Conservative views and thoughts

Cutting down on the blogging

2008-07-23T06:59:00.001-07:00

I decided today that I'm going to cut back on my blogging. There isn't much responce to what I have written and I do not like wasting my time on unproductive activities. I know I am only one person out here on the internet, but I think it is time.

Have fun.

The Molly update

2008-07-23T06:57:00.001-07:00

Hello Everyone,

Molly is getting better. She still diarheas but she is starting to eat canned food. We are trying to get her to eat dry food to no avail, but will insist that she has to eat it. She is right now a very picky eater.

If anyone out there who reads this, has any ideas please let us know.

The Molly Update

2008-07-21T07:30:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

No one needs to worry any longer. Our puppy is recovering just fine. After being sick for most of the week, diarrheaing, and not eating, Molly finally pulled through last night with eating her first real meal. All it was was a plain can of dog food we had tried the night before, and she ate it right up.

She still diarrheaed this morning but it was brown and mounding. After the clean up she went outside once again and did her business. Over the course of the week she lost 3 pounds but she looks alot better now.

As for the eating, get your puppy to eat anything. Cheese and treats worked for the most part but you have to get your pet to eat real food.

Drilling for crude

2008-07-17T07:12:00.002-07:00

President Bush recently passed an executive order allowing the US to drill offshore. Finally!!! Just speaking those words dropped crude oil $7.00. I just can't wait for us to start drilling as it would further drop the price.

The only obstacle is Congress, led by Speaker Pelosi who is totally against it. Hopefully San Francisco can see the light on this subject and vote her out of office, but they are a little nuts down there in California.

Regardless, one day we will enjoy the fruits of our labors and pay less for it. And I do understand all the liberals out there want fuelless cars and such. Or Hybrids for that matter, but when a car can only move 40 miles on one charge, it's not worth buying.

We have to be realistic on matters such as this. Nuclear Plants are good. Wind and Solar Energy are good as well... but when you come to the immediate need of the nation and what drives people from point A to B, or heating your home... be real. Think for godsake. A combination of stuff is best. And another positive of Drilling here is that we would no longer have to depend on the Mideast for oil anymore.

Enough said.

Drilling for crude

2008-07-17T07:12:00.001-07:00

The Malone Update

2008-07-17T07:03:00.001-07:00

Yes, our puppy has a last name too. Her actual name is Molly Carmen Malone. The past couple days I haven't written because my wife, Romie, and I have been taking care of a sick puppy.

The past three days we have seen her go from watery diarrhea to getting a little bit better. Our newest vet has helped out too with giving her cortizone and antibiotics shotsalong with watching her during the day. I haven't met the man personally but I know I like him a lot as he has a lot of horse sense.

This morning and last night was the first real sign that showed Molly getting better. She actually pooped a thin milkshake diarrhea instead of water. There is still a little blood, but it looks like she is getting better. She is even starting to eat too, Treats mostly, but as I say something is better than nothing at all.

I'm just waiting for her to pull though this episode so we can start being a happy family again.

I would also recommend to anyone having a dog, that if there is watery diarrhea, take no chances with with you pet. Take you pet to the vet. They know what is best, and bring them home and just let them rest. Our's is a little thin from not eating, but as long as she drinks water all will be good in short order.

Any comments will cheer me up as Molly is in God's hand recovering day by day.

I can't drive 55

2008-07-09T07:05:00.000-07:00

I know it's an old Sammy Hagger song, but it's true. Reinstating that old law is going to be extremely disruptive and a huge waste of taxpayer dollars. Sen Warner D-Va. is an old school Republican who I think has lost his way and is trying to reminisce about the 70's once again.

I also know that this topic was aired on the Glen Beck show this morning and the points were well proven. It's just piss off a lot of people, productivity will be far less, along with more traffic congestion, and wasted dollars replacing all those signs. The 55 MPH law was repealed in 1995 after 21 years because nobody paid any attention to it. It was the most broken law on the books and it will be continud to be broken if it's re-instated. I'll even be one of the many to state, I'll break it as often as I can if it ever comes into play again. It's just plain stupid.

This is America, the home of the free and the brave. Every time laws restict our behavior, it is going to adversely affect what we do in a negative way, so why do it? It's the same thing in regards to this Global warming nonsense. It just doesn't hold water.

Imagine, here in Seattle they want to charge 20 cents per shopping bag used. That's insane. I won't shop at any store that institues that kind of insanity. And if I'm forced to carry my own bags in, by god I don't know what I'll do. But charging us 20 cents per bag is really going to hurt the average American because we do not earn that much, and it is going to affect us in ways that we may revolt and throw people out of office because of ridiculous ideas.

There's more to this but I can't as I'll end up rambling.

Yogurt

2008-07-09T07:02:00.000-07:00

Regarding our puppy Molly, we had a very exciting experience when the dog finally ate last night. We added yogurt to the meal. We were told by so many people that was the trick and we want to thank everyone on and offline for the suggestion.

Any other comments you might suggest from here on out are going to be more than well receieved regarding our dog.

The first accident

2008-07-08T07:10:00.000-07:00

My wife and I woke up to a Molly needing to go for her morning potty, and we let her outside. She peed sniffed around for a moment and came right back in when we called her to come inside. So we started to feed her and laid down her water and prep the food, and next thing you knew she peed again after whimpering for a little while. Yes we ignored her and it was our fault. So we sent her outside as we cleaned up and thank god we did. She pooped outside as well.

Molly is starting to get the hang of the routine we are setting in place. The most amazing thing though is she can hold her bladder through the night. Now she just needs to know how to eat food instead of her treats.

My wife, Romie, has taught her how to sit and give paw (shake) to a degree of understanding and Molly is starting to go up and down the back stairs to go outside on her own. She is slowly adjusting to her environment and I think it's the same with the food situation as well (from the spay and her tummy).

Anyway, if anyone out there has any suggestions please write. Any advice will be well received.

New family member

2008-07-07T06:58:00.001-07:00

Over the weekend we adopted a new puppy who is only three months old. Her name is Molly and she is a Labrador/Collie mix. She is a little shy but very active when she is outdoors.

The best part is I think she adopted us first which is kind of funny since we almost passed up on her, but ended up getting her as a couple said that she and her two sisters were ugly dogs.

For right now, we are very lucky to have her in our family, and even luckier that she hasn't messed in the house yet. The only problem right now is that she has eaten very little food but that can be due to being a little anxious and stuff. So please, if anyone out there has any solutions to this problem, please write me.

Thanks.

Cancun Vacation

2008-07-07T06:53:00.000-07:00

Well, I want to first apologize for not writing in a long time, but my wife and I went to Playa del Carmen which is pretty close to Cancun. It was very hot and very humid. We only went there to see the ruins of the Mayan civilization which are spectaculur but also very strenuosu if you are not active.

The food was very good, but I will say that if you hate to sweat this is not a place to go to for a vacation. I do recommend it however if you are an adventure seeker or just a lover of hot weather.

A Rezco connection? - Maybe.

