Review: Fireproof

2008/PG/Drama

(I've done my absolute best not to include any spoilers in the following review. )

This the third installment from the church in Georgia that made Flywheel and Facing the Giants. Kirk Cameron (from Growing Pains fame) plays Caleb Holt. He's a firefighter who never leaves his partner behind in a fire, but can't seem to keep his partner happy at home. Facing divorce, he takes forty days and participates in "The Love Dare," a process by which he increasingly shows his soon-to-be ex-wife that he loves her, even though she returns zero affection back to him. In the meantime, she's getting a little friendly with a co-worker and believes that her soon-to-be ex-husband's attempts are simply a plan to butter her up so he can keep the house.

I'm going to give my overall feeling first, then elaborate on it:

Fireproof was adequate.

There was nothing amazing about the movie, it had it's bright spots and it had it's stab me in the eye with an ice pick moments. But overall, it was adequate.

If I hadn't known better, I would have assumed this was a written and directed by first film. The script was clearly never viewed by a fresh set of eyes and the ones that wrote it probably only revised it once. It definitely could have used a rewrite, especially by someone other than the writer, someone who wasn't in love with certain lines or scenes. The movie opens with a "Because-we-can" crane shot yet includes a fairly convincing fire scene. As with all films slapped with the "Christian" label, this one rents a billboard with it's salvation scene, yet handles the fact that Caleb is addicted to pornography with tact and subtlety. So much so that it lead one reviewer to believe that it was being played as a small marital problem.

Nothing could be further from the truth. In this situation, it's simply the difference of how the characters handle their anger, hurt, and frustration. In the bigger picture, I have the opposite complaint with Christian films as I have with Hollywood. While Hollywood takes their message and buries it in story, Christian movies kill their story by slamming a salvation sermon in the middle of it. The pornography was dealt with expertly: It was never mentioned "by name" but everyone knew what was going on. Pay attention next time you are watching a great movie: You come into conversations mid-stream and are forced to play catch-up. You have to deduce what is being discussed. That is how this was portrayed and it was well done. The Caleb Conversion scene, however, was another story. All that was needed was for Caleb to say "How am I supposed to show love to somebody over and over and over who constantly rejects me?"; see the cross then cut to the "I'm in" scene between he and his friend, Michael. We understand the point, we assume the decision, we see the reaction. I will say, though, that this was one of the tamest and most well-acted conversions that I'd seen in recent memory. No tears, no "sinners prayer," no crying out to God.

Yes, most of the acting left something to be desired (Kirk Cameron and Ken Bevel being the notable exceptions) and yes, their "twists" were predictable (with one brief moment of surprise) and yes, the movie came off as preachy. But it did have its good parts. The juxtaposition of what Christ did for us and how Caleb's wife was treating him was inventive and powerful. And I was very glad to hear a movie finally say "Don't follow your heart. Lead it." Too much of Hollywood (and our culture) is the "if it feels right" "follow your heart" crap that leads to shirked responsibilities, broken marriages, and poor decisions.

You can read other's opinions on Fireproof here and here.

While not on par with the great movies of our time, Fireproof warrants a viewing. It has a good message and, for the most part, is palatable. If you don't expect much, you'll be pleased.

(The book "Love Dare" was written after the movie was finished. Normally I'd hold that against the film but Kirk Cameron didn't get a fee for his performance, he simply accepted a donation to his camp Camp Firefly. These two events cancel each other out.)

2 out of 5 stars.

One one final note. I'm pleased to report that Fireproof earned twice as much as Religulous. Take that Mr. Bill "I'm-smarter-than-God" Maher

Things That Make Me Go "Huh?"

General

Parents letting their teens have virgin alcoholic drinks.

Nothing like encouraging your children to drink. Strawberry Daiquiri? Sure, without the liquor. And what do they do when mommy and daddy aren't there? I wonder...

I saw this at Target:

How hard can they be?

Regardless of what you are doing, if your phone rings it is suddenly the most important thing in the world.

People could be having a heated argument, eating dinner, or watching a movie. It doesn't matter. When that phone rings, the world stops. People will get out of the shower to answer the phone. And call waiting compounds this. A few minutes ago, the person on the line was most important, but now someone else is calling and they are more important that the current caller.

Obama

"Obama vows to cut huge deficit in half" -Politico.com

How? By spending trillions of dollars that we don't have? By sending 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan? I think he failed to mention that if you make over $150,000 a year you can expect your taxes to increase by 80%. (Actually, the truth behind this statement is that he's vowing to cut the projected deficit. See, the projected deficit includes his current spending and projects out from there. He's not really promising anything.)

"'Global War On Terror' Is Given New Name" -The Washington Post.

Change is change, right? We may be increasing the number of troops in Afghanistan, but at least we changed the name of the war! Now it's the "'Overseas Contingency Operation." Once again the brilliant rhetoricist has come through. "Contingency": 1. An event that may occur but that is not likely or intended. 2. The condition of being dependent on chance; uncertainty. 3. Something incidental to something else. So it sounds good, but it doesn't exactly instill confidence in me! Incidental? Uncertainty? Unintended? What are we doing over there?

Sports

$2.5 Billion dollars is wagered on the NCAA Tournament.

This is overshadowed only by the Super Bowl. Why do sports nuts risk their hard earned money on an untested group of 18-22 year-olds who notoriously crack under pressure?!

The NFL resists putting a salary cap on first round draft picks.

These college students have never played a down in the NFL but they are signing for more than seasoned veterans make? Who was the last 1st rounder to actually earn their millions? Just like with any other company, there should be a starting salary and you can go up from there.

The NFL considers expanding to 18 games.

See the post below...

Two More Games

At their annual meeting, the owners of all of the NFL teams are considering adding two more games to the NFL regular season moving it from a 16 games season to 18 games.

This is a terrible idea!

The original plan was to take two of the four preseason games and make them count. However, coaches felt they wouldn't be able to give prospective starters a fair shake if they lost two of the preseason games so this idea was scrapped. But not the whole idea. Now they are talking about adding these games to the end of the season.

Here's why this idea is for the birds (and I don't mean the Cardinals, Falcons, Eagles, Seahawks, or Ravens).

