Another must see video

Burning Down The House: What Caused Our Economic Crisis?

Fannie & Freddie

Great article that appeared on bloomberg.com today.
To read "How the Democrats Created the Financial Crisis" by Kevin Hassett go to
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aSKSoiNbnQY0

Another good column

Michael Reagan's column also correctly assigns the blame for the mortgage mess where it belongs - with liberal Democrats.

http://townhall.com/columnists/MichaelReagan/2008/09/18/pinning_the_tail_on_the_donkey

Neal Boortz column

Neal Boortz has a great column today on Townhall.com.
http://townhall.com/columnists/NealBoortz/2008/09/19/the_rest_of_the_meltdown_story

Fire Carl

It's long past time that the Kansas City Chiefs bring the long nightmare of the Carl Peterson era to a close. The Chiefs suffered an embarrassing 23-8 butt-kicking against a sub-par Raiders team today. This should be the final nail in Carl's coffin. What was once a proud franchise is now a complete joke. Change is way past due. Fire Carl and do it now!

The Difference a Day Makes

Today is a beautiful day in Dallas - mostly sunny, few clouds, temps in the upper 80's. What a difference a day makes!

Notre Dame 35 Michigan 17

Now this is more like it! The 2-0 Fighting Irish looked like their old selves today with a nice win over Michigan. Is this the start of an Irish resurgence?

Dear Mr. Obama

This is a must-see video. I heard the audio yesterday on Rush Limbaugh's radio show. Hats off to this young man - a true American hero!

Mizzou rules!

The Missouri Tigers rolled past Nevada today 69-17. I don't get to watch too many Mizzou games here in Dallas but luckily this one was televised and I saw most of it. The Tigers were very impressive once again! Go Mizzou!

Winds picking up

Fortunately it appears that Dallas will be spared from the heavy winds and rain caused by Hurricane Ike. The winds have picked up here with gusts at 33 mph, but that is nothing like the 60mph wind gusts in Tyler, which is just east of Dallas. It's been raining fairly steady in Dallas for most of the day. Ugh!

Ike's rain reaches Dallas

Hurricane Ike's rains have reached Dallas. I just shot this video of our backyard/pool area. Observations at this point: Sky is very cloudy. Rain is moderate to heavy. Not much wind - yet. Hint: Pause the music playing on my site before playing video - then you can hear the rain!

Dems running scared

Now that the wheels are coming off of the Obama campaign, other Dems are running scared.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6c2f69ce-8031-11dd-99a9-000077b07658.html

Happy Birthday Tommy

Pic of Tom taken recently in San Francisco

Happy Birthday to my L-P-B-S!
I had made plans for us to celebrate Tom's birthday in Austin or Houston this weekend. We scrapped those plans though due to hurricane Ike, which is expected to hit southeast Texas later tonight. My thoughts and prayers go out to all who are in the path of Ike. Anyway it looks like we'll be spending Tom's birthday weekend in Big D - away from the storm.

Flashback: Seven years ago we spent Tom's birthday in St. Louis, where I was living at the time. Tom had a ticket to fly to St. Louis on 9/12/01 but his flight, along with all others, was cancelled due to the savage terrorist attacks the day before. Instead, he got in his car and made the ten hour drive from Dallas to St. Louis, arriving into town that evening. I can't remember much of what we did during Tom's stay other than watch TV coverage of 9/11. That was all most everyone, including us, could think about.

McCain Now in the Lead!

The latest Gallup daily tracking poll shows that John McCain now leads Barack Obama 48 percent to 45 percent among registered voters. Now, this is more like it! America is finally waking up!

McCain's mother

I don't know about you but I couldn't get over how great John McCain's mother Roberta looks for her age. Mrs. McCain looks better at the age of 96 than most 80 year olds do.

This should help John McCain with the so called age issue in his campaign. Last night millions of Americans got to see firsthand how strong and clear-headed Roberta McCain is. Hell, John is still a baby compared to her.

If longeivity is mostly genetic, then John McCain inherited a great set of genes - and at 72 he is still a spring chicken!

Strong Women

For the past several years, liberals have falsely claimed that the real reason why men don't like Hillary Clinton is that we are intimidated by a strong woman. This of course is nonsense.

As I have stated repeatedly, most men have no general problem with strong women. We just have problems with this particular women, Hillary Clinton. It's Hillary's lack of ethics and her socialist tendencies that we deplore. We would feel the exact same about her if she were a man.

Furthermore, one of my favorite world leaders was Margaret Thatcher. Was not "Iron Lady" Thatcher the epitome of a strong woman?

Now along comes Sarah Palin. Who can deny that she too is one strong woman? Yet, surprise, surprise! I, along with millions of other men, have total respect and admiration for Gov. Palin.

So much for being afraid of a strong woman!

