The Ball Is in The Trucker's Court

I have said before that I am neither pro nor anti union. If joining a labor organization resulted in substantially raising my income, well then, sign me up. If not, I'm don't intend to have union dues deducted for nothing. That would be stupid. On the flip side, if I were a business owner/manager and there was a rabble rouser stirring the union pot then they would be out the door. No one is immune from making a job related mistake and at first opportunity the union "organizer" type would be pounding the pavement for other employment.

Does the trucking business need to be organized? A case can certainly be made for some. At this time there is way more freight than there are truckers to haul it. In the chemical trucking industry (which I am most familiar with), it has come to the point where the operations department of major chemical carriers can pick and chose their liquid freight. What a switch from a few short years back. The ball is in the trucking company's court, which is to say that it is in the trucker's court. Most truckers however will sit back and do nothing but bitch when their employer raises the rates on the freight hauled without passing along a pay increase to the guys doing the actual work. They (the company) plays the shell game and tries to keep the rate increase a secret (the word always gets out) and the truckers all get hot under the collar and raise hell, usually to no avail.

I certainly have a few suggestions that I don't have time for right now (perhaps this weekend) for the average trucker (company hand and "lease" operator) to get a bigger slice of the pie.

Stay tuned.

The Bartender Cabbie Immigration Reform Plan - The Time Is Now

The Boston Bombers are now out of business. It ended about as expected although it is somewhat surprising (and beneficial) perhaps that one is still "clinging to life." Possibly some things can be learned from him before his execution. One has to wonder what the nation has learned from yet another act of Mohammedan terror on our soil. Probably nothing. The powers that be in government, "education," and what passes for the media these days, are likely still afraid to call a spade a spade. Hard to fathom.

I have spoken at length on the sure fire way to end (or at least greatly reduce) the problem of illegal "immigration," rampant cross border drug smuggling, and perhaps even religious/political terrorist groups making their way into the United States proper. Namely that would be to close the southern border to all but legitimate business and tourist traffic. Seems like good commons sense and not, as the fruitloops among us say, racist. Or perhaps it is a bit racist and insensitive. Does that really matter?

We should also take a good hard look at some of those here on student visas. Would it make sense to send those that are here from unfriendly regions of the world packing? Probably so. Sales of air freshener may drop on college campuses but that that is a price we will just have to find someway to pay.

Is it "racist" and "intolerant" to point out the obvious? I'm sure of it. Just ask any punk ass liberal arts type college "professor."

Down To Two

The NCAA Basketball tournament is now down to two teams. Louisville will have to play a better game than they did last night to gain the crown and I think they will. It has been a fun and interesting basketball post season.

Incidentally, Louisville has the most successful sports program around of late. The "major" sporting teams are quality programs. The men will play for all the marbles, the women are in the final four, and who can forget the beat down that the Cardinals put on the Gators in the Sugar Bowl.
I predicted the outcome of that one. After watching Florida numerous times during the season I came to the conclusion early on that it was them and not the Cardinals who did not belong in the Sugar.

How Hard Would It Be to Screw Lil Kim?

There is a lot in the news lately concerning the rogue state of North Korea and the obviously psychotic personage that is supposedly leading that sad land. The heated rhetoric that has of late been forthcoming out of Pyongyang is, in all likelihood, more of the same that we have heard for years. Probably nothing to get all excited about. Or is it?

The United States is taking the rhetoric at least somewhat seriously. Guided missile destroyers have deployed (and are deploying) to the waters of the region. Anti missile batteries have reported to have been deployed forward to Guam and there are reports of the same manned and on duty on the Hawaiian Islands and parts of Alaska. Could it be that our "intelligence community" really has very little idea of the real capabilities of North Korean rocket forces? That would not be surprising.

Discounting the unlikely missile launch against the United States or her possessions, what would a modern conventional war on the Korean peninsula look like? Number one, North Korea has a massive amount of artillery and would fairly quickly be able to make Seoul look so much like Stalingrad. We probably would not be able to stop the destruction without the timely use of certain weaponry. There would be a massive human wave offensive southward, which would most likely bog down rather soon as modern arms made short work of the North's command and control structure. Still the North will make progress and the war would have the potential to be very bloody.

In short, the North's meager naval forces would be swept from the seas within hours as with her air assets.  Her ground offensive would be stalled and fall apart within days with hostilities ceasing within a couple of weeks. In the meantime there would be many thousands of people killed and it would be a conflict quite different from the conventional battles with the Iraqi army. The North Korean soldier may (or may not) be inclined to fight to the death in contrast to most (but not all) Iraqi conventional troops who were satisfied with token resistance and surrender. Of course the conflict could drag on for a very long time. It is possible that Red China may even be dragged into the fracas. There are no guarantees in war. A dangerous situation.....

