Things Change - Or, Do They?

“The abuse of the telephone for domestic purposes killed the intimacy among friends. People no longer saw one another, they no longer had any need to dress and send for the carriage, because they chatted over the telephone, in sarong and kabaai, in pajamas, almost without stirring a limb. The telephone was close at hand and it rang constantly on the back verandah. People called each other for nothing, or just for the fun of it. Young Mrs. De Hartman had an intimate friend, a young woman whom she had never seen, but whom she telephoned daily, for half an hour at a time. She sat down when she talked, so it did not tire her. And she laughed and joked with her friend, without having to dress and without moving. She did the same with other friends; she visited them by telephone. She did her shopping by telephone. In Labuwangi Eva had not been used to this endless jangling and ringing, which killed all conversation, which on the back verandah revealed only one half of a dialogue – the answer being inaudible to anyone sitting away from the instrument – in the form of incessant, one-sided jabbering.”

From “The Hidden Force” by L. Couperus, first published in 1900.

The Library

Sitting in the library on deck eight forward and just slightly starboard there is very little sense of being on a ship. The propeller pods far behind and below in the muffled salt sea, the diesel engines amidships just above the keel, the turbines on top deck behind the stack could not penetrate to the library. The thick glass of the large windows could not reveal the cold, blustery, foreboding of the deep. The green carpet gives away the reality with a pattern of little gray and white propellers. But the carpet muffled any sounds that might penetrate and with the mahogany glass door bookcases and desks, it put one into a trance of solitude with the world of writing and reading.

Looking through the large rectangular portholes, one is brought back to reality. The dark gray overcast of clouds hung low and melded into the distant horizon with the gray-black sea. A soft swell and small waves with the occasional whitecap stretched out the meet the clouds. We were now on the high seas, four thousand meters from the nearest land mass below us on the ocean bottom. The only sensation is the slow side to side rolling interspersed with a sporadic shudder. The only sound is the creaking of the interior furnishings against the massive steel structure accompanied by the frequent turning of pages from the otherwise silent patrons. The only thought was contemplating how one hundred and fifty thousand tons of mostly steel could float and lumbar in such solitude over an endless expanse of grayness. The only reality was quiet contemplation and wonder.

And now there came the great chattering. It is eight-thirty and the official opening of the library - the clack of the key in the large keyhole of each upper right-hand mahogany-framed glass door. Each right-hand door was swung open perpendicular to the shelf of books and slid back into its slot. When the four and one-half such cabinets on each side of each shelf where thus swung open on one side, the librarian returned to push a little cog in each left-hand door to free it into its perpendicular position and thusly slide it back into its slot. The upper doors thus freed to allow air and hands to the volumes, by magic the lower doors, both left and right, could now be swung to attention and pushed back into their daytime resting positions. Now the books, the literary, the words, the ideas, the romances, the tragedies; now revealed from behind framed glass walls, could enlighten the day and the mind. Silent melancholy returned and the enlightenment of the soul began.

After the Storm

The overcast is a pale gray. The sea rolls with a modest swell and occasional white cap, settling back from the overnight storm. The Captain had warned us of this storm coming from America eastward across the north Atlantic in his noon advisory the day before. It hit almost exactly as he predicted, awakening me at 0045 ship time with reported gale force winds. There was a loud thud in my forward stateroom, perhaps a wave hitting the bow. More precisely, the bow hitting a wave as our flesh and steel are the foreigners in this vapid, endless landscape of gray above and below. The creaking of the ship’s furnishings against the steel skeleton and the motion felt in different sensory centers of the brain evidenced that a moderate roll was being thrust upon the steel and flesh. I would awaken to this a few more times in the night but overall sleep was at hand.

At 0630 the servants were about on deck seven. Like silent ants, they squeeged the teak deck to remove the overnight rain. First on the interior side. Then they pulled the deck chairs, void of cushions, back towards midships and swept the remaining rain into the deck gutters. The chairs were put back towards the railing and one by one the cushions were removed from the big wooden boxes and cast into the chairs followed by other servants tying them down. Then came other servants to wash the windows of the Kings Court restaurant on deck seven. Along the length of the restaurant on port and starboard are greenhouse bump outs for the lucky ones who can find a seat to watch the ocean swells pass by while eating breakfast or lunch. Every morning the servants would wash these windows with sponge and squeegee. As they were washing my window this day, it began to rain. And now, at the end of my breakfast, a second time it is raining. The windows will have to be washed again tomorrow.

