Scotts 2 Cents

June 20, 2009

Stone Canyon Golf Course – Kansas City, MO – Independence, MO

All Spring the Kansas City area was bombarded by commercials on TV, radio and print for Stone Canyon Golf Course in Independence, MO designed by Greg “The Shark” Norman. And all these promotions included promoting a $50 preview rate in 2009 before the club went private in 2010! Well, today (6-20-09) Stone Canyon sent out an e-mail saying that as of July 1st that preview was going away Fri-Sun (when anybody can actually take advantage of it)! Pretty crappy of them. First of all, your in Independence – get over yourself. But even if you’re the greatest golf course ever changing this preview rate you promoted heavily for weeks and weeks before you opened on May 15th is crap. I don’t ever remember hearing this was 6 week preview rate….of course I didn’t hear that – that would be pretty weak. Wait…..that’s exactly what it turned out to be. Not a great first impression by the course, pretty crappy quite frankly.

I speculate that they’ve realized there is NO WAY they’ll have enough interest for the course to actually go private in 2010 so they’ll try to increase revenue now as a public course. The thought of this being a private course was a flawed theory all along. It’s Independence, MO – there isn’t the population base with the income levels to support a private golf club. At least I wouldn’t think so. So I don’t expect the course to actually go private next year. But still, promoting a $50 rate all Spring then taking it away after 6 weeks really sucks and could be an indication that this course has horrible ownership/management so I’d be very wary of joining this private course.

I haven’t played it yet – I had absolutely planned to but I’m not sure I will. If for no other reason on principle.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about both the change in the preview rate and if you’ve played the course what you thought.

October 7, 2008

Too many lies from Barack Obama

A technicality on a complicated bill vote is one thing and nearly every politician has voted on a bill with something in it that will come back to haunt them and sound bad when taken out of context.  But some of the lies and mis-information being put forth by the Barack Obama campaign and scary.  Not only are they signficant lies they have some significantly fundamental problems as well.  Can you really vote for this guy?

 

TERRY ANDERSON, A  BLACK LOS ANGELES TALK RADIO HOST,   WENT DOWN A LIST OF THINGS SENATOR OBAMA HAS SAID THAT  AREN’T   EXACTLY CORRECT.   

Obama’s Not  Exactlys:

1.) Selma March Got Me Born -  NOT EXACTLY, your parents felt safe enough to have you in 1961 – Selma had no  effect on your birth, as Selma was in 1965. (Google’Obama Selma ‘ for his full  March 4, 2007 speech and articles about its various untruths.)

2.) Father Was A Goat Herder -  NOT EXACTLY, he was a privileged, well educated youth, who went on to work with  the Kenyan Government.

3.) Father Was A Proud Freedom Fighter -  NOT EXACTLY, he was part of one of the most corrupt and violent governments  Kenya has ever had.

4.) My Family Has Strong Ties To African  Freedom - NOT EXACTLY, your cousin Raila Odinga has created mass  violence in attempting to overturn a legitimate election in 2007, in Kenya . It  is the first widespread violence in decades. The current government is  pro-American but Odinga wants to overthrow it and establish Muslim Sharia law.  Your half-brother, Abongo Obama, is Odinga’s follower. You interrupted your New  Hampshire campaigning to speak to Odinga on the phone. Check out the following  link for verification of that….and for more.

Obama’s cousin Odinga in Kenya ran for  president and tried to get Sharia muslim law in place there. When Odinga lost  the elections, his followers have burned Christians’ homes and then burned men,  women and children alive in a Christian church where they took shelter.. Obama  SUPPORTED his cousin before the election process here started. Google Obama and  Odinga and see what you get. No one wants to know the truth.

5.) My  Grandmother Has Always Been A Christian -  NOT EXACTLY, she does her daily Salat prayers at 5am according to her own  interviews. Not to mention, Christianity wouldn’t allow her to have been one of  14 wives to 1 man.

