Happy 5th Birthday, Kyle!

I meant to post this video sooner of Kyle celebrating his 5th birthday a couple of weeks ago (April 13).  Here's a brief, 30 second video I took from that day.

The Death of Education

I was watching the Bill Maher show the other night (I know, I know...liberal propaganda!)  It wasn't what Maher said though, that got me thinking, it was what one of his guests said.  Paul Begala, a democratic strategist on CNN, said that when he attended the University of Texas (probably in the 80's), he paid a mere four dollars per unit.   That's $12-$16 for a typical 3-4 unit class.  Prices since then have gone up over 600%. Seems a bit drastic, doesn't it?  The junior college I attended in the early 90's, Cerritos College, charged $6 per unit at that time.  Now it's $46.  For a junior college.  I remember taking 6 classes my first semester at Cerritos College, and it cost me $108 (approximately).  Those same classes now would cost $828.  I couldn't have afforded that, and I likely would have become discouraged and never fished my Associate's Degree program.

Begala also said that, back in those days, Texas used to invest its wealth back into education, which is what made college so affordable.  Those days are long gone, and it's not just Texas that's stopped investing in education, it's the entire country.  Unless something is done, going to college will be something that only the kids of the ultra-wealthy can afford.  Sure, there's student loans, but this is yet another thing that is crippling our economy.  Should kids today really be saddled with a loan the size of a home mortgage once they graduate?

So what can we do?  Obviously, one thing we can do is try to keep interest rates down for the loans.  I noticed that both Democrats and Republicans agree that interest rates should be kept low.  However, they don't agree how it should be paid for.  Republicans want to fund the low interest loans by cutting out certain portions of "Obamacare", particularly the "preventive care" portion.  No breast cancer screenings for women, no immunizations.  The colonoscopy I had last year wouldn't be covered either.  The Democrats wanted to pay for it by closing tax loopholes for millionaires.  I ask you, what party seems to care more about its people?  The first thing the Republicans think of to cut is preventive care?  Why?  This just doesn't make sense to me, and  I've been attacked by people on the right, calling me all kinds of names like a socialist, communist, idiot, etc for voicing my opinion on this.  They assume I collect all kinds of free benefits from the government and can't stand the idea of losing them.  The fact is, I don't get anything from them.  I have a job,  I've never been on welfare, I've never had food stamps, I pay for my own, private health insurance, and I don't ask for handouts.  Clearly, I don't come close to their definition of a "liberal."

Education should not be something that is out of reach for the poor and middle class.  I think about my two kids and wonder what kind of future is in store for them.  Are they going to be living with me and my wife until they are 30 years old, just so they can attend college?  Will I even be able to afford to send them to college?  Even though my own parents didn't really help me through college, I want to do what I can for them.  I really hope this country can get its priorities straight before then.

Ramblings #17

Are people losing their minds more than ever before? Or is it just me?

Within the last two weeks or so, we've have two murders here that seem to defy all logic. On April 6th, an HP engineer shot and killed a police officer here in Austin. The guy, Brandon Daniel, was drunk and stumbled into a Wal Mart in the early hours of the morning. The policeman, Jaime Padron, responded to a call he thought would be routine, and Daniel ended up shooting him in the neck.

Next up we have something that is even more crazy: A nurse, Verna McClain, murdered a mother in cold blood and stole her new-born baby. As the mother was dying from her wounds, she fought to protect her baby, only to be run over this woman. It seems that McClain had told her fiance that she had given birth to their baby, but when she had a miscarriage, she went out to find a replacement....any replacement. McClain, and her fiance, were both black. The baby was white. It seems the fiance would probably realize something was not right. Don't you think?

What were these people thinking? You've got two people here with a decent life and good careers just throwing it away for sheer stupidity. This being Texas, these two people are very likely to get the death penalty for this. And for what? Just being stupid.

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So, as I predicted, Mitt Romney is going to be the Republican nominee for President. I've made it pretty clear that I don't like Romney. He's a phony and will say anything to get elected. He's also totally out of touch with the common American. He's lived a life of luxury all his life and has no idea what it's like to struggle to make ends meet. That being said, if he wins the election in November, I won't be filled with rage as I was when George W. Bush won in 2000. Bush was a joke. A gun-totin' cowboy moron. An embarrassment to the office of President. At least Romney seems more presidential, and I think his recent right-wing leanings is only temporary. He has to appeal to his base before the election. The guy is a moderate, and even liberal on some topics (or used to be.) This guy is the architect of Obamacare, so that should say something.

