Emily Boot Camp Graduation Video

Hello.

Katrina and I are up in Deerfield, Illinois. Emily graduated from Boot Camp on Friday, 29 January 2010, to use the Navy way of dating. Here is a short video clip that captures the sights and sounds of graduation. I apologize for the shakey video. The people around us were hooting and hollaring like crazy and the stands were vibrating. Plus, I am not a great video camera operator. I hope you enjoy.

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Tim Geithner's Goldman Sachs Conflict Exposed

In the facinating video below, Representative Marcy Kaptur (D. Oh) beautifully cross-examines present Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner about his role in a $180B taxpayer bailout of insurance company AIG, and his conflicts of interest.

In 2008, Geithner (then leading the New York Federal Reserve Bank) helped bail out insurance company AIG. Important policies written by AIG protected another financial corporation, Goldman Sachs, from calamity due to collapsing toxic assets. Had AIG failed in 2008, Goldman Sachs would likely have also collapsed. Thus, the NY Federal Reserve orchestrated bailout of AIG directly benefited Goldman Sachs.

Here is a link with some background on the Goldman Sachs conflict of interest with the Federal Reserve. This link could be a key factor in why the Federal Reserve is pulling out all stops to avoid a full Congressional audit. Presently, the government has no oversight of the powerfully influential Fed.

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Rappin' to Friedrich von Hayek

Catchy Rap Tune on Economics

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Five Easy Questions for the President

In a piece by American Thinker, 5 Easy Questions (Jan. 25, 2010), Randall Hoven comes up with some simple questions for the Administration that are never asked by our media. The article is worth a good look. Here is one example:

What do your staff members get paid, and how do their salaries compare to that of their predecessors?

This would not seem all that important, but one of the first things you did as president, on your very first day in office, was issue a Presidential Memorandum "to freeze the salaries of senior members of the White House staff, to the extent permitted by law." So you seemed to think it was important then. We did hear that Rahm Emanuel gave you an oral report on that thirty days later, as you ordered, but we never heard the results.

So are the salaries of the senior members of your staff frozen? If so, at what levels? And how do those levels compare to their predecessors' levels?

Again, this is not an essay question. Salaries are numbers. What, for example, is Rahm Emanuel's annual salary?

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Devote Billingsley (Naval Aviator Number 9)

On December 2, 1912, Ensign Devote Billingsley reported for duty at the Aviation Camp, Annapolis, Md., and was assigned to the Navy-Wright B-2 for instruction.

Billingsley, my great uncle, is shown in the picture above, standing to the far right. He died in the service to his country when thrown from an aircraft on June 13, 1913.

Here is a description of the event from a Library of Congress publication, The Secretary of the Navy's Advisory Committee on Naval History, A Few Pioneers (1898-1916):

20 June Ensign William D. Billingsley, piloting the
B-2 at 1,600 feet over the water near Annapolis, Md.,
was thrown from the plane and fell to his death, the
first fatality of Naval Aviation. Lieutenant John H.
Towers, riding as passenger, was also unseated but
clung to the plane and fell with it into the water,
receiving serious injuries.

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Some 2010 Haiti Charitable Giving is Deductible in 2009

We are studying a verse about giving in our Bridgepointe Bible study group.

And whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of My name, since you belong to the Messiah — I assure you: He will never lose his reward.

Mark 9:41. Obviously, this is a verse about generously giving to others in need. This brings to mind Haiti . . . because you cannot think of a people more in need than the Haitians.



President Obama signed a tax break into law earlier this week so people might charitably give even more to Haiti relief efforts. The new law allows us to write off 2010 donations given before the end of February when we file 2009 tax returns. Thank you Congress and President Obama. This means we can give even more.

If you are looking for a good organization through which to make a donation to earthquake relief in Haiti, check out the International Missionary Board, which has set up a Haiti Response Fund. One hundred percent of your gift goes to relief efforts.

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Explanation of Crony Capitalism

Here is a nice explanatory video by John Stossell. This was a big problem under Republican administrations. It continues unabated under President Obama and the Democrat party. Crony capitalism and heavy-handed regulation are serious impediments to the free market system.

