…did Presidents start criticizing other Presidents?  I don’t know that it happened before President Clinton criticizing President Bush.  Now Mr. Obama is criticizing the former President.  Then today Bush is criticizing Obama.  I’m not commenting on the content.  But current and past Presidents should not criticize other Presidents.

There have been a couple new search engines in the news lately.  I have used both of them, and I am impressed.  The first is Wolfram Alpha.  This is certainly not your traditional search engine.  It is more of a computational search engine.  For instance, you can search for the International Space Station.  It will give you results such as its speed, altitude, etc.  It will then take all this information and compute its exact position at this moment.  Take a few minutes to watch the video that includes some examples.

The other search engine is more of a traditional search.  It is Microsoft’s new search, Bing.  Unlike their old search, Live Search, Bing seems to work better and give better results.  I am actually using it instead of Google now.  I will probably compare results to Google for awhile, but I am happy in my use of it for the last couple days.  The call it a “decision engine” because of some of the ways it displays search.

Take some time to check these search engines out.  I think you will be pleased.

I have been pretty much opposed to TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) from the start.  I felt we were bailing out businesses that either had the capital to help themselves or needed to go through the bankruptcy process.  However, TARP was the easy way out.  With that said, I have to commend three banks.  U.S. Bancorp, Capital One, and BB&T all plan to pay back the TARP money by selling stock and cutting dividends.

BB&T also said it will reduce its quarterly dividend 68 percent to 15 cents per share from 47 cents, saving $725 million a year, following 37 straight years of increases.

What a concept!  How in the world should investors continue to see increased dividends when the bank in struggling?  And I say that as an investor.  When the companies I have invested in are struggling, I expect their stock price or dividends to decrease.  In banks, a lot of investors have has this pollyanna view that dividends should continue to go up no matter how the company is doing.

In addition, the companies have come to realize that the TARP money comes with strings attached.

Hundreds of lenders took money from the program, which was designed to spur lending and improve the economy.

Yet many now view TARP as an albatross that imposes too many restrictions, including on executive pay, and suggests that recipients are desperate for capital.

“It creates excessive controls, it has a negative impact on our people and our strategies, (and) it runs a great risk of politicizing the lending process, which is very unhealthy,” BB&T Chief Executive Kelly King said on April 17.

These companies are still a long way from being prosperous, but I am glad to see they are paying back our money and trying to actually work through their problems on their own.  I really think it will make them stronger and help them more in the long run.  Hopefully they have actually seen and learned from their mistakes and their future policies will reflect this.

Here is a quick observation I have about daytime running lights and automatic headlights over the last few weeks.  We have had quite a bit of rain in East Tennessee over the last few weeks, and thus I have been driving in rain.  One thing I have noticed was the lack of tail lights when I approach some vehicles.  When it is raining and you are using your windshield wipers, you are required by state law to turn on your headlights.  In addition to this, it is just a good idea, so that you can be seen by others.  My first thought is that these vehicles must not have turned on their headlights.  However, after I pass them, I realize their headlights are on.  This means that they are relying on their automatic sensors to turn on their lights for them.  The sensor has determined it is light enough, so it simply needs to turn on the daytime running light.  However this does NOT turn on your tail lights.

I simply want to bring this fact to people.  Know what lights are actually turned on, particularly in the rain.  If you are not sure, turn the switch and manually turn on your lights.  It is very hard to see a vehicle from behind when there is water on the road due to all the mist from car tires.  For saftey’s sake, make sure your tail lights are on.

On my way home from playing golf yesterday, I decided to stop and pick up some supper for Mrs. Thomas and myself.  Along the way is a new barbecue place that has been open for a couple months.  It is called Full Service BBQ.  It is located on South Washington Street in Maryville, TN.  For those of you that have been around Maryville for a couple years, it is located in the old Citgo station next to the Chamber of Commerce building.  I have driven past this place numerous times in the last couple months.  It has always smelled wonderful, so last night was time to engage my taste buds.  You have a couple options when you pull in the old gas station.  You can either park and walk up to the window, or you can pull up next to where the gas pumps used to be and the staff will take your order in your car (hence the Full Service name).  The staff also is wearing dark blue service station uniforms.  It is nice to see they have actually thought through this and car about the image of your business.  After being served, they have a picnic table under the awning or you can take your food to go

I took a quick look at the menu - which had more options that I expected - and decided on a couple pulled pork sandwiches.  I got one small and one large sandwich.  When I arrived at home, I found that both had a good portion of pork, and the large sandwich was certainly overflowing with meat.  The hickory smoke flavor was apparent, and the meat was perfectly done.  On each sandwich were two sweet pickles and a couple small slices of onion.  I tried the pickles, but I am not a sweet pickle fan, so I removed them.  However, the onions added a little interest without distracting from the barbecue.  I elected to get their standard sauce, the Tennessee Whiskey, but a couple other options are available.  My only complaint about the sandwich was I could have used a little more sauce.  Next time I will be sure to request this.

