Ok, for those that perhaps enjoyed my rantings and point of view, I have moved my blogging to blogger.com

You can find my new Rat's Ramblin's blog at http://ratsramblins.blogspot.com/

In the local paper here today, there's a headline which tells everyone the local school board made a "blunder" in managing their budget last year.  Last time I checked, a $1.47 MILLION account error goes a little beyond the "blunder" or "oops" category!

I know that may not sound like much to folks in big cities, but while I'm between Providence RI and Boston, I definitely do not live in a "city", be it big or small!  The town the blunder happened in is Attleboro MA has a total population of about 45,000.  That means this little blunder equals about $32.66 per man, woman and child!

Worse than that, to me at least, is the fact that 80 teachers, the foreign language program in middle schools, and other programs were cut last year because of this very same budget that was running out of money!  You know, I hope, pray, wish, and hope some more for the day my bank calls to tell me they made a "blunder" that means I have an extra million and a half in my account!

By the way, the mayor in Attleboro...  Well, his name is Mr. Dumas, I will leave it up to you to figure out how it SHOULD be pronounced!

Yes Yes, I know!  I'm beating myself over the head for letting my blog slip. 

So if I haven't been updating my blog, what have I been doing? 

Well, I definitely haven't been on vacation!  Actually, myself and my partner (Eva Mah of PsychPatientMD blog fame here on BlogEstates) have been rather busy putting together, testing, and tweaking a new traffic exchange!  It's called Nexus Exchange, and is definitely going to be a force to be dealt with in the arena when people start deciding which exchange to promote and "front end" in their marketing efforts.

If you want to see what not only what a traffic exchange can be, but should be, click on the second link over on the left named Nexus Exchange!  Superior surfing environment, superior customer support, superior advertising!  All together, just a superior traffic exchange!  That is what Nexus Exchange is, and will continue to be!

So, now that the exchange is public, I will be getting back to some semblance of a "normal" schedule in my life, so the blog entries, and Rat's Rants will be back with a vengeance! 

Oh, and not to toot my own horn, but......

Remember a few weeks ago when I did the post on the Supreme Court, and the fact that changes are coming?  The comments from that was an overwhelming "who cares".  Guess what?  John G. Edwards as Chief Justice?  I hope you are looking forward to some very conservative, right wing, black and white interpretations of this nation's laws!  Hmmm, maybe now that is a "who cares" since he's there until he dies or retires.  I guess my thought is, if we the public hadn't taken the "who cares" attitude toward the court all these years, maybe, just maybe, our laws would reflect us, and not the elite!  Just a thought, but "who cares" anyway?

Every day I get up, look at the newspaper and see more and more stories about how the American people are becoming weary and disenchanted with the war in Iraq.  Are the American people going to turn this into another Vietnam?

You see, regardless of your personal stance on the war today, when it started, the vast majority of American people were for it.  Yes, the intelligence was flawed upon which our decision was made, but it wasn't only our intelligence, but also the British and Isreali intelligence information.  Doesn't make it an easier pill to swallow, but how many times in our own lives, with no pressure, have we made a decision which future developments and information prove to be wrong?  I'm definitely not saying we should follow whatever the politicians say blindly, but we also have to take our part of the responsibility in this.  Afterall, we did re-elect President Bush DURING the conflict!

So what does this have to do with Vietnam?  Everything!  If you talk to the troops who where in Vietnam (not the hippies over here) you might be surprised to find that very very few of them resented going.  What they resented was being sent into a war and not being ALLOWED to win it!  Without public support of our troops, the political support goes, and so does any ability to allow our troops to finish the job and come home.  But how many Americans have the fortitude today to actually do what it takes to end this?  War isn't supposed to be pretty, it's not supposed to be a bunch of neat, clean, tidy (if somewhat grainy) laser-guided video clips of bombs hitting empty buildings.  It's dangerous, it's bloody, it's heart-wrenching agony! 

This is not to say that I personally believe how the military is being used currently in Iraq is correct.  The US Military is NOT a "peace-keeping" force.  It specializes in coming in, kicking A$$, and taking over or coming home.  We knew from the beginning the goal wasn't to "take over" Iraq (as we did with Japan at the end of WWII)...  So let them finish the job and get home!  But that is a choice the American people will make, by their support or lack there of. 

