Super Bowl Wrap-Up

While the Colts lost, it was still a good game.  I knew it was over when Manning threw the interception in the 4th quarter.  Tom’s Place congratulates the New Orleans Saints for a well-played game.

As far as the half-time show was concerned, only one word comes to mind – pathetic.  The Who were absolutely horrible -  I’ve heard garage bands play & sing better than that performance.

The commercials this year were pretty lackluster.  I probably won’t remember a single one in a week except for this one:

While humorous, I do begin to wonder if the push toward “green” won’t result in a “Green Enforcement Police” that has the same powers as regular law-enforcement.  I can just see the EPA expanding their power beyond a regulatory agency to that of law enforcement at the behest of environmentalists and Global Warming Climate Change supporters trying to make the world better for mankind.

I wonder if this is what Obama meant by creating “green jobs”…

Super Bowl XLIV Predictions

The pundits are calling for an Indianapolis Colts victory over the New Orleans Saint by 6 points (at least the time this post was written.  I’m also predicting that the Colts will win, but I think the margin will be much less.  Actually, I’m thinking this dance is going to be decided by a 4th quarter field goal.

I haven’t followed football all that much the past couple of years, and this year wasn’t much of a change.  But I did see the playoffs a couple of weeks ago, and the Saints win was impressive just from the aspect of the level of energy that the team demonstrated on the field. 

The Colts will have their hands full keeping Manning safe from the small but fast Saints defensive line.  Manning performs best when he has time to find his receivers, and that means he needs to get in a rhythm quickly.  If the Saints penetrate the Colts offensive line, Manning will not be comfortable and will hurry his passing.  That would lead to interceptions, and with a fast defense, would lead to long runbacks and/or touchdowns.

The key for the Colts will be to score early and keep the pressure on the Saint’s offense.  The Colts seem to have some problems with the defensive line, and also seems to have a weak backfield from time to time.  That can be devastating for the Colts as their defense seems to need time to figure out the opposition.

The key for the Saints will be to attack the Colts offensive line and constantly change up their plays on the offense.  Their strength in this game will be to be fast and unpredictable.  The Saints offensive plays have not been pretty from what I observed during the playoffs, but they will get the job done if given half a chance.

It should be a good game, although I hope it won’t be a blowout.

Note:  I probably won’t do a review of the Super Bowl Commercials this year.  With the new job, I just don’t have time – that is, unless there are a couple of good ones I would like to comment on.

Troubled Toyota

In watching Toyota deal with one crisis after another over the past couple of weeks, I cannot help but feel a little Schadenfreude about the whole situation.  Here’s why…

For all the time that I was with Chrysler, Toyota was the bogeyman of the automotive industry.  We were constantly pounded on that we needed to be more like Toyota.  What was worse, being told to do more with less to play catch-up adds up to a no-win situation.  I have no doubts that GM and Ford were in the same boat.  And we’ve seen where that has led two of the three automakers.

The cornerstone of strength of Toyota has always been its quality, but it has taken some dings in the past couple of years.  Its foray into the pickup truck market resulted in engine sludge problems and rusting frames.  Now with the accelerator sticking on several models, and reported brake problems with both the “green” Prius hybrid & the flagship Lexus brand, it just adds some much needed tarnish on the Toyota logo.  Face it – some humility is needed in order for reality to really sink in and address problems that happen with every manufacturer.

But they aren’t alone – the automotive media has also contributed to the Toyota myth of perfect quality.  I understand that the crap that the Detroit-3 churned out in the 70’s & 80’s earned the disdain of the masses and media alike.  But to continue the wholesale trashing of an iconic domestic industry that has improved tremendously from those years while either burying or ignoring the troubles of the foreign competition is beyond my understanding.  Just review this earlier post, and you’ll understand.

Toyota had it in their sights to become the largest automotive manufacturer in the world, and in the process, lost their way.  Becoming bigger doesn’t mean that you are better, and Toyota just found that out the hard way.

My Two Pennies Worth…

Having looked over the reactions of my fellow bloggers, reading the transcript of the speech, and watching various video clips of President Obama’s State of the Union speech, I think I’m going to have to echo Supreme Court Judge Alito’s silent comment:

Not true.  Or at least, not wholly truthful.

