Tuesday, March 25, 2008

The Silent Tax Increase

Congress is raising your taxes.

By not doing anything at all the Democrat controlled congress is working hard to put the proverbial bullet in the head of the American Economy. How?

Way back in 2001 and 2003 tax cuts were put in to effect. Because of the crying and bellyaching by the socialist Democrats that the tax cuts were for the "rich," time limits were placed on them.

Since then the United States has been enjoying a period of unparalleled growth DESPITE, a major terrorist attack, the worst natural disaster in history (hurricane Katrina), the second worst natural disaster in history (wild fires in the west), a major military campaign, AND several major corporate scandals that rocked the financial world (Enron, Tyco). All of this went on, and we only had a slight economic slowdown during the terrorist attack. Incredible growth! Incredible wealth was gained.

During all of these problems the unemployment rate never went above 6.2%. Economists state that anything under 5% is full employment. We have been below 5% since December of 2005!

Even the Government has benefited. Government revenue is higher than it ever has been. Why? Because people and businesses are making more money thus they are required to give more of it to the Government.

All that is about to change however. In 2009 some major cuts are about to be erased. On January 1, 2009 Capital Gains Taxes will raise to 10% to 20% based on income.

On January 1, 2009 Dividends will raise to normal standard rates.

Investment in the stock market will decline, because with such high tax rates, it becomes near impossible to make money with out extreme risk.

On January 1, 2008 Small Business got hit when the maximum amount they can deduct dropped from $100,000 to $25,000. Expect prices to climb to compensate for the increase in expense.

The real pain will hit on January 1, 2011. That is when the Marriage penalty comes back, the 10% bracket goes away, child credits shrink to $500 from $1000, the Death Tax exemption drops, and EVERY tax bracket goes up 4.5% to 5%.

Happy New Year

Keep watching American Idol. Make sure you know what Britney Spears is doing. Politics is boring. Don't pay attention. OBEY!!!

Sources:
Tax stuff

Employment Stuff

Monday, March 24, 2008

Stupid Clouds... Stupid Wind

Well my flight yesterday got canceled because the ceiling was only 3000 feet. The instructor, rightly, wanted some more altitude to play around with since we would be doing stalls and steep turns and such.

I thought that today would be OK to go, but no such luck, we have enough altitude, but the winds are gusting to almost 28 knots, way past my airplane's crosswind component of 17 knots. Maybe later on in the week...

Now that I am thinking about it, perhaps I should just do a bit of studying and do my biannual flight review at the same time. You cover roughly the same amount of material, and it will save me from having to pay for the instruction later on. Then again... I probably need the extra instruction.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Check Ride In the Archer... Again

It has been almost a year since I flew the Archer. It is the policy of the rental company that I take another check ride. That is fine with me. I would have taken an instructor up anyway. I would rather pay the extra money than end up dead.

I thought that today would be a nice day with light winds. No such luck in Nebraska, where the wind always blows. Today is especially nasty, because the wind direction is just off to the left of the runway direction giving me an annoying cross-wind to deal with. On top of this we have wind gusts. That sucks.

Wind gusts suck, because they are not steady, and can change and any second. With a quartering cross wind you could be dead on the center of the runway and suddenly you are landing on the taxi way because you had correction in for a 20 knot wind that just went to 10 knots. Even worse you had correction in for 10 knots and it changed in to 20 knots when you are most vulnerable, right before touchdown in the flair.

Most of the time, you don't just fly the airplane in to the ground to land it. You have to have a little bit of finesse and timing to land. You don't want to land with too much speed, you could end up floating, or nose over, or some other nastiness that will kill you.

It all comes down to this: the airplane will fly at what ever speed the power and angle of attack will allow it to. To slow down you have to reduce power, or add angle of attack. To speed up you have to add power, or reduce your angle of attack. Your angle of attack is controlled by your elevators, which you control by pushing in your yoke/stick to lower the nose, pulling back to raise the nose.

So, as you descend on to the runway on your short final, you are generally in a low power, slow speed, nose down configuration. The idea is to use power to control your rate of decent and pitch to control your airspeed. Remember the airplane will fly at what ever speed the power setting and the angle of attack is set for. There is a "magic" speed that you can achieve where at the right nose configuration and the right power setting you do not gain or loose altitude.

