No one ever told me

Okay people, if you never read another word I write, please pay attention to this.

Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are heading for economic collapse, and they will take America along for the ride.

That isn't meant to unduly scare you or sensationalize a situation, it is not a Republican fact or a Democrat fact, it is just a fact.

If you are thinking, so what; if they go broke the government will bail them out just like they did the banks, you don't understand the fundamental problem. Think of the current 700 billion bailout as a one time infusion of cash to get the economy back on its feet. The problem with the looming entitlement crisis is a long term one. These programs are growing so fast, as the boomer generation comes into its retirement years that Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will soon outspend their revenues. They will need more money and the government will have to cut spending on other programs or raise taxes to keep up with the costs. Not just once, but each year they will have to cut something or raise taxes, every year. After a decade, there will be nothing left to cut and no one left to tax.

At first it will only be a billion here and a billion there, but if you are in your late 30's or 40's, by the time you retire, the current tax rates across the board will have to be doubled to keep up with the spending for these programs.

Think of it as your household budget. If you have an adjustable rate loan payment that increases every year, with this increased burden you either cut your spending on other things, or get a second job, and then a third job to increase your income. This certainly not the time to buy a new Lexus or take the kids on vacation to Hawaii. The time to act is not when you have have maxed out all your credit cards to keep living in manner that got you into the mess, the time to act is a soon as you see crisis coming. That time is now.

President elect Obama has a golden opportunity to act now, to lead, to show that sometimes you have to endure a little pain in the short term to avert a long term crisis that threatens our very viability as a nation. Will the Democrats walk the walk? They have certainly talked a great deal about fixing Social Security. I am not optimistic. I see Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid rubbing their hands together figuring out new entitlement programs to spend even more of our tax money on. Oh you can be sure they will raise taxes, but they will spend every penny and then spend even more. That is what they do, that is who they are.

The greatest danger in acquiring power is the fact you are accountable. You cannot stand on the sidelines and point fingers, you have to lead. No more blaming Bush and the Republicans, although they will for a year or two. In 2010 this will be Obama's economy, a Democrat economy. They will have been in charge of Congress for 4 years and have held the White House for 2. They will not be able to hide behind 'W' any longer.

So who will finally take on the AARP, the Labor Unions, the Defense industry and every other lobbying interest that feeds at the government trough? I am waiting for a new breed of Republican to step forward. A Republican with the courage to tell America the Federal government is not Santa Clause. That government is too big and controls too much of our lives. A Republican who is not afraid to tell us that we need to get back to fiscal conservatism. I really like a young Republican I saw on election night, Paul Ryan. I would love to see a young Republican like Ryan lead the GOP back its principles.

We need to cut spending on everything. Nothing is sacred. If the old guard Republicans complain about cutting certain Pentagon projects in their districts, let them. When the Democrats howl over cutting back on social programs and putting the bloated government bureaucracies on a diet, let them. We need to get our financial house in order now, we will need to have a game plan in place when the boomers hit the system will full force. We will need a track record of setting priorities and cutting waste when the boomers get in their 80s and head into long term, full-time care. Getting an SSI check is one thing, getting an SSI check and sending the taxpayers the bill for the nursing home is quite another. These bills will simply overwhelm us.

When the entitlement crisis 'sneaks up' on America in a few years, people will say, no one ever told me. Well folks, I just did.

P.S. - Barack Obama has been President elect for three days now and I have yet to find a Unicorn in my garage. What's the deal?

Obama wins! Ah, the cheering crowd, the tears of joy...

And that is just in the MSNBC newsroom.

It gets good about 1:50 into it.


Claiming the MSM isn't biased toward democrats is just laughable.

Yolo County Cattlemen and Wool Growers Association dinner - dance is Saturday

If live in rural Yolo County or you support the county's agricultural community you should be a member. We would love to have a few more gift certificates and raffle prizes for Saturday night. As President, I have shamelessly asked dozens of businesses to donate this year and have been very surprised by their support. This year's raffle will be outstanding, but I am still asking for more donations.

I am making a pair of spur straps this year, I will even customize them with you initials or brand if you win. Tickets are limited so send me an email asap if you want to join us for Rib Eye steaks, a great raffle and live music Saturday November 8th at the Zamora community hall.

President of the United States, Barack Obama

Barack Obama is my President. It will take me a little while to get used to the idea. My wife on the other hand, I'm not sure she ever will. I think she still has her 'Romney 08' button on.

I remember back in February, when McCain secured the nomination, I tried to find the light at the end of the McCain tunnel. Alas, it never materialized. Matt Rexroad was a McCain backer from the start. Try as I might, I could not see how this ends in anything other than a McButt-whoopin'.

I looks like McCain is our guy now. I am not close to being as short sighted as the far, far right wing of conservatives who will never vote for McCain, because given the choice between Senators Clinton and Obama, McCain is far and away a better choice for Republicans, and Americans for that matter.

PS, hope for McCain/Clinton and not McCain/Obama.

Grumpy old patriot vs. Grumpy slick politician is a fair fight.
Grumpy old patriot vs. Young dynamic dreamer is a landslide for the Democrats.

Well, the Grumpy old patriot just got his back porch painted red by the Young dynamic dreamer.
I hate to say I told you so, but I just did.

If I were still a drinking man, I would have three fingers of Crown Royal in a glass right now contemplating how to rebuild our party. I am skipping the booze, but I will take a few weeks to digest the election results and I will start working towards the 201o election. No robo-calls, no slick mailers, no yard signs, no high priced campaign gurus, just this, just this one thing.

What, you may ask is 'this one thing'?
Like Curly from City Slickers said, you have to figure that out for yourself....

The next four years

As I sit down to write this, the night of November 3rd, I am filled with competing emotions. Part of me is exited about Election Day. Could Senator McCain pull off an upset? Could a Republican presidential nominee in the midst of an economic slowdown, with an unpopular President, an unpopular war, with the worst managed campaign in a decade, overcome these challenges to win?

The other part of me is filled with trepidation. If Senator Obama wins, is America ready for the next four years with Democrats in charge of the House, the Senate and 1600 Pennsylvania Ave?

Whoever is elected, the next President will face challenges both at home and in a dangerous, yet dynamic world. A world that does not play by our rules. A world looking to see if America is the same nation who defeated German National Socialism, Japanese Imperialism and Soviet Communism, or has it turned into an isolationist nation, set on retreating behind its borders and allowing the worst of world's dictators and terrorist regimes a free hand to gather power and territory? The next four years will tell.

They will look to see if America turns away from its role as the driving force behind the world's economy and imposes protectionist tariffs. They will demand we handcuff our economy with carbon restrictions and offsets, all the while building coal-fired power plants to the tune of one a week. Will America turn down this path towards economic restriction and handicap our ability to compete in the world market? The next four years will tell.

Both Republicans and Democrats will look to the government, some will have sky high expectations of what the government will do for them, others will hope they won't screw things up any worse than they are. I fall into the latter group.

Most of the conservatives I know have no illusions about John McCain and his policies. We know Senator McCain and we know that while he was our only real choice in this election, we would all be mildly surprised if in four years we gave him a glowing review. We also know the limitations of government.

The Obama supporters on the other hand are 'all in'. They have pushed all their chips into the middle of the table and bet everything on a politician. They are so emotionally invested in Obama as the person who will make their world right and more important to them, make it fair, the reality will fall far short of their expectations. If Obama wins, no matter how effective his Presidency is, they will find with all the glowing speeches and the promises Senator Obama has made, he is just a politician and the government is still the government, no matter who is in charge.

