Tuesday August 5, 2008 Election Day

Tomorrow is primary election day in Johnson County. There are three things on the ballot that need our attention.

First Johnson County has a tax increase on the ballot. This is for paying off the addition to the jail in Gardner, repairing the juvenile facilities and adding and updating rehab programs. The way this tax is structured, it is forever it doesn't sunset. Also, you probably have heard that the Olathe and Overland Park city councils have backed this tax. They stand to gain estimated $2 million dollars per year from it. That they can spend on what they want. I am sure that some of you know that my position is that they don't need the tax. They need to be more responsible stewards of our tax dollars. So my vote will be no.
The next major ballot issue is that of Johnson County District Attorney. The current DA, Phill Kline, whom was the Attorney General for Kansas until the fraud Morrison was elected then resigned because of bad morals, has decided to run. The Kansas City Star always writes negative stories about Mr. Kline, these stories are misleading. Phill Kline is a good stand up guy. Someone that you can trust to get the job done correctly. Steve Howe is the gentleman running against Phill Kline. Mr. Howe is from what I can tell, I have seen him speak and shook his hand, seems to be a good guy, also. What has always bothered me about him is that Mr. Kline didn't think enough of his work to allow him to stay on as and Asst. DA. Mr. Howe worked for Mr. Morrison, this bothers me. Mr. Morrison is a party switcher. That drives me nuts. This is a baby-boomer affliction, that I know my dad hasn't caught, thank goodness. Anyway, Mr. Howe though, not a bad guy was thought of highly enough by Mr. Morrison (party switcher, bad morals) to work for him for 18 years. Mr. Howe has a campaign commercial out that says he is not a career politician like his opponent and that Senators Roberts and Brownback have endorsed him. While the endorsements are true, they were made before Kline decided to run. Mr. Kline is a politician same as Mr. Howe. The only reason Mr. Kline seems more political is that the Kansas City Star, which I unusually call the Communist Star, doesn't like how he does things. Which makes what he does seem politically motivated. Putting criminals in jail is not political, its the law.
Which brings us to the last major race. Johnson County Sheriff. While Sheriff Denning has done a great job over the years combating crime, we need some young blood. We need someone who has trained with the best and someone who can move the Sheriffs department into the 21st century. Don't get me wrong here they are about as technological as Overland Park, Olathe, Lenexa, when it comes to fighting crime. A younger and better trained Sheriff would be someone who can help keep moving the department forward. The gentleman I speak of is Ken Smith. He has been a policeman and has attended the FBI academy. Not only has he worked the mean streets of Kansas City, he has helped the federal government fight crime. With new and young blood in the position of Sheriff we take away and ingrained sense that the Sheriff is going to go along with whatever the county commissioners and county manager want.
I hope this has been a little informative. I hope you all make it to vote tomorrow. It is our civic duty as Americans to vote. Polls are open 7 am to 7pm. The link below will take you to the county web site and you can plug your name and birthday in and find out where you go vote.

https://voter.jocoelection.org/(0z1tkn45wnuitgmwzgofzg55)/Search.aspx

Have great week!
Bill CK

The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight is everything and more. The story is top notch and the acting, the acting is superb. Not only does the movie have the same characters as the last, the stars seemed to have lined up to be in it.

Christian Bale once again brings to life a tortured soul of a man, who wants to protect and save the city he loves. With the help of Michael Caine as Alfred, who brings wisdom to the young man, and Gary Oldman as Lt. Gordon try to stop a maniac that isn't just a criminal, he is a monster.

Heather Ledger brings a new demonsion to the Joker. The Joker is not just crazy like the Jokers of the past, he is the complete polar opposite of Batman. Which is what the Joker is.

The scenes didn't seem as dark as with the first movie. A lot of the movie took place during the day time. Christopher Nolan did a great job knowing that the visuals didn't need to be dark for atmosphere, because the story took care of that.

You really understand Batman/Bruce Wayne's dilema, a regular life or continue as the Batman. In the end like all great men and heros, he understands what has to be done. Plus, every character has a new and better understanding of the man that is Batman and Bruce Wayne.

This is the perfect movie. Action, suspense, love interest, twists and turns (most of them expected if you are a fan of Batman) makes this 2 plus hour movie fly by.

Government Takeover part 3

Looks like I was right. The Feds ond a way to take over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Buying shares company shares is owning a piece of the company. Now how much they buy is the question. I haven't found the info that tells me who owns the most in both companies but right now its not the government. It soon could be. I notice the market started off well now they are pulling back.

