The Rants, Raves & Observations of a Cautious Optimist

Another Great Quote

2009-08-19T10:33:00.001-07:00

"Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can: all of them make me laugh." ~ W. H. Auden

Some quotes that I've accumulated:

2009-08-09T15:21:00.000-07:00

Some quotes that I've accumulated:

"No one means all he says, and yet very few say all they mean, for words are slippery and thought is viscous."
~ Henry Adams

"Any clod can have the facts, but having opinions is an art."
~ Charles McCabe

"No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately."
~ Michel de Montaigne

"An intelligence test sometimes shows a man how smart he would have been not to have taken it."
~ Laurence J. Peter

"Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn."
~ C. S. Lewis

"Furious activity is no substitute for understanding."
~ H. H. Williams

"A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool."
~ William Shakespeare

"Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."
~ Edgar Allan Poe

"When a person can no longer laugh at himself, it is time for others to laugh at him."
~ Thomas Szasz

"I not only use all the brains that I have, but all that I can borrow."
~ Woodrow Wilson

"When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it."
~ Bernard Bailey

"Every improvement in communication makes the bore more terrible."
~ Frank Moore Colby

"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."
~ Bilbo Baggins

"Try to learn something about everything and everything about something."
~ Thomas H. Huxley

"Technology is dominated by two types of people: those who understand what they do not manage, and those who manage what they do not understand."
~ Putt's Law

"If you're not scared or angry at the thought of a human brain being controlled remotely, then it could be this prototype of mine is finally starting to work."
~ John Alejandro King

"He who builds a better mousetrap these days runs into material shortages, patent-infringement suits, work stoppages, collusive bidding, discount discrimination - and taxes."
~ H. E. Martz

"If you can't beat them, arrange to have them beaten."
~ George Carlin

"Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist."
~George Carlin

"Chi son? Sono un poeta. Che cosa faccio? Scrivo. E come vivo? Vivo."
(Who am I? I am a poet. What do I do? I write. And how do I live? I live.)
~ Puccini

"Delusions of grandeur make me feel a lot better about myself."
~ Jane Wagner

"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."
~ Ronald Reagan

2009-06-23T15:16:00.000-07:00

"Omnia Vincit Amor; Et Nos Cedamus Amori!"

~Virgil

2009-06-23T14:55:00.000-07:00

"There are two things to remember in life:
1) Don't sweat the little shit, and
2) It's ALL little shit!"

~ D.L. Roth

2009-06-16T09:24:00.000-07:00

"We have thoughts, but thoughts are fluid. Then we assign a word to a thought and we’re stuck with that word for that thought — so be careful with words."

~George Carlin

UN Voting by US Foreign Aid Recipients

2009-06-12T14:29:00.000-07:00

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AND CIRCULATED IN 2003:

The United States gives $13.3 billion tax dollars in direct Foreign Aid annually. The United States is above and beyond the single most generous benefactor of the United Nations, donating $2.4 billion dollars of OUR money, to primarily third-world dictators.

This amount is 25% of the United Nations budget. In addition, the United States also gives another $1.4 billion tax dollars to United Nations' programs and agencies. The American taxpayers fund more for the United Nations than ALL of the other 177 member nations COMBINED.

What most Americans do not realize is that the vast majority of the recipients of US Foreign Aid routinely vote against the wishes of the United States in the UN at an average rate of 74%. In other words, of the $13.3 billion tax dollars invested in direct Foreign Aid only about 26% or $3.5 billion went to support people who endorsed American initiatives or causes. A staggering $9.8 billion tax dollars went to causes and people who were and are in open and direct opposition to the United States' interests and objectives.

Below are the actual voting records of various Arabic/Islamic States which are recorded in both the US State Department and United Nations records.

Kuwait votes against the United States 67% of the time.

Qatar votes against the United States 67% of the time.

Morocco votes against the United States 70% of the time.

United Arab Emirates votes against the US.. 70% of the time.

Jordan votes against the United States 71% of the time.

Tunisia votes against the United States 71% of the time.

Saudi Arabia votes against the United States 73% of the time.

Yemen votes against the United States 74% of the time

Algeria votes against the United States 74% of the time.

Oman votes against the United States 74% of the time

Sudan votes against the United States 75% of the time.

Pakistan votes against the United States 75% of the time.

Libya votes against the United States 76% of the time.

Egypt votes against the United States 79% of the time.

Lebanon votes against the United States 80% of the time.

India votes against the United States 81% of the time.

Syria votes against the United States 84% of the time.

Mauritania votes against the United States 87% of! the time.

US Foreign Aid to those that hate us:

Egypt, for example, after voting 79% of the time against the United States, still receives $2 billion annually in US Foreign Aid.