First and foremost: Injuries. The human body can only take so much punishment even if you are in prime condition. Compound that with the fact that a hit week sixteen is exponentially harder to take than a hit week one. Now we are talking about week 17? Week 18? With a hit week 18 being like 3 week two, this would also shorten the careers of players even more. Instead of being football-ancient at 30, now running backs have to hang up their cleats at 28. Imagine what that would do to players salaries! They already claim they need to make millions upon millions because their tenure is so limited. With an 18 week season, it would be even more so.

Second: Exposure. There is no question that the NFL has taken over from Major League Baseball as America's favorite game. Why is that? It has a reasonable season length. Or rather, it has the perfect season length. Every game in the NFL is a must see game. Every win is important. Every loss is crushing. What do people say about the other three major sports? Their seasons are too long! Let's compare them:

MLB

Regular Season...162 games
Playoffs...........11 to 19 games to win the World Series
Months playing...April to October
Total games......173-181

NHL

Regular Season...82 games
Playoffs...........16 to 28 games to win the Stanley cup
Months playing...October to May
Total games......98-110

NBA

Regular Season....82 games
Playoffs............16 to 28 games to win the Championship
Months playing....November to June
Total games.......98-110

NFL

Regular Season...16 games
Playoffs............3 to 4 games to win the Super Bowl
Months playing....September to February
Total games.......19-20

Why would they want to start down the road that leads to disinterest? Why did the XFL and Arena football leagues fail? Because football is 16 hard fought games and a short Championship tournament. That's why.

Finally: Money. How does money make this a bad idea? Because that is what is fueling the push for this change. If the NFL expands it's season by two weeks, not only would we have the Super Bowl on President's Day, but the league could charge more for the network and satellite contracts (The most recent of which had the Satellite NFL provider paying the NFL $1 Billion per year!)! The owners could charge more for season tickets. They may end up alienating more fans with their money grabbing ways (see NFL Network) just like baseball did by taking Friday Night Baseball off of free TV.

Keep the season at 16. Accept your $1,000,000,000 per year and be happy.

Kings is Not

*Forgive me, I've been trying to get this posted for a week!*

NBC's new show "Kings" is actually 1 Samuel, not the book of Kings.

The Queen of Hearts and I were first suspicious as we watched the previews for this new series. Our suspicions were confirmed when we watched the two hour premiere episode:

The main characters:

• David Shepherd

This is the up and coming star of the country.
1 Samuel 16:11. David, the future king of Israel was a shepherd.
• King Silas Benjamin

He is the current king whom God annointed by causing butterflies to encircle his head as a living crown.
1 Samuel 10:1. Samuel annoints Saul king of Israel.
1 Samuel 9:21. Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin.
• Nathan Samuelson

This man is a mysterious religious figure. He is the combination of the prophet during King Saul's time (Samuel) and David's prophet (Nathan).
1 Samuel 10:1 Samuel was the prophet to Saul.
2 Samuel 7:17 Nathan was the prophet to David.
• Michelle Benjamin

King Silas' daughter.
1 Samuel 14:49 Saul's daughter's name was Michal.
• Jack Benjamin

King Silas' son.
1 Samuel 14:1 Saul's son's name was Jonathan.
• Jesse Shepherd

David's mother's name is Jesse.
1 Samuel 17:12 Jesse is David's father.
• Eli Shepherd

even the brother of David is the same.
1 Samuel 17:28. The Biblical David's brother's name was Eliab

Places

• Gath

This is the neighboring country that King Silas' army is fighting.
1 Samuel 17:4. Goliath is from Gath
• Shiloh

King Silas' capitol city is called Shiloh.
1 Samuel 4:4 Shiloh was the place where the Arc of the Covenant was brought

Events

• Goliath

David defeats a tank called Goliath in an attempt to rescue the King's son from captivity. David defeats a giant called Goliath
1 Samuel 17:50 David defeats Goliath
• Parade

When peace is reached the city has a parade primarily honoring David, secondarily honoring the King.
1 Samuel 18:7 The Israelites sang, "Saul has slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands"
• Courtship

David is falling for Michelle, the king's daughter (and vice versa).
1 Samuel 18:20 Saul was pleased that Michal was in love with David.
• Music

David is a musician, he plays the piano.
1 Samuel 16:23 David plays the harp.
• God's favor

Silas is annointed king by butterflies. When he reenters the war he looses God's favor. Samuelson tells him that God will chose "a man after Hisown heart." David is given his own crown of butterflies annointing him as the next king. Silas sees this and is trying to have David killed.
1 Samuel 15:26 Saul loses God's favor.
• Annointing

Silas was annointed by the crown of butterflies. David was annointed the same way. However, before the butterflies, David was visited by Nathan Samuelson and David fixed his car. Nathan wiped away a smudge of grease from David's forehead with his thumb. Lit from behind, this was a classic annointing pose.
1 Samuel 16:1 The LORD sends Samuel to annoint David.

The reason I mention this is two-fold:

First, during the previews when the Queen of Hearts and I were growing suspicious that this show was in fact Saul and David, one of the quotes from the critics was "Innovative." I had to chuckle. Innovative? This story has been told for 3000 years! (My pastor pointed out that they may have meant "innovative" in that no one has taken a Biblical story, set it in modern times, and made it into a TV series.)

Second, I wonder how many people recognize this story? 40 years ago, there'd be no doubt that the majority of the population would nearly imediately see the corilation. What's the percentage now?

I hope this series does well. Not only because I've kinda always had a soft spot for NBC, but because I think this is good for TV. Let's set Moses in the 1860's. Let's set Abraham in the wild west. Let's set Daniel during WWII occupied France. (This is fun!) Anyway. Watch Kings. Good writing. Good acting. Good story.

I wonder what season two would be? Solomon? (They'd probably call it Second Kings!)

The "Pepsi" Administration

Have you seen this billboard? Did you do a double take as you opened up Just My Opinion during your daily routine? (You need your JMO like your morning cup of coffee, right? Like the morning paper?)

I did a double take on my way to work a few weeks ago when I first saw this advertisement. It looked just a little to similar to this:


At first I scolded myself for assuming that Pepsi's advertising department would stoop to such blatant unimaginative levels as to plagiarize the President's symbol and slogan. But then I thought, "What does Pepsi give me in which I can place my hope?" Too much sugar in my diet? Aspartame? Pepsi One?