Barack who?

GO SARAH! WOW! That was one heck of an acceptance speech that Sarah Palin delivered last night. She hit it out of the park! Our soon to be VP dazzled me with her strength and poise. Sarah Palin represents the future of our grand old party. When it comes to hope and change, Barack Obama & his same ol' same 'ol Chicago - style machine politics can't hold a candle to Sarah!

A few of the highlights of her speech:

First - her joke: "What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick."

Gov. Palin commenting on her family: "...And in April, my husband Todd and I welcomed our littlest one into the world, a perfectly beautiful baby boy named Trig. From the inside, no family ever seems typical.

That's how it is with us. Our family has the same ups and downs as any other ... the same challenges and the same joys.

Sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge.

And children with special needs inspire a special love."

Gov. Palin comparing her experience as mayor with Obama's experience as a community organizer: "Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown.

And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves.

I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities."

Gov. Palin taking Obama to task over his derisive comments about small town Americans: "I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening.

We tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco."

Gov. Palin assailing the Washington elites: "And I've learned quickly, these past few days, that if you're not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone.

But here's a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion -- I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this country. Americans expect us to go to Washington for the right reasons, and not just to mingle with the right people."

Gov. Palin discussing her record of fiscal responsibility: "While I was at it, I got rid of a few things in the governor's office that I didn't believe our citizens should have to pay for.

That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on eBay.

I also drive myself to work.

And I thought we could muddle through without the governor's personal chef -- although I've got to admit that sometimes my kids sure miss her. I came to office promising to control spending -- by request if possible and by veto if necessary.

Senator McCain also promises to use the power of veto in defense of the public interest -- and as a chief executive, I can assure you it works.

Our state budget is under control.

We have a surplus.

And I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending: nearly half a billion dollars in vetoes."

Gov. Palin demonstrating that she gets it when discussing energy: "When a hurricane strikes in the Gulf of Mexico, this country should not be so dependent on imported oil that we are forced to draw from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

And families cannot throw away more and more of their paychecks on gas and heating oil.

With Russia wanting to control a vital pipeline in the Caucasus, and to divide and intimidate our European allies by using energy as a weapon, we cannot leave ourselves at the mercy of foreign suppliers.

To confront the threat that Iran might seek to cut off nearly a fifth of world energy supplies ... or that terrorists might strike again at the Abqaiq facility in Saudi Arabia ... or that Venezuela might shut off its oil deliveries ... we Americans need to produce more of our own oil and gas.

And take it from a gal who knows the North Slope of Alaska: we've got lots of both.

Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America's energy problems -- as if we all didn't know that already.

But the fact that drilling won't solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all."

Gov. Palin uncloaking the real Obama: "This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word "victory" except when he's talking about his own campaign. But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed ... when the roar of the crowd fades away ... when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot -- what exactly is our opponent's plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to make government bigger ... take more of your money ... give you more orders from Washington ... and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world. America needs more energy ... our opponent is against producing it.

Victory in Iraq is finally in sight ... he wants to forfeit."

Gov. Palin talking about change: "In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers.

And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change."

Gov. Palin closing the sale: "If character is the measure in this election ... and hope the theme ... and change the goal we share, then I ask you to join our cause. Join our cause and help America elect a great man as the next president of the United States.

Thank you all, and may God bless America."

Rudy's speech

I thoroughly enjoyed Rudy Giuliani's speech at the Republican National Convention! A few of the highlights:

Rudy taking a jab at the media and Hollywood: "We, the people, the citizens of the United States, get to decide our next president, not the left-wing media, not Hollywood celebrities, not anyone else but the people of America."

Rudy, after going through John McCain's impressive resume, compares it to Obama's: "...then he ran for the state legislature and he got elected. And nearly 130 times, he couldn't make a decision. He couldn't figure out whether to vote “yes” or “no.” It was too tough. He voted — he voted “present.”

I didn’t know about this vote “present” when I was mayor of New York City. Sarah Palin didn’t have this vote “present” when she was mayor or governor. You don’t get “present.” It doesn’t work in an executive job. For president of the United States, it’s not good enough to be present.

You have to make a decision."

Rudy making the point that Obama is not ready to be Commander-in-Chief, while John McCain is: "And, yes, being president means being able to answer that call at 3:00 in the morning. And that’s the one time we agree with Hillary.

But I bet you never thought Hillary would get applause at this convention. She can be right. Well, no one can look at John McCain and say that he’s not ready to be commander-in-chief. He is. He’s ready."

Rudy, after stating that John McCain favors the "All of Above" energy strategy, responds to the crowd: "Drill, baby, drill? Drill, baby, drill."