I’m not going to mirror the detail and comments of my fellow bloggers except for the following thoughts:

The State of the Union Speech seemed like a retrenching speech, understanding only that a Republican’s victory in Democratic Massachusetts was a smack on the Democrat’s proboscis with a rolled up newspaper, but not any great setback from the agenda that Obama has set for the Congress to complete.  Yes, health care reform was put on the back burner somewhat, but it is still there waiting for some miraculous compromise.  So is cap and trade / climate change legislation.  A greater emphasis was put on the economy and jobs, but the steps that the President wants to take in helping Americans has a great potential in stifling recovery.  But he is still pushing that agenda.  So I have to echo this thought from an election in the not so distant past -

It’s the economy, stupid!

It was always been the economy, not healthcare reform, that concerns Americans.  If we don’t have jobs, then healthcare is almost irrelevant if we don’t have the money to pay for food on the table and a roof over our heads.  With the economy tanking and job losses each month in the hundreds of thousands, did we, as a nation, really give a rat’s behind about health care reform, especially with millions of bribes written into it?  No!!  Passing ill conceived legislation stuffed to the gills with pork concerns Americans because we will have to pay for it!

These inane antics of Congress and the President’s constant breaking of campaign promises does not lend credibility to either institution.  When trillions of dollars are spent freely by the Congress and approved by the President while hard-working people are put out of jobs and still expected to pay the bills just to live, is it any wonder that Tea Party demonstrations were organized across the country?  Haven’t the politicians been paying attention, or are they completely clueless?

Perhaps Scott Brown’s assertions that an elected seat doesn’t “belong” to anyone except the People of the country resonated with Massachusetts’s voters.  I fully expect it to resonate in the upcoming mid-year elections, especially if voters ask themselves if their elected representative represented the will of the People instead of the will of the Party they belong to.  That, my friends, is the beginning of real change that needs to take place in government, and not more flowery speeches by a community organizer playing President.

What the State of the Union Speech Should Report

What President Obama should say tonight – from The American Spectator:

This is your captain speaking. I have an important announcement. We lost radio contact with the ground shortly after take-off and have been flying blind ever since. I have no idea whether we are still in U.S. territory, and we do seem to be losing altitude and running short of fuel. Sorry, folks, but that’s the risk that you took in choosing to fly with us. Nancy and the other flight attendants will be coming through the cabin one last time to collect your valuables. Brace yourselves for a hard landing, and thank you for flying Hope-and-Change Airlines.

Truer words will never be spoken by the One…

Breaking News!!

Just got a phone call – The company I have been interviewing with has just made me an offer!  And they want me to start tomorrow!!

After ten months of unemployment, I HAVE A JOB!!!

There will be much celebrating tonight!!  (but not too much…)

The Teleprompter Takeover

Consider this picture from President Obama’s address after meeting sixth-graders at Graham Road Elementary School in Falls Church, Virginia.  Can’t the man give a speech without his Teleprompters?  One does begin to wonder who, or what, is running the country…

Perhaps the evil Cylons have joined forces with Skynet, and are downloading information into the Teleprompters for programming a previously unknown cybernetic model to lead us unwitting Humans down the garden path into a form of slavery known as “dependence on Government.”  All of it financed, of course, by George Sauron with help from Caprica 6 and Ahnold.

I’m waiting for Teleprompters to become part of classroom teaching methods.  Using teleprompters as part of the constant visual stimulation of modern teaching methods is one of the greatest methods of brainwashing known to man and machine.  Add Teleprompters to the computers in the classrooms, and no student will ever need to have a coherent thought to answer questions like what is the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything [42].  Soon, all humans will become part of the Matrix…or are we already a part of the Matrix?  Does anyone feel like a battery yet?  I need my Red Pill…or was it Blue… What was I thinking about?  I forgot…oh yeah…

Soon, we will all need Teleprompters to tell us what to say and do.  That way, we will all become as successful as the President has become over the past year.  But the program needs to be accelerated with the recent win in Massachusetts and the potential for the plans to be defeated.  Thus:

Humans, resistance is useless!!

This message has been brought to you by:  The Ring Corporation – "One to Rule Them All"; Cybernetic Life Foundation – "Logic is Life"; Skynet Communications – "Big Brother is Your Friend"; Teleprompters ‘R Us – "Making Learning Easier Without Thinking"; and Vogon Construction – “Destroying to Build a Better Universe”

The Farmer’s Donkey – A Lesson

One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well… The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do.

Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; It just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw.

With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer’s neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

The donkey later came back, and bit the farmer who had tried to bury him. The gash from the bite got infected and the farmer eventually died in agony from septic shock.