Rockingham Castle

In 1960 my father moved back to England and I spent the summer with him that year based out of his parent's home in Kettering, Northants. One day we visited Rockingham Castle and my father told me that he was doing some work at the castle for the then Sr. Michael Culme-Seymour, the lord of the estate. I never knew what work he was doing but my father was a dealer in fine prints and rare books. Rockingham Castle was ofter frequented by Charles Dickens.

Today we visited Rockingham Caster and did the full inside and outside tour. The head tour guide was very interested in my story and he said he would pass it on to the chief archivest to see if he could find out more.



Departing on a jet plane

Departing for London this afternoon. I will be returning to New York on August 27 on board the Queen Mary 2. I will be in Woodbridge August 27-29. I will be blogging my travels and linking to Facebook.

Seeking God in Our Suffering

Wise Prophets in every age observe that God rarely finds people useful to His purposes who have not been broken by life.

Our suffering, so insidious and pervasive, so unwanted and despised, holds the franchise to unlocking closed hearts and opening barred minds. When the illusion of being in control of our lives shatters, then spiritual empty-handedness begins. That condition spurs us on to spiritual usefulness. Faith begins when spiritual self-sufficiency deflates and proves empty. Usually that takes one kind of smashing or another.

The lovely paradox here is that this is precisely where joy and hope enter. The road to joy always seems to go through sadness and suffering. It’s hard to get there any other way. A strong acquaintance with death makes Easter’s victory brighter. True resurrection joy whispers in the hearts of those stung deeply by lost loved ones. Jesus’ embrace means everything to those of us who are truly burdened, legitimately helpless, and weary.

Ironically, spiritual growth involves our personal regression to that childlike dependency Jesus talks about: to become “poor in spirit.” Then we are in Paul’s words, “hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).

Healing and renewal come to Jesus’ people sooner or later:

“Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” – Psalm 30:5

From Waiting for Morning: Seeking God in Our Suffering by Pastor James R. Kok.

Venture Capitalism and your Federal Government

What is venture capital and what is a venture capitalist? And, what does this have to do with the federal government?


Venture capital is the money that a start-up business raises to develop its product offering and bring it to market. A firm seeking venture capital is usually considered too risky to attract equity capital from the public. More likely, the risk would be too high to meet the strict SEC requirements for an offering to the public.

A venture capitalist is generally a wealthy person or a person who can syndicate capital from other wealthy persons to invest in risky start-up businesses. Why do wealthy people want to invest in risky businesses? Because the rewards can be great. Many of the venture capital deals fail but the ones that prosper can yield returns upwards of 100% or more in a few years.

Now let’s face it. Some of these deals could be viable for offerings to the general public but the wealthy venture capitalist want the early large gains for themselves. Yes, they are greedy. But greed is not a four letter word. Greed is what had made the United States a financial success. But, I digress.

The venture capitalist cashes out when the business is ready to go public. The initial public offering (IPO) is how the venture capitalist gets their money back – and usually with a handsome gain. And, the venture capitalist has an incentive in hyping the business to get the biggest possible IPO price. Once the company goes public, its stock is available to the public as an investment and to mutual funds. These investments and mutual funds can form the foundation of retirement plans in the form of IRA’s and 401K’s.

So, what does this have to do with the government? Well, your government under the authority of president Obama has become a venture capitalist. Only thing is, the government is not a wealthy person or syndicate. The government does this with your money. Yes, your government is guaranteeing loans to risky start-up businesses with your money. When Solyndra went bankrupt, President Obama chalked it off to “these things happen in the world of investment.”

Silly me, I didn’t think our government was suppose to engage in the world of risky investments. Well, actually it is not. It is doing so with your money. And, silly me again – don’t I remember the liberals in Congress (Nancy Pelosi you know who I am talking about) becoming adamant about not letting us publicans invest our Social Security funds in the “risky” stock market. The stock market is much safer than firms only able to attract venture capital funding. And, by the way – it is most likely that Nancy Pelosi and her wealthy husband have funds invested in the stock market if not also venture capital.

But we all know what is really going on here; this President is lining the pockets of his friends in high places. These are the venture capitalist who put money into Solyndra and the other high-risk startups and then used borrowing to leverage their investment. Through the use of generous donations to the Obama campaign, they got their high-risk investment guaranteed. This is really all about Obama getting elected and trying to get re-elected. If only we could get rid of these crooks without having to go through the frustrating election process.

