could use another cutting…

As Popeye Says

As Popeye always says-“I’ve had all I can stands and I cain’t stands no more”!

How much longer will we be tortured by the Swine Flu?

This in not even an epidemic, much less a pandemic. What do we have? 400-500 cases? In a country of 350 MILLION?

I’m not enough of a mathematician to give you the odds against getting Swine Flu (yeah I know it’s now House 1; Bettors 0 Flue or some such crap officially, but I knew the Flu back in the day; it will always be good ol’ Swine Flu to me), but a rough guess would be about 1,000,000 to 1 against getting it, and 350,000,000 to 1 against dying from it.

That doesn’t seem like a big risk to me. What are my odds of dying from ANYTHING in the next year? Apparently your friendly neighborhood Federal Government wants to know as well. They compiled a chart and published it on the internets back when the illiterate GW Bush was in the White House. The new guy apparently thinks you don’t need that information.

But I did find the chart on another blog – if I knew how to do all the fancy stuff I’d do it: (http://politicalcalculations.blogspot.com/2008/03/odds-of-dying-in-us.html).

One thing that struck me was the idea that I only have a 23 to1 chance of dying in my lifetime from anything?!?!?!?! WTF!?!?!? Does that mean I’m only going to die AFTER I’m DEAD?

And what about all of those “unintentional” things? Does that mean people actually get bitten by Hornets INTENTIONALLY?

This may not be a complete list; I don’t see the flu on here at all, and a normal flu bug kills 30,000 people a year in this country. Swine Flu? MAYBE (and that’s a BIG MAYBE) – Drum Roll Please--- 2.

I’m done with this garbage. Drop the Swine Flu Hype already.

Okay, today I am cheesed off

Why am I upset? Last night I heard something that reminded me how bad off we are.

I usually listen to Mark Levin while drifting off at night. He usually has quite a bit to say that I find useful.

Last night he was replaying a speech of Ronald Reagan’s from around 1964. (http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/ronaldreaganatimeforchoosing.htm)

My God, where are the orators today? First the subject of the speech was spot on, both in 1964 and in 2009, second his delivery was absolutely mesmerizing.

Obama a speech maker? Obama couldn’t have spoke in the same room for a year after Reagan was done. I can’t think of a current Republican who could have had the same effect, even with the same speech.

Gov. Palin may have come close, but Reagan’s speech was tempered with the experience and fire of conversion, much like St. Paul’s, that a life long practitioner can’t match.

Much like the Israelites, who needed a Moses to guide them out of the wilderness, we Conservatives need our own Moses.

It ain’t McCain. It ain’t McConnell (that pork barrel traitor). Who do we have on the national stage that can light the small government fire in the belly of the electorate the way Reagan did 30 years ago?

Man I wish I knew. I might even send them money.