Mizzou BBall With KPL

I got the chance to go see a Mizzou Basketball game with my pastor, Kevin Larson tonight.  Mizzou laid the smack down on Baylor in an almost packed house at Mizzou arena.  There were a few moments of worry as Baylor went on a few runs and almost took the lead, but in the end Mizzou prevailed 89-72.  It was great spending some time with Kevin, especially since he is a true tiger fan.  If any of you ever have any tickets and you don't know what to do with them, pass them to Kevin.  He will gladly go, and he will appreciate it too.

Inconvenient Debt

The government has decided to print money...lot's and lot's of money, to try and "stimulate" the economy.  They are also in the midst of passing a huge "stimulus package" which many of the politicians in Washington think will fix everything.  This is actually very scary.  Check out this video from Glenn Beck.  He is someone I have listened to for a long time on the radio.  He now has a TV show on Fox.  Sometimes I think he's a little nutty, but all this money printing is making me nervous.  Glenn's take on it is very interesting.

Senator McCaskill, Honesty & Atlas Shrugged

Today I decided to call my congressman and senators to voice my opinion on a few issues. By the way, I would encourage everyone to do the same. It's easy to save their numbers in your cell phone, and it only takes a few minutes to leave your opinion. Anyway, I called Senator Bond and McCaskill's offices to voice my opinion on the confirmation of Eric Holder for Attorney General as that vote was taking place this afternoon.  I told both senators that I regretted not calling last week and voicing my opinion about Michael Geithner, President Obama's pick for Secretary of the Treasury. Who, by the way, was confirmed earlier this week. After extending my regret for not calling earlier, (please note, I did not share my opinion on how I felt about Geithner at this point) I asked how each senator would be voting for Holder's confirmation. The lady who answered the phone for Senator McCaskill immediately flew off the handle and angrily said that she didn't know how she would vote. I asked her to calm down and not treat me in this rude manner. She immediately yelled at me and insisted she was not being rude. I then told her that seeing as how my tax dollars paid her salary, she should really reconsider how she was speaking to me. To make a long story short, the conversation only went downhill from there.

So, Senator McCaskill, if you by some miracle happen to read this blog, please help this young lady learn to be happy in her work. Maybe she needs a vacation. Or maybe, she's a closet conservative who needs to be rescued from this liberal senatorial office.

So why do I mention honesty in my title? Because I'm really concerned that so many people think it's OK to put people in these leadership positions (Geithner & Holder) who have integrity issues. Even Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, who is typically quite conservative, voted for Geithner in the confirmation vote. Why? Because he says it's more important to get someone like Geithner in place so he can start working on the bailout of the economy than to start another confirmation process all over again. WHAT!?!? Why is it OK to place someone in a leadership role who has integrity issues. This should never happen! Under no circumstances! 

This is not about left vs. right. This is about right vs. wrong! My grandpa, who was a farmer his whole life, was the smartest man I ever knew. This was a man who couldn't even read or write. He also had more integrity in his little finger than anyone else I've ever met has in their whole body. I spent a lot of time with him as a kid. He used to tell me, "Honesty is like pregnancy; either you are or you aren't." So there's no middle ground here. These guys have integrity issues. Period. These things will not change now that they are in these high level positions. 

So do my senators care that these guys have integrity issues? Does it matter to them? I hope so. What can I do? Keep calling, even if the response to my question is rude, I will continue to call.

I then got an email from a friend who sent me this great article by Stephen Moore. He's an editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal. I've seen him in several interviews and he always seems to have a good head on his shoulders. He talks about Ayn Rand's book, Atlas Shrugged. I've got this book in my library and I've never gotten around to reading it, but now it seems I need to. This book was written over 50 years ago, but in this short article I was amazed at how this 50 year old text is so applicable to us today. So, even though this blog entry is already really long, take a few more minutes and read this article. It will make you think.

'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years 

By STEPHEN MOORE

Some years ago when I worked at the libertarian Cato Institute, we used to label any new hire who had not yet read "Atlas Shrugged" a "virgin." Being conversant in Ayn Rand's classic novel about the economic carnage caused by big government run amok was practically a job requirement. If only "Atlas" were required reading for every member of Congress and political appointee in the Obama administration. I'm confident that we'd get out of the current financial mess a lot faster.

