Why Gun Control Will Never Work.

Thank you Wes for this one.

Ammunition Is Getting Scarce

This morning I lucked out and was able to buy several cases of ammo. On the way home I stopped at the gas station where a drop-dead gorgeous blonde was filling up her car at the next pump.

She looked at the ammo in the back of my SUV and said in a very sexy voice, “I’m a big believer in barter, big boy”. “Would you be interested in trading sex for ammo?”

I thought a few seconds and asked, “what kinda ammo ya got?”

The Media Bombs the Boston Bombings

The “race to be first” reporting on the Boston bombings by the media was appalling. One example, CNN, in a breathless exclusive, reported an early arrest only to walk the story back later in the day but not before other media from Fox to the Associated Press also ran the story. The 24/7 media has been criticized for their performance but Scott Stantis of the Chicago Tribune said it best with what has to be the editorial page cartoon of the year.

But even worse was the rampant speculation and politicization surrounding the event. It was said, the perpetrators were most likely right wing Tea Party types angry with the government so they set off bombs on Patriots Day in Boston. The gun rights folks were also to blame. One commentator on Salon, an on line news site, even tweeted “Let’s hope the Boston Marathon bomber is a white guy.” He was concerned that if it were a person of color or a Muslim, it would set back the liberal agenda. Just look at a dozen plus examples from media opinion leaders including the aforementioned Salon tweeter : 12 ridiculous cases of media bias after boston bombing

Social media, (tweets, Facebook, blogs) also burned up the web with inflammatory rumors, opinions and misinformation that did nothing to inform the public, falsely maligned innocent people and may have hindered the investigation.

It may be difficult to cover a story like the Boston bombings 24/7 without slipping into speculation or skipping Journalism 101 source verification but that is no excuse for the performance failures, both hard news reporting and opinion commentators. For the consumers of social media, a large dose of skepticism is in order. As the song from Porgy & Bess says, slightly rephrased, “The things that you’re fed on the web ain’t necessarily so.”

Senator Tim Sheldon & the Senate Majority

A magnitude off the charts political earthquake shook Olympia before the start of the 2013 session of the state legislature. Two Democrat state senators, Rodney Tom (D-48th District) and Tim Sheldon (D-35th District) announced they were joining the 23 Republican senators to form a “majority coalition caucus” of 25 giving them control of the State Senate with Tom the new Senate Majority Leader. Needless to say, Democrats were not happy.

The Seattle/King County media has covered Senator Tom extensively but less is known about Senator Sheldon. That gap has been considerably closed with Nina Shapiro’s excellent article, “What Kind of Democrat…” in the April 3-9, 2013 Seattle Weekly (cover page “Sleeping with the Elephants”). Shapiro profiles both senators but tells readers a great deal about Senator Sheldon. No country bumpkin, Ivy League educated with a UW MBA, he charts his own course. In many respects, he is the quintessential legislator for those fed up with partisan wrangling. To read the article, click HERE

Related posts:

Rodney Tom – Turncoat or Practical Politician

Senator Tom Switches Back

Obama Apologizes for Speaking the Truth

At a California fundraiser, President Obama called the Golden State’s Attorney General Kamala Harris brilliant, dedicated and tough. But then his inner Bill Clinton added, she’s also “the best looking attorney general in the country.” Back home in D.C., he called Ms. Harris and apologized for stating the obvious. In politically correct land, one does not publicly complement a woman on her looks even if every man there (well almost every man, it is California after all) thinks she’s hot. This prohibition mainly applies to women in politics and business but not so much in the media and entertainment arenas. Yet one study claims that Republican women in politics tend to be more attractive than their Democrat compatriots. And as to the media, Austin Cunningham’s song, “The Girls on Fox News,” pretty much says it all.

It is an issue for discussion – how can a woman be respected for her brainpower regardless of her physical appearance? Obama at least kicked off days of talk radio and pundit ink keeping those folks employed but in light of the problems piling up on his desk, less time at fundraisers and more contemplation on the meaning of leadership seems in order.

Free Speech

I get emails from time to time from a hard-core leftist friend of mine who never misses a chance to castigating Republicans. His rants are usually so far over the top that I don’t bother to respond but now and then I do.