If you don't support the war in Iraq politically, fine!  The election is in Nov. 2007 and we elect someone else.  If you really abhor the war, change the protests to "Impeach Bush" or whatever!  But coming from someone with both friends and family over there, support our troops and let them finish their job!  We asked them to do it, let's not ask them to relive Vietnam by not allowing them to finish it!

Alright, this is becoming a major pet peeve of mine, and the reason that identity theft has become not only possible but relatively prevelant.

You see, I spent the last eight or so years out of the "system" of state issued ID's.  No big deal, just basically meant I couldn't drive.  Hey, no car payment or insurance payments, so I wasn't complaining a whole heck of alot.  But when I decided to try and get back into the "system", I found a very interesting facet of disorganized government...

I DIDN'T EXIST!

Literally, I found myself in a never ending loop of needing a bank account to get a state issued ID or driver's license, and needing the ID to get a bank account...  Not so much to worry about right?  I mean, come on, how many people are going to be without a bank account or driver's license for that long?  While that may be true, it did get me thinking.

The Federal government bases all of it's identification on social security numbers.  It's what we pay taxes by and everything else.  Doesn't have a picture or anything else, just a number.  Unfortunately, what is acceptable to the feds doesn't float with most state governments.  Hmmm, maybe because the states are more interested in making money?  Don't know... don't care!

What I do know is, as a resolution to the problem I was having, a nice manager at my local Registry of Motor Vehicles advised me to go find a crooked bank employee and they would set me up with an account (without ID mind you) and that would satisfy the RMV's requirements.  So basically, a paper pushers requirements now supercede Federal Law...  Interesting!

But let's actually look at this...  If I was so inclined to do so, wouldn't it have been possible to find the same bank employee, set up an account under a complete fictious name, and STILL meet the RMV's requirements?  Hmmm...  and people wonder how ID theft happens!  It's called a system of identification that is now so convoluted and dependent upon "non-official" (or illegal) forms of identification that in truth it identifies no one anymore as a specific person!

Let's see here, King Fahd died, maybe now we can inject a little sense into our economy again!  And maybe a little sense in our society!

You think he didn't control it?  You don't even know who the man was?  Well, he was the King of Saudi Arabia, and also by luck, one of the most influential people of OPEC.  No, I'm not about to get into a rant about how the Middle East dictates a large portion of our economy over here and are an evil and plight upon the face of the Earth.

I will say this, though.  Oil is one of the few products that doesn't have it's price set by the old economic principle of "supply and demand".  In fact, it is the only product that the US Government allows anyone to "price fix".  We drove the steel industry out of this country by not allowing them to fix the price, leaving it up to "fair market value".  Why are we allowing OPEC to do the opposite?

Maybe it's because the Middle East is the largest oil producing region on the globe.  I would believe that if it were the ONLY one, but it's not. 

Hey, here's an idea...  We have the strongest economy in the world, and while I don't generally agree with any country strong arming another, I do believe in the ideals of "fair market value" and "supply and demand".  So, instead of allowing OPEC to artificially set the supply in order to get higher prices, why not work the equation from the opposite end.  We pay $45 a barrel, they supply enough to meet their economic needs!  Maybe then we can see gas prices back under $1.75 a gallon!

Oh, but wait, can't be doing that, because then we don't have enough oil for the gas, right?  WRONG!  The funny thing in all of this is that it is all a perception issue on where the power lies.  Never before has our economy been beholden to a supply issue.  OPEC seems to have forgotten, and wants us to forget, that in a free market, it's the consumer with the power, not the supplier.  If we are willing to let the oil they so graciously limit the supply on SIT, without buying it....

hmmm But maybe that idea won't work after all!  You see, it might mean that our cars would have to stay in the garage if we wanted to go to the store half mile away.  What becomes of the diet industry?  Without our lazy habits, and our refusal to walk anywhere, that would collapse, and then what becomes of the Atkins legacy?  Oh yeah, it ends up in bankruptcy court!  What a shame!

Ever notice that each time election season comes around we find out that it costs more and more money for someone to get elected?

hmmm, and here I thought voting was free choice, not someone buying them!

I know many people who are happily married, and I congratulate them on being so.  As a matter of fact, one of my friends is getting married tomorrow, so I will start by congratulating him on making an honest woman out of Mary!  LOL

Unfortunately, the state of marriage isn't for me.  This comes from a conversation I had this morning with a few of my friends in a conference room...

There are two parts to a marriage:  The actual relationship, and (at least in the US) a State approved "contract" between two people.  One does NOT determine the validity of the other in my opinion!