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Brown Wins People's Seat in Massachusetts

The politics of Obamacare just got real interesting.

I watched Brown's humorous, down-to-earth victory speech last night.

First, Brown challenged President Obama to a two-on-two hoops game at the White House with his daughter, Ayla Brown.

Then, he said he was ready to be seated in the "people's seat" of the Senate "as soon as possible."

The gauntlet has officially been thrown.

Do the Democrats really have the guts to push through Harry Reid's monstrosity of a bill by relying on interim Senator Kirk to cast the vote in the Senate while they play games with Brown's certification? It seems unlikely they could sustain themselves from that withering political fire.

A few weeks ago, I posted such comments when I first wrote about the special election race in Massachusetts.

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Massachusetts Miracle

Notice that, unlike Martha Coakley (D), I can spell Massachusetts.

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Consideration for the Unborn Human

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Brown v. Coakley Senate Race Update

I blogged earlier about the fascinating ongoing implosion of Democrat Martha Coakley's special election campaign for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts. This post has details about why a guy from Greenville thinks this race is worth watching.

In new developments, one of my favorite baseball players, Curt Schilling, has weighed in on the election. Schilling became interested when Coakley seemed to suggest meeting Red Sox fans was beneath her campaign.

I love baseball. I like boardgames. Schilling, hero of the Red Sox World Series victory a few years ago, is also a boardgaming blogger. From Schilling's 38 Pitches Blog, here's his take on Coakley's comment.

Want ANOTHER reason to NOT vote for Martha Coakley???
Posted By Curt Schilling On January 14, 2010 @ 11:02 am In Family, General, Life | 71 Comments

Picked this up from here… [1]

If she hasn’t done it yet, Martha Coakley may have just killed her campaign.

She’s apparently been trying to win the title of Worst Political Campaign Ever, and she might have just clinched it with her little dig at Scott Brown over Fenway Park. [2]

The appearance characterizes Coakley’s approach to this truncated race. Aware that she has little time for the hand-shaking and baby-kissing of a standard political campaign, she has focused instead on rallying key political leaders, Democratic activists, and union organizers, in hope they will get people to the polls.

… Despite that, there is a subdued, almost dispassionate quality to her public appearances, which are surprisingly few. Her voice is not hoarse from late-night rallies. Even yesterday, the day after a hard-hitting debate, she had no public campaign appearances in the state.

Coakley bristles at the suggestion that, with so little time left, in an election with such high stakes, she is being too passive.

“As opposed to standing outside Fenway Park? In the cold? Shaking hands?’’ she fires back, in an apparent reference to a Brown online video of him doing just that. “This is a special election. And I know that I have the support of Kim Driscoll. And I now know the members of the [Salem] School Committee, who know far more people than I could ever meet.’’

There are just so many things wrong with that statement.

It shows her elitism and arrogance unbelievably. Aside from the apparent feeling that the seat belongs to her just by virtue of her party, she just admitted that she doesn’t need to bother meeting with constituents because she’s meeting people like Kim Driscoll, and political leaders, and Democrat activists. I guess they’re the ones that matter, huh? I know it’s a “special election” and all, but that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t need to fight for this seat. Prancing around with this mindset of “Oh, I’m a Democrat, therefore Ted Kennedy’s seat just automatically belongs to me regardless of what the people think,” is idiotic. Acting as if she doesn’t need to give her constituents the time of day is ludicrous. She can make all the snide remarks about Scott Brown shaking hands with people in the cold that she wants, but that’s what you’re supposed to do when you’re trying to get elected. She seems to have forgotten that she’s trying to get elected in Massachusetts, and not in Washington D.C. — if she remembered that, maybe she’d spend more time trying to impress Massachusetts voters and less time rubbing elbows with the Democrat establishment, Big Pharmacy lobbyists, and union leaders. Most normal politicians, Republican or Democrat, do go shake hands with voters. Even if it means standing in the cold outside of Fenway Park.

Finally, has she forgotten who she’s talking to? What state she’s wanting to represent in the Senate? It’s Massachusetts. You do not make sneering insults about Fenway Park. What’s she going to do next, insult the Red Sox? That’d really just be the cherry on top of a delightful campaign. Fenway Park and the Red Sox are damned near sacred to Massachusetts residents, Bostonians in particular. Really, I’m starting to think that she just doesn’t want to get elected or something. Because anyone with half a modicum of sense knows that you do not go into Boston and mess with Fenway Park.