How could the U.S. end the war decisively and quickly with as few friendly casualties as possible? The easy answer would be tactical nuclear weapons to halt the North's offensive in its' tracks. Then selected targets in the North could be degraded in the same fashion with the same weaponry. The political dangers to such action may be too great for the Obama administration to risk however. With a potential enemy just to the north of North Korea and our Japanese allies nearby, (not to mention the whole of South Korea), it might not make political sense to resort to very limited nuclear war on the peninsula. It is a double edged sword and a conundrum and likely one that Lil' Kim is quite aware of.

How easy would it be to limit casualties, end the war quickly, and at the same time screw Lil' Kim? Due to the aforementioned geo political considerations it might not be as easy as one may think. Oh. You were thinking of another Lil' Kim perhaps? I'm pretty sure screwing that one would be rather easy. There may be a line or waiting list of some sort. Personally I can't see why that would be the case..........I guess some people have a strong stomach.

Tournament WInds Down and Heats Up.

Last night the semi Cinderella Wichita State Shockers beat a pretty good Ohio State team and will make an appearance in the Final Four. I guess I will have to root for them. I wish Florida Gulf Coast, a true long shot if there ever was one, had held on and beaten the Gators to advance.

Not that it really matters. The title will go to Louisville this season. Mark it.

And the Tournament Continues

I have watched quite a bit of the NCAA D1 basketball tournament this past week (along with a little CBI and women's tourney) and have come to the conclusion that Louisville is the team to beat. I have not watched Indiana though and some say they are a team that can easily earn the title. Time will tell...

After watching 16th seeded Southern give Gonzaga all they could handle the other day, it was no real surprise that Wichita State "shocked" us all by beating them in round two. Gonzaga is just not all that good.

Memphis and KSU are out. Again not a real surprise. I like both teams but don't think they are near in the same league with Louisville, Duke, Indiana or perhaps the Jayhawks of Kansas. Speaking of the Jayhawks, they have a tough one coming up with NC. Should be a good game.

Miami has not really been talked about so much. I don't know why. Perhaps it is because they are not typically a basketball "power" and are being overlooked? I wouldn't rule them out for an appearance in the final four.

It is a shame that SDSU and this years' Cinderella team; Florida Gulf Coast, have to meet next. I like both but only one of them will move on. My money is on the Aztecs.

There is quite a bit of talk about the "surprise" that is Oregon. They are doing a fine job thus far but no one is really saying much about the other 12th seed that is still in the game. Ole Miss is still there and they may be at their peak at this point. We will see if they can stay alive.

It would be fun if one of the non traditional power teams goes all the way this year.

Tournament Time

In my humble opinion the best play off in college sports is the NCAA basketball (baseball is pretty good also) tournament. Comes around about this time every year. As usual there are a few surprise teams in the mix and there are some that are certainly more deserving than others (and some left out that should be in) but, when compared to the travesty that is practiced in D1 football to produce a "national champion," well...........

This year I am going to pull for Memphis, KSU, Northwestern State, Ole Miss, WKU and whoever plays Duke, Georgetown, Illinois or Indiana.  I will be wishing ill on the Gators of course. Goes without saying.

The lower seeded teams, say 13 or below, usually don't stand much chance in the tournament but I am actually looking for St Mary's to knock of Memphis in the first round. As a Tiger fan, I would hate to see that happen, but believe there is a better than even chance. Gut feeling.  I do believe though that St. Mary's is actually an 11th seed. That is certainly not unprecedented.

There are other men's playoffs in progress. The NIT is the consolation tournament and some very good teams find themselves relegated when they should in reality be in the big boy tournament. It was nice to see Kentucky and FSU fall to lessor lights. I am going to pull for Louisiana Tech to take this one although think it unlikely.

There are also the CBI and CIT tournaments. Not sure really what the point is here. Quite a few teams with mediocre records at best. Texas. with a season losing record, comes calling tonight at Hofeinz Pavillion to take on the Houston Cougars. I suppose that I will go with the local squad to at least say they accomplished something this season and go all the way. Really these tournaments are just not worth any one's time but I suppose the kids want to keep playing and the die hard fans to keep rooting.  Why not?

It is easy to forget the lower divisions, NAIA, and women's tournaments also. Other than the D1 women's tournament there is so little coverage. The women's D1 tournament gets a good bit of play with the usual suspects; Baylor, Tennessee, UConn, Stanford, ND, and Duke in the mix. A couple of other teams may make a play. Texas Agriculture and LSU come to mind. I suppose I will pull for long shot Chattanooga in the Division I women's tournament.
I have always liked that town.

Have a good week and enjoy the games.

On a side note, I have again enabled the word verification for commenting. Sorry. The spam has been getting ridiculous of late.