Congress Bailing out Businesses

Congress today announced they have a bailout plan. On one hand - this is good news. My 401K may actually stabilize and do I dare hope - increase?

On the other hand, I'm not so sure this is a good thing.

I'm simplifying this, but here's some thoughts:
These banks are private businesses.
The employees of these banks (with management approval, of course) made loans to people with risky credit.
These people with risky credit defaulted and aren't paying back the loan
The banks are feeling the heat and don't have enough money
These businesses are now in serious financial trouble.
The government gives these private businesses that mismanaged their own finances OUR taxpayer money.

Does this really make sense? It may be best for the overall economy to stabilize these massive private banks, but if it is, what should happen to the bank executives? They are responsible for setting the policies that allowed sub-prime lending. They are responsible for making poor financial decisions.

I say we get rid of them and not pay them a penny for "golden parachute" clauses. Having an executive leave their position with millions in severance pay is ridiculous, especially since they ran these businesses into the ground.

What's really missing in this bailout plan is the repurcussion action. What actions do we need to take against those who are at fault? I'm not talking about the loan manager at the local branch - I'm talking about the strategic policy makers who set the line for what's accepted and what's not. They got us into this mess - they need to stand up and take responsibility, not our money.

My thoughts on this article: Parents Call For Coach's Firing After Sideline Confrontation

I just read the story titled “Parents Call For Coach's Firing After Sideline Confrontation”. Are these parents kidding? Are they completely off their rocker? Or perhaps, from a cynical view, are they are setting themselves up for some shyster ambulance chaser to represent them in a lawsuit?

I can't figure it out. Perhaps they see their son’s bad (and possibly illegal) behavior as grounds to become the next Warren Central millionaires? Or maybe they believe their son is special and should be treated like a china doll even though he was considered old enough and tough enough to engage in football – a sport that could be compared to a controlled physical fight? These parents have a ridiculous expectation and one that goes a long way towards explaining why some children today have no idea what its like to take responsibility for their own actions.

The parents should be grateful that the coach stopped unacceptable behavior before it did get too far. The parents should be glad that their son was taught an invaluable lesson, which is this: Football may be a game which increases testosterone levels and fuels raw emotions, but responsibility and respectability must be behaviors which are observed at all times. Sure, the coach grabbed him. Sure, the coach pulled him to the bench. That’s part of being a football coach and he was fully within his rights when stopping a player from crossing the line from playing a game of football to engaging in an all out fight.

Don't get me wrong. There are boundaries for coaches as well. Coaches have to be the FIRST role model for responsible behavior. In this instance, the coach did not cross that line. He acted human. He acted angry towards a player for acting so foolishly. He acted embarrassed on behalf of his other players and the school. He acted like a football coach who refused to allow his players take a game where skill and physical ability are prized and turn it into a stupid little childish grudge match.

My advice to the school: Don’t be intimidated by these parents. Stand your ground.
My thoughts to the coach: Thanks. Thanks, for caring about these kids enough to stop a situation that could have gotten much worse. Thanks for benching the kid for the game. Maybe he’ll think twice before he punches another player after the play is done.
My words for the parents: Stop being stupid. If you really think you’re child is that fragile, pull him out of sports and wrap him up in bubble wrap and duct tape before he leaves the house. If you don’t want to do that, let him take the full brunt of his own actions. Because what you’re doing now isn’t doing him any favors.

Football Coaches Do Not Cancel Games

It's been raining all day and without even thinking too much about it, I checked the high school website to see if the football game was cancelled due to weather. About noon - my caffeine kicked in and I realized what a tremendous waste of time my efforts were.

Football coaches do not cancel games! Baseball coaches will, track coaches will and all other kinds of normal individuals will. But - I've realized something over the years - football coaches are not normal. Quite frankly, they are nuts.

The first glimmer I had that football coaches didn't operate on the same playing field as the rest of us was about five years ago. Lucas was in a playoff game. It was scheduled for 8:00 pm on a cold November evening. It was about 45 degrees outside and it had been drizzling freezing rain for two days. And guess what? The game wasn't cancelled. It gets worse, though. Once the kids showed up, the coach gathered them all together and told them to go jump in the mud puddle and get as dirty as possible. My jaw dropped - it wasn't just muddy - it was FREEZING mud! They were going to be dripping mud before the practice even started! I gave a frantic look at the coach's wife. She returned this sad little headshake indicating that she really did try her best to domesticate the man, but when it came to football - it just didn't take. Outside of football, the man was a perfect gentleman and a genuine fun person.

