Some of Dad's Songs

My sister had found a tape of my dad on the radio singing some songs that he wrote. She had sent me digitized versions of them sometime last year. It took me until today to actually listen to these songs

I haven't heard these songs since I was a kid. I grew up to these songs. I had no idea he wrote them. It makes them all the more special.

Based on the fact he was hawking his mobile mechanic service in these records, this recording is likely from somewhere around 1983.

What This Blog Is

This is an import of my dad's blog that was previously hosted on Vox, which closed its doors on 30 September 2010. Don't expect a lot of updates to this blog since the old man isn't around to say anything anymore--he passed away in July 2010.

Obamacare - Just Another Ticket to ride?

Regardless of your age, human nature is that when you have to pay out of pocket for anything, you might just opt to do things different to avoid having to pay that cost. Health Insurance creates a mechanism that actually supports and promotes unhealthy lifestyles.

The fact is that if you have less to lose, you take bigger chances. Taking chances with your health is no different. And when you have a mechanism such as Health Insurance to fall back on, the odds you will ultimately take bigger risks increase exponentially.

This is only made worse by Government Sponsored Heath Care Insurance. Personally, I'd rather cram down a McD burger than get choked to death by Obamacare. What good is it to live longer, when all you have to look forward to is higher taxes, a lifestyle you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy, a total loss of personal freedom. There is one rule that will always apply...there's no free lunch! 

House Votes to Defund ACORN

The House has voted to deny all federal funding for ACORN, the community organizing group that has been caught up in several scandals. The vote, on a provision attached to a student aid bill, was 345-75. All 75 no votes were Democrats.

Now my question is that why do we need to pay "ANY" organization to register voters?

I registered in Redding at the DMV. Years ago when I was a fireman, I was also a registered votor registrar. People would come into the firehouse and register. Then we often give them a tour. Every county in the US has a county Regitrars office...another good place to register.

While not as convenient as someone standing at a mall, and not as many people ever registered, there was little fraud associated with it. The registrar signs the form as a witness!

If you want to exercise your constitutional right to voice your opinion and participate in an election, you should know that there are no guarantees that exercising that right will be convenient. The exception being a "convenient polling place".

There is nothing in the Constitution that says that taxpayers should be responsible to fund any action that would 'encourage" voter registration. If anything, this should be funded by party funds....If memory serves me correctly, this is the reason ACORN was funded origionally because party funded registration drives were riddled with fraud problems also.

Any method that makes voter registration convenient will lead to fraud. We need to go back to the old ways to ensure the integrity of the system. It is too easily abused.

State Run Media - Finally reports ObabmaCare Truth

OBAMA LIE #1: "No federal dollars will be used to fund abortions." 

THE TRUTH:  The Capps Amendment to HR 3200 has a Section 4B that reads: "Abortions for Which Public Funding Is Allowed. -- The services described in this subparagraph are abortions for which the expenditure of Federal funds appropriated for the Department of Health and Human Services is permitted."  The Washington Times reported:  "You can't get more explicit than that."  And FactCheck.org exposed Obama's lie too:  "Despite what Obama said, the House bill would allow abortions to be covered by a federal plan and by federally subsidized private plans."  So President Obama lied, plain and simple. 

OBAMA LIE #2: "I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits either now or in the future. Period."   

THE TRUTH:  The Democrat controlled Congressional Budget Office said Obamacare would add $220 billion to the deficit over 10 years, but will not succeed at shrinking the overall costs of our nation's health care.  Republicans claim it's more like $600 billion increased deficit spending.  (Confirmed by Associated Press, 9 Sep 09.)  Either way, Obama lied.   

OBAMA LIE #3: "Don't pay attention to those scary stories about how your benefits will be cut...That will never happen on my watch. I will protect Medicare."   

THE TRUTH:  The Washington Post reports Obama proposes "to squeeze more than $500 billion out of the growth of Medicare over the next decade....[which has] fueled fears that his effort to expand coverage to millions of younger, uninsured Americans will damage elder care. As a result, barely one-third of seniors support a health-care overhaul, several polls found." (Washington Post, 9 Aug 09)  Even the Post admits, Obama lied. 

OBAMA LIE #4:  "If you lose your job or change your job, you will be able to get coverage."

THE TRUTH:  Whether working or not, rich or poor, you will be ordered to get mandatory government-run health-care coverage, or pay a fine a $3800 fine per family, under the new Senate plan being railroaded through the finance committee by Max Baucus (D-MT).  (New York Times, 9 Sep 09).  Obama pretends you're "able" to get coverage, when he knows it's mandatory (with a big tax increase or "fine" penalty).  Obama lied.  But the biggest of all... 

OBAMA LIE #5:  "The claim, made not just by radio and cable talk show hosts, but prominent politicians, that we plan to set up panels of bureaucrats with the power to kill off senior citizens, such a charge would be laughable if it weren't so cynical and irresponsible. It is a lie, plain and simple."   

THE TRUTH:  Mandatory "end of life" counseling in HR 3200 "shall" include counseling every 5 years to the elderly, giving doctors a monetary incentive to persuade you to sign a "do not resuscitate" (DNR) order to pull the plug on Grandma, just like the Obama administration already pressures all Veterans to sign them.  (Confirmed by the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, read extensive details at www.prayinjesusname.org.)  And under the British NHS government-run health plan, "Patients with terminal illnesses are being made to die prematurely under an NHS scheme to help end their lives, leading doctors have warned."  (The Daily Telegraph, 2 Sep 09).  Dr. Ewing Cook just admitted intentionally killing patients who signed DNR authorizations during Hurricane Katrina.  "I gave her medicine so I could get rid of her faster…there’s no question I hastened her demise."  Bottom line: Grandma, don't sign Obama's DNR order, even if your doctor gets a bonus check from the President for talking you into that.  

Obama lied at least five times during his speech.  Congressman Wilson was right after all. 

Podcast: Next Generation Energy Storage

Today, a vast majority of the world’s oil is burned for transportation. Energy sources such as wind, geothermal and solar power, fluctuate continuously and can do little to reduce oil consumption unless the energy produced can be harnessed and stored.

Many experts believe the solution may lie in the development of an efficient, affordable energy storage network. Simply stated, energy storage – not energy generation – is seen as an important step toward the future.

A key part of current electric energy storage research will be influenced by the work of a consortium that hopes to develop next generation lithium batteries able to power electric vehicles for 300 to 500 miles on a single charge. This research may uncover major advances in larger-scale power storage for future electric grid applications. This next-generation battery is called Lithium-air.

On this episode of Building a Smarter Planet, Winfried Wilcke – Chairman of the Almaden Institute, and Senior Manager of Nanoscale Science & Technology at IBM talks about the research and development behind Lithium-air and why he feels it is so important to the future of energy storage.

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Hear the Podcast

http://asmarterplanet.com/blog/2009/08/next-generation-electric-energy-storage.html