2008-06-23T07:25:00.000-07:00

Obamas Shifting Positions on Iraq: A Rezko Connection?
June 18, 2008 - by Richard Fernandez
Barack Obamas position on Iraq has shifted significantly over the last six years. What is interesting is how his position on Iraq matches up with developments in Chicago. Specifically, there appears to be a direct correlation between the rising and falling prospects of his longtime friend and fundraiser Tony Rezkos attempts to secure multi-million-dollar contracts to build and operate a power plant in Kurdish Iraq and the senatorâ€™s Iraq flip-flops.
On October 2, 2002, Obama gave a speech categorically opposing an invasion of Iraq. He [1] said:
I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a U.S. occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda.
I am not opposed to all wars. Im opposed to dumb wars.
So for those of us who seek a more just and secure world for our children, let us send a clear message to the president today. You want a fight, President Bush? Lets finish the fight with bin Laden and al-Qaeda, through effective, coordinated intelligence, and a shutting down of the financial networks that support terrorism, and a homeland security program that involves more than color-coded warnings.
But on April 5, 2004, Barack Obama appeared to significantly alter his position on Iraq. A [2] YouTube video of Obama shows the incredulity on the interviewerâ€™s face as Obama unexpectedly sounded almost like President Bush on the subject of retaining troops in Iraq.
Interviewer: But you said that troops should be withdrawn.
Obama: No, no. Ive never said that troops should be withdrawn. What Ive said is that weve got to make sure that we secure and execute the rebuilding and reconstruction process effectively and properly and I dont think we should have an artificial deadline when to do that. Whats important is that we have a long-term plan in process and short-term security strategy.
Its been suggested that that change in the senators position from opposition to a stern refusal to leave until the job had been finished can be explained by the unexpected ease with which the campaign had gone up till that time. But that doesnt quite square with the facts. April 2004 was in fact the bloodiest month in the Iraq campaign till then and the start of the Sunni insurgency and Moqtada al-Sadrs uprising. On March 31, 2004, Iraqi insurgents in Fallujah ambushed a Blackwater convoy and hung the mutilated bodies of the Americans on the bridge. [3] Wikipedia recounts the rush of bloody events which followed:
On April 3, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force received a written command from the Joint Task Force, ordering offensive operations against Fallujah. This order went against the wishes of the Marine commanders on the ground who wanted to conduct surgical strikes and raids against those suspected of involvement in the Blackwater deaths.
On the night of April 4, the U.S. forces launched a major assault in an attempt toœre-establish security in Fallujah by encircling it with around 2,000 troops. At least four homes were hit in aerial strikes, and there was sporadic gunfire throughout the night.
By the morning of April 5, headed by the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, American units had surrounded the city with an aim towards retaking it. American troops blockaded roads leading into the city, with Humvees and concertina wire, and took over a local radio station, and handed out leaflets urging residents to remain inside their homes, and help American forces identify insurgents and any Fallujans who were involved in the Blackwater deaths.
Obamas change of tone in 2004 was so noticeable that [4] Howard Kurtz couldnt help but notice how striking the Illinois senators position was in mid-2004. Obama was quoted as saying:
Theres not that much difference between my position and George Bushs position at this stage. The difference, in my mind, is whos in a position to execute.
But [5] Rezko Watch, a blog following the trial of the Chicago political operative and Obamaâ€™s close friend and contributor Tony Rezko, remembered that something else took place in April 2004. Obama was at a party on April 3 two days before the video with Nadhmi Auchi, a London-based Iraqi billionaire who attended a Tony Rezko party in Chicago. The [6] Chicago Tribune blog covered Obamaâ€™s recollection of the party in depth.
Late last week, Sen. Barack Obama said he didnâ€™t recall meeting a controversial Iraqi-born billionaire at a party held at the home of his former friend and fundraiser, Antoin â€œTonyâ€ Rezko, on April 3, 2004, because it was in the midst of his campaign for the U.S. Senate seat from Illinois.
But a check on the senators calendar showed he had no campaign activities on the day of the Auchi party. The [7] Chicago Sun-Times reported that despite Obamas inability to recall meeting Mr. Auchi, two sources said the senator was present.
According to two sources familiar with the gathering, the Obamas attended the Wilmette reception, which came less than a month after Obamas Democratic primary win for his U.S. Senate seat.
The meeting with Auchi takes on a special suggestiveness in light of later revelations that Rezko planned to build a $150 million Chamchamal Power Plant in Kurdish Iraq despite the fact he had no resources to do it with. According to John Batchelor, the former Obama supporterâ€™s straitened circumstances at the time he was bidding for the project came up during the discovery proceedings at his recent trial:
[In] January 16, 2007, ex parte proceedings before Federal District Judge Amy J. St. Eve, in the case of the United States v. Antoin Rezko, in the discovery of Mr. Rezkoâs resources in order to set his bail awaiting trial. The judge asked about Mr. Rezkos creation, Rezmar International LLC.
Mr. Rezko answered, â€œRezmar International entered into contract with the Ministry of Electricity in of Iraq, to build a power plant and sell power to the government. And we were negotiating for over, now, I guess, two years. Mr. Rezko added that the deal, for the never-built, $150 million Chamchamal power plant in Kurdistan Region, Iraq, was finally canceled November 6 or 7, 2006.
When the judge pressed for details Mr. Joseph Duffy, of Stetler & Duffy, spoke for his client, â€œthere was a request for purchase by the Iraqi government. Mr. Rezko and an engineering firm here in the state of Illinois put together a bid, along with other entities; and, then, they won the bid for the contract. The company has no assets. They were just going to â€” if the contract was given, as I understand the financing was going to be a letter of credit â€” letter of credit from the Iraqi government and other financing; and then, they were going to put together someone to build or supply the electricity.
But if Rezko had no money to build or finance the Chamchamal Power Project, how could he convince the Iraqi government to give him a letter of credit and where would the other financing come from? Subsequent events suggest the letter of credit would be arranged by another local connection, a Chicago Iraqi-American named Aiham Alsammarae, who is a one-time classmate of Tony Rezko and had been appointed as Iraqs Minister of Electricity by L. Paul Bremer in July 2003. With Alsammarae at the head of the ministry, a letter of credit was possible. The money (other financing) would likely come from Nahdmi Auchi, who according to the [8] Times Online, practically owned Tony Rezko.
According to court documents, Mr. Rezkoâ€™s lawyer said his client had â€œlongstanding indebtedness to Mr. Auchis GMH. By June 2007 he owed it $27.9 million.
Under a Loan Forgiveness Agreement described in court, Mr. Auchi lent Mr. Rezko $3.5 million in April 2005 and $11 million in September 2005, as well as the $3.5 million transferred in April 2007. â€¦
A posting last week on a GMH-owned website, [9] middle-east-online.com, portrayed Mr. Auchi as a Middle Eastern Donald Trump with a global business construction empire.
Mr. Auchi visited the United States in 2004. Pictures show him meeting Emil Jones, the president of the Illinois state senate, an ally of Mr. Obama, a former state senator.
Both Mr. Auchi and Mr. Obama say they have no memory of meeting each other. But, according to a source, the two may have had a brief encounter at the Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago where Mr. Auchiâ visit was being honored with a dinner attended by the governor when Mr. Obama, coincidentally in the hotel, dropped in.
Rezko was very heavily involved in Chamchamal. In addition to bidding for building the power plant itself, Rezko apparently bid to provide security for the installation. [10] John Batchelor again:
The third bidder on the Chamchamal deal was most likely Companion Security of Illinois. Companion Security was an Illinois company, concocted by Mr. Rezko along with his long-time Rezmar partner Daniel Mahru and an ex-Chicago policeman Donald Frawley, that proposed to train 150 Iraqis to be a security force at the new Chamchamal plant; and it included the novel concept to fly the Iraqis to Illinois for this training. Companion Security signed a contract April 18, 2005, with CPA Minister of Electricity Alsammarae for which, it is alleged by now cooperating government witness Mr. Mahru, Mr. Alsammarae was paid a $1.5 million bribe.
From April 2004 onward, Barack Obamas position on Iraq remained remarkably constant. The Illinois senator believed it was important not to abandon Iraq until it was stable enough to fend for itself. In [11] November 2005, he said:
I believe that U.S. forces are still a part of the solution in Iraq. The strategic goals should be to allow for a limited drawdown of U.S. troops, coupled with a shift to a more effective counter-insurgency strategy that puts the Iraqi security forces in the lead and intensifies our efforts to train Iraqi forces.
At the same time, sufficient numbers of U.S. troops should be left in place to prevent Iraq from exploding into civil war, ethnic cleansing, and a haven for terrorism.
We must find the right balance offering enough security to serve as a buffer and carry out a targeted, effective counter-insurgency strategy, but not so much of a presence that we serve as an aggravation. It is this balance that will be critical to finding our way forward.
Second, we need not a time-table, in the sense of a precise date for U.S. troop pull-outs, but a time-frame for such a phased withdrawal. More specifically, we need to be very clear about key issues, such as bases and the level of troops in Iraq. We need to say that there will be no bases in Iraq a decade from now and the United States armed forces cannot stand up and support an Iraqi government in perpetuity pushing the Iraqis to take ownership over the situation and placing pressure on various factions to reach the broad-based political settlement that is so essential to defeating the insurgency.
In June 2006, despite the counterinsurgency troubles being encountered at that time, Obama reiterated his desire to keep American troops in Iraq until it stabilized. The senator [12] said following a visit:
But having visited Iraq, Im also acutely aware that a precipitous withdrawal of our troops, driven by Congressional edict rather than the realities on the ground, will not undo the mistakes made by this administration. It could compound them.
It could compound them by plunging Iraq into an even deeper and, perhaps, irreparable crisis.
We must exit Iraq, but not in a way that leaves behind a security vacuum filled with terrorism, chaos, ethnic cleansing, and genocide that could engulf large swaths of the Middle East and endanger America. We have both moral and national security reasons to manage our exit in a responsible way.
But on Nov 20, 2006, Obama suddenly changed his mind on Iraq. He believed it had become unwinnable. There was no point in going on and a withdrawal had to begin within a few months. [13] CNN reported:
Sen. Barack Obama called Monday for U.S. troops to start leaving Iraq in 2007, arguing that the threat of an American pullout is the best leverage Washington has left in the conflict.
The time for waiting in Iraq is over. It is time to change our policy,â€ said Obama, a freshman Democrat from Illinois touted as a possible national candidate in 2008.
â€œIt is time to give Iraqis their country back, and it is time to refocus Americaâ€™s efforts on the wider struggle yet to be won.
Obamas speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs came as the debate over Iraq policy has heated up in Washington, with policy makers making proposals that range from a phased withdrawal that begins in four to six months to an increase in troop strength.
What had changed between June and November 2006 to alter Obamas position? Possibly the situation on the ground. But one circumstance that had also changed was that the Rezko Chamchamal contract had been finally and irrevocably canceled only two weeks before. John Batchelor reports what Rezko told the judge during the discovery proceedings:
We had, for whatever itâ€™s worth, sometime in June received a letter saying the contract was canceled. We protested the cancellation. And, then, we received this [the November cancellation] letter.
Batchelor describes some of the last-minute efforts to bring the Rezko power plant project back from the dead.
The Chamchamal construction plan was canceled in June 2006, and this not only ended the power plant deal for Rezkos Rezmar International and Alsammaraes KCI Engineering Consultants, but also it ended the Companion Security deal. Companion was nested inside Chamchamal. The security guards to be trained in Illinois were for Chamchamal. This is important to understand. The same men controlled all three bids.
Mr. Rezko said, We protested the cancellation. How did they protest? It appears that part of the protest was to send Mr. Frawley to Senator Obama in August 2006 to seek help reviving the deal.
Senator Obama declined to help, though not right away. According to Obama staff spokesman Tim LaBolt in mid-2007: The Senate staff had two meetings, one conference call, and sporadically emailed with representatives of Companion Security about their request for Senator Obama to write a letter introducing the company to senior officials in the Iraqi government. That is not the kind of action Senator Obama usually takes for individual companies, and our staff concluded on that basis to decline the requested assistance.
Also, according to a report by the Chicago Sun-Times, Mr. Frawley negotiated over a six-month period with Senator Obamas staffer Seamus Ahern at the Moline, Illinois, office. The explanation at the time was that the senator regarded Companion Security as an employment opportunity for the troubled Quad Cities area around Moline.
The deal was definitely dead in August 2006, when Aiham Alsammarae came under investigation for corrupt practices. The [14] New York Times reported that the case against Alsammarae began with investigations by the Commission on Public Integrity, an Iraqi organization independent of the government that was created by the United States. A New York Times reporter, visiting him in jail, wryly noted, â€œMr. Alsammarae, an American citizen who lived in the Chicago area and built a thriving engineering firm there, is the only cabinet-level Iraqi official to be convicted and jailed for misusing money during his time in office.
On December 16, 2006, [15] Alsammarae successfully escaped from his Baghdad jail in mysterious circumstances, flew to Jordan, and from there returned to his home in Oak Brook, Illinois, without any apparent trouble. He did not take the trouble to hide. On April 27, 2008, Alsammarae demonstrated his affection for Tony Rezko when the [16] Chicago Sun-Times reported that the â€œformer Iraqi official and ex-international fugitive helped spring Tony Rezko from jail earlier this month, putting up homes that comprise nearly one-third of the $8.5 million in property and cash securing Rezkoâ€™s bail.â€ Tony Rezko may have been broke but Alsammarae was not:
Alsammarae put up $1.9 million in equity in his Oak Brook mansion, along with $840,000 in equity from two South Loop condominiums, according to court records. In recent days, he appeared in the downtown federal courthouse to pledge his property and signed papers related to Rezkoâ€™s bail. That proceeding, however, was conducted in a private session with U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve and lawyers. Records from the proceeding werenâ€™t immediately released.
The shifts in Barack Obamaâ€™s policy toward Iraq show a remarkable correlation with the rise and fall of Tony Rezkoâ€™s business prospects in the Chamchamal Power Plant. As the story of the Rezko syndicate is exposed in his Chicago trial, the subject of its Iraqi commercial interests will come under a brighter light. Barack Obama has already said of his convicted ex-fundraiser, â€œthis is not the Tony Rezko I used to know.â€
What remains to be seen is whether new developments will see the same cognitive dissonance apply to Obamaâ€™s policy in Iraq.
Article printed from Pajamas Media: http://pajamasmedia.com
URL to article: http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/tony-rezko-and-obamas-shifting-positions-on-iraq/
URLs in this post:[1] said: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Barack_Obama%27s_Iraq_Speech[2] YouTube video of Obama: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kFrFIFizkU[3] Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Fallujah[4] Howard Kurtz: http://mediamatters.org/items/200801140002[5] Rezko Watch: http://rezkowatch.blogspot.com/2008/06/its-appearance-of-impropriety-thats.html[6] Chicago Tribune blog: http://weblogs.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/blog/2008/04/obamas_rezkoauchi_recollection.html[7] Chicago Sun-Times: http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/rezko/894559,CST-NWS-rezko15.article[8] Times Online: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article3433485.ece?token=null&offset=24[9] middle-east-online.com: http://middle-east-online.com/[10] John Batchelor: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=25950[11] November 2005: http://obama.senate.gov/speech/051122-moving_forward/[12] said following a visit: http://obama.senate.gov/speech/060621-floor_statement_6/[13] CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/20/obama.iraq/index.html[14] New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/15/world/middleeast/15minister.html?ex=1323838800&en=d4473ac398ab6492&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all[15] Alsammarae successfully escaped from his Baghdad jail: http://blogs.suntimes.com/rezko/2008/04/post_13.html[16] Chicago Sun-Times: http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/rezko/917388,CST-NWS-rezko27.article

Big Oil and the elected.

2008-06-19T07:28:00.000-07:00

If you want the US to drill for oil here and now, write your elected officals and tell them how you feel. Because it's an issue of ussing common sense for effectively changing policy. As it stands now we are heading for $5.00 gas when it really should be around $2.5 - 3. a gallon. Probably lower but I'm only going by spending $70 a barrel.

Just do me a favor, don't be offensive.

The Supreme Court

2008-06-16T07:32:00.000-07:00

In short, let me just say this the Supreme Court is wrnog regarding Unlawful Enemy Combatants. They should review a few cases before having done what they did this past week. And I will not go into any great detail over this as I'm still fuming.

But I will add that the US refused to sign Protocol One of the Geneva Convention, 1949. And if you go back 20-30 years the liberal media was all for this opinion.

Tim Russert

2008-06-16T07:19:00.000-07:00

Like everyone else I knew Tim Russert only as a viewer. He is probably the only journalist I truly respected because he was able to ask the tough questions and not relent until he was given an answer.

Although we may have differing opinions on issues, I could see his point as he would probably see my point of view as well. He comes from a simple background which made him larger than life to me. I hold very few public figures in this way and he is truly one of a kind in his field.

I can only pray for his family as he will be a great loss to them, but at least they know he loved them dearly. And thinking back it makes me want to be that much better of a person in respect to the people I hold close to my heart as well.

Rest in Peace Tim. To the occassional or hard viewer of your show, you will be missed.

Being a crash test dummy

2008-06-16T07:14:00.000-07:00

I'll let everyone know right now, get a Mercedes. They hold up very well if you are rear-ended. With all the safety issues that are put into a car now-a-days, this one did it's job extremely well.

It's no fun going through something like this, but we all were able to walk with very little injury to any of us.

As for the rest of our weekend even though Sunday was completely shot, Saturday we still enjoyed the day prior to what happened. And seeing the North Cascades was really nice... although Hwy 20 is not a very good place to travel around on.

Remember this, drive safe.

Hoysing scandal

2008-06-12T07:02:00.000-07:00

Sen. Obama had to let one of his people go. James Johnson was chosen to assist in the VP selection process. What worse is that this person was involved in getting a multi million dollar home loan from Countrywide for a 3.5% interest rate. That in itself was quite amazing, and scandalous in my opion, since I couldn't break the floor of 6% without selling my soul to the brokerage firm.

But here's the real story behind all of this. Obama, himself, is involved in a real estate scandal over his home in Chicago with the now felonious character of Tony Rezko. Personally it's bad judgement to hang around with known criminals and advocats of anti-americanism.

Here is the short list of Obama's backers:

Rev Wright - Anti American preacher
Father Pfleger - Anti American Priest. He should be excummicated from the church.
Bill Ayers - Known Terrorist.
Tony Rezco - Real Estate con artist who just got put away.
and now James Johnson - for an extra nice mortgage. I'd kill for 3.5%

The list probably can go on if we do a little digging. But overall this person has bad judgement and should not be seated in the White House at all for he has very little experience on national issues. And this alone could force more bad judgement errors if he is there making the hard decisions.

Let's look at a couple of them: He wants to raise taxes and appease our enemies. Fortunately with the second issue he hasn't put us into a compromising position yet, but has already self identified with the issue since the Bush Knesset speech. On taxes, he has earnestly said he would create more controls and more government which would involve more taxes.

Enough said. This person is just a bad apple. Don't vote for him.

As for his wife, he asked to lay off of making comments. I'll lay off making her making a fool out of herself when she lays off the "whitey" comments. Just is just hitting below the belt with everything else she has said.

Compare and Contrast

2008-06-09T07:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was watching "Meet the Press" and a couple of other news programs and they were mentioning the "Generational Gap" of the candidates running for office. So I thought it would be a good idea to compare the candidates.

Obama and McCain:

Obama is 47 and McCain is 71 currently. BHO is a Democrat and JSM is a Republican. Traditionally Democrats are tax and spend types whereas Republicans are cutters of the tax bill and fiscally conservative. This case is proven in the numerous news spots and debates.

BHO is an anti-Iraq war critic who wants to talk to our enemies without pre-conditions. JSM is the polar opposite.

