Boycott

Boycott, Boycott! Folks any one can boycott anyone or anything for any reason. That doesn't mean that it's always the right thing to do. Arizona is now getting boycotted by several places for their newly adopted immigration law. Notwithstanding that the law mirrors Federal law and is the correct thing to do. The City of Boulder Colorado is boycotting Arizona and so is the City of Los Angeles. I think Arizona will count the cost and stand by their guns.

Arizona has a large border with Mexico where Mexican workers seem to think they can come and go at will. They are here working illegally, not paying taxes, and straining Arizona's health care and social services systems. They are getting a free ride while legal immigrants and American citizens are footing the bill through the taxes they pay, and the jobs they are losing to the illegals.

I think Arizona should put the illegals on trucks and ship them to LA and Boulder, and other such places and let them pay the expenses for these illegals. It's easy to bitch about Arizona's immigration law when you are several hundred miles away and don't have to deal with their problems, but it is another thing when they are in your own back yard, taking your job, and stressing your welfare system.

Do these politicians have no shame, or do they have no brain? Actually, they do have a brain but have no shame. Their re-election depends on catering to the illegals and those who receive welfare. Figure it out, only 50 percent of Americans are net tax payers, which means the other 50 percent are net tax receivers. The leaches of this country generally vote for democrats. Thus the boycotts. These politicians have to show their welfare recipients that they are earning their keep.

But let's think about this realistically. There are hundreds of thousands of others who would like to immigrate to this country from Europe, the middle east, the far east, Africa, and so on. It is very difficult for them to immigrate here. They make the proper applications, undergo a background check, have to be interviewed, and have to have a very good reason to immigrate here. But with our Mexican neighbors it seems that none of this is required. They don't even have to register, although they are here illegally. I don't think it is too much to ask for them to come into our country through the proper system. Why are we punishing Arizona for enforcing a law that mirrors Federal law? I think it boils down to this: votes. Ya, I know that you are supposed to be a US citizen to vote. But I'm not stupid enough to believe that it actually works that way.

One of my favorite cities in the US is San Diego. But I am boycotting San Diego until this California city puts enough pressure on LA to lift their boycott of Arizona. I know it doesn't mean much, but, hey! as long as we are in the boycotting mood. Also, I don't think I will do business in the Republic of Boulder, either.

Now, after reading the above you may think that I am against Mexicans coming into this country. Actually, I'm not. I'm all for it. Let's just make sure they are here legally, and when they work, they pay taxes also.

Enjoy your Starbucks folks!

Ever Hear of LeRoy Brown?

Some of you older folks know how the song goes.... "Ever hear of LeRoy Brown? Meanest man in the whole darn town." That takes me back to the days when the Democrats were calling the Republicans "mean spirited." Because the Republicans didn't go along with every welfare program, they were considered mean spirited. And of course the most mean spirited of all was Rush Limbah.

But as I listen to the Democrats now days, I believe they have become the epitome of mean spiritedness. The chant their "no way, no how." every chance they get. They rail against the banks, the car manufacturers, WalMart, stock brokers, insurers, oil companies, coal companies, loggers, doctors, hospitals, and just about anybody that makes any money. That is everyone who makes money excepting themselves. The likes of Pelosi, Wrangle, Reed, Frank, Emmanuel, and of course, the famous Hilary Clinton, herself. They strong arm a coerce. They use unconstitutional means to get bills passed. They have no respect for their constituents, unless, of course they are the one-third of Americans that think the way they do.

The LeRoy Brown of this generation is Barak Obama. He tries to sound nice while playing dirty. Fortunately Americans have caught on. He could be the best thing that has happened to the Republican party in decades. The elections this fall will be sweeping landslides toward the Republicans. That is, of course is if those bone headed Republicans can manage to stay out of trouble. They keep asking me for contributions, but they aren't getting it. Prove to me they are truly conservatives with a moral compass, then I will consider contributions.

Hey, I just joined Starbucks Coffee club that seems to have a lot of rewards. The more I go to Starbucks, the more blogs. Lucky you! LOL. Enjoy a cup of Starbucks while you buy a bunch of Citigroup..... the next big gainer on the market. $4.40 a share, what are you waiting for?

I Broke My Rules and Paid

Yesterday I laid out 8 rules to trading options at hard times. Rule #3 said not to buy options when there is a sharp upturn in the market. And Rule # 8 said not to hold options over night. I broke both these rules and paid. I bought options in Ford Motor because they had just come off a small downturn and it seemed like market conditions were right. So I bought them at the end of the day and held them over night.

This morning the pre-market was trading up. Even the Wall Street Journal said that stocks were pointing to another positive day. In the pre-market trading Ford Motor was up 14 cents. The minute the market opened stocks started tumbling.