No matter who the next President is, broken promises and government failures will be the best lessons we can learn in the next four years. The government is a blunt tool, to believe it will make your life appreciably better is to disregard every personal experience you have had dealing with it. Don't expect the same government that runs the DMV and the IRS to overnight become your fairy god mother. The next lesson we should learn is government is not in the business of making everyone equal. Some people show up to work early, stay late, work hard, continually learn and make good decisions; others watch Dancing with the Stars and buy things they don't need, with money they don't have, to impress people they don't like. No government program will fix this.

As you read this, we will know who will be the 44th President of the United States; at least I hope we will know. Obama or McCain, Democrats and Republicans, Blue states and Red states, we are all in this together. We will get through it. Our founding fathers had it right, four years is just long enough to change the nation in the direction of its leadership, and not long enough to do any irreparable damage.

Country First: Vote McCain Palin

Guest post by Mark Pruner, YoloGOP Chairman.

Whatever our political stripes may be, we can all agree that the next president will face more than a few difficult choices and challenging circumstances. Rightly so, both here at home and around the world this election and our choice for president are the subject of intense interest and lively discussion.

What is it about Republican candidates and the Republican Party that is so appealing?
History. The Republican Party formed on July 6, 1854 to oppose the evil of slavery. The Democrats took the opposite view. During the Civil War, under the leadership of Abraham Lincoln, the Republicans passed the 13th Amendment (outlawing slavery), the 14th Amendment (guaranteeing equal protection under the laws), and the 15th Amendment (securing voting rights for African Americans). Freedom was the theme.

When it came time to stand up for securing the right of women to vote, the Republican Party was the first major party to endorse women’s suffrage. Republicans, controlling Congress, passed the 19th Amendment. Members of the Democratic Party fueled the opposition. In 1917 Jeanette Rankin of Montana was the first woman elected to the Congress. Freedom was still the theme.
Through the corridors of time down to today the Republican Party remains the stalwart champion of freedom and individual rights, limited government and the unwavering belief that the individual, not the government, is best suited to make decisions about family and family income. We are boldly confident about California's future and hold dearly all that is good about California's people.

The Republican Party believes government’s role is to empower every person to reach his or her full potential. The Democratic Party believes that government has a much larger role in making decisions for people and their families – telling them what to do, even if it means limitation of personal liberties.

John McCain and Sarah Palin. It makes sense then that John McCain and Sarah Palin stand for individual freedoms and will not back down when it comes to protecting America from her enemies.

Foreign Affairs. The radicals dedicated to killing Americans are committed because we stand for freedom and in opposition to their desire to force individuals and nations to believe as they do. Mr. Obama’s clear inexperience in representing America’s interests abroad was summed up when he flatly stated he would meet with heads of state opposed to us, thereby elevating their stature, without precondition. Although he later “clarified” his position to add he would be prepared for such a meeting, he never withdrew his declared willingness to strengthen our opponents by meeting them without precondition.

The War. Senator McCain and Governor Palin stand by the mission of our troops: fight terrorism and support freedom abroad. Standing against terrorists overseas reduces the risk of attack at home. Who of us on September 12, 2001 really thought we would not suffer another attack. We have been kept safe at home by strength and vigilance. On the other hand Mr. Obama, during the primary, adamantly stated America should retreat on a fixed 16-month timetable. After the primaries were over the Democratic nominee talked of being flexible. Now, Mr. Obama states “we’ve got to look at” ending the war. He appears ready to say what he thinks needs to be said to win an election. This kind of waffling confuses our allies and gives strength to our enemies.

The Economy. It is no over simplification to say that a McCain Palin administration will grow the economy by giving all Americans the tools and opportunity to reach their dreams. When the economy grows we all do well. Senators Obama and Biden give us a completely different perspective: they want to redistribute the wealth – imposing their value judgments on who “should” and who “should not” own a piece of the American Dream. The Democratic plan might work in a soviet-style economy, but not here. The trouble is, economic vitality does not occur when you just reshuffle money. A mature economic perspective understands that actually growing the economy, not taking from some to hand out to others, is what has made American an economic success.

Health Care. Senator McCain and Governor Palin stand committed to a Guaranteed Access Plan for health care, forged from the best of what actually works. The proposals of Senator Obama borrow from the old-time tool kit of government programs. Rather than allow American ingenuity and energy to deliver reliable health care, Senators Obama and Biden want to take us back to high cost and low delivery outcomes. Please take a look at the detailed analysis of a major nonpartisan study by the Lewin Group (Lewin.com). Under the McCain Palin plan only 12.6% of American families would experience an increase in family health costs. Quite the opposite is true under the Obama Biden plan where 29.0% of families would experience increased health costs. More dramatically, the point is driven home for families making less than $20,000 in income: under McCain Palin 7.5% of these families would experience higher family health costs. Under Obama Biden 24.0% of the poorest families would pay more for their health costs. These facts explode the myth that the Democrats look after the interests of the poor. The opposite is true.

Tax Cuts. A lot has been said about tax cuts. We know that more money consistently in the hands of wage earners creates good jobs. We know that good jobs grow the economy and lift everyone up. The Obama Biden tax plan starts with a shifting definition of who is rich and should be taxed more: first $250,000, then $200,000, then most recently according to Senator Biden $150,000. The Democrats call one-time rebates tax relief. Senator McCain looks at the long term: holding the line at the tax rates, allowing people to plan and create good jobs through spending their own money.

Conclusion. Throughout its history as the leader in the cry for freedom, the Republican Party and its candidates have consistently stood for individual liberty and limited government. A president who forces upon us his personal idea of who should have and who should not have would do injury to us all. I urge you to vote for Republicans this Tuesday, November 4th.

The Poles are an independant people with a.......oh the polls.

Poll watching is an interesting phenomenon. Kind of like the commercial on TV says, 90% of statistics can be made to say anything, 50% of the time.

Daily tracking polls, Rasmussen, Zogby, AP, Gallop, IBD/TIPP, there must be dozens of polling organizations out there all wanting to be the one that nails the election results down to the tenth of a percent come Wednesday. Will any of them get close? Who knows.

John Zogby nailed the 2000 election. On the day before the 2004 election he predicted an electoral college landslide for Kerry, woops. If you want to figure out who is going to be the next president, there are a few polls you really need to be watching. Battleground states. National polls and daily tracking polls are almost meaningless, almost. Zogby's daily tracking poll showed today McCain leading 48% - 48%.

A double digit swing in a week either shows a real move of undecideds one direction or a flawed sampling methodology. I am not sure, but like I say, we will know Wednesday.

I check Real Clear Politics everyday to get my polling fix. I watch the battleground state polls and take an average. Sure, most polls are over-polling democrats by 8 - 13%, thinking more democrats will turnout to vote than republicans by those margins, and that may be why Obama's supporters might wake up on Wednesday thinking the evil republicans stole another election.

Remember the Kerry/Lieberman exit polls in 2004? The Democrats and the media, like there is a difference, went absolutely bananas when Kerry did not win. He was polling so well, the exit polls showed a landslide, what happened?

Will the pollsters over sample democrats hoping to discourage republican turnout? Will the young vote turnout this time in convincing numbers? Will there be a Bradley effect? Will the LA Times release the video tape of Obama and Rashid Khalidi ? Will the Cowboys get to the Superbowl?

Stay tuned.

Oh and for the dumb ass who threw a planter through the window of the Yolo County republican headquarters downtown; very mature. I only hope the Woodland PD will get the finger prints off the planter. I don't want any jail time, I just want the names published.

Message to the McCain campaign; let Palin be Palin

Free Palin!