Old Elmcroft Documents

I am scanning all of the old Elmcroft documents. This includes the original bill of sale and mortgage from when my parents bought the property in 1942 and various documents since then. The original mortgage was paid off in 1948. My parents were divorced on April 11, 1961. I also have the original decree of divorce. The house was deeded over to my mom and I have that quit claim deed. I then found a new mortgage dated December 27, 1961 for $4,500. This would correspond to the time period my brother was going off to college and I spent a year at Tilton School in New Hampshire, a private prepatory school. That was the year that I had a terrible accident on my bicycle and I was in the hospital for a few weeks. My mom arranged for me to stay a little longer in the hospital while she drove George down to Ferrum Junior College in Virginia. I can only deduce that the mortgage proceeds was to help pay for that schooling - something I never knew. I wonder if George knew that. This morgage was paid off in December 1970. Here is page one of the mortgage.

Why S&P Downgraded The United States

Let's remove 8 zeros from the Federal budget and pretend it's a household budget:

Annual family income: $ 21,700
Money the family spent: 38,200
New debt on the credit card: 16,500
Outstanding balance on the credit card: 142,710
Total "deep" budget cuts: 385

When will this family get their budget balanced?
Correct - NEVER!

Those Damn Loopholes

A loophole is an ambiguity in a system, such as a law or security, which can be used to circumvent or otherwise avoid the intent, implied or explicitly stated, of the system.

How many of you lemmings are marching in lockstep with the Executive Branch and extolling the loophole that allows corporations to buy corporate jets and avoid some tax?
There is no loophole here. Just more class warfare from the left.

Here is the real story. Before the Republicans took control of the House when the Democrats had control of both the Executive and Legislative Branches, they decided on a stimulus bill. Part of the bill would allow businesses to deduct either 100% or 50% of the entire cost of a capital asset all in one year.

Normally, machinery, equipment and fixtures purchased by business must be depreciated over a number of year, generally 3 to 39 years depending on the type of asset. An airplane is a 7-year asset. That means that only one seventh of the cost can be deducted from business income in a year. (This is actually a simplification.) The business has to come up with 100% of the cash to buy the airplane but can only deduct one seventh each year.

So, your Democrat buddies decided to allow businesses to deduct 100% all in one year so as to stimulate businesses to buy such things and cause the other businesses that make the things to have to hire more people.

Then those bad, mean big corporations went out and bought more airplanes. The businesses making airplanes had to hire more people. Gee – the stimulus worked!

There was no circumventing a law here. No loophole. They were doing exactly what the lawmakers wanted – buying more stuff to cause more hiring of workers to make the stuff.

Now for the flip flop. The Democrats no longer think this is a good idea. Since they are now running for re-election they want their constituents to think they are against big business. So, let’s remove the incentive and then those airplane manufacturing businesses will have to lay off the extra workers. But wait – they say they need to concentrate on creating jobs. Oh yea, that’s just a campaign slogan. They don’t really mean it. And besides, government doesn’t create jobs, only free enterprise creates jobs.

Traveling at 20 Times the Speed of Sound

In the 1930's my parents lived in Sumatra, Dutch East Indies - now Indonesia. It took them 3-4 weeks to get home for vacation. It could take six weeks to get mail from the States. And, it would take about a week to schedule a phone call back home for my grandmother's birthday or Christmas.
This morning the Space Shuttle Atlantis did its deorbit burn over Sumatra and it was on the ground in Florida in about an hour. And, my parents thought that waiting a week for a phone call back home was an amazing technolgical advancement. You young'ns will never understand how good you have it.

Obama: Means Test Medicare

Obama said today that he would be in favor of means testing Medicare - that is, people with higher incomes would pay a higher premium for their basic medicare coverage. That's a great idea Mr. Obama. Only thing is - WE ALREADY DO THAT!

You know - we need someone leading the Executive Branch that has a clue.

