By Van Helsing
Obama's agenda is so extreme and so obviously destructive that he can't even get the rest of it through a Congress controlled by leftists like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. No matter — as the country lurches toward socialist dictatorship, Congress is becoming increasingly irrelevant.
Cap & Trade is too obviously intended to send unemployment skyrocketing, so even after ramming it through the House, our liberal rulers gave up on getting it past the Senate, knowing that Obama can simply impose it through the malignant and unaccountable EPA.
Likewise, the amnesty Obama is counting on for reelection will be snuck in through the back door, just like the tens of millions of unskilled Third World peasants who will be exploited to overwhelm the will of American voters in exchange for welfare benefits — as a White House memo confirms:
With Congress gridlocked on an immigration bill, the Obama administration is considering using a back door to stop deporting many illegal immigrants — what a draft government memo said could be "a non-legislative version of amnesty."
The memo, addressed to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Alejandro Mayorkas and written by four agency staffers, lists tools it says the administration has to "reduce the threat of removal" for many illegal immigrants who have run afoul of immigration authorities.
"In the absence of comprehensive immigration reform, USCIS can extend benefits and/or protections to many individuals and groups by issuing new guidance and regulations, exercising discretion with regard to parole-in-place, deferred action and the issuance of Notices to Appear," the staffers wrote in the memo, which was obtained by Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican.
The memo suggests that in-depth discussions have occurred on how to keep many illegal immigrants in the country, which would be at least a temporary alternative to the proposals Democrats in Congress have made to legalize illegal immigrants.
America's answer to Vidkun Quisling is running the government. Norway survived Nazi occupation. Whether America will survive occupation by Barack Hussein Obama and his supporters is doubtful. Their goal is to "fundamentally transform" America by obliterating it — economically, politically, and demographically — so that there will be nothing left to liberate.
On a tip from Fiberal.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Hillary Wows 'Em
Ain't she a fox in her wedding rehearsal dress duds? Word is that it's an original Oscar de La Renta. I think it's from the Columbus Ohio Tent & Awning Co. One could stuff the fruit and vegetable section of Kroger Foods under this dress.
At 5pm, Chelsea Clinton will wed Marc Mezvinksy and become Mrs. Chelsea Victoria Clinton Margolies Mezvinsky (again, we aren’t kidding, that’s her new name).
Miss Iowa: Your Average Looking Farm Girl
There was a bit of levity surrounding a pitcher for the Washington National baseball team a few days ago. Phenom rookie, Stephen Strasburg, was scratched as a starting pitcher and replaced by journeyman 39-year old hurler, Miguel Batista. Understand that the mere mention of Strasburg's name in the line up draws a packed house of 40,000. As Batista took the mound in the first inning he was soundly booed; not because he was hated but that Strasburg wasn't in the rotation. At the conclusion of the game won by Batista who pitched a masterful three hitter, he was asked by reporters his reaction to the derision he met. His answer: "It's understandable. When a person expects to see Miss Universe then they get Miss Iowa". "Uh-oh! This could have gotten quite ugly. When the reigning Miss Iowa USA, Katherine Conners, was asked about how she felt her response was, "It doesn't bother me. I'll wait judgement until I see Batista walking down a pageant runway." The Nationals baseball team invited Ms. Conners to throw out the first pitch to the offending ballplayer at last night's game and all had a good time. The story doesn't end there because me, being a die-hard Iowan, thought it'd be nice to show a picture of what the average Iowa farm girl looks like. Ms. Conners, by the way, graduated from Assumption High School in Davenport in 2007. My six degrees of separation is that I was the boys head basketball coach at Assumption in the mid-70's.
So, for all you folks who slam corn fed females from the Hawkeye State---weep not for me but for yourselves. Ain't too shabby, is she?
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Chelsea's Wedding
I could care less how much the Clinton brouhaha costs. I wish they'd spend $10 million total rather than the speculated $3-$5 million. What it does is fuel the economy. It's trickle down. I hope the waiter's and waitresses get scads of tip money throughout the reception.
There is something about the event that just grinds my bones. Since Wild Bill and Hillary left the White House with thousands of dollars in gifts that had to be returned these grifters have 'earned' $77 million dollars, mostly from speaking fees. Hillary has the unmitigated gall to be sending out a letter begging for $3.5 million in donations from her admirers to relieve her campaign debt from the '08 election. For me, it takes a couple of huge balls to try and pull off this kind of stunt. It's safe to say Hill has 'em. It's also safe to say her admirers will pay off that debt.
There is something about the event that just grinds my bones. Since Wild Bill and Hillary left the White House with thousands of dollars in gifts that had to be returned these grifters have 'earned' $77 million dollars, mostly from speaking fees. Hillary has the unmitigated gall to be sending out a letter begging for $3.5 million in donations from her admirers to relieve her campaign debt from the '08 election. For me, it takes a couple of huge balls to try and pull off this kind of stunt. It's safe to say Hill has 'em. It's also safe to say her admirers will pay off that debt.
Obama The Muslim
Written by Sgt. Major Jerry Curry in Human Events:
My mother believed in “common sense” testing. She said if it
looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, waddles like a duck and acts like a duck; it’s a duck. She believed that actions speak louder than words and that only a liar said one thing and then did the opposite.
Would President Obama pass my mother’s “is he a Muslim” test? Let’s see. President Obama says there is nothing more beautiful than the Muslim call to prayer in the evening. He says that the United States was not founded as a Christian nation.
Obama’s father and step-father were Muslims and he spent his childhood living in a Muslim country where his school enrollment records say his religion is Islam. As President of the United States he genuflects to the Muslim King of Saudi Arabia but not the Christian Queen of England. He thumbs his nose at America’s friends and bows to its enemies. In short, Obama quacks like a Muslim, waddles like a Muslim and acts like a Muslim, so is he a Muslim? My mother would say, “Yes! He’s a Muslim through and through.”
Growing up as a Muslim, Obama must have learned that according to the Qur’an it is acceptable to lie, deceive and live by a double standard provided in so doing one advances Islamic goals. Muslims only pretend to trust and be friends with non-Muslims; in the deepest of their Muslim hearts they have been taught that all non-Muslims are infidels.
Speaking of double standards, Saudi Arabia is building mosques all over the world and Muslims are hoping to build a 13 story mosque at “Ground Zero” in New York City. At the same time, Islam’s double standard mandates that no non-Muslim churches be built in Saudi Arabia or other Islamic countries.
A good example of this double standard principle in action was Yasser Arafat. He could seemingly enter into genuine peace negotiations with the United States and Israel and, at the same time; lie about it with complete sincerity. Routinely he made all sorts of promises and pronouncements in English, and the very next day said the exact opposite to an Arabic audience -- perhaps to him it wasn’t really lying, just being faithful to the teachings of the Qur’an.
Is it because President Obama is secretly a Muslim that he can so sincerely pretend, like Arafat, that his actions and policies have never put a strain on U.S. Israeli relations? “If you look at every public statement I have made it has been a constant reaffirmation of the special relationship between the United States and Israel.” This is like President Clinton saying that it depends on what the meaning of is is.
In 2005 the U.S. promised Israel, in writing, that in future negotiations with the Palestinians we would not insist that Israel withdraw to its pre-1967 borders. But last year the Obama Administration said that that promise would no longer be honored.
In the past, both Democrat and Republican Administrations have insisted that negotiations be based on a two-state solution, which means that for Palestinian refugees
there can be no open “right of return” to Israel
With open immigration the number of Palestinians living in Israel would quickly overwhelm the number of Jews, and soon the Jewish state would cease to exist. Candidate Obama, while running for president, made it clear that he did not support a “right of return” for Palestinian refugees. But now that he’s president, he has reneged on that promise.
Months ago Obama promised to send 1,500 National Guard troops to the Arizona border and to spend at least $500 million on border security. Gov. Brewer is still waiting for the troops and money to arrive.
In a recent Muslim-double-standard speech, President Obama bragged that the southwest American border is as safe as it has ever been. But at the same time his Administration was putting up signs warning American citizens to stay away from the Arizona border area because, “SMUGGLING AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION MAY BE ENCOUNTERED IN THIS AREA.”
Is Obama a Muslim? You make the call.
My mother believed in “common sense” testing. She said if it
looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, waddles like a duck and acts like a duck; it’s a duck. She believed that actions speak louder than words and that only a liar said one thing and then did the opposite.
Would President Obama pass my mother’s “is he a Muslim” test? Let’s see. President Obama says there is nothing more beautiful than the Muslim call to prayer in the evening. He says that the United States was not founded as a Christian nation.
Obama’s father and step-father were Muslims and he spent his childhood living in a Muslim country where his school enrollment records say his religion is Islam. As President of the United States he genuflects to the Muslim King of Saudi Arabia but not the Christian Queen of England. He thumbs his nose at America’s friends and bows to its enemies. In short, Obama quacks like a Muslim, waddles like a Muslim and acts like a Muslim, so is he a Muslim? My mother would say, “Yes! He’s a Muslim through and through.”
Growing up as a Muslim, Obama must have learned that according to the Qur’an it is acceptable to lie, deceive and live by a double standard provided in so doing one advances Islamic goals. Muslims only pretend to trust and be friends with non-Muslims; in the deepest of their Muslim hearts they have been taught that all non-Muslims are infidels.
Speaking of double standards, Saudi Arabia is building mosques all over the world and Muslims are hoping to build a 13 story mosque at “Ground Zero” in New York City. At the same time, Islam’s double standard mandates that no non-Muslim churches be built in Saudi Arabia or other Islamic countries.
A good example of this double standard principle in action was Yasser Arafat. He could seemingly enter into genuine peace negotiations with the United States and Israel and, at the same time; lie about it with complete sincerity. Routinely he made all sorts of promises and pronouncements in English, and the very next day said the exact opposite to an Arabic audience -- perhaps to him it wasn’t really lying, just being faithful to the teachings of the Qur’an.
Is it because President Obama is secretly a Muslim that he can so sincerely pretend, like Arafat, that his actions and policies have never put a strain on U.S. Israeli relations? “If you look at every public statement I have made it has been a constant reaffirmation of the special relationship between the United States and Israel.” This is like President Clinton saying that it depends on what the meaning of is is.
In 2005 the U.S. promised Israel, in writing, that in future negotiations with the Palestinians we would not insist that Israel withdraw to its pre-1967 borders. But last year the Obama Administration said that that promise would no longer be honored.
In the past, both Democrat and Republican Administrations have insisted that negotiations be based on a two-state solution, which means that for Palestinian refugees
there can be no open “right of return” to Israel
With open immigration the number of Palestinians living in Israel would quickly overwhelm the number of Jews, and soon the Jewish state would cease to exist. Candidate Obama, while running for president, made it clear that he did not support a “right of return” for Palestinian refugees. But now that he’s president, he has reneged on that promise.
Months ago Obama promised to send 1,500 National Guard troops to the Arizona border and to spend at least $500 million on border security. Gov. Brewer is still waiting for the troops and money to arrive.
In a recent Muslim-double-standard speech, President Obama bragged that the southwest American border is as safe as it has ever been. But at the same time his Administration was putting up signs warning American citizens to stay away from the Arizona border area because, “SMUGGLING AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION MAY BE ENCOUNTERED IN THIS AREA.”
Is Obama a Muslim? You make the call.
Loser Of The Week
From the Columbus Ohio Dispatch for July 29, 2010. You just can't make up this stuff.
A New Mexico man who investigators say set his prosthetic leg on fire with a pocketed crack pipe has been arrested.
Deputies say they found 47-year-old Randy Malone naked along Rt. 70 with his prosthetic right leg in flames on July 5. He was treated for burns to his leg, back and buttocks.
A witness later told authorities that he agreed to give Malone a ride into Las Cruces but dropped him off after the passenger lighted a crack pipe in the vehicle.
Dona Ana County deputy sheriffs arrested Malone on Sunday at his home after the man's brothers tipped investigators. Malone was being sought on a warrant for making a false report.
A New Mexico man who investigators say set his prosthetic leg on fire with a pocketed crack pipe has been arrested.
Deputies say they found 47-year-old Randy Malone naked along Rt. 70 with his prosthetic right leg in flames on July 5. He was treated for burns to his leg, back and buttocks.
A witness later told authorities that he agreed to give Malone a ride into Las Cruces but dropped him off after the passenger lighted a crack pipe in the vehicle.
Dona Ana County deputy sheriffs arrested Malone on Sunday at his home after the man's brothers tipped investigators. Malone was being sought on a warrant for making a false report.