Oliver Stone - bomb maker extraordinaire

When I first saw the trailer for 'W', the new Oliver Stone film, I thought, oh great another political hatchet job by the left's second favorite movie director. I happened to watch this week's episode of 'At the movies' with the two knuckle heads who took over for Siskel and Ebert. Both were fawning over 'W' saying what an important film it was and how everyone should see it.

Maybe Stone should stick to what he does best, remaking the 60s until he gets it right. So how you may ask did 'W' do in its opening weekend?

El floppo.

Here are the movies that make more money that 'W' this weekend, even with the sponge bath given to it by the press.

1. High School Musical 3: Senior Year
It looks as though I was on it. This confirms my theory that there are only so many tween girls in the world. You can't scale up on a finite number.
Result: 42.0 million

2. Saw 5
They'll be very happy with the fourth straight $30m opening for the Saw franchise. And with the weak competition next weekend it won't drop off too badly.
Result: 30.5 million

3. Max Payne
Hey, where is Edward Norton? As it turns out my Max Payne prediction wasn't severe enough - it dropped 57% as every poor bastard who was hoping for the best saw it... and then told a friend not to. On the Max Payne commercials they don't even have a quote. Not from Hammond or Edwards or Lyons. They couldn't get one schill to help them out! Sad.
Result: 7.6 million

4. Beverly Hills Chihuahua
This film is going to hit $100m worldwide. That means we're getting a sequel. Just so we're all prepared for the horror.
Result: 6.9 million

5. Pride and Glory
The only real disaster of the weekend involves Edward Norton... but you have to hand it to the general public. Fool them once with We Own the Night, shame on them. Fool them twice with Pride and Glory? Nope.
Result: 6.3 million

6. The Secret Life of Bees
Will The Oracle begin going five for the bottom five? Yes we can!
Result: 5.9 million

7. W.
The budget was $25m, and it's only made around $19m. Not good news for anyone else trying to get financing for a "sitting president balanced satire" film.
Result: 5.3 million

Dude, you were beaten by talking Chihuahuas.
Nice.

Attention Esparto, Madison and the Capay Valley

When was the last time you went to church?

Easter? Christmas? A few years ago at a wedding or funeral service?

If you live around the Esparto area and you have been wanting to go to church but something always comes up, or you forgot, or you don't think you will know anyone there, or you think someone will hand you a live snake, or you think the roof will fall in when you step inside, or if you are just curious and want to know more about this Jesus people talk about, this Sunday is the perfect day for you.

'Fill the pews' weekend is here. Countryside Community Church in Esparto is trying to reach out to it's neighbors and invite friends, family, co-workers, and anyone else who may need a spiritual lift, to attend this Sunday's service.

Our traveling worship team will be there with guitars tuned up, ready to sing contemporary upbeat worship music for the service. The kids will have a great time, the music will be rockin' and the message will hit home.



See you there.
10:00 AM
Sunday the 26th of October
26479 Grafton St, Esparto

My name is Walt, and I am Joe.

Iowahawk has a great idea.

Everyone in the media seems to be wetting their pants about an average Joe who dared to ask the chosen one why he wants to raise taxes on small business owners. The East coast media elites are giving a Joe Wurzelbacher a high definition proctorial exam of the first order. He's isn't a real plumber, he doesn't have a license, he owes back taxes, his name isn't even Joe.

I was talking to my friends at work and they were even jumping on Joe. He doesn't have license, he isn't even a real plumber. So I asked them, if you worked five to ten years for a plumbing firm and you were a foreman or a lead man, would you call yourself a plumber? If you worked for an electrical contractor for five to ten years, would you call yourself an electrician? No answer.

I work in the telecommunications field as a field technician. I have ten years experience and while I have recently let my State Contractor's license become inactive, I have held a C-7 for almost five years. A license hanging on my wall did not make me a 'real technician' or a better technician, it just said I could work for myself.

The New York, Washington DC Metroliner crowd does not know how to handle a real person, so they attack what they don't understand. However, they better be careful, people know real when they see it and they know a partisan media attack when they see it. An army of Joes may just show up at the polls come November 4th if the media keeps piling on Joes like me.

Don't blame me, I voted for McCain

( Thanks for stopping by, a thousand hits on this post today, so what do we do now? Read this )

I am ordering my bumper stickers today. Why? I have seen this movie before; it doesn't have a happy ending.

Folks in their twenties and thirties, who get their news from the Daily Show, only see Republicans as war mongering buffoons. To them, Democrats are all warm and fuzzy. They need to experience the pain of a Congress and executive branch controlled by liberal Democrats. Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barack Obama will have total control and no one to say; are you sure this will work. As much as I hate to see the country go through it, the best lessons are learned first hand.

For all you college kids supporting Obama because he 'gets it', best of luck trying to find a good job when you graduate. Oh sure, the media will go along with Obama the first two years or so, explaining the reason Obama's economy isn't living up to his promises are the lingering affects of George W Bush. In the third year, young Americans will start saying, this is not what I signed up for.

For all the Boomers who had forgotten Jimmy Carter's disastrous economic policies, the lessons of why you don't raise taxes during an economic slowdown will become painfully obvious. In the third year, older Americans will start saying, this is not what I signed up for.

For everyone in their prime earning ages of 40-55, guess who will have to 'pay their fair share' to 'spread the wealth around’. You guessed it. I remember President Clinton promising a middle-class tax cut when he ran, once in office, he was 'shocked' how bad the economy was and those middle class tax cuts were abandoned. In the third year, middle-class Americans will start saying, this is not what I signed up for.

Take a peek at Europe if you want to see where Pelosi, Reid and Obama want to lead us. After a few decades of ‘spreading the wealth around’ through feel-good socialism, France, and Germany have elected conservative leadership, with Great Brittan soon to follow. These new conservatives have an almost impossible task in front of them, to wean the public off their total reliance on government to function.

Americans seem to be enamored with the power and promise of government to fix everything. Every time you hear Obama say, “we have to invest” (in education, health care, whatever) just substitute “we are going to hire a bunch more government employees who are not very effective at anything to try and fix this.” Not very inspiring when you think of it in those terms is it?

I admit openly the current crop calling themselves Republicans have forgotten why the people sent them to Washington in the first place, stop spending money like Democrats and stand up for the little guy. However, the Democrats who have been control of Congress for past two years are an unmitigated disaster.

Well folks, I am not signing up for four year of Pelosi, Reid and Obama.

I am Shocked, Shocked that Obama gave $800,000 to ACORN

The best voter fraud money can buy. I would like to know the ratio of Democrat to Republican voter registrations ACORN turned in with the federal money it receives? 25 to 1, 50 to 1?

From CNN no less, I wonder if the Daily Show will run this story into the ground?
C'mon Jon, you are an objective journalist, right?

The Daily Democrat endorses Obama; a rebuttal

Seize the moment: Elect Obama as our next president.

Let us breakdown the reasoning given for the Democrat's endorsement of the junior Senator from Illinois shall we?

Point one; " Through blind faith in deregulated markets, our leaders have undermined the nation's economic stability while recklessly creating a national debt of $10 trillion.....Economics is not McCain's strong suit, as he has acknowledged and lately proven. The nation needs a president willing to curb derivatives (and a vice president who knows what they are). Given a voting record supporting deregulation, McCain would not change course. "

Look folks, this is not hard to figure out. As I made the case in a piece I wrote a few weeks ago, the root cause of the economic trouble is the collapse of the housing market. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were the major players in the rise of 'sub prime' loans leading to the crash. Who were the cheerleaders of Fannie and Freddie? The Democratic party was the driving force behind the expansion of these entities and Democrats worked hard to kill regulation co-sponsored by McCain to regulate Fannie and Freddie. Its a fact, look it up. These Democrats were paid back nicely for their support. Chris Dodd, and the chosen one, Barack Obama were the top two recipients of Fannie and Freddie's campaign money, you do the math.