Ok, maybe they are simply wishing the President well. Maybe they buy into his messiah-like status and they just want the world to know. If that's the case, their billboard should say something to the effect of "We're behind you President Obama!" and then at the bottom "Sponsored by Pepsi." This sentiment also would not have required changing their logo. Also, if they were simply cheerleaders for our Commander in Chief then this campaign (and logo change) would have occurred following the election on November 4th.

As a good reporter should, I did a little research and found the following:
A) Pepsi altered their logo during the Presidential election (the first mention I found of it was toward the end of October 2008 (the 24th is the earliest reference I could find), when it began to look like Obama had it in the bag)
B) People were already noting the similarity between the new logo and the Obama logo before this billboard was erected.

But, maybe I'm crazy. Are they really trying to do what I'm alledging? Look at this progression:


Not so far fetched now is it?

The only conclusion that I could come
to was that they were hoping to tap into something subconscious in the American populous and ride the wave of Obama's rapidly declining approval rating. What's that website say? "Refresh Everything?" Yeah, except the originality of your advertising campaign. Maybe you should try "Got Pepsi?"

I think the aspect of this advertising campaign that irks me most is less that they've plagiarized from the Obama's graphic designers, but more along the lines of: Seriously, what does Pepsi offer that deserves our hope? Hope is a serious term. Hope is immense. People without hope end their lives and Pepsi is going to trivialize it by sticking their logo in the middle of the word? I understand hoping in government. So many people have ignored the real hope that we have in Christ that they cling to the "next best thing." Pepsi does not fit that bill!

I have met people who have no hope. They aren't turning to Pepsi. Nor shall I. Until this advertising campaign is ended, I will not be buying any Pepsi products (including but not limited to):
Pepsi, Pepsi One, Pepsi Max, Diet Pepsi
Mountain Dew, Mountain Dew Code Red, Mountain Dew Voltage
Mug Root Beer, Sierra Mist, Tropicana Twister Orange Soda
flavored and non flavored Propel and Aquafina waters
any and all SoBe drinks
Amp Energy Drink, No Fear Energy Drink
Brisk Tea and Lipton Tea, all variations
all Dole Juice Drinks Tropicana juice drinks
Bottled Starbucks Frappuccino, Canned Starbucks Iced Coffee
Gatorade and Gatorade G

After all is said and done, I couldn't help but wonder what Pepsi would have done if McCain had won...

Give It Some Time!

The Obama's have been in the White House for just over 50 days. That's less than three months. Let's take a look at some magazine covers and books that have already been out for a few weeks:














.......February 18, 2009 .........................February 4, 2009.......

















To quote Seth and Amy from SNL: "Really?" Do they really know what it's like to be a "White House" family? As of February 4th (15 days after the inaugeration), did Michelle really have some "secrets of a White House Mom" to share? Really? Two weeks later was there really an "Our life in the White House" expose that just needed to be reported on? Really? A children's book? Really? What educational value does speculating about the Obama's life in the White House hold for my eight year old? Really? I've had a daughter for alomst 6 months! Do I have some secrets to share on how to raise a girl? Really!

I have an idea: Let's let them be a family first. The President second. And celebrities third. Or, we could cut out that last part all together! That'd be just fine with me!

The Biblical Economist

I thought this was an apropos quote for what we are facing in these days and regarding the "solution" that has been proposed and enacted by our Federal Government:

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.

By Rev William JH Boetcker (Written in 1916) (9th quote in the link)

When plainly laid out in this fashion, to go against these observations seems to defy logic. Why are these tenets so hard to understand?

Not Gonna Mumbai it!

If you hop on over to The Queen of Hearts' most recent post, you'll read about the frustrating situation that is our home Internet.

In an effort to remove this consternation from our home, I've been calling about high speed Internet and various other solutions. I'm shopping around. Every time I call I'm transferred to a sales department filled with well trained people trying to get me to buy their product over the phone right then and there.

Allow me to provide a small hint to some of those companies:

DON'T OUTSOURCE YOUR
SALES
DEPARTMENT TO INDIA!
Nothing sets me against your company faster than a digital connection with someone with a thick Indian accent who is calling himself "Mike" or "Dave"! Maybe if you were to give me your service free of charge, I might consider it.

I understand outsourcing your customer service. Your customers already have your service, know what you provide and are probably mostly happy with it. Few people will cancel because the customer service has been outsourced. However, If you outsource your sales department you are outsourcing your first impression. Bad idea.

I will not purchase Direct TV nor will I patronize The Dish Network, both of whom attempted to sell me their product from India.

Employ Americans and more Americans will purchase your service.

Castle

ABC debuted a new show on Monday night called "Castle" starring Nathan Fillion (no relation that I'm aware of) and Stana Katic.

And as I'm watching this show I find myself pondering, "Do I want this show to succeed? Or fail miserably?" Following that thought I couldn't help but wonder why I'm concerned with the success or failure of this specific show! I don't care how "Private Practice" does. I have no opinion on "Boston Legal." I want "Grey's Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives" to crash and burn, but those are on moral grounds. So, why this show? I found myself exploring these possibilities:

Jealousy: I'm not too proud to suggest that this may be the issue. Here's someone successful in something that I once wanted to do. Would I rather it be me? Do I see his success as a barrier to my own?

Pride: Allow me to explain... I don't like Guy Pearce. When I was in Hollywood, it was suggested that we find an actor with whom we thought we shared some similarities. This would be a good gauge of the types of roles we could play well. Guy Pearce was one of my choices. I began watching his movies. I began to think that I could do a better job than he did. Yet he was successful and I was unknown. Is this why I have some conflicting desires for this show? Do I think I could play these roles better than Nathan?

The Future: It's always in the back of my head that some of my friends in show-biz will make it big someday and be thinking, "I need the perfect person to play this role!" Their minds will hearken back to a time long long ago and think of me... Let's say this happens. (Just humor me ok?) Can I use my name? Or, like Nicolas Cage (who's name is actually Nicolas Coppola, nephew to Francis Ford Coppola), will I have to change my name so people don't think I road in on the coat-tails of success of Nathan? You know, like Joan Cusack has done with her brother John. (Please ignore the fact that I'd be riding in on the coat-tails of success of whichever friend made it big and gave me a call.)

The Show: Is it the show? Am I not sure whether I want the show to fail or not because of it's content? Well, that can't really be because as soon as I saw previews for it I started dealing with these questions. Not only that, but I watched the show... and I liked it! It was intelligent. It didn't have a base foundation of sex like most new shows. The conflict between the two main characters was interesting. It's not the show.