Healthcare Organizational Screw Up
It really doesn't matter if you can't read each and every government office created under the monstrosity of health reform. Just know that each bureaucratic office will be composed of people who have no idea about what the hell they're doing but they'll be making money by further screwing up our lives. e.g. Think you have problems now trying to talk with a real person on the telephone. Wait until you have to try and get a doctors appointment for your heart attack: "take two aspirin and call me in the morning". Yeesh!
Only The Rich Will Be Taxed
From FoxNews:
A preliminary report obtained by Fox News shows that several tax increases would hit hard if Congress does nothing to minimize the damage before Dec. 31.
The study found that raising just the lowest income tax rate from 10 percent to 15 percent would cost 88 million taxpayers an average of $503 next year.
Lowering the child tax credit from $1,000 to $500 per child would cost 31 million families an average of $1,033 in 2011; the reinstatement of the so-called marriage penalty, a peculiarity in the tax code that forces some married couples to pay more for income tax than they would if they were single, would cost 35 million couples an average of $595 each, according to the preliminary numbers.
Those changes are among a slew of tax increases that are scheduled to go into effect if Washington does not act. Income tax rates will rise for almost every bracket, with the bottom rate going from 10 to 15 percent and the top rate going from 35 percent to 39.6 percent. Dividends and capital gains taxes also are expected to rise.
A preliminary report obtained by Fox News shows that several tax increases would hit hard if Congress does nothing to minimize the damage before Dec. 31.
The study found that raising just the lowest income tax rate from 10 percent to 15 percent would cost 88 million taxpayers an average of $503 next year.
Lowering the child tax credit from $1,000 to $500 per child would cost 31 million families an average of $1,033 in 2011; the reinstatement of the so-called marriage penalty, a peculiarity in the tax code that forces some married couples to pay more for income tax than they would if they were single, would cost 35 million couples an average of $595 each, according to the preliminary numbers.
Those changes are among a slew of tax increases that are scheduled to go into effect if Washington does not act. Income tax rates will rise for almost every bracket, with the bottom rate going from 10 to 15 percent and the top rate going from 35 percent to 39.6 percent. Dividends and capital gains taxes also are expected to rise.
I Rest My Case
Just this morning received an email response from Congressman James Oberstar(D-Minnesota). Since I am a legal resident(silly to write that since in the United States, according to a judge in Arizona, it's now legal to be illegal)of the State of Minnesota he happens to be my guy. Remember last week when I wrote about Pat Tiberi of Ohio sending me a response to a question that made vague reference to my question about Obama? Well, three weeks ago I sent a note to Oberstar asking about his loyalty to Obama considering the great number of socialists, communists and left-wing radicals in the administration. I'll give Mr. Oberstar credit, he always responds to my questions in a personal manner but in this one he was the ultimate politician. His comeback to me was; When I was sworn in last January I took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Pretty good answer for the average Joe but I'm not average; just slightly above it so I felt the need to bring this to Obie's attention. In my mind it'd be newsworthy if Oberstar sent back a note telling me, "I'm going to do everything I can to expose George Soros, Barack Obama's butt-boy and benefactor, as an enemy of the State. I'll keep you updated on how he skates on the next response. I hope it's a doozy.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
BarackView
From The Gateway Pundit: Obama is going to skip speaking to the Boy Scouts of America convention to be on The View. In case you don't know it's a female blabfest with the likes of Joy Behar and what's her name who plays a black woman in a lot of movies...Whoopie something or other.
George Will Commentary
I happened to be in the doctor's office yesterday and began thumbing through magazines. There weren't that many that met with my approval e.g. I selected Newsweek for the week of July 26. George Will is a very insightful person and I knew he'd have a commentary somewhere. It was on the last page and it dealt with the upcoming senatorial race in California, Carly Fiorina vs. Barbara Boxer. If you don't know, Will is a conservative. I like him because he isn't a 'yeller', ala Chris Mathews, etc. When watching him on ABC Sunday Morning you can't count on him to remain quiet until the very last then he gives a salient comment. I also like him because he is proud of his Downs Syndrome child and accepts him for who he is---a valuable human being.
Getting back to Boxer: Will commented on her slightly modified form of infanticide. She supports "partial birth" abortion-the baby, delivered feet first is pulled out as far as the neck, then is killed. And, according to Will, when Boxer was asked during a Senate debate whether the baby has a right to life if it slips entirely out of the birth canal before being killed, she replied that the baby acquires that right when it leaves the hospital: When you bring your baby home".
Far be it from me to cast aspersions on Babs Boxer. After all I am an open minded person when it comes to crushing a babies skull. Yeah, right!
Getting back to Boxer: Will commented on her slightly modified form of infanticide. She supports "partial birth" abortion-the baby, delivered feet first is pulled out as far as the neck, then is killed. And, according to Will, when Boxer was asked during a Senate debate whether the baby has a right to life if it slips entirely out of the birth canal before being killed, she replied that the baby acquires that right when it leaves the hospital: When you bring your baby home".
Far be it from me to cast aspersions on Babs Boxer. After all I am an open minded person when it comes to crushing a babies skull. Yeah, right!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
White House Backed Freeing Lockerbie Bomber
From The UK Times:
The US government secretly advised Scottish ministers it would be "far preferable" to free the Lockerbie bomber than jail him in Libya. Correspondence obtained by The Sunday Times reveals the Obama administration considered compassionate release more palatable than locking up Abdel Baset al-Megrahi in a Libyan prison. The intervention, which has angered US relatives of those who died in the attack, was made by Richard LeBaron, deputy head of the US embassy in London, a week before Megrahi was freed in August last year on grounds that he had terminal cancer.
The US government secretly advised Scottish ministers it would be "far preferable" to free the Lockerbie bomber than jail him in Libya. Correspondence obtained by The Sunday Times reveals the Obama administration considered compassionate release more palatable than locking up Abdel Baset al-Megrahi in a Libyan prison. The intervention, which has angered US relatives of those who died in the attack, was made by Richard LeBaron, deputy head of the US embassy in London, a week before Megrahi was freed in August last year on grounds that he had terminal cancer.
A Movie Review
Home alone yesterday without any TV, phone or computer access so I decided to take in a movie. It was one of those things that I had no clue as to what was playing; kind of like going MacDonald's and looking at the menu. After perusing what was playing I still didn't have an idea so I asked a kid who was taking tickets what my choice should be. I should never do this. What do kids know, anyway. He said I should see a Leonardo DeCaprio film. It was titled either, Incentive, Invective, Destructive. It could have been something else but I forget---and thankfully so. It's a real bad sign when a person starts looking at their watch and the film has only been showing for thirty-five minutes. At the time I was thinking, I'd enjoy reading Pilgrim's Progress more than watching this catastrophe. The premise of the movie, I think, is DeCaprio has dreams to get in the minds of other people to make them do things they otherwise wouldn't do. He uses four or five people in his plan. His wife, dead we find out half way through, is screwing with his mind. But, hey, it's only a dream, right? I dunno. When the movie ended after a tedious two hours and twenty minutes I still didn't know what happened. I should receive an Oscar for sitting through it.
I've walked out of only three films in my life. The first one I can't even remember the name of but I know I walked out. The second was called, Romancing The Stone, with Michael Douglas and the once lovely and sexy, Kathleen Turner. Aging and hard living do terrible things to one's face and body. Ms. KT is living proof of that if you've seen her lately. Regardless, My then eight year old son was with me so after ten minutes of hearing two F bombs we got up and left. I was trying to set an example. To this day my son remembers.
The other movie I left was Dumb and Dumber. I was in Louisville on a business trip and hit the 5 pm show. Dumb and Dumber was that and the only one dumber than Jim Carey and what's his name, Jeff something, was me more shelling out the $5. After I left I probably went to a bar and watched Nickelodeon.
Getting back to DiCaprio: if you decide to attend please, oh please, comment on where I went wrong if you if your a movie afficianado and think otherwise . In the vernacular of today, it sucked, but remember, I'm only a PE Major so there's a lot I don't understand about films.
I've walked out of only three films in my life. The first one I can't even remember the name of but I know I walked out. The second was called, Romancing The Stone, with Michael Douglas and the once lovely and sexy, Kathleen Turner. Aging and hard living do terrible things to one's face and body. Ms. KT is living proof of that if you've seen her lately. Regardless, My then eight year old son was with me so after ten minutes of hearing two F bombs we got up and left. I was trying to set an example. To this day my son remembers.
The other movie I left was Dumb and Dumber. I was in Louisville on a business trip and hit the 5 pm show. Dumb and Dumber was that and the only one dumber than Jim Carey and what's his name, Jeff something, was me more shelling out the $5. After I left I probably went to a bar and watched Nickelodeon.
Getting back to DiCaprio: if you decide to attend please, oh please, comment on where I went wrong if you if your a movie afficianado and think otherwise . In the vernacular of today, it sucked, but remember, I'm only a PE Major so there's a lot I don't understand about films.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Hat tip to Dan Cirucci:
The “Journolist” is a listserv comprised of several hundred top liberal journalists from influential American and British media outlets, as well as like-minded professors, union reps and activists. Leftist media hack and WaPo journalist Ezra Klein founded Journolist with far left crank Joe Klein from TIME magazine in February of 2007. Klein admitted that Journolist was an “insulated space where the lure of a smart, ongoing conversation would encourage journalists, policy experts and assorted other observers to share their insights with one another.” But, you had to be a leftist to join this group. It was an exclusive club. And, it grew to include 400 of the most prominent leftist American journalists who shared ideas and helped spin the far left narrative in the state-run media. This is where far left cranks colluded to spit out the DNC’s talking points and to defend President Barack Obama’s radical past and socialist agenda. Ezra Klein reportedly shut down Journolist on June 28, 2010 after leaks were reported. Andrew Breitbart announced recently that he would reward $100,000 to anyone who could provide the full “JournoList” archive, source fully protected.
Now we find out that one of Barack Obama’s top advisers was a member and participated on Journolist.
Jared Bernstein was an Obama economic adviser and member of Journolist.
The Poor People's Political Party
From Michael Sneed at the Chicago Sun-Times:
$$$$$: Happy Birthday, Barack old buddy!
Michael Sneed hears real estate mogul Neil Bluhm is tossing a private birthday party here for President Obama, who turns 49 on Aug. 4.
• The shocker: The dinner invite to the Barack bash at Bluhm's home requires a $30,000 donation to the Democratic National Committee!
• The stunner: Obama is also scheduled to be in town Aug. 5 for a fund-raiser at the Palmer House for U.S. Senate hopeful Alexi Giannoulias, who is hoping to capture Uncle Rocky's old seat
$$$$$: Happy Birthday, Barack old buddy!
Michael Sneed hears real estate mogul Neil Bluhm is tossing a private birthday party here for President Obama, who turns 49 on Aug. 4.
• The shocker: The dinner invite to the Barack bash at Bluhm's home requires a $30,000 donation to the Democratic National Committee!
• The stunner: Obama is also scheduled to be in town Aug. 5 for a fund-raiser at the Palmer House for U.S. Senate hopeful Alexi Giannoulias, who is hoping to capture Uncle Rocky's old seat
Thursday, July 22, 2010
A Waste Of Time
I've learned a lesson in recent weeks. Actually, I knew the result six months ago but, like the guy who keeps hitting himself over the head with a hammer and looking for a different result, I'm a little slow on the uptake.
Every so often I'll see a piece of congressional legislation of which I either approve or disapprove and I'll write a note to Senator George Voinovich(R-Ohio, Senator Sherrod Brown(D-Ohio) and Rep. Pat Tiberi(R) from my Ohio congressional district. My questions and comments are pretty straight forward. I usually, upon receipt of the email, receive a note that says: "I am very busy at the time serving my constituents but will get back to you in due time."
Today, Tiberi answered my e-mail. Two weeks ago I inquired as to why he had not protested an Obama piece of legislation. His response went this way:
Dear MJ Hawkeye: I was so happy to receive your note and I must tell you that I remain a fan of the Ohio State Buckeyes and always will be. No, I do not eat peanuts when I have a beer but for some very special reason popcorn does hit the spot. I think it's very important that we, as your representation in Congress, make certain
that Cocker Spaniels as well as Doberman Pincher's are guaranteed rights duly provided by the ASPCA.
You think I'm kidding on this subject but I'm not. I've received the same type of messages from Voinivich as well as Brown. Brownie doesn't bother me all that much because I think he's one step shy of William Ayers and Voinovich is playing out the string before he retires. Tiberi is a different story, though. He's in for the long haul. It's not their fault, though. They are politicians so I should expect this type of treatment. And besides, it's only a waste of time
Every so often I'll see a piece of congressional legislation of which I either approve or disapprove and I'll write a note to Senator George Voinovich(R-Ohio, Senator Sherrod Brown(D-Ohio) and Rep. Pat Tiberi(R) from my Ohio congressional district. My questions and comments are pretty straight forward. I usually, upon receipt of the email, receive a note that says: "I am very busy at the time serving my constituents but will get back to you in due time."