6.) My Name is African Swahili -  NOT EXACTLY, your name is Arabic and ‘Baraka’ (from which Barack came) means  ‘blessed’ in that language. Hussein is also Arabic and so is Obama.

Barack  Hussein Obama is not half black. If elected, he would be the first Arab-American  President, not the first black President. Barack Hussein Obama is 50% Caucasian from his mother’s side and 43.75% Arabic  and 6.25% African Negro from his father’s side. While Barack Hussein Obama’s  father was from Kenya , his father’s family was mainly Arabs.. Barack Hussein  Obama’s father was only 12.5% African Negro and 87.5% Arab (his father’s birth  certificate even states he’s Arab, not African Negro). 

7.) I Never Practiced Islam -  NOT EXACTLY, you practiced it daily at school, where you were registered as a  Muslim and kept that faith for 31 years, until your wife made you change, so you  could run for office.

4-3-08 Article ‘Obama  was ‘quite religious in islam” http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=60559

8.) My School In Indonesia Was Christian -  NOT EXACTLY, you were registered as Muslim there and got in trouble in Koranic Studies for making faces (check your own book).

February 28, 2008. Kristoff from the  New York Times a year ago: Mr. Obama recalled the opening lines of the Arabic  call to prayer, reciting them with a first-rate accent. In a remark that seemed  delightfully uncalculated (it’ll give Alabama voters heart attacks), Mr. Obama  described the call to prayer as ‘one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at  sunset.’ This is just one example of what Pamela is talking about when she says  ‘Obama’s narrative is being altered, enhanced and manipulated to whitewash  troubling facts.’

9.) I  Was Fluent In Indonesian -  NOT EXACTLY, not one teacher says you could speak the language.

10.) Because I Lived In Indonesia ,  I Have More Foreign Experience -  NOT EXACTLY, you were there from the ages of 6 to 10, and couldn’t even speak  the language. What did you learn except how to study the Koran and watch cartoons.

11.) I  Am Stronger On Foreign Affairs -  NOT EXACTLY, except for Africa (surprise) and the Middle East (bigger surprise),  you have never been anywhere else on the planet and thus have NO experience  with our closest allies.

12.) I  Blame My Early Drug Use On Ethnic Confusion -  NOT EXACTLY, you were quite content in high school to be Barry Obama, no mention  of Kenya and no mention of struggle to identify – your classmates said you were  just fine

13.) An  Ebony Article Moved Me To Run For Office -  NOT EXACTLY, Ebony has yet to find the article you mention in your book. It  doesn’t, and never did, exist.

14.) A  Life Magazine Article Changed My Outlook On Life -  NOT EXACTLY, Life has yet to find the article you mention in your book. It  doesn’t, and never did, exist.

15.) I  Won’t Run On A National Ticket In ‘08 -  NOT EXACTLY, here you are, despite saying, live on TV, that you would not have  enough experience by then, and you are all about having experience first.

16.) Voting ‘Present’ is Common In Illinois Senate -  NOT EXACTLY, they are common for YOU, but not many others have 130 NO VOTES.

17.) Oops, I Misvoted -  NOT EXACTLY, only when caught by church groups and Democrats, did you beg to  change your misvote.

18.) I  Was A Professor Of Law -  NOT EXACTLY, you were a senior lecturer ON LEAVE.

19.) I  Was A Constitutional Lawyer -  NOT EXACTLY, you were a senior lecturer ON LEAVE.

20.) Without Me, There Would Be No Ethics Bill -  NOT EXACTLY, you didn’t write it, introduce it, change it or create it.

21.) The Ethics Bill Was Hard To Pass -  NOT EXACTLY, it took just 14 days from start to finish.

22.) I  Wrote A Tough Nuclear Bill -  NOT EXACTLY, your bill was rejected by your own party for its pandering and lack  of all regulation – mainly because of your Nuclear donor, Exelon, from which  David Axelrod came.

