We are only a few hours into 2009 and already I wonder what the new year will bring for both our country and myself personally?

While we wont have a massive political campaign that comes to a historic end, we will have the first African American President who will have to perform beyond the hype and Saturday Night Live parodies.

While we will still have an economic crisis in the country, maybe we are coming out of the worst times. The cost of gas continues to drop into the low $1 range and hopefully will not go back up to the $4-5 prices we saw in 2008. Mortgage rates are at all time lows and the car companies are offering incredible deals to stimulate buying. Can the stock market return to the higher levels it once enjoyed?

Speaking of Detroit, will the Detroit Lions ever (more…)

This is a great article from one of our good friends Danny Thornton who is allowing us to repost it here. Danny writes on a bunch of different sites, including his own. He has some strong views on the current economy and financial mess our country is in. There are MANY points in the article that we agree with 100%.

Bailout For Dummies, by Danny Thornton.
When I look at all the talk that concerns bailouts and failing companies, it really makes my stomach turn. For me to sit back and accept that the tax payers are going to be footing the bill for all these companies that can not stay afloat does more than makes me sick; it pisses me off. Now, if you are not ready to hear this point of view, then you might want to stop reading now. I am not going to hold back this morning as it is time that someone speaks up. Here it is in a nutshell.

The first and foremost thing that hurts our country (more…)

Let the celebration begin. Barack Obama, the 47 year old first-term senator from Illinois, has won the election and will become the country’s 44th President. Obama is the first African American to hold the nation’s top political position.

For me I am incredibly happy that the incredibly long two year odyssey that was the Presidential campaign is finally OVER. I could not take one more second of the boring debates, attack ads, and questions about Sarah Palin, and the word “maverick”.

So now the hard stuff begins for Obama. After all they hype and rock-star like big crowds have disappeared, he still is going to have to actually do the work to fix the country. I hope all of us who voted for him do not have false impression that he will be sworn in as President in January and magically the economy will be fixed and the war ended overnight. Both of these major issues will take years to be resolved. The tax breaks and cuts that were discussed endlessly, will not be passed and become reality without months (or years) of debate in the government. There is also always the chance that they will never be passed.

So tonight when McCain says goodbye and good luck, and Obama says hello and we win, take a deep breath and remember that it will takes years to address and start to fix the mess our country is currently in.

NO Politics on September 11th. Finally a good decision made by the Democrats and the Republicans TOGETHER.  It did seems that McCain was having some problems walking up the ramp. That was a little bit of a concern, but overall they seemed to tolerate each other.

McCain, Obama put politics aside to mark Sept. 11. NEW YORK (AP) — Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama made ground zero their common ground for one rare day, free of politics and infused with memory. Putting their partisan contest on a respectful hold, they walked together Thursday into the great pit where the World Trade Center once stood and, as one, honored the dead from the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. (more…)

This is a little bit of a rant since I paid my bills tonight and am left with no money. Literally zero dollars. I’m not sure who is going to win the election this year. I’m even more unsure about which candidate in the White House will really be better for my actual bank account. But one thing I do know is that gas prices keep going up and down each week and barely filing up the tank empties out my wallet. Every trip to the grocery store seems to cost more and more while the product sizes continue to shrink. It is incredibly frustrating. With the rising costs of EVERYTHING these days any way to save money is a positive one to me.

So we have been doing everything and anything to save money. This includes reevaluating everything in our lives where we spend even one penny. No more going out to eat multiple times per week. Less spending money on clothing or extra shoes until absolutely necessary. Carpooling whenever possible. Switching health clubs to one that is closer to home (less gas) and cheaper per month. (more…)

BARACK OBAMA:
The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a CHANGE! The chicken wanted CHANGE!

JOHN MC CAIN:
My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.

HILLARY CLINTON:
When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure — right from Day One! — that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn’t about me…….
(more…)

From CNN - A military judge approved charges against five accused September 11 plotters, including the alleged mastermind, but rejected charges against a man suspected of planning to be the “20th hijacker.”

WHAT HAS TAKEN SO LONG? 2974 dead people would be screaming the same thing…if they were alive.

The slower then slow legal process in this case is beyond maddening. This is not some small town local legal department doing the research! It is EVERY agency of the United States government (and the rest of the planet) doing the fact finding and proving evidence to convict these murderers. (more…)

I love my Bud Light. I admit it is somewhat pedestrian and there is nothing fancy or micro brewed about it, but it is my beer of choice and I like it. So when I recently heard about the proposed plan in California to increase the excise tax on beer to raise 2 BILLION DOLLARS I was outraged. I know California is already a little crazy with all of their excise taxes, but this was to much.

California Assemblyman Jim Beall, D-San Jose is the main driving force behind this new legislation. “The fallout from alcohol consumption costs Californians nearly $36 billion a year in increased health costs, crime, lost productivity and injuries from accidents and abuse,” Beall said. “It’s time for the beer industry to help us with the staggering burden it has helped to create.” WHAT?!! Is it Anheuser Busch’s fault that that some people abuse their product? Also he is not only talking about the “beer industry” that will be effected by this. It is the beer CONSUMER like me who will have to pay the higher cost to enjoy a cold brew.

This is another blatant example of penalizing the general public for the acts of a few irresponsible people! Is he going to suggest next taxing Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft for being responsible for health problems and obesity in children? (more…)

Late last night I did something I have never done before. I bought food for a homeless man. It was not a five-star meal, nor did it fulfill the basic four food groups. But to him it would be food, just plain and simple food.

It happened right in front of one of the new mega-supermarkets that are popping up all over the urban sprawl where I live. Kroger, Harris Teeter, Food Lion, Walmart, Target - they are all the same. Huge, bright, undistinguished, and downright sterile, it is hard to tell one from the other. How many times have you been in one and actually forget which one you were at?

We all see the homeless everyday. Or maybe we choose not to. Nameless, they shuffle by requesting any hand out. Sometimes the faces become familiar, yet we still manage to look away. While this can continue for weeks and sometimes months, we eventually we do look. It is impossible not to. Eventually your eyes connect. Their eyes are sad, pleading, but proud. Yours are embarrassed, unsure and at times indifferent. What to do? Where will my handout go? Booze? Drugs? (more…)

I lived in NYC for 7 years and can tell you first hand how bad some of the cabs (and cab drivers) smell. But none of them smell even close to the cesspool of stink that is seeping out of Yousef al-Khattab’s yellow cab….and computer.

Originally reported on FoxNews.com, al-Khattab, formerly known as Joseph Cohen, is a New York City cabbie who operates an extremist Islamic anti-American Web site that features violent images — including mocking the deaths of GIs in Iraq — says he’s doing the country a service by “exposing the truth.” He lives in Queens and operates his sites under the “freedom of speech” excuse that many radicals regularly employ. While I may take issue with his images, videos, and words, I can not fault him for that since it is the same freedom of speech that allows me and every other blogger to voice our opinions against the puke, barf, hurl, blow chunks, upchuck, and projectile vomit of his words. You can read the entire story here and also see additional videos and images. What I find interesting is that his site seems to have been completely changed since the story came out. (more…)