Today, Tiberi answered my e-mail. Two weeks ago I inquired as to why he had not protested an Obama piece of legislation. His response went this way:
Dear MJ Hawkeye: I was so happy to receive your note and I must tell you that I remain a fan of the Ohio State Buckeyes and always will be. No, I do not eat peanuts when I have a beer but for some very special reason popcorn does hit the spot. I think it's very important that we, as your representation in Congress, make certain
that Cocker Spaniels as well as Doberman Pincher's are guaranteed rights duly provided by the ASPCA.
You think I'm kidding on this subject but I'm not. I've received the same type of messages from Voinivich as well as Brown. Brownie doesn't bother me all that much because I think he's one step shy of William Ayers and Voinovich is playing out the string before he retires. Tiberi is a different story, though. He's in for the long haul. It's not their fault, though. They are politicians so I should expect this type of treatment. And besides, it's only a waste of time
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
2011-Taxes, Taxes, Taxes
From Inestors Business Daily:
Many voters are looking forward to 2011, hoping a new Congress will put the country back on the right track. But unless something's done soon, the new year will also come with a raft of tax hikes — including a return of the death tax — that will be real killers.
Through the end of this year, the federal estate tax rate is zero — thanks to the package of broad-based tax cuts that President Bush pushed through to get the economy going earlier in the decade.
But as of midnight Dec. 31, the death tax returns — at a rate of 55% on estates of $1 million or more. The effect this will have on hospital life-support systems is already a matter of conjecture.
Resurrection of the death tax, however, isn't the only tax problem that will be ushered in Jan. 1. Many other cuts from the Bush administration are set to disappear and a new set of taxes will materialize. And it's not just the rich who will pay.
The lowest bracket for the personal income tax, for instance, moves up 50% — to 15% from 10%. The next lowest bracket — 25% — will rise to 28%, and the old 28% bracket will be 31%. At the higher end, the 33% bracket is pushed to 36% and the 35% bracket becomes 39.6%.
But the damage doesn't stop there.
The marriage penalty also makes a comeback, and the capital gains tax will jump 33% — to 20% from 15%. The tax on dividends will go all the way from 15% to 39.6% — a 164% increase.
Both the cap-gains and dividend taxes will go up further in 2013 as the health care reform adds a 3.8% Medicare levy for individuals making more than $200,000 a year and joint filers making more than $250,000. Other tax hikes include: halving the child tax credit to $500 from $1,000 and fixing the standard deduction for couples at the same level as it is for single filers.
Letting the Bush cuts expire will cost taxpayers $115 billion next year alone, according to the Congressional Budget Office, and $2.6 trillion through 2020.
But even more tax headaches lie ahead. This "second wave" of hikes, as Americans for Tax Reform puts it, are designed to pay for ObamaCare and include:
The Medicine Cabinet Tax. Americans, says ATR, "will no longer be able to use health savings account, flexible spending account, or health reimbursement pretax dollars to purchase nonprescription, over-the-counter medicines (except insulin)."
Many voters are looking forward to 2011, hoping a new Congress will put the country back on the right track. But unless something's done soon, the new year will also come with a raft of tax hikes — including a return of the death tax — that will be real killers.
Through the end of this year, the federal estate tax rate is zero — thanks to the package of broad-based tax cuts that President Bush pushed through to get the economy going earlier in the decade.
But as of midnight Dec. 31, the death tax returns — at a rate of 55% on estates of $1 million or more. The effect this will have on hospital life-support systems is already a matter of conjecture.
Resurrection of the death tax, however, isn't the only tax problem that will be ushered in Jan. 1. Many other cuts from the Bush administration are set to disappear and a new set of taxes will materialize. And it's not just the rich who will pay.
The lowest bracket for the personal income tax, for instance, moves up 50% — to 15% from 10%. The next lowest bracket — 25% — will rise to 28%, and the old 28% bracket will be 31%. At the higher end, the 33% bracket is pushed to 36% and the 35% bracket becomes 39.6%.
But the damage doesn't stop there.
The marriage penalty also makes a comeback, and the capital gains tax will jump 33% — to 20% from 15%. The tax on dividends will go all the way from 15% to 39.6% — a 164% increase.
Both the cap-gains and dividend taxes will go up further in 2013 as the health care reform adds a 3.8% Medicare levy for individuals making more than $200,000 a year and joint filers making more than $250,000. Other tax hikes include: halving the child tax credit to $500 from $1,000 and fixing the standard deduction for couples at the same level as it is for single filers.
Letting the Bush cuts expire will cost taxpayers $115 billion next year alone, according to the Congressional Budget Office, and $2.6 trillion through 2020.
But even more tax headaches lie ahead. This "second wave" of hikes, as Americans for Tax Reform puts it, are designed to pay for ObamaCare and include:
The Medicine Cabinet Tax. Americans, says ATR, "will no longer be able to use health savings account, flexible spending account, or health reimbursement pretax dollars to purchase nonprescription, over-the-counter medicines (except insulin)."
Tea Party Racism
There was blind terror last week over a Tea Party billboard in northern Iowa that showed a picture of Adolf Hitler, Obama and Vladimir Lenin under the headings: "National Socialism," "Democratic Socialism" and "Marxist Socialism."
Overheated? Perhaps. Racist? No. Unless liberals are about to break the news that Lenin and Hitler were black, what we have here, gentlemen, is not racism".
Ann Coulter July 21, 2010
Overheated? Perhaps. Racist? No. Unless liberals are about to break the news that Lenin and Hitler were black, what we have here, gentlemen, is not racism".
Ann Coulter July 21, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Junk Mail
What's up with junk mail? In the past few weeks I've been receiving a constant barrage of the lonely hearts kind, the "I have cancer and my husband just died ones", too. There was a time when I never received any mail of this type. I used to beg for it just to be wanted. Everyone I know was getting notes from Siddartha gautama asking for all kinds of donations and I get nuthin'. Now, I can't go five minutes without two or three. I'm wondering if it's because they've somehow found out I won the Ohio Mega Millions lottery.
Monday, July 19, 2010
The World's Toughest Airport
Yesterday I wrote about our vacation trip home but I neglected to tell the story regarding security at the Minneapolis airport. They should more aptly be called, the pit bull brigade. More on them later.
I've had the opportunity to go through many, many airports in my life and since 9/11 I take stock of the "hard to get through" kind. Des Moines, Iowa is a tough crew. I believe because it's manned by a slew of finicky older types trying to be the best that they can be. Wait! I'm wrong. That's another group of hardcore types. Regardless, they're tough.
This might knock your socks off. Brainerd, Minnesota ranks up there with the best of 'em. Brainerd is a fifteen minute rubber band flight from Minneapolis into the recreation lakes area of northern Minnesota. Their people suffer from the Barney Fife syndrome. You know them. Small town cops with big time ambitions. They'll reprimand a person for bringing a Snickers bar through security instead of their preferred Milky Way.
I've been to Europe a number of times. Going and coming, the Internationals have nothing on Brainerd for being like the meanest witch in Salem, Massachusetts. In a sense, it's a good thing unless you enjoy sitting on a powder keg that might be inside an airplane.
Minneapolis International, however, is the toughest of the tough. You'll recall I had a hip replacement last March. My doc put in a ceramic hip instead of titanium for two reasons: (1) they last thirty years as opposed to fifteen; (2) secondly, "Dr. Know-it-all" told me I could walk through airports, NO PROBLEM! When I strutted through the magic portal it was a twelve alarm fire. Granted, I neglected my belt, then my rosary(one can't be too prepared), followed by my watch and, lastly, my fingernail clipper with a small Swiss Army knife attached. There was nothing left but my shirt, shorts and skivvies. I was doomed for a full body scan. How come at times like this it can't be done by a look-alike Shania Twain instead of Mr. Tubby Two by Four?
Uh-oh! Then it hit me. I forgot to put my knife in my golf bag instead of my carry on. I was in a panic. It would be given over to the government never to see service again. Now, if anyone knows me I always carry a nail clipper. 'Trim' style ones are the very best. For reasons to be explained I am an expert on nail clippers. Along with a small Swiss Army knife on a chain these inanimate items are my two best friends. I've carried my buddies around for over thirty years. I actually began carrying a clipper in 1963. You see, until I was seventeen I bit my fingernails like they were a porterhouse steak garnished with mushrooms. I chewed on them so much I'd sometimes make them bleed. A very special lady in my hometown told me if I carried around a clipper I'd stop. Then my nails would grow and my fingers would be suitable for a Mediterraneaan prince. I wouldn't look like a sideshow freak anymore. Somewhere along the way I began attaching the knife. The combination of these two has become an obsession. I have them in hand when I drive, in church, in restaurants. Sometimes I find them on my matress when I awaken in the morning. God God! I was so embarrassed standing on the alter when we were married. Lizzie, the smartest woman in the world, says there's a psychological name for this. I call it a habit. Lizzie refers to it as 'fingusnailusstupidestophobia' or something like that.
What to do at 'Checkpoint Charley' of the Minneapolis airport? the TSA guy's name was Loren; maybe ten years younger than I and tall and large--really, really large. He tried to unhook the tiny chain connecting my lifeblood; couldn't do it. I reached in to help and Loren told me to: "back off". Did I mention he was a large man? Finally, he unsnapped the chain and handed me the clipper but as he got ready to throw the knife away I blurted out, "Please, take anything. Take my wife but leave me the Swiss Army knife." I knew I was doomed when he told me, "Hey, pal, we're on the the lookout for people like you; people with 'fingusnailusstupidestophobia'. We had you pegged when you walked through the doors. Now be on your way before I take your rosary." Man O man, I told you these guys were tough.
I've had the opportunity to go through many, many airports in my life and since 9/11 I take stock of the "hard to get through" kind. Des Moines, Iowa is a tough crew. I believe because it's manned by a slew of finicky older types trying to be the best that they can be. Wait! I'm wrong. That's another group of hardcore types. Regardless, they're tough.
This might knock your socks off. Brainerd, Minnesota ranks up there with the best of 'em. Brainerd is a fifteen minute rubber band flight from Minneapolis into the recreation lakes area of northern Minnesota. Their people suffer from the Barney Fife syndrome. You know them. Small town cops with big time ambitions. They'll reprimand a person for bringing a Snickers bar through security instead of their preferred Milky Way.
I've been to Europe a number of times. Going and coming, the Internationals have nothing on Brainerd for being like the meanest witch in Salem, Massachusetts. In a sense, it's a good thing unless you enjoy sitting on a powder keg that might be inside an airplane.
Minneapolis International, however, is the toughest of the tough. You'll recall I had a hip replacement last March. My doc put in a ceramic hip instead of titanium for two reasons: (1) they last thirty years as opposed to fifteen; (2) secondly, "Dr. Know-it-all" told me I could walk through airports, NO PROBLEM! When I strutted through the magic portal it was a twelve alarm fire. Granted, I neglected my belt, then my rosary(one can't be too prepared), followed by my watch and, lastly, my fingernail clipper with a small Swiss Army knife attached. There was nothing left but my shirt, shorts and skivvies. I was doomed for a full body scan. How come at times like this it can't be done by a look-alike Shania Twain instead of Mr. Tubby Two by Four?
Uh-oh! Then it hit me. I forgot to put my knife in my golf bag instead of my carry on. I was in a panic. It would be given over to the government never to see service again. Now, if anyone knows me I always carry a nail clipper. 'Trim' style ones are the very best. For reasons to be explained I am an expert on nail clippers. Along with a small Swiss Army knife on a chain these inanimate items are my two best friends. I've carried my buddies around for over thirty years. I actually began carrying a clipper in 1963. You see, until I was seventeen I bit my fingernails like they were a porterhouse steak garnished with mushrooms. I chewed on them so much I'd sometimes make them bleed. A very special lady in my hometown told me if I carried around a clipper I'd stop. Then my nails would grow and my fingers would be suitable for a Mediterraneaan prince. I wouldn't look like a sideshow freak anymore. Somewhere along the way I began attaching the knife. The combination of these two has become an obsession. I have them in hand when I drive, in church, in restaurants. Sometimes I find them on my matress when I awaken in the morning. God God! I was so embarrassed standing on the alter when we were married. Lizzie, the smartest woman in the world, says there's a psychological name for this. I call it a habit. Lizzie refers to it as 'fingusnailusstupidestophobia' or something like that.