He said:

I See Your Good Olde Boys are Still at it

http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/28/17509106-gop-congressman-uses-ethnic-slur-to-describe-laborers?lite

I responded:

Republicans don’t have a monopoly on stupid comments. See

Alabama Legislator’s Email

But then the Alabama legislator is black and a Democrat so he gets a pass even though he refused to apologize. I could cite numerous examples of vitriol from the Left assaulting Republicans, Conservatives, Christians and anyone daring to challenge them. Maybe if both sides would stop this tit-for-tat, “gothcha,” knee jerk reaction to every real or perceived insult, we could make some progress. Aside from you, I doubt I know anyone who has never used the N word for Blacks, F or Q word for homosexuals, B word for women, W… B… for illegals swimming across the Rio Grande or any of a host of now banned words to describe someone of a particular race, ethnicity, sex, nationality, religion etc. that offended someone. Words considered acceptable in years past are no longer so. Fine, accept apologizes, consider that inappropriate words may slip from the mouths of people who used them in the past when the culture was different and then move on. Stop looking for reasons to hate and demonize. Start looking for love and common ground. Keep debate civil.

Do High Taxes and More Rules Hurt Job Growth?

According to Danny Westneat in Palm Sunday’s “Seattle Times”, capitalism is thriving in “Seattle with all its taxes and rules and supposedly socialistic groupthink…” He cites as evidence a “new jobs report” that shows “the city’s unemployment rate well below the rest of the state, to one of the lowest for big cities in the U.S.”

Let’s take “rules and socialistic groupthink” first. Two examples, the selected extension of metered on street parking to 8PM plus a sharp increase in rates and the requirement for businesses with a certain number of employees to grant paid sick leave. I seriously doubt companies like Boeing, Nordstrom, Starbucks, or the Port of Seattle or the University of Washington or most high tech or other major entities care about these Seattle Nanny rules. Many stay here and grow here because it is too expensive to move and they are attracted to Seattle by its location, transportation services, educated population and environment. There are some businesses, however, that are seriously affected by rules such as the two mentioned here. Ask the restaurant owner if such rules are taken into account when making decisions to expand, relocate to Seattle or hire more employees, same question for other small businesses.

And the reason for Seattle’s lower than most unemployment is? The answer according to Jon Talton’s column in the “Business” section of Palm Sunday’s “Seattle Times” – Amazon.

Oh, about high Seattle taxes. Yes, the city council is constantly looking for ways to increase revenue by new or higher taxes and fees but so far, at least for the big boys, they have not overcome the advantages of locating at the hub of economic activity in the state. There is also one other major competitive advantage to doing business in Washington State that was touted by Governor Chris Gregoire when she was encouraging companies to move here, no income tax.

Nice try Danny but there is a tipping point and Seattle may be close to it. Mr Talton notes that Amazon, like Boeing, could suffer a reversal of fortune. Should that happen we would wish Seattle had a more friendly business climate. Danny could be the last one to turn out the lights.

And They’re Off to 2016!

It was quite just after November 6th. There were wounds to lick, time needed for the shock to abate, Fox pundits to be fired but not for long. Stirrings of Campaign 2016 soon were in the air.

Mitt and Ann showed their faces on TV. Rand pitched a filibuster. John and Lindsay didn’t like it. Jeb wrote a book, so did Sarah. Chris raised some bucks. Bobby gave advice. Paul offered his budget, again. Yes folks, the White House strain of Potomac Fever is on the loose. The D version is still muted although some think Hillary never fully recovered from a previous infection and Joe was born with it. The R version, however, is already wide spread. Besides Rand, Jeb, Chris, Bobby and Paul, there’s another Paul, two Johns, Mike and Marco and lest we forget, the stars from 2011-12 Republican debates, Rick, Michele, Newt and the 9-9-9 pizza guy. If the War on Women is over, we might even see, Susanna of New Mexico, Kelly of New Hampshire or Nikki of South Carolina. If wining the Black vote is the goal, Dr. Ben might be the outside choice. The Republican debates could have more people on the stage than in the audience.