Point two; "In the Senate, he has served on the Foreign Relations Committee.

How nice, he has served on the Foreign Relations Committee. The Democrat left out the part about Obama being the chairman of the sub committee for European affairs. They have oversight of NATO, whose forces are fighting in Afghanistan, he has not held any meetings in his own committee. He has been busy running for President ever since he came to Washington, no time for committees.

Point three; "Obama grew up in a multiracial household and came of age in a different generation from McCain. He has an intuitive understanding of a rapidly changing, interconnected world. McCain's world view was shaped by the Cold War and Vietnam. That is why Obama has been right, and McCain wrong, on national security issues such as opposing the Iraq war and now advocating a timed withdrawal.

So let me get this straight, if you are over 50, you are wrong and out of touch? If you grew up in a traditional family, you are wrong and out of touch? Maybe if Obama were a little older he would remember the Jimmy Carter years as many Baby Boomers do. They do not remember them fondly. Obama shares the same economic philosophy as Carter. Take from the rich, give to the poor, and grow the government, with disastrous results.

As for the war, Obama is against the war. Not surprising the most liberal Senator is anti war, right? I notice The Democrat neglects to mention Obama opposed 'The Surge' at every step and only begrudgingly has admitted its success. Obama did not care about victory in Iraq, he wanted US troops out as soon as possible regardless of the outcome. He can talk about his 16-month time line all he wants, he was talking about it two years ago. Bringing the troops home in defeat is what the Obama's time line would have produced.

I will end with this; "Obama will rebuild the economy by investing in the right priorities: green technology, scientific research, education and health care."

Green technology, scientific research and health care? Where is Obama going to find the money to implement all his new programs? When Democrats talk about 'investing' they are talking about taxing you and giving it to someone else. Just wait until Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have a like-minded friend in the White House, you will see spending that makes the last 8 years look like fiscal conservatism.

The government does not grow the economy, Carter tried it back in the seventies, anyone remember double digit unemployment and 19% interest rates on mortgages? Obama is not going to rebuild anything, he is going to redistribute wealth, that's who he is.

Here is the kicker, I am not wild about John McCain either, but I just can't live through the next four years without telling you what the Democrat wont.

Seize the moment? You had better seize your wallet before Obama does.

Fleet Week

Have you ever been to Fleet Week in San Francisco? If you have not, get you behind down to the City this weekend.

A few years ago, my son and I stood on the Golden Gate Bridge and watched the USS Abraham Lincoln sail right under us. In the middle of the bay she launched two F-18 Hornets off the deck. It was impressive to say the least. The Blue Angels put on a free air show and yes, the water does come up behind them when they make a low level pass.



Two words for you; totally cool.

I am not a Heavy Metal Farmer, but I couldn't find a Heavy Metal Rancher on YouTube

I am not sure if I am setting a bad example to my son, or if its just I am a sad, pathetic old geezer who still likes to crank up the music to 11, but I am taking my son and his friend to see Metallica in December.



If I had a video camera I could make the Heavy Metal rancher version of this......

On second thought it would be better to everyone involved if I don't.

This is going to hurt.

One of the things I have learned in my life is the term 'fair' has no real meaning. I have tried to remove the word fair from my vocabulary because of its arbitrary nature. What seems fair to me, may not seem fair to you and so on. You may have great case that a situation is not fair, but that does not change reality, and reality is what we must deal with.

Every time I speak with people about the current financial crisis the issue of fairness always comes up. It's not fair that the people on Wall Street receive a bail out while I lost my house. It's not fair that my credit rating will suffer for years because of one mistake. It's not fair that CEOs made millions in bonuses when their companies were going belly up. It's not fair, it's just not fair.

I hear you, and I agree with you that these things are not fair, however that does not change the factual situation that you and I, along with the rest of the nation, are going to have to deal with.

For some in the tech industry, myself included, we have already been through a crisis in the late 90's. When the DotCom bubble burst ten years ago, people who were making millions in stock options as well as those of us who were making a good living in the tech infrastructure business went from the penthouse to the outhouse in less than two years. One day I walked into my office and found my position had been eliminated with no warning. I had just closed escrow on our new house that week and had just purchased a new car the day before. That was a bad day.

Many people in the tech industry had to scramble to find a job, any job, at any pay, just to keep the lights on. It took three years for me to find a stable job and I am still making about half of what I earned during the DotCom boom. Fair? Not really, but it's my reality and one that I have tried my best to work through.

My point is this, as the economy struggles to get its legs back under it, you may have to struggle right along with it for a time. Take a hard look at your personal economic situation and you may find by making a few adjustments you can ride this out with little sacrifice. If you are in a industry that has been severely impacted by the housing bubble bursting, you may have to do something else to make a living for a while. No, it's not fair, but the sooner you decide to act, the better.

Most people in Yolo County will feel the impact of this economic downturn in some way. Most will get through it by adjusting their spending and saving habits, but there will be many families whose lives will be turned upside down in the near future. If you are one of those families, I am, and I will be praying for you.

I hope you will reach out to your friends, your family and your church when you need support. This is a great community filled with caring people, I hope you reach out to them as I did, when my world fell apart.

Obama, our dear leader.

The first time I saw this I thought, okay its just a bunch liberal parents setting their children up for a lifetime of disappointment. The people who make their kids sing songs about how the junior Senator from Illinois is going to change the world are doing their children harm. Please spare me the argument that these small children really understand what they are singing about, they don't. I would make the same argument if I saw a video production of third graders singing the praises of John McCain.



If you want to raise up the next generation of bitterly cynical people, you are off to a great start. I have a question to all you Obama supporters, especially those who have been 'inspired to change the world'. How will you feel if Barack Obama wins and he doesn't change the world, or my fear, that his policies change things for the worse? Will you believe the media and the Obama apologists when they say Republicans and the rich kept Obama from implementing his great visions of change? Will you become disillusioned by politics like many of the liberals who came of age in the late sixties?

If you are honest with yourself, in the end you will finally acknowledge that you were naive and were swept up in emotion and didn't really do any homework on Obama's astounding lack of accomplishments or executive experience? How has Barack Obama changed Chicago? Is Chicago a much better place to live and raise a family thanks to Barack Obama? If not, than why would you believe he is going to make the world better? Seriously, why?

I hear from young people all the time that they want to 'change the world'. I would like to point out that Hitler and Pol Pot changed the world in a real and meaningful way. Changing the world is something your social studies or history teacher tells you to do, not a job description. So for all of you out there who want to 'change the world' or 'make the world a better place' or some other bumper sticker slogan, here is a nickel's worth of free advice. Change your world first.

Starting with the person in the mirror. Make yourself the best person you can be. Give freely. Give of your time, your effort and your money, even if its just your allowance, a servant's heart is crucial to becoming a better you. Learn. Turn off Dancing with the Stars and start reading. History and the classics first and then learn about what inspires you.

Once you find a volunteer organization, charity or ministry at your church you believe in, get involved. I don't mean joining the Sierra Club or World Wildlife Fund and stop there, these groups have no affect on your day to day life, even if they tell you otherwise. If you are not overwhelmed at that point and want to so more, change you community. PTA, after-school programs, help wherever your time and talent do the most good.

Still not tired? Great, lead and teach others. Become a mentor, find someone who has the character, drive and mindset to do what you have done and train them to replace you. That will free you up so you can make a greater impact on your community. This process can go on until your last breath. If you find at the end of all that effort, that you only changed your local after school program, congratulations you did great. I mean it. If the only thing you really changed was yourself, as a person and as a citizen of this great nation, congratulations you did great also.

