Bump's Stump

The Geezers At our next meeting George Elsey asked that we each say a word about a poor decision. Something we personally thought was awful. Apparently we are free to choose from history, current events or whatever. Following these directions I made a list but way too many possibilities. Perhaps more criteria would be helpful?    If our choice involved  Money , we might suggest a decision that resulted in the largest loss.  However, since money is less important than  human life  a decision that eliminated the most lives seems appropriate.  The Chinese leader MaoZeTung forced a CULTURAL REVOLUTION on  the entire population of China. He decided it was time for China to be industrialized. Peasants were forced to lay down their farm implements and industrialize the entire country. Farms were neglected. Citizens starved. People died.  Mao had (mistakenly) insisted that the entire society of rural China be indu...

This really bothers me.  I have a few friends that say they will be voting for Mr. Obama and I honestly can't figure out why. His record before he was elected is not impressive and mostly unknown. The record after his 2008 election has been a disaster by any measurement. Our government was designed to permit it's citizens the most freedom possible within the bounds of common-sense. Mr. Obama wants to change all that. He wants to increase government control and reduce our traditional freedoms. He  is a brilliant and charismatic speaker an excellent advocate for his point of view.  He is wrong. For over 200 years the federal government  has collected taxes, defended  the states, supervised the postal system, maintained the intrastate highway system, and provided diplomatic contact with other countries. These functions are not LIBERAL OR CONSERVATIVE , they are common sense and are logical national responsibilities.  Our founding fathers develop...

This election year gives us a prime example of stupid politics. We (you and I) have allowed elected political  thieves to get away with stealing our nation's money supply - and we don't even whimper!  We let them do it. They collect our taxes,  put them go into a large pot, and then spend it all and borrow more. This is crazy economics! Why can't we identify a few honest souls in the government (assuming they are not all crooks) and insist that they make  the dishonest guys STOP: 1. Setting their own pay and perks  2. Voting every which way but the way you prefer  3. Purchasing entitlement contracts to be paid by our children           and generations thereafter  4. Stealing millions every four years to spend on an useless  political election circus.   How in the hell did THIS get started - and how can we end it? .

Libya has been in the news since old King Idris formed the "Kingdom of Libya" in 1952.  It was my good fortune to be stationed there off and on during 1955-58.  My official assignment location was listed as  Wheelus Air Force Base, a large airbase on the edge of town. Actually we spent very little time there. We flew in on C-119 "Flying Boxcars" with our guided missiles, launch equipment, Radar communications gear, guidance electronics, and vehicles of all descriptions. We landed at Wheelus and quickly made ready to go into the desert. Between Tripoli and Bengazi, the only large towns in the entire country, there was a smaller town named Miserata.  South of Miserata is a scrub and sand desert all the way to the Atlas Mountains. This  vast area was taken over by the USAF and became the "European Guided Missile Test Range". Why "European"?  We presumed because the USAF had no guided missiles stationed in North Africa. My unit fielded the Mar...

Woke this morning with a headache. I realized during the night that the Republicans haven't a clue. They really don't know what most of America wants.  They may  understand that America doesn't want Obama and his miserable crew, but that's about it.  The RNC made a huge goof when they all but ignored the TEA Party and the Ron Paul Libertarians. Not  one mention at the convention or in their plank. Stupid is as stupid does.  Gov. Romney is a bright guy without solid, fundamental positions on anything. Sure he says that he will support policies that will put our workers back on the job but he doesn't want to talk about "HOW". That, in a nutshell, is the important, the absolutely necessary point in most of Romney's rhetoric. He sounds more like Obama and less like a conservative politician every day and the voters are not going to buy it.  The Romney camp fits the RNC mold. THAT WILL LOSE THE ELECTION. Every day they drive more serious peop...

All  religions ask a  person to look beyond logic and  common sense. Christianity is the religion  I am most familiar with. The next is Judaism , and the last is Islam . These are the  big three in my world. There are many others of course, but I know much less about them - so I want to confine this  discussion to Christianity and start with the "soul".   Christianity asks a believer to accept that all  human beings have a "soul", an  imperishable part that lives beyond death and will never, ever,  die.   This is, for me,  hard to grasp. And it is just one example. There are many others.  Think, for a moment, of the virgin birth of Jesus? And  the  triad of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Ghost - all one?   And how about the notion that the Holy Bible is a collection  of the actua l words of God? We know better.  All of these foundational thoughts defy logic, bu...

