"A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have."

- Gerald R. Ford

My words...  The more you trust in this big government of Obama - the more disappointed you will be when it all falls apart. 

"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." - Thomas Jefferson

Keep government out of health care!

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson. I'm afraid...I'm VERY AFRAID!

Great news...The 1973 Schwinn Varsity I restored is up for Old Ten Speed of the Month.  You can find it and others (for a while) on the homepage of Old Ten Speed Gallery.com .  Actually, there are two bikes I restored up for Old Ten Speed of the Month.  The other is an early to mid-'80s Fuji Sagres .  Old bikes just need love & TLC.  UPDATE:  It did win Old Ten Speed of the Month for December 2008.

Good news!  Today (Dec. 9, 2008) that old 1973 Schwinn Varsity I refurbished was featured on Old Ten Speed Gallery's home page.  http://oldtenspeedgallery.com/  The permanent link to it is... http://oldtenspeedgallery.com/owner-submitted/joseph-bs-1973-schwinn-varsity-with-comfort-saddle/ 

Be specific!  Too many very brief reviews lately that leave us (the readers) out in the cold.  Many times there is no photo of the product.  How hard is it to right-click on a web photo and save it?  Many times there is no review; just a soundbite, "I Like It"...or something to that effect.  Why do you like it or don't like it?  Most of all...what is it?  Some of these brief reviews aren't even specific enough to let the reader know what the product is!  Aggravating.  As Mark Twain said, "It is no use to keep private information which you can't show off."

 

In my senior year "advanced composition" class in high school, the teacher asked us to write "Our personal goals in life."  I wrote one sentence, "To live for today, to work for a better tomorrow, but never overlook the knowledge of the past are my personal goals in life."  I got an "F".  I stand by this statement today in light of the recent presidential election. 

After all, it was George Santayana who said, "Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it."  Obama wants to negotiate with countries like Iran with no pre-existing conditions.  This was tried before with Adolf Hitler just before WW II.  How did that work out?  In 1976 America elected a little known Georgian governor to the presidency.  The result was double digit inflation & unemployment.  That din't work either.

Obama wants to "spread the wealth".  Didn't we just reform welfare?  Michelle Obama stated in Milwaukee, "For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country."  I don't know about you...but I've been proud of this country since childhood.  I was proud when I heard J.F.K. say, "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."  Today that would be considered a "right wing" statement.  Why?  Because it's not asking your country to give you a hand out...a free ride.

I was even proud of my country during the "Watergate" scandal.  It proved we had real journalist like Woodward & Bernstein, who took the time to do an in-depth story that went on for years.  Today, both the press & the public want "sound bites".  Yesterday's news is exactly that...yesterday's news.  Nobody wants a follow up to what they read about or heard the day before.

Lastly, I am proud of my country & what I had helped accomplish on election day.  There was a black man behind me in line; slightly younger than me.  We got to talking about the amount of younger voters.  He stated that he had voted in EVERY presidential election since he was 18 - not 21.  When I told him I was one of those "Hippies & protesters" that rallied congress to lower the voting age from 21 to 18, he reached out, shook my hand and said "Thank you".  Imagine that!  A black man & a white man shaking hands & carrying on an intelligent conversation.  Will miracles never end?  

 

 

Just puttin' around & havin' fun. If you can read this in English, thank two people; your English teacher & a VET! You're not speaking/reading or writing in German or Japanese, are you?