Very few people change the word for the better. Scientists, and medical researchers can unlock keys to curing disease or finding the next fuel to replace oil, but don't overlook people like Mother Teresa or Billy Graham. The people who start out to change one person's life can affect millions of others in the end. People who start out to change the world are almost certain to fail.

OJ Simpson gets a second chance.

A second chance to look for the 'real killers'. This time, he may have a bit more luck.

What are the odds of finding the real killers on golf courses in Florida? Orenthal James Simpson will have a far better chance of finding the killer of his ex wife in prison, and that is where he is headed.

OJ, here is a hint, whenever you walk past a mirror, take a long look in there, you may be surprised where the real killers could be hiding.

An expensive lesson in social engineering

How expensive? Well, it looked as though the bill would start with the 700 billion Congress planned to borrow to help the financial markets stabilize. Now, who knows what will happen? The 'rescue plan' or 'bailout plan' depending on who was selling the idea, would have infused the markets with cash to add liquidity, so banks will start loaning to borrowers and each other again. The 700 billion dollar would have taken decades to pay off. I am not optimistic about these assets gaining value and turning from red ink to black anytime soon, if ever.

What ever action the government takes, it will be too late for those who have already lost their homes to foreclosure. Some borrowers who had good credit may have bitten off more home than they could afford, but the root cause of this crisis is political. Many people with questionable credit or no credit, saw their friends and neighbors buying and selling homes during the last ten years, and they wanted in on the action. With the backing of Democratic politicians along with a handful of Republicans, they were offered a seat at the table, with disastrous consequences.

The Community Reinvestment Act first passed by the Carter administration, was changed dramatically in 1995 under President Clinton. To help low income residents buy homes, the banks were requiring to lend to them or face penalties. Think of it as affirmative action for banks, you either loan money to sub-prime borrowers or the feds will come down on you. Many of these loans were funneled through liberal 'community organizations' like ACORN. With the banks making so many loans to people who could not qualify for them traditionally, an influx of buyers who had no business being in the market for homes drove prices through the roof. Enter Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, ran by former Clinton officials Franklin Raines and Jamie Gorelick, they bought billions of dollars of these sub-prime loans from investment houses like Bear Sterns. The investment houses packaged the risky loans into mortgage-backed securities and sold them to other financial brokers along with Fannie and Freddie. Franklin Raines and Jamie Gorelick also made millions in bonuses while cooking the books.

With willing buyers taking this 'bad paper' off their books, banks started to really get 'creative' with their sub prime mortgages by offering teaser rates, variable rate loans and interest-only loans. Once looked upon as very risky loans, they were offered to buyers as a way to buy a home they could not afford. Some of these loans were NINJA loans, No Income - No Job- no Assets, just write down your income and we won't even check. With home values rising every year, the banks and the borrowers hoped it would only be matter of time before the value of the house caught up with the loan-to-value of the mortgage and they could refinance to a 30 year fixed. That was the plan, and as I always say, 'hope is not a plan'.

With all the new buyers in the market, builders went into overdrive, building suburbs with an endless sea of rooftops. Everyone was making money and no one stopped to ask if the annual double digit increases in home prices was a good thing. Like a hot dice roller at the craps table in Vegas, everyone was betting on the come. When all the money was on the pass line, the dice came up 7. All these variable rate and interest only loans started to mature and with a huge supply of newly built homes on the market, home prices started to level off and then started to fall. Buyers who could not refinance their loans saw their mortgage payments shoot up while the value of their homes dropped just as fast. The snowball grew larger and gained speed as foreclosed homes added to the supply and prices plunged.
Crash.

The politicians are blaming Wall Street, but they were warned about the coming crisis in 2004 by then Fed Chair, Alan Greenspan. The democrats denied there were any problems with Fannie and Freddie's mismanagement and quietly killed a banking reform bill in the Senate. Congress caused this crisis by changing the lending rules banks had followed for centuries. The lending rules of ten to twenty percent down payment and proof of income are there for a reason. In an effort to 'be fair' and make the American dream 'available for everyone' the politicians manipulated the free market, creating a false economy. When told they were heading for a cliff, they did nothing.

Government does few things well, I would be happy if the mail came on time. Trying to make the free market 'fair' is something far beyond its ability. It is also way beyond its intended design.

Paul Newman, dead at 83

Growing up as a boy on a ranch, I loved cowboy movies. I guess I still do. One of my favorite movies was Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The humor, the action, and of course, one of the best endings in a western.

Butch Cassidy: Hey, wait a minute.
Sundance Kid: What?
Butch Cassidy: You didn't see Lefors out there, did you?
Sundance Kid: Lefors? No.
Butch Cassidy: Oh, good. For a moment there I thought we were in trouble.
[They both run out of the building, only to be met with gunfire from all sides from the Bolivian army]
It also has the best fight scene in western history....


I was of fan of both Newman and Redford from that day forward.

Turner Classic Movies is a wonderful way to find great movies. I stumbled across the 1963 movie "Hud" a while back and I loved it. Newman's performance is remarkable as a hot headed, hard drinking, unprincipled ranchers son.



If you ever get a chance, throw of bag of popcorn in the microwave and enjoy.

Give me my M1 Garand and I would be having Velociraptor steaks in an hour.

I'm not sure how this formula works, but I think I would die in the time it takes for all the blood to pour out of me.

I could survive for 1 minute, 35 seconds chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor

It's always 'them'

No matter what issue, no matter what crisis, there is one thing you can count on. Politicians blaming other politicians. The latest example of finger pointing is our current financial predicament. I was watching C-SPAN the other day, yea I know, I am a political geek, listening to the Democrats in Congress rail against the lack of oversight and pointing their fingers squarely at the Republicans and the administration for the mess.

Chris Dodd, Democrat-CT, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, sat in his leather chair and with a straight face lectured us on how the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's failure was someone else's fault. Okay, Mr Dodd, lets step into the way-back machine and take a look at how this crisis could have been averted. Bloomberg.com has an excellent piece on this.

Some might say the current mess couldn't be foreseen, yet in 2005 Alan Greenspan told Congress how urgent it was for it to act in the clearest possible terms: If Fannie and Freddie ``continue to grow, continue to have the low capital that they have, continue to engage in the dynamic hedging of their portfolios, which they need to do for interest rate risk aversion, they potentially create ever-growing potential systemic risk down the road,'' he said. ``We are placing the total financial system of the future at a substantial risk.''

What happened next was extraordinary. For the first time in history, a serious Fannie and Freddie reform bill was passed by the Senate Banking Committee. The bill gave a regulator power to crack down, and would have required the companies to eliminate their investments in risky assets.

So you would think with such dire warnings like the one issued by Greenspan, the Senate would set aside their partisan politics and act to avert a financial crisis, right?

Not a chance. This is Washington, a place where lobbyists and special interests always get their say, no matter who is in office. They did not want new regulations to tighten up the lending rules, and in the end, they won. Democrats and a handful of Republicans killed this legislation without it ever making it to the floor. Now we the taxpayers are left holding the bag and writing the check to bail them out.

So which Congressmen were on the receiving end of all that Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac money? If you guessed it's the same people who are 'outraged' at our current financial crisis, you get a gold star. Here they are, the top 5 recipients of Fannie Mae money.

Chris Dodd - Democrat-CT $133,900
John Kerry - Democrat-MA $111,000
Barack Obama - Democrat- IL $105,849
Hillary Clintion -Democrat -NY $75,550
Paul Kanjorski -Democrat-PA $65,500

Any of these names ring a bell?

Any guess who co-sponsored the bill that might have prevented this mess, the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005?

John McCain.

UPDATE!
Watch the video - You see, I'm not making this stuff up!

