Framing the Dialogue

Archive for November, 2012

Americn Individualism

The first thing that I learned about Margaret Hoover is that she is the great-granddaughter of President Herbert Hoover (I loved his dam).  She spent the first part of the book trying to edit the image many of us were taught about his legacy as president.  She made a nice effort and provided an endearing look at his life. American Individualism, however, was really about “how a new generation of conservatives can save the Republican Party” and that was the part that interested me.

She introduced me to a new generation, The Millennials, who were born between 1980 and 1999, and of whom I am a parent to three, are the newest and perhaps powerful voting block;

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Despicable…YOU!

You gotta love the chutzpah of FOO (friend of Obama) Warren Buffet who again called for increased INCOME taxes on the rich like him.  He is certainly the media darling for his continued support of Obama and was amply rewarded when friend Obama nixed the Keystone XL Pipeline.  It seems that now all that oil has to be hauled by rail;

“Whatever people bring to us, we’re ready to haul,” Krista York-Wooley, a spokeswoman for Burlington Northern, a unit of Buffett’s Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A), said in an interview. If Keystone XL “doesn’t happen, we’re here to haul.”

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Taking Care of…Himself

Many times as I read an article I find a few sentences that capture the essence of the piece. In “Phrase-e-ology” I’ll post some thought followed by key phrases. As always I’ll have a link (in blue) to the original article.

I read this morning about the pending retirement of Camille “Bud” George from the Pennsylvania legislature at the ripe old age of 84 and after 19 House terms!  So that is nearly forty years that Mr. George has been looking out for the “people” or at least that is how it is being characterized;

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The Johnstown Flood

It should be rather embarrassing that I live around an hour from Johnstown and knew very little about the great flood.  In The Johnstown Flood author David McCullough pieces together a riveting story using local reports and quotes from the period.  Most of us have heard of the tragedy; some may even know that 2,209 people lost their lives (McCullough reprinted the names of those lost), but you probably don’t know their stories.  I had no idea what an international story it was and how long it stayed in the headlines.

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The Art of Persuasion

Written and published in 1991 by Linda Bridges & William F. Rickenbacker, The Art of Persuasion is “A National Review Rhetoric For Writers.”  Unlike the promise on the dust jacket I did not find this to be engaging, witty, blunt, or readable.  My writing could use some improvements, but I found it hard to get anything from these experts.  It was interesting that the sections are; grab the reader, surprise the reader, please the reader, amuse the reader, and persuade the reader.  While they covered these subjects the authors did not succeed in providing any of these things to me. Truth be told, I could not bring myself to finish the book even though it’s a sparse one hundred pages.

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Spreading Your Retirement

This is not an article about retirement planning.  I had been smarter I would have 20 pounds of gold buried somewhere rather than my investments in the stock market, retirement plan, and IRAs.  I have heard speculation since Obama was in office about a move to “take” over our individual retirement accounts.  By all accounts there are trillions of dollars out there in which the federal government has no control over.  Both Demoncrats and RINOs will salivate at the thought of having that much money to spend to ensure their re-election.  They’re not likely to just take it, but will offer you the ability to convert your accounts to government guaranteed annuities.  Think of Social Security again…many promises and IOUs and your beholding to the government for your daily bread.  Any guess who you will vote for?

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Three Million…So Far

In the continuing saga of my steps to better health I recently surpassed my 3,000,000 step. And I might add that I did this ahead of my projected schedule. It took me nearly four whole months to get to my first million, then almost another four months to reach two million. My next million came a little over two and a half months later. This was buoyed by our vacation hiking in Arizona in which I had my best day ever (28,862 steps) and best week ever (107,946 steps). In keeping with the stats attack my three million steps equates to approximately 1,325 miles which the wear on my walking shoes will attest…last stat (really) is that I am on a streak of twelve consecutive weeks where I am averaging at least 10,000 steps a day.

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The Last Man

“Fine, you stubborn fool. Rapp has already warned you what he would do to you if you stabbed him in the back again…Does he strike you as a man who doesn’t follow through on his threats?’…His friend had turned into a stubborn old fool who thought the Americans lacked the resolve to play this nasty game at his ruthless level. For the average American he had a point, but Mitch Rapp was in no way average…’If you aren’t afraid of Mr. Rapp then you need to have your head examined.”

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Don’t Piss On My Leg…

Is Petraeus carrying the ball for Obama?

I’m imagining a high school kid sitting in the principal’s outer office waiting for his sure to be angry parents to arrive.  They were summoned by the school because of the student’s misdeed.  The tiny little brain is churning, trying desperately to come up with an excuse; any reason to wiggle out of this tough spot; as if this couldn’t be helped; as if it wasn’t their fault.  What kind of a whopper would they come up with?

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