Rudy comparing how John McCain and Barack Obama responded to the Georgia crisis: "When Russia rolled over Georgia, John McCain immediately established a very strong, informed position that let the world know how he’ll respond as president at exactly the right time. Remember his words? Remember what John McCain said? “We are all Georgians.”

Obama’s — talk about judgment. Let’s look at what Obama did. Obama’s first instinct was to create a moral equivalency, suggesting that both sides were equally responsible, the same moral equivalency that he’s displayed in discussing the Palestinian Authority and the state of Israel.

Later — later, after discussing this with his 300 foreign policy advisers, he changed his position, and he suggested the United Nations Security Council could find a solution.

Apparently, none of his 300 foreign policy security advisers told him that Russia has a veto power in the United Nations Security Council.

By the way, this was about three days later. So — so he changed his position again, and he put out a statement exactly like the statement of John McCain’s three days earlier.

I have some advice for Senator Obama: Next time, call John McCain."

Rudy highlighting Obama's antipathy for small town America: "I’m sorry — I’m sorry that Barack Obama feels that her hometown isn’t cosmopolitan enough.

I’m sorry, Barack, that it’s not flashy enough. Maybe they cling to religion there."

Rudy on Sarah Palin's experience: "Well — well, the first day — as far as I’m concerned, the first day she was mayor, she had more experience as an executive than — than Obama and Biden combined."

Rudy chastising the left-wing media for their blatant sexism: "And how — how dare they question whether Sarah Palin has enough time to spend with her children and be vice president. How dare they do that.

When do they ever ask a man that question? When?"

The Fairmont San Francisco

Top pic - outside of hotel showing our corner suite
Second pic - the bedroom in our suite
Third pic - outside entrance at night
Bottom pic - me in the hotel lobby

I must say, Tom sure does know how to spoil me! We were quite impressed with the Fairmont San Francisco during our recent stay. The Fairmont is in a fanstastic location atop Knob Hill. Both the living room and bedroom were huge. The best part about the suite was that, with two full bathrooms, we each got one of our own! This old hotel has quite a history. Here are a few tidbits from the Fairmont website at http://www.fairmont.com/sanfrancisco:

...Kings, Queens, Presidents and all who visited were entranced by their surroundings.

...and The Fairmont was once again the place to see and be seen. Meanwhile, The Fairmont had made news with its role as the venue for the meetings of the United Nations. Once again, history was being made in a big way. To this day, the plaque commemorating the drafting of the Charter for the United Nations can be seen outside the Garden Room on the lobby level while the country flags of the original signatories fly proudly above the porte cochere

...As the San Francisco residence for every U.S. president since William Howard Taft, The Fairmont garnered a reputation for world-class hospitality.

Media bias

It's a given that the mainstream media has a liberal bias but this is getting ridiculous. The way the New York Trash & the rest of the left - wing media is attacking Sarah Palin says more about them than it does her. Sarah Palin is the kooky left's worst nightmare and they will stoop at nothing to destroy her.

While there has been a media feeding frenzy attacking Governor Palin, the media remains silent about Barak Obama's close relations with domestic terrorist William Ayers. More tough questions have been asked of Governer Palin in the last week than have been asked of Obama in the 1 1/2 years that he has been running for president.

Fred Rocks!

Fred Thompson delivered a passionate speech last night at the Republican convention. I supported Fred during the GOP primary and was disappointed that his campaign never really took off. During the primary Fred just didn't seem to show much passion...but he sure did last night!

Fred was right on target when he described the kind of character needed in our leaders, "This is the kind of character that civilizations from the beginning of history have sought in their leaders. Strength. Courage. Humility. Wisdom. Duty. Honor." John McCain possesses all of these traits to a much greater extent than Obama.

Fred, referring to John McCain, noted, "It's pretty clear there are two questions we will never have to ask ourselves, "Who is this man?" and "Can we trust this man with the presidency?" Since Obama has been given a complete pass by the media, we still don't know who he is after 19 months of campaigning!

Another money quote was when Fred discussed the historic nature of the Obama campaign, "History making in that he is the most liberal, most inexperienced nominee to ever run for president. Apparently they believe that he would match up well with the history making, Democrat controlled Congress. History making because it's the least accomplished and most unpopular Congress in our nation's history." The Nancy Pelosi/Harry Reid led Congress has the lowest approval rating ever - so I'm glad that Fred alluded to this fact!

Finally, Fred was right on the money when describing the Dem's tax plan, "Now our opponents tell you not to worry about their tax increases. They tell you they are not going to tax your family. No, they're just going to tax "businesses!" So unless you buy something from "business," like groceries or clothes or gasoline ... or unless you get a paycheck from a big or a small "business," don't worry ... it's not going to affect you. They say they are not going to take any water out of your side of the bucket, just the "other" side of the bucket! That's their idea of tax reform."

Tonight should be another great night of speeches!