Many of us who know Rand's work have noticed that with each passing week, and with each successive bailout plan and economic-stimulus scheme out of Washington, our current politicians are committing the very acts of economic lunacy that "Atlas Shrugged" parodied in 1957, when this 1,000-page novel was first published and became an instant hit.

Rand, who had come to America from Soviet Russia with striking insights into totalitarianism and the destructiveness of socialism, was already a celebrity. The left, naturally, hated her. But as recently as 1991, a survey by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club found that readers rated "Atlas" as the second-most influential book in their lives, behind only the Bible.

For the uninitiated, the moral of the story is simply this: Politicians invariably respond to crises -- that in most cases they themselves created -- by spawning new government programs, laws and regulations. These, in turn, generate more havoc and poverty, which inspires the politicians to create more programs . . . and the downward spiral repeats itself until the productive sectors of the economy collapse under the collective weight of taxes and other burdens imposed in the name of fairness, equality and do-goodism.

In the book, these relentless wealth redistributionists and their programs are disparaged as "the looters and their laws." Every new act of government futility and stupidity carries with it a benevolent-sounding title. These include the "Anti-Greed Act" to redistribute income (sounds like Charlie Rangel's promises soak-the-rich tax bill) and the "Equalization of Opportunity Act" to prevent people from starting more than one business (to give other people a chance). My personal favorite, the "Anti Dog-Eat-Dog Act," aims to restrict cut-throat competition between firms and thus slow the wave of business bankruptcies. Why didn't Hank Paulson think of that?

These acts and edicts sound farcical, yes, but no more so than the actual events in Washington, circa 2008. We already have been served up the $700 billion "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act" and the "Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act." Now that Barack Obama is in town, he will soon sign into law with great urgency the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan." This latest Hail Mary pass will increase the federal budget (which has already expanded by $1.5 trillion in eight years under George Bush) by an additional $1 trillion -- in roughly his first 100 days in office.

The current economic strategy is right out of "Atlas Shrugged": The more incompetent you are in business, the more handouts the politicians will bestow on you. That's the justification for the $2 trillion of subsidies doled out already to keep afloat distressed insurance companies, banks, Wall Street investment houses, and auto companies -- while standing next in line for their share of the booty are real-estate developers, the steel industry, chemical companies, airlines, ethanol producers, construction firms and even catfish farmers. With each successive bailout to "calm the markets," another trillion of national wealth is subsequently lost. Yet, as "Atlas" grimly foretold, we now treat the incompetent who wreck their companies as victims, while those resourceful business owners who manage to make a profit are portrayed as recipients of illegitimate "windfalls."

When Rand was writing in the 1950s, one of the pillars of American industrial might was the railroads. In her novel the railroad owner, Dagny Taggart, an enterprising industrialist, has a FedEx-like vision for expansion and first-rate service by rail. But she is continuously badgered, cajoled, taxed, ruled and regulated -- always in the public interest -- into bankruptcy. Sound far-fetched? On the day I sat down to write this ode to "Atlas," a Wall Street Journal headline blared: "Rail Shippers Ask Congress to Regulate Freight Prices."

In one chapter of the book, an entrepreneur invents a new miracle metal -- stronger but lighter than steel. The government immediately appropriates the invention in "the public good." The politicians demand that the metal inventor come to Washington and sign over ownership of his invention or lose everything.

The scene is eerily similar to an event late last year when six bank presidents were summoned by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to Washington, and then shuttled into a conference room and told, in effect, that they could not leave until they collectively signed a document handing over percentages of their future profits to the government. The Treasury folks insisted that this shakedown, too, was all in "the public interest."

Ultimately, "Atlas Shrugged" is a celebration of the entrepreneur, the risk taker and the cultivator of wealth through human intellect. Critics dismissed the novel as simple-minded, and even some of Rand's political admirers complained that she lacked compassion. Yet one pertinent warning resounds throughout the book: When profits and wealth and creativity are denigrated in society, they start to disappear -- leaving everyone the poorer.

One memorable moment in "Atlas" occurs near the very end, when the economy has been rendered comatose by all the great economic minds in Washington. Finally, and out of desperation, the politicians come to the heroic businessman John Galt (who has resisted their assault on capitalism) and beg him to help them get the economy back on track. The discussion sounds much like what would happen today:

Galt: "You want me to be Economic Dictator?"

