Kim Jong-il Gone Too Far (Again)

How sad that an entire country falls under the delusionary grandeur of one man.  We have seen it time and time again in history.  I am convinced that Kim Jong-il acts solely to get attention and in the process starves a country and keeps it under his impenetrable thumb.  As long as he controls the military and the outside information coming in, he has a dictatorship or even a mini-theocracy. 

This latest I believe is occurring to show that his son is indeed in power.  Under pressure he will back down only to rear his ugly head again and again.  We and other countries let him continue to starve his people.  The pressure has to come from China and Russia who have let the stance be to let boys be boys.  This guy needs to be taken out so that North Korea can join the rest of the civilized world.  If the U.S. attempts to shape this, we are in for yet a third conflict. 

Shrinking the Deficit is not Popular

The Deficit Commission came out this past week and stated that we may have to raise the retirement age in order to shrink the deficit.  The polls said people felt very uncomfortable with this reality. 

What we are going to find with the deficit is we cannot kick the ball down the field any more.  Some of our leaders are going to have to take a stand.  Putting a band-aid on a severed artery won’t cut it.  We will have to make radical changes.  This will affect everyone.  But they must be done.  How about starting with a massive pay cut across the board from all in government? 

President Obama wants to give the 2.1 million federal workers a pay raise! That's rich in more ways than one. Here's a look at some of the nitty-gritty details.
Government workers with 15 to 24 years experience have enjoyed a 25% increase in pay since 2005 versus inflation up 9% during the same period.
Civilians in the government making $170,000 stood at 9 in 2005, 214 when Barack Obama entered office, and hit 994 this June.  Check these numbers out.

What does a business do when they experience a downturn in revenues?  First they cut out internal costs that are unnecessary followed by pay cuts.  We need a massive pay cut in government followed by a significant pay cut (try 30% or more).  The problem is there is not incentive in government to shrink unless we as constituents force the issue. 

Secondarily the harder issues of entitlements such as Social Security must be addressed.  

Baseball – The Florida Edition

Debsue wrote a blog post on our annual trek to Florida to play baseball.  You can find it here.  I am going to take the approach to fill you in on the little things that happen in Florida. 

This is my ninth year playing in the Roy Hobbs tournament.  It runs for four weeks total for different age groups.  I play in the 47 and over Masters division.  I have in the past also played in the 38 and over.  At age 50 it is getting harder and harder to keep up with the younger guys. 

You play four games against selected competition based on your teams past track record.  Based on those results you get put in a bracket.  Some teams seem to sandbag to get into a lower bracket that they then can win.  Once you are in the bracket and you start tournament play, it is single elimination.  So you play at least six games. 

Our team, the Mudhens are maddeningly inconsistent.  We won the championship this year because we got hot at the right time.  But this week in Florida, we were lousy, all of us, and, in particular me.  I went 1 for 13 and hit one ball out of the infield.  Baseball is a timing sport and I can be really hot or really cold.  And I was just a little off and hit lousy.  Then there was my pitching which is was also awful.  Had my usual good stuff but many, many walks.  That is why I don’t pitch too much anymore.  I threw 13 innings and probably had 16 walks.  We were put into the lowest bracket this year because of our play and lost in the first round to a winless team.  At 50, the difference between good and bad can be slim. 

However, the real goal is to get threw the week healthy and not too sore.  A number of years ago, I caught a bad hop ground ball that sliced part of my ear requiring 17 stitches.  This year, it was just the usual aches and pains that come from playing every day.  Some guys play two weeks – now that would be hard.

The last two years, Debsue went with me.  I position it as an orgy of baseball (since Debsue loves baseball that is good) and a chance to go on lots of dates with her hubby.  We get some time to do other stuff and we went to Sanibel Island and also took part of a day and took a nice long walk.  I also do some work during my free time.

So all in all despite the disappointing play and result, it does not get much better to be out in 80 degree weather playing a little boys game.  

Dad Turns Eighty

My father turned eighty years old today.  Hard to believe.  I think of my Dad as never changing.  There are so many things about my father that I appreciate, but here is a smattering:

1. His commitment to his kids.  My father supported me and encouraged me throughout my life and still does. 
2. His sense of humor – while some of the jokes and statements gets very repetitive over time, he is always full of life.
3. His wicked memory – his mind is sharp as a tact.  He can remember things in my life that I can’t remember.  Sometimes they get embellished over time, but at least they are somewhat factual.  He competes on Jeopardy and can give Debsue a run for her money in knowledge of useless facts.
4. His active life – he is still plays tennis, golf, bridge.  He has always been active.  It was really tough to see him a few years ago on the sidelines with a torn Achilles tendon.  But he came back in record time and has been back on the courts.  He reminds me that he keeps moving up the rankings in tennis and I remind him back that the older he gets the more he will by attrition move up the rankings. 
5. His eccentricity – my father is quite different in a fun sort of way.  If you talked to my dad, you would never know that he has a Phd, law degree, and masters degree.  Not that you wouldn’t think he is smart, but he comes across as quirky fun, not snobbish. 