23.) I  Have Released My State Records -  NOT EXACTLY, as of March, 2008, state bills you sponsored or voted for have yet  to be released, exposing all the special interests pork hidden within.

24.) I  Took On The Asbestos Altgeld Gardens Mess -  NOT EXACTLY, you were part of a large group of people who remedied Altgeld  Gardens . You failed to mention anyone else but yourself, in your books.

25.) My  Economics Bill Will Help America -  NOT EXACTLY, your 111 economic policies were just combined into a proposal which  lost 99-0, and even YOU voted against your own bill.

26.) I  Have Been A Bold Leader In Illinois -  NOT EXACTLY, even your own supporters claim to have not seen BOLD action on your  part.

27.) I  Passed 26 Of My Own Bills In One Year -  NOT EXACTLY, they were not YOUR bills, but rather handed to you, after their  creation by a fellow Senator, to assist you in a future bid for higher office.

28.) No  One on my campaign contacted Canada about NAFTA -  NOT EXACTLY, the Canadian Government issued the names and a memo of the  conversation your campaign had with them.

29.) I  Am Tough On Terrorism -  NOT EXACTLY, you missed the Iran Resolution vote on terrorism and your good  friend Ali Abunimah supports the destruction off Israel.

30.) I  Want All Votes To Count -  NOT EXACTLY, you said let the delegates decide.

31.) I Want Americans To  Decide - NOT EXACTLY, you prefer caucuses that limit the vote,  confuse the voters, force a public vote, and only operate during small windows of time.

32.) I  passed 900 Bills in the State Senate -  NOT EXACTLY, you passed 26, most of which you didn’t write yourself.

33.) I  Believe In Fairness, Not Tactics -  NOT EXACTLY, you used tactics to eliminate Alice Palmer from running against  you.

34.) I  Don’t Take PAC Money -  NOT EXACTLY, you take loads of it.

35.) I  don’t Have Lobbysists -  NOT EXACTLY, you have over 47 lobbyists, and counting.

36.) My  Campaign Had Nothing To Do With The 1984 Ad -  NOT EXACTLY, your own campaign worker made the ad on his Apple in one afternoon.

37.) I  Have Always Been Against Iraq -  NOT EXACTLY, you weren’t in office to vote against it AND you have voted to fund  it every single time.

38.) I  Have Always Supported Universal Health Care -  NOT EXACTLY, your plan leaves us all to pay for the 15,000,000 who don’t have to  buy it.

39.) My  uncle liberated Auschwitz concentration camp -  NOT EXACTLY, your mother had no brothers and the Russian army did the liberating.

September 17, 2008

Evacuee Behavior – Hurricane Gustav

Similar stories were common coming out of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and they need to be heard.  This is absolutely ridiculous.  This is how people act?  Deplorable.

This past spring into summer (2008) there was catastrophic flooding in Iowa – if you watched the Olympics you heard about Shawn Johnson’s hometown flooding.  That was the case over much of the state of Iowa, a disaster very near the level of any hurricane, homes were destroyed, livelihoods taken.  

What didn’t come out of Iowa were stories like this one.  Nobody looted, nobody begged for handouts, nobody cried racism, nobody blamed the Federal Gov’t, nobody blamed anybody.  Instead people helped their friends and neighbors the best they could; people acted like human beings.   

So what’s the difference between people in Iowa and people in Louisana?  You tell me.  Faced with the same tragedy, the same circumstances how can the story of human behavior be so different?  You tell me.

—————-

Dear Editor,
I am a nurse who has just completed volunteer working approximately 120 hours as the clinic director in a Hurricane Gustav evacuation shelter in Shreveport, Louisiana over the last 7 days.  I would love to see someone look at the evacuee situation from a new perspective.  Local and national news channels have covered the evacuation and “horrible” conditions the evacuees had to endure during Hurricane Gustav.

True – some things were not optimal for the evacuation and the shelters need some modification.

At any point, does anyone address the responsibility (or irresponsibility) of the evacuees?

