i am sorry but i don't get why the gun control lobby has power. is it the money they give to politicians?  is that money so important that the politicians vote against what the public wants? we have too many guns in America and too many people who should not have them have access to them and use them to kill other citizens. now we are going to learn the boy who shot the theatergoers was a quiet, nice boy living down the street. he was a good neighbor and a friend. everyone who knew him will tell how they liked him and how shocked they were that he did these horrific things. well could he have done so much damage with a knife? if he did not have access to guns he could not have done what he did and forget that nonsense about others if armed should have stepped in and stopped him from killing all the people he did. fact is they would have shot the wrong people, others would have shot them or the cops would have and there would be even more pandemonium. if we are not going to control access to guns we need to figure out how to level consequences at those who take the laws into their own hands and severely punish them so they don't see themselves on the cover of TIME magazine but rather see themselves put away on hard terms forever.

jobs, jobs jobs

I love the idea that everyone agrees on jobs as the most important challenge for the economy going forward. the dems got murdered because they did not deliver jobs and the republicans got elected because they promised to deliver them. here is my problem: the middle of the country, the rust belt, for the most part has lost all their jobs. we are not going to get manufacturing jobs back. the technology sector which influenced all business has made it possible to quantify and articulate the specifics of most tasks so the tasks have been outsourced overseas to lower cost entities. those jobs are not coming back and most people over 50 will be seriously challenged to find any work, let alone doing work they were educated to do.

so here are the solutions: cut taxes so companies will invest more. why should they? they make plenty of profit now and a tax reduction will only make it larger. cut spending? like on what? the kind of spending that does create jobs? government spending. the american corporation has all but abandoned the concept of research and development for the sake of short term profit. if the government does not spend on R and D in places like health care, NASA, science and a variety of industries, who will?

i can't wait to hear what jobs the republicans will generate, and i mean the type of jobs, the specific of jobs, not just the word, jobs, when they want to cut expenses and lower revenue by cutting taxes on the very companies that are cutting jobs by the millions. it does not add up. they keep asking does the president "get it". fortunately for the republicans they can count on the american people not getting it and continuing to allow the republicans to get elected on empty promises.

the election

I find it interesting that the GOP is now saying not everything can be done overnight and that they are sure the two parties can work out solutions to the economy. i did not hear that for the first 24 months of Obama's presidency.

i will be intrigued to see how they find jobs. the corporations they are being financed by have all the money and are the ones that ship the jobs overseas. will they now bring them back?? i doubt it, unless of course they get another huge tax break to repatriate the dollars they have out side the country.

side walks

side walks are for walking, which is why they are called side WALKS. they are not for bikes. all of a sudden we have huge numbers of people riding their bike or skate boards on the side walks. i understand the roads are not all the safe, however running into people coming out of stores is not healthy for the rider nor the walker. as a matter of fact it is a violation to ride bikes on sidewalks in Santa Monica.

i have found a puppy and have sent a deposit but i am a little disappointed. i don't feel like i am a part of the puppy's life and i want to be. i also get the feeling i am going to have little to say about which dog i choose and i will resist that. i did get a contract in the mail but will not sign it until i am sure i am doing the right thing. i did call another breeder who will have pups by the end of this month. i will be in alaska and will make no decision before then.

DOGS

i am going to keep my blog named as Bobisms because that is a good metaphor for how i think and what i think about. i am now going to try to put something down as frequently as i can and cover all the subjects i am interested in.

i have loved dogs my entire life. i have had buster, cricket, rackets, clancey and tucker. these are the 5 dogs i will remember for as long as i live. i have had four cats magnum, little girl, cookie and fatboy. i told fatboy in my own way that after tucker and claney died i would keep the house animal free until fatboy passed on. he made it to 18 so i waited and then decided it was time to find another dog. i loved australian shepherds. they have a purpose, herding, and when they were involved in what they loved doing they were a picture of pure joy. i wanted to experience that again. i have a friend, janet colby, who is has two aussies and is a competitor in obedience and agility. i went to two of her shows and found agility to be real fun. so i thought i have time and not a great deal to do so why not buy a dog and get her into competition. i was introduced to a couple of trainers and breeders. the breeders i spoke to were rather flaky, in that they did not respond to e mail, phone calls or messages. i decided i would take the reins and find a dog on my own. i found a web site that included aussie breeders from all over the country. there were 85 in california so i wrote all of them and told them of my interest. i heard from about half of them and found those that responded to be enthusiastic and extremely helpful.

next blog i will tell you how it worked out, and it did.

Dress: I am currently in Korea. I was invited to speak mainly to younger people about 3D. Several other people were invited as well. To make my wife happy I wore a jacket and tie while giving my presentation. I felt I could do it without the tie but better to be over dressed than under. What I observed was I was the only one wearing a tie. I was not unhappy as it is still a sign of respect. The other observation was what others were wearing. Hawaiian shirts, shorts, filthy looking jeans, shirts with the tails hanging out. If there was one word for what I saw it would have to be sloppy. Do people really care that they look like slobs? OK maybe college students but senior level executives from well known companies?  To me the dress down look has turned into a dress out of the laundry hamper look, dirty, sloppy and totally without any regard for whomever is in their sight. I think we need to get back to a sign of order, neatness and organization. When dressed casually but smartly we can get away with anything but to wear what people wear today to business, classical music concerts even Sunday church services is appalling. I can't wait until a restaurant or theater refuses service to people looking like slobs. Or, they could just offer to feed them out back with the rest of the rodents..