Sep 30, 2010

Best Practices

Abigail and Dolley Blogspot is dedicated to exploring the logic and the facts behind issues of the day. So let us endeavor into another corporate buzzword that has been adopted into our lexicon. Best Practices - this one perhaps embodies a degree of common sense that others of its ilk have not done. It is not terribly fancy sounding and I seriously doubt that anyone uses it to make themselves look smart. Our Government and Corporate America are full of blowhard pretenders that hide their minimal intelligence and incompetance behind veils constructed of the latest catch phrases, can you say "Customer Centric" or "Social Justice"? In the case of Best Practices, though, the principal and thought behind it is actually not far fetched and for once, makes sense.

In all affairs; personal, professional, and governmental the examination of what works and what does not is nothing more than common sense. Why then do so many disregard this basic premise and proceed willy nilly down a path of failure or worse one of complete destruction? My Mother has a saying, "Those who do not listen, must feel." She is of course very wise in this regard.

It is frustrating to watch a loved one go down the wrong path, specifically if you yourself have recently done the same and tried to warn them of the pending outcome. It is nerve wracking to watch your company go down paths of futility and usually send me on a job search.

In the public arena where the stakes are higher and the costs are immeasurable we have an entire political class that constantly and consistently leads our local, state, and national government down the road to ruin. Our government is no longer concerned with doing things well and more concerned with doing things their own way. These ineffective measures have bankrupted us at all levels. We can no longer afford their arrogance and complete disregard for what actually works.

Economic stimulus - taxes and government spending have NEVER worked. Tax cuts and putting money in the hands of taxpayers and corporations have ALWAYS worked. Why are we doing the opposite?

Health Care - in states that have eased regulation on insurance companies, instituted tort reform, promoted medical savings accounts, allowed collective buying for small business, and fostered an environment of competition and free market - they are successful. Socialized and heavily regulated medicine are DISMAL failures. Why are we trying to choose the path of failure?

Environmental - common sense stewardship of the Earth, with Man in his proper place as Master and Caretaker of the Planet and not the subject of it leads to growth, prosperity, and a betterment of our World. Illogical is the idealogy that says that Man is subject to the Earth and Human concerns must always take a back seat to the needs of the Earth. This policy can be seen in full display in the absolute destruction of the Timber Industry in Oregon and Washington. Decreased numbers of the all important Spotted Owl took precedence over the lifes and welfare of human beings. The richest and most prosperous counties in the two states a decade ago now host 25% unemployment and are now the poorest. That in and of itself is a tragedy, but when you find out the Timber Industry had NOTHING to do with the Spotted Owls decline in numbers it borders on criminal. Yes, folks, the Spotted Owl is being killed by a bigger, stronger, meaner owl - yet the Timber Industry remains idle and our people remain unemployed and the human suffering that goes with the debacle is immeasurable.

Show me what works and do that! Is it too much to demand from our elected officials that they stop the waste, the favors, the pay offs and actually do what works and what is right?

Sep 19, 2010

Small Town America and Why We Still Matter

Abigail and Dolley readers, I went to a reunion yesterday.  Not a family reunion, but an Small Town American reunion.  A gathering of folks who grew up and around a small mill town on the outskirts of Charlotte.  These days there is little difference between Pineville and Charlotte, but for those of us who grew up there, we know the difference.  We remember the landmarks that are no longer there, we "Awwed" audibly when pictures of loved ones flashed on the screen during the memorial CD, we smiled at the pictures of the wild Southern boys and their jacked up muscle cars, but most of all we were happy to see each other and took pride in our heritage.

Now, the ruling classes and the liberal elite would have looked upon this group with contempt.  You see we were in cut off shorts and T-shirts, we sang all the words to Sweet Home Alabama, and we raised our cups to lost friends and good times.  We laughed at old stories, complained that we were still smoking and knew we should quit, and talked about our kids, grandkids, and small businesses.  What the ruling class forgets is that these are the people that fix your cars, build your houses, and work in your factories.  They are the back bone of this Country and will show up with a casserole when someone passes away, a tow to pull your car out of a ditch, and money to bail you out of whatever trouble you've gotten yourself into.

Their pride in their country is held in contempt by the liberal elitists who scorn their patriotism and hate this country.  Their accents render them unintelligent in the eyes of the country club Republicans.  Their faith is scorned by the academics that are too smart for God.  They are Southern, so they must be racist, say the mainstream media.  I say, they are wrong again.  These are the people that built this country, their blood ran on the battlefields of history, their sweat plowed the fields, and their hands built the products that changed the world.

These are now the people who are muzzled and stifled by an over bearing government that makes it too difficult for the common man to start a business.  These are the folks whose factories have shut down because regulators required too many expensive "safety" upgrades (for their own good, of course.) and taxed "the rich" at such a rate they could no longer afford to do business in this country.  These are the folks that used to build your house, clean your gutters, and mow your lawn but now can't find work because there are illegal aliens that will do that job "under the table".  These are the people who teeter on the edge now because the work is gone and the horizon is bleak.  These are the people who recognize that when you talk about "the rich" you are really talking about their employers and they know their jobs won't be coming back until the government stops taking their bosses money at an alarming rate.

