MSU vs PSU

It was awful. At first, I thought we had a chance. Our defense looked pretty good. They went 3 and out, we went 3 and out. Thought it would be a tight game. Didn't really expect MSU to win - we were a 14 point underdog - but I didn't expect for us to get so blown away. The final score was 49-18.

Hoyer should have come out much sooner. Using Ringer when it was obvious that Penn State could read him so well was a poor choice. But I have to say that they never quit playing - they just didn't play well.

So, now we wait and see - will we play in Tampa at the Outback Bowl or in Tempe, AZ in the Insight Bowl? In all likelihood, we'll be in Tampa. The Spartans have had an awesome season. Back to back winning seasons, back to back Bowl games...Dantonio and the Spartans deserve praise.

The Band will go to the Bowl Game and for them, it's an opportunity to be seen by people who only see the Spartans on TV. ESPN and ABC don't show much of the bands before or during the game, and never any part of the half-time show. That's a shame really. They work so hard - a new show for every home game means new music to memorize and new sets/marching routines. If you think they aren't athletes, just try it some time! The talent, dedication and shear physical work involved deserve respect. It annoys the hell out of me when the bands are ignored or ridiculed. These are awesome young people.

Unless you know someone in a college level marching band, you can't know, really, what I mean. People who can't walk and chew gum at the same time look down on the 'band geeks'. If they only knew...

Ah well - enough of my soapbox.

GO GREEN GO WHITE!

Unemployment............Sucks.

Well, today I applied for Unemployment benefits. The last time I did that was 25 years ago and it was a humiliating, tedious experience.

Now, it's not so bad. You go online, answer about 30 minutes worth of questions, post your resume on Michigan Talent Bank and then go to the Michigan Works office. Once there, you show them that you already did the hard part and they give you a form to fill out with the exact same information and then they put you on the computer and you enter the exact same information again. Then you print off your resume, so they have a hard copy, and they give you a little key chain card with a bar code on it. The office was clean, bright, quiet. No lines, no waiting and everyone was very pleasant. Now I have to call into "MARVIN" at an appointed time and answer questions and I'll have to go into the Works office every 2 weeks and probably answer the same questions.

So, all in all, not too bad. But I'd rather be working. I really would rather be working. I know that I'm 'entitled' to benefits - it's not my fault that there's no work right now. But I feel like a leech. I know that there are people out there that live off the state - via welfare, disability, and other such governmental handouts. Some are deserved, but I've seen many who are not. I know perfectly healthy people who collect disability benefits and I know people who truly are disabled but can't get benefits. I see women having more babies to get a bigger check. I know people who can work, and don't - even in a good economy.

I'd rather be working. Entitled or not, I don't like taking a check and not doing a damn thing to earn it.

So if anyone needs a nurse....

Got this in an Email

I received the following article from a friend ... he doesn't know the source. I don't agree with everything in the article, but I hope some good will come of the results of this election. A large number of folks now have to try and make it work. There can no longer be any obstruction and Bush-bashing from the Democrats. They finally have a stake in American domestic and foreign policy. It will be interesting to see what they do with their newly found power.

Not the End of the World
November 05, 2008 (day after the American election)

It's easy to let yourself go into complete despair and start thinking things like "We are well-and-truly f..d" or "This is the worst of all possible outcomes". But it isn't true. I think this election is going to be a "coming-of-age" moment for a lot of people.

They say ... "Be careful what you wish for" and a lot of people got their wish yesterday. And now, they're bound to be disappointed. Not even Jesus Christ could satisfy all the
expectations of President-Elect Obama's most vocal supporters, or fulfill all the promises Obama has made.

I think Obama is going to turn out to be the worst president since Carter, and for the same reason: good intentions do not guarantee good results. Idealists often stub their toes on the wayward rocks of reality, and fall flat on their faces. And the world doesn't respond to benign behavior benignly. But there's another reason why: Obama has been hiding his light under a basket. A lot of people bought a pig in a poke yesterday, and now they're going to find out what they bought. Obama isn't what most of them think he is.

The intoxication of the cult will wear off, leaving a monumental hangover. And four years from now Obama's cult worshippers will be older and much wiser. A lot of bad things are going to happen during this term. But I don't think that this is an irreversible catastrophe for the union. I've lived long enough to absorb this basic truth: the U.S. is too large and too strong to be destroyed from within or from without in just four years. Or even in eight. We survived six years of Nixon. We survived four years of Carter. We even survived eight years of Clinton, God alone knows how.