What to do at 'Checkpoint Charley' of the Minneapolis airport? the TSA guy's name was Loren; maybe ten years younger than I and tall and large--really, really large. He tried to unhook the tiny chain connecting my lifeblood; couldn't do it. I reached in to help and Loren told me to: "back off". Did I mention he was a large man? Finally, he unsnapped the chain and handed me the clipper but as he got ready to throw the knife away I blurted out, "Please, take anything. Take my wife but leave me the Swiss Army knife." I knew I was doomed when he told me, "Hey, pal, we're on the the lookout for people like you; people with 'fingusnailusstupidestophobia'. We had you pegged when you walked through the doors. Now be on your way before I take your rosary." Man O man, I told you these guys were tough.
Chrysler & Gemeral Motors
Someone can surely explain me about Chrysler and General Motors. Hmmmm! The President's Task Force recommended the closing of hundreds of dealerships to save money. However, thousands were put out of work. Confusing to me.
I wonder if it's all part of The Plan
I wonder if it's all part of The Plan
Communism: Obama Style
From AreaWideNews: Take the time to read this. It scares me greatly and should you, too.
Richard Andrew Cloward and Frances Fox Piven are professors of sociology at Columbia University. Together, they published a plan in 1966 known as the Cloward-Pivan Strategy calling for the destruction of capitalism in America by collapsing the economy, creating social chaos and nationalizing many private institutions.
According to many sources, including Wayne Allyn Root, a classmate of Barack Obama at Columbia University in 1983, President Obama is using the Cloward-Pivan strategy to destroy capitalism and replace it with authoritarian socialism, whereby a majority of citizens would need government on order to survive, thereby ensuring their continued vote for bigger government.
Various actions would take place to accomplish this goal.
1) Universal health care -- This will add trillions of dollars to the national debt, helping to collapse the economy. It will add 15,000 to 20,000 new IRS employees, adding to government employee unions. It will lead to unionizing millions of health care workers. It will add 30 million people to a "free" health care system, thereby adding 30 million people to the roles of those supporting big government. All intended to create bigger government with more people depending on government.
2) Cap and Trade -- This has nothing to do with global warming, if it even exists. It is a scheme for the redistribution of income, gives government more sources of revenue and more control over the economy.
3) Stimulus and bailouts -- Follow the money. Money went to AIG to bail out Goldman Sachs which contributed $1 million to the Obama campaign. Money went to GM and Chrysler to ensure employees continue to pay union dues, thereby ensuring political support. Money went to teachers, a whopping $125 billion, once again protecting unions. Government grows bigger, the national debt becomes unsustainable and the socialists remain in power by securing more support.
4) Taxes -- Raising the tax burden on high income earners, small business and job creators, thereby slowing the economy through less job creation and adding to the national debt. Another ploy to redistribute the income -- punish success, reward complacency.
5) Legalize illegal immigrants -- Another source of political support. 12 million potential new citizens, adding a few trillion dollars to the social welfare burden. Another scheme to bankrupt America and increase the size of government.
6) Crisis management -- Create crisis after crisis and distraction after distraction. Overwhelm the senses. Create an atmosphere whereby people will demand solutions by those who caused the problems in the first place.
It is all unfolding before our eyes. A growing privileged class of public employees who work for and support big government, which is dedicated to destroying free enterprise. Socialist/Marxist rulers overwhelming the system in order to take over and be in control forever.
This form of socialist collectivism, which has failed miserably elsewhere, places the underachiever above the achiever, discourages innovation, curtails incentive to succeed, stagnates the economy and oppresses anyone who objects. Government becomes a suffocating organism that continues to expand, requiring obedience, bleeding the life out of its subjects, destroying individual freedom, spreading despair and enslaving the masses.
Driving the nation into financial ruin in order to increase the size and scope of the central government, thereby securing a stranglehold on power by forcing more and more people to be dependent on a monolithic central bureaucracy, is an insidious nightmare perpetrated by Chicago-style politicians who adhere to the principal of rewarding supporters and punishing opponents. Instead of bringing the country together, they are tearing it apart.
In this great land, we are entitled to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
We do not work for the government, it works for us.
The history of the world is one long battle for freedom -- a battle that continues to this day.
Richard Andrew Cloward and Frances Fox Piven are professors of sociology at Columbia University. Together, they published a plan in 1966 known as the Cloward-Pivan Strategy calling for the destruction of capitalism in America by collapsing the economy, creating social chaos and nationalizing many private institutions.
According to many sources, including Wayne Allyn Root, a classmate of Barack Obama at Columbia University in 1983, President Obama is using the Cloward-Pivan strategy to destroy capitalism and replace it with authoritarian socialism, whereby a majority of citizens would need government on order to survive, thereby ensuring their continued vote for bigger government.
Various actions would take place to accomplish this goal.
1) Universal health care -- This will add trillions of dollars to the national debt, helping to collapse the economy. It will add 15,000 to 20,000 new IRS employees, adding to government employee unions. It will lead to unionizing millions of health care workers. It will add 30 million people to a "free" health care system, thereby adding 30 million people to the roles of those supporting big government. All intended to create bigger government with more people depending on government.
2) Cap and Trade -- This has nothing to do with global warming, if it even exists. It is a scheme for the redistribution of income, gives government more sources of revenue and more control over the economy.
3) Stimulus and bailouts -- Follow the money. Money went to AIG to bail out Goldman Sachs which contributed $1 million to the Obama campaign. Money went to GM and Chrysler to ensure employees continue to pay union dues, thereby ensuring political support. Money went to teachers, a whopping $125 billion, once again protecting unions. Government grows bigger, the national debt becomes unsustainable and the socialists remain in power by securing more support.
4) Taxes -- Raising the tax burden on high income earners, small business and job creators, thereby slowing the economy through less job creation and adding to the national debt. Another ploy to redistribute the income -- punish success, reward complacency.
5) Legalize illegal immigrants -- Another source of political support. 12 million potential new citizens, adding a few trillion dollars to the social welfare burden. Another scheme to bankrupt America and increase the size of government.
6) Crisis management -- Create crisis after crisis and distraction after distraction. Overwhelm the senses. Create an atmosphere whereby people will demand solutions by those who caused the problems in the first place.
It is all unfolding before our eyes. A growing privileged class of public employees who work for and support big government, which is dedicated to destroying free enterprise. Socialist/Marxist rulers overwhelming the system in order to take over and be in control forever.
This form of socialist collectivism, which has failed miserably elsewhere, places the underachiever above the achiever, discourages innovation, curtails incentive to succeed, stagnates the economy and oppresses anyone who objects. Government becomes a suffocating organism that continues to expand, requiring obedience, bleeding the life out of its subjects, destroying individual freedom, spreading despair and enslaving the masses.
Driving the nation into financial ruin in order to increase the size and scope of the central government, thereby securing a stranglehold on power by forcing more and more people to be dependent on a monolithic central bureaucracy, is an insidious nightmare perpetrated by Chicago-style politicians who adhere to the principal of rewarding supporters and punishing opponents. Instead of bringing the country together, they are tearing it apart.
In this great land, we are entitled to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
We do not work for the government, it works for us.
The history of the world is one long battle for freedom -- a battle that continues to this day.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Vacation Ends
Vacation in Minnesota came to a conclusion yesterday. A grand time was had by all especially the Big O. I have to wonder what memories he will retain. Was it his first walleye? Doubtful. I'd make book that it was wading in the water trying to catch minnows. I told him to stand very still while the minnows nibbled on his toes then make a big scoop with his net. We had a large inner tube and I'd spin him around trying to throw him off. I love it when he giggles with glee. The kayaks were a big hit. He enjoyed going out with his dad. He's sort of a trickster, too; told me there was a golf bag in the water at the end of the dock. I bit!
It's always a grand sight to see an American Bald eagle soar in the skies then swoop down and grab a fish. He watched that with fascination.
Even though I was happy leaving and getting back to Ohio I asked Oscar to give the lake one final look and a salute then tell it we'd be back next year. He had tears in his eyes because he didn't want to leave the north woods. It was sad to witness but it meant he had a good time.
It's a two mile drive from our cabin to the main road. It's gravel and you feel like the birch and pines are going to topple in on you but it's a beautiful sight. He saw a doe and two fawns as we left. I think he'll remember this.
Our trip took us to Minneapolis and we dropped off my son and his at the airport. Lizzie and I had four hours to kill so we went to the Great Mall of the Americas. People actually drive from all over the Midwest to visit this mammoth structure. It has an indoor amusement park, underwater fish aquarium and enough stores to satisfy every need and decimate every wallet.
My only thought during our entire two hour visit was: this would be the perfect place for a terrorist attack. Silly me! Not really because there were four Muslims sentenced for planning attacks just last week. Minneapolis has a strong radical Muslim population. Aha! The bug had been planted in my brain.
After we had checked in at the airport I noticed what I thought was a Somalian. He was dressed in dress blue pin stripe slacks with a striped blue shirt. I didn't think much of him until I took my seat. He sat next to me. I was in the middle and he had the window. As soon as we took off he pulled out, what else, a copy of the Koran and began reading. What was that the Musketeers said before they whipped out their sabres: "On Guard". Pardners, let me tell you this old goat was prepared for action. I'm not sure what my response would have been but it probably would have gone like this; "Hey buddy, knock it off".
So, for the next two hours I prepared myself but, ever thankfully, nothing occurred and we landed without a hitch.
I wish I had time to write about attempting to get through airport security. I set off every alarm in the building but that's for another day. Maybe tomorrow if you're lucky.
Obama Lied, Babies Died
By Jeannie DeAngelis at the American Thinker:
It's hard to comprehend that intelligent people believe Obama speaks the truth. A simple question: If an individual encourages coldly tossing a barely breathing infant into a laundry room to die and uses the upholding of the original intent to kill the baby as an excuse, is it logical to assume such a person has a high regard for truth?
Barack Obama supports killing the unborn and if by chance the infant should happen to "burden the original decision of the woman and the physician to induce labor and perform an abortion" by refusing to die, Barry disagrees with providing a helpless being medical care. Plain and simple, Obama is cold and heartless.
If lying were an art, Barack would be its master. Liberal pro-choice advocate Barack Obama "successfully opposed including language in the [health care reform] bill to prevent federal subsidies for abortions." The President intended to quietly advance an "abortion-expanding agenda through administrative decisions."
When it appeared a few sentimental pro-lifers jeopardized Obamacare, it didn't take much to sway the easily fleeced Bart Stupak and seven left-leaning lackeys. In order to pass health care reform the President lied to gullible pro-life Democrats, signed a phony executive order, and swore health care would not fund abortion.
It's hard to comprehend that intelligent people believe Obama speaks the truth. A simple question: If an individual encourages coldly tossing a barely breathing infant into a laundry room to die and uses the upholding of the original intent to kill the baby as an excuse, is it logical to assume such a person has a high regard for truth?
Barack Obama supports killing the unborn and if by chance the infant should happen to "burden the original decision of the woman and the physician to induce labor and perform an abortion" by refusing to die, Barry disagrees with providing a helpless being medical care. Plain and simple, Obama is cold and heartless.
If lying were an art, Barack would be its master. Liberal pro-choice advocate Barack Obama "successfully opposed including language in the [health care reform] bill to prevent federal subsidies for abortions." The President intended to quietly advance an "abortion-expanding agenda through administrative decisions."
When it appeared a few sentimental pro-lifers jeopardized Obamacare, it didn't take much to sway the easily fleeced Bart Stupak and seven left-leaning lackeys. In order to pass health care reform the President lied to gullible pro-life Democrats, signed a phony executive order, and swore health care would not fund abortion.
Friday, July 16, 2010
(D) Sheila Jackson-Lee: Dumb Or A Typical Democrat
Mark Tapscott of the Washington Examiner pointed out this morning Texas Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee’s remarks from the House floor about North and South Vietnam, and the two nations’ continued peaceful coexistence.
Jackson-Lee once asked if she could see pictures of Neil Armstrong planting an American flag on Mars. Seriously!
I would also remind folks of her 2004 speech, praising the halftime show of the Super Bowl that was held in Houston that year — the one that featured the Janet Jackson Wardrobe malfunction:
[L]et me take personal pride…to congratulate Houstonians for being the most welcoming city that I think the Super Bowl has experienced over the last years of its history. We are proud of what we did. We are proud of the family-oriented entertainment that we offered, and we look forward to extending an invitation back to all of you in years to come.
Also, don’t forget the time Jackson-Lee took a cell phone call during a town hall meeting on health care, as a cancer survivor was in the middle of asking her a question.
Jackson-Lee once asked if she could see pictures of Neil Armstrong planting an American flag on Mars. Seriously!