If nothing is done to thin this crowd down to a few who could actually win, the GOP will repeat the circular firing squad of the last presidential race. The first Republican debate was on May 5, 2011 followed by over twenty more running well into 2012 yet the nominee, much bloodied by the contests, was not firmly decided until a few weeks before the National Convention. Fortunately, something will be done. Read the report announced by Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus, “Growth & Opportunity Project” also known as the “Republican Autopsy.” Pay particular attention to the section titled, “Primary Process” which covers recommendations to streamline and control the debates and primaries. No debates until after September 1, 2015, limit the number of debates at ten to twelve, announce schedule in 2014 or early 2015, hold the national convention in June are some of the ideas.

Reform decisions need to be made now, not just for the 2016 presidential race but also the 2014 congressional battles. Reversing eight years of Obamanism depends on it.

Sequester Posts on Facebook

Posted on Facebook by a Lefty friend:

“How many REPUBLICANS does it take to change a light bulb?
None—They’d rather sit in the dark and BLAME IT ON OBAMA.”

Normally I ignore Lefty’s rants but occasionally this stuff has to be refuted:

“Warren Peterson: Rather than flying around the country (How much does that cost?) screaming, “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” maybe Obama should sit with congressional leaders in a locked room and knock heads until a compromise is found. That would be leadership but unfortunately he’s no Reagan or Lyndon Johnson.”

Lefty responded:

“There is no compromise with people who refuse to even discuss their owners’ steadfast determination to keep extracting every possible penny from the economy for their own personal use, country be damned.”

Fortunately, I have some support from a friend of both Lefty and me. She posted:

“Or could Obama be saying, “country be damned” for the sake of his socialistic agenda and his desire to destroy the Republican Party. Oh, and he is such a great “compromiser.” I don’t see that he cares what happens to the country. He just wants to tax, tax, tax, and spend, spend, spend. Hilarious that he keeps saying that he wants to help the middle class. By the way, last time I checked, he and his cronies are still blaming Bush. Warren, you left out Clinton–wish he were back! At least he had experience with governing, reaching across the aisle, and preparing a budget–that’s the thing that this country hasn’t had for 4 years!! That has never happened before.”

Life and Death

Thousands of books and sermons have addressed the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” It is an impossible question to answer. Atheists say the very question disproves the existence of God while some religious answers blame evil resulting from mankind’s choice in the Garden of Eden (actually or metaphorically). Perhaps we are asking the wrong question. It is not “why” but what we do about it when life’s challenges come.

If you have about 25 minutes to explore this alternate question:

Click HERE

Scroll down to:

“An Impossible Challenge”
February 24/ George Hinman

Click on: Download audio

Enjoy.

Felix & Howard Get Paid

“One happy King.” So reads the St. Valentine’s Day headline in a Seattle Times’ sports page article on Felix Hernandez’s new seven-year $175 million contract. Twenty-five million per year for pitching in maybe 40 games a season before a million plus fans, being the lynch pin of Mariner success and boosting Seattle’s bragging rights. Not bad compensation in any occupation except perhaps CEO of a corporation. Compare the reaction to Felix’s paycheck to that of Starbuck’s CEO, Howard Schultz’s $16 million per year (plus about $52 million of other at risk compensation, like stock options). Howard is on the job 24/7. He’s responsible for managing worldwide over 18,000 stores and over 150,000 employees as well as increasing the value of Starbuck’s stock held by millions of people personally or in retirement accounts and ensuring customer satisfaction and loyalty from more millions of coffee aficionados.

One is a greedy rich guy who “didn’t do a damn thing” to earn his pay while the other “restored faith” and teared up at his good fortune.

Read the “comments” on one blog to get a sense of the reaction to Mr. Schultz’s compensation: Click HERE

For Mr. Hernandez, read Seattle Times sports writer, Jerry Brewer:’s article: Click HERE

While I don’t think the super rich need my sympathy, I do wonder if sports and other entertainment stars get a pass on criticism of their high incomes because they require constant media exposure to stay on top; Entertainment Weekly, MTV, People Magazine, Sports Illustrated to name a few. We know far more about their glamours lives than any boring corporate manager. Corporate CEOs mainly hit the news if they are being pilloried for bad decisions or the money they make. Is it jealously or failure to understand the market for talent? Would you rather have the market or some government agency set the compensation packages? Careful liberals how you answer this, Schultz is one of you.