Jordan votes 71% against the United States and receives $192,814,000 annually in US Foreign Aid.

Pakistan votes 75% against the United States receives $6,721,000 annually in US Foreign Aid.

India votes 81% against the United States receives $143,699,000 annually in US Foreign Aid.

Perhaps it is time to get out of the UN and give the tax savings back to the American workers who are having to skimp and sacrifice to pay the taxes.

CautiousOptimist -> Validated by Snopes as "True."
(http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/outrage/unvote.asp)

545 PEOPLE (Attributed to Charlie Reese )

2009-06-12T14:01:00.000-07:00

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them. Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits? Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes? You and I don't propose a federal budget. The President does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does. You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does. You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred Senators, 435 Congressmen, one President, and nine Supreme Court justices, 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party. What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes.

Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the President, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red. If the Army & Marines are in Iraq, it's because they want them in Iraq. If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems. Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible. They, and they alone, have the power. They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses. Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees. We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

CautiousOptimist-> If you agree with Mr. Reese's rant, then please hit http://www.voteofnoconfidence.org/, and follow their suggestions.

New Preamble To The Consitution

2009-01-19T20:37:00.000-08:00

The following has been attributed to State Representative Mitchell Kaye from GA.

We the sensible people of the United States, in an attempt to help everyone get along, restore some semblance of justice, avoid more riots, keep our nation safe, promote positive behavior, and secure the blessings of debt-free liberty to ourselves and our great-great-great-grandchildren, hereby try one more time to ordain and establish some common sense guidelines for the terminally whiny, guilt ridden, delusional, and other liberal bed-wetters. We hold these truths to be self evident: that a whole lot of people are confused by the Bill of Rights and are so dim they require a Bill of NON-Rights.

ARTICLE I: You do not have the right to a new car, big screen TV, or any other form of wealth. More power to you if you can legally acquire them, but no one is guaranteeing anything.

ARTICLE II: You do not have the right to never be offended. This country is based on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone -- not just you! You may leave the room, turn the channel, express a different opinion, etc.; but the world is full of idiots, and probably always will be.

ARTICLE III: You do not have the right to be free from harm. If you stick a screwdriver in your eye, learn to be more careful; do not expect the tool manufacturer to make you and all your relatives independently wealthy.

ARTICLE IV: You do not have the right to free food and housing. Americans are the most charitable people to be found, and will gladly help anyone in need, but we are quickly growing weary of subsidizing generation after generation of professional couch potatoes who achieve nothing more than the creation of another generation of professional couch potatoes. (This one is my pet peeve...get an education and go to work....don't expect everyone else to take care of you!)

ARTICLE V: You do not have the right to free health care. That would be nice, but from the looks of public housing, we're just not interested in public health care.

ARTICLE VI: You do not have the right to physically harm other people. If you kidnap, rape, intentionally maim, or kill someone, don't be surprised if the rest of us want to see you fry in the electric chair.

ARTICLE VII: You do not have the right to the possessions of others. If you rob, cheat, or coerce away the goods or services of other citizens, don't be surprised if the rest of us get together and lock you away in a place where you still won't have the right to a big screen color TV or a life of leisure.

ARTICLE VIII: You do not have the right to a job. All of us sure want you to have a job, and will gladly help you along in hard times, but we expect you to take advantage of the opportunities of education and vocational training laid before you to make yourself useful. (AMEN!)

ARTICLE IX: You do not have the right to happiness. Being an American means that you have the right to PURSUE happiness, which by the way, is a lot easier if you are unencumbered by an over abundance of idiotic laws created by those of you who were confused by the Bill of Rights.

ARTICLE X: This is an English speaking country. We don't care where you are from, English is our language. Learn it or go back to wherever you came from!! (Lastly....)

ARTICLE XI: You do not have the right to change our country's history or heritage. This country was founded on the belief in one true God. And yet, you are given the freedom to believe in any religion, any faith, or no faith at all; with no fear of persecution. The phrase IN GOD WE TRUST is part of our heritage and history, and if you are uncomfortable with it, TOUGH!

And so it begins...

2009-01-19T19:47:00.000-08:00

Greetings! You must be really bored or really determined to have found this particular dark and remote corner of cyberspace! What follows are the titular rants, raves and observations of a self-titled "CautiousOptimist." I wish I could be certain that your time here would be well spent, but the reality is that most of what's posted here is simply a collection of the flotsom and jetsom of my brain, my heart and the internet at large. I can only hope that it's entertaining, enlightening and engaging. At the very least, it will give you some insight into who I am, and with any luck, make you think, smile or even chuckle along the way...