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Emily Boot Camp News

We got a new letter from Emily a few days ago. It was interesting because she related a contact with my partner's son, Robbie McMahan, who is also in Navy Boot Camp. Her letter about that almost meeting is at the link above.

I also found a new video on YouTube about Navy Boot Camp. This video gives you a good idea of what our Em is enduring and learning.

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Lane Kiffin Leaves UT After One Year

When Kiffin hired former Gamecock Recruiting Coordinator, David Reaves, Kiffin's brother in law, Reaves immediately began calling recruits who had pledged to play for South Carolina. The calls caused Steve Spurrier to question Reaves' ethics.

Kiffin responded to Spurrier's criticsm as follows:

Kiffin defended Reaves, saying it was standard practice for coaches on a new staff to lean on their recruiting connections from their previous jobs.

I would have been disappointed in David or Eddie Gran, who came from Auburn, or Lance Thompson, who came from Alabama, if they didn't compete to see if kids were sure about their decision. That's recruiting.

Joseph Person, Reaves' switch to Vols remains rocky subject, The State (Oct. 29, 2009).

Now, after just a year as UT's Coach, Kiffin has decided to leave and become the Head Coach at Southern Cal.

The few remaining Tennesee coaches are scrambling to keep committments for a projected 6th-ranked football recruiting class. Meanwhile, former Vol Recruiting Coordinator, Ed Orgeron, is calling UT recruits and inviting the players to visit Southern Cal.

What is it they say about Karma?



Technorati Tags: Lane, Kiffin, Recruits, Calling, Committments, David, Reaves, Gamecocks, Spurrier, Ethics

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Our Congress: Hard at Work

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Mark 8: How to Develop Your Faith

Our Bridgepointe Bible study group study group is studying Mark 8 this morning. There are two interesting passages in Mark 8 that relate to people's attitudes about God.

The first passage involves a group of religious leaders—the Pharisees—who lived before Jesus death and resurrection.

At that time, Jesus was performing miracles among them, healing the sick, feeding crowds, and calming storms. Jesus was also teaching the people about how to have a relationship with God. Large crowds were gathering to learn from Jesus. Nevertheless, the Pharisees minds were closed. They were unwilling to consider the possibility that Jesus was telling the truth, or that he might be the Messiah.

Jesus popularity with the people was a threat to the Pharisees. In that society, at least among the Hebrew culture, they were the elite. They were educated and had more pull with the Roman authorities. Their Palestinian government, a theocracy, was subject to Roman rule. However, the Roman authorities gave them some power, which the Romans believed allowed better control the population. If the Pharisees were no longer useful to the Romans as leaders, the Pharisees might no longer be given power by the Roman government.

In addition, the Pharisees were very judgmental of other people who did not follow the many rules they had ordained as part of the Hebrew religious ceremonies. They required extensive ceremonial washing before eating. They also prohibited any contact between Hebrew people and Gentiles, who Pharisees regarded as unclean.

Jesus and his followers did not follow all of these Pharisaical rules. Jesus went among the Gentiles and outcasts and taught them about God. Jesus was teaching that God required repentence. He taught that loving God and caring for other people was more important to God than was following empty rituals. Jesus sometimes had harsh comments to make about the Pharisees, and about their pride. Jesus called Pharisees to repentance just like all other people. The Pharisees, like many people today, refused to confront the fact that as great as they thought they were, they needed God's forgiveness.

Despite living in a world where Jesus was performing literal miracles, the Pharisees refused to see the hope that Jesus promised. Instead of being open to Jesus message, they sought only to discredit him. That was the closed minded attitude of the Pharisees who went out to Galilee to confront Jesus. Mark described the scene like this:

The Pharisees came out and began to argue with Him, demanding of Him a sign from heaven to test Him. But sighing deeply in His spirit, He said, "Why does this generation demand a sign? I assure you: No sign will be given to this generation!" Then He left them, got on board [the boat] again, and went to the other side.

