CommenTerry

Classic Rants and Raves #10

Never get into a spitting contest with someone who is full of spit!

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Recent studies have shown that most recent studies are worthless!

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I have to roll my eyes when hearing all the talk these days about children with behavioral problems. When I was a child, I wasn't allowed to have behavioral problems. If I had, my father would have killed me!

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On a race car, what does a spoiler spoil?

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One of the most futile exercises in the world is to try force yourself to be interested in something you are just not interested in.

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We can send men to the moon, but we have yet to invent a tire that won't go flat or a computer that doesn't have to be booted up.

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The last time I ate a quesadilla, I wound up with a case of something else!

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Curiously, I often hear other Christians say they fear that they wouldn't be able to afford to tithe. Their fears are misdirected. Instead, they should be concerned about being able to afford NOT to tithe.

Building Financial Firewalls

None of us can fully protect ourselves from all the possible bad things that could befall us. That's just a sad fact of life. However, we can build personal firewalls to greatly reduce the risk of being hit by some things and delay others for as long as possible.

The risk of financial disaster can be significantly lowered, if not averted altogether, by using the firewalls of living below one's means and saving money. Unfortunately, very few people nowadays will build either of these firewalls. Is it any wonder that the numbers of foreclosures and personal bankruptcies continue to rise?

Let's compare two people who make $60,000 each. That amounts to the nice round number of $5000 ($3750 after taxes and deductions) a month. Person A chooses to a purchase a modest home with a mortgage of $700 a month. He also puts $800 a month into his non-retirement savings. Person B selects a more extravagant home with a mortgage of $1200 a month. He can only afford to save $300 each month.

If, after three years of owning his home, Person A is laid off from his job and remains unemployed for six months, he would easily have enough money, $28,800, to cover his living expenses of $17,700 ($2950 x six months). However, given that same situation, Person B would not fair nearly as well. He would have only saved $10,800, but would need $20,700 to cover his living expenses ($3450 x six months). He would run out of money in just over three months and might have to file for personal bankruptcy and/or face foreclosure.

Obviously, by living a little below our means and putting the resulting savings away for a rainy day, we can significantly reduce our chances of being faced with a financial disaster some day. Every individual and family need to take a serious look the possibility of a financial setback and start building the firewalls needed to protect themselves.

Is the ACLU Taking Away Their "Moral" Rights?

The other day, I came across one of many anti-ACLU blogs that exist on the Web. However, what was different about this one was the fact its authors listed "moral rights" as one of the things the ACLU was trying to take away from them. Now I would agree with them that the ACLU is a thoroughly godless organization and is completely hostile to the concept of Christianity.

However, I doubt that it is trying to prevent people from being moral. No, the authors of that blog are euphemistically using the term "moral rights" for something else. What they are actually whining about is the fact that the ACLU is trying to take away their "rights" to force their moral standards on everyone else. Poor babies! Now, where's my violin?

Martin Should Let Analog Go

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has a wrong-headed idea. He is floating the idea of requiring cable companies to carry analog versions of broadcasters' signals, even after February 17, 2009, when broadcasters must cease all analog broadcasts. But how can cable companies carry analog signals that broadcasters are no longer providing? Apparently, after the deadline for conversion, he wants cable providers to take broadcasters' digital signals and convert them back to analog for their analog-only customers who don't have digital converters. How much sense does that make? It's like requiring that movies be released on VHS tape whenever they are released on DVD -- a step backwards toward older technology. Funny, I thought we were trying to move away from analog to an all-digital spectrum.

I can understand what Martin is trying to accomplish, but he's going about it all wrong. He wants to make sure that those who currently subscribe to analog-only cable tiers don't get left behind during the transition to digital. However, many cable companies, like Comcast for example, have already come up with a solution to this problem. They plan to eventually convert all their analog-only customers to digital by providing them with a digital converter in addition to the extra channels that would automatically come with a digital subscription, at no extra charge.  That's what Martin should be pushing all cable companies to do by the digital conversion deadline in 2009. He should embrace that solution and let analog television fade into the sunset.

A Great Sense of Personal Loss Back Then

When I was a kid, I would feel a great sense of personal loss whenever my favorite football, baseball, or basketball team lost a game. I can remember one time when I was 13; the Redskins lost a playoff game to the Rams a few days before Christmas. That ruined my whole Christmas and New Year Year's holiday season. I can also remember crying a few years earlier, when the Virginia Squires lost a playoff series to the Kentucky Colonels!