I've seen a few other pieces that Nathan has been in. I first saw him in Saving Private Ryan (He was the first wrong "Private Ryan" who's brothers were in elementary school...) I can't say that he is commonly in roles that would be well suited for me. Hence Pride cannot be the issue.

Why would I be jealous of him and not Ewan McGregor or Ed Harris. I don't like watching actors succeed that I think are sub-par (see Keanu Reeves, Joaquin Phoenix, and Joan Cusack). But Nathan has given no evidence that he isn't a good actor. So it's not jealousy.

That leaves only "The Future." How dumb is that?! Somebody smack me and tell me it's over!

Nathan, I liked the pilot for the show Castle and I wish you a long and successful career!

"Increased taxes"

The mayor of Hartford gave his "state of the city" address recently. He said that he had to use two of the words that people never like to hear and politicians never like to say: "Tax Increase." Well, at least 50% of that statement is true.

We are in a recession that's "rivalled only by the great depression," as he put it. So, here we are in the worst economic situation since the 1920's, people are hurting everywhere: out of work, losing their homes, business struggling, prices rising... What's the solution?

Take more money from those who still have jobs? Yeah, that makes sense.

Actually, what it says is: The function of the government is more important than the financial security of your family!

What do these people do? These people who now have problems paying rent and buying food because more of their money is going to the government? Where do they turn? To the government!

Now the government has a deficit and, in an effort to correct that, they've caused more of a draw on their already depleted funds!

"No, you foolish blogger, we're only going to increase business taxes." There's a solution. Make sure that those businesses are definitely not able to hire new people. In fact, depending on how much the increase is, let's cause more people to be out of work. That's even less money coming into the treasury coffers and even more people relying on the government!

I have an idea! Lower taxes! Let people and companies keep more of their money. Fewer people drawing on the funds of the state. More companies able to offer work. More money going back into the economy in the private sector rather than being forced in by the politicians!

Truth be told, however, if you want to funnel a culture into socialism the way to do it is spend money you don't have and then force the people to pay for it later. Once it's paid for, they'll be so used to sending 40%, 50%, even 60% of their paycheck to Uncle Sam that they won't notice that the government has taken over the banking system, has an ownership share in the auto makers, and decides who has their house paid for by the government. Now... where have I heard that plan before?

Saying Goodbye

This is another two part post.

The first is saying goodbye to a faithful, valued mode of transportation.

We never named it, and when it was given to us the previous owners estimated we might be able to squeeze another two, maybe three years out of it. That was five years ago. So a new starter, two new distributors (Never EVER go to the Firestone in Bristol, CT), a new muffler, and a couple of oil changes later, it's time to say farewell.

With the work that's already been done on this vehicle, what could possibly force this car into retirement? Well, for one, it doesn't go in reverse. Secondarily, every now and then (mostly all of the time) the transmission slips into what is known as "safety mode." This is when it never shifts out of second gear because the computer is telling it that there is something wrong: No transmission fluid, mechanical problem, etc. We've had it looked at and none of these are the case. It was this very problem that causes it to no longer travel in reverse. When we would need to travel on the highway (remember, in second gear) we would throw it into neutral to drop the RPMs and coast for a while. Did you know that you can throw a 93 Honda Accord into reverse while traveling 65 mph once and have few ill effects? Yeah... you can't do it twice.

So, after a lifetime of 242,578 miles, on January 24, 2009 we parked the car for the final time. And now, the car in which we brought both of our children home from the hospital in now sits, resting comfortably in our drive way.

Why did we keep it? Read the next post to find out!

Saying Hello

Since January 24th, we've totally revamped our fleet of vehicles. We had a white '93 Honda Accord and a (borrowed) grey '87 Oldsmobile 98. Now we have a red '93 Honda Accord and a red '97 Eagle Vision.

Prayer works. Since I married the woman of my dreams we've owned four vehicles:
A white '93 Honda Accord
A red '93 Honda Accord
A red '95 Mitsubishi Mirage
A red '97 Eagle Vision

Three of these cars were given to us. I've prayed for free cars and God has answered.

Our most recent free car was the red '93 Honda Accord.

It's a standard. I like standards. Not only that, however, it recently reached an amazing milestone!

That's right. Three hundred thousand miles! That's quite a feat! And I think I can squeeze another, oh, hundred thousand out of it!

Here are our new cars!

The Vision
The Accord
We've kept the white '93 because, apart from the transmission, it's identical to the red one. If anything goes on the red Accord, we've got the part ready and waiting!

At one point we had over 1 million miles parked in our driveway!
'97 Vision:.......... 104537
'95 Mitsubishi:..... 154477
white '93 Accord:.. 242578
'87 Oldsmobile 98 : 247832
...the Vision needed some work
red '93 Accord:.... 300054
Grand total: ....1,049,478

I think we are finally at a place where we are both very happy with the cars in our drive way! And I don't think that's just my opinion.

Band Album Cover Game

I found this "game" recently and it is so adictive! You get to create your own band and produce your first album! (I have to give credit where credit is due. I found this game on this blog.)

Here's how it works.

First, you need to get your band name. To do this you visit Wikipedia and select a random article. Or you can click here: Random Wikipedia Article.

Then you need the name of your album. This comes from the Quotations Page and selecting random quotes. The final few words of the last quote is your album title. You can get there by clicking here: Random Quotes.

Next, you need an image for your album cover. Head on over to Flickr. Click on the "Explore" drop down menu and select "Interesting last seven days." The third image is your album cover. Or you can click here: Interesting Flickr Images

Finally, you assemble the peices together in a photoshop or paint program and you have your finished Band Album Cover!

Here are two of mine:




If you can find a way to get your album covers to me, I can add them in a future post!

This is too much fun, here are some more:







I couldn't resist! Here are more:





Happy cover making!

Here are a few from JMO readers!:
Dawn

"L"

The Queen of Hearts

Not the State of the Union I

President Obama made history a few nights ago by being the first African American President to watch House on Hulu in the oval office. Oh, he also gave a speech...

Is anyone surprised that:
A) I watched it?
B) I have some thoughts I'd like to share?

I've broken my thoughts into two posts so that it's not one big long post. My secondary thoughts are on the post below. Here is my main complaint with what President Obama had to say:

During his speech, the President set up a strawman. His thesis was that the choice the government had was between the stimulus package and inaction. This is false and incomplete.

