Sally & Tensel Sandker
Ξ June 29th, 2008 | → 1 Comments | ∇ Bluegrass Music |
One of the most endearing aspects of Bluegrass Music is how the passion for it and the talent for performing it just seem to get passed down from generation to generation. Take the family of superstar Rhonda Vincent for example…
Everyone who holds even a passing interest in Bluegrass is very familiar with Rhonda and her amazing vocal and instrumental talents as well as her numerous accomplishments in the business. Well, now her daughters Sally & Tensel Sandker are ready to make their own marks on the world of music.
(L-R) Sally Sandker - Dan Salyer - Tensel Sandker
For the first time in months, Cheria and I had an opportunity to attend last Thursday’s Pickin’ Porch Show where we enjoyed an absolutely fantastic show featuring these two extremely talented young ladies and their band The Next Best Thing. For over an hour we sat watching and listening as they picked and sang one great Bluegrass and Classic Country song after another as well as several of their own original tunes. And every one of them was performed to perfection!
Who knows what the future holds for these wonderful young entertainers, but it’s quite clear that their famous mom passed on more than enough of her talent to enable them to go just as far as they choose to go in the music business.
Elected officials who share a blatant disregard for the Constitution
Ξ June 27th, 2008 | → 2 Comments | ∇ Pet Peeves |
In their amazing wisdom, the founding fathers of our great nation understood the dangers of allowing too much power to be gained by a single entity. They had seen first-hand what life was like under a dictator (a long line of British kings and queens), and they were determined to avoid even the possibility of their new country ever slipping beneath the iron fist of one. To that end, they developed a form of government where the power is shared equally among three entities: The Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches.
The Congress (the Legislative branch) writes laws which govern how we live our lives, and the role of the Supreme Court (the Judicial branch) is to make sure those laws don’t violate any of the provisions of the Constitution. If they do, they strike them down. It’s then up to Congress to either rewrite the law to conform to the Constitution or propose a Constitutional Amendment which, if passed via the process set up to do so, would change the Constitution itself to make the proposed law “legal”.
The President (Executive branch) has a role in enacting or striking down laws as well. He can either sign a Congressional bill into law if he thinks it’s a good idea, or he can veto it if he doesn’t. But a veto isn’t the end of the road for a bill. Congress can (and often does) vote to override a President’s veto, making a bill become the law of the land even if the President doesn’t like it.
This system of government guarantees a “balance of power” under which no branch can take it upon itself to run the country as it sees fit by ignoring the will of the people and/or the other two branches. There are hard to achieve, but realistic provisions in place to override the decisions made by all three branches of government. The same “balance of power” structure exists at the state level as well, and laws enacted by the state legislatures can be struck down or affirmed by the state’s judiciary, and/or ultimately by the Supreme Court of the United States.
Yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling that the 2nd Amendment does in fact guarantee the rights of individuals (and not just militias) to bear arms has the liberals among us so upset that they are actually expressing an open desire for the Supreme Court to overstep it bounds and “make law” when they have no Constitutional authority to do so (that authority belongs exclusively to the Legislative branch).
Check out these statements made by a couple of ill-informed, yet very prominent Mayors:
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley: “It’s a very frightening decision. We believe every mayor will be outraged by this.”
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom: “This ruling just flies in the face of reality. You just wish the Supreme Court could spend a week in public housing and then come out with this decision. It’s very easy and comfortable to stand there with security guards and metal detectors and make these decisions.”
No, Your Honor. This ruling is exactly what was called for under the Constitution which you have taken an oath to honor and uphold. So you don’t like the 2nd Amendment? That’s fine, because you’re certainly entitled to your opinion. You and your like-minded counterparts are perfectly free to do whatever you can to seek a Constitutional Amendment which would negate the second one.
You are NOT free however to expect the Supreme Court to circumvent that process by legislating from the bench and rendering our most precious government document meaningless. There is a well-defined process available for changing any perceived wrongs in the U.S. Constitution, and it has already been used successfully 27 times. Within certain limitations, individual citizens clearly have a Constitutionally guaranteed right to own and use a firearm in their own defense, and unless and until that hallowed document is amended to change that you’ll just have to deal with it.