Mark 8:11-13. The Lifeway Study Guide author, Geno Robinson, a pastor in North Highlands, California, writes that this passage shows that, “People who close their minds and keep them closed to the truth about Jesus can never develop their spiritual understanding.” See Explore the Bible Adult Learner Guide, p. 53 (Winter 2009-10).

Probably, all of us have encountered folks who are unwilling to listen to the truth. They have intellectual arguments about why the Bible is not true, or they might have questions about God's character. But those people are unwilling to listen to the other side of the case or accept even the possibility the Gospel message is the truth.

It is interesting how Jesus reacted to people who had closed minds. Jesus did not stick around and debate with them. The Bible says, “Then He left them, got on board [the boat] again, and went to the other side” of the Sea of Galilee.

Similarly, in a spiritual sense, it may be that the Lord's message of truth cannot be heard when people have a closed-minded attitude. That is not saying that people have to have blind faith in the Gospel. Only that people need to be willing to consider the truth of the Gospel with an open mind. The willingness of a person to consider the possibility Jesus' message is true is necessary before the spiritual truth can be truly heard.

Back in Jesus time of ministry, he was performing miracles all over the place. Yet, the Pharisees were unwilling to see them. They wanted some other miraculous performance. Jesus recognized that with the closed minded attitude nothing he could do would convince them of his status as their Messiah. So, Jesus went away from them.

What is hopeful about this passage is that Jesus did not go away from the closed minded people permanently. He was just over on the other side of the relatively small Sea of Galilee.

Interestingly, Geno Robinson says that believers can take the same Pharisaical position in their attitudes towards Jesus. If we persist in the closed minded attitude to God's truth in our lives, that can make Jesus leave us and go to the other side of the Sea. Robinson states in the lesson guide that our closed-minded attitudes affect our spiritual growth as human beings.

Mark 8 teaches that we can also be rebuked. The disciple Peter believed in Jesus' mission. He was the first disciple that verbally identified Jesus as the Messiah. See Mark 8:29. However, Peter did not want to accept Jesus' teaching that Jesus would have to be rejected by the Hebrew people, to suffer, and to die. Jesus knew all that was needed to purchase God's forgiveness for our sin.

Then He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, be killed, and rise after three days. He was openly talking about this. So Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.

But turning around and looking at His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind Me, Satan, because you're not thinking about God's concerns, but man's!"

Mark 8:31-33. We read that passage, and we think that being rebuked by Jesus was not very pleasant for Peter. But the good part of the passage, especially when we consider the earlier one quoted above, is that Jesus did not leave Peter. He did not go away to the other side of the Sea.

It is important for us to understand that when God disciplines us, it is often for our benefit. Peter continued to walk with Jesus after the rebuke. Peter listened to the Lord and maintained a close relationship with Jesus.

Technorati Tags: mark, chapter, 8, closed, minded, sea, of, galilee, jesus, christ, pharisees, lifeway, explore, the, bible

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Massachusetts Special Election Scott Brown

A surprisingly strong special campaign of Republican Scott Brown threatens to derail Democrat efforts to pass Obamacare. Democrats need all 60 Democrat votes in the Senate or the Bill will not pass. They were counting on Kennedy's Senate seat to stay easily in Democrat control.

On January 19, 2010, the State of Massachusetts will hold a special election to replace deceased Senator Edward Kennedy. On January 20, 2010, the Senate will reconvene and begin debate on the final version of Obamacare. The winner of next week's Massachusetts special election will hold the Senate seat until January 3, 2013.

The surging Brown campaign is creating panic among Democrats in Massachusetts and nationally. But, Democrats control the Massachusetts State political machinery. They intend to play politics as usual to delay Brown's entry to the Senate, and thus, ensure passage of an extremely unpopular national health care bill.

The late Edward Kennedy passed away on August 25, 2009. On September 24, 2009, Paul Kirk was appointed by Massachusett's Democrat Governor to fill the vacant Senate seat. Kirk's term is scheduled to expire following the special election.

Kirk, a former Chairman of the Democrat National Committee who once worked as a staffer for Edward Kennedy, ardently supports the secret, 2000-page, Democrat health care bill. Obamacare is scheduled for a vote on final passage in the Senate very soon.