He started this section of his speech by saying, "I don't believe in bigger government. However, a failure to act would ensure weak economic growth for years." True. However, our choices were not only $7 trillion in spending or inaction. We had other options.

History has shown us that the type of action that has been taken is not the best course of action. Instead of "weak economic growth" which is the Presidents prediction of inaction, he's saddled us with a period of rapid artificial economic growth followed by an extended recession because the economy will have further to rebound as it was relying on the government's money. Money that is no longer there. What do we do then? Go deeper in debt? Double the stimulus because we've fallen twice as far?

The Republican response was right on target. The solution to the problem is not bigger government, but smaller. Don't take more money with plans to spend like crazy. Offer tax incentives: A tax break for hiring people, a tax break to small businesses, lower income tax rates. Let the people use the money. If history has taught us anything, it's taught that people with money are more productive than government with money! Instead of increasing peoples' dependency on government we need to increase the United States' ability to prosper.

Please continue reading for my other thoughts on the speech.

Not the State of the Union II

Here are the remainder of my thoughts. Read if you like.

I have to say this: While watching everyone stand and applaud my eyes couldn't help but be drawn to a bright red jacket in the front row. It was Hillary and my thought was, "You know, Obama, Hillary wasn't elected for a reason! Why did you put her as Secretary of State?"

My jaw hung open for about 12 minutes after I heard the following line from the speech: "We have a recovery plan free of earmarks!"

Did he say "Free of earmarks"?! Hang on:

FreeDictionary.com states to earmark is "To reserve or set aside for a particular purpose."

That's pretty vague. Well, the government says: Earmarks: funds provided by the Congress for projects or programs where the congressional direction (in bill or report language) circumvents Executive Branch merit-based or competitive allocation processes, or specifies the location or recipient, or otherwise curtails the ability of the Executive Branch to manage critical aspects of the funds allocation process.

Whoa. Too much legalese. Give it to me in plain English.

Ok, Daniel Engber of Slate.com says, "No one can agree on the precise definition. In general, the word "earmark" refers to any element of a spending bill that allocates money for a very specific thing—a given project, say, or location, or institution. For example, if Congress passed a budget that gave a certain amount of money to the National Park Service as a whole, no one would consider it an earmark. But if Congress added a line to the budget specifying that some of that money must go toward the preservation of a single building—definitely an earmark.

Take another look at the stimulus package. Free of earmarks? The whole thing is earmarks. Every line item is an earmark! Come on Mr. President. We're smarter than that!

Let's take a look at your plans for the full economic recovery package. Let's look add up every program, shall we?
$10,000 Tax credit to purchase new home (2K for energy efficiency, 8K under new program. Approximately 480,000 new homes sold last year. Assuming identical results (unlikely due to the incentive) price tag for this program
.$4,800,000,000,000 Homeowner incentive plus:
...$819,000,000,000 Stimulus package
...$750,000,000,000 Bailout package for banks (could grow to 3 Trillion)
....$17,400,000,000 Auto Bailout package (could grow to 130 Billion)
.$1,000,000,000,000 in bad loans absorbed by government
....$50,000,000,000 to combat foreclosures
...$300,000,000,000 HOPE for homeowners program
.$7,736,400,000,000 Conservative Total Obama Spending.
$10,099,000,000,000 High Estimation Total Obama spending
Bear in mind this is not including the regular budgetary needs!

In case the zeros are too many: that's between $7 trillion 736 billion 400 million and $10 trillion 99 billion in spending. And the left's biggest complaint about the previous administration? Current cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Estimated to be approximately $600,500,000,000. 600 billion 500 million.

In other speech news: So much for withdrawal, huh? Increasing the number of troops, shifting them over to Afghanistan and expanding to include Pakistan? This isn't the same Obama that ran for President is it? Now it's 19 months before we are out of Iraq? That's not the figure I remember during the election...

I did agree with him on a few fronts:

The cost of healthcare is out of control. The solution? Not healthcare reform, rather a cap on malpractice law suits and regulation of the malpractice insurance. No more high premiums, no more high cost coverage, no more high cost coverage.

"Dropping out [of high school] is not only quitting on yourself, it's quitting on your country." Never thought of it that way. Well spoken and I agree.

If you've only read this post, don't miss my main thoughts on the speech in the post above!

Sign of the Apocalypse?

Streaming on the DMV news ticker on Saturday February 21st: The number one rented DVD that week:

"Fireproof"

Sitting at the DMV

I purchased a new car for my wife for her birthday. I mention that because it necessitated a trip to the DMV. I brought my little Full House with me. (Clarification: New for us, not "'09 new").

For some reason, though the DMV knows that it will always be full on Saturday(especially when it is closed the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday before), it only has about 45 seats in the building.

Taking a look at the wide variety of patrons to the DMV, how does anyone who is young and able-bodied sit in one of those chairs? I looked around and I saw numerous seasoned drivers, pregnant women, people with small children, people on crutches, and others who might warrant the privilege of a seat. Yet who is sitting in all of these places? Sixteen-year-olds getting their licenses. Strapping young men and women waiting their turn. I was holding a two year old boy and when a seat opened up I didn't feel right taking it because there were others more deserving than I who should have taken it. Who took it? A twenty something who moved quickest to sit down, even though there was an older couple eyeing the seat.

My trip to the DMV just goes to show the depths to which our society has fallen and the culture of utter selfishness in which we now live.

The 30 Hour Famine

Did you know that 26,000 children die every day of hunger and other preventable causes? That's 1 child per second for a 7 hour work day. That's basically the capacity of Fenway park. That's the equivalent of 300 school buses full of children.


X 300!



That is a massive number.

What can you do to help? You can participate in World Vision's 30 Hour Famine! The Youth group that I lead will be fasting for 30 hours (called a "Planned Famine") to raise money to provide food for children around the world. Donating just $1 for each hour I fast will feed a child for a month! And, due to government matching programs, every $30 I raise will feed 5 children for a month! If $30 is too much for you, a donation of $6 will feed a child for a month due to government matching. Want to feed two children for a month? $12 would take care of that. 3? $18. You get the picture.

If you would like to donate you can do so here. The group has set a very advantageous goal of $5000.00. Last year we raised $3000.00. Please help us reach our goal!

Quick Hits

Just another (usually unsuccessful) attempt at some brief thoughts on several subjects: I'll do the sports last so you can read until your interest wains.