The President of the United States is the most powerful political figure in the world, but as national executives go his powers are actually quite restricted. Obama will become President, but he won't be a dictator or king, let alone deity. He still has to work with the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, and he still has to live within U.S. Constitutional restrictions, and with a judiciary that he mostly didn't appoint.

The main reason this will be a "coming-of-age" moment is that now Obama and the Democrats have to put up or shut up. Obama got elected by making himself a blank slate, with vapid promises about "hope" and "change" -- but now he actually has to do something. Now he has to reveal his true agenda. And now, with the Democrats also having a majority in both chambers of Congress, the Democrats will really have to lead.

And they're not going to do a very good job of it. It's going to be amusing to watch. And the people who fell for the demagoguery will learn an invaluable lesson. Oh, the Democrats have tried and will continue to try to blame failure on Republican filibusters, of which there will continue to be many. But that's always been a factor in our system of government, and many people believe it's an important check on government excess. The tradition in the Senate is that it is supposed to be a buffer against transient political fads, and the filibuster is a major part of that. If the Democrats go all in, and change the filibuster rule, then they'll have truly seized the nettle with both hands and won't have any excusesany longer. That's why they won't do it. It's their last fig-leaf.

But even with the filibuster rule in place, they'll be stuck trying to deliver now on all the promises implied, or inferred, during this election. The Republicans can only filibuster on bills the Democrats have already proposed. And it ain't possible for the Democrats to deliver what's been promised. Gonna be a hell of a lot of disillusioned lefties out there. A lot of people who felt they were deceived. A lot of people who will eventually realize that the Obama campaign was something of a cult. Disillusionment will turn to a feeling of betrayal. And that will, inturn, convert to anger.

In the mean time, Obama and Congressional Democrats will do things that will actually cause harm, but very little of it will be irreversible. I would have enjoyed watching lefty heads explode if McCain had won. But we're going to see lefty heads exploding anyway; it's just going to take a bit longer.

In the meantime, those of us who didn't want Obama to be President have to accept that he is. And let's not give in to the kind of paranoid, feverish dreams that have consumed the left for the last eigh years. Let us collectively take a vow today: no "Obama derangement syndrome". Obama is a politician. He isn't the devil incarnate.

So, what are the good sides of what just happened?

1. It is no longer possible for anyone to deny that the mainstream media are heavily biased. The mainstream media have been biased for decades, but they managed an illusion of fairness. That is no longer possible; the mainstream media have squandered their credibility during this election campaign. They'll never get that credibility back again.

2. Since the Democrats got nearly everything they hoped for in this campaign, they'll have no excuses and will have to produce. They'll haveto reveal their true agenda -- or else make clear that they haven't really had any substantive agenda beyond
gaining power.

3. Every few decades, the American people have to be reminded that peace only comes with strength. The next four years will be this generation's lesson.

Now, a few predictions for the next four years:

1. Obama's "hold out your hand to everyone" foreign policy is going to be a catastrophe. They'll love it in Europe. They're probably laughing their heads off about it in the middle east already.

2. The US hasn't suffered a terrorist attack by al Qaeda since 9/11/2001, but we'll get at least one during Obama's term.

3. We're going to lose in Afghanistan.

4. Iran will get nuclear weapons. There will be nuclear war between Iran and Israel. (This is the only irreversibly terrible thing I see upcoming, and it's very bad indeed.)

5. There will eventually be a press backlash against Obama which will make their treatment of Bush look mild. Partly that's going to occur because Obama is going to disappoint them just as much as all his other supporters. Partly it will be the mainstream media desperately trying to regain its own damaged credibility, by trying to show that they're not in the tank for Obama any longer. And because of that they are eventually going to do the reporting they should have done during this campaign, about Obama's less-than-savory friends, and about voter fraud, and about illegal fund-raising, and about a lot of other things. And

6. Obama will not be re-elected in 2012. He may even end up doing an LBJ and not even running again.

One last thing: I'm not saying I'm happy with this outcome. I would much rather have had McCain win. But this is not the end of the world, or the end of this nation. We've survived much worse. And now we need to show the lefties how to lose. Our mission for the next four years is to be in opposition without becoming deranged. UPDATE: One other good thing: no one will be spinning grand conspiracy theories about this administration's Vice President being an evil,conniving genius who is the true power behind the throne."

Just a Quickie

OK, get your minds out of the gutter!

Thought I'd do a family update... Joe, our eldest, is in Grad School at WMU and is currently writing a full length play. I can't wait to read it! Keith is still at MSU and as a member of the Spartan Marching Band, will be heading for a nice warm bowl game on New Year's Day! Lucky kid.

