Poet Horton » Business

Politics or media hyperbole?

admin — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:22:00 +0000

With politics being what they are, McCain needs to let the public know that just because his beliefs on the subject of abortion are contrary to what most women truly hold to their hearts, the right to choose! He needs to make clear that although he, as well as his running mate, are most certainly of the “pro-life” crowd, they also believe that the basic right of all free people, is the right of choice! God has given man the right to choose for himself and that man may not ever take away that basic right of choice. I believe in McCain and in his ability to lead this nation in this most volatile of times. He has the experience to understand what it will take to win the war against those that wish to bring this nation to its knees. If he can convince the women of America that there truly is a separation of church and state when it comes to the freedoms hard won by her people, that basic God given right to choose, then he will most surely win this election hands down.

I too am pro-life as is my wife of over thirty years, but we also believe in a woman’s right to choose for herself. One can only hope that the people of this country weigh the facts and do not base their vote on a single difference of opinion or belief. Legal abortion is a necessity in today’s world and any return to the back alley butchers of yesteryear can only cause great harm to this country and become fuel for our enemies.

We are facing an uncertain future and McCain has the solution, a solution that should have already been in effect had it not been for the democratic party’s repeated blocking and voting down any attempt to build oil refineries and drill on our own land and offshore re as well. And another thing, while the democrats had themselves one blowout party of a convention with all the fancy trimmings and speeches that spoke of little else but “beating McCain”!, they had no answers to the problems facing America, they had a lot of promise as usual, but no agenda other then “winning back the White House”. And while the Democrats partied, the Republicans were concerning themselves with the fate of the nation and keeping watch on storms that might prove to be devastating to those unfortunate enough to be in natures path. Our Government,(at least the Republicans and Independents) ,wanted no repeats of the mistakes and missteps of the Katrina disaster.

Hopefully America will wake up to what kind of leadership we need in this most treacherous of times before they go to vote! But look around, The price of a barrel of oil has dropped to $110.00 barrel, probably less before I stop typing. Still things are still a bit high, but stabilizing. The dollar is regaining value around the globe and the job situation too is beginning to open back up. Well, I’m a bit tired and may soon begin to ramble or sound like an idiot or something worse, so I shall call it quits for typing anymore today and try to get some much needed sleep. Shiny up y’all!

Politics again?

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 06:41:00 +0000

I’m not sure I ever mentioned any of the reasoning behind my name, Poet. Well, some of it is due to past poetic ramblings about my lifestyle, a little with writings connected to some of the old underground papers and comics I was once associated with, but the name was given to me officially mainly due to my oratorical at wakes, funerals, and the occasional wedding of 1% ers and other close, yet sometimes a bit hardcore, friends. In over 40 years on the road riding motorcycles and living a lifestyle foreign to today’s society and those that “think” they actually have a handle on the real workings of true “biker”, Ive managed to obtain a bit of a reputation as a philosopher of sorts. I feel this too is mainly due to the lack of individualism in today’s water fat society. The longer I live amongst the common citizen the more apparent it becomes of the rampant ignorance of reality that faces the common man. Rednecks actually have a more logical and sustainable outlook on life in general and truly understand the needs and necessities of what it is going to take for them to maintain a living for themselves and their families. And much akin to the hardcore biker family, they too, know the meaning of the word , “FAMILY”, and all that it entails, without having the need to have it explained to them by some half baked politician that somehow believes he’s some sort of messiah for the masses. When in all reality, he is little more than a part of the privileged lower class politician. When Obama complains and points out that McCain has 7 or 8 houses, and that that is supposed to show that McCain isn’t in touch with what we as average Americans are going through, it only shows how far out of touch he himself is. after all, Obama too owns several properties, and vacations in places like Hawaii, the Mediteranean, trips to Europe where he gets treated like a rock star. Yes, sure sounds like Obama is just like you now doesn’t it? At least McCain really is the American story. And he’s for real, and he does tell the truth, whether or not its always what you want to hear, its still the truth. But politics at this time of year are full of pomp and circumstance, and it really is business as usual with the democrats, Their motto, as always, is “beat the Republicans”, Nothing about doing something about fixing whats wrong for the people, only about taking back the White house so they can once again, raise your taxes to pay for more unneeded underfunded programs that only work to widen the division of race and religion. And their biggest ploy is making the poor believe that the rich aren’t paying their share, or that they do little but take and take and drain the working man of whatever they can. Pay attention this time folk, stay the course of common sense and restore the power of the United States to where it belongs. We’re tired of the democrats taking away from our military, keeping us from drilling for oil on our own lands, and refusing to allow the building of much needed oil refineries! McCain is the only logical choice in these violent times, he’s proven his patriotism, lead men and served this nation without reservation and with only the good of this nation and it’s people his purpose. Obama is an unknown nobody with no experience in leading anything. A single term wonder boy the democrats are banking will charm the vote from you with his cute smile and empty promises and unrealistic view of the world around us and what America faces. Me?, I’ll vote for McCain, even with the women he chose to run as VP, shows the depth of his core belief in our country.