I would also remind folks of her 2004 speech, praising the halftime show of the Super Bowl that was held in Houston that year — the one that featured the Janet Jackson Wardrobe malfunction:
[L]et me take personal pride…to congratulate Houstonians for being the most welcoming city that I think the Super Bowl has experienced over the last years of its history. We are proud of what we did. We are proud of the family-oriented entertainment that we offered, and we look forward to extending an invitation back to all of you in years to come.
Also, don’t forget the time Jackson-Lee took a cell phone call during a town hall meeting on health care, as a cancer survivor was in the middle of asking her a question.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
For The Inept
Is there anything better than electricians tape and duct tape? I don't think it's possible to find a better substitute for any fix it problem----especially for the mechanically impaired. Naturally, I am writing about myself. I'm the kind of guy who is reluctant to get on an elevator because I can't remember the route. Then when I have to push a button I'm really lost. Putting a gas cap on my car is reason for celebration. Unfortunately for me, I always forget which side of my car has the gas cap so it's a fifty-fifty thing but that's not mechanical. Just like the elevator, it's old age.
So far, this summer, I have with the aforementioned Ace Hardware aids succeeded in repairing a fishing rod, a hammer, a bungee cord on the boat cover, and a part on my mailbox. The interesting thing to me is that when I have achieved success with the tapes it's saved me pennies. I tried and failed to resurrect the capabilities of my fish net. It was a $50 dollar failure. They've made a movie about my life as a fix it man: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. And do you know what? My reputation as a a klutz has spread far and wide. It's how I get people to take pity on me.
So far, this summer, I have with the aforementioned Ace Hardware aids succeeded in repairing a fishing rod, a hammer, a bungee cord on the boat cover, and a part on my mailbox. The interesting thing to me is that when I have achieved success with the tapes it's saved me pennies. I tried and failed to resurrect the capabilities of my fish net. It was a $50 dollar failure. They've made a movie about my life as a fix it man: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. And do you know what? My reputation as a a klutz has spread far and wide. It's how I get people to take pity on me.
My Kind Of Women
From the NY Daily News:
Nice wine rack.
Gals who want their cups to runneth over can now sip on the sly, thanks to a sports bra that disguises some whopping jugs.
A New Jersey company that specializes in wacky gifts is selling the Wine Rack, an assets-enhancing piece of polyurethane that allows thirsty ladies to nurse their drinks.
"You won't find this at Victoria's Secret," boasted Paul Krasulja of BaronBob.com, whose Web site also sells toilet-shaped coffee mugs, a remote control fart machine and edible G-strings.
Equipped with a drinking tube that's connected to the right cup, the sports bra holds up to 25 ounces of a beverage while giving ladies a plastic surgery-like lift of up to two sizes.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Obama's Left Wing Nut Jobs
From our good pals at Weaselzipper.com:
White House science czar John Holdren has called for the U.S. to surrender sovereignty to a “planetary regime” armed with military power to enforce population limits upon nations and prevent perceived dangers from global eco-disasters, Jerome Corsi’s Red Alert reports.
Red Alert obtained and reviewed a copy of the 1970s college textbook, “Ecoscience: Population, Resources, Environment,” that Holdren co-authored with Malthusian population alarmist Paul R. Ehrlich and Ehrlich’s wife, Anne.
The authors argued that involuntary birth-control measures, including forced sterilization, may be necessary and morally acceptable under extreme conditions, such as widespread famine brought about by “climate change.”
They recommended the creation of a “planetary regime” created to act as an “international superagency for population, resources, and environment.”
“Such a Planetary Regime could control the development, administration, conservation, and distribution of all natural resources, renewable or nonrenewable, at least insofar as international implications exist,” they argued.
“Thus, the Regime could have the power to control pollution not only in the atmosphere and the oceans, but also in such freshwater bodies as rivers and lakes that cross international boundaries or that discharge into the oceans
Teaching Sex In Public Schools
The following article is not for the squeamish so if you might be offended or feel the need to vomit then stop reading. The article comes from the Helena, Montana public school systems of all places. Well, what is one to expect? Being a former teacher I'm familiar with how these school knuckleheads function. Western civilization under this administration is on a downward slide
faster than even I could imagine.
"A new health curriculum under consideration in Helena Public Schools is causing quite a controversy.
The document covers everything from nutrition to injury prevention, but the section titled "Human Sexuality" is drawing the most concern.
It lays out sex education topics for each grade, K through 12. In the first grade, children would be taught that human beings can love people of the same gender; in second grade, kids are taught not to make fun of people by calling them "gay" or "queer."
By fifth grade, they are taught there are several types of intercourse, and by the sixth grade, the draft document states that students should, "Understand that sexual intercourse includes but is not limited to vaginal, oral, or anal penetration; using the penis, fingers, tongue or objects."
Helena resident Noah Genger noted, "There are some things that are more controversial in nature, that are more personal, and also for most people religious views, and I think the school went a little too far in drafting when they crossed those lines."
Another Helena resident, Carol Carpenter, said, "It is a health curriculum, it is not just a sex ed curriculum, and there are some wonderful points in it. The areas that some people have concerns with are areas that can be discussed in the home. I don't think that it should be thrown out or totally voided because of a few language issues."
The school board will hear public comment on the issue at their regularly-scheduled meeting on Tuesday, July 13th; all area residents are welcome to attend."
You Might Be A Liberal/Progressive If:
Apologies to Arnold Ahlert at Jewish Word Review for editing his article. It's length precluded the entire post. Regardless, it's truth is so humorous it's almost sickening. Enjoy.
Since liberals/progressives insist on telling ordinary Americans what we ostensibly believe in — as in most of us are racist, stupid, xenophobic, jingoistic dim-bulbs — I thought I'd return the favor. In no particular order, a laundry list of cherished, liberal nostrums. With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy, you're a liberal/progressive if you believe:
"legal" and "illegal" alien are interchangeable terms. For you, any attempt to restrict illegal immigration is inherently racist.
that any law with which you disagree should be ignored or overturned by an activist judiciary. If you don't like a law, you don't have to obey it — period.
having an armed criminal population and a disarmed public makes that public safer.
increased government spending is the path to prosperity. It doesn't matter how many times this Keynesian economic model has failed.
a public school student who comes to the conclusion that 2+2=5 should get partial credit — for putting the numbers in the right order or proper usage of the "plus" and "equal" signs.
a fetus and a human being are two completely different things, and that anyone old enough to get pregnant is old enough to have an abortion without any parental involvement whatsoever.
telling our enemies when we'll be withdrawing our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan is "sound" military strategy; giving mass murdering, non-uniformed, international terrorists Constitutional protections and civilian trials is a good thing; the mainstream media publishing top-secret information in the middle of a war isn't irresponsible; the United States is as much to blame for international terror as the terrorists themselves; that the formerly "good war" in Afghanistan is now as bad as the "bad war" in Iraq, which was fought strictly for oil; and that Iran should be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons because "fair is fair."
a health care bill which completely ignores billions of savings that would have been produced by tort reform, collects ten years of funding for six years of spending, separates billion of dollars in physician payments into another bill, and insures an additional thirty-two million people — Americans and illegals alike — is really "revenue neutral."
the Bush administration "dropped the ball" with respect to Hurricane Katrina, but the Obama administration was on the BP oil spill "from day one." It was "all Bush's fault" that then-Governor of Louisiana Katherine Blanco rejected his offer to put troops in New Orleans two days before the hurricane struck.
America's "addiction to oil" has nothing to do with technological reality, and that we can snap our fingers and a "green energy" future will magically appear.
mortgages should be made available to people who can't afford them.
the mainstream media is completely unbiased — except for Fox News.
common sense and common decency are no match for an Ivy League education. Anyone who hasn't attended the "right schools" is a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal "clinging" to guns and religion, a racist "tea-bagger," or complete idiot incapable of taking care of himself.
Americans are inherently stupid. While this is similar to the preceding idea, it needs to be mentioned separately for one important reason: it is your fundamental rationale for the exponential expansion of government. You are completely comfortable with government ordering Americans to live a particular lifestyle you consider healthy and/or enlightened. Anyone who disagrees with any component of your worldview is to be pitied for their "lack of insight," or held in contempt for their "obvious" intellectual shortcomings.
anything which casts America in a positive light is automatically circumspect. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, you believe all societies and cultures are "equally viable," and anything which even hints at American exceptionalism, or patriotism — including the singing of the National Anthem in public schools — is to be condemned as "imperialistic jingoism."
competition is repugnant. Everyone is entitled to a trophy, honors classes in schools should be less "restrictive" and keeping score in sporting contests is too injurious to a child's self-esteem.
right and wrong are "relative," all morality is "individual," and government is a viable substitute for personal responsibility.
Since liberals/progressives insist on telling ordinary Americans what we ostensibly believe in — as in most of us are racist, stupid, xenophobic, jingoistic dim-bulbs — I thought I'd return the favor. In no particular order, a laundry list of cherished, liberal nostrums. With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy, you're a liberal/progressive if you believe:
"legal" and "illegal" alien are interchangeable terms. For you, any attempt to restrict illegal immigration is inherently racist.
that any law with which you disagree should be ignored or overturned by an activist judiciary. If you don't like a law, you don't have to obey it — period.
having an armed criminal population and a disarmed public makes that public safer.
increased government spending is the path to prosperity. It doesn't matter how many times this Keynesian economic model has failed.
a public school student who comes to the conclusion that 2+2=5 should get partial credit — for putting the numbers in the right order or proper usage of the "plus" and "equal" signs.
a fetus and a human being are two completely different things, and that anyone old enough to get pregnant is old enough to have an abortion without any parental involvement whatsoever.
telling our enemies when we'll be withdrawing our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan is "sound" military strategy; giving mass murdering, non-uniformed, international terrorists Constitutional protections and civilian trials is a good thing; the mainstream media publishing top-secret information in the middle of a war isn't irresponsible; the United States is as much to blame for international terror as the terrorists themselves; that the formerly "good war" in Afghanistan is now as bad as the "bad war" in Iraq, which was fought strictly for oil; and that Iran should be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons because "fair is fair."
a health care bill which completely ignores billions of savings that would have been produced by tort reform, collects ten years of funding for six years of spending, separates billion of dollars in physician payments into another bill, and insures an additional thirty-two million people — Americans and illegals alike — is really "revenue neutral."
the Bush administration "dropped the ball" with respect to Hurricane Katrina, but the Obama administration was on the BP oil spill "from day one." It was "all Bush's fault" that then-Governor of Louisiana Katherine Blanco rejected his offer to put troops in New Orleans two days before the hurricane struck.
America's "addiction to oil" has nothing to do with technological reality, and that we can snap our fingers and a "green energy" future will magically appear.
mortgages should be made available to people who can't afford them.
the mainstream media is completely unbiased — except for Fox News.
common sense and common decency are no match for an Ivy League education. Anyone who hasn't attended the "right schools" is a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal "clinging" to guns and religion, a racist "tea-bagger," or complete idiot incapable of taking care of himself.
Americans are inherently stupid. While this is similar to the preceding idea, it needs to be mentioned separately for one important reason: it is your fundamental rationale for the exponential expansion of government. You are completely comfortable with government ordering Americans to live a particular lifestyle you consider healthy and/or enlightened. Anyone who disagrees with any component of your worldview is to be pitied for their "lack of insight," or held in contempt for their "obvious" intellectual shortcomings.
anything which casts America in a positive light is automatically circumspect. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, you believe all societies and cultures are "equally viable," and anything which even hints at American exceptionalism, or patriotism — including the singing of the National Anthem in public schools — is to be condemned as "imperialistic jingoism."
competition is repugnant. Everyone is entitled to a trophy, honors classes in schools should be less "restrictive" and keeping score in sporting contests is too injurious to a child's self-esteem.
right and wrong are "relative," all morality is "individual," and government is a viable substitute for personal responsibility.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Bart Stupak Sucker Punched On Abortion
From Lifenews.com
The Obama administration has officially approved the first instance of taxpayer funded abortions under the new national government-run health care program. This is the kind of abortion funding the pro-life movement warned about when Congress considered the bill.
The Obama Administration will give Pennsylvania $160 million to set up a new "high-risk" insurance program under a provision of the federal health care legislation enacted in March.
It has quietly approved a plan submitted by an appointee of pro-abortion Governor Edward Rendell under which the new program will cover any abortion that is legal in Pennsylvania.
The high-risk pool program is one of the new programs created by the sweeping health care legislation, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, President Obama signed into law on March 23. The law authorizes $5 billion in federal funds for the program, which will cover as many as 400,000 people when it is implemented nationwide.
"The Obama Administration will give Pennsylvania $160 million in federal tax funds, which we've discovered will pay for insurance plans that cover any legal abortion," said Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee.
Johnson told LifeNews.com: "This is just the first proof of the phoniness of President Obama's assurances that federal funds would not subsidize abortion -- but it will not be the last."
