Buffalo Dave

This terrorist attack attempt that we saw happen in Detroit on Christmas Day should reaffirm every American’s commitment to winning the war against terror.  It is evident that these no good terrorist sons of bitches are never going to stop trying to kill people that have done nothing to them in this lifetime.  Tell me.  What exactly did America do to this Nigerian S.O.B. who wanted to blow himself and everyone else on that plane to smithereens?

How is the United States and the rest of the world supposed to prevent these types of things from happening?  It is so damn easy to travel from country to country.  Can you imagine how bad it would be if the United States were on the same land mass as Africa?  Terrorists from the Middle East could ride here on their camels or in the back of their white Chevy pickups with gun turrets on the back.   At least they would be easier to spot.

As far as I see it there are really only three options here.

1)      All people of the world have to come to accept and respect differences in religion, thus becoming tolerant of religious differences. (How the hell is that going to happen?)

2)      Tolerant religions have to eradicate the intolerant ones from the earth (which in turn makes the tolerant ones become non-tolerant). It is a paradox.

3)      One intolerant religion has to take over the world and enslave or kill everyone else.

What other options are there really?  With modern technology it is way too easy for small groups of terrorists to wage war on a massive scale against the rest of the world.  Every year it becomes easier for them.  We have truly entered a new era.  The time has come when peaceful nations like ours are forced to exert brutality, unwillingly, against other intolerant people of the world in order to preserve our own existence for future generations of Americans that we hope will grow up to be tolerant.

Maybe someday mankind will reach a point where it can release this kind of energy by competing with one another for colonizing outer space instead of fighting senselessly over religion.  God help us if we can’t reach that point.

There seems to be a lot of class warfare in this day and age.  Poor people blame rich people for their circumstances in life.  Government takes from the rich and gives to the poor in an effort to make things fairer.   Some people think that everyone should be 100% responsible for saving for their own retirement.  Other people think that the government should provide for everyone who is retired.  Both systems are flawed to some degree. 

If everyone was 100% responsible for their own retirement savings, then you would have a lot more homeless old people who have made too many poor choices with their money throughout their lifetimes.  On the other hand, if government were responsible for providing for 100% of our retirement income, then we would likely pay more than 50% of our income in taxes.  Oh wait, some people already do that.

What if you could devise a system where everyone including the poor people were actually required to partake in some of the same habits as the wealthiest Americans do?  What if everyone was forced to invest money in American private sector public companies through DRIP (dividend reinvestment programs) or something similar?  By getting every single American invested into a number of public companies, you would be increasing the awareness of the average person.  Then maybe people would realize that profits are a good thing not a bad thing.  People would realize how important companies are instead of thinking that it is us versus them.

I am not sure how you would do this exactly.  I think this was part of the idea that the Bush administration had planned for social security at one point.  You would need to have a public option that allows people a chance to get a better return on investment.  At the same time you would need to have a fallback plan so that no person could over leverage himself to the point of retirement plan bankruptcy.  Could a system like this really work?

I just cannot believe that the Colts coach Jim Caldwell chose to pull Peyton Manning and the rest of the offensive stars in the third quarter.  There is no way they lose to the Jets if he doesn’t pull them.  This was a total fiasco.

Peyton Manning never gets hurt.  Was the coach really that worried about an injury?  Come on.

How many opportunities will an NFL team really have to go totally undefeated?  If I was a Colts fan, I would be raging mad right now.  Now I am just mad because they gave an easy win to the Jets who I would have like to have seen lose.  Seeing other AFC east teams lose makes me happy.

Thanks Caldwell.  You bonehead.

We went to the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra’s Holiday Pops concert Friday night with some other friends. I really look forward to this concert every year. As per usual, they did not disappoint us. The concert was excellent. It really gets you into the Christmas mood.

We had some outstanding prime rib at Salvatore’s original restaurant prior to the concert. The meal was fantastic and prepared perfectly. We also had a really nice bottle of Conn Cabernet Sauvignon from 2005. It is a Napa Valley Cabernet. I would recommend it to anyone who likes a full bodied Cabernet. This wine was really much better than we expected.

This year at the holiday concert we got seats close to the front. We sat closer than ever which was really cool. It is neat to see the violinists up close. JoAnn Falletta put together a great show that ended with a standing ovation. We got to see a special appearance by John Stevens who is the kid from East Amherst that made it quite far on American Idol. The guy has a great voice. I wish he would embrace the classic crooner style of Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby a little more. I think he would sell a lot more Christmas compact disks if he would just sing the songs the same way that those predecessors did. Nonetheless, his singing is top notch. He is just a bit too Jazzy for me.

There was also a gorgeous female singer there named Michele Ragusa. She is an absolutely lovely performer. We enjoyed her appearances very much. It is amazing how many high quality singers we get to see at these Holiday pops concerts.

If you have never been to one of these Holiday Pops concerts by the BPO, I strongly suggest you attend one. They are a terrific way to spend a classy night out with good friends. You won’t regret it. Whether or not Marvin Hamlisch is conducting, the show is always great. It has become a regular family tradition for us. We will continue attending the show every year so long as they keep giving this kind of outstanding performance.