Hijacked computer

admin — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 05:28:03 +0000

I’m still adjusting to the wife’s new laptop, as is she. Her new laptop is a wide screen “COMPAQ”, and has quite a lot in it as far as laptops go that is. Not that I know diddly squat about the things in the first place, but it has become a rather useful tool for the girls,the youngest for school, friends & music research, the older one for friends and music and video’s. The wife now, makes the best of it, from paying bills online to shopping online to e-mails and everything in between But the mistake I made cost me a few days offline just to clean up the mess it initiated. Seems I neglected to log out before I shut down the machine and in so doing I left a “door” open for some hacker who appears to have enjoyed his and/or her,(wouldn’t want to appear sexist now would I?) ,little stunt in the wrecking of my blog site and locking me out of it to boot. Took a couple of days to fix things and I’m still not sure I’ve corrected everything. After all, there’s a lot of posts on here I’d have to read through, and I’m not all that much of a reader, especially when it’s something I wrote! You have to admit…that was kinda funny!

Silent no more…

admin — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:03:55 +0000

Osama Bin Laden…Saddam Hussein…Barack Hussein Obama…? Just what it it that ties these three men together in the anals of History? Is it simply that they all share names that are Islamic in nature? Is it mere coincidence that all three had, on more then one occasion, refused to wear an American Flag Lapel Pin? Is it mere speculation alone that alludes to the three having all turned their backs during the playing of the National Anthem?

Thruout History mankind has turned to the “Prophets” and the “Healers”, and “Shamans” and all other names given to those who’d claim to be able to forsee the future of man. In all nations, in all cultures some form of this practice exists. Even in today’s religions the foretelling of the return of christianity’s “Son of God”, Jesus Christ himself, is preceded by that of the “False Prophet” the very one they say will bring down the worlds civilizations and destroy mankind itself. And according to the myths and prophecies of nearly all known beliefs around the globe, our time is looking more and more like the time-line the doomsayers have been awaiting. They say that He who will bring these things to pass will be handsome and charismatic while playing to crowds of followers, promising change while never really explaining the reality of what awaits.

Sound familiar? Think about today’s reality before you cast a vote for change for change’s sake this coming election. That’s all I ask. You have to live with your decision…maybe!

Saving America?

admin — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:07:53 +0000

Politics seem to be the big talk of the town these days,what with the gas prices and the loss of jobs affecting the economy as it is. Now this Obama fellow is acting like some kind of rock star making all these stops in foreign nations as if he’s already the leader of the free world. Problem with Obama is that his entire rhetoric is based on change without substance. After educating myself on his record and performance,it shows he’s all talk and little action. He voted against the building of new refineries despite the fact that we are in desperate need of them, and he voted against any new drilling for oil on our own lands as well. Instead he pushes for higher taxes on electricity and inventing new power sources. Now if you look at this realistically, we’ve been searching for alternative fuels for years now, and the invention of more economical sources of transportation as well. But the democratic party has blocked all attempts at the reduction of dependence on foreign oil by refusing to allow our own oil exploration to evolve.

McCain, on the other hand, has spoken realistically about our problems, not promising to make miracles happen and telling the American people the truth about what we face in the future and offering real solutions and the sacrifices we may have to make in order to free ourselves from dependence on foreign oil. Obama is a charismatic man, but has no plan for anything. Not the economy, the oil crisis, not for bringing jobs back or reducing taxes. Obama has nothing new to offer in the arena of change. His entire platform is based on change for the sake of change! He has no substance and no experience, and to top it off, the Muslim nations would love to see Barack Hussein Obama elected president of America, if for no other reason then to claim a victory over America from the inside. McCain knows what it will take to put America back in the driver’s seat of world economics as well as restoring the respect of our military worldwide. Freedom is not free my friends, as a two time, two service veteran, I can see only one choice in keeping America the land of the free and the home of the brave. Vote for McCain, because you love your country!

Putting her back in the game

admin — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:50:59 +0000

Decided that I’ve been idle long enough and therefore brought the bike out from the depths of the garage and have begun to bring her back to life. All I need to do now is replace the throwout bearing on the clutch and that shouldn’t take me more then a couple of hours at best. The worst part of the job is going back down to the Harley Davidson dealer slash bike Shop where the mechanics are young enough to be my grandkids and all only know what they’ve been taught in one of those technical schools and don’t know crap about anything built before the ’80’s. I won’t even comment about looking for parts for the Pan for crissakes. The rat bike freaks them out as it is! Well, it does give them a thrill to aid an oldtimer like myself I guess. Even if they do have a tendency to irritate me from time to time.

