Happy Halloween

Yes it's that time of the year again to dress up as ghouls, ghosts, goblins and the like. All in an effort to pretend just for a moment to be any and everything scary. One of the most recognizable video's celebrating this time is no other than Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'. 25 years later and people are still doing the 'Thriller' dance as if it were the 1980's again. I found this video a while back and this is one of my favorite YouTube video's paying respect to the king of pops classic hit. Enjoy!

The return of NBA basketball

Another long summer is over, and the leaves are falling which could only mean one thing; the NBA is back once again! It was great to see the redeem team take the floor last summer to bring home the gold in the Olympics, but now it's time for all those players to suit up for each team they play for to go through another 82 game regular season. Things kick off tonight with Cleveland vs. Boston, Milwaukee vs. Chicago, and the finale pits Portland vs. the LA Lakers. Some of the things I'll be paying attention to will be...

• Can Kobe repeat as MVP?
• How will Greg Oden play after missing all of last season?
• What rookies will shine, and which one's will start slowly?
• Is Ron Artest the missing piece to move the Rockets past round one?
• And what coach will get fired first?

There's so many sub-plots to follow with all the player movement during the offseason, the coaching changes, and let's not forget the Sonics are now known as the Thunder. I can't predict the end result of this new season but I'll bet anyone that the new 08' - 09' season will not let us fans down!

M.I.A.

Wow it's been quite sometime since I last posted. Much has happened on many fronts since early June and here we are entering late August. Well Boston won the NBA title, the summer Olympics have come and gone, and a new NFL season is just days away. In the world of entertainment, we lost another music legend in Issac Hayes, LeRoi Moore from the Dave Matthews Band also left us prematurely, and comedian Bernie Mac will no longer be around to lighten our hearts with his laughter! The price of gas is still out of control and the economy as a whole still stinks. Well I'm not sure if this is good news or not but we are less than a month away from the Autumn season. Soon we'll all be putting on those sweaters again as the cooler temperatures become a constant, and let's not forget the sight of those many leaves as they change colors and fall from the tree's above. So if anything I guess you chould say another season is set to arrive even if you don't like Autumn; hey at least it's change right? Well one change I wish to make is to update this blog more often. So stay tuned another entry is in the works!

A RIVALRY REBORN!

It's been 21 years since the NBA's two most storied franchieses met on the hardwood to play for the right to be crowned champions of the NBA. For the L.A. Lakers and the Boston Celtics, this season is a storybook ending for two teams with uncertain futures just one year prior. Superstar Kobe Bryant unhappy with the state of the franchise, demanded a trade. Boston had just finished one of it's worst seasons ever without landing the top pick in the draft. But one year later, and both teams have very clearly established themselves as the two best teams in the NBA! Here's just a few astonishing facts to show why this matchup has such great meaning for the world of basketball...

• 49 NBA Finals trips (LA 29 - Boston 20)
• 30 NBA Championships (Boston 16 LA 14)
• 47 Hall of Famers (Boston 33 LA 14)
• 10 Previous Finals appearances for these teams with Boston leading 8-2

MY PREDICTION: LA in 7 games. Either way it will be a wonderful finish to a season with a lot to be happy about!

Bo Diddley

December 30, 1928 - June 02, 2008

Musical legend Bo Diddley passes away at the ripe old age of 79. He left us as the result of heart failure down in Jacksonville, Fl. His influence will never be forgotten nor lost, and without using too many words, I believe this youtube video will leave us with a glimpse of his musical talent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F1Mk6U5zVY

The Origins of High Gas Prices

Here's a great article entitled The Origins of High Gas Prices. It gives good insight into why we keep having to pay so much at the pump. The link is posted below, I hope it's as insightful for you as it was for me.

http://www.restoretherepublic.com/content/view/1072/71/

My case against the Fed!

Below is a repost of a letter I recently sent to my Congresswoman, asking her to support H.R. 2755 Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act. After reading this, I ask each one of you to study this matter, and urge your Congressman/Congresswoman in your state to co-sponser this bill!

Hello I wish to take the time to raise concern on a matter that has become of great concern to me. I wish to call attention to H.R. 2755 (Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act), which was introduced on 6/15/07 by U.S. Representative Ron Paul. To quickly summarize what Congressman Paul is advocating, he and a growing number of citizens are calling for a repeal of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, which led to this nations third central bank.

Based on historical precedent, two powers are inherent to central banking. The first is the uninhibited ability to print a nations currency, and the control of interest rates. It’s very critical to point out that central banks do not just simply issue a governments money, this money is loaned at interest! In order to pay the debts on these loans, federal income taxes are taken directly from the paychecks earned by working citizens in the 50 states. This has since become one of the leading factors in the epidemic levels of personal debt in this country. These aforementioned powers have paved the way for the erosion of this nations gold standard, once acting as the most powerful means of ensuring the value of the US dollar, and simultaneously regulating unscrupulous government spending. At the end of the fiscal year in 1913 the national debt was at a total of 2,916,204,913.66*, and when the gold standard was finally abolished on 8/15/1971 by way of Executive Order 11615, the nations debt climbed to 424,130,961,959.95*. Currently the national debt is well over 9 trillion and counting! This information begs to ask the question as to exactly how much longer, will the United States economy last under this incredibly growing debt? The US dollar once redeemable in gold was reduced to fiat status thus ending a once honest system of money reducing the world’s biggest creditor, to the world’s biggest debtor in less than a century.

According to the Consumer Price Index, from 1800-2007 (http://www.westegg.com/inflation) what would only cost $100 in 1913 now cost $2123.01 in 2007. This inflationary trend has led to a tremendous increase in the cost of living for citizens, forcing many to maintain more than one job in a desperate attempt to keep up with the continued rise of inflation created by this hidden tax. However the effect of this same banking system has steadily undermined the profitability of American business. With increased production costs and declining profits, several businesses have uprooted themselves in this period to operate abroad making it more difficult for employees at home to land secure employment. Considering the above-mentioned historical trends, it’s clear to myself and to many that as long as we continue with a system of fiat money controlled by the banking elite, this nation will step ever closer and closer to the edge irreversible turmoil. Passing H.R. 2755 would prove to be a powerful first step towards economic recovery, a stabilized currency, and an improved standard of living for everyone.

I wish to end this letter by asking you to become a co-sponsor of the legislation presented by Congressman Paul, for I believe that the road to economic recovery is still in our midst.

*http://130.94.230.21/debt_history.htm