When it comes to our Constitution and the validity thereof, there is absolutely no perceived wrong egregious enough to warrant circumventing the process that has been set in place to amend it when required. Otherwise, we’ll quickly find ourselves headed down that slippery slope towards a dictatorship.
Supreme Court upholds the right to bear arms
Ξ June 26th, 2008 | → 1 Comments | ∇ My thoughts on... |
Today the United States Supreme Court handed down its long-awaited ruling in the case of District of Columbia v. Heller (Case # 07-290), and it was clearly the right decision.
It all began when 66 year old armed security guard Dick Anthony Heller filed suit against the District after officials there refused to grant him a license to own a handgun to keep in his D.C. home for the purpose of self-defense. In 1976 the municipality had passed a law making the ownership of handguns by private citizens illegal, but today’s Supreme Court ruling declared that law incompatible with the right to bear arms under the 2nd Amendment.
For years, gun control advocates have tried to argue that the wording of the 2nd Amendment only confers the right to bear arms to state militias, not individual citizens. I disagree. The Amendment reads as follows: “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” It is quite clear to me that the references to “a well regulated militia” and “the people” refer to separate entities. In other words, the right to bear arms belongs to both organized militias AND individuals.
Now that the High Court has finally upheld the right of law-abiding citizens to own guns, look for gun control laws all across the nation to be challenged and either modified or struck down altogether. Look also for more of our fellow citizens to be able to sleep better at night because they can finally legally defend themselves against intruders intent on taking their property and/or their lives.
Here’s a big thumbs-up to the Supreme Court for choosing to interpret the Constitution for a change instead of simply ignoring it and “making law” at their whim.
Water powered vehicles could be on the way soon
Ξ June 24th, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Technology |
How would you like to own a car that runs on water? And what if that car only cost you around $5,000? Well, a Japanese company called Genepax has demonstrated a car powered by a fuel cell that uses a chemical reaction to break the hydrogen and oxygen components apart, then burning the hydrogen to power the vehicle.
But wait, it gets even better! After the car goes into full production, the cost is expected to drop to approximately $5,000 per vehicle. Better still, no pollution whatsoever is emitted into the atmosphere, or elsewhere. With a maximum speed of just a hair under 50 miles per hour, you won’t be winning any races in it, but you’ll never have to stop at a gas station or worry about spewing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere either.
Of course this is all according to Genepax so only time will tell, but if their claims are true we might all be driving water powered vehicles in the not-so-distant future! In the meantime, check out the video of Genepax’s demonstration…
Wink, Wink… But I wouldn’t hold my breath while waiting on this one…
Want to win $300 million? Here’s how…
Ξ June 23rd, 2008 | → 1 Comments | ∇ Technology |
GOP Presidential hopeful John McCain has proposed offering a $300 million prize for anyone who can develop a car battery that is more powerful, more efficient, and less expensive than the ones currently used in hybrid vehicles:
“I further propose we inspire the ingenuity and resolve of the American people by offering a $300 million prize for the development of a battery package that has the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars. That’s one dollar, one dollar, for every man, woman and child in the U.S. That’s a small price to pay for helping to break the back of our oil dependency, and should deliver a power source at 30 percent of the current costs.”
Well, there you have it. All you need to do to take home a whopping $300 million is put on your thinking cap and come up with a better car battery. Just think, this is your chance to move onto “Easy Street” and help the nation break its dependence on foreign oil at the same time! But first, you’ll need to do your part to make sure Mr. McCain wins the election in November…
Help, “Trialware” is clogging up my new PC!
Ξ June 22nd, 2008 | → 1 Comments | ∇ Technology |
If you have purchased a new computer recently you have no doubt noticed how the hard drive is packed with trial versions of commercial software: Microsoft Office, Norton Antivirus, McAfee Antivirus, AOL…the list goes on and on. There are probably dozens of gaudy icons cluttering up your Desktop, and yep, all of that garbage is making your brand new super-duper state-of-the-art PC run like a turtle through molasses.