President Obama: I'm realizing more and more just how much like Lincoln Barack is trying to be. This fully came to light when I looked at who Lincoln had in his cabinet. Lincoln was opposed by two other candidates during the general election and he was the underdog when it came to his own party's nomination. What did he do once he won? He appointed the man who opposed him in the primaries and the two men who ran against him in the general election to his cabinet. Now where have I seen that recently?

One major difference between Lincoln and Obama is that Lincoln seemed to realize that he was a steward of the country and its finances. It was his duty to properly manage the sacred trust bestowed upon him by the American people. He wrestled day and night when the war appeared imminent and continued to do so even during the conflict. The current president seems to believe he is the owner, rather than the steward of America and her fruits. He appears almost flippant about handing out billions of dollars that we don't have that don't belong to him. He is not being a conscientious steward of America's finances. History has proven that simply dumping money into the economy does not rescue it from a recession. For as much of a student of history as he is, it disappoints me that he doesn't seem to be aware of this. Perhaps he is acting simply to act because he would take much more criticism if he did nothing, even though Rutherford B Hayes and other statesmen have shown that sometimes doing nothing is best.

The Stimulus: The Stimulus package will not create jobs in the way we are meant to think it will. The jobs it is going to "create" are temporary and will be filled by people already working. There will not be 200 job interviews because they are extending highway 20 to intersect with I-25 in Colorado Springs. That work will be done by people already doing that work. The people out of work will remain out of work, the people working will work more.

Wells Fargo: It came to light recently that months after accepting a $25,000,000,000 bailout (I think the zeros help us understand just how much money this is) Wells Fargo cancelled a week long luxury trip to Las Vegas for some of its employees. This is the right thing to do, right? Well, it would have been had they not been pressured into cancelling when the trip came hit the media. And it would have been the right thing to do had they not then spent a ton of money taking out a full page New York Times ad whining about the fact that they felt forced to cancel their trip and oh their poor employees who deserved to be rewarded and now won't be. Yeah, because the only way to reward employees is with a week long luxury trip to Vegas. I guess with all the years I've been employed I've never been rewarded.

Newsflash to mortgage companies: It will never be like it was before. The sooner you learn this the better. You can't be so close to bankruptcy that you take $25 billion from tax payers and then decide that you have enough funds to have a lavish party. If you can have the party I want my money back.

Favre retires again:
Brett Favre announced recently that he is retiring for the fourth time. He didn't really mean it the first 3 times. During his interview a reporter apologized for her scepticism and he replied, "You don't need to apologize, you have no reason not to be sceptical." So, is it for good this time? He's injured which helps the yes side. But it's not career ending. Smart money has him announcing that he's playing for Tampa Bay by August.

A Rod tests positive for steroids:
There's some controversy surrounding this issue. In 2003, Major League Baseball did "anonymous" tests to see what percentage of players were using illegal performance enhancing drugs to see if there was a need for a comprehensive player testing program. The number was over 30% and due to some pressure from Congress because of MLBs special anti-Monopoly exemption they implemented the test.

A-Rod has not tested positive (as far as we know) since the official testing began. However, he was one of the players tested in 2003 when he was with the Texas Rangers and information has been leaked that he was one of those that tested positive. In a well scripted interview he admitted that he knew he was taking an illegal substance but did not know fully what it was.

People are saying that he shouldn't really be held responsible because the test was supposed to be anonymous. I heard Mike Golic of Mike and Mike in the morning on ESPN radio say, "What if you were taking what you thought was an anonymous test about how you felt about your boss? The information of what you said gets out and they fire you! What happened to the anonymous part?! This never should have come to light and A-Rod should not be punished for taking illegal steroids." Ok, here's the problem with that: A-Rod wasn't putting tacks on his Manager's chair, he was taking illegal steroids. The appropriate analogy would be "What if you were taking what you thought was an anonymous test about whether or not you were embezzling money from the company?" A-Rod wasn't just displaying poor sportsmanship, he was breaking the law.

Kudos to Commissioner Selig for considering altering the record books to no longer reflect those players that have tested positive for steroids. A co-worker said to me, "Consider this: You know that you can drive 90 on the freeway and there's no punishment. Not only that, but you'll get a huge chunk of cash if you do it. Are you gonna do it? Of course you do it. It's human nature." A punishment needs to be in place. So many baseball players are "stats guys" that this just might deter most of them from sticking a needle in their butt. "If I'm caught, it's as though I never played the game... No thanks."

There seems to be a pattern: a few days away from posting equals a multi subject post.

The Stimulus (Spending) Package

I just love it when my government lies to me.

Oh, wait, no I don't.

What is a "Stimulus Package" to me? Well, I see it like this: If you've given money to the government, we want to give some back so you can flood it back into the economy, thus stimulating it. Seems logical then, that the best way to do that is to provide funds to people and organizations that paid taxes and will put that money back into the economy. It might be smart to send it to people or places that will create jobs, or maybe even to begin programs that will generate more revenue in the future.

Looking at this list I am astonished that this is being called a "Stimulus" package. That would be like Congress ordering 20 new Stealth Bombers, 18 new nuclear subs, countless bombs and munitions and heralding it as the "Peace Bill!" This piece of... legislation is stuffed with the very thing that McCain wanted to remove to keep the budget balanced: Pork! (I don't know who in certain cities has pictures of Obama in compromising positions Maybe toking on a bong? [Right Phelpsie?...] but some cities are slated to receive crazy amounts of money! Los Angeles $4,301,000,000, St. Louis $1,131,500,000, Fort Worth $1,063,600, Cincinnati $333,548,000.)

In an effort to assist the Obama Administration in keeping their promise of transparency, here is a breakdown of only the heavy hitters in regards to what is included in the Stimulus Package that the house Democrats passed the other day. In the interest of discussion, I've withheld my personal feelings about which of these projects might actually be worth while and which ones should probably be tossed. In reading the list, I couldn't help but feel like there were certain politicians thinking "Well, the moneys there, let's try to get some!"

I was going to list all of the line items when I saw this web page. Florida alone has 1752 projects. So, here are the heavy hitters (I'll list them by state, most money to least in the heavy hitter categories) Have fun!:

Puerto Rico ($18,510,000,000)
• $17.5 billion for 100 new acres of energy efficient industrial zones in Cidra Puerto Rico.
• $500 million for solar water heaters for families in rural areas of Cidra Puerto Rico.
• $350 million for a rail system in Cagus Puerto Rico.
• $150 million for improving the track and getting land for little league parking in Cidra Puerto Rico.
• $10 million to construct a sports arena in Camuy Puerto Rico.