Greg and I are no longer owners of Greg's Service! We sold off the building, land and the heavy equipment in August and were able to sell off some of the tools. Huge relief! We still owe some money, but not the crushing amounts we had before.

Greg is working as a mechanic in town, with the understanding that he can go part time when my hours pick up. Right now, the research business is like anything else - slow. But it should pick up after the first of the year.

Unemployment in Michigan was announced to be 9.3%! Absolutely ridiculous. The national rate is around 5%. And yet people still think that having Democrats in office will help. (sorry, see my previous post - opinions are all my own!)

I think that I'll also post an email I received. It's quite a well written piece about our new President-Elect and the Democratic majority they will enjoy.

So: What do you have planned for Thanksgiving? Going somewhere? Staying home and cooking? Hiding in the basement? Any special traditions that your family follows?

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! God Bless

In My Humble Opinion

Everyone has one (or sixty!) and everyone has one different than yours or mine. So, when in the course of blogging, you express your opinion either in agreement or disagreement to someone else's you hope that there is mutual respect. And hopefully you are willing to allow dissent and try to learn, be moved, or allow yourself to see the other side - not necessarily agree with it, but just see it for what it is - someone's opinion.

I've decided that I would like to tell you a little about my opinions. This is, after all, my blog, my space to express myself. I can refer to this post if someone wants to know more about me and how I think. You may not agree with me - in fact, I'm pretty sure that many people do not. Does this mean that my opinions are not valid? No. Just means that we disagree on one point or another. Doesn't mean we can't be friends. So here goes.


1. I am anti-abortion. I do not believe that in this day of really effective birth control that any innocent child need die because its parents are stupid or lazy (for those who scream about rape, incest and health of the mother – only .1% of abortions are done for these reasons).

2. I am pro-capital punishment. But more than that, I believe that the convicted murderer should be killed in the same manner that he murdered his victim. If a murderer ever uses lethal injection to kill someone then fine, that's what we'll use. But if he uses a gun, a knife, a car, his bare hands - then that is how he goes out. In this day of sophisticated forensics - there should be evidence of guilt - but if there are more than one witness to the crime, that is enough - forget the multiple appeals - waste of time and money.

3. All pedophiles that rape children should be castrated. Period. If they kill them, then they should be castrated first, and then killed in like manner.

4. I am a religious person. I will say Merry Christmas, Happy Easter, God bless you, and God bless America. I will not defend my right to practice my religion and I will not infringe on your right to practice yours. If you are not religious at all, that is also your choice and I will not infringe on your rights. DO NOT belittle my choices, my intelligence, or my values.

5. I am conservative. (duh) That does not mean that I am a non-thinking little sheep. I do my reading; I keep up on the current politics and do not rely on the media to tell me how to think. In fact I tend to disregard most of the MSM as a bunch of talking heads more interested in celebrities than news. If you start quoting someone else's opinion, I'm going to expect that you should be able to express your own - with reasons for your position - not "because!”

6. If you have children and you do not discipline them, you must be held accountable for their actions. If your child is out of control, in public, then you should remove the child. If you do not, then you should not be pissed when someone asks you to leave. I do not pay $50 for a nice meal in a nice restaurant to listen to your child scream that he wants chicken nuggets. Get a sitter. I spanked my boys. My father beat my ass. Guess what? Not only did we survive, we and my boys thrived. They are upstanding, nice young men who don't drink to excess, don't do drugs, don't smoke and get great grades in college. So, I'm pretty sure that their lack of 'time-outs' didn't affect them - but the spankings did.

7. My biggest pet peeve: People who are late. This is disrespectful and rude.

8. I do not believe that people can not improve themselves. Anyone can attend community college (I did), anyone can get a high school diploma/GED, and there are grants, scholarships, student loans - available to damn near everyone - if you do the paperwork. Laziness should not be rewarded with a check from the state. Get off your ass and get a job or the education necessary. No whining! I did it.


9. If you ride a motorcycle without a helmet, you must have $1 million in trust to pay for your veggie life in the nursing home. And sign the damn organ donor card!

10. YOU are responsible for your own health!!!!!! If you smoke, drink to excess, don't wear a seatbelt, don't get your self to a doctor once in awhile - then don't bitch when you have your stroke, heart attack, cancer diagnosis, etc.... And don't give your nurses a hard time when they try to take care of your sorry butt. Most of the time, your condition is your own fault and very rarely is it unavoidable.

Okay, I better stop there. But you get the idea. I'm opinionated, reasonably intelligent, and very proud of my family.

The bulls-eye is on my chest - give me your best shot - and your opinions about my opinions - and we'll all get to know each other better and hopefully be better for it!