Guess who is for gay marriage and who isn't.

How about Healthcare coverage? BHO wants universal coverage and that will cost us billions in taxes alone.

Oil, you ask? JSM is a proponent of the drill here and get away from the dependcy of the Arabs. OBH opposes drilling here hoping that the high gas prices forces the USA to find alternatives. Both however do agree on finding alternatives

Supreme Court? JSM wants for conservative judges. BHO wants the direct opposite running the law. Might end up being like the 9th Circuit running amok on a national level if that happens.

I could go on and probably should, but won't. I do however must admit that Obama is correct on one more item other than Social Security. The GI bill. That's right. He wants to help those veterans with a better program. Even though I won't be benefitted from it, it's something I do support.

More later, but I hope all is well with everone and enjoy what summer is left. Especially with gas prices going up. Do your best to save for the future.

Investor's corner for the small timer

2008-06-04T12:20:00.000-07:00

Like everyone who reads this post if you are out there, you have a life that gets interrupted by the small hiccups of life. Mine was this: My wife and I recently parted with our deceased cat, fixed the car, and the lastest happening - a huge plumbing bill this past weekend.

Now if you are like me you tucked a little savings away in checking, savings and the portfolio. My wife and I are very active in creating good credit, while paying every bill that we get. And since things come in three's we are fortunately were prepared.

Yesterday with the last happenstance, I sold a loser. WM was sold for a loss of roughly $900. It was hard parting with it even through this rough patch in the economy, but I had confidence in it because of them being active in correcting the balance sheet. But for the short and long long term the choice was made for improving our home at the same time of correcting some issues with our plumbing. Which if you review the housing market will be much better than waiting for the stock market to correct itself.

All in all I'm satified with the decision. So remember this lesson. Save, save, save. It'll help you more when you are not worrying about how you are going to pay these bills when they come up. Plus you learn something by the lessons of the stock market too in the process. It provides you with future buying opportunities when they come up.

Other than that learn not to have debt, by saving for it when it occurs. That's the moral here.

The real Campaigning starts today.

2008-06-04T06:48:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

First I want to apologize for the extreme lack of blogging but nothing has really gone on lately. I know I could have commented on the primary in Puerto Rico or Yesterday or even reported the tidbit about the Space Station toilet. Heck my toilet was even plugged up over the weekend.

Anyway we are here to look into the future with what knowledge we all have. Concerning the Presidency, it's all about John McCain and Sen. Barack Hussian Obama. Remember his kids call him smelly. But back to business. And I'll say one thing Sen. Obama is pretty good. He has the looks, the charisma, and he can even give a great speech. But with all that where is the experience (lack of is more like it) and change (we want something real) he presents.

I personally do not see it. His experience on a national level is only two years old versus, heck, a lifetime of experience with Sen. McCain. Even though there are policies I honestly disagree with regarding McCain, McCain on this count is by far more qualified then Obama.

On change, what change does Obama represent. Raising taxes for sure. Most likely to provide the healthcare that is eventually going to bankrupt our system. What about Iraq? Leaving that mess behind would surely bring home the troops, but it would only embolden not ony the terrorists, but also the civilians because they have nowhere to run for the freedoms they desperately need. That in itself would create alot of dismay and probably a few uprisings in general. Where does it end up? Once again, they would be screaming at us for not being there for them. And we would have to solve the problem once again.

On the other hand McCain, knows we have to stay over there as Iraq is now of great strategic interest. The surge worked and is continuing to be of great benefit over there. Fewer deaths are occuring, and the welfare of Iraq is improving because of our presence. The same goes with Afghanistan. He knows if we step away from the problem we are going to repeat history, and in this case history shall not be repeated. Repeating it will be detrimental to what we ultimately stand for.

There are other issues on hand, but those will be looked at in detail later. Just look for the gloves finally being taken off and for there to be a good ol' fight to happen. Watch the news, keep informed, and speak out if you really want change. Change is improving something, not making it worse. And that is why I call for everyone to join in and vote for John McCain. He's just a better person overall for what we the people need right now and for the future, even if you disagree with him on some of the issues.

Take care, and discuss amongst yourselves.

At the pump

2008-05-22T06:58:00.001-07:00

This morning I just paid $3.86 at the pump and topped off. With oil pushing past the $133 mark it's going to hit everyone's pocket book. So who is to blame? Well, I do not know the answer at this moment, but I would say the majority of it lies on the shoulders of Congress. But before researching this I'll hazard a guess and make a statement which follows.

The reason I state this is that we have the ability to tap ANWR and the Gulf of Mexico, build more refineries, and go to other sources of energy such as natural gas, but the government won't allow it because of the Left.

The Left, in this case the environmental whackos led by their leader Al Gore want to preserve the environment and save the Polar Bears. So in effect it's pushing away from resources we badly need and forcing us to go to people that do not like us at all and buying the goods from them. In turn, it raises the price that we pay at the pump.

Now on to the bad guys across the the pond in the Mideast and elsewhere. The sell the stuff at a higher price because they know we need it right now. With that the price goes up due to demand for the product. With that said it makes them rich beyond belief, and us suffering through it all being forced to pay the price because of the earlier talking points. They know what our situation is and they are using every opportunity to ram it down our throats right now because we know that if it wasn't for oil, there would be nothing out there except a bunch of sand and nomadic huts sheltering the masses looking for water. Which brings me back to Congress.

Why in the heck is Congress trying to point the finger at Big Oil for profiteering and sueing OPEC? I have no clue on this but I can only reason that it's because they are trying their best to deflect the issue from themselves mishandling the whole situation. Heck, oil wasn't even $30 a barrel back in 1999. Something is up and a good place to start is right at our elected officials who are mostly Democrats with no real experience in the field.

My solution come November is hire new people if it's possible. Drill for oil where we please and use every bit of technology and know how and go to reasonable alternative solutions before it really gets out of hand. This will be the only solution from becoming dependent on others for resources and putting us back on the map as a leader in World Affairs.

Investing update

2008-05-16T10:28:00.000-07:00

SBUX (200 shares) = bought in at 32.50, value is 16.56 = 3312.00.
WM (100 shares) = bought in at 17.19, value is 10.47 = 1047.00
Cash = 284.00 Put into = 770.00

Portfolio Total = 4643 (down 51.6%)

Currently looking at reit's LXP and BDN as next company to add into portfolio.

If the shoe fits

2008-05-16T06:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, President Bush made a speech in Israel that inflamed the Democrats at home. Especially those that are the central figures in government. What the Democrats don't realize are two things: That George was telling the truth, and two (listen closely) he named no names. So it begs me to answer the question of the Democrats, who is Bush talking about.

If it's Obama, than let us know why you want to meet with the enemy face to face with no preconditions? Or if it's Carter or Pelosi, why are you trying to circumvent our current foriegn policy and trying to establish one of your own with Hamas or Syria? Or the many others that want to try and talk things out instead of stating the truth.

The thing Bush is trying to say is the Appeasement absolutely does not work and that history can prove that. That's the truth the Democratic Party does not want to listen to. They want to talk things out and try and reason with people when these people do not want to listen. It's a simple fact of life that has been their nature for the past sixty years.

As General von Clausewitz put it, "War is an extention of Politics when diplomacy does not work." That is the reality, plain and simple. It's not a fantasy where we are all nice to each other playing patty cake all day long submitting to the whims of the socialist agenda.

We have to make sure history is not repeated and make sure the best people are running the USA. In my opinion in this dire time, we definately do not need people like Obama or Clinton selling us out to the foreigners trying to do harm to us.

Mark my words, on this, Either one of them gets elected with a Congress that is Democratic, we will suffer another attack on US interests and the War on Terror, and possibly elsewhere is going to get worse.

A message to the Left

2008-05-15T09:46:00.000-07:00

The following was written to Mr. Olbermann of MSNBC this morning. Please forgive the errors in the message, but I wrote it as I was just disgusted over his comments about our President.

Mr. Olbermann,
You and the leftist media has brainwashed the American public since the Vietnam War when Walter Cronkite had falsely stated the VC were going over the Embassy Wall dyring the 68' Tet Offensive. We were winning that war and the media lost it for us as the media is losing it now for us when we were winning this war in Iraq.

Even though we have made missteps along the way our intentions over there have been just. Read up on your history regarding President Clinton's inaction in the region over Saddam's violations of UN resolutions and now we have a President that is taking care of business where business wasn't taken cared of during a faulty Presidency.

If you reread your history of the Clinton Administration, Clinton should have been impeached for not attacking terrorism when it hit us on 8-10 different occassions during the 1990's. Remember the USS Cole, or the first bombing of the WTC in 1993. At least we have a President taking care of business now and he should be admired for doing the job where others were unwilling to do.
I know you won't want to see the truth on the matter even if I were to add that Clinton wanted to make war back in 1993 in Iraq or restate in 1998 with his Desert Fox memo yet again for enforcing UN resolution. We tried it that way, handling it through the UN. Now we are handling it our way.

If a Democrat becomes President, he will apprease dictatorship and terrorists alike. Much the same way Chamberlain did in 1938 with Hitler. As an American, a realist, and a Republican I will make every effort as a citizen to not repeat the mistakes of the past.
Understandably, you won't read history and realize the truths that we Conservatives wish to correct and make true. Understandably your twisted and brainwashed thought process won't realize that if we appease we will lose. And lastly, understandable, you won't read a simple history book and learn the actual truths on matters that really mean something for our future.

So, I part knowing you are uneducated as you are unwilling to learn anything more that a PoliSci 101 class.

Sincerely,
James Hulslander III

As you can tell, I was quite pissed

West Virginia and the Fallout

2008-05-15T06:56:00.000-07:00

Well folks. I meant to post this yesterday morning, but glad I didn't as a result of what happened in the afternoon.

First, Hillary picked up another 20 delegates from the great state of West Virginia. Congrats to that and the one SuperD she got yesterday. But the bad news cam in the fact that Sen. Obama picked up three SuperD's as well as an endorsement from John Edwards. If Edwards delegates sway to Obama, than we are right back to zero as his 19 delegates cancel out Hillary's gain from her victory.

She vows to fight on, which actually is a good thing for the GOP as the Democrats can't move on in full until she decides to drop out. And with her moving on, she has decided to still fight it out until the bitter end despite her being behind roughly 160 delegates.

It's a long shot, but there may be a solution for her to win it all prior to the Convention. the answer is Michigan and Florida. Their delegates must be represented and in my view if not it is a violation of a whole bunch of voting and civil rights acts from the 1960's. So that is where I think it'll play out in the end and if she wins on that argument she wins the nod.

Either way, the Dem's should lose the fight as McCain is more likeable in general and has more experience.

There is addition fallout as we lost another GOP fight to a Dem in Mississippi for a House seat. that total now stands at 236-199 and with the coming election we could lose alot more than that. Let's just hope for the better everyone and do our best to support the ones we really want in office at all levels.

Sex for sale

2008-05-15T06:47:00.000-07:00

Actually it isn't that. But in recent history the idea of selling coffee with a peek of unclad women has become a new trend in the Northwest. I haven't had the desire to seek out or buy coffee from one of these establishments, but it has entered a site along my route to work. So for those readers in the De Moines/Midway area of Metro Seattle it's on Pac Highway if anyone is interested.

Who knows I might just grab a cup of coffee just for the sake of curiousity.

Skipping a tourny

2008-05-12T07:07:00.001-07:00

I decided last weekend that I am going to skip this weekend's tournament as I am totally unprepared. With that said, I will not make that proof positive that I won't attend, but that is my feeling for right now.

However, my correspondence tournament is going well for the most part. Everything is as planned for most of the matches and I see myself surviving most of the openings. Who knows, I might actually pull one win out of this. Nonetheless, I'm pleased.

The Weekend

2008-05-12T07:03:00.000-07:00

While my wife was away on vacation I was at home screwing around. Actually I wasn't as I had to make sure stuff was getting done. Clothes and dishes are put away and the lawn was mowed. I even went to the grocer for some eats. Other than that nothing new went on.

I guess my life is pretty boring. Anyway that is how a usual weekend is when I'm alone.

Cheers.

Eternal retirement

2008-05-06T10:05:00.000-07:00

BooBoo Malone 11 Jul 94 - 05 May 08, so the record says.

From the moment she was born our cat was born into retirement. She was the cat that my wife bought at Animal Kingdom in Chicago, and it was me that BooBoo adopted shortly after we married. Even though we believe she is older she died short of her 14th Birthday. To us she was our cat and we pampered her alot. She always loved us, and sometimes we suspect that she actually understood us when we talked to her.

In her last years she fought to stay with us and moved to Seattle, and then again to Tacoma to enjoy bigger diggs. She slept, ate, moved around a little, and even pooped and peed when she needed to. She will be known to us by several nicknames we handed her over the years. Princess Dander, Iron paws; which was later changed to Heavy paws, and even known as Devil cat to a close friend of ours.

Her last moments were with family and she died peacefully the way a pet should go. We'll miss her dearly, but she will always be in our hearts from now on.

And to her, Good night. We love you BooBoo.

Ironman

2008-05-05T06:58:00.000-07:00

This movie was pretty good with one little problem, and If you haven't seen it I'm spoiling it for you.

The Superhero is never supposed to reveal his identity. Plain and simple. It's wrong. It's stupid. Most of all, it's arrogant.

That's it.

Democratic Race so far.

