More Opinion by The Springboard

The Issue of Terrorism Is Not A Jobs Issue
"Actor Mandy Patinkin suggested that, in regard to the Middle East, if we give them the best roads, the best medical technology, agriculture, and infrastructure they would not feel cheated. The crux of his argument is that if they (the Middle East) have all of these amenities afforded them, they won't be so inclined to go after Western civilization. The argument is reminiscent of many on the left who have made the suggestion that jobs are the key to ending terrorism."

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Manning Up

Sometimes it can be a really tough thing to do. To man up, that is. To admit that you are wrong. But we are all, at times wrong, even if in the heat of the moment we simply choose not to acknowledge that fact.
 
Enter the sauce. The problem with the Internet sometimes is that it allows us to have access to it any time, day or night, drunk or sober. And therein lies the problem.
 
Hey, even Geraldo Rivera posted some rather interesting photos of himself once, the result of which, he said, was due to a little too much time on the bottle. So it happens to the best of us.
 
And so it happens that I engaged in a discussion on my Facebook page which was clearly picking a fight, one which I got, and one which ultimately was even a contradiction to myself and my own thinking on the matter.
 
The auto company bailouts.
 
I'll admit, I am not a GM guy. I'm Ford all the way. And Ford has proven itself, in my opinion, to be far superior to GM in more ways than one as a company. But that really is a different argument entirely.
 
I wrote, "A Cadillac Escalade is about as impressive as a portrait of Barack Obama. My recommendation. Sell your Escalade for something American." The comment was derived a bit out of my discontent with GMs current problems not being forthcoming, allegedly, about issues with some of their cars. But I'll admit the comment was probably a little bit off base.
 
The argument that ensued became an argument against the bailouts. For the record, below, are links to the at least two blogs I wrote on this site about the issue, which clearly show that I was in favor of the bailouts. And for the record, my position on this has not changed.
 
So, this is my official attempt to man up, tell it like it is, and make a formal and public apology to the person with whom I engaged the discussion with. I walk away with my tail between my legs.
 
 

102 Idle Stones: A Release

Many people have hobbies. For some its doing a little bit of woodwork in the garage. For others it may be sketching with pencils, or oil painting on a canvass. For me, I like to play around with my guitar and a little bit of songwriting.

It's a hobby, and I would never rank myself high with the big boys in this arena, but still it can be quite fun and interesting to see the reaction  you get from your efforts—which surprisingly is more positive reaction than I would ever have imagined.

The world is full of people, and as such the world is full of a wide range of interests. People like what they like, and if enough people like what you do, there can be something in that for you.

To that end a song that I wrote and recorded back in 2005 is now available in a variety of online music stores like Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, and Rhapsody—even Xbox Music. I didn't even know you could buy music on an Xbox for crying out loud.

The release date for 102 Idle Stones, a song I put in the alternative category, was March 24, 2014.

102 Idle Stones by Jim Bauer at iTunes