Should have taken the chopper!

I sometimes wonder at the people that claim God is punishing us with natural disasters. Our planet is so complicated a place that something somewhere is bound to go wrong. Unfortunately, someone is usually there in destruction's path.

Most of us here in the northeast will go home and begin to put things away that can blow away, buy up food and generally prepare for the worst. I'm not saying that we shouldn't. In fact I'm reminded of the joke about God sending a car, boat and helicopter to save the person from the top of their house and the person meeting God in heaven and asking why. God often sends us the means to our salvation, but we overlook those events and wonder why.

So the message today is be prepared and look out for your neighbor that may need some help this weekend.

God bless.

Strange Days?

So over the weekend we had the possibility of tornadoes; we experienced an earthquake on Tuesday; hurricane Irene is on the way for this weekend; and Steve Jobs has resigned as CEO of Apple. The world is truly coming to an end.

But again I survived a tornado in 1982 (yes they do sound like freight trains); two earthquakes while in San Diego (an 8.3 and 8.9 about 5 hours apart); hurricane Fran in 1996 (category 1 when the eye passed less than a mile from my apartment in NC); and I survive the firing of Steve Jobs in '85.

So I guess I'm pretty well set.

Freedom or Arrogance?

So the US killed Usama bin Laden! I'm not sure how to feel about all that. The vast majority of people are celebrating. I overhear conversations in the lunch room at work and the joy in their voices can be heard. But what will the death of bin Laden actually accomplish? Time will only tell.

I read a lot of history. I have for years and I have always wondered if people living during historical events realize the impact of what is going on around them. Now I am living in what has to be a pivotal point in history and I can answer my own question. But now the real question is what happens after this?

Our country is heavily involved in three countries that could fall apart at the seams any moment. But the most dangerous is Pakistan. A country that claims to be our ally, but has done nothing but made things difficult for us. But that isn't really surprising. We are hated for our freedom to think for ourselves. Perhaps we are too arrogant for our own good and have elicited that hatred. But maybe we are just trying to spread a freedom that we won over 200 years ago and that appears as arrogance.

Taxes

Taxes, where do we pay them at? Do we pay them at the Federal level to be distributed around the country or do we pay them at the local level where they should know where the needs are? That should be the real question here. Where do we pay our taxes?

The Bush administration lowered taxes as a so called stimulus. (Economists continue to argue about the implications of tax rates and economic stimulus.) But the local governments relied on grants from states that in turn received funds from the federal government. But once those funds were no longer available, state and local governments need to raise their rates.

Reduced taxes at the federal level will only mean increased taxes at the local. Maybe that is a good thing. I would hope that municipalities know what is needed in their own neighborhoods. I'm all for raising taxes, but at the local and not the federal level.

Just my thought.