Everything was rocking along as usual in Massachusetts. After all, a member of the Democrat Party has held Kennedy's Senate seat since 1953. (In 1953, John F. Kennedy defeated Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.) The Democrats selected Martha Coakley as their future Senate standard-bearer.

In the polls, Coakley once led Brown, the Republican challenger, by 31 points. However, Coakley then promised to vote for the Obamacare monstrosity. Her lead in the polls is now evaporating.

As of January 5, according to Rasmussen polling data, the gap was down to only nine points. The shrinking Coakley margin for victory is creating speculation that Brown could actually win. If so, the Democrats would potentially lose the 60th vote needed to advance the healthcare legislation through final passage in the Senate.

Let it be known, however, that the Democrat Party does not intend to let the will of the Massachusetts voters interfere with their plans to pass Obamacare into law. Kirk (serving by recess appointment) intends to cling to the Senate seat notwithstanding the special election of Brown. Kirk says he will cast a deciding favorable vote, against the will of Massachusetts voters, before Brown can be sworn in as a Senator.

"Absolutely," Kirk said, when asked if he'd vote for the bill, even if Brown captures the seat. "It would be my responsibility as United States Senator, representing the people and understanding Senator Kennedy's agenda and the rest of it ... I think you're asking me a hypothetical question but I'd be pleased to vote for the bill."

See Rob "EaBo Clipper" Eno, Red Mass Group (Jan. 8, 2010).

An article by Frank Quaratiello, Boston Herald (Jan. 9, 2010), also indicates Brown's special election would come too late for to derail the Senate vote. Check out the comments from the Massachusetts Secretary of State's Office, which indicate plans to create a procedural delay in certification of Brown:

The U.S. Senate ultimately will schedule the swearing-in of Kirk’s successor, but not until the state certifies the election.

Today, a spokesman for Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin, who is overseeing the election but did not respond to a call seeking comment, said certification of the Jan. 19 election by the Governor’s Council would take a while.

“Because it’s a federal election,” spokesman Brian McNiff said. “We’d have to wait 10 days for absentee and military ballots to come in.”

Another source told the Herald that Galvin’s office has said the election won’t be certified until Feb. 20 - well after the president’s address.

There are a lot of "ifs" at stake.

If Brown wins, if the Senate and House cannot reach agreement to reconcile the potential law quickly, and if the vote on the final version of Obamacare can be delayed until Brown is sworn in, then his special election could have an impact on passage of Obamacare.

Technorati Tags: scott, brown, martha, coakley, massachusetts, special, election, certification, obamacare, health, senate, cloture,

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MSNBC: Rachel Maddow Interviews Ron Paul

Lindsey Graham Blames Paul's Followers for Lexington County Censure Vote

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Rebuttal of Keynesian Economic Models

With the economy still in the ditch, the Democrats in Congress, and President Obama, are talking of implementing another stimulus. The Heritage Foundation has a nice rebuttal of the flawed economic (Keynesian) argument used to justify deficit creating stimulus programs. Here's a quote from the piece.

"For example, many lawmakers claim that every $1 billion in highway stimulus can create 47,576 new construction jobs. But Congress must first borrow that $1 billion from the private economy, which will then lose at least as many jobs.[8] Highway spending simply transfers jobs and income from one part of the economy to another. As Heritage Foundation economist Ronald Utt has explained, "The only way that $1 billion of new highway spending can create 47,576 new jobs is if the $1 billion appears out of nowhere as if it were manna from heaven." This statement has been confirmed by the Department of Transportation and the General Accounting Office (since renamed the Government Accountability Office), yet lawmakers continue to base policy on this economic fallacy.

Removing water from one end of a swimming pool and pouring it in the other end will not raise the overall water level. Similarly, taking dollars from one part of the economy and distributing it to another part of the economy will not expand the economy.

University of Chicago economist John Cochrane adds that:

First, if money is not going to be printed, it has to come from somewhere. If the government borrows a dollar from you, that is a dollar that you do not spend, or that you do not lend to a company to spend on new investment. Every dollar of increased government spending must correspond to one less dollar of private spending. Jobs created by stimulus spending are offset by jobs lost from the decline in private spending. We can build roads instead of factories, but fiscal stimulus can't help us to build more of both. This form of "crowding out" is just accounting, and doesn't rest on any perceptions or behavioral assumptions.