I've been trying to limit my political rants lately, both on the blog and in internet forums. People are getting way too crazy about the upcoming election. You've got people like Ted Nugent saying things like "If Obama wins the election, I'll either be dead or in prison by this time next year." Other people are saying the country will become communist, socialist, marxist, etc (pick one). Give me a break people! Obama is a capitalist, pure and simple. If he loses the election, it will be because of the Democrats who are disappointed in him because he simply isn't liberal enough. I know several hard-core liberals who think Obama is no better than Bush. To them, Romney and Obama are virtually the same.

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I got an email earlier this month with a nice little comment about my blog, so I thought I'd share it here:

I am an American Expat living and educated in mainland China,Taiwan for over 23 years. I would like to let you know that you have a very interesting blog. I may not agree with many of the post on your blog, but I feel most of the comments made by you have been honest and to the point regardless of them being right or wrong. Good job and please keep it up from State-side.

I highlighted your blog on a webcast I did for VOA last month and I have a link to your blog on my site.

Keep it up!

James

Wow, my blog being mentioned on a webcast. Who'd have thought? Thanks James!

Lotto Fever!

The current jackpot amount for the Mega Millions lottery is $640-million.

$640 million. The biggest in world history. Is there anyone out there in America who doesn't have at least one lottery ticket for tonight's drawing?

I have eight tickets, but I didn't pay for them. Actually, I'm ahead by $4. How is this possible? Well, it's kind of a weird story.

I was in the HEB grocery store yesterday, and I had planned to buy three tickets. The first set of numbers I was going to use were the numbers I saw listed on "Good Morning America" the other day. Apparently, this set of numbers hasn't been chosen in the last 25 drawings. The next set of numbers were numbers that I picked, based on kids ages, etc. The final set of numbers were numbers I let Sara pick.

At HEB, you don't pay a cashier to buy lottery tickets. Everything is done on a machine, similar to a soda or candy machine. So I stick my paper into the machine, and I then expect to put $3 in afterwards. But no, my lottery ticket prints out with my three sets of numbers. I also notice that I have $7 left in credit on the machine. It seemed that some absent-minded individual had left $10 in credit on the lottery machine after they used it. I didn't see anyone before I approached the machine, so I had no idea how long ago this person put their money in. Did they do it on purpose? Who knows. Anyway, I had seven dollars left.

"Okay, " I tell myself "I guess I'll get 5 more."

I press the $5 button on the machine, and out pops 5 "Quick Picks." I also pick up a $2 "scratch off" ticket. The scratch off ticket wins me an instant $4. Wow, I'm lucky today!

So, I intended to buy 3 tickets, but ended up getting 8 for free, as well as $4 in cash. Win or lose, I'm still ahead. :)

I'm not one of those people who play the lottery religiously. A few years back I wrote about how my father-in-law was always going around saying "When I win the lottery...(blah blah blah)"

That's not me. I don't say that. I have a friend who is looking for a second job just to keep up with her mortgage payments, yet she always finds money to play the lottery. When people say that the lottery is a "tax on the stupid," they ain't kidding. But, when the lottery is this insane, you just have to play, right?

You don't really buy tickets expecting to actually win. It's more about having fun talking about what you would do if you did win. I decided to pick the annual payment option, rather than the lump sum cash option. Having that much cash all at once would be too crazy for me to deal with. At least with 26 annual payments, I wouldn't end up losing it all in a year or two.

So what would I buy? I'm not some idiot that would go out and spend two million on a gold bathtub or some crap like that. No, most likely I would just buy a nice, modest house (with swimming pool!) and a second car. Then I'd put a big chunk of it into the kids savings, so they could go to any college they want when they grow up. Then I'd go to all the countries I've ever wanted to visit. After that, who knows. I would expect every relative and friend I've ever known to come out of the woodwork, asking for money. Some I'd be generous with...others, not so much. I know Christy would want me to give a ton away to charity. She'd also want to move her entire family out here too, I'm sure. Well, you know what they say...sometimes lottery dreams can turn into lottery nightmares.

Happy 7th Birthday, Sara!

Sara celebrates her 7th birthday today. Yep, she's not a baby anymore. She's growing up fast. Next thing you know, she's going to be asking me for my car keys.

We didn't throw a big party this year. I told her that maybe we will do one next year for her 8th birthday. Instead we just took her to Chuck E. Cheese, which she loved anyway (although personally I don't think Chuck E. Cheese pizza is very good.) But you don't really go there for the pizza anyway, you go there for the 80's video games and winning tickets, which you can then redeem for a tiny plastic toy, or a piece of candy.

Sara's favorite gifts this year were her new dress (see pic above) and her "Pillow Pet."

Video - Radiohead - "Everything in its Right Place"

Here is one final video from the Radiohead concert on 3/7/12.

Video - Radiohead - Frank Erwin Center, Austin TX

Here's a video I shot of Radiohead performing "Paranoid Android" at the Erwin Center, Austin TX. March 7, 2012. (see previous blog for complete review)