adamsweb's blog

Well, as the floor debates goes forward on the Alito Nomination, things are looking good: 54 Yeas, 31 Nays, 15 votes out there. Thanks to California Yankee for keeping tabs on the vote count.

So far, no Republican has broken ranks to oppose Alito and Senators Byrd, Johnson, and Nelson (D-Ne.) have broken ranks to vote for the nomination. The Democrats are taking this calmly, just listen to this one left wing blogger:

tim johnson (d-ne), robert byrd (d-wv) and ben nelson (d-ne) are all dead to me for voting for the nomination of samuel alito.

read more

Yogi Berra once said, "Baseball is 90% mental, and the other half's physical." The same thing is true about saving money and frugality.

Its possible for anyone to run around to different stores and find cheap stuff online, but we rarely do it unless we understand WHY we're doing it. Saving money is 90% mental and to save more money, you have to begin with some thought.

You Can't Have Everything

First thing you have to do is get the idea out of your head that you can have everything. You can't buy new cars every year while spending more than what you earn while putting nothing into your 401(k) and hope to retire at 40 unless you win the lottery. (And Financial Plans that include winning the lottery need to be rethought.)

read more

In the light of the Abramoff scandal, there are many calls for reform. However, rather than making things better, it will as many past reforms have done, make things worse.

Take for example, the John McCain and the Campaign Finance Reformers told us that there was too much money in politics, and this was the reason behind the McCain-Feingold legislation. However, what they did not eliminate was the NEED for money.

There are two reforms that I believe are vital to making sure Congress works better.

You Get What You Pay For

Congressmen earn $162,100 per year which is a jaw-dropping figure for most Americans. Indeed many self-styled government reformers propose Congressional Pay as a good cash cow to slay. As good as it might feel to stick it to Congress, even if you made the Congressman position itself a volunteer position, it would save a mere $87.6 million in Salary, which would do nothing about our debt or deficit.

read more

From The New York Daily News there's a story about New York becoming the abortion Capitol of the Country (Hat Tip: Tidbits and Treasures:

For every 100 babies born in New York City, women had 74 abortions in 2004, according to newly released figures that reaffirm the city as the abortion capital of the country...

That means 40 out of 100 pregnancies in the city ended in a planned abortion - almost double the national average of 24 of 100 pregnancies in 2002, estimated by the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a Manhattan-based nonprofit group that researches reproductive health issues.

read more

You can listen to the Podcast here. I rarely prewrite these, but this one I felt a strong compunction to write and I've posted the transcript below. Click here to listen to the podcast. Here's a related post by another blogger in the same vein.

Welcome to the Adam Graham Program. You can e-mail me at or visit my blog at http://www.adamsweb.us/blog

This week I've realized something about America. In separate discussions over assisted suicide and sex before marriage, I've found out that we've gone quite a ways from the nation founded by men who pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to the cause of liberty. We've become a land where pleasure is king and pain for any reason is out.

read more

Peakah has a post talking about some conflicting views on assisted Suicide in light of the Supreme Court decision ruling that the Attorney General can't use Drug Control regulations. It’s a thoughtful piece worth a thoughtful response.

Regarding the Ruling itself, Bryan Fischer at Idaho Values Alliance has a pretty good analysis of it, particularly in light of Judge Thomas' dissent:

In a separate dissent, Clarence Thomas pointed out that yesterday’s decision is at odds with a recent Supreme Court ruling regarding medical marijuana use. In the Oregon case, the Court ruled that state law trumps federal law – with regard to assisted suicide. But in the marijuana case, it ruled that state law does not trump federal law.

read more

Tonight, the Watoto Children's Choir performed at my church. The children's choir from Uganda is composed of children who lost their parents to the AIDS pandemic or wars in Uganda. It was moving to see their testimonies.