The reason for the tumble is this: our Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanski got up and mumbled something in public about raising interest rates. These guys have two problems: 1) Every time they open their mouths the market goes down. 2) They are addicted to raising. That's right. They always want to raise something. If it isn't interest rates, it's taxes, or fees, or something else that makes your life a little more miserable. It just doesn't sit well with investors.

Now, I understand that a lot of people don't like investors. Why, I'm not sure. I think it might be jealousy. But folks, our economy is lubricated with investors' dollars. People willing to take the risk to finance a company that produces a product that creates jobs. A lot of people don't like the guy that provided their job. That's OK. take away the investors and there will be fewer jobs.

What? No Coffee!

One of the things I am very fond of is a good cup of coffee. Starbucks does this reasonably well. I like their coffee, I like their atmosphere, and i like it that they have broadband service. I even like their paper cups. Oh, and they make real cheap office space.

When I see a sign for a coffee shop I am reasonable sure that I can get coffee there. But it seems the last few times at a certain Starbucks, coffee is not a priority. At this particular Starbucks I can almost count on them not having any coffee ready. It happened again this evening, making it my 4th trip in a row to this store where I've had to wait for them to brew a pot.

In fact, one time I had to wait for them to brew two pots. Yes, that's right, two pots!. I placed my order and was told they needed to brew some, so I watched them brew, they poured it up and gave some to two other customers and i was told that they had to brew another pot. Now, wait a minute! these are big urns! Why were they out of coffee? I was told that they brewed only a quarter of an urn the first time. I'm not sure that all the people that work at Starbucks have all their marbles. Some of them are two cards short of a full deck.

Well, anyway, I had to wait 15 minutes for a cup of coffee at a shop that specializes in selling coffee. I just don't get it. Audrey was finished with hers and waited while I enjoyed mine.

Audrey

The most important person in my life is my wife, Audrey. She was beautiful the day I met her, beautiful the day I married her and is beautiful yet today at the age of 58. But even more beautiful is her quiet, constant, and calming spirit. I know of no one else who can fly out of town every week and work in another city and still have the time to pay attention to her kids, and relatives, visit her mom in North Dakota, go to church and read the Bible through in one year.

Yesterday was her birthday. We had time for a nice celebration before I took her to the airport where she boarded a plane for Dallas. Our daughter Amy and her three kids were here. We had a great time. The menu was spaghetti, French bread, angel food cake with strawberries, vanilla ice cream, and cool whip. O how the kids love the cool whip!

And of course, I brewed a pot of Starbuck's coffee.

On the Roof

I have often wondered about those who build their house on top of a mountain. Why do they do it? It just seems like an awful lot of work to get home. Why would anyone do it? Well, today I got my answer.

Today I went up above Golden to do some roof repairs. A very curvy road wound up the mountain until I saw a sign that said, hidden entrance. That was the beginning of this guy's driveway. His driveway wound up the mountain for about a half-mile. This was real hairpin turns with no railing. Then I pulled up to this huge chalet with a triple car garage. I met the owner, Steve, then we went up on the roof. The sight was absolutely awesome. The road below us looked like a tiny ribbon. Downtown Denver was in the distance and looked absolutely small. The eagles were spiraling over head. And the landscape was gorgeous.

Steve explained that elk sleep in the back yard, pumas live on the next ridge, and that coyotes ate two of his dogs. He explained that the trail to the Gregory gold mine went right past his property. There was a town of 300 voters whose sole job was to assist speculators up the mountain and help them camp for the night before they moved on the gold fields. Back then Golden was.... well.... golden.

And one of the nicest parts about today's excursion up the mountain was that I found a new Starbucks.

Socks!

I remember the days when socks, underwear, handkerchiefs, and scarfs were normal Christmas gifts. Yes, we even ate the fruitcake back then. We also got a big bag of curly Christmas candy, peanuts, an apple and an orange when we went to our church's Christmas service. There were five of us kids so there was a lot of candy and peanuts. The apples usually got soft spots before we got around to eating them.

This Christmas I was reminded of those days when my six-year-old grandson opened some of his gifts. He had been anxious to open the gifts. He stared under the tree and begged to open them. He was so disappointed when his first gift was socks, his second gift more socks plus underwear, his third gift pajamas. In the attached photo he is very disappointed while holding up his gifts for a picture.

Fortunately, he did get some kind of space laser gun that makes noises that will drive his mother absolutely crazy. That is thanks to grandpa and grandma (us). And he also got a wii. That was driving his mother crazy the first day.... but not his dad. In fact, I think it was his dad that was driving his mother nuts.