poetry collections:

time and chance
growing up in babylon
you can never go home
down another path
a summer land
beginner's luck
things left unsaid
thoughts of darkness

archives:

2006

contact me:

doubletap@rocketmail.com

XXII april MMVIII

banks and oil companies

when we moved to washington we switched banks, but until recently i had not called and closed our old bank accounts. so last month i called and closed our checking and savings. at the time i was told that i would not be able to close the accounts that we have in the kid's names because petra had opened those. so i closed our two main accounts and was told that i would be sent the remaining funds in the form of a cashiers check. after not receiving the check, petra got online and found that not only had they not closed the account but they had charged us a fee for having less than a hundred dollars in the checking account. i called the bank back and after some conversation they refunded my fee and closed my checking and savings accounts (again). this time i had petra there with me so i tried to put her on the phone to close the kids accounts, but was told that she would not be able to because they were in a "dormant" state. apparently if you do not make a deposit or withdrawal from a account for a year it can only be closed by sending a letter requesting such with your signature on it. furthermore i was told that according to law if an account is "dormant" for five years the state of texas takes the money and you have to prove it's yours to get it back. i couldn't believe what i was hearing. she was saying this like it was the most normal thing in the world. i told her that was outrageously ridiculous, that i should be able to have an account that stays inactive without the government coming in seizing the money and presumably earning interest on it. she said most people just draw out a penny or deposit a penny once a year. i told her she was missing the point, it was my money! i shouldn't have to. am i the only one that thinks this is ridiculous?

so the fortune 500 announced it's list of highest revenue companies for the past year and what do you know, three of the top 5 were oil companies. exxon/mobil led the way with revenues of over 372 billion dollars, with a profit of over 40 billion dollars for the past year. that is right, 40 billion dollars in profit for the last year. not bad for the supposed recession we are in. it makes me think that maybe, just maybe, 4 dollars a gallon for gas is just a little bit of a mark up. here are some other notables:

national ranking, company, revenue and profits (in billions)

yes, you're reading that right, chevron and exxon/mobil both posted bigger earnings than microsoft. if you have any extra money don't buy gas, don't grab microsoft shares, go out and purchase oil company stocks. it looks as though they've been given the green light to go on robbing us for some time to come.

be heard listen

XIX april MMVIII

so, i'm back from the yakima desert and it's good to be home. every time that i am gone for a while i appreciate my family so much more. here are a few pics i got from one of the soldiers in my squad.

i believe you can see mount rainier peeking over the rattlesnake mountains

me on my new stryker, complete with automatic traffic-jam reducer mounted on the right

me and my vehicle commander

one of the dusty roads on yakima

a view of the colombia river

another

soldiers from the 3rd platoon "spartans" looking out at the view

front view of the stryker infantry carrier vehicle

part of the cliffs we climbed down to get to the colombia river

the strykers watch the colombia flow by at our grill out on the last day of training

be heard listen

VII april MMVIII

petra has been really fascinated with the news story about the mormon compound in texas. it has made me think a bit, in as much as what is being reported in the news is often very far from what is actually occurring. don't get me wrong, i don't agree with the mormons, this group or the main sect but i have to wonder where to draw the line when it comes to government interference with ones religious beliefs and practices. we can all agree that abuse of a child is wrong, but we cannot all agree on what "abuse" is. some consider corporal punishment wrong and abusive, but some do not. in our culture it is considered wrong and is even illegal to have more than one wife, but in many parts of the world it is normal and accepted. i remember not very many years ago the government went into a compound in waco, texas with assumedly good intentions. several men, women and children lost their lives during that debacle.

if i hear another poll quoted on the news i think i may lose my mind. so i run reports all week on my news station about how we are in a recession and then i poll the idiot listeners and ask them if they "think" we are in a recession. what do you know! 99% polled think we are in a recession, never mind these are the same people that can't operate a turn signal or find themselves on a map, never mind the fact that they probably don't know what an economic recession is. you just spent the entire last week telling them we are in one, so you have trained them well and they respond like pavlov's dog. so now you can cite your poll on your broadcast and show that, what do you know, you were right about the recession, because see, everyone thinks so.

by the way, a recession is a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real gdp, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales.

also, i will be wandering around the yakima desert for the next two weeks so there will no posts. feel free to make all of the blog neglect comments you like until i return.

be heard listen

V april MMVIII

so, after a year or so break i decided to start my blog again. i can only listen to so much npr and cnn before i have to start screaming back at the radio. for those of you not familiar with my format, to the left are links to some of my attempts at writing poetry and an archive of the pitiful few entries i made last time i maintained a blog.

some liberal idiot was on npr the other day talking about his new book in which he goes about trying to prove that the founding fathers did not found a christian nation. the host must have used the phrase "separation of church and state" a dozen times. i just get so fed up sometimes. you will not find that phrase in either the declaration of independence or the constitution of the united states of america. i challenge each of you to sit down and take a few moments to read both documents. i try to take the time to read through them at least once a year, lest i forget what it means to fight for freedom and defend the constitution.

the rumors are that the army will be going back to 12 month deployments instead of the current 15 month rotation. you cannot imagine what a relief that is. i was not looking forward to a 15 month stint. that is a long time to be separated from your family.

change for the sake of change brings only something different. when you go to vote, consider carefully what the candidate stands for and make your choice based on where they stand on the issues that are important to you. charisma, speaking ability and leadership can distract from the message; just ask the germans of the 1930's and 40's.

when i look at the presidential candidates i have to ask "is this the best we have?" out of all the amazing people and leaders in america this is who we've narrowed it down to as choices to lead our great country. i'm baffled.

"All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act out their dream with open eyes, to make it possible." - t.e. lawrence in "seven pillars of wisdom"

be heard listen