Mr. Thompson: "Yes!"

"And you'll obey any order I give?"

"Implicitly!"

"Then start by abolishing all income taxes."

"Oh no!" screamed Mr. Thompson, leaping to his feet. "We couldn't do that . . . How would we pay government employees?"

"Fire your government employees."

"Oh, no!"

Abolishing the income tax. Now that really would be a genuine economic stimulus. But Mr. Obama and the Democrats in Washington want to do the opposite: to raise the income tax "for purposes of fairness" as Barack Obama puts it.

David Kelley, the president of the Atlas Society, which is dedicated to promoting Rand's ideas, explains that "the older the book gets, the more timely its message." He tells me that there are plans to make "Atlas Shrugged" into a major motion picture -- it is the only classic novel of recent decades that was never made into a movie. "We don't need to make a movie out of the book," Mr. Kelley jokes. "We are living it right now."


Mr. Moore is senior economics writer for The Wall Street Journal editorial page.

Branson Airshow!

So there is some exciting news coming out of Branson.  They're having an airshow in May.  Click here to see the website that give all the details.  It will feature the USAF Thunderbirds, US Army Golden Knights, and stunt pilot Patty Wagstaff.  They are doing this to kick off the opening of the new Branson airport.  

Beef Jerky

Today I made my second batch of beef jerky, and I hit the bullseye. I'm going to post the recipe below mainly so I will have it for future use. I used to work with a guy in Pennsylvania who made his own jerky, and he once gave me some he made with Maker's Mark Bourbon. It was some of the best jerky I had ever tasted. So, I did a little research and concocted my own Maker's Mark recipe. I went to Hy-Vee again for the meat. I have used their top round roast now twice and it works well. They have a cut with very little fat and they will slice it for you. This time they did it thinner than the first time. It's a little too thin for me, but it still worked great. Here is the recipe:

2 1/2 pound top round roast sliced thin

8 oz. can tomato sauce

2 1/2 Tbsp. of curing salt

2 Tbsp. of brown sugar

1 tsp. of cayenne pepper

4 Tbsp. of Worcestershire sauce

4 oz. of Maker's Mark Bourbon

Mix the ingredients and marinate sliced meat at least 12 hours in refrigerator. Make sure you brush the marinade on. You want the meat wet but not soaked in the marinade. If it's too wet it will not dehydrate properly.

Dehydrate the meat for at least 4 hours and enjoy!

If you're lucky enough and you ask nicely I may even let you try a piece. You should hurry though because it won't last long.

Paul Blart, the Library, and Honesty

Yesterday was a full day with Jamel.  We originally were going to the Mizzou Basketball game, but we had to change the plans at the last minute. To begin the day we had a great conversation about honesty.  A situation occurred even before I went to pick him up and the topic of honesty was staring us in the face.  This was the first opportunity we've had to have a real tough discussion.  When it was over, he understood the importance of honesty, and he now knows that no matter what he tells me, I'm not going anywhere. 

We then decided to go by the library. Jamel got his first library card which he was very excited about. He has had a real interest in the World Trade Center since I've known him. Not only about how it came down, but also how it was built. I told him that we should go to the library and find some books on the subject so he could learn about the towers. We found a great kids book about how the terrorists brought down the towers. It explained everything on 9/11 from start to finish, and it was age appropriate for him. We also found a great book about how the towers were built. So, he was pretty excited. The scary part was that on the way to the library, Jamel told me he had one of his teachers tell him that George Bush is the one who made the towers collapse. How do you deal with that? I told him he needed to do some research on his own and then he could make his own decision on what happened. I was glad to find that book!

We decided to go see the movie Paul Blart: Mall Cop. It was pretty corny, but it had its moments. It was definitely a good movie for kids to see. If you liked Kevin James in King of Queens, then you'll like this. It was his typical brand of comedy. It also had a pretty good family message in it. The middle of the movie got a little boring. Jamel even took a nap for a while.

All in all, we had a great day. I'm enjoying the Big Brother thing, and I'm looking forward to the next 11 months as we continue our relationship. 

Stimulate Columbia MO Partnerships Finalized

We're down to the wire on the planning of Stimulate Columbia MO. We have made contact, interviewed, and approved our partners for the project. They are as follows:

At-Risk Youth:

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central MO

Rainbow House

The Intersection

Low-Income Families:

Voluntary Action Center

Central MO Food Bank

Love INC.