2008-04-30T07:16:00.001-07:00

So far the delegate count, per CNN is this: Obama - 1727, Clinton - 1589 as of today. That is a 138 delegate for the front runner with nine contests remaining. I agree with everyone else as this will be fought to the bitter end.

With te recent incidents regarding Rev. Wright in the past two weeks, it has done considerable damage to Obama grabbing the nomination and as for the next to states this is how I think it will play out. Indiana = 60/40 Clinton, N. Carolina = 50/50 tie. That would be another 14 delegates going toward Clinton cutting the lead to 124 with seven primaries left. Both would have to rely on the superdelegates to put them over the top as Florida and Michigan do not count. Had those two states counted Hillary would have already had this process sewn up by now.

The magic number when the primaries are finished would be for Obama to reach 1900 by 03 Jun 08 and Hillary to do her best to get to 1800 or better and finish strong. From there it'll be fought out on the convention floor the better man (or woman) winning.

Whoever wins though, that person will be terribly bruised for the n general election in November.

All comments are greatly appreciated.

Section 07N09

2008-04-30T07:13:00.000-07:00

Hello chessfans,

Well, today ended my section in correspondence chess for this tournament. I resigned my position after a gambe did not work and therefore came out of it +1=1-4. For those who do not know the lingo, that translate to 1.5 /6. Which is not a bad result after my first CC tourney in 10 years.

Lester, with that win I hope your other matches go well. Well fought.

UW Tacoma

2008-04-29T11:19:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, I was accepted at the UW. I just want to thank my for her support on this matter, along with all the work she did to get me in. The rest of it is on me, as it's always tough for a conservative in a liberal environment.

Enough said on that matter.

Israeli aparthied

2008-04-28T08:12:00.000-07:00

My wife and I were shopping in downtown Seattle over the weekend and saw a couple protests going on. One of them was completely laughable as it was protesting Israeli apartheid. These left wingers must either not have learned their history or they are absolutely stupid and listening to the media as that were the truth.

So here is a little history lesson. Israel was created on 15 May 1947 and from that moment forward they have been at war on several occassions. And in each occassion they have won, only to survive in a hostile neighborhood where the whole Arab world hates their guts. They lose one conflict they will be wiped off the map for good. Paraphrasing here since I watched "60 Minutes " last night.

But in saying that I think everyone on the left is taking their cues from the recent visit of President Carter. They should heed his actions from the 70's as bad foreign policy and inaction. I won't go into any detail, except that visiting a known organization which promotes terror is bad business. These people throw out the opposition by tossing them out of windows. It's totally uncalled for.

The left has gone to far on that one.

Pennsylvania

2008-04-23T07:06:00.000-07:00

The Penn State primary proves that Hillary can still fight and that Obama cannot seal the deal with winning the nomination. She was able to fight back and even though it wasn't much, atch up in the delegate count a little. That will be determined today.

What it did show was that a few things are happening:

1. People are finally starting to see who Obama really is - a Marxist playing the smooth card and hanging around the wrong people.
2. Rush Limbaugh's Operation Chaos is working. 10% of those that voted were GOP screwing up the system.
3. That there is still a lot of fight in Hillary to make a go of it at the convention without either one of them winning the nomination beforehand. Note here: Michigan and Florida would have been Hillary's if the DNC allowed the count and she would have already won by now (I wonder what Dean is up too).

Anyway, the Democrat party will be in shambles with the Elitist Left and the Hawkish Left spliting the party in two, proving once again that they will be beaten up so badly that any showing in the National Election will prove futile against a well rested McCain. And he knows how to play dirty if he wants to.

All I can say is thank you Hillary for taking the state. Even though we don't like you, we don't like Obama more. Win more states - That's all I have to say.

Seahawk football

2008-04-23T07:01:00.001-07:00

Before I get into topic, I want to mention I've been a huge Seahawk fan win or lose. They are just a great team to root for.

Yesterday, the Seahawks made the best decision in three years by letting RB - Shaun Alexander go from the team. Injury plagued for the last two years has proved to much as we have missed the big dance (Superbowl) the last two years. The signing of Julius Jones and TJ Duckett sealed the deal when they both came onto the team earlier this year.

It basically came down to economics and performance, the latter being the bigger deciding factor.

In parting, I do want to say that Shaun was the best RB we ever had, but do yourself a favor and retire in your prime instead of hanging around a couple more years.

A thought on chess

2008-04-22T07:24:00.000-07:00

Admittedly I have not read any of my books which is a bad thing as of late as there are a couple of tournaments coming up in May. However I have kept up with my correspondence and blitz chess and even keeping notes on a couple of the matches.

In the next couple of weeks I am going back to the drawing board in relation to the Caro Kann Defence more so than the Torre Attack or the Dutch Defense. It's just a matter of learning the basics in the material. But I know once the effort is put forth, I'll be able to get something from it.

The two tournies that are in May are an U1200 G/75 in Seattle and I think the Evergreen in Tacoma a week later. The first one is the easier of the two, but the circumstances will be the same. I miss one match so I can be home early. However the second one is local and I actually prefer staying in town. All in all it's still up in the air.

Regardless, I do have to study and I have to put forth the effort.

Along came winter

2008-04-21T16:33:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend in Seattle and up north we got a winter blast of seven inches which lasted the weekend. For those of us who lived in Tacoma, we only got a flurry. But it begs the question; is Global Warming true or not?

I for one do not believe in the warming hoax as there is not enough science to prove one way or the other. I do however believe in everybody doing their part to recycle as we have been doing the past thirty years and not abusing or wasting everything we get our hands on. That to me is effective enough.

I really want your thoughts on this so please reply.

Small time investor

2008-04-18T06:54:00.000-07:00

I've never written anything regarding investing on this blog and I think it is time to do so considering that we are in the middle of a readjustment phase in our economy. I want to make it very clear to everyone that I've made mistakes on investing, but have learned from them over the course of ten years. In saying that... do not regard anything as I say as an expert opinion as they are only personal thoughts.

BUY the heck out of stuff and watch your investment grow. Enough said?

Realizing the fact that my shares are right now in the dumpers, I recently decided to take action on one of the companies I own. That company is Washington Mutual. It is currently 80% down from where I originally bought into it at $39.50 +/- a share a few months back. I picked up enough shares recently at $10.50 to cost average my investment to just under $18.00. Therefore, I am only a few dollars away from breaking even. I know it's a tough pill to swallow, but like Starbucks (bought in at $32.50 +/-) is also in the dumpers as well sitting in at the under $18.00 mark as well. It's a buy and hold time right now, and my advice is to buy what you can and hold onto it unless you really need it.

So here is my current portfolio information for everyone to very from tis date forward with a full report on the negatives as well.

200 Shares - SBUX at 18.05 = Value at $3610 (down $2890)
100 Shares - WM at 12.19 = Value at $1219 (down $572)
Cash account = $85
Cash put in 2008 = $670

Original value of portfolio = $9046
Current Value = $4914
Gain/Loss 2008 YTD = (54.3%)

That my friends is a hefty loss so far, but mark my words, it will be recovered.

As for the future operations of my investments I am currently looking at the REITs, Casino operators, and the Big Name companies that I would currently use in my daily life (per the Motley Fool). Meaning I'm headed back to my roots and old phylosophical style of investing (meaning brick and mortar companies).

Let me tell you right up from that I'm not selling SBUX or WM anytime soon as I believe in these companies and know that I'm in it for the long hual. I hope that investors out there are in it for the long haul as well.

Take care.

Last Night

2008-04-17T07:10:00.000-07:00

My wife and I watched Rush Hour 3, which is a decent comedy, but obviously not a great movie. My wife mentioned she wanted to see what Paris looks like as we are going there this Fall.

When the movie finished we split our time watching the debate and American Idol and both were comical in thier own rights. Idol finally voted off Miss Cook which in my opinion was the obvious choice, and if I had my way both of the candidates would have been voted off the debate last night as well.

Not one answer from what I saw made any sense.

On the economy, Obama could not agree with Charlie Gibson that the lowered capital gains tax actually generates more revenue. He wanted to say something in regards to reading an article and raising the tax level to roughly 28%. A bad move in my opinion.

On the person themselves. Clinton actually took the high road and said that her Bosnia gaffe was a mistake along with admitting to having a lot of baggage. I guess she knows why half of us hate her and the other half love her. Obama justs wants to move forward and try and side step his association with Rev. Wright and Mr. William Ayers ( a known US terrorist). He never really discussed the issue.

Foreign Policy: Clinton was a bit stronger, but both of them failed as they cling to their defeatist comments, except in regard to Israel. Clinton would actually back the country up, whereas Obama would take appropriate action (means doing nothing) if attacked by Iran.

About the only thing I agree with, in part, was the Social Security agenda of Obama, but in the same breath I would disagree with the cap issue that was associated with it. At least he has a desire to fix it.

Raising taxes is something they both want to do. WRONG.

The rest of it was hogswash.

Discuss if you want to. I'll reply to each one who does.

Cowboy Diplomacy

2008-04-17T07:04:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm stealing this analogy from a commentator here at home. David Boze mentioned last night, railing the Left, with this explaination of what Cowboy Diplomacy really is.

Cowboy Diplomacy is saving the day, getting the girl, being there to see the job get done, and knowing victory has been achieved. It's not a defeatism as the Left would like for you to believe. Whether right or wrong it's an attitude that we'll always be there for the little guy and always know the difference from right and wrong. Even knowing the mistakes and correcting them along the way.

That's what Cowboy Diplomacy is and I would challenge anyone on the Left to say different.

Debate

2008-04-16T07:06:00.000-07:00

There's a debate tonight. Yippee!!!.

We get to watch two grown men (sorry about that Hillary, but you can fight back) duke it out again on the public stage with verbal assaults and menacing uppercuts. It'll be fun to watch if I get the chance to do so.

I'm hoping it goes the distance because I want to watch the bloody themselves a little. It all makes McCain that much more palatable later on in the election season.

And can you believe what the Democrats want. They want there to be a clear winner before the convention even starts up. Imagine that when the two people do not want to relent and give in.

Oh well. We can only hope that Pennsylvania keeps the process going for Hillary as shehas fell behind on the delegate count. If she gets the state, it won't be an outright win for her as it would be another proprtional victory.

We'll see, so tune in later.

Back from my break

2008-04-16T06:59:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone.

Yesterday I came back from my short break in Texas. My wife treated me to a weekend to anywhere I wanted to go that I hadn't been to yet, so I picked San Antonio. I've been through the great state before but never got aound to see the sights and this time I wanted to see something.

The Alamo. You know the place where John Wayne made himself even bigger. It's a sight to see and a must see if you are ever in the area. A lot of history behind the monument. The other places we went to were the LBJ Library and a Texas sized fault line in San Marino or someplace like that. I really did appreciate the Library most as it was an unexpected visit on or short trip.

That that I've been back home I'm having to catch up on a few things... like chores and such.

A question posed

2008-04-10T06:54:00.000-07:00

I routinely read Susan Polgar's blog from this website and a question was asked of her readers, who would be McCain's VP choice. A bunch of replies stated that Condi Rice would be the best one out there since a lot of ideals are shared.

I tend to disagree that she is the best choice. Here is the reason why. Although I am a huge supporter of President Bush, McCain has been very vocal in wanting to separate himself from the administration. Condi Rice is a big part of Bush's team and with the statements of separation, she would be the wrong choice.

My choice, Mitt Romney, would be the wrong choice as there have been many quarrels between the two men and nothing is easily forgiven. Even if it's stated publically.

McCain's choice would have to be someone that is very conservative and be able to bring in a region of the country (the South). Ultimately, that person in my opinion would be Governor Crist as he was the first real conservative to endorse him through the primary process.

But who knows at this moment. All we know is the McCain has another two months of "Free Time" to sort things out before the gloves come off. So He better make the right choice.

Moses

2008-04-07T07:36:00.000-07:00

Charlton Heston is larger than life. Better yet, large enough of an individual to play Moses.

I think his importance in politics is of much greater appreciation though. Affiliation aside he was a staunch supporter of Second Amendment rights and believed in the cause 100%.

He'll be missed both on and off the screen. And the next time the Ten Commandments or The Planet of the Apes is on I do plan on making time to watch either movie.

Dropout rate

2008-04-02T13:37:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since my last post and I regret to inform everyone that I just haven't been keeping up with current events.

This posting is just a spout off on the education system.

Can you believe that the drop out rate from high school has risen in recent years. Heck, Detroit's dropout rate is over 75% of all students graduating. That's deplorable. I guess no one wants to take responsibility for it. At least George W. Bush is making an attempt with his "No Child Left Behind" Act. It has it's problems, but at least it's an an attempt. Anything is better than doing nothing.

Personally speaking, if I had the education behind me I might consider it, but the state I live in absolutely sucks in the needs of both the students and the educators. No one government anywhere in the USA pays enough to make it worth one's while to teach, and the students just don't give a shit anymore... So I guess I'm sort of glad that I'm old enough to not really care, even though privately I do care.

I can say this much right now. There is no incentive to either teach or learn. And in order for anything to work, there has to be a complete overhaul at the State (not Federal) level to make things work.

So if there are any State officials out there that care read the following.

Be Responsible.
Make people (Parents, students, everyone) responsible.
Raise the pay rate for teachers. Make it worth a person's time to teach.
Make it available to the public - a bootstrap program for adults that want to teach, but don't have the education to back it up
Raise the bar on the students. Don't lower standards.
Most of all... get everyone involved in the process.