I had several thoughts during the course of the concert. The first is how lucky those of us who were born in America are. Though, we have problems, they're nowhere near as severe as faced by those in Uganda and much of the Third World. We may have to worry about money for college or having "enough" health care, yet Ugandan children face situations where one or both parents dies of AIDS and they are left to struggle on their own or deal with extended families that are strained to the breaking point by AIDS orphans.

read more

From Basil's Blog, yet another Meme, here we go:

FOUR JOBS YOU'VE HAD IN YOUR LIFE

1) Tech. Support Agent
2) Tutor
3) Newspaper Reporter
4) Taco Bell Crew Person

FOUR MOVIES YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER

1) The Patriot
2) The Inspector General
3) Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
4) Rocky and Bullwinkle

FOUR TV SHOWS YOU LOVE TO WATCH

1) Dragnet
2) Touched by An Angel
3) Batman: The Animated Series
4) Green Acres

FOUR PLACES YOU'VE BEEN ON VACATION

1) The Living Room
2) The Kitchen

read more

From The Scotsman we have the story of Muslims wanting a Catholic School to start teaching Islam. (Hat Tip: Starboard).

The Campaign for Muslim Schools said 90 per cent of pupils at St Albert's Primary, in the Pollokshields area of Glasgow, are Muslim, yet children are having to take part in Catholic rituals like saying the Lord's Prayer and attending mass.

Osama Saeed, co-ordinator of the alliance of Glasgow's main mosques and Muslim organisations, said he could see no reason why the main faith of the school should not change.

read more

This is the first of a series I'm going to write on saving money. Now, I'm not rich by any means, but my wife and I live comfortably on my income, which is no small task. I can't tell you how to get rich, but if you can avoid being swept away in the middle class, you'll be well on your way. So, its the goal of this column to find ways to save you money.

The age old financial advice is to clip coupons to find great buys at competing groceries stores. For areas that have Wal-Mart Super Centers, this advice is becoming out of date. In my area, Wal-Mart's normal prices often beat the prices of competitiors such as Albertsons and Fred Meyers even when there's a sale. Of course, the goal of a store in holding a sale is to make up the price of what they basically give away in the sale with you purchasing other high priced items.

read more

I came across a post by a nice young lady about remaining a virgin until marriage. Another person Blogged a response strongly objecting to the idea of waiting until marriage and even marriage itself. Accordingly, here's my response:

let me explain myself a little. as far as i understand, marriage is a contract which was initially created to ally not only 2 people, but rather 2 family fortunes into one, and thus strengthen a patrimony.

read more

Democrats are salivating over the possibility of Congressional Republicans suffering in the wake of the Jack Abramoff scandal. Unable to win on the merits, Democrats hope to drive a scandal-ridden majority from power. After all in the early 90s, the House Bank Scandal cost Democrats control of the House while the Keating Five Scandal did them in the Senate.

Well, not exactly. The Democrats lost nine seats in the House in 1992 (due in part to redistricting) and the only Keating Five Democratic Senator to seek re-election won it. As such, the talk of a Republican collapse in this scandal (in which John Kerry accepted $80,000+ of Abramoff linked cash) is little more than inconsequential Beltway banter.

read more

From The San Francisco Chronicle we have word that pro-choicers aren't too happy:

Bay Area abortion-rights activists say a Roman Catholic group's advertisements on hundreds of BART trains and in scores of stations -- attacking the Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade decision and asking "Abortion: Have we gone too far?" -- have gone too far in a region known for its progressive politics.

Many of the ads have been torn down or defaced since the campaign began three weeks ago.

"I think every woman has noticed them,'' said Suzanne "Sam" Joi, a member of Code Pink, a social justice and anti-war group. "I couldn't believe BART would allow something like this. Why are they doing this?''

read more

Be strong and of a good courage, for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land which I swore unto their fathers to give them.

Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses My servant commanded thee. Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.

This Book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein. For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

read more

I check out the Freelance Writing Job Bank in search of writing opportunities. I've found some interesting prospects, but then there are others like this one:

Headline: Review witers wanted immediately!!

-Hmmm looks like Elmer Fudd did this on a computer that talks when you type.

I am looking to hire a couple of review writers to write reviews on specific topics.

-How very specific of you. Mind telling us what these specific topics are? Or would that spoil the surprise?

read more