As for the rest of life, not much has changed; still have the same girl, still in school, still living at home, still working at school. My self teaching of C# has taken a backseat to learning ADA, the language that I need to use for one of my classes. However, I still have a couple side projects going. ADA is a different programming style then I’m used to, it’s like a combination of c-style programming and PL/SQL that I learned in Database last year. Ironically I know a few different c-style languages but have yet to learn C or C++, however I did buy a book on C++ to start figuring it out when I get a chance.

That’s about all I have for now, if I find more time I’ll try and update more later.

I’ve been teaching myself C#, which is something like a combination of Java and Visual Basic .NET that I’ve taught myself before, and I’m really excited about learning it.  I’ve written a few programs with it already, one for work and some for practice that provide information for some games I play.   They are not very complicated problems but they suit the purpose of implementing some of the knowledge that I’ve been acquiring.   It really is fascinating, and I am starting to think that I should have chosen computer science for a major instead of business, but with what I’m learning on my own I don’t think it would hold me back from a job. 

Other then that, things are going pretty well in my personal life.  I’ve got a girlfriend now, she’s great, we have alot in common.  We recently helped my Grandmother move down here from Tennessee, and it’s great to be able to see her all the time.  I’m going on vacation soon, going to six flags twice and a family reunion.   Other then that, things are about the same.

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years.

Great nations rise and fall. The people go from bondage to spiritual truth, to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, from dependence back again to bondage.

I don’t care who said it, I still think this is true and scary.

First, I recognize what an African-American president means symbolically for minorities in this country. While it is not the first or the last struggle in the human rights movement, it is a significant milestone in the fight. Racism was part of the ugly past of America, and though it hasn’t been stamped out completely, this was definitely an event that illustrates the fruits of that labor.

Obama is also an orator. When we look at our past, we find ourselves attracted to the great speeches. “I have a Dream.” “We will go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” “With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph — so help us God.”  Despite policy disagreements, there is no doubt that the speeches Obama will deliver could match or rival the great orators of our past.

I’ve always wondered what it would be like to live when there was some sort of advancement in American society, and I guess that this could be my chance.  While I won’t be able to agree with the policies of Obama, I can be proud to live in a country of opportunity that allows him to become president.  So, I congratulate him, and hope that he will take actions that help the United States remain the land of opportunity that bore him.

For the angry stuff, that’s another blog post.

First off, let’s take a look at this $85 billion bailout of AIG.  The key here is that we spent $85 billion dollars of “taxpayer money” that… and here’s the kicker… nobody voted on.  Chairman of the Fed Ben Bernanke and his group basically signed this money over.  And who oversees the Fed?  Where are the checks and balances for them?  There are none.  In fact, we don’t even vote on the person who is arguably the most powerful economic figure in the United States, if not the world.  Each of the candidates made their point about whether bailing out AIG was the right thing to do, but in reality, even the real president didn’t have an official say in it.  Even if Bush wanted to bail out AIG, he’d still have to push a bill through congress to do it.  So where is the accountability for Ben Bernanke? 

Second, in the bailout deal, the United States became an 80% stakeholder in a private company.  Wait a second here… doesn’t that sound dangerously close to socialism?  Some of the democrats want to trade help with bad morgages for shares in the company that uses the help.  This is supposed to be used to pay back “the taxpayer” when the crisis is over.  But what happens when a shareholder vote comes up?  Will “the taxpayer” get a vote in what happens to the company?  Who will be in charge of handling this sort of issue? 

I use the phrase “the taxpayer” in quotes because, in reality, we aren’t really paying for this bill.  In fact, all of the actual “taxpayer” dollars have already been spent.  We were facing a budget deficit before all this came around.  So where does all this money come from that we’re going to use to pay for this bill?  The answer is the same that it has always been when the government needs money.  They issue treasury bills.  And with all of America’s financial institutions in a bind, do you know who is picking up the majority of these bills?  China. 

Thanks to Democratic party roadblocks, we’re already sending $700 billion dollars a year overseas to countries that don’t like us very much for our oil needs.  Now, we’re going to borrow an extra $700 billion from one of the last bastions of communism to support the greatest socialist initiative that the United States has ever put forward.  In fact, the Chinese are already financing a large portion of our country’s national debt, the cieling for which will be raised to over $11.3 trillion dollars as part of the proposed bill.  If we wanted to foot the bill for this to the taxpayer, everyone would have to write a check for over $3000.  So how exactly are we going to be saving our economy by bailing out these irresponsible companies?  That’s right, we’re going to be shoring up investor confidence. 

Wait a second.  Investor confidence?  The reason these companies are falling on wall street is because there is no confidence in their activities.  Now, when our government steps in with a giant pile of money, we’re going to expect them to turn around and make good on it?  Basically, the government is saying that it’s OK that you made these mistakes, we’re here to bail you out.  Now, the democrats want to extend the bill to support people that are defaulting on their home loans so they are not foreclosed on.  What?  Is that not a slap in the face to every American who made the dream happen when the time was right?  Who waited until they could actually afford the house and after they bought it, actually made all their payments?   Basically, the government is again sending out positive reinforcement of a negative behavior.  And in the name of “something must be done” we all have to pay for it.  Maybe not now, but in the future we will pay dearly.