That “Feeling Down” syndrome

admin — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:17:57 +0000

I’m guessing that my life is finally caught up with me. My health, although by appearances seems to be improving, is not. My multiple back injuries have taken their toll and now I dread having to move at times. I’m losing my memory, my eyesight is getting worse, and I have little or no taste left. Not sure what else is going to fail next but I just hope when it does go it does it when I’m alone so I don’t have to play hard-ass and suck it up while I fall over dead or something.

I’ve managed to pack rat away far too much junk over the years playing citizen and now I’m at that crossroads where I am about to just chuck it all out and say “to hell with it”. I spend my military pension and my entire social security on keeping the house and paying some bills. I reinvest so little to making it at the markets that it doesn’t seem to be paying off. Unable to ride the bike due to the seriousness of my pain problems. I have no social life and my personal life sucks. But I must admit, I do put on a good front. Depression doesn’t help my mood any either. I’ve several doctor’s appointments coming up at the VA this month. I may just check out the sixth floor to see if the head doctors might be able to shed some light on things. It’s a real pain getting old, and I’ve figured out what the worst thing about growing old is…its growing old!

Flea market trends

admin — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 19:33:14 +0000

Spent the day at the local flea market trying to make a few bucks so I can pay some bills around here, again. Seems like the bills keep coming faster and the finances keep getting slimmer and coming slower. hard to sell quality merchandise at a fair price when half the market is filled with dollar store mentality shoppers who are more into strolling and critiquing the merchants then purchasing anything for their homes or themselves. Times are not as bad as everyone is trying to make them out to be. But if the sheep fear the wolf is going to foreclose on their little straw homes or take their job and give it to the burros, then what can you do but suck it up and laugh at the insecure citizens over their ignorance. Things really have to get better soon or I’m just going to have to pack it in for awhile and lay low till the dust settles and people are more willing to spend. Looks like anymore that the dealers are the only ones doing anything about it. Only problem there is that we just seem to be trading gear and passing around the same money from one pocket to the next just to keep appearances up. At least that way we can pretend we’re still making something.

“Brimfield”

admin — Mon, 19 May 2008 22:11:33 +0000

Once again I got rained on at Brimfield! It would seem that the rain gods just won’t allow me the good fortune to get through a whole show in yankee-land without my getting wet! I’m beginning to have second thoughts as to my continuing to set up at the Brimfield Massachusetts antique show. While many of the dealers that I know continue to talk up their profit margin with tales of them making anywheres from 8 to 75 thousand dollars in three days. I can’t seem to break the 2 thousand mark for the life of me. And its not because of my gear, for crissakes, my gear is as good, and in many cases better, than what they carry. I’m sure some of the braggadocio is simply that. But I do see many of them making the big bucks while my booth is lacking in visitation. A lot of it may have to do with location. I have been offered by several other dealers to set up in their fields for a longer period of time at nearly the same costs. AND, they have more to offer then where I am at presently. Guess I am going to have to give it some serious thought if i am to continue doing the show there. maybe it is time for a change after all!

On to Brimfield…

admin — Mon, 12 May 2008 04:52:49 +0000

For several years I’ve been going to a place called Brimfield, in Massachusetts, to set up a booth of Native American gear, cowboy gear, antiquities of all sorts and collectibles ,ranging from the mundane to severely eclectic one of a kinds rarely seen anywhere else. Billed as the largest Flea market in the US, it offers what no other market has. The rule of thumb is that if it can be found for sale, it can be found in Brimfield!
This year my youngest will once again accompany me to the market for 4 to 5 days of working the retail, wholesale, trade and hustle business of the flea marketeer. She loves doing the markets with me, and with Brimfield being the largest and by far the most exciting, she is about as excited as a school girl can get over such things. But she really does have a good time with her ol’ dad, selling and trading our wares with the public at large. Gives her insight as to the character of different people, aids her in mathematics by her dealing with money repeatedly. She has learned different methods of packing and storage, setup and presentation, reading maps and figuring out directions.
This year though, what with the price of gas constantly rising and the frailty of the buying public’s fears about the economy, may be our last hurrah for awhile, at least when it comes to going all the way up to Massachusetts and dealing with paying high setup costs, out of sight gas prices and a faltering economy. We may be stuck doing the occasional yard sale or local flea markets if things don’t pick up soon. Between my failing health, aging and other family issues, long drives several states away could very well become a practice of the past. But you never know, things could always change. And I’m hoping they do, after all, it’s what I do!