Give Me a Candidate Who Makes Gaffes

So much is made nowadays of a major U.S. political candidate -- especially one running for president -- making even the slightest of gaffes. Once the national media got its first juicy bite of "gotcha" journalism during the Watergate years, it has never lost its taste for that kind of stuff. Besides, it sells newspapers and increases TV and radio ratings. Obviously, this will continue until we, the public, quit buying it.

However, this has taken a terrible toll on our political system, .i.e., it has served to severely limit our choice of candidates. It seems that anytime a candidate makes a gaffe, something that is just a natural part of being human, he or she is either immediately forced out of their race or is crippled so badly that they cannot win. But why should this be the case? Aren't people allowed to make mistakes anymore? Maybe, but when a political candidate makes one, it is analyzed and hashed out in the media over and over again.

As a consequence, we elect too many cautious and robotic public officials, those who have carefully groomed their political image for years and who place a far greater value on form than on substance. Is it any wonder that our political wheels grind to a halt so often? Give me candidates who make gaffes once in a while. At least I'll know they are trying to accomplish something beyond making themselves look good.   

Classic Rants and Raves #9

Is it just me or does Hans Blix sound just like the narrator on the Bullwinkle cartoon?

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There's no such thing as an illegitimate child, only illegitimate parents.

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I am very aggressive in defense of my passivity.

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Have you ever had a toothpaste sore throat? That's what I call the temporary discomfort in your throat that occurs when you accidentally swallow some toothpaste.

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If you are nearsighted like I am, then there is at least one thing you can see better than those who are not. Whenever something is obscured on TV by pixilation, you can take your glasses off and see almost all of the stuff that they are trying to obscure!

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For every dollar of unexpected income I get, I encounter two dollars in unexpected expenses!

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I have no desire to live happily ever after. Such a boring, blissful existence is not something I would ever aspire to. When I was a kid, I was terrified when I thought about becoming an adult because I thought that's what life would be like.

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It's funny how regularly I'll see a character in a TV sitcom that reminds me of someone I know in real life!

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Remember all that stuff when you were a kid that your parents and other adults kept telling you that you would understand when you were older? Well, I'm 46 years old and I still don't understand most of it!

Do Seatbelts Really Save Lives?

A recent TV news report informed us that, out of the 23 people killed in traffic accidents in a given geographical location, 11 of them weren't wearing seatbelts. But what about the 12 of them who were buckled up and were killed anyway? This small, unscientific statistic would seem to indicate that that there is no correlation between the use of seatbelts and the reduction of traffic fatalities.

Of course, we don't know how many total accidents involved those wearing seatbelts versus the amount that involved those who were not wearing seatbelts. This information would likely have shown seatbelt use in a more positive light. If the reporters wanted to make a convincing case about seat belts and safety, they should have reported, as Paul Harvey likes to say, "... the rest of the story."

Call FedEx to Talk Dirty?

Apparently, Federal Express still doesn't understand that advice about not using the letter 'o' in advertised phone letters, in this case: 1-800-GoFedex. Look at your phone pad. The letter 'o' is associated with the number six. However, there's also a zero button (operator). When someone looks for the letter '0', instead of pressing the '6' button, they will often mistakenly press the zero button, resulting in the wrong number being dialed. I did that twice yesterday when trying to call FedEx about a package I ordered. When I did, I inadvertently called one of those so-called "party" lines, which, of course, is just a euphemism for a pay-per-listen "talk dirty" line.

Random Rants and Raves #99

The further away I stand from a mirror, the better I look in it.         

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Why does the U.S. Postal Service need to advertise?

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Very often, "why me?"  will become "I'm glad it was me."

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The recent death of former Senator Thomas Eagleton brought back memories of the time, in 1972, when Democratic Presidential Nominee George McGovern dropped Eagleton from the national ticket. I was only 11 years old then, and upon hearing the news that McGovern had selected Sargent Shriver as his new running mate, I blurted out, "He should have picked someone who was at least a colonel!"

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I can't help but wonder how serious someone is when they constantly complain about their lot in life. It seems to me that, if they were really as dissatisfied as they purported to be, they would do something about it.

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Just by looking out your front door, how can you be completely sure that your trash man hasn't come yet? Your trash dumpster is in exactly the same spot where you put it.

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Freedom without independence is crippled. 

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Here's why I never hesitate to participate in public opinion surveys: I just can't stand the idea of allowing all the questions to be answered by people with all the wrong opinions.