Does it seem wrong that one would remember their cell phone, charger, cigarettes and lighter but forget their child’s insulin?

Is something amiss when an evacuee gets off the bus, walks immediately to the medical area, and requests immediate free refills on all medicines for which they cannot provide a prescription or cur rent bottle (most of which are narcotics)?

Isn’t the system flawed when an evacuee says they cannot afford a $3 copay for a refill that will be delivered to them in the shelter yet they can take a city-provided bus to Wal-mart, buy 5 bottles of Vodka, and return to consume them secretly in the shelter?

Is it fair to stop performing luggage checks on incoming evacuees so as not to delay the registration process but endanger the volunteer staff and other persons with the very realistic truth of drugs, alcohol and weapons being brought into the shelter?

Am I less than compassionate when it frustrates me to scrub a mess from the floor near a nauseated child while his mother lies nearby, watching me work 26 hours straight, not even raising her head from the pillow to comfort her own son?

Why does it incense me to hear a man say “I ain’t goin’ home ’til I get my FEMA check”, when I would love to just go home and see my daughters who I have only seen 3 times this week?

Is the system flawed when the privately insured patient must find a way to get to the pharmacy, fill his prescription and pay his copay while the FEMA declaration allows the uninsured person to acquire free medications under the disaster rules?

Does it seem odd that the nurse volunteering at the shelter is paying for childcare while the evacuee sits on a cot during the day as the shelter provides a “daycare”?

Have government entitlements created this mentality and am I facilitating it with my work?

Will I be a bad person, merciless nurse or poor Christian if I hesitate to work at the next shelter because I have worked for 7 days being called every curse word imaginable, feeling threatened and fearing for my personal safety in the shelter?

Exhausted and battered,

Sherri Hagerhjelm, RN

June 18, 2008

Express Ticket to Hell

A lot of people do a lot of bad things.  And if you believe in Karma maybe it’s OK because what goes around comes around.

Perhaps you believe in hell, perhaps you don’t but I think we’ll all agree, if there is a hell this is a great way to ensure your spot.

Chase turns sour for lemonade stand robber

Police arrest suspect after girl chased him into a nearby home

updated 11:36 a.m. CT, Tues., June. 17, 2008

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Call it a lemonade standoff.

A young girl whose lemonade stand was robbed of $17.50 chased the suspect into a nearby home and called police, who spent nearly an hour trying to coax the man into surrendering.

“The guy came up and was, like, ‘Give me your money,’” said Dominique Morefield, who was running the lemonade stand with a group of friends. “I was shocked. It was just my immediate reaction to chase after him.”

 Read complete story

June 10, 2008

Left lane traffic monitors

I can’t say it more clearly, nor can the rules of the road.

THE LEFT LANE IS FOR PASSING ONLY!

The left lane does not exist for you to pick what is “fast enough”  as*hole!

If you are not passing another car in the middle lane GET THE HELL OVER and let those of us who want to pass you, do so.  It’s not an ego thing, it’s okay if you get passed by my Prius.  Maybe if you’re lucky you can laugh at me when you see me pulled over a few miles down the road.

GET OUT OF THE LEFT LANE and let others pass!!!  That’s what the left lane is for!

June 9, 2008

It’s good to be PayPal

I’ll save my rant about auto insurance for another time – how nice is it to sell a product required by law that everyone who drives must buy?!?!??!