California ($7,258,000,000)
• $2.16 billion for the LA Solar Program in Los Angeles California.
• $750 million for a railyards tunnel in Sacramento California.
• $500 million for Los Angeles Port "Green" jobs.
• $500 million for the Green Jacobs port in Los Angeles California.
• $500 million for major street repair in Los Angeles California.
• $500 million for SHRA in Sacramento California.
• $450 million for a new police administration building in Oakland California.
• $350 million to rebuild the rail system in Los Angeles California.
• $300 million to build an airport parking garage in Oakland California.
• $291 million to replace buses in Los Angeles California.
• $275 million for transit upgrades in San Francisco California.
• $270 million to expand, upgrade or relocate 17 libraries in Oakland California.
• $246 million in tax breaks for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film.
• $55 million for water treatment plant in San Jose California.
• $50 million 280/880 interchange upgrade in San Jose California.
• $40 million to promote use of alternative fuels in Long Beach California.
• $20 million for the Oakland family land trust in Oakland California
• $1.5 million for state of the art traffic controllers in Hayward California.
• $500,000 to build a dog park in Chula Vista California.

Florida ($4,488,893,000)
• $2.463 billion for a 10.5 mile Orange line project in Miami-Dade Florida.
• $426.5 million for 2.4 mile Orange Line improvement in Miami-Dade Florida.
• $400 million for a seaport tunnel in Miami-Dade Florida.
• $352 million to construct a jail in Miami-Dade Florida.
• $300 million for SFECC extension in Miami-Dade Florida.
• $280 million for Miami Streetcar in Miami-Dade Florida.
• $267 million for a water/sewer plant in Miami-Dade Florida.
• $393,000 to buy patrol rifles in Pembroke Pines Florida.

Texas ($3,811,896,000)
• $600 million to improve Loop 820 within the North Richand Hills city limit in North Richand Hills Texas.
• $471 million to improve the T Rail in Fort Worth Texas.
• $386 million to construct a convention center hotel in Dallas Texas.
• $383.5 million for flood control in Fort Worth Texas.
• $350 million to build a convention center in Irving Texas.
• $350 million to build an office tower in Irving Texas.
• $350 million to build a new strip mall in Irving Texas.
• $246.54 million to build a bridge in Dallas Texas
• $200 million for the IH-35/IH-820 interchange in Fort Worth Texas.
• $190 million to expand the MetroRail Red line in Austin Texas.
• $127.5 million for the Waller Creek Tunnel project in Austin Texas.
• $40 million to upgrade the public safety radio system in Dallas Texas.
• $20 million to build a pedestrian bridge over a railroad in Dallas Texas.
• $18 million for a pipeline in Dallas Texas.
• $18 million to build a boardwalk around Lady Bird Lake in Austin Texas.
• $18 million for phase II of a Latino Cultural Center (design and construction) in Dallas Texas.
• $9 million to improve the Spinks Airport and Fire Station #42 in Fort Worth Texas.
• $6 million for vehicle detection stations in Austin Texas.
• $6 million for CW Ditto Golf Course Renovations in Austin Texas.
• $5 million for a water tower replacement in Allen Texas.
• $5 million to capture landfill gases and turn them into hydrogen and compressed natural gas (CNG) in Beaumont Texas.
• $3.5 million for fire station #5 in Allen Texas. ($500 million nationwide for fire stations)
• $2.5 million for bike and pedestrian paths in Austin Texas.
• $2.278 million to build a two and a half mile trail in Dallas Texas.
• $2.278 million to build a two mile trail in Dallas Texas.
• $1.5 million to hire 20 new police officers in Dallas Texas.
• $180,000 for a full time Director for the Drug Task Force in Winnsboro Texas.
• $100,000 for the continuation of the bus program from Arlington Texas to Fort Worth Texas.
• $20,000 to purchase tasers in Winnsboro Texas.

Illinois ($2,974,500,000)
• $2 billion earmark to re-start FutureGen, a near-zero emissions coal power plant in Illinois that the Department of Energy defunded last year because it said the project was inefficient.
• $950 million to replace the I-74 bridge in Moline Illinois.
• $22.7 million for upgrades between Chicago and Moline in Illinois.
• $1.8 million for runway repair in Schaumburg Illinois.

New Mexico ($1,500,300,000)
• $532 million for a solar plant in Albuquerque New Mexico.
• $418.3 million for a New Mexico Events Center in Albuquerque.
• $300 million to reduce congestion on I-25 interchange in Albuquerque New Mexico.
• $250 million for a Neighborhood Energy Generation Pilot in Albuquerque New Mexico.

Alabama ($1,318,800,000)
• $600 million for a solar plant in Anniston Alabama.
• $360 million for school renovations/construction in Mobile Alabama.
• $358.8 million for citywide infrastructure expansion in Prichard Alabama.

Missouri ($1,131,625,000)
• $900 million for the North/South Metro Link connection in St. Louis Missouri.
• $50 million to cover the transit system operating deficit in St. Louis Missouri.
• $45 million for maintenance/prevention on light rail in St. Louis Missouri.
• $35 million for fixed lane trolley development in St. Louis Missouri.
• $35 million for a bridge replacement in St. Louis Missouri.
• $33 million for streetscape in St. Louis Missouri.
• $16.5 million for Grand Avenue station and bridge in St. Louis Missouri.
• $15 million for I-70 bridges in St. Louis Missouri.
• $2 million for preparation for business park site in St. Louis Missouri.
• $125,000 to hire 5 police officers and buy 3 police cars for Wellston Missouri.