The ideal is to be hanging out just above the airplane's stall speed (the speed at which the wings can no longer support lift) and keep it there with pitch. Nose down you gain speed, nose up you loose speed. The addition of flaps to this configuration increases the amount of lift the wing has. So by adding power you give the airplane more lift.

Wind, essentially, adds, or removes, power to the configuration by pushing the aircraft forward or backward depending on the direction of the wind. During take off or landing you always want to fly in to the wind. This additional air flow reduces your ground speed, how fast you are moving over the earth's surface, but increases your airspeed, how fast the air is moving across your wings. This greatly affects how you land. A high wind that suddenly is not there is just like pulling your power completely off, your airspeed plummets and so do you. Not very fun.

To compensate for that you need to carry more speed in to the gusty landing than you normally would. The rule of thumb is to carry half the gust spread. So if we have a 10 knot steady wind, gusting to 20 knots, the gust spread is 10 knots. Half of that is 5 knots. So if I normally shoot for a speed of 65 knots when landing I would need to shoot for 70 knots to compensate for the gusty wind.

It should be fun.



Nice shot of an Archer II waiting for a Tomahawk to land at Scappoose Industrial Airpark - KSPB Oregon

Friday, March 21, 2008

The Gym Can't Catch a Break

The UFC announced Marcus Aurelio's opponent for April 2nd... It is none other than MAMAz boy Ryan Roberts.

Marcus is a BJJ Black Belt and a cornerstone member of American Top Team.
Marcus Aurelio once choked Takanori Gomi unconscious.

Difficult to catch a break in the UFC...

I am beginning to think that Dana White has it in for the Nebraska boys.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Marine Rescues Flag

This guy ROCKS!!!

http://newsok.com/article/3217546/1205811955

I have to admit that I am conflicted on this one.
On the one hand, THIS GUY ROCKS!! I only wish I had the stones to do what he did. What great big brass balls this guy has! USA! USA!

On the other hand, the guy did violently disrupt a legitimate protest. I can not support that. The idiots have the right to do what ever they want to with the flag.

On the other hand, I would have loved, loved, loved to wade in there and take that flag from those crazy people. And this guy did it!!!! He is my new hero!!! He is a 57 on a 10 point awesome scale. I would love to go in and smack the crap out of someone defiling a flag. That is so KICK ASS!!!

On the other hand, he violated their right to air grievances that is protected by the Constitution. The very document that he took an oath to protect from all enemies, foreign and domestic.

On the one hand I would like to take this guy out for a steak, and a hooker. On the other hand I want to see him in jail for violating those people's rights.
Maybe the judge could sentence him to 3 nights at the Bunny Ranch? I think I could support tax dollars for that!

High Court To Uphold Individual's Right To Bear Arms

I hate John McCain. The thought of voting for him makes my skin crawl and bile rise in my throat. His name is on several pieces of legislation that restrict freedom of speech, the biggest being McCain Finegold.

BUT with the Supreme Court in session yesterday discussing the second amendment, in my opinion the most important of all the amendments, it made me think twice.

I think I could stand a Democrat as President. They would dig such a hole for the country that it just might bring about the election of another Regan (Duncan Hunter are you reading?) or, better yet, a Libertarian.

BUT the President appoints Justices to the Supreme Court. If a similar case comes before a court with even one more Justice like Ruth Bader-Ginsberg or Stephen Breyer and we now have a court that looks to Europe than our own Constitution. A court that reads more Marx than Madison. This we absolutely can not afford.

The opinion of the court yesterday seemed to be that the Second Amendment applied to the individual. The matter is settled for the mean time. The next time a case comes before the court who will be sitting there?

Vote McCain?????

Story: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8VG4TBG2&show_article=1

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Speaking Of The Whores...

Holly freaking cow... My town used to be the center for the sex and gambling trade in the Mid-West... My uptight and stuffy town that will not let anybody smoke inside and you can't buy a drink before noon on Sundays, used to have in excess of 1,600 sex workers doing there thing.

Wow.

Omaha was known as a "wide open" city for the first century or so after its founding. There was an area of town east of my Alma matter, Creighton University, that was called "The Burnt District." Over 100 brothels were in operation employing over 1,600 sex workers. In freaking OMAHA... People are so uptight about sex here that I may be arested later on for simply saying "sex."