The Obama administration has officially approved the first instance of taxpayer funded abortions under the new national government-run health care program. This is the kind of abortion funding the pro-life movement warned about when Congress considered the bill.
The Obama Administration will give Pennsylvania $160 million to set up a new "high-risk" insurance program under a provision of the federal health care legislation enacted in March.
It has quietly approved a plan submitted by an appointee of pro-abortion Governor Edward Rendell under which the new program will cover any abortion that is legal in Pennsylvania.
The high-risk pool program is one of the new programs created by the sweeping health care legislation, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, President Obama signed into law on March 23. The law authorizes $5 billion in federal funds for the program, which will cover as many as 400,000 people when it is implemented nationwide.
"The Obama Administration will give Pennsylvania $160 million in federal tax funds, which we've discovered will pay for insurance plans that cover any legal abortion," said Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee.
Johnson told LifeNews.com: "This is just the first proof of the phoniness of President Obama's assurances that federal funds would not subsidize abortion -- but it will not be the last."
Bizarro World
What a fantastic story this could be. It's a made for TV sitcom. Bill Clinton is the minister. He is to marry the Muslim and Jewish couple but the night before he shags the bride to be. Bill has a decision to make. Hillary had spies out spying on Bill but The Boy ex-President knows about it. He contacts a Muslim cleric who initiates Sharia Law against Huma declaring she be stoned to death. Delicious, isn't it? It'd be good for a couple of seasons at the very least. In the meantime from the AP:
According to the Politico's Maggie Haberman, US Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) has married Huma Abedin, a former aide to Hillary Clinton and a Muslim. The wedding occurred on July 10th on Long Island, NY. The short article states the wedding was officiated by Bill Clinton.
This should be interesting. One wonders if the Jewish population of Weiner's Brooklyn and Queens district knows of this and if how they will react. Weiner is up for re-election this coming November.
Thomas Lifson adds: According to Jewish law, only children of Jewish mothers are regarded as Jewish. Should the happy couple have children, will Rep. Weiner be the father of Muslim children?
According to the Politico's Maggie Haberman, US Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) has married Huma Abedin, a former aide to Hillary Clinton and a Muslim. The wedding occurred on July 10th on Long Island, NY. The short article states the wedding was officiated by Bill Clinton.
This should be interesting. One wonders if the Jewish population of Weiner's Brooklyn and Queens district knows of this and if how they will react. Weiner is up for re-election this coming November.
Thomas Lifson adds: According to Jewish law, only children of Jewish mothers are regarded as Jewish. Should the happy couple have children, will Rep. Weiner be the father of Muslim children?
Really? Or Is It Really!
Put on your thinking cap, kiddies. Remember a year ago last May when I wrote about the phrase of the period? It was, "there ya' go". It had an all purpose meaning: agreement to a statement, a job well done, no meaning at all but used to end a conversation.
After much thought and an unofficial survey of 1,000 or so Americans we are into the use of a new word. It is, 'really'. It can compliment every sentence made or used as emphasis to another statement. It can be a question or an affirmation to a statement. I first heard it last June from a PGA player staying in our home. He was from South Carolina, I'd never picked up on it, so I assumed some of his golfing fraternity initiated the word. I noticed, beginning June 10 of this year, that I was saying the word at every juncture of a conversation to the point that I was embarrassed. Some might think my vocabulary was regressing to that of a newly formed larvae. Basically, it, 'really, is a mindless response; as in, having to have the last word.
Then, when Lizzie arrived at the lake she was doing it, too. I felt much better about myself. The wife is a grammatical wizard; knows more about proper grammar than God. And that's all I have to say on the subject. Really!
After much thought and an unofficial survey of 1,000 or so Americans we are into the use of a new word. It is, 'really'. It can compliment every sentence made or used as emphasis to another statement. It can be a question or an affirmation to a statement. I first heard it last June from a PGA player staying in our home. He was from South Carolina, I'd never picked up on it, so I assumed some of his golfing fraternity initiated the word. I noticed, beginning June 10 of this year, that I was saying the word at every juncture of a conversation to the point that I was embarrassed. Some might think my vocabulary was regressing to that of a newly formed larvae. Basically, it, 'really, is a mindless response; as in, having to have the last word.
Then, when Lizzie arrived at the lake she was doing it, too. I felt much better about myself. The wife is a grammatical wizard; knows more about proper grammar than God. And that's all I have to say on the subject. Really!
An October Surprise
Pam Geller has a column at Atlas Shrugs and is on top of the Obama thugs, especially when it comes to Islamic terrorism and their affinity to support them. In order to maintain power Ms. Geller brings up what we, sane folks, know best, "an October surprise". Quoting other sources aside from her own is it not realistic to assume the communist regime in Washington DC will do anything to stick around.?
"What will October's Surprise be? Political analyst Jack Wheeler has an idea. "A Second Great Depression," he says, "is the Democrat Party's path to power":
Our country is faced with an impending economic catastrophe, a Second Great Depression. It is being brought about on purpose by a political party that cares only for keeping and expanding its power, and looks upon prosperity as a threat to that power.
You think the Democrats aren't really that bad? Think again. Wheeler points out that they're "now being threatened with being thrown out of power." And what did they do when faced with a loss of power the last time? "If that party is evil enough and fascist enough to cause an economic catastrophe," Wheeler says, "it is certainly evil and fascist enough to cause a physical catastrophe, an Ultimate October Surprise, that will frighten and enrage voters enough to preserve its power in November."
Wheeler speculates that this could take the form of "another 9/11, a massively horrific terrorist attack, perhaps even nuclear." Or it could involve Obama's obvious and gross mishandling of the Gulf oil crisis, the full extent of which is (of course) being covered up in the lapdog media. And whom would the Democrats blame for whatever crisis they trump up? Whom else? The attack will be used, Wheeler suggests, "to raise suspicion about the dangerous Tea Party people and anyone who is 'anti-government,' enough for people to rally around their Zero-led government in fear and confusion." And it will ultimately provide "further rationales for emergency government powers."
Could this really happen? Well, we know there have been October Surprises in the past, and each election ups the ante. We have to make sure this doesn't happen. We are Americans. We are free people. We must resist. As one reader of my website, AtlasShrugs.com, wrote to me, "the political tools of truth, exposure, ridicule, disparagement, impeachment, criminal prosecution, and politically-incorrect anger must be added to our arsenal of peaceful weapons against tyranny. ... We must make history by living our freedom, or surely we will die."
"What will October's Surprise be? Political analyst Jack Wheeler has an idea. "A Second Great Depression," he says, "is the Democrat Party's path to power":
Our country is faced with an impending economic catastrophe, a Second Great Depression. It is being brought about on purpose by a political party that cares only for keeping and expanding its power, and looks upon prosperity as a threat to that power.
You think the Democrats aren't really that bad? Think again. Wheeler points out that they're "now being threatened with being thrown out of power." And what did they do when faced with a loss of power the last time? "If that party is evil enough and fascist enough to cause an economic catastrophe," Wheeler says, "it is certainly evil and fascist enough to cause a physical catastrophe, an Ultimate October Surprise, that will frighten and enrage voters enough to preserve its power in November."
Wheeler speculates that this could take the form of "another 9/11, a massively horrific terrorist attack, perhaps even nuclear." Or it could involve Obama's obvious and gross mishandling of the Gulf oil crisis, the full extent of which is (of course) being covered up in the lapdog media. And whom would the Democrats blame for whatever crisis they trump up? Whom else? The attack will be used, Wheeler suggests, "to raise suspicion about the dangerous Tea Party people and anyone who is 'anti-government,' enough for people to rally around their Zero-led government in fear and confusion." And it will ultimately provide "further rationales for emergency government powers."
Could this really happen? Well, we know there have been October Surprises in the past, and each election ups the ante. We have to make sure this doesn't happen. We are Americans. We are free people. We must resist. As one reader of my website, AtlasShrugs.com, wrote to me, "the political tools of truth, exposure, ridicule, disparagement, impeachment, criminal prosecution, and politically-incorrect anger must be added to our arsenal of peaceful weapons against tyranny. ... We must make history by living our freedom, or surely we will die."
Monday, July 12, 2010
Lie Of The Day
In her Kansas City speech today, the first lady focused on the issue of childhood obesity and her "Let's Move" initiative, but outside of her remarks, anti-Tea Party activism has been a key focus of the gathering, which conservative leaders say is driven solely by a political agenda.
Tea Party members have used "racial epithets," have verbally abused black members of Congress and threatened them, and protesters have engaged in "explicitly racist behavior" and "displayed signs and posters intended to degrade people of color generally and President Barack Obama specifically," according to the proposed resolution.
In the first place Ms. Obama has no business talking about child obesity unless she's referring to her own childhood. Lord knows her butt could block out the sun on June 21.
Secondly, and most important, there has not been one scintilla of truth to the Tea Party using racial epithets. No proof. None. Andrew Breitbart of Big Journalism offered $100,000 to anyone who could prove there was verbal or written abuse of black members of Congress. So far, no takers. It's another example of how the loser Obama's are trying to divide the country by using racism as a crutch. Wake up, America.
Tea Party members have used "racial epithets," have verbally abused black members of Congress and threatened them, and protesters have engaged in "explicitly racist behavior" and "displayed signs and posters intended to degrade people of color generally and President Barack Obama specifically," according to the proposed resolution.
In the first place Ms. Obama has no business talking about child obesity unless she's referring to her own childhood. Lord knows her butt could block out the sun on June 21.
Secondly, and most important, there has not been one scintilla of truth to the Tea Party using racial epithets. No proof. None. Andrew Breitbart of Big Journalism offered $100,000 to anyone who could prove there was verbal or written abuse of black members of Congress. So far, no takers. It's another example of how the loser Obama's are trying to divide the country by using racism as a crutch. Wake up, America.
The Big Bass Theory
Day 3 of the vacation with the grandson is about to come to an end and it was a joyous one. More on that later. In the previous two days all I wanted for the kid was to catch fish--and he did. He nailed two zabillion sunfish, bluegills and rock bass. I was baiting his hook every fifteen seconds. He did catch a good sized sunny yesterday and it was thrown in the live well. Being that I remember fishing with my dad and grandpa at that age he, like me at that time, had to check it out every couple of minutes . My dad used to get mad at me when I did this but in those days we put the bullheads(for people not from the Midwest bullheads are smaller versions of the catfish) on a stringer and he had to keep pulling them out of the water for me to see.
Today, Oscar caught his first large mouth bass. It wasn't huge but it wasn't tiny, either. It fought him hard but the Big O was victorious. Into the live well it went. When we got back to the cabin his dad took the obligatory picture. I have a 7 and a half pound large mouth mounted on our cabin wall. Oscar thought we should mount his. At a hundred cimolis my figuring told me this a bad idea. He then wanted to know if we could eat it. I wasn't sure how squeamish this might make a five year old plus I don't want to be responsible for any future Jeffrey Dahmer's. I mentioned we'd have to cut off the head first. That's all it took. "Maybe we should give it a spanking, tell it not to eat any more worms and send it home to it's family". Those were my grandson's words on the subject and that's the way it ended, thankfully.
Today, Oscar caught his first large mouth bass. It wasn't huge but it wasn't tiny, either. It fought him hard but the Big O was victorious. Into the live well it went. When we got back to the cabin his dad took the obligatory picture. I have a 7 and a half pound large mouth mounted on our cabin wall. Oscar thought we should mount his. At a hundred cimolis my figuring told me this a bad idea. He then wanted to know if we could eat it. I wasn't sure how squeamish this might make a five year old plus I don't want to be responsible for any future Jeffrey Dahmer's. I mentioned we'd have to cut off the head first. That's all it took. "Maybe we should give it a spanking, tell it not to eat any more worms and send it home to it's family". Those were my grandson's words on the subject and that's the way it ended, thankfully.
Who's a cracker?
I'm a cracker, he's a cracker, she's a cracker, they're a cracker, we're a cracker...
wouldn't you like to be a cracker, too?
thanks to lucianne.com
Sunday, July 11, 2010
David Axelrod: "Shut Up"
From Political:
The outcry over illegal immigration in border states notwithstanding, President Barack Obama has taken as strict an approach to the issue as any other president, White House senior adviser David Axelrod insisted Sunday.
"No administration has been tougher on enforcement," Axelrod said on "Fox News Sunday." "We have more manpower there than ever before- more equipment drones, helicopters, airplanes. We're doing this in a smart, more efficient way and we're producing better results."
And just because I'm mean, and for the heck of it, I want Jesse Jackson to shut up, too!