Ohio ($818,048,000)
• $250 million for a water waste treatment plant in Lorain Ohio.
• $200 million for a Light Rail system in Columbus Ohio.
• $132 million to create a streetcar network in Cincinnati Ohio.
• $67.18 million for water works infrastructure replacement in Cincinnati Ohio.
• $60 million for a City Street Network Rehabilitation program in Cincinnati Ohio.
• $25 million for Children's Hospital improvements in Columbus Ohio.
• $20.5 million for water works enhancement in Cincinnati Ohio.
• $10 million for flood control bank stabilization in Cincinnati Ohio.
• $8 million for Central Riverfront Street Grid in Cincinnati Ohio.
• $8 million for water works back up power and storage in Cincinnati Ohio.
• $7 million for White Pond Drive in Akron Ohio.
• $6.8 million to build an industrial building in Cincinnati Ohio.
• $4.5 million to build the Corryville Parking Structure in Cincinnati Ohio.
• $4.267 million to renovate the Crosley Building in Cincinnati Ohio.
• $3.5 million for interconnected traffic control system in Cincinnati Ohio.
• $2.46 million to plant trees in Cincinnati Ohio.
• $1.5 million to reduce prostitution in Dayton Ohio.
• $1.5 million for roadway improvements in Cincinnati Ohio.
• $1.2 million for the upgrades to roofs (including green roofs) in Cincinnati Ohio.
• $1.145 million for the 12th & Vine Streetscape in Cincinnati Ohio.
• $1 million for traffic and pedestrian improvements at Liberty Street in Cincinnati Ohio.
• $1 million for power generators on landfills in Lorain Ohio.
• $796,500 for "green" storm water management for public schools in Cincinnati Ohio.
• $600,000 for a streetscape in Cincinnati Ohio.
• $100,000 for LED traffic lights in Cincinnati Ohio.

Mississippi ($601,099,600)
• $600 million to create an African American Heritage trail in Natchez Mississippi.
• $1 million to construct 25 houses for first time home buyers (including land acquisition) in Friars Point Mississippi.
• $99,600 for doorbells in Laurel Mississippi.

Georgia ($581,000,000)
• $500 million for a new terminal at the Atlanta airport in Georgia.
• $81 million a midtown to downtown streetcar line in Atlanta Georgia.

Maryland ($502,650,000)
• $500 million for building and repairing National Institutes of Health facilities in Bethesda, Maryland.
• $2.65 million for a program to train residents on how to reduce their carbon footprint in Annapolis Maryland.

Louisiana ($419,000,000)
• $288 million for I-49 North in Shreveport Louisiana.
• $76 million to expand Baton Rouge River Center in Louisiana.
• $55 million for park development in Baton Rouge Louisiana.

Indiana ($351,500,000)
• $301 million to renovate schools in Fort Wayne Indiana.
• $50.5 million for bike paths and pedestrian ways in Indianapolis Indiana.

Alaska ($75,621,000)
• $75 million for the Port of Anchorage Expansion in Anchorage Alaska.
• $621,000 for intercom upgrades in Anchorage Alaska.

Wisconsin ($4,550,000)
• $1.05 million to create a bike trail in Madison Wisconsin.
• $3.5 million to replace 100 police cars in Milwaukee Wisconsin.

Virginia ($3,483,000)
• $3.45 million to repair sidewalks in Alexandria Virginia.
• $33,000 for T3 motion electric vehicles in Alexandria Virginia.

New York ($3,250,000)
• $1.5 million for streetscape and mill in Buffalo New York.
• $1 million to build an indoor soccer field in Hempstead New York.
• $750,000 for emergency bridge repairs in Buffalo New York.

Arkansas ($465,180,000)
• $465 million to renovate a terminal in Little Rock Arkansas.
• $180,000 for a flight information display system in Little Rock Arkansas.

Oregon ($61,000,000)
• $86 million for the construction of trails in Portland Oregon.
• $75 million for Streetcar extension in Portland Oregon.

Various other states ($1,504,235,000)
• $375 million to create a performing arts center in Las Vegas Nevada.
• $335 million for North Corridor Rail Line in Charlotte North Carolina.
• $290 million to construct 3.5 miles of railway in Mesa Arizona.
• $270.6 million to upgrade a tunnel in Detroit Michigan.
• $100 million to construct 4 lane divided highway in Sioux Falls South Dakota
• $16 million to subsidize upgrading the flood control system in Hartford Connecticut.
• $6 million to convert hybrid vehicles to plug in hybrids in Boulder Colorado.
• $4.3 million to build a veterans nursing home in Cleveland Tennessee.
• $4 million for renovation of historic train station in Seattle Washington.
• $1.3 million for Tunnel rehabilitation in Minneapolis Minnesota.
• $700,000 to construct a LEED certified town hall in Athens West Virginia.
• $700,000 for baseball viewing stands and concession upgrades in Salt Lake City Utah.
• $200,000 for a bathroom in Hopkinsville Kentucky.
• $150,000 for major home repairs in Lakewood Washington.
• $134,000 to purchase vehicles for Homeland Security.
• $100,000 for a traffic monitoring system in Lincoln Nebraska.
• $50,000 to build two dog parks in Lewiston Maine.

And here are some of my favorite nationwide/non state specific features ($20,234,500,000)
• $6 billion to turn federal buildings into "green" buildings.
• $4.19 billion for neighborhood stabilization activities supporting low-income advocacy groups (such as ACORN).
• $1.4 billion for rural waste disposal programs.
• $1.2 billion for Amtrak.
• $1.2 billion for "youth activities," including youth summer job programs.
• $1 billion for the 2010 Census, which has a projected cost overrun of $3 billion.
• $650 million for the digital television converter box coupon program.
• $650 million for wildland fire management on forest service lands.
• $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees.
• $500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River.
• $448 million for constructing the Department of Homeland Security headquarters.
• $412 million for CDC buildings and property.
• $400 million for the Centers for Disease Control to screen and prevent STD's.
• $248 million for furniture at the new Homeland Security headquarters.
• $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges.
• $160 million for "paid volunteers" at the Corporation for National and Community Service.
• $150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities.
• $125 million for the Washington sewer system.
• $110 million to the Farm Service Agency to upgrade computer systems.
• $100 million for reducing the hazard of lead-based paint.
• $88 million for renovating the headquarters of the Public Health Service.
• $88 million for the Coast Guard to design a new polar icebreaker (arctic ship).
• $75 million to construct a "security training" facility for State Department Security officers when they can be trained at existing facilities of other agencies.
• $75 million for "smoking cessation activities."
• $75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI.
• $25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction.
• $10 million to inspect canals in urban areas.
• $5.5 million for "energy efficiency initiatives" at the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration.

Remember, these are just the big ones! Illinois has over 1000 projects totalling well over $3 billion. Most of them are under $1 million. Wanna keep your own eye on the stimulus bill? You can do so here. Have fun!