The Unemployed:

Harbor House

Boone County Community Partnership/Re-entry Program

Salvation Army

Our website will be live by the end of the week. Now we just need congress and President-Elect Obama to follow-through on their promise of the economic stimulus package. Our media campaign will begin as soon as the announcement is made that the bill has been passed through congress.

Central MO Aviation

Today Jamel and I visited Central MO Aviation at Columbia Regional Airport. We were very fortunate to run into John, a flight instructor at the airport. He spent time with us explaining lift and drag, and all the stuff that makes airplanes fly. He even took us out to his Cessna 150 and gave Jamel an inside the cockpit tour. Jamel has never flown or been near any kind of airplane, so he was very excited about this opportunity. John explained to him how easy it is to fly and how anyone can do it. He even encouraged Jamel that in a few years he can start flying lessons if he wanted to. Jamel was an eager learner as he sat in the cockpit and asked John question after question. He walked away from the airplane saying that he was sure he could fly after all the information he had been given.

After our Cessna tour, the linemen at Central MO Aviation let us walk down the flight line and look at the airplanes that were parked. There were several airplanes there of all different varieties. We even got to see a couple of large business jets depart and a couple different small airplanes land.

On the way home Jamel commented to me that this was one of the most fun things he's ever done. He also asked me if I could come visit him at school sometime and eat lunch with him. So, this will be something we will try and coordinate soon. It also looks like we'll be going to another Mizzou basketball game this Saturday.

BlackBerry Media Solutions

If you use your BlackBerry's media player, and you use iTunes, then you need BlackBerry Media Sync.  It allows you to copy your iTunes playlists right onto your BlackBerry.  It's fast, easy, and free.  Click here to go get the free download.  

To get the most out of your music experience on your BlackBerry, try using the MOTOROKR S9 Bluetooth Stereo Headphones.  This is great to use at the gym or when you're walking, running or biking because there are no wires to get in the way.  And, it still works for phone calls at the same time.  If you receive a call while listening to music, the BlackBerry automatically pauses the music while you take the call. I've actually had this item for quite sometime and I love it.  It also is a great thing to use when you fly because it is small and easy to throw in a carry-on. It is a quality item and it takes the same car charger as your BlackBerry.

I have recently been testing the MOTOROKR T505 Bluetooth Speakerphone.  I was skeptical at first, but this has proven to be a great product.  This Bluetooth includes a digital FM tuner so you can not only listen to music from your BlackBerry media player through your car stereo, but you can also listen to phone calls in stereo through your car speaker system.  The quality of the call is so good that the person you're talking to doesn't even know you're using a speakerphone.  If you spend a lot of time behind the wheel, then you want this product. This item also uses the same car charger as your BlackBerry.

Ben Stein's Answer To The Bad Economy

Ben Stein is someone I admire and respect.  He is a great conservative thinker and uses logic in his commentaries. You may remember him from his role in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (Bueller, Beuller). But, that's not all he's done. He was a speechwriter for Richard Nixon and he was part of Reagan's economic team for a while. He also put out a movie recently that I highly recommend. It's titled Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. It was released on DVD a couple of weeks ago. He recently had a commentary on CBS Sunday Morning which I thought was great. You can read it here. In the second to the last paragraph he talks about stimulating the economy by donating money to charity. This is exactly what we want to do with Stimulate Columbia MO. WE can help get the economy going by donating money locally. Government is not the answer. I think if Ben knew about the little project we had going on, he would get behind it. 

Loaves & Fishes

Jamel and I joined the Ballou Community Group from Karis this afternoon to serve dinner in downtown Columbia at the Loaves & Fishes Soup Kitchen. It was fun hanging out and serving dinner with some folks from Karis, and Jamel told me on the way home that he had a great time. He asked a lot of questions about Loaves & Fishes, so it was a good opportunity for some great dialogue. He wanted to know where the people came from that were there to eat dinner, and he also asked why so many of us were there to help serve. Jamel pitched in and worked hard along with everyone else, and with so many there the work was not too difficult. The Ballou Community Group serves at Loaves & Fishes the first Thursday of each month, so I would encourage anyone who is interested to go help them if you can.