You might be asking yourself why the computer manufacturers cram all that trialware on there anyway, and the answer is money. The prices for computer hardware have dropped to the point where there is very little profit margin left, and to compensate for that loss in profits they take “bribes” from the software companies in exchange for preloading trialware versions of their programs directly onto new PC’s.
If you’re asking yourself why the software guys are willing to literally pay to get you to try their programs, once again the answer is money. They know that a hefty percentage of all new computer buyers will try their program, like it, and spend their hard-earned cash to buy the full version.
I understand the economics of this crazy situation, but all of that garbage clogging up and slowing down every new computer I buy drives me bonkers, and I’m guessing it does you as well. I have spent many hours manually uninstalling all of that trialware (usually having to reboot after each application was nuked), but not anymore..
I just found out about a neat little program that goes by the rather crude name of The PC Decrapifier. This little gem scans your new computer’s hard drive looking for a long list of trialware programs, then it gives you a list of the ones it found. You can then mark the ones you don’t want and the program automatically uninstalls them for you while you go on about your business doing something else. Pretty neat, huh?
If you’re looking for a fast and easy way to clean all of that trialware garbage off of your new computer, you can download The PC Decrapifier right here. It’s completely free for personal use!
Worlds apart: K-Mart & Wal-Mart
Ξ June 20th, 2008 | → 2 Comments | ∇ My thoughts on... |
Way back in 1962 two gentlemen by the names of Sebastian S. Kresge and Sam Walton began creating what would eventually become recognized as separate, but parallel empires in the retail industry. Kresge named his new company after himself by calling it K-Mart, and Walton did the same by calling his Wal-Mart. After that, the similarities pretty much end.
Initially, both K-Mart and Wal-Mart prospered, and before long the two companies were expanding into new markets and opening stores all across the country. When the computer revolution hit, Walton quickly recognized the competitive advantages that an automated inventory and ordering system would offer. He invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the development and refinement of just such a system for Wal-Mart’s large and growing network of retail stores and distribution centers, a brilliant move that will be studied in business schools for generations to come.
K-Mart on the other hand continued to rely on the old way of doing business: replenish sold merchandise via manual orders from a huge variety of independent vendors. Now recognized as one of the most devastating strategical errors in the history of business, K-Mart’s failure to utilize modern technologies in order to compete with Wal-Mart has led to the virtual demise of the company.
For years now, when Wal-Mart opened a new store in a market, the existing K-Mart store there has often ended up closing (along with a number of other smaller businesses). Under Sam Walton, the Wal-Mart Corporation refined the art and science of lowering prices while retaining profits to the point where no other retailer can possibly compete head-on with them, including K-Mart.
Target has done pretty well by projecting a more up-scale image to its potential customers than Wal-Mart, but by and large the products are the same, only packaged differently and sold at slightly higher prices. In market after market, Wal-Mart’s sales figures trounce all of their nearest competitors, including Target’s.
K-Mart has attempted to battle its way out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy by closing hundreds of stores and merging with Sears, but one only needs to compare the number of cars in a typical K-Mart parking lot with those at a near-by Wal-Mart at any given time to see what an uphill battle they are facing. For better or for worse, Wal-Mart has defined itself as the most successful retail business in history, and if current trends are any indication that won’t be changing any time soon.
On the other hand, K-Mart’s future is far from secure. Only time will tell if they will be able to climb out of the deep hole they dug for themselves while Sam Walton was climbing up the grandiose mountain that is today’s Wal-Mart Corporation.
Happy Fathers Day, Dad
Ξ June 15th, 2008 | → 1 Comments | ∇ My thoughts on... |
Dear Dad,
Well, seven Fathers Days have now come and gone since you went on to be with the Lord, and I still miss you just as much as ever. In fact, we all do.
I know you wouldn’t give up the new life you have up there to return here to us, and I wouldn’t want you to. But I miss you dearly and look forward to the day when we all have that happy reunion, perhaps in the back yard of your Heavenly mansion on the bank of your fish pond.
Till then, just know that I will always love you and miss you. Tell everyone up there I said Hi and I’ll see them all soon enough.
Love,
Rick
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