Washington D.C. or Bust.

Melissa, my lovely wife and I are about to celebrate our fourth (4^th) wedding anniversary. We are marking the occasion by spending a long weekend in our nations capital. It will be the first time that either of us has ever been there so needless to say we are very excited. This trip was planned a long time ago and as often is the case, when something is a long way off you tend to forget about it. However now that it is just around the corner and we have started making dinner reservations the trip is seeming more real and our excitement level is quickly rising.

One of the best parts of the trip will be the travelling to and from Washington D.C.. Normally I despise the travelling part as it is typically very stressful particularly with the delays, traffic and airport security. However for this trip we are travelling via Amtrak and have reserved a private sleeper car. I will write more about this in the future but if you have never traveled this way, you are truly missing out on a wonderful experience.

Fortunately for us in addition to all the normal sights our trip is during the Cherry Blossom Festival. Combine all of that with dining at a couple of places featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives and you have the making of an unforgettable trip. Melissa also takes a lot of pictures and then organizes them in a way that beautifully chronicles the entire trip. This makes for such pleasurable viewing for years to come, actually bringing the trip back to life. We can't wait!

Thank you Doug Lang

Border Security. What Am I Missing?

Can someone out there set me straight on why securing the border between the U.S. and Mexico is such a touchy subject. Frankly I do not even understand why the subject is debated. The fact that it is fiercely debated blows my mind. Why is enforcing current border security laws something we have to discuss on whether to pursue or not? Is there an open debate raging today on whether or not we should enforce drunk driving laws or spousal abuse laws or any other existing law? How does a deep desire to keep the country safe make someone a racist?

I see border security as an issue un to itself. National security, illegal drug smuggling, kidnapping, murder and illegal immigration, while linked to border security are entirely separate issues and we can talk about them until your hearts content. But not until the border is completely secure.

Please do not talk to me about the cost of securing the border and our current fiscal situation. Especially since the lack of border security is one of the main reasons we are in this financial mess. The amount of money we spend as a nation on problems associated with an open border is staggering. While I do not have the statistics to back it up, I am sure that every dollar we spent on securing the border would come back to us in savings. Our cities, states and federal government would save a fortune if we did not have to deal with the afore mentioned problems from having such a porous border.

So what is the answer to my question? I suppose it is just good ole politics as usual. Our wonderful elected officials do not want to alienate the illegal aliens. After all, everyone of them is a potential voter. Do every American and legal resident a favor and seal up that border!!

Thank you , Doug Lang

Better Safe Than Sorry.

Today I have decided to stock our home with a three (3) week supply of canned goods. I do not view myself as an alarmist nor am I running around telling anyone who will listen, “get ready because the world is coming to an end”. This is not an “end of times” moment, I simply want to have some basic provisions in the house in case our area is hit with a natural disaster and food is difficult or even impossible to buy for a week or two.

Here in Atlanta if we get a few snow flurries the food flies off the shelves and last year we did experience a five hundred (500) year flood that really rocked this area. One could argue that natural disasters seem to be on the rise and this is just being prudent. Conversely one could also argue that these natural disasters have always been taking place and at the same rate. Emphasizing that due to today’s increased level of communication (i.e. the Internet and cell cameras) the world has become a much smaller place and consequently we just see and hear more of these instances than in years past. Frankly this would be a good argument as it is simply true.

Having said all that, however you look at it or whatever your point of view, I see it as a win – win approach. If God forbid something happens we will be prepared and not have to run out and fight over a can of peas while waiting for our local shelves to be restocked. If nothing happens we can donate the canned goods at our church during one of our food drives. You simply have to buy the same items every two years. No biggie and keep in mind once donated it becomes tax deductible. Win – win.

Thank you Doug Lang

The beauty of Spring and Daylight Savings Time.

My prepared blog for today was originally going to be about the devastating combination of public unions and the federal government intruding into the hiring practices of local municipalities. I refer specifically to the feds forcing towns, counties and states to "dumb down" their pre-hiring, qualifying tests in order to make them more fair for minorities.

But wait a minute..... I just checked the calendar and the weather report for this weekend and instantly became light hearted, dare I say gleeful? Certainly writing about the imminent demise we face due to the afore mentioned practices can wait one more day.

Last weekend was DST (daylight savings time) which is one of my favorite days of the year. Longer and warmer days, come on, who doesn't love that? Now I see that this Sunday, March 20th is the first day of Spring. And if that isn't enough I see that here in Atlanta it is going to be 84 degrees, sunny and a 0% chance of rain. Is this the perfect trifecta or what?

Therefore I am officially forgetting about all the doom and gloom out there for today (goodness knows there is plenty of it) and I am going to plan an outing for Saturday. Maybe a nice cruise up to Helen for the day. Today for me is a day to be thankful to the Lord for the small pleasures in life that we are blessed with so often. May we never take Him or His blessings for granted.

thank you, Doug Lang

Obama unable or unwilling to make decisions?

President Barak Obama seems unable or unwilling to make timely decisions on many if not all major world wide events. Maybe this should not be too surprising since he has a history of simply voting "present" while in the Senate and not taking sides on important issues. I suppose it could also be his total lack of experience with such matters and that he is just woefully ill equipped to lead. He may also be trying to please everyone and as often is the case with fence sitters, they wind up pleasing no one.

What I do know for sure is that Obama’s procrastinating on such matters of border security, the BP oil spill, bringing terror suspects to trial and now Libya (just to name a few) has cost this country dearly. I personally happen to disagree with nearly everything this man does but for this post I am angry with Obama for not doing anything!

Thank you, Doug Lang

Emails to Bill O'Reilly

Is there anyone out there that has ever been able to get through to this guy? My lovely wife and I have become fans over the last year or so and have tried on several occasions to get an email read on air. I know he probably gets thousands of emails a day but i suppose on those rare occasions I feel I have written something very witty, it would be nice to get through and hear my pearls of wisdom read aloud.

I plan on using this blog for much more serious matters in the future (i.e. the disaster in Japan and the state of our own nation) but for now let's just consider this a "test blog" since it is my first attempt and i am just trying to see how this works.

tks, dal