I've been 'clinging to my Bible' for the past few days, boy are my arms tired.

I know for some of you out there, spending two days at a Christian musician's conference must mean I am one of those 'bitter people' who cling to their religion when I am not busy shooting up the countryside with my firearms. Well, one out of two isn't bad. I have not had a chance to do much shooting this year or I would be two-for-two.

Being around a few hundred talented musicians is a bit intimidating, especially when you play guitar as poorly as I do. Luckily for me, there are dozens of different breakout sessions each aimed at various disciplines, instruments, voice training, song writing and tech training. The Thriving Musician's Summit was held at Bayside Church in Granite Bay. Each morning starts out with a general worship session, Friday was Paul Bolache, Saturday morning we were treated to Jeffrey Scott. Both performances were special, first because they truly are wonderful musicians, secondly the audience response.

In a room with a hundreds of people who can actually sing, and they are singing their love for lord, the experience is nothing short of amazing.


Friday night they held a concert featuring Hillsong, and the CD release of Lincoln Brewsters' "Today is the day". If you don't know Lincoln's music, he is a fantastic guitar player. He played with Steve Perry from Journey in his wilder days, but now he plays with a different purpose, a much more important purpose. He still has wild hair.


I enjoyed every session I attended and met some wonderful people, a fellow from Oregon that I sat next to Friday morning, we spoke about the changing dynamics going on inside today's church and my 'adopt a church' idea that I am trying out here in Esparto. I had lunch the next day with and older pastor from Senora, we shared stories about writing, church denominations, children and life. Great conversations, great fellowship.

I came home Saturday evening with a notebook filled with pages of ideas, and more importantly, renewed and recharged, ready to serve.

The days are long, but the years are short.

Last night I had a chance to talk with a friend of mine from church. He is the young father of an adorable little boy. The boy had just celebrated his first birthday and my friend was marveling at how fast the last year seemed to have passed by. He asked if I remembered how it felt when my son turned a year old. I said I did remember my oldest turning one, and I couldn't believe it was so long ago. It seemed like yesterday. 

 I shared with my friend a phrase I learned not long ago that sums up this feeling quite well; The Days are long, but the Years are short. 

 Every day we have with our children is a gift from God. Don't get me wrong, there are days I feel like trying to find that receipt so I could return these gifts, but in almost every case, I find most of the problem is the guy in the mirror. 

 When my wife and I brought our first child into this world, I remember thinking, I am a parent now, this is my job. First and foremost, I am a father. Looking back on those years past, I find myself dwelling on my failures as a parent. The many times I lost my temper, the many more times I was 'too tired' to play with my children , something I promised myself I would not do. For most of my son's first few years I was working all the time, I needed to, I was broke. I worked out of town for weeks on end, by the time I came home, I was spent. Those years were tough, on the whole family. 

However, when my introspection subsides, I step back and really look at my son and daughter. I realize how wonderful they are, in spite of my shortcomings as a parent. That is when another reality hits me. I am amazed at how much of their young lives have already passed by, time I can never get back. 

 Every summer, I always want to take my son to an A's game , and every fall, I realize we didn't make it, again. I promise to take my daughter down to the aquarium in Monterey, but we haven't made that trip either. Even now when I have a steady, stable job with fixed hours, I am still overwhelmed with all the things that pull me in every direction, all at the same time. At the end of some days, I am so wrapped up with my life, I forget about my first job, my real job, being a father to my children and a husband to my wife. 

 Time to stop, time to put first things first. Time to make more time for my family. Life is happening right now, right in front of us. Don't let it pass you by. The Days are long, but the Years are short.

Alright, I need a breather from the prison debate.

So tonight, I was at the Woodland High School gym for a youth ministry event. I had a great time as I was running the inflatable jousting game.



Kind of like this, only inside a gym with about five other inflatable games and three hundred screaming kids. Some as young as 10, but most were teens. After the games and music, they sat in the bleachers to listen to a message aimed right at today's kids from youth pastor Donny Burleson. What a powerful message, what a night. A few hundred Hot dogs, bags of chips and bottles of water later, the kids had a great time, the adults had a lot of cleaning up to do and many young people started a relationship with Christ.

A night like this helps me put things in perspective.

For lack of a better word, this sucks.

I hope the votes cast today by Supervisors Matt Rexroad, Mike McGowan and Helen Thomson are put on a sign like this, right in front of the prison. Like a NASCAR billboard. Speaking of NASCAR, if you are going to take their money, you need to put your sponsor's name on your suit.


I hope this is not the last word on prison, but I am not holding my breath.

Hey guys, why not ask the Feds is they need a place to store the spent nuclear fuel? I hear Rumsey has only 50 voters up there, they won't make much of fight. This could add up to billions if you play your cards right.

Yolo County Supervisors; isolated and insulated

As I write this, waiting for the 3:00PM time scheduled for public comment on the proposed Madison re-entry prison site, I can't help but think about a figure I heard this morning at the Board of Supervisors meeting on the new General Plan. One of the presenter said the cities inside Yolo County accounted for more than 88% of the population while they represent only 7% of the county's acreage. Think about that.

Each of the cities, Woodland, Davis, West Sacramento and Winters all have local governments, each representing their citizens. With such representation all ready in place, why is it those same cities, excluding Winters, receives 4 of the five seats on the Yolo County Board of Supervisors? Why not re-draw the Supervisors districts, dividing all of Yolo County geographically between the 5 districts?

The citizens of Woodland, Davis, West Sacramento and Winters have city councils, mayors and a local governments to represent them. They are not going to call on Yolo County to fix their potholes, build a new school, or to protest a new building fee. So why do they have such an over representation on the rest of us living in the other 93% of the county?

I know this is probably a crazy idea, but I would like to see what the process would be to redraw the existing Supervisor's districts. Those of us who live in Duane Chamberlain's 5th District have grow accustom to Duane being the lone voice of reason in a sea of liberal, feel good policies, with Matt Rexroad on our side more often that not. However, the 5th district is huge.



The cattle ranchers, organic farmers, small vineyard operators and orchard owners in the Capay Valley have far different concerns from the large row crop farmers in the middle of the county, not to mention the city of Winters. Why not split up Yolo County's districts to better reflect the County as a whole?

I keep looking at the County's new General Plan and I see that the County seems to talk a good game about the importance of the rural areas.

• Principles and Objectives

Principle 1: The success of Yolo County depends upon the success of agriculture.

Principle 2: The benefits of open space and natural areas are essential to our quality of life.

Principle 3: Each community is distinctive, but all share the same values and a common vision for the future.

Principle 4: Safe and healthy communities allow residents to fulfill their individual potential.

Principle 5: The safest and most efficient way to move goods and people is through a variety of transportation alternatives.

Principle 6: Technology, information and communications advance our
communities.

Principle 7: A strong economy is key to the long-term sustainability of our farms, towns, cities and governments.

If these truly are the principals and objectives of Yolo County, why do we only have one vote on the BOS? Why are the County's decision made by a majority of people who will not have to live with the impact of those decisions? Get the Supervisors out of their cozy neighborhoods and have them mingle with the 'little people' out here in the hinterlands. It would be a great education for them and I am sure we would learn a few things as well.

Crazy? Maybe, but I'm sure removing the barriers of representation between the rural and urban areas will be better for the entire County.

Don't worry, I'll buy a pair of rubber boots for each of the Supervisors out of my own pocket so they can visit their new constituents when its flooding out here in their 'new' districts. I won't worry about Duane, I know he has a good pair of boots, I see him checking his irrigation in the mornings.

I may have to rethink Sarah Palin, apparently, she sucks.