Anyway, being PayPal is good.  And eBay being very smart realized this years ago and bought them.  They seem to have absolutely ZERO liability for anything.  I am an eBay Power Seller and have sold 1000’s of items on eBay over the past 14 years (my original username I sold with my eBay consignment business was registered in 1994) and have used PayPal for a vast majority of sales.  And nothing has ever been their fault.  If my account gets hacked, it’s may fault – they take no liability – my money is gone all they say is sorry we tried to recover your funds and could not.  Then if I’m a seller and someone pays me with an account that got hacked that’s somehow my responsibility as well????  I didn’t approve the transaction, I didn’t decide it was a legitimate transaction – PayPal DID but somehow I’m the only who suffers.  I get the money taken back out of my account, I lose again.  It’s unbelievable.  How is the person who approved a transaction not at fault if it was a fraudulent transaction????  Unbelievable.  So someone got free tickets to a Red Wings playoff game and I had to give back (have it forceably removed from my account) the $377.77 I sold them for!!!  ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

March 20, 2008

I was stunned

Filed under: People, Stuff that really pisses me off — Scott @

I simply couldn’t believe it.  My wife and I along with our 1 1/2 year old daughter in her stroller were at the community center where our son takes a Tae-Kwan-Do class each week.  We’ve been going for several months now and with perfect regularity parents have pulled up chairs along the window on the side, then curving out toward the door then starting rows behind.  It’s tough to explain and I’m not going to draw it – it really doesn’t matter at all – it does not change what shocked me, what happened was ridiculous even without a very well known informal seating situation.

A parent and a grandparent – at least one of whom, if not both I know have absolutely been there before and knew of the seating method.  But again, this does not matter at all.  They arrived just a few minutes early, 5-6 minutes after us.  Without even glancing at us they simply pulled up chairs directly in front of me, my wife and little girl.  I just don’t understand people I guess.

March 17, 2008

Sit in your seat!

Filed under: Pet Peeves, Stuff that really pisses me off — Scott @

As you’ll learn if for some reason you continue to read my rants with any regularity I have many pet peeves (aka…things that piss me off) and I decided a long time ago that this world would be a better place if I were in charge of more stuff.  For example…..better control over seating at sporting events.  I suppose relying on human decency and common courtesy wouldn’t seem like a bad plan, but I think we all know better.  As I’ve said before; people suck.

When you go to an event.  A sporting event, a concert, a play – anything that requires a ticket your ticket will have a section number, a row number and a seat number printed on it.  SIT THERE!  It’s very simple, there are dozens of ushers who will help you find your seat- SO FIND IT!  If your ticket says Section 452, you are not in the lower level – find stairs going up when you arrive at the venue.  If your ticket says row ZZ you are not likely directly behind the dugout.  Don’t take your $8 ticket and try to sit in front of me in my $54 lower level seat.  If you want to sit in the lower level, buy a lower level ticket jackass!

I went to a Texas Rangers game a few years ago at The Ballpark at Arlington – they have it figured out.  As much as I hate to give the state of Texas credit for anything I love what they do at Rangers games.  We arrived at the game pretty early  and were watching batting practice, we had 10th row tickets right behind home plate.  About 90 minutes before game time ushers came around to the few dozen people gathered in the good seats and checked ticket stubs to make sure you belonged!  I loved it!! For the remainder of the game to get down to the good seats you had to show your ticket stub at the walkways leading from the concourse to the seats – it was outstanding.

Now perhaps you’re thinking I’m a snob or have an elitist attitude about this.  Well you’re right.  I don’t want to hear about how not everybody can afford to go to a game, or afford to get good seats.  Sorry…. study harder in school, learn more, get smarter and get a better job, work harder, earn more money and then buy seats in the lower level.  Until then don’t be a weasel.  Don’t sit in front of me, or next to me or behind me if that’s not your seat.  I work hard to have the money to afford good seats, so do most of the people around me and we don’t need somebody with an upper level ticket sneaking down in front of us – it’s just not right.

At the end of a blowout game when most of the crowd has thinned out and you want to move closer with your kids to get the experience of sitting down close I have no problem with that, just show some respect and don’t sit in front of anybody else (remember, it’s not until a lot of people have left thus there are many empty seats that this is OK) and don’t act like an idiot.  Of course the don’t act like an idiot rule applies no matter the time or location and certainly still applies if you’re sitting in front of me and have right to that seat because you paid for it you still shouldn’t act like an idiot but that’s an entirely different rant.

Powered by WordPress