The outcry over illegal immigration in border states notwithstanding, President Barack Obama has taken as strict an approach to the issue as any other president, White House senior adviser David Axelrod insisted Sunday.
"No administration has been tougher on enforcement," Axelrod said on "Fox News Sunday." "We have more manpower there than ever before- more equipment drones, helicopters, airplanes. We're doing this in a smart, more efficient way and we're producing better results."
And just because I'm mean, and for the heck of it, I want Jesse Jackson to shut up, too!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
A Very Cool Job
One of my son's, to the naked eye, has a very cool job. When he was a kid, age five, he started drawing dinosaurs and super heroes. Today, now that he's all grown up and and on the downside of thirty-----he draws dinosaurs and super heroes. In two weeks Lizzie will toodle on down to Kansas City and babysit the grandchildren. My boy and his wife will be flying to San Diego to attend a three day comic book convention. It's on the company dime. A lesson learned: never mess with one kid's dream.
I Knew This Three Years Ago: Caribou Coffee
Well, congratulations to me. I knew about the Caribou Coffee/Sharia Law/Anti-American connection three years ago. Don't think I'm a combo of Jimmy Olson, Lois Lane and Clark Kent, either. I heard it as a rumor and followed up on it by READING articles in papers and magazines. Caribou Coffee's Bahrain owners have 87.7% of the stock. It's with the First Islamic Investment Bank. One of the goals of this group is to destroy America. Some of the citizenry think I'm nuts when I tell them why I boycott CC. Hey, people, I have my standards.
From the Media Monitors Network
Homeland Security: President Obama promised lobbyists wouldn't run his White House. They're just doing it from across the street — at a Shariah-compliant coffee chain tied to a radical jihadist group.
That's right: According to the New York Times, prominent K Street lobbyists are buttonholing Obama officials at a Caribou Coffee shop on Pennsylvania Avenue, raising far more than just ethics questions. What the Times story neglects to mention is that Caribou Coffee is a Shariah-compliant firm owned by an Islamic bank based in Bahrain. One of its founders and a current adviser are leaders in the radical Muslim Brotherhood.
According to the FBI, the Egypt-based, Saudi-funded Brotherhood has a plan to infiltrate, "sabotage" and "destroy" the U.S. "from within." And it's using American agents and front groups to carry out that espionage.
The off-site White House meetings at Caribou also raise national security concerns. Because they're not taking place at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., they're not subject to disclosure on White House visitors logs. And there's no Secret Service present — at a shop owned and controlled by a foreign entity hostile to U.S. interests.
A key principal in the 2000 deal by First Islamic Bank of Bahrain to buy Caribou Coffee was Yusuf al-Qaradawi — spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, and a known jihadist and open supporter of suicide bombings, including some targeting Americans.
The Islamic cleric has been banned from entering the U.S. due to his fatwahs calling for the killing of American troops, and his leadership in a charity blacklisted by Treasury as a terror group.
Al-Qaradawi has ruled that jihad can be an offensive means of expanding the Muslim state, plus a defensive response to attack. Referring to the infidel, he added, "If you kill him he will end up in hell, and if he kills you, you become a martyr."
First Islamic Bank changed its name and removed al-Qaradawi's name from its Web site after anti-jihad watchdogs exposed the connection. But Caribou's parent still lists another major Brotherhood figure as a member of its Shariah Supervisory Board. It calls Muhammad Taqi Usmani a "prominent scholar" with a "proven track record in the practical implementation of Shariah law."
News of these White House meetings at an Islamist-controlled chain comes as Obama has appointed a Muslim lawyer promoting Shariah finance as a White House fellow.
We need more transparency regarding who's getting into the White House, who's lobbying it and who owns the off-site spots where they're conducting official White House business. The FBI should be there too.
From the Media Monitors Network
Homeland Security: President Obama promised lobbyists wouldn't run his White House. They're just doing it from across the street — at a Shariah-compliant coffee chain tied to a radical jihadist group.
That's right: According to the New York Times, prominent K Street lobbyists are buttonholing Obama officials at a Caribou Coffee shop on Pennsylvania Avenue, raising far more than just ethics questions. What the Times story neglects to mention is that Caribou Coffee is a Shariah-compliant firm owned by an Islamic bank based in Bahrain. One of its founders and a current adviser are leaders in the radical Muslim Brotherhood.
According to the FBI, the Egypt-based, Saudi-funded Brotherhood has a plan to infiltrate, "sabotage" and "destroy" the U.S. "from within." And it's using American agents and front groups to carry out that espionage.
The off-site White House meetings at Caribou also raise national security concerns. Because they're not taking place at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., they're not subject to disclosure on White House visitors logs. And there's no Secret Service present — at a shop owned and controlled by a foreign entity hostile to U.S. interests.
A key principal in the 2000 deal by First Islamic Bank of Bahrain to buy Caribou Coffee was Yusuf al-Qaradawi — spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, and a known jihadist and open supporter of suicide bombings, including some targeting Americans.
The Islamic cleric has been banned from entering the U.S. due to his fatwahs calling for the killing of American troops, and his leadership in a charity blacklisted by Treasury as a terror group.
Al-Qaradawi has ruled that jihad can be an offensive means of expanding the Muslim state, plus a defensive response to attack. Referring to the infidel, he added, "If you kill him he will end up in hell, and if he kills you, you become a martyr."
First Islamic Bank changed its name and removed al-Qaradawi's name from its Web site after anti-jihad watchdogs exposed the connection. But Caribou's parent still lists another major Brotherhood figure as a member of its Shariah Supervisory Board. It calls Muhammad Taqi Usmani a "prominent scholar" with a "proven track record in the practical implementation of Shariah law."
News of these White House meetings at an Islamist-controlled chain comes as Obama has appointed a Muslim lawyer promoting Shariah finance as a White House fellow.
We need more transparency regarding who's getting into the White House, who's lobbying it and who owns the off-site spots where they're conducting official White House business. The FBI should be there too.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Communists & Progressives: One In The Same
From NoisyRoom.net aka the progressive hunter:
Rick Nagin is a leader of the Communist Party USA in Ohio.
Like many communists, Nagin is also a Democrat, almost succeeding in securing a Cleveland City Council seat running as a Democrat in 2009.
Rick Nagin has a history with Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich. He served as Kucinich’s Labor Coordinator in the 2008 primary and in return Kucinich endorsed Nagin during his 2009 Council run.
Dennis Kucinich Supports Rick Nagin’s 2009 Council Race
In 2008 Rick Nagin was a full-time volunteer in the AFL-CIO Labor 2008 campaign for Barack Obama.
In the latest Peoples World, Rick Nagin impresses on his fellow communists the vital importance of defeating the Republicans in November’s mid-term elections:
Defeating the Republicans in November must be the top priority for all progressives. The pundits tell us incessantly that Democrats will lose seats and possibly control of Congress because usually (but not always) this is what happens to the party in power in mid-term elections. The Republicans hope this narrative will help demoralize Democratic voters, but their main message is that President Obama and the Democrats are responsible for the unrelenting economic crisis.
Oh! My! Gawd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FromStephen Dinan at the Washington Times:
The nation's debt leapt $166 billion in a single day last week, the third-largest increase in U.S. history, and it comes at a time when Congress is balking over higher spending and debt has become a key policy battleground.
The one-day increase for June 30 totaled $165,931,038,264.30 - bigger than the entire annual deficit for fiscal year 2007 and larger than the $140 billion in savings the new health care bill will produce over its first 10 years. The figure works out to nearly $1,500 for every U.S. household, or more than 10 times the median daily household income.
The nation's debt leapt $166 billion in a single day last week, the third-largest increase in U.S. history, and it comes at a time when Congress is balking over higher spending and debt has become a key policy battleground.
The one-day increase for June 30 totaled $165,931,038,264.30 - bigger than the entire annual deficit for fiscal year 2007 and larger than the $140 billion in savings the new health care bill will produce over its first 10 years. The figure works out to nearly $1,500 for every U.S. household, or more than 10 times the median daily household income.
The Other G'Kiddies
Out in the boat again today where I think best. In a post yesterday it occurred to me that I made a big deal about my grandson coming this week-end and rightly so. However, Lizzie and I have been blessed with five other munchkins and I wanted to focus on them a bit. Unless you are a parent you may not understand the uniqueness of each child. If you truly love them you are able to recognize their strengths and weaknesses and love them for the way they are.
My daughter has two small ones, ages 3 and 1, a boy and girl. I've only seen Baby David once and he's the spittin' image of his dad with the same laid back personality. Daughter, Paige, is her mother, my daughter. Looks the same at that age, laughs the same, talks the same and has just the right amount of mischievousness to make you fall in love with her immediately. She loves to sing.
Oscar's sister, age three, was named after a lady my son knew while studying in France. Her name is Genevieve but is called Vieve, as in, Vee-vee. She's going to be an athlete. I can picture her in Barnum and Baily's as a trapeze artist or, possibly, the lady shot out of a cannon. I call her, 'No Fear Vieve'. She's fun to be around because when I'm with her I don't know what's going to happen next.
My oldest granddaughter is Eve. It's a good name for her. She'll be the first in everything. Evie is going to be six in November and beginning kindergarten. She is a voracious reader; probably at the fourth grade level. The kid has blond hair; unusual for the MJ Hawkeye clan.
Evie has a bro, Tommy. He'll be three in August. Tommy is a charmer. Such a cute little guy. He loves cars and trains and can entertain himself for hours, just like his Dad did. When he visited us in May I saw him hit a baseball off one of those ESPN tees. He has a big time swing and crushed the ball; just the way his Grandpa did but not at the age of two.
We're expecting additions to the family soon. Oscar and Vieve are going to welcome a brother around August. The selected name is Kingston Michael. I'm all for that. Coincidentally, that is the exact name I had picked out for his Dad thirty-four years ago but he didn't know it. My wife put the ixnay on it. With a name like King he's bound to be 'The Man' in school. I've know a couple of 'King's'. A guy named King Schott was a stud baseball player in Central Iowa years ago. Also, there have been tons of 'Kings' who were rulers of nations. You don't suppose.
Not to be outdone, Evie and Tommy will be welcoming a person's sex to be determined in December. Don't have a name but they select simplified ones. I'm guessing Mary or John. That's okay, though. What's in a name, anyway?
So, there you have it. What lucky parents we are--and grandparents, too.
As I said in the beginning you love them for their strengths but, as grandparents, you overlook the weaknesses. Besides, my grand kids don't have weaknesses. They are perfect!
Golfing Is Like Fishing: Dumb
Back in 1972 my next door neighbor, Judge Ayers, was an ornithologist. He and his wife, Darlene, spent hours walking through the woods look for different species of birds and taking pictures. He invited Lizzie and me over one night to view a slide show. My thought was, "could anything be more boring"? It was one of the most interesting evenings I've spent. Think not? Well, thirty-eight years later I still remember. The point is, the Judge's hobby cost him absolutely nothing except for the cost of gas and the price of film to look for the little critters and in '72 gas was selling for 25 cents a gallon.
I just finished cleaning a bass I caught last evening. It was a nice one. I caught it in the lily pads and it's nifty when the fish gulps the froggy, jumps in the air then dives for the bottom of the pads. However, it was one lousy fish. I began computing the money I spend on fishing and my other hobby, golf, with little return.
Fishing: cost of gasoline, lost lures, purchased lures, live bait, nicknack's like hooks, sinkers, fish net, bait buckets, refurbishing reels, wear and tear on the boat. This is getting monotonous!
Golf: monthly dues at the club, golf gloves, cart fees, lost balls, tournament entry fees, Wednesday night old men's pot game of $20, driving to and fro to get where I'm going. On August 5 I'll drive to the Chicago area to meet up with six fraternity bro's I haven't seen since '67 for four days of golf. Cost: hotels, breakfast, lunch, dinner, golf, bets and gas. It'll set me back $700 without breaking a sweat.
I have one thing in common with Judge Ayers and my hobbies. He and his wife talked to us. My golfing and fishing friends talk. In both cases there is camaraderie.
I could do that playing pinochle instead of spending money on my hobbies.
I'll blame my passions on my parent's. They pushed me into sports. If I had to do it all over again I'd have taken up the flute!
What Gives
It's not surprising that Obama has a 46% disaapproval rating. What flabbergasts me is that he maintains a 45% approval. Are these people living under a rock or what?
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Benjamin 'The Cowboy' Netanyahu
Just watched a video of Obama and Israel's Netanyahu. A reporter asked Mr. Big if it was a good idea for him to distance himself from Israel. The prez bristled at the question and formally disagreed. I could care less about the question or the answer. What I thought humorous was the way the two men positioned themselves. Obama had his legs crossed with his hands in his lap. Netanyahu sat with his feet spread apart and his hands resting on his upper thighs------as though he was going to reach for the holster on a nanoseconds notice. Sure wish I was talented enough to YouTube it but maybe someday. In the meantime, do it yourself.