These are the people that loved Ronald Reagan and "hoped" Obama would live up to his promises of a "change".  In the immortal words of George W Bush, "You fool me once.... wait hang on.  Well, if you fool me once then, you aren't gonna fool me again."

Long live small town America!  Enjoy the video.

Sep 17, 2010

The First Butts

Abigail and Dolley readers it has been really busy with the new job, so forgive me if the posts have become a little infrequent.  I have a crazy and irrelevant sense of humor though, and as I see things that make me laugh, I will throw them up here.

Left to right: Princess Letizia of Spain, French first lady Carla Bruni and Michelle Obama, first lady of America.
 I thought this was too funny - I really have a tremendous amount of contempt for Michelle Obama. The hypocrisy of this women is astounding. She gives new meaning to "Do as I say and not as I do." She could have done a tremendous job inspiring young black women. They desperately need a role model to stay pure, study hard, respect themselves, ect. Instead she lectures us on OUR diet when she clearly needs to look at herself with a hand mirror.

Sep 16, 2010

Laugh of the Day!

Abigail and Dolley readers this made me laugh out loud!

Sep 10, 2010

I'm As Mad As Hell and I'm Not Going To Take It Anymore!

Abigail and Dolley readers this Talking Points memo from Monica Crowley should get a reward!  I could not have said it better myself.  Enjoy!


Sep 9, 2010

I Love It When God Does Stuff Like This

I love when God uses His sense of humor.  Nothing stuck my funny bone more in the last few days than the latest debacle in LA. It seems there is a new $75 million dollar school dedicated to the Green Religion (can I bring suit against them for preaching their religion in public schools?) that has been named after Al Gore and Rachel Carson. The hysterical part is that it is sitting on toxic soil!  Rachel Carson is responsible for the ban on DDT and thus responsible for the murder of millions through malaria.  See the article from a few days ago! We all know Mr. Bozo Ozone Man and all the damage his bloated bloviating mouth has done.

Anyway, I was going to say it was ironic, but as Gutfield says in the below video that is not really accurate.  Fitting is more like it.  I think God said, okay folks, you won't post my Commandments or let my kids pray in school but you will erect a monument to "Gaya", take that!

Sep 7, 2010

Welcome New Abigail and Dolley Readers!

Dear Faithful Readers,

I started a new job today and am very blessed to have a great opportunity.  When the announcement went out today to the corporation, several enterprising colleagues Googled my name and were directed to this blog through a professional profile.  I must admit that my eyes got huge when a colleague commented that their new GM was certainly "right of center"!

Now, I am not ashamed of this blog nor the opinions expressed therein, but life can be compartmentalized and I am essentially a private person in my professional life.   It is usually best to get to know folks a bit before laying the full force and opinion of Dolley Madison on them.  Within my professional career, I prefer my work, reputation, and colleagues to speak for me.  I leave aspects of faith and politics within their appropriate realms.

I will be meeting with many of my new colleagues in a few weeks for a Global Meeting and look forward to getting to know each of them.  So if you, kind reader, are one of my enterprising new colleagues who had the foresight to save the link to this blog before I removed it from my public profile, I hope you enjoy your visit here and I look forward to working with you.

For the rest of you faithful readers, thanks for visiting and giving me your comments.  Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

Sep 6, 2010

Testing Principals - If it Does Not Work in the Micro it Will Not Work in the Macro

For a principal to be true in the Macro is must also be true in the Micro.  Failed policies, beliefs, and philosophies ignore this truth and seek to impose their will on others.  History often bares this out but as a society we are so self important we believe that because we are involved, this time it will be different.  It will not be different, for there is nothing new under the sun.

Let me give you some examples:

Individually, we know if we work very hard for something we value it more than if someone just gives it to us.  Examples in the Macro - public housing vs. private neighborhoods.  Have you ever seen pictures of new public housing and then a retrospect of what the same housing looks like 10 years later?  It is shameful, but demonstrates the point.  If you are "given" a home you do not have to work for or earn, what insentive do you have to take care of it?  None!  If given a choice, which would you choose, where would you live?


Evolution vs. Creation - in Creation the beginning is God.  In Evolution they can not tell you the beginning.  If you can not start with the first atom and explain where that came from, everything there after is based on a false premise and is then applied to the world and the universe at large.

Sincere and honest belief makes something true, truth is individual, and should be tolerated as equally valid.  This premise is applied to the macro of "personal faith" all the time, but it is ludicrous when applied to the micro.  If I sincerely believe that the plate of potato salad in front of me is a steak sandwich no matter how sincerely I believe it, it does not make it true.  If I sincerely believe that Ronald McDonald is the son of God does my sincere belief deserve the same respect as those who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God?

Truth is relative - If I sincerely believe I am an alien from Ork does that make it so?  No, it only sends me to a mental hospital!  If a rapist believes he is making love to a woman and that there is nothing wrong with that, does that make rape okay?