That's all I have to say on the matter. Because if we do not do anything about this problem, we'll have more to worry about than a "recession".

Global warming

2008-03-28T13:32:00.000-07:00

I'm here in the Seattle-Tacoma area and it's snowing right now as I type this post. What's up with all the snow falling around us. It's snowing, and Al Gore lied to us. How dare he. And I bet he cannot explain this one off to much.

Global warming is a farce by the Left to grab as much money out of your pockets and make a so-called effort to reduce CO2 gases. What a crock of S$#t this theory is. And if it were true, I'll be long dead anyway to really care.

I will however let everyone know I do recycle, only to save the environment though. But I will never ackowledge the extent of this leftist effort to enforce it.

I'm pissed.

Cheers

Sniper fire

2008-03-26T07:19:00.002-07:00

If she was ducking and running and running and ducking... I think I might believe her. She walked along with Chelsea in tow which makes her credibility on foreign policy very bad. Hillary. I know it's human to exaggerate a little, but sniper fire. come on, woman. At least make it believable.

And with regard to your N. Ireland trip that time. What exactly did you do besides have tea with a bunch of women. Meet schoolkids that were oppressed by protestant rule. Nahhh.

I'd like to see you squirm out of this one. You didn't even have to open your mouth as Barack had erred over his pastor's comments. Your best call would have just not talk at all.

Chalk another one up for John. He's not saying anything and quietly making his Presidential campaign rounds. Did you hear the one on his economic proposal? He will not be bailing anyone out. That's a strong comment, and a good one. And his foreign policy experience. Time honoured and tons of experience. Something niether one of you Dems have. Despite the fact I have issue with him at times. At least I'm able to compromise with him on that.

Shame on you Hillary. All you had to do was say nothing.

My first win

2008-03-25T07:29:00.000-07:00

My first correspondence win came last night when I received Allen's postcard. He fought well and if anyone is interested I'll post the match in this post. Now he and I have one other match where he threw the book out again and the opening is developing really nicely. It's a true English opening against my Anglo Dutch Defence. We'll see who comes out on top in a few months.

Now here is what I promised. Allen H. v James H.:
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nc6 4. o-o Bd7 5. Re1 a6 6. BxN BxB 7. b3 e5 8. c3 Be7 9. d4 Bf6 10. d5 Bd7 11. a4 Ne7 12. Qd3 o-o 13. Be3 g7 14. b4 pxp 15. pxp Bg7 16. Nc3 f5 17. Bg5 Rf7 18. Qd2 f4 19. Rec1 h6 20. BxN QxB 21. Qd3 g5 22. Ne2 g4 23. Ne1 h5 24. Rc7 Qh4 25. g3 fxg 26. Qxg QxQ 27. NxQ h4 28. Nh1 b5 29. axb Bxb 30. RxR KxR 31. Rc1 Bf6 32. Rc7+ Be7 33. f3 gxf 34. Nxf Rg8+ 35. Kf2 h3 36. Ng3 Ke8 37. Rc8 Bd8 38. Ra8 Kd7 39. Nh4 Bb6+ ...White resigns.

If anyone out there can provide information regarding displaying the match on a blog please let me know.

Easter weekend

2008-03-24T07:14:00.000-07:00

Easter has come and gone and all is well.

Saturday, I worked in the yard with my wife. It was rather hard mowing wet grass, but it got done. Also dug out a window well which will be finished up next weekend. At least I found the water main. That will have to be insulated and buried again with rocks for drainage.

Sunday was our Easter get together and the food was great. My wife made one heck of a spread. My Grandmother's dessert was a big hit as well. At least everyone went home with a full stomach.

On other news my sister is driving back from Ft. Jackson with her husband and eventually they will settle in Medford, OR... where he is going to take up his new job as a recruiter. It'll be a tough sell, selling the Army, but he'll do a good job.

That's about it. Hope everyone who reads this is doing well. Take care.

New USCF rating

2008-03-20T12:46:00.000-07:00

Well Folks,

USCF made it official. The new rating is 1090. If it was not for dumb luck on both the part of my opponent and myself for seeing a finish I would have lost the match. Now I have another tournament to look forward too. the U1200 G/75 in North Seattle on 11 May 08.

I already have my answer for White. That is stick with the Torre Attack. For Black I am going to solidify, a bit more, my knowledge regarding the Caro Kann and Dutch Defence. I did not like getting creamed.

Regarding the Caro-Kann, my plan is to put a bit more effort into all the variations I lost too. Those being the Classical, Advance and the Exchange. As Steve wrote in his blog the Exchange variation is candy and I really want to thank him for providing the idea of puttingit into a Queen's Pawn Game with the KID. That was an excellent idea. For the Advance I picked up the idea of 3...c5. For the Classical I intend to do my best with keeping things static.

On the Dutch... I don't have a clue as of yet but I will be refreshing myself with the information I have and the correspondence matches I'm currently playing. The Leningrad Variation is rather adventurous and playable.

Well, that's it for my plans.

Musak

2008-03-20T06:47:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone from the spring side of Seattle.

On my way into work I listen to Glenn Beck who is probably setting the standard for conservative talk show radio, and I love it. He even adds Musak. Gotta love that.

Anyway, he hit a topic which I think needs to be aired out. Why is it possible for one person to set a double standard, and everyone else cannot do it. Case in point: Barack Obama who will not disavow his church for racial, inflammatory comments, yet he says people like Don Imus should be fired for what they say. It makes no sense at all.

I for one, am by no means condone what Don Imus said last year which got him fired, but he should never have gotten fired in the first place. His contract had that cluase which he abided by. However due to the public uproar (Al, Jesse) Don won his case in court. Thank God for free speech. But society today allows the setting of a double standard and it affects everyone.

One side can do it... the blacks, and the other side can't... the whites. How is it that the blacks can call themselves the N-word and call us whitey or cracker... but we can't say the same about them. Heck, we would be dead if that ever happened. And so goes Obama's free pass through the Democratic Nomination process and everyone thinks he can unite the people.

Well, those people who think that are dead wrong. He is probably the most devisive person out there right now as he used the race card more often than I can count. And his speech the other day proved that. He can't recall specifics about his Pastor's comments in church. Bullshit!!! He was sitting in that church for twenty years. He condoned every f$%king word Rev. Wright spoke.

It's time that we the people must stop the insanity and put this nation back on track despite whatever differences we may have with each other and not put a perosn like this in office. A double standard in a now politically correct nation has to be stopped.

Heck with that... if you don't like the way we live in our country, then move. I want us to get back to our political incorrectness where we don't reward everyone. I want the winner to get the trophy, not the last place team for participating. We have been handed the silver spoon, and the government is allowing this to happen.

As for me and my wife... we are in the process of getting out of debt. All we have left is paying off our home, a garage, and one car. After that we are free and clear... and I'll be the first one to say that we will help no one out that can't help themselves first. We paid our taxes and we paid dearly. and that paltry some of a rebate we are getting... it's not getting spent. It'll be invested.

So mark my words... Be as politically incorrect as possible. It's the only way we can save ourselves.

A must watch

2008-03-18T06:57:00.000-07:00

My wife and I just finished watching the miniseries "The Company", and it was an excellent representation of the Cold War and how the CIA and the KGB operated during this period. It actually made you think. Anyway, watch it if you get the chance.

Thoughts on Chess

2008-03-14T13:36:00.000-07:00

Here I sit dwelling on my past tournament which ended a six game losing streak. I find that although my score was a 1/4 result, I still have a lot to learn.

Probably the most important lesson is to learn a group of openings, go through the material slowly, and get the basics down pat. For example, I'm currently going through the Caro Kann defence, but haven't gone over the Exchange Variation material and I got hammered over an elementary mistake. Regarding the openings I chose to play the Torre Attack as white (along with the Colle and London Systems). There are some clever things involved that I like regarding them. On the black side of the board I chose the Caro Kann and Dutch Defences. The reasons are that the first is very solid, and the second is something you do not see often. As I've already stated above knowing the basics I got stomped on so it means I have more to learn.

Moving on to lesson number two. Tactics. Simply put, tactics, tactics, tactics. The middle game is where the real stuff happens and it's not enough to know how to play the opening. There are numberous internet sites and books which provide good puzzles and such and reviewing them daily is best. If at first you do not succeed, just try again. It'll come.

Lesson three. The endgame. A really good resource is Silman's endgame course. It's totally awesome if not the best book out there. Pawn endings are a must. Thank god for winning that last game. it was the extra pawn that did it for me.

Now for the all important stuff outside of the above statements.

1. Play as often as you can. OTB, Blitz, Correspondence, etc. And if anyone says blitz hurts you in an OTB match... tell them to go elsewehere. It's better to get the mistakes taken cared of online in a quick match then OTB where it counts. Alot of mistakes can be solved. Which brings me to the next rule.

2. Study your material. Your matches tell you where you went wrong and the stuff is fixable. Even the won matches have errors. So look over your games.

3. At your match take your time selecting the best move possible. A good rule I use is sit on your hands if you get a little edgy. It helps you from making critical errors. And look over the whole board before you make that move. I lost a won position due to this error and hung a bishop. Rather foolish on my part.

4. I would suggest eat well and keep your eyes open for new ideas, etc. other than that nothing much else I can suggest, except to play strong if you want your goals met.

5. Just have fun, it's a great way to meet new people.

As for myself, Here are the results for the new year. +1, -6 to date. Last year was +3, -5, =2. That does not include the correspondence matches. Currently my rating is 1074 but I hope it goes up after the last tourney. As I set a high goal for myself (1400) I have my work cut out for me in order to reach it. If I don't I just want to be better than I was.

Question to those who read this: Any ideas how to play against the King's Indian Defense? What is a good resolution playing either the Torre or Colle System?

A hateful preacher

2008-03-14T06:43:00.000-07:00

Now is the time to bring up Barack Obama's past. His name is Pastor Jeramiah Wright. I hope I got that right. I only heard about him yesterday over the period of three radio talk shows and if this is the kind of rhetoric Obama has listened to over the past twenty years... then please vote for someone else.

One piece I heard was Pastor Wright preaching hateful comments about us bombing Japan and then twisting history to state further that we support state sponsored terrorism in Palestine is just plain wrong. This person should know a few things about history.

First is the Japanese attacked us first at Pearl Harbor on 07 Dec 1941. We ended it by having to nuke them to submission. State sponsored terrorism is on the part of the Muslim nations. Not our support of Israel trying to survive in a very hostile region of the world. Anyway, if a collective of five Arab nation cannot defeat one tiny army back in 1967, then they aren't worth their salt in doing anything significant besides blowing people up in an uncivil manner.

It finally made me wonder why Michelle Obama made those comments about being proud of America for the first time. Whether or not it was taken out of context is debatable, but if she supports the same rhetoric as this God forsaken pastor, then she has alot to answer for too.

Just the same... I would not want a President in office that will effectively dismantle any technological edge in defending this nation or preserving our sovereignty. It would be just plain wrong to have a person like Obama, who is radically leftist to run the country. At least Hillary thinks America is Great in her mind as well as those of us who are the common citizen.

God Bless America, and blog on.

Mississippi Burning

2008-03-12T20:20:00.000-07:00

Barack wins again and forces Hillary to stick around. This fight is getting pretty good and we get to see six more weeks of it before the Pennsylvania Primary next month. There is a blessing in al this though... McCain (not the best choice for the GOP) gets sixs weeks of free fund raising. Yippee!!!

Regardless of what delegates each of the Democratic candidates get they will have to fight it out in the convention because neither one of them (especially Hillary) is willing to relent.

Comments, dicuss it amongst yourselves...

And this Ferraro incident is the latest of occurances to take place with the race card brought up again. You cannot defeat an opponent like Obama on the race issue. You have to hit him where it counts - which is national experience. He has none and people all over America are under his awe and message of hope and change. People - wake the F**K up and get back to reality. He does not measure up - at all.

At least with Hillary you get a little more experience, but it isn't the 35yrs she claims. And don't you dare count her White House years.

Admittedly McCain isn't much better with his recent infection of liberalism but he is by far a better choice then the other two. Especially since he will have to reach out to the conservative base and compromise. Also his VP choice will be nationally known and of good stock as well.

Again discuss amongst yourselves...

I'll be happy to read any comments you have and reply back.

Ethics in government

2008-03-12T06:50:00.000-07:00

I know very few people have read this blog and as a private citizen I do this for my personal benefit for the most part. But a big part of me wants you, the public, to know that somethings have gone awry. A biggy is ethics.

Ethics in government has gone awry for sometime and it's latest victim, Eliot Spitzer (D) is having to learn a hard lesson. Or is he? People who hold public office must know that we the people put them in their seats of power to effective run the state or nation that we happen to be a part of. Therefore any illegal activity they commit is a crime and they should be prosecuted the same way as a private citizen. And if a private citizen were involved in prostitution as he was, the judgement would be of the severest extent of the law. And in hindsight (or foresight) I think Eliot Spitzer is going to get away with it and have his hand slapped.

Bill Clinton (D) was a victim for this as well, however he didn't have to pay for Monica sucking cock. He got it for free. The episode resulted in part to not managing his office and did not allow him to act effectively. Remember we were attacked by terrorists a couple of times during this scandal. He should have been charged with high crimes and misdemeanors for not protecting our sovereign assets abroad (most notably the Embassies in Africa or the USS Cole to mention a couple). His impeachment did not go far enough and all that happened to him was a slap on the wrist. And even though he was able enough to rise above the disgracement, he should have lost alot more.