Oh also, I want to give a "shout out" to Sen. Chuck Schumer for giving IndyMac Bank the kiss of death a few weeks ago. I just hope he doesn't know the name of the bank that I do business with.

Government take over part 2

It now seems the government isn't looking to take over Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. I bet they still are still looking into it. The stock market went nuts. I believe the commodities markets went nuts, also because of the rumor floating around. I believe that the government floated this idea out there now, to see how the markets and people reacted. Didn't really go to well. Especially, since most everyone in the know said that both companies are solvent. I bet that they try this again at the beginning of the next quarter. They could do it sooner as this was a way of giving people a chance to get their money.

It would seem that the government and both companies underestimated the depth at which the market would go. It doesn't want the government taking over but, it seems that the government does whatever it wants so the markets stayed down. This is also helped the oil prices go up. The dollar is seems to be swirling the bowl. This B.S. rumor today helped it to gain momentum down again. The beginning of the week it was slowly showing a come back. Then the this.

If the government wants to do something, it needs to figure out how to strengthen the dollar which will bring the economy back and the foreign money coming into the U.S. will be an investment not an invasion.

Many people are saying that the economy is not as bad off as we all think. They are a lot smarter than I. It would seem the government and maybe some outside governments are trying to undermine the sovereignty of the United States and the openness of free market capitalism. Letting other countries dictate what we are paying for our goods and helping to erode the value of our currency seems treasonous. So if the economy isn't as bad as most people seem to think it is, wouldn't it be easier to correct the problem instead of making it worse?

Other countries around the world have been feeling the pinch in their economies by way of oil subsidies. That is what has driven the oil market down at the beginning of the week. This shows that the market will work itself out without government interference. I see things like this rumor as government interference.

The Government take over of private business

http://biz.yahoo.com/nytimes/080711/1194793612725.html?.v=4

The article above reports that the government is discussing a take over of Fannie Mae and or Freddie Mac. These companies are publically traded companies, at least until the end of today or sooner. Speculation like this will tank the shares of these companies, because there will be no return on the investors money. Thus, making a takeover by the government sound even better to the mushheads of America.

This is part of the slippery slope towards socialism/communism. This is a way to have the government takeover the free markets. Reporters like these guys have been advocating this for many years and have lulled the mushheaded people into thinking that this is good for them. Just like universal healthcare would be good for them.

Of course, the CEO's of both companies will most likely do or have been doing whatever it takes to have the government take over their companies. This helps them. They will be able collect their outlandish pay, for which they didn't earn (the drove their companies into the ground). All paid for by the American taxpayer. These guys at this point are not beholden to the shareholders or the boards. All they see is there pay check not bouncing on pay day.

This will set another precident. That the markets really won't take well. That the government, if sold right, will come in and take over your company. Thus, destroying the value of the company and destroying the life savings of over 75% of the American public. As I type this the DOW is down 106 points and commdities are up. That means the market is definiately reacting to this and to the developments in the middle east. You know something is up when gold is up almost $25.

By announcing that a government takeover the largest mortgage backers, they have set the stage for the markets value to further erode and that the commodities markets to raise. Thus, higher priced fuel, food and other necessities of life. Are we really on track to becomming Germany of the 1920's and 1930's? Inflation that cannot be controlled and thus electing someone to the Presidency who just says the word "hope". I might be on to something here.

Don't be down about Republican Chances

We all need to get over the fact that McCain has been thrust upon us. We need to stop fighting amongst ourselves and work to defeat Obama and the rest of the Democrats.

The RNC, Senate, and House leadership (so called), have written off this election. The business leaders that are usually Republican have also written off this election. It seems that everyone in a position to show strength and leadership has left us, the grassroots everyday Joe, to fend for ourselves. Just because the media is in the corner of Obama doesn't mean the election is over. Obama still has to turn out the mushheads that are young and loud, but not reliable voters.

While it seems that the RNC and McCain's election committee seem to be ignoring us, the base of the Republican party, they are trying to continue his appeal to "independents (mushheads)".
Obama's numbers could be artificially high. People on the other end of pollsters calls don't want to seem like they are not compassionate or racist, so they say the will vote for Obama. Look at past elections at this same time the Republican was behind the same amount as McCain is now.

McCain as most of you know is no where close to my favorite candidate for President. WE CANNOT ELECT OBAMA. At least with McCain we will once again get socialist lite. Obama is a communist. Read his website. McCain has experience on his side. He knows what it takes to get things done. Whether we like the things or not. McCain stands tall with his convictions. He may "flip flop" on things but that only helps us. He is flip flopping back to the right side. Whether he stays there we can only know by going out and voting for him.