The basic Medicare Part B costs $96.40 per month for married taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes up to $170,000. As income increases, the premium increases up to a maximum of $353.60 for married taxpayers earning over $428,000. Now, a good topic might be to increase the premium for those higher income taxpayers. Food for thought - those on Medicare Advantage are covered by an insurance company much like an HMO. This HMO Advantage plan gets paid on average $900 per month for each enrollee by the government. That's right, I pay $96.40 a month for my Medicare Advantage plan and my insurance company gets $900 a month to take cae of all my medical needs. No wonder that invite me to an annual update meeting at a fancy hotel with fancy finger food.

Adopt a Child - Get a Big Check from the IRS

The federal tax code contains a provision that provides a tax credit (reduction in tax liability) for people who adopt a child. This is one of those tax code provisions meant to affect social behavior.

Taxpayers who incur expenses to adopt a child can take a dollar for dollar tax credit up to a maximum amount of $13,170 for 2009. This is adjusted for inflation each year. So that high income taxpayers do not benefit from this credit, there is an income phase out, such that generally taxpayers with Adjusted Gross Income over about $222,000 cannot take the credit. They can, however, carry forward any un-allowed credit for up to five years in case they have a future year with lower income.

This credit has been a non-refundable credit. That means, if allowed, it cannot lower tax liability below zero – it cannot be refunded to the taxpayer if they do not have a tax liability. We’re not talking refund or balance due here, just tax liability before applying any withholding. It does, however, still carry over for a future year when they might have a tax liability to offset.

Now, adoption is a good thing and it should be encouraged. It can be argued that the adoption credit is good for our society even if it reduces government revenues.

So, as part of Obamacare passed by your Congress and your President, the adoption credit was extended through the end of 2011. You might ask why when there were revenue generating needs in Obamacare. But wait, it gets better for you head scratchers. The new law allowed this credit to be refunded. So, even if you don’t owe any tax you get the money – a check in the mail. And remember that you can carry over from five years ago? Yes, indeed, taxpayers that never expected to get the credit but adopted anyway now get a windfall. These people had already adopted. Can you imagine the surprise of a taxpayer who had adopted – oh, let’s say five children in the past five years. They are median income and they look at their refund and see a refund of about $65,000. Don’t forget, they have already spent the money for the adoption and never expected to get any tax credit.

But you ask, if it is meant to affect social behavior, why did they make this refundable part applicable to the carryover part? You figure that out because I am still scratching my head. Oh, and if you think this cannot happen, I have seen tax returns with enormous adoption credit refunds. How much is this adding to the deficit?

Sputnik Moment - Whaaat!

Mr. Obama and his executive branch cronies coined this his Sputnik moment. Shame on him and his lackeys.

I was 13 at the time the Russians launched Sputnik - the first earth orbiting man-made object. I was too young to appreciate the fear that it imbued in our country. But I remember listening to the radio at the bleep bleep transmissions as it passed overhead.

I did, however, live vividly through our nation's response to the threat from the Russians. I remember listening on my car radio in Boston (I have no idea what I was doing in Boston at the time) when Alan Shepard was launched into earth orbit in the Freedom 7 Mercury capsule in 1961. I remember the inception of NASA and the great leaps in technology that resulted in that moment late in the night on July 20, 1969 watching a scratchy black and white TV when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. Apollo 11 launched on my 25th birthday. I remember the brave men that went before and after Apollo 11 and the prayers for their safe travel and the prayers for those lost (Grissom, White & Chaffee). I remember our frozen poses as we watched on the TV the dedicated men (no women in those days) in mission control in their white shirts and narrow ties as they guided the missions to safe conclusions with cheers. These were defining moments for mankind and the people of the United States of America achieved this though the leadership of a president from a Democratic party that has since fallen in to disrepair.

I have lived through the amazing technological innovations that NASA and the space program have brought to us. Those that don't have these memories cannot comprehend how far we have come with the efforts of the brave and dedicated people of NASA and its subcontractors. I worked with some of those contractors, building equipment to assure the safety of the equipment that our brave astronauts relied upon. I am blessed now to be able to see talented and hard working women serving in mission control (yea Melissa!) alongside those men in their white shirts and narrow ties. This is the kind of progress that the only real Sputnik moment could have fostered.

This president has the gall to compare his desire to reverse his failed policies to bring us out of a depression, to Sputnik and the NASA space program. To one who has lived through the latter, it is embarrassing to say the least and an insult to the millions of people who worked through the 50s, 60s and 70s to bring us things like personal computers, lasers, cell phones and GPS to name just a few. While this president cuts funding for space exploration he co-ops that legacy for his pathetic political life. Research and read about those wonderful times in our nation. Then, make a pledge to repudiate this president. What we need now is another Jimmy Carter presidency - one and out!