Now, I for one believe that the sexual scandal(s) Bill was in are no different than Eliot's. They should have been charged accordingly. End of story. Any other person of a private nature would have been charged to the fullest extent of the law and these people we elect are getting away with "murder". It is unacceptable.

And in Bill's case, he should have been impeached and prosceuted long before Monica came around as he allowed terrorists to attack our interest on several occasions, obstructed justice in the Foster "suicide", and never had that rat bastard bin Laden killed by a sniper round because he wanted to play his round of golf. Heck, he even lost the codes our nuclear arsenal on one occassion. And if anyone cares to research this... please read Dereliction of Duty by LTC Patterson, USAF.

What I'm trying to say is, it is time to take our government back and not allow people in our government who promise us things and not provide it. Statement in point is when Bill promised us his government would be the most ethical one in history. He was dead wrong.

Hope to see the comments. Enjoy your day.

One word for Gov. Spitzer (D)

2008-03-11T07:01:00.000-07:00

STUPID.

NW Open

2008-03-10T07:27:00.000-07:00

My result from the tourney was 1.5/5 this weekend and I feared losing 7 matches in a row this year. Fortunately I broke the streak by the skin of my teeth. I have a lot to learm.

Rule one: Tactics, tactics, tactics.
Rule two: Learn the damn opening.
Rule three: Don't get greedy - You always lose.
Rule three (a): Sit on your damn hands until you are ready to move.
Rule four: Look at rules 1 through 3.

At least I know I can play an endgame.

Next lesson - Learn the Caro-Kann: Exchange Variation. I missed a huge tactical opening situation due to lack of experience and lost big time. Same thing goes with the Dutch Defence, but I not so much conerned with that one as it was a middlegame operation tactic I missed. That can be learned and corrected easily enough. Getting through the opening is more important especially if I want to be proficient at it.

Regardless, I'm satisfied with the result as I learned something from the losses. Which is actually a good thing. If it was due to stupidity than I would have been upset.

Anyway... onto the next match whenever that is.

Two months free

2008-03-05T07:25:00.000-08:00

Well... McCain did it and for his efforts in winning the nomination... he gets about two months free to raise money and firm up his agenda and pick a VP candidate. Most likely it will be either Crist or Romney.

On the other side of the fence they are still fighting it out. It's now a hard choice on who the winner will be and as for the campaigning.... they will be beating themselves up some more in a fist fight. It'll be fun to watch.

McCain... do the right thing and win this damn thing before it even starts. And don't forget to take a day off. You'll need it.

The Caro Kann

2008-02-27T06:55:00.001-08:00

I just sent in my replay against Robert in my new section and it's already at third move. Currently we are in the CK Advance variation 3...c5. I lose a tempo in the beginning but from all accounts I have read I'm in a good position as I still have my light squared bishop open for operations in the field. This is my first real competitive test of the variation and I hope to get through he opening with no real problems.

On other news I had to send a second note out to Gary to get our match started. It's been two weeks now with no word from him. Hopefully I'll hear from him soon.

Allen on the other hand is working well with his English. Where I threw a wrench into him, he threw one back because he avoided the QGD so far. I think he has every idea going into avoiding this... and it'll be interesting to see how it turns out. Fortunately with the two books on the Dutch and a full database on the Anglo-Dutch Defense I should be okay... as the themes are all the same from what I have seen.

The TV

2008-02-27T06:50:00.000-08:00

Did anyone watch the umpteenth debate last night? I hope not. They are just repeating the same old drivel as before and I can probably make this fact that more people watch Ameican Idol than the dabates by 5 to 1. I'd be in that category only because I've heard everything I wanted to hear from the Democrats and there is nothing new about what they have to say. Obama is the big Bully on the playground now and it's something we have to watch out for.

So... the next time I watch a debate will be after the nominations are in place. It's pointless until then. But then again, I should be doing something more pro active like reading or something. I guess withthe wife away, I have grown a little lazy. Fortunately the house has been kept clean for the most part.

More to come...

Anything and Everything

2008-02-22T06:45:00.000-08:00

It's been a short while since my last entry, and where has the time gone. Over the past week several things have happened. Kosovo is free at last. Yippee!!! Wonder what the Serbs will do next after trashing part of the US Embassy. Hillary lost again to the wunderkind. And to Randy on Air America - you said it wrong you bitch. It's pronounced Vunder-kint. Either learn german or shut the hell up.

Anyway Hillary's last stand will be in Texas... and fortunately we do not have to remember it. Personally I would love to see her win as Obama is extremely to far to the left. But it seems inevitable that he'll win the nod. On the other side of the coin McCain has had to deal with libel from the NY Times. Last time I read that piece of trach was the day before 9/11. And that was only a headline on a warlord in Afghanistan being killed off. Who knew.

On to the good news. My wife got a raise and a huge bonus. We went out to eat at a restaurant that appeared to be good but the food was crap. It seems that everything was store bought except the main course. So if you are in Tacoma, please do not go to MASA. It's way overpriced and the food overall is not good.

And on the chess news, I'm plugging away at my Caro Kann studies. It's going smoothly and I'm learning a lot of the main line stuff. It's a learning experience none the less. And my new section on C/Chess started off. Allen went for the English Opening 1.c4 and I replied 1...f5 to drag him out of book and get him into a QDG. I know he'll hate it, but I didn't want to tackle the English. The other two matches as black are a CK and a Dutch Defence. As white, I'm going after another round of Torre's again. I learned something that I known before in full detail. It's FLEXIBLE. If it doesn't go my way on the kingside, there is always the queenside. That's a good thing. Especially that won match I lost at the Tacoma Chess Club last month. I still think of that dropped bishop. Arrgh....

Enough musings for now. Write later. And comment please.

The weekend

2008-02-18T07:04:00.000-08:00

My wife and I started our weekend with a short day trip to Portland. It was one of those things we do just to get away and fortunately we made it very productive. We went to Powell's as usual and we both came home with something. My wife got a foreign language book and a couple of travel books to Brazil since she is going there in May. Myself, as usual I hit the Chess section pretty hard and got what I needed. One book on the Caro-Kann (I really should have picked up two), and one book on the Pirc Defence. I only got that as it looked interesting for a hyper-modern defence and it looks like a good alternative for me.

On other news... Allen started off our second match with the English Opening. I'll give hime credit for trying something new, but I used to play it a little and found it a tough fight. So I'm forcing him to transpose into a QGD since I'm starting out with the Dutch Defence. I'm still trying to figure out whether or not I should play the Stonewall or Leningrad variation.

I've only played the Leningrad Variation once and lost but it was a good result as I learned something from it from an aquaintance of mine at the Tacoma Chess Club. Stephen played the English as well and told me that my opening was extremely strong, but that I only missed on a tactical issue that lost the match. He walked me through it and stated that if I moved the queen to a better location (f7 instead of f8) I would have been okay. It's something to remember anyway if the same position comes up. But in the end I'm relishing another fight on my terms this time around.

On Sunday, we never got a chance to work on my wife's history as we did a few chores that needed to get done. The cars got washed and cleaned. The tubing in the basement got rerouted, and the garage was swept out and rearranged. And once we were done with all of that... I read a little on the Caro-Kann. I'll say this much... I have a lot to learn.

The Richardson Primary

2008-02-15T06:45:00.000-08:00

Really. It's actually New Mexico and Hillary won. After ten days the results are in and Hillary won. of the 26 delegates she gets 14 of them. Whoopdee -doo.

On the other side of the fence Romney got around to endorsing McCain. I think it was a class act even if they opposed each other on some of the issue.

But lets get back to the Democrats running for the nomination. I think it's going to be inevitable that Obama will win. He has the momentum, the whole hope and change spiel, and that's about it. Oops, I forgot to mention the Kennedy playbook. Campaigning 101. That's a must read. Don't forget to kick the woman while she's down.

End of that.

The Chesapeake Primary

2008-02-13T07:24:00.000-08:00

Let's just give our congrats to Barack and John for winning the Mid-Atlantic States yesterday. They'll end up winning the nods and I'll reluctantly vote for McCain as he is the better candidate when the election comes up... but I'm more dis-enchanted with this election because for whatever reason we are let with Second Best - again.

I see Obama and Clinton as left wing Socialists, and John has consorted with the enemy in signing on to some pretty lefty bills. Uncool. But we need to get back to our roots and the better of the two (three) of them is John. At least he'll put good judges on the bench.

Section 08N09

2008-02-13T07:18:00.000-08:00

Well I got my correspondence section yesterday and found out that I am up against some very stiff competion. I have not one, but two Grandmasters that I have to play against, and an Expert to boot. I see three losses on the horizon right away, but I'll give them my best games.

I do have the pleasure of matching wits against Allen again. My friendy Arch-nemisis from the great state of North Carolina. It'll be my second match playing black and I hope I get a good game out of it. Not that the first one isn't bad or anything, but our first match will probably end as a draw. I do hold the advantage though with two bishops vs two knights in our manic endgame.

It'll be interesting, because for those of you who read this blog, I'm switching up my defence from the Sicilian Najdorf to the Caro-Kann. There is less to remember.

The weekend

2008-02-12T07:13:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

Sorry for not keeping everyone up to date. The weekend was busy however and rather entertaining in parts.

For instance I went to my first caucus as a Republican under duress who put his support behind McCain for the first time. The only problem was my precinct were a bunch of Huckabites. I don't have a problem with that since I think he would do a good job as well, I just wanted us as the GOP to get to a national platform as quickly as possible.

On other news... my wife was working on her history and I did a few research bits for her as her schedule is really busy with work. She did get alot of stuff accomplished and I'm pretty proud of her.

As for the rest of the weekend, I spent the time reading and working on my opening chess studies for the next tournament. I'm a bit more prepared this time around but I still have a lot of work to do on the Caro Kann; especially the Advanced Variation. That is a real tough nut to crack with losing the tempo on the third move, but it does work if you pay attention. I guess that is why I signed up for another correspondence section.

The rest of the time was spent watching a movie and just being lazy. And trust me with keeping busy from my wife... I treasured the little time I had.

I'm upset

2008-02-08T06:53:00.000-08:00

I'm upset, angry, disappointed, disgruntled, and so much more. Why? Well, because my guy, Mitt decided to suspend his campaign for the sake of the GOP and the war. I do not like it one bit because it forces my hand to vote for the Republican who is infected with liberalism. I say this because at least McCain is tough on foreign policy and so much better then Huckabee.

Huckabee is one of those individuals who is going to say one thing and turn around and do something else. A clear example is him being a Baptist minister, and then supporting the decision of Lawrence v State of Texas. Look it up as Ann Coulter wrote a brilliant piece on it. But then again, I wouldn't trust her any more than McCain. But if that is the case there is no reason why we want Huckabee in a position that is very important to us nationally.

Even though a vote for McCain is engratiating... I have to pull the lever for him as he is the next best choice. And when you look deeper into him he does have an 82% conservative voting record despite his recent infection. Plus with him in charge, you will definately see a change in the Supreme Court leaning to the right if anyone retires. The marked contrasts between him and hillary or Barack are very stark indeed. For me that is enough but mark my words I'll watch him every step of the way too.

Being under duress at this time, I recommend voting for him as he is our last real hope in winning the election coming up.

What a mess

2008-02-06T07:10:00.000-08:00

The GOP finished up with the Super Tuesday stuff yesterday with McCain a strong first place and Romney a distant second, followed by Huckabee. Although the nomination process is by far from over, I think you will not have a clear cut winner by the time the convention comes around.

Oh I have a prediction of sorts too. If Hillary gets the nod then her VP nomination will be Bill Richardson of New Mexico. You might ask how I came up with that. Well, simply put, Bill Clinton watched the Superbowl with him at his place. Bill went to see Bill about a job offering.

Anyway, despite the backroom dealing and the finishes as they were, congrats to John for the delegates you got. I'm actually surprised you made it this far and rose like a pheonix... but don't count the other two out or rest on your laurels. There is still a race to be had out there.

The Caro Kann Advanced Variation

2008-02-05T07:01:00.000-08:00

Any help on this topic is greatly appreciated. I got slammed hard on it in my last match as I didn't know much about it, therefore working on it alot more than I was.

The variation of the Advance CK I am working on is 3...c5 recommended by J. Houska. It looks really sharp minus the loss in tempo. But I still need to sort a few things out.

Anyway all suggestions will be listened to, so please comment to this post.

It's Super Tuesday

2008-02-05T06:58:00.000-08:00

It's the big day for some of you and I want to wish all of you the best when it comes to voting for your guy or gal. Just please vote with the thinking that this is going to be the right person in office. And if you know someone is going to vote differently, do your best to convince them otherwise.

Unfortunately I have to wait until the weekend and when that happens I am going to talk up Mitt so much that I hope to sway at least one person.

Anyway, good luck and happy voting.

A good weekend

2008-02-04T13:33:00.000-08:00

Very little happened over the weekend, and personally that is the way I like it.

I watched a lot of news concerning the Super Tuesday contests and helped my wife with her history homework. She hates the subject, but I admire the fact that she is learning something outside of what she knows.

The Superbowl was an I don't care issue but the commercials were pretty good. And to top everything off, I hacked away at our rose tree yesterday as well. Overall, it was good and enjoyable.

A straight laced win

2008-02-03T08:27:00.000-08:00

Romney wins. Romney win. In Maine of course. The win to me shows that he is a better candidate than any of the others and as a result has moved up in the delegate count because of it. He is still second but the win helps him now.