It looks like the classiest and most famous was Anna Wilson. Eventually, she had a 25 room mansion at 912 Douglas Street. That's on the Leahey Mall now adays. When she died in 1911, the madam with a heart of gold donated the building to the city, who converted it in to a hospital. She was very welthy, and gave her entire fortue over to the city. The City so loved Anna Wilson that a group of citizens lay a wreath on her grave to this very day.

Wilson was in bed, literally, with Dan Allen who ran the "Sporting District." This is not very subtle code for the gambling district. Yup. Gambling. Right in my very own town.

All of this has intrigued me, and I have purchased A Dirty, Wicked Town: Tales of 19th Century Omaha by David L. Bristow. I hope to learn a bit more about the early days of my city, and visit the interesting places that we have, no doubt, tore down.

Some Wikipedia to read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Omaha
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Wilson_%28madame%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnt_District
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Allen_%28gambler%29

Monday, March 10, 2008

Who Likes the Whores??? The Gov Likes the Whores!!!

The married man with three daughters, who promised to root out corruption and clean up Albany, Elliot Spitzer has gotten caught buying a cheesebur... I mean gotten caught in the victimless crime of liking to have sex with people for money. Nearly same as paying for food that someone else prepared, but not quite.

Spitzer has been implicated as being a client of Emperors Club VIP, a club recently busted in a prostitution sting.

If Spitzer did not have an arrangement with his wife about extra curricular activities, I feel for her. She and her daughters are the only ones injured by this "crime." And they can seek just compensation for their suffering. It is called divorce.

Prostitution has always been with us, it will always be with us. It only harms people when it is outlawed. In the underworld women are exploited, violence is the norm, and disease rages. When legal, it is a hugely lucrative operation where health and safety are the primary concerns.

Sorry Gov Spitzer. You got caught with your hand in the cookie jar. Perhaps you should have looked in to how legal prostitution would have flown in your state.

Story

Sunday, March 2, 2008

UFC 82 Recap

Jorge Gurgel def John Halverson Decision
My Pick: Jorge by decision.
One for one!

Diego Sanchez def David Bielkheden Submission (Strikes) 4:43 rnd 1
My Pick: Sanchez by KO first round
Two for Two!!
And a perfect pick to boot!

Josh Koscheck def Dustin Hazelett TKO (Strikes) 1:24 rnd 2
My Pick: Josh by G&P KO second round
Three for Three!!!


Luigi Fioravanti def Luke Cummo Decision
My Pick: Luke by decision
Stupid Luke ruin my streak... Go drink some more of your own urine...


Andrei Arlovski def Jake O'Brien TKO (Strikes) 4:17 rnd 2
My Pick: Arlovski by KO first round
Ok I am back!

Jon Fitch def Chris Wilson Decision
My Pick: Fitch by RNC second round


Yushin Okami def Evan Tanner KO (Knee) 3:00 rnd 2
My Pick: Okami by decision
Looks like Okami is destined to be the next one to be knocked out by Silva.
Honestly, you cannot go on a 1.5 year bender and expect to win against a guy who has been beating top opposition. Evan is a great fighter, and most certainly a force, BUT until he gets some fights under his belt he will not be ready to compete at the top tier UFC level.

Chris Leben def Alessio Sakara TKO (Strikes) 3:16 rnd 1
My Pick: Leben by wild punching KO second round
That was too damn easy... My pick will forever be Leben by wild punching KO second round.


Heath Herring def Cheick Kongo Decision (Split)
My Pick: Herring by RNC third round
Kongo put up a better fight than I expected.


Anderson Silva def Dan Henderson Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) 4:52 rnd 2
My Pick: Anderson by KO third round
Anderson lost the first round, he got taken down and did little to escape, or do anything in the way of defense. He looked sluggish and afraid of Dan's shot. In the second round he just destroyed Henderson. Brutal kicks and pinpoint punches dazed Dan and allowed Silva to take top position, the back and get the eventual RNC. It is beginning to look like only Lindland would be able to give Silva a hard time right now.

I get 9 out of 10. This was an easy one to call, but all people need a cream puff after they have taken a shellacking. I certainly have gotten my butt handed to me lately, and this was a good conference builder.