CommenTerry

Why the Disparity in Picking a Debate Winner?

Why is it that media pundits are proclaiming Hillary Clinton the winner of last Monday’s CNN/YouTube Democratic presidential debate, while the majority of Democratic voters and focus groups believe Barack Obama won? I think I have the have the answer.

Members of the mainstream media seem to prefer cautious, polished candidates like Hillary Clinton. However, deep down, I think most voters prefer candidates who speak from the heart and say what they really think about the issues. Those are the candidates voters get excited about. Unfortunately, the media's influence in this country is far too great and usually carries the day when it comes time to vote, i.e., their favorite candidates generally prevail. That's one thing that really turns people off about politics.

Howard Dean in 2004 is a prime example. In the months leading up the Iowa Caucuses he was generating all the excitement, getting the big crowds, and grabbing the lion's share of the contributions. He's was the people's favorite candidate (among the Democrats).

However, when caucus day finally came around, he finished a disappointing third. What happened? The media never liked him. He was too much of a loose cannon -- a no-no with them. Their preference was the boring, but more "practical" John Kerry. They convinced voters that Dean was too high-risk and could not win in the general election. Iowa voters bought it hook, line, and sinker, and just couldn't pull the trigger for him on caucus day. The rest is history.

When $100 Million Isn't Enough

The sister 0f a man who committed suicide as police attempted to arrest him for allegedly attempting to solicit sex from a Dateline NBC operative posing as a 13-year-old boy, is suing NBC for $100 million. Unlike many of the men profiled on the show's "To Catch a Predator" series, Louis "Bill" Conradt, the chief felony assistant district attorney for Rockwall, County, TX, did not attempt to meet the teen he had chatted with on the Internet. While I am generally opposed to large lawsuits, I hope his sister wins the suit and gets every penny of the amount she's suing for. Actually, I believe she should be suing for even more.

What Dateline NBC and its partner, Perverted Justice, have been doing borders on entrapment, in my opinion. A lot of men have sexual thoughts toward underage teens. Thankfully, most of them don't act on these thoughts. However, Dateline provides the enticement for them to do something they might not ordinarily do -- and then helps the police catch them for it. This is tantamount to intentionally leaving a roll of one-hundred-dollar bills in plain sight of a desperate, financially strapped person and then jumping out from behind a wall and cuffing them when they reach for it.

Hopefully, this lawsuit will result in NBC's perverted form of justice being put on permanent hiatus and leaving sting operations to law enforcement professionals.

Cool It on the Bean Ball, Okay?

I've never understood why Major League Baseball pitchers are always pressured by their teammates to retaliate when the opposing pitcher hits one of their batters with a pitch. I'm sure this is not intentional most of time. Yet, teams almost always treat it as if it were, many times leading to a benches-clearing brawl and ejections. Will this nonsense ever stop?

Random Rants and Raves #112

One of the upsides of being bald is that you don't look any worse in the morning than you do during the rest of the day.          

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Many of the people whom you believe to hold major advantages over you likely believe the opposite is true. 

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Live in open rebellion against your naysayers and detractors.

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It's funny how names of some things seem like they ought to be words that describe something else. Take Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, for example. Canisius seems like it ought to be an adjective. For example, "I don't like that guy because he seems a bit too Canisius." Another example would be the South Florida city of Hialeah, which sounds like it ought to be the name of a disease. For example, "I had to stay home from work yesterday due to a bad case of Hialeah."

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Beware of websites that require the abrupt termination of the current month's (already paid for) subscription in order to cancel any automatic future subscriptions. This is an unethical practice that is tantamount to demanding that someone hand over the current month's edition of a magazine (which has already been paid for) in order to avoid having to buy future months' editions. 

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Murphy's Law often strikes without warning. However, in many instances, its elements can be seen coming together well ahead of time -- like the proverbial accident waiting to happen.

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Rather then boasting about something you are going to do, postpone your boasting until after you have already done it.  

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If some people were baskets, it would be foolish to put any of your eggs in them. 

So You Think Torture Doesn't Work?