Off to Super Tuesday and the three biggies on the GOP end of it are fighting it out for the votes of people in 20 states. It'll be a toss up as how to call it, so no questions of me as how it will end up.

I finally got around to seeing the debates over the weekend... and Mitt just looked better than everyone else with his answers. As for the Dems, they are just lost. No real answers and blaming everything on President Bush for it all. Don't they realize he has kept us out of harms way ith what he has done.

Anyway, that's it from Tacoma.

Lovefest in California

2008-02-01T13:37:00.000-08:00

I'll admit I did not watch the lovefest yesterday between Hillary and Barack. Nor did I entirely watch the GOP go at it either. As a matter of fact I fell asleep on that one. So no news to report there.

However, the endorsements of Arnold and Rudy went towards John McCain. I honestly think they are wrong and possibly sickened by liberalism as well. The most surprising response of the day was hearing that Ann Coulter would absolutely not vote for John McCain at all. I would partly agree with her on that statement, but I would rather see him in office than any other Democrat. That's if there is no choice on the matter.

I still think that Romney is the better candidate for the obvious reasons. That of being a real conservative. Plus he has learned from his mistakes and refocused on the primary goals of what the party is all about. And that is about it. Unless of course you do not want family values, tradition, and a strong balance sheet... then please vote for the other guy.

Cheers.

Make or break a us.

2008-01-30T07:10:00.001-08:00

That's was the watch wording of the McCain campaign in Florida. And fortunately for him he won the state and all it's delegates. However let me remind everyone that is or is not a conservative... his is a Liberal in the GOP. liberalism has infected this man and he is the wrong man to nominate for the Republican Party. And I'll give you three items to look at if anyone reads this which follow:

McCain-Kennedy = Amnesty for illegal aliens
McCain-Feingold = Stripping away our First Amendment rights
McCain-Lieberman = Adds a 50 cent gas tax per gallon.

This is someone we do not need in office even if the individual knows foreign policy. He does not know how the economy runs.

I'll give his kudos for winning the state.

Everyone, listen up. If you want conservatism injected back into the GOP, vote for Mitt Romney. That's all I have to say on the matter

Winner take all

2008-01-29T06:43:00.000-08:00

There are 57 delegates up for grabs and the primary at this moment is a toss up between two men. Huckabee and Guliani are pretty much out of the race as there is no steam in their compaigns anymore. As for Romney and McCain it's another story. McCain is the better beneficiary of getting the delegates as he is running short of cash. Romney getting them would just solidify his chances and he would probably run away with it during Super Tuesday next week.

Although for the Dems, Florida doesn't mean anything as those votes were stripped from them... Hillary stomped the state anyway just for show. She left South Carolina in disgrace over the race card and went on to California, but ended up in Florida. I personally think it's a good move on her part. Reason is even though Florida doesn't count in for the nomination, it does count for the General election. Unfortunately she still has to find her way and maybe even sit Bill out of the picture for a while.

But if there are any readers out there in Florida reading this... Please choose Romney. He's a better overall candidate based on his experience vs. McCain's liberal ways with taxes (ie: gas), immigration, and the First Amendment.

revisiting a 300+ point goal

2008-01-28T15:41:00.000-08:00

A resolution of mine at the start of the year was to jump 300 points on my rating and sit solidly at the 1400 point rating that I want by the end of the year. Having a dratic start, not to mention quiting a tournament did not help at all. And through all this I even lost about 20 points. So that effective puts me at 1065 +/-

So from here on out, this is the plan I am hoping to stick to:

1. Play a lot of blitz. It'll show me what does and does not work.
2. Stick with three opening: one for White and two for Black. Fortunately for me I already have the opening which are the Torre Attack, Caro-Kann and Dutch defences.
3. Study these openings as best I can.
4. Spend time learning tactics and positional stuff. Along with endgame studies.
5. When playing in a tournament take your time. Don't play to fast.
6. Pay attention to the board. It always changes from move to move.
7. Play some more correspondence chess. It'll help on the positional stuff.
8. And although this list may grow... to remember - Always have FUN!!!

There is a lot of reading material that I have to get too also. And I think outside of the opening books I have, I'm going to hit Silman's "Reassess Your Chess - Workbook" hard. And also to brush up on Nimzowitsch's book as well.

Hoping that helps everyone who is in the same boat as myself.

Gitmo and Habeus Corpus

2008-01-28T08:57:00.000-08:00

Ever onder why we have those prisoners at Gitmo? Here is the answer. They are off US soil for the simple reason that if they were here they would have the priviledge of Habeus Corpus which is for our citizens.

I was listening to NPR this morning for a laugh or two but was confronted with Keith Ellison - D of Minnesota who stated that these prisoners have rights. Guess what buddy. No they don't. Habeus Corpus is a priviledge and not a Right like you and all the other liberals would want it. I would suggest reading the Constitution. You might learn something. And on top of that we are in a time of war of which if we decided to impose it could suspend the document for the security of the nation. Which we are selectively doing.

And for those prisoners, I here they are getting fed pretty well anyway. And treated humanely. Unlike what they would do to us if they had the chance.

Cheers.

Vowing never to quit again

2008-01-28T08:46:00.000-08:00

That's right you heard it first from me. I played the second day of the tournament I was in on Sunday, and ended up with a devastating loss that bruised my ego and forced me to quit the tourney. I can only voice how angry I was after I left not looking at the board correctly and hanging a bishop. Especially in a won match. It was a really bad situation and I almost threw the board. But that would have really been awful.

Thank god I didn't go that far. Worse yet was that the person that beat me did his best to consoul my anger... and I fell into that lull of thanking him and being foolish enough to give away my little secrets regarding the Torre Attack. At least he was gracious in his win. Thank you Logan for the cheering up though.

Again, I vow never to quit a tournamrnt again. And that's all I have to say on the matter.

There are three things I did learn over the experience however. Don't let inexperience hamper you playing the match. Just play the best you can. Use time more effectively and search the board for an answer. Lastly, always pay attention. The board always changes and if you don't look you can hang something that you shouldn't have.

South Carolina

2008-01-26T17:34:00.000-08:00

I sit here during watching the polls on TV and it is a clear victory for Obama. I guess the slugfest helped Obama alot as Team Clinton made it a racial issue. Garnering 57% of the vote in a southern state means alot and will be a strong catalyst towards Super Tuesday.

Well, knowing the result, it'll be a bigger match up in the coming weeks for Obama and Clinton.

Congrats to Barack for the win and standing on the higher ground. Hillary, learn something from this as you won't last long if you keep up the current rhetoric.

Upsetting losses

2008-01-26T17:25:00.000-08:00

This weekend I am participating in a tournament here in Tacoma. I lost the first two matches and very frustrated with the second one since it was my bread and butter.

My first match was as black playing the Caro Kann advance variation. I'm not at all versed in it as I am right now studying the main line. I made some critical errors and fought through it but still ended up losing it. It was an experience none the less.

I played the Torre Attack with a frustrating loss to a King's Indian Defence. I should have played more cautiously and I made some errors I went, "Dope". I plan I to review this tonight as I do not want to fall victim to this sort of terror tomorrow.

Hoping for brighter times tomorrow. And I just have to tell myself I have to sit on the clock a little longer.

Cheers.

Stimulus and a Debate.

2008-01-25T07:03:00.001-08:00

Yesterday two things happened.

First was a stimulus package that will give every couple $1200. I'll say this to the Democratic Congress. It won't work. I know you have held my President hostage and forced him to sign this act of relief... but it won't work. The smart ones like me are not going on a spending spree when the check arrives. I'll be putting that money for my wife and I into our brokerage account (at least half of it) and invest it in something that matters. Our future.

And let me continue on with this. The owner of the company I work for had a few agreeing words with each other. The only people that the rate cuts help are those that have good credit. I must be the fortunate few that can actually look for a better rate, but waiting on next weeks rate cut to improve the mortgage on our home. This rate cut won't help the people with bad credit because with the banks in such disarray, they be asking for the higher rate from the populus. So again, only those with good credit will be able to afford homes and keep there way of life going.

Don't let the government fool you. Don't spend the money. Pay off the debts or save it. Protest them by not buying anything with it.

As for the debates. I didn't watch it, but have read the highlights. They were civil towards one another, and they were attacking Hillary and the Democrats. I think that since Florida is a winner take all state... it will be a tough call, but I'm putting my bet on either Romney or McCain. Either candidate could need the boost - McCain needing it more. But coming back into the debate... at least they were talking about the issue.

A little boy from Ohio

2008-01-25T06:59:00.000-08:00

There once was a boy who dreamed big and his name was Dennis. He grew up and was a mayor of Cleveland and then moved on to Congress representing his state. He voted on issue, mostly liberal, and to the public (at least the right) was on the wrong side of the fence. He decided to run for President. I don't recall how many times, but he was always bullied, and pestered. Then one day he found his wits and dropped out.

Well Dennis, there is always 2012. I'm laughing right now.

Learning history

2008-01-24T06:53:00.001-08:00

I came home from work last night and I saw my wife studying US history. It's her last class for her Masters and it's only because she needed a liberal arts subject to complete her degree. Guess what - stupid me said I'd help her if she took the course. Anyway she was actually reading the text, and was already into the "Guilded Age". Some ancient history I totally blanked on when she approached me on a question.

Anyway, I'm glad she finally started on it. Hopefully she learns alot.

Two Democrats and another dropped out

2008-01-24T06:42:00.000-08:00

I forgot to provide the news regarding the candidates. So here it is.

Fred Thompson -R dropped out of the GOP race as he hasn't been doing very well lately in the competition for getting the GOP nod. And here is what I think the problem was: He came in late, and he was slow to react to any of the punches or be a "bigger man" during the debates. I admire him being a conservative, but he gave the impression that he was lazy. No one likes to see lazy - And I'm the laziest of them all.

So where do Thompson's votes go. Everybody thinks its more or less going to be split between McCain and Guiliani. I think otherwise. I think it's going to be a pretty even split in thirds between Romney, Huckabee, and Guiliani. Reason I say this is that with McCain saying he is a conservative... take a look at his immigration record. Heck he sponsored it with the enemy. Ted Kennedy - D. So there it is.

On the other hand we were treated to a slugfest between Hillary and Barack during the debate on Tuesday. There is absolutely no love between them. And Edwards honestly thinks he represents the grown-ups in the race. Get real. The only benefit of the mudslinging here is that it really helps out the GOP. The issues are not discussed on your side of the fence, and everybody gets to see your true colors. At least Barack stood a little bit more on higher ground than she did.

That's it from the homefront here in the blue state of Washington.

Tuesday night

2008-01-23T07:01:00.000-08:00

As most nights, I come home from work after my hour long drive and I actually spend time with my wife. Regardless of whether or not we talk we know that there is a lot of love in the home. Last night we watched the third episode of the American Idol. Why I do not know, as last year I swore I would not watch it, but I must admit that the show has a lot of appeal. Whether it's actually listening to a really good voice or watching the panel humiliate the rejects it's all fun and games.

I even received a letter from one of my chess buddies telling me of his forgetfulness, which I thought was pretty funny regarding our chess match. Allen is becoming a great pen pal and if the opportunity presents itself I hope to meet the guy. We both think alike in some ways, and it's probably because we are both veterans. I honestly must admit I really enjoy reading his posts.

When it comes to our match though... it's a real toss up. We each have blown advantages and I think I'm the latest victim of the match. It's probably due to my lack of positional knowledge... but I'll find out whether or not I'm correct in about a week.

And finding out Heath Ledger died was only a blip on the radar. The guy is only an actor who made really good movies. Personally, there are other things to consider, but I do wish him peace. I know that sounds a bit rude and politically incorrect... but with the passing of my aunt Maria on 02 Jan 08, her death hit close to home as it affected me personally. She was one of my favorite relatives and I loved her no nonsense attitude. It was refreshing.

And if I paid any mind on Monday I would have watched the debates. I heard the Democrats real had a go at each other. I guess Hillary and Barack hate each other with a passion. Poor Edwards though. He is just being left on the side of the road as the who cares candidate.

Signing off.

A one hour drive and 350 pt. drop

2008-01-22T07:15:00.000-08:00

It took me little over an hour to drive into work today. I had to scrape a little ice off the windshield and off I went, north to Seattle. During the hour long trek I listened to Glenn Beck as I always do in the morning, and he was actually happy about the economy. He even said that it was probably a good thing that we are going through this economic downturn as it will only get worse before it gets better. And he said let the system heal itself, and not let anyone touch it.

I agree with most of what he said. But I would take it a step further. I say let everyone fix their own problems. If you got into a bad mortgage, blame only yourself and don't let anyone bail you out. If you got into bad credit, same thing. It should be your responsibility, not the government's to help you.

For instance, when I married my wife she was $47K in the hole. I supported her all the way on herself paying it off... and guess what? She did in little over three years. When we bought our second home she was down to her last $12K and we used our capital gains to pay that off.

That's how it should be done. ON YOUR OWN. And for that we as a nation should fix our own problems in this crisis and tell everyone else to back off. We shouldn't let foreign nations enter into our banks and having controlling interest. We shouldn't sell off our sovereignty. Or for that matter, a few other things I could list.

And God forbid the day the Democrats take office if that ever happens. A healthcare system that is nationalized would only further get us into trouble and bankrupt us.