Isn't it a stretch to blame the President, no matter which one, for taxing and spending. He's not to blame. Let's get the responsibility in the right place and forget all of this political posturing. Every politician is pointing fingers at the Presidents - and they are all wrong. The 1st clause of Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution reads thus: ALL REVENUE SHALL ORIGINATE IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, BUT THE SENATE MAY PROPOSE OR CONCUR WITH AMENDMENTS AS ON OTHER BILLS. The HOUSE has the exclusive responsibility to originate bills to appropriate money and raise revenues. The PRESIDENT is permitted to propose tax and spending measures - or veto them. The CONGRESS can ignore the President's proposals and override his vetoes. It's a simple as that. Why do so many in politics or the media get away with statements like "Reagan's budget deficits," "Clinton's budget surpluses," "Bushe's tax cuts," and ...

The Democrats are more wrong than the Republicans. What a surprise. Over several years they have continued to move to the political left and are now more properly identified as ultra-ultra liberal. I don't think there is any question that they have been encouraged by the most liberal President to come along since F.D.R.  This fellow, Barack Obama, isn't just another left-wing party politician like Bill Clinton or Harry Truman or  even, God forbid, Jimmy Carter.  Obama He is  a brilliant, radical, charismatic, orator with an agenda that leads to socialism/communism and big government.  He and the Democrats  are a disaster for America.  Democrats  cater to the lowest sector of our citizens. They snuggle up to the poor, the disenfranchised, labor unions, and all of the other people looking for a free lunch.  These Democrats are the main abusers of federal money. They are the entitlement politicians   who set their own exorbitant salarie...

Technology can be more than impressive. It can be amazing. Many years ago I worked with engineers  and other technical people at North American Aviation, Rockwell, Rocketdyne, TRW, Hughes Aircraft, Lockheed, Litton Industries, and most of the other "space exploration pioneers" located in Southern California. As a salesman for Riggs/LaMoree Corp. it was my job to introduce and sell state-of-the-art construction materials suitable for the extreme environments in space. My company represented:  Dow Corning Silicones. (High Temperature Ablatives, Sealants, and Encapsulation products)  DuPont. (Mylar Polyester films, Kapton High Temperature Resistant Films, and Nomex Polyamide products.)  Bentley Harris Corp. (Woven Fiberglas Products coated with materials resistant to severe environments)  Chase Foster Div. of Keene Inc. (Flexible laminates of high temperature and chemical resistant products) C. D. LaMoree Company was started in 1926 and originally ...

The Democrat Party no longer represents America. It's been a tragedy to watch American traditions thrown into the trash for no reason other than the false promises of politicians who should know better. Mr. Obama has led the parade and he has played to the lowest common denominator of the Democrat Party, the unreasonable, illogical liberal left of their party. The structure of our American political system was designed by fundamentally brilliant men. It was  intended to consist of an assembly of individual states operating independently and  held together by a federal government that managed those tasks beyond the scope and ability of the states. Those tasks were carefully enumerated and carefully limited. The idea was to restrict the power of the federal government, and at the same time guaranty the most individual freedoms possible. The aim: The smallest amount of government interference - with the largest amount of individual freedoms. The Democrat Party has left th...

Age creeps up. Every day presents a new challenge. Kiwanis Clubs and all similar groups need to review their "plan" regularly. The Santa Ana Club was once much larger than it is today. As it grew it was staffed accordingly. Charitable services to the community were selected and funded. The Club became a powerful asset of the community and it's efforts were appreciated. Then the other shoe dropped. The Santa Ana Kiwanis Club membership seems to have peaked at about 140 and sometime in the mid-1980's or early 1990's it began to slip. Today there are about 60 members. It's still a powerful Club but not AS POWERFUL. That, and the advancing age of the membership,  is the root of several current problems. Over a period of many prosperous years commitments were made and that stretched far into the future. The Club was then large and the future was thought to be secure. It was not. Today the Club is trying to honor it's pledges from the past - with less...