So says noted political pundit and commentator Lindsay Lohan.
Just a piece of her insightful commentary;

… Also interesting that she got her passport in 2006.. And that she is not fond of environmental protection considering she’s FOR drilling for oil in some of our protected land…. Well hey, if she wants to drill for oil, she should DO IT IN HER OWN backyard. This really shows me her complete lack of real preparation to become the second most powerful person in this country.

I wonder if Ms. Lohan and her new girlfriend have ever heard of Anwar? Far be it from me to assume Lohan's last stint in rehab failed to produce lasting results, but if she is clean and sober, one has to wonder where the little pop star cupcake is getting her news? The Daily Show? Countdown?

Could someone in Hollywood please give her a job? Please.
I think 'Herbie the Lovebug goes Hybrid' is in the works.......

Biden preps for the Vice Presidential debate.....

Okay, first thing Joe, you're going to have to act a little more real, more down to earth, can we loose the engraved cuff links and just go with a plain white shirt?



Ahh, do I have to? I just had these custom made, the guy at the jewelry store said they made me look very sophisticated.



We don't need need sophisticated Joe, we need regular American, Joe Six Pack. Get it?



Gotcha, kinda like when I go to those pancake breakfasts out in Iowa, or those photo shoots at the Philly Cheesecake places, man those things are messy and they have to be a foot long!



Cheese steaks Joe. They are called cheese steaks! C'mon Joe, we gotta win Pennsylvania or the whole thing is over.



Right, right, let me see if I got it; regular guy, six packs, cheese steaks. Won't this make me fat? I mean I do have one or two suits that are cut a bit large around the.....



Dammit Joe, we are loosing to a moose shooting, hockey mom! You better get your poop in pile or she is going to mop the floor with you!



Yea, yea...right...... she is kinda hot don't you think? I mean in that 'naughty librarian' kind of way....



C'mon Joe, get serious. She isn't just some dumb woman you are going to be debating , she's smart and a damn sight tougher than you are. What are you going to do if she asks you a question you can't answer? What are you going to do then?



I am going to turn to her, and hold my hand kinda like this. It makes me look sorta like moose right? She will look at me and think, where did the moose come from, am I back in Alaska? It will really throw her off her game I think.....



Is there a chance I can get a double shot of Wild Turkey on the rocks? Anybody?

This is going to be fun.

One of my favorite things in life is to watch liberals, and their pals in the media, blow a collective gasket. The nomination of Governor Sarah Palin to the republican ticket has sent the left into a new dimension of desperation. They are scared to death, as well they should be.

Governor Palin is genuine, that is something people intrinsically feel when you have it, and they know it when you don't. This ability to connect with ordinary people is not a skill you can acquire at an Ivy League school, or by spending a few decades in Washington D.C.; you either have or you don't. Ronald Reagan on the right and Bill Clinton on the left are recent examples of politicians who could go around the media and speak directly to the people, but these days a politician with an approval rating in the mid-80s is almost unheard of, unless you count Kim Jong Il.

Palin's capacity to energize the base of the republican party, get them to volunteer at their county republican offices and open up their checkbooks is the reason why the left is taking swings at her like a candy-filled pinata at a fat kids camp.

Sarah scares the living daylights out of the liberals right now. Who knows how this will play out, she may make a series of gaffs in the next two months or the excitement factor could die down a bit as the election becomes more focused on McCain and Obama, but right now Sarah is in the spotlight.

I'm ready for my closeup.

Time to double down

If there is one thing I have learned following politics and politicians, it is this; the world is run by those who show up.

I am sure it has been this way since the dawn of time. Those who show up, learn about the issues, know who makes the decisions, and know what motivates the decision makers and what does not, those are the people who can make real change happen. A bit of warning here, not all changes are for the better. Changes are made with all kinds of motivations, both good and bad.

For the average person these days, it is easy to get lost in the busy lives we live. I know I do. Between work, family, and volunteer activities, where are we supposed to find the time to 'show up'? Well folks, we better make time, because others people are showing up, and they may not have your best interest in mind. As a matter of fact, I am sure they have only one interest in mind, theirs.

I would like to personally thank everyone who showed up at the Yolo County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday to make it perfectly clear, we don't want this prison in our small towns. For residents in Esparto and the West Plainfield area, it seems they heard your message loud and clear. As much as I would like to say we have won this battle, to keep a prison that obviously needs to be in an urban setting out of Esparto and West Plainfield, the County still wants to approve the site in Madison.

For residents of Esparto, Dunnigan, Zamora, West Plainfield and other in rural Yolo County, this is not the time to relax, this is the time to do more research into this County's process of picking the 'recommended sites'. Did the County offer any of the incorporated cities a share of the 30 million dollars from the State? I hear a lot of talk from the Supervisors about how this prison will have a positive affect on the community. Okay, since they have publicly stated that the 30 million dollars from the state will be spent however, and on whatever the County chooses, why not cut a deal and share this money with one of cities?

Is it the facility that you want in Yolo County or the 30 million dollars? I think it’s the latter, and if you can stick the prison in a rural part of the County where your constituents don't have to see it or live next to it, all the better.

I keep hearing that these proposed sites are already zoned for commercial or industrial uses and the people in these small towns will have to deal with something being built on these parcels. This is true. A hardware warehouse, a manufacturing company or a commercial nursery is one thing; a prison is something else entirely. I am certain if the Supervisors had advised the residents of Esparto, Madison and West Plainfield in advance, one of the things that could be built with this zoning is a 500-inmate prison, they would have soundly rejected it.

We all need to 'show up' at the next Supervisors meeting to make our voices heard once again. The Madison site is a terrible choice for the prison, too far from the jobs, the volunteer base etc, etc. The only compelling reason for the Supervisors choosing Madison over the other two sites is there are fewer voters in Madison. I will try to schedule that day off so I can be there. I hope you will too.

We need to also show up and support our hometown citizen's advisory committees. Learn about what is going on with our government; make our elected officials more accountable to us, those they are supposed to represent. For everyone whose eyes are being opened wide by this process I give you this advice; stay involved, stay informed, and show up. Your community will be better for it.

Matt, don't make me do it!

I'm not sure I would be breaking any laws, but I might be outside the Supervisor's Chambers Tuesday. If the board votes to put it in Esparto, I may have to serenade each Supervisor at their home, for a month!

Getting down with the Vikings, Palin style

I have been to the 'Oakie Stomps' they used to hold in Madison.
I have been to the Willow Oak Fire department's sausage feed.
I have been to the Bullshippers dinner at Red Bluff.
I have been to Dutton's deer camp.
However, I never dressed up as a viking and had a mug of grog. (not that I know of anyway, I used to do some pretty stupid things in my drinking days)

Looking at the photos, I want to book a flight for next year's Little Norway Festival in Petersburg Alaska.
If it's good enough for Sarah Palin, its good enough for me, although I will not be partaking in the grog these days.

My friend Dan says he has a photo of me with a big bottle of Jack Daniels wearing a plastic viking hat, I have offered to purchase the picture, he says he waiting for me to run for office.

Base to McCain: keep your heading a few degrees to starboard

With the republican national convention in the books and with the pick of Sarah Palin, Senator McCain is riding high in the polls. If early last week you asked me to bet the ranch on which convention would attract more television viewers, I would be living in a cardboard box under Steven's bridge on road 94b.

An average of 34.5 million Americans tuned in to watch the republican convention. That is the largest viewing audience in the history of political conventions. However, a word of warning to the maverick John McCain; nice convention kid, don't get cocky.

With the conservative base still in shock over their shiny new Vice Presidential candidate, McCain has to be very careful in the next 60 days not wander too far from the themes of the convention. For all the admiration of his personal story, his service, his courage and the self sacrifice McCain received over the past three days, he may forget just how unpopular some of his ideas are with those same millions who tuned in to watch and the thousands in Minneapolis who stood and cheered for him.