Just save and watch... and if possible invest. It's the best time to do it.

After Nevada

2008-01-21T07:23:00.001-08:00

Here are the Presidential Race results to date:

Democrats: Obama-38, Clinton-36, Edwards-18. Edwards should really pull out to make the race a bit easier on the leaders.

Republicans: Romney-66, McCain-38, Huckabee-26, Thompson-8, Paul-6, Guiliani-1. Thank God Duncan Hunter left to save his reputation. Had he been a better candidate he would have been my choice. As for everyone else, it's really not a toss up as everyone wants you to believe. After the smoke clears from Florida the race will be between two or three people and only one (maybe two) have the funds to see it through Super Tuesday.

Just don't get hyped up by what everyone says about McCain. Although he has runn well, his steam can't last much longer. I mean, take a look at Huckabee. He only grabbed the one state and if it's still anyone's game... Rudy's strategy of wait until Florida might actually work, because he actually saved most of his funds til now.

Anyway... keep watch on what is going on and compare what they say against what the Dems are saying. And if you only look at the economy, be reminded that raising taxes is not a good thing.

Cheers.

Received a draw

2008-01-21T07:17:00.000-08:00

I received my first draw in playing Correspondence Chess. It's a thrill taking it as I played someone that was close to 300 points my senior. It was a good learning experience, and showed that when there is a will there is a way to get out of a losing position.

On other news Bobby Fischer passed away over the weekend. Died at the age of 64. With respect to how he changed the scope of chess he will not be a favored person I look up too. The reason behind this thought of mine is that he is anti-semitic, and probably anti american as well with regard to his statements following 9/11.

But I do wish that he rest in piece and that the good Lord forgives all of what he has said and done outside of the chess world.

The long weekend

2008-01-21T07:11:00.000-08:00

My apologies for being absent these past days, but I was on a short vacation with my wife in the State of New Mexico seeing the sites. We got to see quite a bit and visit a couple of Peublo Indian sites as well. I will admit that it was a very good trip for us with very little arguing as we used our new tomtom to do the navigation.

If anyone gets the chance go. It's worth it and the food is good and reall inexpensive.

Air America

2008-01-17T07:37:00.000-08:00

Last night I subjected myself to the ramblings of the liberal left. And the only reason was that I do not like basketball on the radio. It amazes me how people twist history. For instance, this person, Randy something-or-other was talking and she mentioned that the Supreme Court screwed up twice. The first, being the Bush win in 2000 when they had to enforce the vote and two the Nevada court not letting Kucinich debate the other night. Now paid TV does not have to abide by FCC and the ruling in Florida was to only make sure the count was correct. Bush won a legitimate Presidential Race.

So where does she get off by saying the courts screwed up. I guess when it comes to TV and Radio she wants the left leaning FAirness Doctrine enacted to squash the conservative talk show media. That's the only thing making sense and making money. NPR and Air America have consistently lost money lately.

But she does have the right to free speech granted. All I ask is speak the truth.

I had to get it out there for all of you. And if you have anything to say, just comment and speak your mind.

American Idol

2008-01-16T07:24:00.001-08:00

Last night I watched the first airing of the new season and actually plugged my ears up one time. I had promised myself not to watch it, but ended up doing so for reasons that cannot be explained. But I will assure everyone that reads this I would NEVER wax any hair off my body. That guy must have gone through some pain.

But this show is a tribute to capturing the American audience and is one of the great social experiments that is going on today in our society. Whether or not I view it anymore is very debatable, but at the same time I must admit it does have a little entertainment to it.

Anyway, enough said. Take care.

Michigan

2008-01-16T07:15:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone,

It was all about Michigan last night for the GOP. Mitt pulled in a gold medal there and collected13 delegates. He really had to win his home state and it showed. And it actually looked like he was having fun last night.

Last year before I started this blog I told myselfthat if Mitt won in a big state I would start contributing. He did and I am backing him up. My contribution may be small, but I know it will be put to good use now or later.

So here is the latest tally: Romney - 39, Huckabee and McCain - 19 each. The Democtats remain the same as I think they don't believe Michigan really matters.

But as Clinton signed on up there in name only, she did however collect 57% of a beaty contest vote. Did anyone notice that the undecided vote or voting for someone else was 43%. That to me is at the very least a negative to her in general and further proves my hypothesis that roughly half the nation hates her.

All in all everything went well last night and to Mitt. A Congrats from the Blue State of Washington. Hope you make a trip out here soon.

The housing crisis

2008-01-15T07:24:00.000-08:00

I'm driving into work and listening to the radio and the topic on the Glenn Beck Show is the housing crisis. I agree with him let the people and the banks suffer. They are the ones who got themselves into the mess. The government can't be there to bail everyone out.

Take for example my wife and I. We have a good fixed rate mortgage, some debt, alot of savings (if we need it). But we know we are able to pay everything off if need be and remain solvent. That's because we are fiscally responsible.

Now we have made mistakes. The biggest one right now is with our personal investments in the banks. We are showing a huge negative with Washington Mutual and Starbucks, but we are sticking to our guns and buying more of it as we believe in the rule of cost averaging. It's something I learned from when Altria almost knuckled under back in 1998... and I found out that they were a cash cow. I bought as muchas I could and was rewarded handsomely. It helped pay for our first home, which we sold of course for someting a bit more comfortable.

I may be wrong in the coming weeks but if I am at least I know that I can't blame anyone else except myself. I can assure everyone that reads this that I will not be asking the government to bail me out of a decision I made. And you shouldn't do that either - being bailed out that is.

The economic decisions that the democrats are making like this will hurt our country and and progressive policy they make should be listened to and serious scrutinized. Don't let them do it.

'Til next time.

Insomnia

2008-01-14T07:26:00.000-08:00

Last night I was so unable to sleep. Or I should say I slept, but was continually tossing and turning. I went to bed trying to figure out the Caro-Kann Defence from the White perspective. I found this variation that I want to use in the Panov Attack which preserves the c4 pawn by advancing it to c5.

Figuring out the move order is pretty simple in the opening and there is a little play with it. If possible if there is someone out there that can provide a little analysis, please contribute to this post. The variation I am looking at is the Gundaram (possibly mispelled) with 5...c5.

Catching up

2008-01-14T07:14:00.000-08:00

14 Jan 08:

As I mentioned before, I delated this blog and thought I should start over. So this post is all about catching up on the personal stuff that happened so far to date.

Very little actually has happened. The biggest of which was that my favorite aunt, Maria passed away on 02 Jan 08 of cancer. She was a very beautiful woman who was always upfront and frank with you regarding any issue. And most of all she could laugh at anything. I'm proud of the fact that I was able to get to know her as a true person who never hid anything.

Onto the other stuff: New Year's Resolutions. Everybody makes them and I'm no different. This year I only made the ones I'm pretty sure I'm going to keep. 1) Work on the house: replace basement windows, possibly floor the kitchen and paint the garage. 2) do my best to keep my wife happy. I say this because I hate getting into arguments with her or see her angry. And 3) A personal goal of being more proactive this year in the community and the two things that come to mind is participating in Chess (you read the goal on that already)... and being more politically active.

Other than that I only have to catch up on my reading of several books. The first of which is to finish off "1776".

I guess that's it for this post.

2008 Goals in Chess

2008-01-13T17:19:00.000-08:00

13 Jan 08:

For those who are interested I play chess and currently I have two ratings. Over the Board: 1087, and Correspondence: 1385. My goal for this year is to reach 1400 for both. If I play enough chess I can make it and I think reaching that rating is reasonable.

As white I currently play the Torre Attack. I'm pretty well versed in it and have very little trouble at the level of play I am at. As Black I play the Sicilian Najdorf and learning the Caro Kann. I am planning to switch over to the CK as there are fewer variations and it is very drawish with the potential of playing for the win if the opportunity presents itself.

The studying is pretty routine as I am doing some overview work and playing online quite abit. I am hoping to play one person this year by the name of John who solely plays the CK. So I am looking at playing the Panov Variation (with a twist) against him if I ever get the chance. I'll key everyone in if it ever happens.

As for what is current I am working on three Correspondence matches from last year. I lost three games so far in that section and playing the remainder, of which I am looking for at least a win and maybe a draw to finish of the section.

Anyway, if you have any comments regarding chess, please let me know and I'll do my best to answer them.

The Primary race

2008-01-13T09:25:00.000-08:00

13 Jan 08,

Hello everyone.

At this time we have gotten through two (three for the GOP) states and Michigan, Nevada, and South Carolina are coming up really soon. The leaders are as follows: Democrats: Clinton-25, Obama-24, Edwards-18. Republicans: Romney-24, Huckabee-18, McCain-10.

As we all know the polls don't mean squat. Hillary proved that with her moment of crying before the New Hampshire Primary. To those who might vote for her, please reconsider. I implore you as she is not believable - at all. Fortunately she cannot do that too often in public. And someone should really ask her about her 35 years of experience. I can count only 7 years as Senator. Where are the other 28 years? First Lady and travelling with Bill doesn't count lady.

As for Obama. Change and Hope is a really good message. But what is you plan? Tell me. All I've heard is nothing. Except Social Security, and your answer on that was pretty solid, but lost in the rest of the non-sensical Change and Hope message. Please tell us some policy stuff.

Edwards. Not much there except $400 haircuts and ambulance chasing. And the best man on that side of the fence, Richardson, went back to being Governor of New Mexico. Essentially not one Democrat has a clue as what to do except raise taxes and bankrupt us over a proposed healthcare plan they say will solve all our problems. And Hillary couldn't even get that right back in 1993. So what makes her or anyone of them think they can do it right this time around.

On to the Republicans. I want someone that has alot of integrity and is very well rounded in character. Someone that is successful and adheres to family values and tradition. And every single candate has those qualities but one person bests them on all counts. Mitt Romney. He may not have the Foreign policy experience as John McCain does, but he was very ablely to wotk out a healthcare plan with Democrats in Massachusetts. And that is a tough task on it's own right. He even went as far as not taking a salary as Governor. that in itself says alot about the individual.

I could go into the whole spiel of why not to vote for the other Republicans first, but I won't as I don't want to at this time. Each candidate has flaws and each has an active stand on the issues which I admire. And I'll be the first one to say that if Mitt Romney doesn't get the candidacy, I'll vote for whomever wins out on the primary because their characters and ideals are alot higher than those on the side of the democrats.

Please comment to my blog and I promise to do my best to reply back.

A little about me

2008-01-13T08:50:00.001-08:00

13 Jan 08,

I'm Jim and currently live in Tacoma, Wa. I am originally from Seattle, Wa. and made the big move with my wife last year because we both wanted affordable living and get the same size home we wanted as in Seattle, but for half the price.

I am the product of a middle class family whose family are a bunch of bleeding heart liberals. My Dad often said in the past, after I grew up, I must have been switched at birth as I am a big on being a conservative Republican. And I'll often say to the family that I love them very much, but you are all wrong.

I became a Republican during my last tour of duty in the US Army back in 1991. I did eight years total and the last three years was in SHAPE (Mons), Belgium. During that time I was attending the University of Maryland and came across a person who changed my life politcally. That man is Dr. James H. Herzog (US Navy - ret.). He showed me what history and politics was all about. He taught his classes from a non-revisionist point of view and really put an effort into actual thinking of the happenings of what is actually going on here. Meaning: what influence and role history has on current affairs. He taught critical thought.

I left the service in 1994 and looked for work as I didn't have the money to go back to school. I was with a Retail Drug company for nine years before taking on an administrative job with a small pump firm in 2005. I'm still with them as a matter of fact although the prospect of moving up or around is slim.

Although I have an AA in General Studies I haven't gone back to school for the usual reasons that everyone has. And procrastination is probably on the tops of my list, as well as doing what I can do to support my family. But one day I do plan on going back and just finishing it all off. I just do not know when.

As for my views... which some of you would like to hear. I believe that we as a nation have lost our values and traditions... and that we are playing to the minorities of our country. For Christ-sake: English is our national language and we have to press one on the phone to get someone to speak english. We have Senators that won't even make it a point to make english mandatory anymore. And that is wrong.

I'm one of those people that actually want to bring back the values and traditions we had, and that we lost. Why is it we cannot say, "Merry Christmas" anymore. It's because we are playing to the minorities for various reasons. It's insane.

And while I'm at, I'd like to ask the question: Why is it that Al Gore is the so called prophet of Global Warming? Doesn't he know that climate change runs in cycles of warming and cooling.

But getting back to my introduction. Before I "grew up" I really didn't have a clue as to what was going on and while I was in the Army I found out that we needed to find our way as a people and get back what we lost. I'm not a fan favourite of Pres. George Bush (#41) and I despise Pres. Clinton. And here are the reaons. Bush #41 lost touch with the people and cut back on the military. Hindsight being 20/20, we are paying for it now. As for Clinton, two reasons to cut it short: Scandal, Scandal, Scandal..., and Not protecting the US and it's interests. Impeachment wasn't enough. He should have been tried for his multiple crimes.

In saying that I just want the right people to lead our nation... and in so doing, and making it public once again... I'm putting my support behind Mitt Romney as I think he is the best qualified to lead the nation and getting us back on track. As for the other GOP'ers I feel they can do the job as well, but overall Mitt is the better man. That's it for my little stump speech.

Anyway, I think that is enough about me right now. I promise to highlight my personal life when I get the chance and hope that everyone wants to get involved. I beg for comments, so please write. Take care, and have fun.