They also don't think there's anything wrong with playing with major injuries either. If I ever heard a coach tell an injured player, "Get your behind back in the game. Your bone's not even sticking through the skin. Your sister could play better than you!", it wouldn't suprise me a bit. (OK - that's a *little* exaggeration there, but not by much!)

I think there's something inherent in football coaches that make it impossible for them to give in to any kind of challenge. First - it's the only outdoor sport I know of that is played into the winter. How many superbowls have we watched during snowstorms or freezing rain? Coaches LOVE that stuff. But, there's also an emotional aspect to it. It's a primal, raw, testosterone laden desire to not only kick the snot out of someone else, but when its done in less than prime conditions, you must get extra man-points or something.

I'm trying to procrastinate actually going outside right now. I really dread getting wet and cold, especially since I'm just getting over some bug my son gave me. Perhaps if I keep writing, they will all just leave without me and I can spend a quiet home tonight watching movies. Keep your fingers crossed. As for me - I'm sitting here praying that perhaps someday, some really smart scientist somewhere will come up with a pill to cure football coach insanity.

Cheer for number 57 (Twice!)

Football has started!
We had our first football games this past weekend. Luckily for me, both my kids are number 57 even though they're on two separate teams. Lucas is number 57 on the left hand side of the picture - they just started playing the game.

Lucas plays for a neighboring high school since ours doesn't have football. This means driving him to practices every single day, waiting for him to get done, then driving him home. It gets tiresome - LOL.....

Unfortunately, we didn't win either game. The Rockets (Lucas' team) were playing against the number 3 seeded team in their division and I really think they held their own very well against a much better team. It was almost like watching David and Goliath play. The Rockets have a total of 28 kids on their team - 3 of which are seniors. The Blue Devils (the opponent) has about 70 kids on their team - 22 of which are seniors! I'm proud of the Rockets, even though I'm sure their coach will keep pushing them to do better and achieve more.


Here's Michael before his game started. He's on a brand new team in our county. As far as I know, this is the first pee wee football team in our county for more than twenty years. The Cowboys joined a league based in another county, so we have to drive more than an hour to get to their games, although our practices are right in town. This just may be a great start for getting a football team in our own high school (wouldn't that be great?)

They also played a very good team in their league. During the first half of the game, they seemed nervous and missed a lot of opportunities. During the second half, though - they really came into their own and played great! Many of these kids have never played before, although a few, like us, took their kids to leagues in other counties in order to let them play. I'm very proud of them as well.

Overall - we're off to a great start and are looking forward to the hectic, but rewarding, football season.

My Freelance Writer Site

I have soft-launched my new freelance writer website and am so excited about how it looks. I still have a lot of work to do on it - adding content, keywords and more.

I used weebly.com to create the site and it's so easy. If you're looking for an easy to use web site creator for a basic web site, check them out. For my other sites, I have always used Microsoft's Office Live, but they wouldn't take my domain name because it has the word "bank" in it. Even thought it's part of my last name, they still won't take it because of fraudulent activities committed by others in the past. I think this is a horrible policy, especially since I've used them before and still do for www.mikebankscatering.com. Evidently, that got grandfathered in.

Feel free to check it out: www.lindajbanks.com

I *LOVE* this picture

This is a picture of my father-in-law Charles and my nephew, Zachary taken some 15 years ago. I used some picture editing software to make it look like a watercolor, but I think it is so neat.

Charles is now in the hospital in ICU. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Recipe Box: Apple Butter

Can also be found here: July 2008 Newsletter

Recipe Box –Apple Butter

Ingredients:
Apples, cooked until soft and strained – need 2 ½ quarts or 10 cups
5 cups white sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp allspice
½ cup lemon juice
1 qt apple cider

Directions:
Cook in oven at 350F for 3 or 4 hours or until thick stirring frequently.
Put in 7 pint jars.

Can be served with freshly baked bread, toast, bagels or crackers.

It also tastes wonderful as a side dish for most white meats and is especially delicious served warm on top of ice cream.