The actual relationship, the feelings, emotions, the unrelenting want and need to be with a specific person is there anyway.  Usually before the idea of marriage comes into the picture.  That is a great thing, and something that I believe most people spend a large portion of their lives looking for.  Under no circumstances should anyone degrade that type of relationship if it exists outside of the context of "Holy Matrimony" because that concept is dead and gone, and has been since the laws were passed that you can not get married without the approval of the State, which definitely is not Holy!

You see, in the US, no matter how much you love someone, and want to be with them, you cannot get married without first asking permission of the state in which you reside, or in the case of Nevada, the state in which you blow your retirement fund on a craps table on your honeymoon!  There is no "sanctity" to me in having to go ask some town clerk somewhere if I might have permission to marry the woman of my dreams.  I don't know this person, they don't know me, what in the name of all things Holy do they have to do with my marriage??? 

Well, I'll tell you what they have to do with it:  the states need to know so they know how much of your money they are entitled to in taxes, and how much to give each aggrieved party upon dissolution of the relationship.  Folks, marriage today is not anything Holy, it's a legal contract binding two people together in the eyes of the state.  They make money selling you the "right" to get married, and make even more money arbitrating your "right" to get back out of it!

Take my situation for example:  33, single, no kids, entrepreneur with a small and steadily growing business.  Now imagine I were to get married tomorrow, my wife does nothing but sit on the couch watching soap operas, and over the next several years the business takes off and I steadily increase the style in which we are living (the American Dream right?) and give her everything she ever wanted because quite frankly I want those things too.  Alright, now we have a marriage and standard of living which is based upon income from a business that she has put no work into (other than allowing me the time needed to develop it) but then things start heading south with the geese and the relationship falls apart.  Time for a divorce.  She is entitled, not to the business, but to half the money from the business according to the law so that she may maintain the lifestyle to which she has become accustomed to.  It's called alimony, and it is a perpetual state of financial support until such time as she remarries.  But why do that?  Why not just "shack up" with her boytoy and have the best of all worlds?  Nope, not a risk I am willing to take! 

Now, a couple of things:  one, I do believe in and want the type of relationship that a good marriage is based upon, I just don't EVER want the government that involved in my personal life.  The other thing, as women are becoming more and more successful, especially as entrepreneurs, they are being hit even harder than successful men in divorce courts.  The idea to me of a marriage license is nothing more than a certificate of ownership between people, and more specifically assets aquired during the life of the contract!

This is something that I struggle with myself, and I hate to see other people do it even more.  But ever notice, especially for the self-employed, that they are always working?  I do it, I can't seem to help it most of the time.  Even if I'm not in my office, I am thinking about what I have to do when I get back there!

Try taking a night off...  For me, that's an endless loop of "I ought to be working"! 

But you know what?  Everyone has to find time to get away from the work.  For example, my parents go out every week and buy more plants to put in the yard.  My question to them everytime is:  When are you going to stop planting and enjoy the flowers?  I guess I can't say much, I do the same thing.  But then, they complain that I work too much also!

Moral of the story... In our busy lives, and wanting to do something "productive" every minute of the day, each of us have to find that half hour to hour just to relax.  Sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee instead of the usual stolen sips between punctuation while typing!  Believe me, you will be more productive when you get back to work after that break!

First, an apology.  I must apologize for letting my blog slip.  For the summer time "supposing" to be slow for business, I have found myself incredibly busy!  I will do better finding the half hour or so to update the blog more regularly!

One of the oddities in our society is that everyone is complaining about "Constitution this" "Constitution that"....  and yet, we voided one of the basic premises of the very same Constitution long ago.

According to the Constitution, the three highest offices in the land MUST be elected.  That is the Presidency, Vice Presidency, and Speaker of the House.  Why did they do this?  Those are the offices that automatically assume the Presidency should the President die in office. 

But this isn't what we do now.  We elect only the President, mainly because of the development of the political party system.  The Vice President is attached to the President's ticket.  We can no longer not elect the VP of his party's choice without refusing to elect the person running for President. 

As far as the Speaker of the House goes, that position is now elected by the House Majority party, rather than the American People.

Wouldn't it be funny to have a return to an election process as set out by the Constitution in today's world?  For example, the popular vote comes out, is reflected in the electoral college correctly, and we end up with a Republican President, Independent VP, and a Democrat for Speaker of the House. 

That's how it is "supposed" to be!