They say torture, as a tactic of war, doesn't work. I wonder about that. All someone would have to do is threaten me with torture and I would tell them anything they wanted to hear, whether it was true or not. Heck, I'd even confess to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, if that's what my potential torturers wanted!

Little Napoleons?

I find most local TV news reporters to be rather annoying. I think it's due to some kind of Napoleon complex or other sense of inferiority (to the national reporters) that they attempt to overcome. Most of them try way too hard in their quest to establish self-importance and consequently exaggerate the importance of many of the stories they report.

What's up with that Mysterious Piece of Paper?

Several of my coworkers have noticed that I'm constantly pulling a piece of paper out of my shirt pocket, jotting something down, and then putting it back into my pocket. I started doing this to capture thoughts and ideas I have throughout the day.

Before I started doing this, I probably lost thousands of thoughts and ideas that I would have liked to retain and possibly act on. I've found that when I'm trying to do some creative thinking, my brain locks up. Thus, I now always have the pen and paper with me so I can capture stuff that comes to me when I'm relaxed and/or doing other things.

Million Dollar Fantasies

I'm continually amazed at what many otherwise intelligent people think they could do if they won one million dollars. A regular feature in my local newspaper asks people what they would do if they won that amount of money. Some of the responses are mind-boggling.

One lady responded that she would pay off her house, buy new homes for everyone in her family, spend a lot of time traveling (with her assumption, I suppose, that she would be able to at least temporarily quit working), and give the remaining money to her church. She obviously overestimates the potential benefits of winning one million dollars.

First of all, she would not get the full $1 million. At least 40% of her winnings would be immediately gobbled up by federal, state, and local taxes, so she would be left with no more than $600,000. Then, assuming she still owed $100,000 on her mortgage and she bought homes with an average price of $200,000 for each of three family members, she would already be $100,000 in the red before ever getting to her travel plans or the donations to her church.

Even if she put the whole $600,000 in investments and savings, it would only earn her a modest $60,000 a year income, assuming a 10% annual return. That would be a pay cut for me!

A Look Ahead to the Ames GOP Straw Poll

The August 11 GOP presidential straw poll in Ames, Iowa is quickly approaching. Although Rudy Guiliani, John McCain, and Fred Thompson will be sitting it out, this nonbinding political beauty contest could be make-or-break for many of the other seven candidates. Let me be among the first to offer a prediction for the order of finish:

1. Mitt Romney

2. Ron Paul

3. Tommy Thompson

4. Mike Huckabee

5. Sam Brownback

6. Duncan Hunter

7. Tom Tancredo

Analysis: Romney's strong win will solidify his standing in the Iowa polls. Paul's second place finish will give him little more than short-term bragging rights. Tommy Thompson's third place finish will provide him with just enough encouragement to hang around for a while, perhaps through the real Iowa Caucuses in January. Goodbye Huckabee, Brownback, Hunter, and Tancredo.

By the way, Ron Paul is in a good position to play the part of a spoiler in Ames, i.e., he could eliminate or damage some of the serious candidates -- even though he doesn't (and will never) have a serious chance at the GOP nomination himself.

Remember Pat Buchanan in 1996? There was no way Buchanan was ever going to be the GOP nominee. However, he knocked Phil Gramm out of the race by defeating him in the Louisiana Caucuses and nearly sunk Bob Dole (the eventual nominee) by defeating him in New Hampshire.

If Paul finishes a close second to Romney in Ames, that could cause Romney's campaign to begin unraveling. It would also knock out at least three of the other candidates.

Be Careful When Saving with CDs

It's usually not a good idea to lock into long-term (three to five year) certificates of deposit when interest rates are still going up. You wouldn't want to lock in a rate of 4.5% for a five-year CD, for example, and then see rates for five-year CDs go to 6% a year later. It's generally best to buy them during the stable period after interest rates have been climbing for a while.

Unlike the stock market, directions of interest rates set by the Federal Reserve are a little more predictable. They will go up for a while, stabilize for a while, go down for a while, stabilize for a while, and then repeat that pattern.