Follow the Money to your Safety in the Air

Michael Chertoff, Former Department of Homeland Security, is the head of the Chertoff Group, the lead cheerleader for what is being called the Full Body Scanner Lobby, reports the Washington Post and the Washington Examiner. He is a consultant to Rapiscan, one of two makers of the full body scan backscatter systems.
The only other company that manufactures such scanners, L-3 Systems, has spent more than $1.4 million on lobbying the government since 2004 - one of its best-connected lobbyists is Linda Daschle, wife of ex-Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), earning almost $100,000 in fees for working on "matters related to advanced imaging technology."
What will they do with these machines when the terrorists begin placing the explosives in their bodies? Well, the people in the industry will have made their millions by then.

Sexual Battery at the Airport

When Senator LeMieux from Florida (R) was interrogating John Pistole during the TSA hearing this week, he said the following; "... no one wants to talk about profiling cause its a scary word." This, my friends, is the absurd political correctness that is going to lead to more Americans being killed. And here I thought a major role of our government is to provide security for its citizens. The Israels profile. They do not use metal detectors. They do not use backscatter x-ray imaging. They do not use pat-downs. They profile. They do not profile based on national origin although I don't see anything wrong with that. They profile based on behavior.

Our government believes that profiling is scary but sexual battery is acceptable and, presumably not scary. What say you? Are you going to put up with this? Silence is acceptance.

Who Says Police Officers Don't Care!

I get irritated when people come down on our police officers, saying that they don't care. Well, here is a story that shows not all of them are in that category.

The Altus OK Sheriff's office reported finding a man's body last Saturday in the Red River 1-1/2 miles south of the turnpike bridge . The dead man's name would not be released until his family had been notified.

The victim apparently drowned due to very excessive beer consumption while visiting "someone strange" across the state line near Wichita Falls , TX .

He was wearing black fishnet stockings, 6 inch spike high heels, a red garter belt, a black G string, florescent pink lipstick, and an Obama t-shirt over a matching black bra.

The police removed the Obama t-shirt to spare his family any unnecessary embarrassment.

Police officers don’t care!!!

The Obama Amnesty, err Comprehensive Immigration Reform, Plan

Recently, Mr. Obama outlined his CIR plan before the American public. He and the democratic bandits in Congress have consistently made the argument that it would be near impossible to deport the estimated 12 million illegal aliens in this country. Never mind that President Eisenhower deported about 3 million in Operation Wetback in 1954. About 1 million of those left on their own accord.
So, we all know that the claim of “near impossible” is cover for their desire to admit as many illegal aliens as possible to swell the ranks of their “wetback” electorate.
So, here are the points of Mr. Obama’s plan to allow a “path to citizenship:” 1) They must be law-abiding; 2) they must acknowledge that they broke the law;
Wait a minute! They must be law abiding and acknowledge they broke the law? What the hell! Only an ignorant politician could make a remark like that. Ok, back to the list:
3) they must pay fines (uhm, how much?); 4) they must pay their back taxes (how do you figure that if they were paid wages in cash?), 5) they must perform community service; and 6) they must learn English.
So here is my question; how is monitoring and controlling those six requirements for 12 million illegals easier than deporting them? I’m just asking.

Pelosi Re-Writes History

Pelosi Calls for Vote on 'Obama Middle-Class Tax Cuts'
"What I believe the American people deserve is a tax cut for the middle class," Pelosi said during her weekly press briefing. "And without getting into procedure and timing and process, what we're going to do is to say at the end of the day, the extension of the Obama middle-income tax cuts will take place, and that's what I have to say on the subject."
This person is either deranged, stupid or a liar. I choose all three.

Volcano Erupts in Sumatra

Mount Sinabang in North Sumatra province Indonesia erupted on Sunday for the first time in four centuries, with ashes and smoke shooting 1.5 km into the air, killing one person and prompting the evacuation of over 10,000 people from nearby villages, officials said.

Here is Sinabang in the distance taken from the caldera of Mount Sibayak in 1997 by yours truly on a hike that Andy and I did to repeat a hike that my mom and dad did in 1935.

And, here is the same photo taken by my parents in 1935. I was not aware of this photo at the time I took my photo in 1997.