Second, investment is "spending" every bit as much as is consumption. Keynesian fiscal stimulus advocates want money spent on consumption, not saved. They evaluate past stimulus programs by whether people who got stimulus money spent it on consumption goods rather than save it. But the economy overall does not care if you buy a car, or if you lend money to a company that buys a forklift.

Government spending can affect long-term economic growth, both up and down. Economic growth is based on the growth of labor productivity and labor supply, which can be affected by how governments directly and indirectly influence the use of an economy's resources. However, increasing the economy's productivity rate--which often requires the application of new technology and resources-- can take many years or even decades to materialize. It is not short-term stimulus.

In fact, large stimulus bills often reduce long-term productivity by transferring resources from the more productive private sector to the less productive government. The government rarely receives good value for the dollars it spends. However, stimulus bills provide politicians with the political justification to grant tax dollars to favored constituencies. By increasing the budget deficit, large stimulus bills eventually contribute to higher interest rates while dropping even more debt on future generations."

The Heritage Foundation, Riedl, Brian M., Why Government Spending Does Not Stimulate Economic Growth: Answering the Critics (January 5, 2010) (footnotes omitted).

I like his analogy of taking water from one end of the pool and putting it in the other end.

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Historical Facts About the Federal Reserve

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Emily Boot Camp News

Emily sent us a December 27 letter. She said the days at Boot Camp are really long, but the weeks are fast. On Christmas, she and her fellow recruits sang Anchors Aweigh. Her correspondence is full of hope and excitement.

The first time I read her letter, I thought Emily described Anchors Aweigh as a Christmas song. I went to look up the lyrics to see what she was talking about. The song does have some cool lyrics, such as this one that explains Navy's colors of blue and gold:

Blue of the Seven Seas; Gold of God's great sun

Let these our colors be till all of time be done-n-n-ne,

I could not figure why Emily thinks Anchors Aweigh is a Christmas song since none of the lyrics mention the season. I will need to find out where she learned that. Perhaps the RDOs are messing with the recruits again. [NOTE: Emily's letter actually says the song "isn't really a Christmas song." I just misread her letter.] Wikipedia did mention the song is used at Navy Boot Camp.

The song is also is used in the US Navy bootcamp in Great Lakes IL, recruits when passing through an underground tunnel heading away from the barracks sing the first verse and sing the second verse on the way back.

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Papajohns Bowl Slideshow Trip Pictures

Here are some blurry photos of our family enjoying the trip to the Gamecocks Bowl game. The Gamecocks lost 20-7, but we had a pretty fun trip except for the game.

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Do You Facebook?

Maybe That Decision Should Be Reconsidered

Besides the privacy issue, the alleged right to take your copyrights to artistic content causes me concern. I noticed a few days ago that Facebook is selling Graffiti drawn by FB members. I doubt the members are getting anything out of those transactions.

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Dem Care Bill Hammers HSA

If you are like me, you have an HSA to pay for medical expenses with tax free money. The idea of an HSA is to create an account like an IRA that is used for purchase of medical treatment for the family. The catastrophic medical problems are covered by insurance, but for the routine care we expend funds from our HSA Account.

Republicans have argued health reform should involve removal of middle men from the health services industry and let the consumer buy goods and services directly. Free market principles would reward the most efficient purveyors of goods and services, cause cost decreases, and stimulate competition among meritorious efficient businesses.

HSA's also made purchase of over the counter medications an option that would further reduce costs. One need not always go to a doctor for the flu since the condition could be treated without a prescription at the local drug store.

However, the Democrat health bill removes the tax advantage of using HSA accounts for buying over the counter medications. Such purchases are no longer eligible from HSA funds. The clip below speculates that this law will force consumers to physicians to obtain prescriptions so their purchases will qualify.

It is hard to say how many more ill-conceived ideas are incorporated in the monstrosity. Few of our elected representatives had time to carefully read the Bill before it was rushed to a vote by the Senate leaders.

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