Do not be sucked in to voting for Bob Barr. While a good man and good conservative, he will only take votes away from McCain. McCain needs our support. Boy, that makes cringe. We have to do what we know is right. If we stay home and not vote for the Republicans in the national and local races, the Democrats when, Communism wins, and the United States as it was founded and as we know it will vanish quicker than with McCain.

McCain will give us more conservative judicial picks than would Obama. Can you imagine more Ruth Bader Ginsberg's on the Supreme Court let alone in the rest of the judicial system. While we still don't get all the decisions we like from the high court, we getting the ones that count. We don't know how lucky we are that the court interpetted the 2nd amendment properly. It was close though 5-4. We know that McCain will not necessarily put up a big fight for his nominee but we the people can.

While feeling down about our chances of electing Republicans just remember to go vote on election day. We vote. Drugged out liberal college students don't. Mushheads love McCain.

Is this the beginning of the end?

I read an article that suggested that $12 per gallon gasoline was an inevitability. If this is true then the world as we know it could be coming to an end.
No amount of tax rebates and political pandering would save the people from this. We depend on gasoline to do everything in our daily lives. Our cities are set up for driving. Grocery stores, pharmacies, doctors offices, these things are not just along main st. Of course, all of our jobs aren't along main street either. I drive 26 miles one way to work. Most people I know drive 10 plus miles to make their living. I Johnson County where I live, its not feasible for me to hope on the "JO" and get to Vivian Rd north of the river in a timely fashion and then get home. Just not happening. Maybe, if fuel was $12 per gallon it would.
cAt that price I wouldn't have a job. People would not be doing a home loan. They couldn't have a home loan because they wouldn't have a job either. People that work for the Airlines, the automotive industry, and even the government would be out of work. The retailers wouldn't be open because the people wouldn't be able to afford shop there. Farmers would lose crops because they wouldn't be able to sell them at the market. The banks would begin the foreclose on every property. Banks would then begin to fold themselves. The country and the whole industrialized world would come crashing down. War and tribal type fighting would take over the parts of the world. Governments would crumble. The great depression would seem like a mild recession.
I might be a little over board on this but, the world moves to the tune of oil and gas. No one would win in this.
I did read that governments, India, China, the OPEC countries, all subsidize gasoline. People in Venezuela pay something between 12 and 25 cents a gallon. The government pays the rest of the cost. These governments will not be able to afford this. The oil prices now are almost becoming a drag on their economies.
If McCain is able to talk the rest of the government into suspending the federal tax of gasoline the prices will only go up. The government will just lose money even faster. The new excuse this week for the oil prices is that we are running out.
The media and the speculators are driving up the prices. By giving these speculators a pass and not reporting the truth about why the oil prices are they way they are, they are just as guilty as the people driving the prices up. Oil is not running out. Our government has made it too expensive and difficult to drill for oil. They have also made it too expensive and difficult to build new refineries.
Too many people like to complain and not do anything about the oil prices, government, their favorite TV show being cancelled. There isn't a quick fix to this problem. We as a people need to rise up above our complacency and know that we are not causing global warming. We legislated ourselves into this problem.
Just because it sounds compassionate to say that we are destroying the planet and we need to save the world from our very small carbon emissions, doesn't mean that by doing this it is OK to destroy our society and kill people by starvation and disease.

The Cure in Kansas City

Here is a quick review of the show.

It was great! Being close to the stage (5th row Simon's side) you could hear Smith's voice and he was struggling bad. I have seen them before and I didn't miss the keyboards. Porl tore through the songs wonderfully. Jason and Simon were also amazing. The music more than made up for Roberts voice being less than 60%. He seemed to be having a great time even though at times, it looked painful for him to sing. The crowd around me was fantastic. Everyone dancing around singing along and just enjoying The Cure in Kansas City. If memory serves me right, they haven't been to Kansas City since the early 80's. Another amazing thing is that, I have never seen Smith do a song away from the mic stand and without a guitar. That was awesome. The updated version of "Killing An Arab" was fantastic. He chagned the word "Arab" to something else a few years ago. Didn't take away from the song at all.I was also worried about the show being cut very short. I was at the Depeche Mode show and was very disappointed. Smith said that its about the fans and the music. I hope they come back in the future and make the show "sweet" Smith's word. Not that this one wasn't.