27 February, 2006

Come to Caruthersville for the Hospitality, Stay for the Sex Education!

In the unconfirmed talk-of-the-town department, it seems that one of the teachers in the Caruthersville School District has taken sex education into her own hands... The word is that an as-yet-unnamed female teacher is sharing her expertise with girls on how to satisfy their boyfriends without 'doing it.' If this is true, I think that parents have a right to know about it. Perhaps KFVS-12 TV will come down again and really press for answers this time. Just two years ago, some teachers were "allegedly" involved in a nude hide-and-seek swinger game in the school (after hours, of course) - no substantive action was taken by the board. I wonder what will happen this time?

Perhaps the administration or a board member could set this all to rest by commenting below and either confirming or denying the situation...

22 February, 2006

Wal-Mart Common Stock has Lost Its Mojo

( I am currently not an owner of the common shares)

How can the company get it back? Let's put aside all the current controversy about Wal-Mart's morality, etc. I have written both positively (here and here) and negatively (here) about their business practices. The bottom line is this: things are going along just fine operationally, so why has the stock been so brain-dead for the last few years? Are investors just scared of all the Wal-Mart Jihadists* out there attempting to destroy the company? Perhaps.

What can the company do about it? Forget all the b.s. stock splits they were famous for in the past... Here's my suggestion: RAISE THE FREAKING DIVIDEND! The dividend on WMT has always been puny; the company could raise it substantially and still have enough capital for expansion... Something has to be done to re-kindle investor's interest. Weigh in with your ideas in the comments section. Believe it or not, their P.R. firms do read blogs, as I have received an email from one of them about one of my Wal-Mart related posts in the past.

*I may have coined a term here- a quick Google search of 'Wal-Mart Jihadists' doesn't really come up with anything other than articles that mentioned both words in separate places... 'Wal-Mart Jihadists' will henceforth be used in this blog to describe the irrelevant, failing unions that are losing their battle with the company, as well as the politicians and main-stream media types who sympathize with the same.

19 February, 2006

Things are a Bit Slow Around the Old Blog Here...

It seems my daily visits have fallen off a bit lately, but I do have a handful of semi-regular readers. Hmmm. Maybe it's the plain-jane blog design. Maybe people are getting bored with blogs in general. It could be the crappy writing! What to do to get the hits back up? Perhaps I should mention Anna Benson Nude like the New American Revolutionist- he gets lots of traffic from that one! Nah- I'll just keep it boring for now, ranting whenever the mood hits me.

About this weekend, we did make it up to St. Louis for the party. It was really good to see some of the old crew there. It's kinda strange, but most of the people (with few exceptions) that I would consider to be trustworthy friends are scattered all over the country and unavailable for frequent in-person visits. I don't get to talk to all of them as regularly as in the past, but it seems like we pick up wherever we left off without missing a beat.

17 February, 2006

Winter weather permitting,

the Wife and I will be headed up to St. Louis tomorrow night to attend a party. It will be good to have a break from the kids, and perhaps participate in some legitimate adult conversations! Salud...

14 February, 2006

E*Trade Update

I previously griped about E*Trade. While I still say their customer service sucks in general, I managed to get a hold of a customer service rep today who not only knew his business, but was also willing to immediately go and get the answer I was looking for. My confidence in the company is slowly starting to increase. I hope I luck out and get the same guy on the phone for any future service issues. Fat chance, right? Here's where I stand with them now:

Trading platform/web site: excellent
Commission pricing: excellent
Customer service: lacking, but there is a glimmer of hope

06 February, 2006

For All You Who Think

That appeasement is the right path to take with Islamic extremists, go check out this post by the New American Revolutionist... Once again, he's right on the money. (great pic there as well- shows you the type of people who are determined to fundamentally change your way of life)

05 February, 2006

Good Riddance

To the 18 year-old idiot from this story: The Seattle Times: 2 slain in capture of gay-bar fugitive

His shootout with police ultimately saved the taxpayers a lot of money for imprisonment, trials, and perhaps an execution (in Arkansas)... This was one of those situations where justice was achieved before the wheels of the 'system' started turning.

01 February, 2006

Democracy is Overrated!

Democracy is overrated. Wait, you say- how can a hawkish libertarian capitalist pig jerk say something like that? I'll get to that in a moment. I've been really amused at all the people who are shocked about Hamas being democratically elected in Palestine. Did you really think the Palestinian people were interested in moving along the 'road map' to a peaceful coexistence with Israel? What people say and what they do are often two different things, you poor sweet kid...

Hamas' victory is what the people wanted, and it's a prime example of democracy being overrated- people don't realize that democracy is just a nice word for mob rule. The mob's decisions aren't always good ones. A country of 51% men could win a democratic vote as to the legality of rape- certainly not a moral outcome for the women. History is littered with terrible collective decisions. The Salem witch 'trials' from our own history immediately come to mind.

Only when democracy is checked by a strong, well-defended Constitution that denounces the irresponsible use of force and holds the individual's rights above the mob can the system work. The fact that our Congress and Supreme Court have pissed all over our Constitution is a topic for another day. Just understand that our goal of spreading democracy across the world will only work when the framework of individual freedom and free markets is laid first.