MORALS FROM TODAY’S LESSON:

Moral #1: Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping. Never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

Moral #2: When you do something wrong, and try to cover your ass, it always comes back to bite you!

The Media’s Double Standard

With President Obama’s healthcare on life support, and Scott Brown’s election to the Senate in a state that was a Democrat-stronghold, it does make one wonder how the Democrats got into this situation.  In short, Obama put his agenda for the country ahead of the needs of the country, and the voters didn’t like it.  And the media went right along with it until the wheels started coming off.

From the comments section of a Mort Zuckerman article (h/t to Z for the article):

Ninety percent of the reason we have this "disaster" as a president, is the media. In their hatred for George Bush and the Iraq War, they portrayed him as evil, dumb and incompetent. He was far from a perfect president, especially his last 2 years, but he did keep us safe and we did have a booming economy for most of 6 years. The media never gave him credit for anything.

Because of this, we were ripe for "change". Along comes a politician with no history and lots of beautiful words. When his connection with Reverend Wright came up, no one investigated and those who did were called racist. When his relationship with Bill Ayres came up, how many in the mainstream media cared. They said it was only those "right-wing radio hosts" who were trying to destroy Obama.

Did the media care that this man has no experience running anything? Did they care about Tony Rezko or any other Chicago connections? Did they dig through his trash like they have been known to do for conservatives? How many operatives were in Alaska digging dirt on Sarah Palin, while no one was asking questions on the South Side of Chicago?

If you really looked at the man’s background and ideas, no one would be surprised by what has happened. From Van Jones, to Cass Sunstein, what did you expect? Were you surprised that he appointed a tax cheat as Treasury Secretary? How about a pervert for school safety czar? This is who Obama is…..he is beholding to the unions, to the Far Left, and to the liberals of academia. Less than 10% of his aides, cabinet members and czars have ever been in the private sector. How can they possibly relate to the American people? Instead, they refer to the "working class", as though anyone who makes more than $100,000 does not work. How do those people think most Americans got their money?

Obama told Joe the plumber that he must share the wealth with those less fortunate. No one listened and the media hated this story.

When Mr. Obama says that he can fix the economy by throwing money at health care, energy (green jobs), and education, does the media even question such an absurd statement? A high school economics student would at least ask how spending more money can help, and why if green jobs were profitable, the private sector would not be involved.

So Mr. Zuckerman, as you wonder what happened with your Messiah, look no further than the Mainstream Media. Fortunately the American people are smarter than the media give them credit for….first Virginia spoke, then New Jersey. Last night we had the "shot heard around the country"! Thank you Massachusetts…..will Mr. Obama listen, or continue with his tone-deafness?

Furthermore, when then Candidate Obama makes many promises, becomes President, makes more promises, and then breaks most of them, has the media held him accountable?  I think you know the answer to that.

This is why the media is losing readership and viewers in droves to alternate news sources like the Internet, blogs, and foreign news services.  You know that if the media fawns over a political figure like a mini-godling and that same political figure’s supporters blasts opposing views without a peep from the media, there is something definitely wrong with the media.  The media is supposed to be the champions of free speech, and yet they are complicit in shutting down opposing views.  A quote from the campaign trail from Democratic Obama’s opponent should say it all:

“I’m sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and disagree with this administration, somehow you’re not patriotic.  We need to stand up and say we’re Americans, and we have the right to debate and disagree with any administration.” – Hillary Clinton

And yet this is exactly what the media is not doing.  The media is supposed to be neutral, reporting on all sides of the debate, and leaving the opinions to the editorial page.

So if radio stations like Air America shut down, and opinionated newspapers close their doors, they shouldn’t be surprised.  Americans are bright and resourceful people.  They will only take so much nonsense before giving the boot to the offending parties. 

Massachusetts is only the first serious backlash against the Obama administration and the antics of the Democratically controlled Congress.  There is more to come, and it should be extremely hard for the media to ignore (although I know that they will do their best to do so).

News From The Job Front

Had an interview last night(!) that lasted two hours.  Today, my inside source told me that the company is considering offering me a position, probably sometime next week.  I am absolutely hoping that this offer comes through.

Hopefully, this will start a trend nationwide for more jobs.

Coincidence that a Republican was elected to the Senate from Massachusetts, and this has a very strong possibility that Obamacare is dead?  One does wonder…