I did not follow the conventions too much this year, but I'm pretty sure Senator McCain did not mention the cap-and-trade legislation he proposes to limit greenhouse gasses in America. This legislation is economic suicide as well as a huge expansion of the role of government. Didn't we just hear about how that's a bad idea Thursday night? He didn't mention giving million of illegal aliens amnesty, an idea that will cut the legs out from under the base like nothing else.

As McCain takes off on his campaign tour across the nation, my fear is the farther from the base of the republican party and the red states he travels, the more he will stray away from the message that united republicans and independents behind him at the convention. '

Right now Senator McCain is enjoying the honeymoon period of his candidacy. Most of the conservatives, including me, are willing to overlook McCain's faults because he is the best candidate for President, by a factor of twelve. However, my motivation will wain if I start hearing this cap-and-trade nonsense and amnesty for all. No matter how many stirring speeches Sarah Palin gives on the campaign trail, if 'the Maverick' starts to twist the noses of his base too hard, the grassroots ground game will take a huge hit. That folks, is where this election will be won or lost, who can get out their vote. The Democrats are fired up and enraptured with the junior Senator from Illinois, they will be door knocking, walking precincts, and making phone calls to get their voters to the polls.

If John McCain starts turning left of republicans, the honeymoon will be over, and this marriage will become one of convenience. That is no way to win an election.

Shut up and take it.

I set out to write this story from an objective point of view. Try as I may, I find I cannot.

The turnout for the public meeting to hear about the proposed re-entry facility Tuesday night was so large, at the last minute they moved it to the Esparto high school auditorium. I did a quick two-by-two head count and I estimate that close to 200 residents attended the meeting.

On the panel were Yolo County Supervisors, Matt Rexroad, Helen Thomson, Yolo County Sheriff Ed Prieto and 3 members of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Also in attendance, but not on the panel was 5th district Supervisor Duane Chamberlain. During the first twenty minutes of the meeting, the representatives from the CDCR explained the origins and purpose of the 500 bed re entry facility, as well as the existing manner in which current Yolo County parolees are released back into the community. At that time, the meeting was opened to questions from the public and they came fast and sometimes furious.

Why Esparto or Madison? Has the County exhausted all possible site in more urban areas? Will there be inmates from other neighboring Counties housed in the facilities? Why build it next to a school? What about traffic? What about the fact there is no public water and sewer services near the property in question? Of the parolees in this 500 bed facility, how many will be from Esparto or Madison? A half a dozen? The residents of this community were upset and it showed as comments and questions were shouted from those inside the auditorium. For those on the panel, they must have been waiting for the people to break out the torches and pitchforks.

I would like to apologize for the lack of decorum at the meeting, but I will not.

To understand the frustration felt by the citizens of the Capay Valley, you must understand what we have experienced in our dealings with Yolo County. It seems whenever someone comes to the County and says they have a huge amount of money to give them, if they give a green light to a certain project in a rural area, the green light is given. When the citizens of the affected area object, the County tells them, ‘we need the money, shut up and take it’. The first expansion of the Cache Creek casino? We need the money, shut up and take it. The second huge expansion of the casino? We need the money, shut up and take it. Now the proposed re entry prison, you guessed it, shut up and take it.

The County Board of Supervisors has a job to do, provide services to the citizens of our county with a 326 million dollar budget. I also understand the fact that free money is a rare and welcome luxury. However, this ‘free’ money does have a cost attached to it. A cost that is not easily seen from the cities of Woodland, Davis, West Sacramento. As rural residents of the county, we are told to shut up and take it as our small-town quality of life deteriorates for the common good of the urban citizenry of the county.

Yes, Yolo County needs this type of facility; anything that could lead to a decrease in the recidivism rates of parolees is a benefit for us all. However, putting this facility out in a rural area, far away from urban centers with few employers, few volunteer organizations and where a tiny percentage of the prisoners families live, is setting up the program for failure before it starts. This a brand new program, there are no other facilities like the proposed re entry prison in the State. No one can tell us how this will affect our local community. After being separated for years from their family member in a far away prison, how many families would try to find low-income housing near the re entry prison? How would that affect our schools, and our crime rates? Any answers you get to these questions is pure speculation.

Here is my question back to the county. If this decision is about the success of the re entry facility, what are the odds of achieving success if you put the facility within three to six miles from thousands of jobs, hundreds of citizens who would volunteer to help these inmates acclimate back into society, where the support of their families is near by and within easy distance of public transit? I would bet those odds are pretty high.

Take the same facility and put it twenty to thirty miles away in a small, rural town and a long way from those same resources. What are the odds of success now?

If success does not figure high on your choice of sites, then you are just shipping your problems to our communities and we are being asked once again to shut up and take it.

Not this time.

What if we won the war in Iraq, and no one reported it?

As the Labor Day holiday ends and political season finally kicks off in earnest, the media and the internet are buzzing with the story of Governor Sarah Palin's seventeen-year-old daughter being pregnant and the near miss of New Orleans by hurricane Gustav.

Sensational stories? You bet they are. Video of Bristol Palin and her high school, hockey star boyfriend - soon to be husband, along with the compulsory images of reporters bracing against hurricane force winds are on every news channel and taking up space on the frontpages of our newspapers. We are creatures of the 24-hour news cycle, what's new? what's now? what's next?

With all the sensational stories making headlines and with the Republican convention sucking up much of the media oxygen this week, one could easily miss this story from half a word away.

U.S. Hands Back a Quieter Anbar:

Two years ago, Anbar Province was the most lethal place for the Americans in Iraq, with a marine or a soldier dying here nearly every day. The provincial capital, Ramadi, was a moonscape of rubble and ruins. Islamic extremists controlled large pieces of territory, with some so ferocious in their personal views that they did not even allow the sale of bread.

A resident of Fallujah, in Iraq’s Anbar province, at the foot of the Fallujah Bridge on Monday. In March 2004, the bodies of American security contractors were hung from the bridge after they were ambushed.

On Monday, following a parade on a freshly paved street, American commanders formally returned responsibility for keeping order in Anbar Province, once the heartland of the Sunni insurgency, to the Iraqi Army and police force. The ceremony capped one of the starkest turnabouts in the country since the war began five and a half years ago.

In the past two years, the number of insurgent attacks against Iraqis and Americans in Anbar Province has dropped by more than 90 percent.

For everyone who doomed the 'Surge' strategy to failure even before it started, they all seem very quiet right now. The media has packed up and gone home, leaving a scant number of reporters to cover this successful turnabout in the war. Why is this? Why is it that winning the war garners far less media attention than car bombs and civilian casualties? I remember the network anchors were all waiting for their Walter Cronkite moment, waiting for the chance to declare the war officially lost. Some came breathtakingly close to doing just that, as if their opinion on the state of our military effort had any relevance what so ever.

All across Iraq, our soldiers have defeated al Qaeda and trained the Iraqi military to the point where in most parts of Iraq, they now control their own country, their own cities and their own streets.

When our outstanding young men and women in uniform perform their duty in a hostile place, under extreme conditions, away from friends and family and the comforts of home, one would think we could at least stop to recognize their accomplishment. This is similar to crushing an enemy and handing back an area almost five times the size of Belgium.

Not bad for a strategy doomed to failure?

The anti-war crowd may soon get their wish as US forces come home from Iraq, not in defeat, not with an enemy emboldened and in control of Iraq, but with heads held high, assured in the knowledge of what they did there and that the price they paid there, will not be forgotten.

God bless them.