My first experience here was excellent.  I certainly recommend it, and we will try it again.  From what I have seen, most people are willing to try new restaurants at least once.  If it is good, which this was, they will try it again.  It is important that the food and service is consistent.  We will find out when we go back.  There are not many frills to this place, and don’t expect upscale when you go.  However, if you want some good barbecue and good service, check it out.

Well, after about 20 years of playing golf, I finally did it.  I made a Hole-in-One!  It happened last night (4/17/2009) at Green Meadow Country Club.  It was hole #3, which was playing 179 yards to the middle of the green from the white tees.  The ping was pretyy much in the middle of the green from front to back and was on the left third of the green.  For those of you that have played there, you know there is a small pond to the left of this green.

I was a little bit between clubs, but I selected a 5-iron.  I pulled it slightly, but with a little fade it came back to the left of the pin.  It bounced to the right and then rolled.  From the tee, it looked like it had stopped, but then it disappeared into the hole.  I shouted in exuberation, and then I looked around to see if anyone had witnessed it.  Luckily there was a gentleman playing behind me that heard by shout and looked to see what was going on.  He saw that I truly had a hole-in-one and signed as a witness on my scorecard.

My dad has been playing for many years and never had an ace, but now I have my first

I love this week every year.  The week starts with baseball’s Opening Day yesterday and today.  Then tonight ends the best overall sporting event of them all, the NCAA Tournament.  Then we get to finish the week with the Masters.  Not to mention it is Spring and perfect outdoor weather.  I love this week!

I dislike the way the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) determines a national champion as much as the next guy, but THIS is ridiculous.

Everyone from President Barack Obama on down to fans has criticized how college football determines its top team. Now senators are getting off the sidelines to examine antitrust issues involving the Bowl Champion Series.

And get this:

In the House, Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, the top Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee, has sponsored legislation that would prevent the NCAA from calling a football game a “national championship” unless the game culminates from a playoff system.

These folks call themselves Republicans.  That is exactly why you numbskulls lost your power.  You are trying to take over and control every part of our lives.

Three words to these jokers:  LEAVE US ALONE.

A website is up that is organizing “Tea Parties” for April 15.  About a month ago, there were some tea parties across the country on very short notice.  The Tea Parties are where “we the people” (remember that unique concept in the Constitution) can speak out against the irresponsibility in Washington.  From the site:

The Tax Day Tea Party is a national collaborative grassroots effort organized by Smart Girl Politics, Top Conservatives on Twitter, the DontGo Movement and many other online groups/coalitions.

The Tea Party protests, in their current form, began in early 2009 when Rick Santelli, the On Air Editor for CNBC, set out on a rant to expose the bankrupt liberal agenda of the White House Administration and Congress. Specifically, the flawed “Stimulus Bill” and pork filled budget.

During Rick’s rant (see video below), he called for a “Chicago tea Party” where advocates of the free-market system could join in a protest against out of control government spending.

At the site you can find the Tea Party nearest your location.  Several big names are sponsoring these events, and with a month or so to organize, hopefully they will be a huge success.  Maybe our politicians will take notice.  And if they refuse, we need to fire them - both Republican and Democrat - by voting against them at the next election.

I encourage everyone to get out and let their voice be heard that they are sick of the waste and the deficits by politicians on both sides of the aisle.  Regardless of your political stance, it is time to bring responsibility back to Washington.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour signed into law a bill that makes the use of red-light cameras in the state illegal.  At least eight other states have also banned the cameras.  Unfortunately one of those is not Tennessee.

Mississippi joins at least eight other states in banning the automated technology, including neighboring Arkansas. Six other states are debating using cameras, which studies suggest work well to reduce the numbers of drivers who run red lights.

My problem is not the penalization of drivers for running red lights.  I think this is very dangerous and needs to be stopped.  My problem is using the cameras to do so.  I have been sitting at red lights numerous times and watched an individual run the red light.  At the same time a police officer was sitting at that same intersection, but refused to do anything about it.  Let’s move our police officers from trying to catch speeders to stopping people from running red lights, which is far more dangerous than going a little over the speed limit.

H/T Instapundit