Communism vs. Free Enterprise - Communism ALWAYS fails in the micro and the macro.  It is only in the minds of the Utopians where it doesn't.  Unfortunately, there are enough mislead and deceived souls out there that will ignore history, ignore real world examples, and continue to live in LaLa Land.

Thus, I have briefly demonstrated the point that if something is not true at all levels then it can not be true at any level.  We must reject the lies and insist on the truth.  We must stop "tolerating" irrational suppositions and shine the light of sense, reason, and logic on the things that are only true in someone's mind.  We must stop supporting policy and regulations that seek to ignore human nature and impose a misguided vision on those they seek to help.  It is time my friend to stop humoring those who believe the lies and it is time to start speaking the truth.

Sep 3, 2010

Bring Back DDT - How the Green Religion is Killing People

Abigail and Dolley readers I am not a scientist or an entomologist.  Heck, I think I know the word entomology from watching CSI and Bones!  I first became aware of the DDT ban and devastating effects to the 3rd World and the bed bug explosion several years ago.  A group of my friends went to a brand new hotel at the beach and ran into them.  It was horrible!  They were all completely freaked out and even I (who was not on the trip) became obsessed with these nasty blood sucking creatures.  Being "Dolley", I of course started doing a bunch of research.

I actually came across this video from Stossel while doing Global Warming research, but it is an excellent example of how junk science adopted for political purposes can cost you a fortune, but more important contribute to the deaths of innocent people.  The portion about DDT starts about 1:40.



I have written extensively on the Religion of Environmentalist and if you care to check out back posts that link will take you to my musings on the subject.  Let it be sufficient to say that at their core, Environmentalist love the Earth and hate you.  You consume resources and your very breath is pollution and destruction.  That is their worldview.  Thus, it should not surprise anyone to learn that, one Environmentalist admitted that the primary problem with DDT is that it reduced the incidence of malaria in the developing world and thus increased the population.

That's right folks, it wasn't the safety of the chemical it was "Big Environment" deciding that kids in Sri Lanka did not deserve to live.  60 million people have died of malaria since 1972 because of the ban on DDT, that is 10 times more than died in the Holocaust.  Many of these deaths were children... as a Mother I can not imagine the horror of 1 let alone 60 million.

Now we have Bed Bugs and God forgive me, but I hope they invade every environmentalist home in the country.  I hope these nasty critters suck the blood from these Greenies as they have most certainly played a role in the deaths of these innocent people.  They will sing a different tune if it is THEIR children waking up with bites and thousands of dollars of extermination bills and loss of bedding, clothing, and carpets.  This is small in comparison to the mother in Africa whose child won't wake up ever again.

Perhaps it takes a bit of discomfort in our own lives for us to wake up and realize that we need to undo an egregious error.  We need to bring back one of the safest, cost effective, and efficient pesticides known to man.  Kill the bed bugs and kill the mosquitoes!  BRING BACK DDT!

Facts and research for this blog came from the below sources.  I encourage you to do your own investigation:
Howard Stern Says Bring Back DDT
New-Yorks-bedbugs-vs-Africas-malaria-crisis
Bring Back DDT and Science With It!
Bring Back DDT
1 in 10 New Yorkers Have Bed Bugs

Sep 2, 2010

Never Gonna Stand For This - New Patriots Anthem

Abigail and Dolley readers enjoy.

Obama Just Does Not Have This & That is Sad

Abigail and Dolley readers I have been fascinated by the rise in the polls of the popularity of GWB in recent months.  From the fact that his approval ratings are up 20 points since April, to the Democratic poll that found that in Ohio 50% to 42% would rather GWB be President right now over Obama; all of these signs point to the fact that absence does indeed makes the heart grow fonder.  Liberal commentator, Mark Shields, recently warned Democrats against continuing to vilify GWB as the Boogie Man because he was such a classy former President and a decent guy - it is going to back fire on them and indeed it appears that it has.

So I was cruising around You Tube today and watching interviews with GWB and was drawn especially to the ones he gave as he was just about to leave office.  He is not surly or angry or lecturing about how the American people have turned on him.  He is not defensive or full of condescension toward his detractors.  He does not even seem particularly anxious about his legacy or what people will write about him.  He is pleased with the job that he did and states emphatically when he gets home, he will look in the mirror and be proud.  This man deserves our thanks and our honor for serving his country.

One of the videos I watched was actually the first joint interview that 41 and 43 had ever given and it was with Brit Hume.  Upon observing this, my heart broke.  It broke because of the love and affection between these two men and the foundation for which GWB was drawing to serve with such dignity and honor.  It is a stark contrast to our current President, who is Fatherless.

Obama does not have a Dad to call and get the unconditional love that GWB speaks of that a President needs sometimes.  He did not have a role model or a good mentor to give him a basis or character and foundation.  He is an injured and scarred man who lacks the fundamentals of character to be able to stand within himself and his own character.  It is so very sad and so very scary to realize that the current President is no where near the stature of these two and we are all the worse for the abandonment of him by his father.