While we are far apart, I never feel completely apart from my father.  I know he is there for me.  I love you Dad!!

The Overflow Life

My blog tends to have a mish-mash of topics ranging from spiritual to political to sports to business.  God has been weighing on my mind lately that this may appear that all of these topics are of equal importance to me.  They aren’t.  While I definitely have viewpoints and I love to put them down, they simply are not of the same plane as my living out my daily life under the providence and care of the living God. 

Consequently, I have decided to keep two blogs.  The Spoorts Page will continue with a focus on the mish-mash of subjects.  The Overflow Life is my new blog and it is a living journal of what God is teaching me from his word.  I call it “The Overflow Life” because that is clearly to me the secret to the Christian life.  It simply means what Jesus says that he is living water that springs forth to eternal life.  The picture is of the fullness of God that emanates from living out a life that stems from his grace.  I can’t guarantee creativity or any unique insights, but I do pledge to share what God is teaching me in my daily walk and meditation from his word. 

Look for more from Spoorts Page.  I can’t resist sharing here what is purely my opinion; right, wrong or indifferent. 

Wired to Protect

I have blogged in the past how our dog Max loves to go out with us to get the mail, paper, or take out the garbage.  See this blog post.  For a long time, I could not figure out why Max got so excited about going out to the paper, mail, etc.  After all, he could not go down with me to the mailbox because of his electric fence.  It made no sense – not that I spend my life analyzing a dog’s behavior.  But most dogs are driven by something – they are not complex beings.  Food, play, sleep, pee, poop, attack, defend, etc. 

But I observed Max’s behavior when we went out.  First thing he does is look left to see if there is anything in the woods to the left of our house.  If there is, he would run frantically and bark at whatever he perceived it to be.  Then he would look right.  Then he would really go nuts if there was a car going by our our neighbor was in his yard.  He also would constantly look back and forth even when I was making eye contact with him coming back up the driveway.  So it finally dawned on me – Max thinks he is protecting me and he is wired to protect.  Protection of us is in his DNA.  It all now made perfect sense. 

What a picture of our heavenly Father who seeks to nurture and protect those that are His.  Except the battlefield we are talking about are spiritual and the forces of darkness are far more threatening.  But as I look at Max, I am reminded that we have a Father who constantly watches over us now and forevermore.  He has our back!

Arrogance – Why the Republicans Won

The number one reason cited was the economy.  I don’t think so – I think there is a definite crisis in confidence in our leadership that stems from our President and our government leaders.  Is it just me or is there an air of complete arrogance coming from the White House?  It is not just Obama, it is Pelosi, Reid, and multiple others across the aisles.  The arrogance is subtle - “I know it all and you need to trust my judgment”.  The arrogance is overt reflected in passage of health care reform with no bi-partisan support.  It is reflected in the supposed tough talk and knee-jerk reactions from the Gulf Oil crisis.  It is overall just a feeling of an attitude. 

I liked Obama when he was running (never liked Pelosi).  I thought he was a consensus builder, a naturally gifted leader.  I voted for McCain, but I definitely thought twice about it.   

It is really scary when someone who has zero experience thinks he knows everything.  Obama effuses arrogance.  Natural leaders are self-deprecating, seek counsel, are bridge-builders.  Obama has turned out to be none of these.  It is further reflected in his actions.  It is reflected in the attitude that government knows best and we need a nanny state to take us forward.  It is reflected in a lack of confidence in the ability of America to rise up and solve its own problems.  I hope Obama takes a lesson and actually changes.  However, unlike Clinton who I believe truly had a desire to please and the smarts to change, Obama I think is too full of himself to change.  I hope I am wrong. 

The public did what is great in this country – it exercised its democratic right. 

A Tale of Two States

California has always been regarded as one of the worst states to do business in.  Excess regulations, high taxes, and just a bad business climate.  I have been operating in California for many years now in multiple companies.  If I could at all avoid operating in California, I would. 

California has developed a web of regulations that raise labor costs, spurs litigation, and ties up expansion.  California in a poll by Chief Executive magazine ranked dead last for the past five years.  As one CEO put it, California is “just adversarial”.  It is not coincidence that California payrolls remain more than 1.46 million jobs below the pre-recession levels.  This represents one-fifth of the job deficit in the entire country for a state that is one-eight of the population.  It is the atitude reflected by the city manager of Brisbane who charges $13,510 for a permit to install a 131-kilowatt system and says he is “trying to promote the most solar we can.”

Texas on the other hand has rebounded to pre-recession levels for jobs.  It is no coincidence then that Texas is the top ranked state to do business in ranked by Chief Executive magazine.  Texas has no state income tax and a much better business climate.