The Big O Is A Comin'
I'm as giddy as a twelve year old girl getting ready for her thirteenth birthday party. My six year old grandson is coming to the lake with his dad, my son, on Saturday next. His name is Oscar and he is a nice, polite little boy. He has blond, curly locks and he's a joy to be around. Oscar laughs a lot. He called me on the phone two weeks ago. The conversation went this way: "Hi Grandpa, this is Oscar. I miss you" As God is my witness I thought I was going to cry. Every grandchild is unique to grandpa and grandma but the Big O is more so. His other Grandpa is a car buff and since he lives in the same town as Oscar he takes him with him to car dealers and shows. By the time O was three he could name every make and car he saw. Just to show him off I'll walk down a line of parked vehicles at the Columbus Zoo and have him name every car as we saunter by. Of course, I make sure there zoo goers are within listening distance. Just to show him off. You understand!
Oscar is the kind of kid who will start conversations with adults. He shakes their hand then starts in with something along these lines, "that's a great looking shirt you're wearing". It's like he's one of the small people from the Wizard of Oz.
I've been on a 'search and destroy' mission on the lake this week. I am bound and determined to find the perfect fishing hole so he can have some fishing fun. I bought him his first 'big kid' rod and reel. We've donated his Spider Man one to his cousin.
There's going to be a tradition begin on Saturday. I'll make it up like it's been going on for hundreds of years but it'll go like this: I'll have Oscar dip his hands in the lake. Then I'll sing some silly Indian chant and tell him from now on all the fishes and water of Ten Mile Lake along with the cabin belong to him, forever. It's not just Grandpa and Grandma's house anymore. It's his, too.
I love this Grandpa thing and you know why? Whatever Oscar wants Oscar gets because it's my job to spoil the heck out of him. And that's the way it's supposed to be.
Oscar is the kind of kid who will start conversations with adults. He shakes their hand then starts in with something along these lines, "that's a great looking shirt you're wearing". It's like he's one of the small people from the Wizard of Oz.
I've been on a 'search and destroy' mission on the lake this week. I am bound and determined to find the perfect fishing hole so he can have some fishing fun. I bought him his first 'big kid' rod and reel. We've donated his Spider Man one to his cousin.
There's going to be a tradition begin on Saturday. I'll make it up like it's been going on for hundreds of years but it'll go like this: I'll have Oscar dip his hands in the lake. Then I'll sing some silly Indian chant and tell him from now on all the fishes and water of Ten Mile Lake along with the cabin belong to him, forever. It's not just Grandpa and Grandma's house anymore. It's his, too.
I love this Grandpa thing and you know why? Whatever Oscar wants Oscar gets because it's my job to spoil the heck out of him. And that's the way it's supposed to be.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Speaking To The Gullible
"Our nation's southern border is more secure than it has been in the last 20 years".
BHO
BHO
The Land Of 10,000 Taxes
Egg on your face. I bet you thought I goofed up and should have written 10,000 lakes. No, I know what I'm doing. There has been a series of television commercials touting Mark Dayton for governor. In Minnesota the Dems are called the Democrat-Farm-Labor Party. Scary, isn't it? Anyway, Dayton was born in '47 in New York into an extremely wealthy family. The lad was expected to become a doctor but chose a career as a teacher in an inner city school. After awhile he tired of this and took a 'gopher' job(is this how the Minnesota Gophers got their nickname) for Senator Walter Mondale(DFL-Mn) in 1976. Sad to say but his philosophy was established permanently. You remember Mondale. Accepting the nomination as the presidential candidate in 1984 while on the convention podium he was heard to utter; "these people don't know it yet but I'm going to tax their asses off". In the event you have a short memory Mondale, running against Reagan, won one state, his own, by a mere 3700 votes. In addition, he hauled in the megatropolis of Washington D.C. Sorry, Walt; no electoral votes for that one.
Back to Dayton and fast forward to 2010. It's the same old story. His commercials focus on this one aspect: "We're going to make the rich pay their fare share of taxes". In Minnesota this could play well. The money is in the southern part of the state. Northern Minnesota is composed of welfare people, Native Americans and those who depend on sport fishing. It's a seasonal thing. One would think, in 2010, with the job market what it is the emphasis from Dayton would be on something else, say, "a car in every garage and two chickens in every pot". It's a Hooverism from 1928 but it's a positive one.
MINNESOTA
Sales Taxes
State Sales Tax: 6.875% (food, clothing, prescription and non-prescription drugs exempt); Liquor and beer taxed at 9%. The sales tax rate does not apply to motor vehicles that are subject to the state excise tax on motor vehicles. A few cities and counties also add a sales tax which can be as high as 9.53%.
Gasoline Tax: 27.2 cents/gallon
Diesel Fuel Tax: 27.2 cents/gallon
Cigarette Tax: $1.56/pack of 20
I've taken the opportunity to place some info about the Minnesota sales tax on this post. Some of you may look at this and say, "well, that's not too bad.
Since we're at the Minnesota lake cabin at present let me close with this. We're in a resort area. There are over 100 lakes in the county. When I go to the grocery story I pay $3.89,before taxes, for a half gallon of milk. Since we're only feeding Lizzie and myself we get by but if you are on vacation and feeding a large family or, God forbid, live here year round, those $3.89's plus add up. With sale tax on top we're talking real moolah.
This is the kind of thing that keeps the D-F-L in power. Tax their asses off until the people wise up and throw the bums out!
Back to Dayton and fast forward to 2010. It's the same old story. His commercials focus on this one aspect: "We're going to make the rich pay their fare share of taxes". In Minnesota this could play well. The money is in the southern part of the state. Northern Minnesota is composed of welfare people, Native Americans and those who depend on sport fishing. It's a seasonal thing. One would think, in 2010, with the job market what it is the emphasis from Dayton would be on something else, say, "a car in every garage and two chickens in every pot". It's a Hooverism from 1928 but it's a positive one.
MINNESOTA
Sales Taxes
State Sales Tax: 6.875% (food, clothing, prescription and non-prescription drugs exempt); Liquor and beer taxed at 9%. The sales tax rate does not apply to motor vehicles that are subject to the state excise tax on motor vehicles. A few cities and counties also add a sales tax which can be as high as 9.53%.
Gasoline Tax: 27.2 cents/gallon
Diesel Fuel Tax: 27.2 cents/gallon
Cigarette Tax: $1.56/pack of 20
I've taken the opportunity to place some info about the Minnesota sales tax on this post. Some of you may look at this and say, "well, that's not too bad.
Since we're at the Minnesota lake cabin at present let me close with this. We're in a resort area. There are over 100 lakes in the county. When I go to the grocery story I pay $3.89,before taxes, for a half gallon of milk. Since we're only feeding Lizzie and myself we get by but if you are on vacation and feeding a large family or, God forbid, live here year round, those $3.89's plus add up. With sale tax on top we're talking real moolah.
This is the kind of thing that keeps the D-F-L in power. Tax their asses off until the people wise up and throw the bums out!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Another Health Care Faux Pas
Health care courtesy of The One has irritated another major company. This time it's from my now home town. Is this the change you who voted for Him wanted? Fools!
Article from Ace of Spades HQ
The Columbus-based family owned restaurant chain - known for serving small square hamburgers called "sliders" – says a single provision in the bill will eat up roughly 55 percent of its yearly net income after 2014.
Starting that year, the bill levies a $3,000-per-employee penalty on companies whose workers pay more than 9.5 percent of household income in premiums for company-provided insurance.
White Castle, which currently provides insurance to all of its full-time workers and picks up 70 to 89 percent of their premium costs, believes it will likely end up paying those penalties. The financial hit will make it hard for the company to maintain its 421 restaurants, let alone create new jobs, says company spokesman Jamie Richardson. White Castle employs more than 10,000 people nationwide, and more than 1,200 in Ohio.
"Thank God, I Don't Have HIV"
From CNS News:
The federal government has spent $550,496 on a project that involved conducting “focus groups and in-depth interviews” with American long-haul truck drivers to learn about their sex lives in order to assess their risk of contracting HIV or other sexually transmitted infections.
The project has failed to find any instances of HIV among the truck drivers studied.
The federal government has spent $550,496 on a project that involved conducting “focus groups and in-depth interviews” with American long-haul truck drivers to learn about their sex lives in order to assess their risk of contracting HIV or other sexually transmitted infections.
The project has failed to find any instances of HIV among the truck drivers studied.
July 4th: Writings From A Progressive
I'm presenting an article written by Matthew Rothschild because I'm fair-minded to all people. This nincompoop wrote it for Progressive Magazine which advertised itself as being around since 1909, Far be it from me to criticize a guy for being unpatriotic. I'm not trying to proselytize, either. As far as I'm concerned Progressives are a lot like homeless on the street. I feel sad them but I'm not going to try and change them. Besides, they're in the minority. Why, some of my best friends are the homeless whereas, progressives, not a chance. Presenting the ultimate Progressive insult: They are pitiful. Think about it. If someone calls you pitiful that's an unfortunate characterization. Actually, there's only one response to being called pitiful and that is: "Well, Chuck you, Farley"! It's the perfect insult. Without further ado I present the magnificent work of Rothschild. Take it for what it's worth:
"You can call me unpatriotic if you’d like, but really I’m anti-patriotic.
I’ve been studying fascism lately, and there is one inescapable fact about it:
Nationalism is the egg that hatches fascism.
And patriotism is but the father of nationalism.
Patriotism is not something to play with. It’s highly toxic. When ingested, it corrodes the rational faculties.
It gulls people into believing their leaders.
It masks those who benefit most from state policy.
And it destroys the ability of people to get together, within the United States and across boundaries, to take on those with the most power: the multinational corporation.
Plus, it’s a war toy, wheeled out whenever a leader needs to improve his ratings by attacking some other country—often after invoking God’s name, too.
It’s been so since the Spanish-American War and World War I and right up through the Iraq War and the Afghanistan War.
American patriotism has also gotten in the way of solving global warming. Many in the United States, which consumes 25 percent of the world’s resources but has just 4 percent of the world’s population, believe we have the God-given right to use up all the resources we can. And there is an all-too-common attitude that we don’t need to listen to any other countries, or the U.N., or obey any international agreements because we’re Americans, and we’re better than everybody else.
We’ve got to get over patriotism, and we’ve got to cure the American superiority complex.
So celebrate the 4th if you like.
But as for me, between God, country, and apple pie, I’ll take the apple pie."
A Red State: White House Says Forget It
From KOCO TV, Oklahoma City and published by Tulsatowner:
Oklahomans affected by last month's record floods will not receive help from the federal government.
Gov. Brad Henry announced in a news release that the White House has denied his request for disaster assistance.
This means grant programs from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will not be available to residents.
However, the news release said that the state is working to find other ways to help Oklahomans, including attempting to secure Small Business Association low-interest loans.
Only 2 percent of the structures damaged by the June 13 floods were insured through the National Flood Insurance Program. Most of the homes with damage were located outside of an identifiable flood zone so most homeowners did not have flood damage covered by their homeowner insurance.
"I had some co-workers and some friends who received damage because of the floods," said Edmond resident Richard McPherson.
Edmond was hit particularly hard by the floods.
"It's not good. They spend money on everything else. Then, when somebody does need help, we don't get it," said Edmond resident Rick Machacek.
The White House gave no reason for denying the disaster aid request.
Oklahomans affected by last month's record floods will not receive help from the federal government.
Gov. Brad Henry announced in a news release that the White House has denied his request for disaster assistance.
This means grant programs from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will not be available to residents.
However, the news release said that the state is working to find other ways to help Oklahomans, including attempting to secure Small Business Association low-interest loans.
Only 2 percent of the structures damaged by the June 13 floods were insured through the National Flood Insurance Program. Most of the homes with damage were located outside of an identifiable flood zone so most homeowners did not have flood damage covered by their homeowner insurance.
"I had some co-workers and some friends who received damage because of the floods," said Edmond resident Richard McPherson.
Edmond was hit particularly hard by the floods.
"It's not good. They spend money on everything else. Then, when somebody does need help, we don't get it," said Edmond resident Rick Machacek.
The White House gave no reason for denying the disaster aid request.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
The Summer Of Recovery-Not
From your good friends at floppingAces:
What unbelievable chutzpah!
While the overall economy lost 125,000 jobs last month, Obama said that included the planned phase-out of some 225,000 temporary Census jobs.
“Make no mistake, we are headed in the right direction,” Obama said before boarding Air Force One en route to Sen. Robert Byrd’s funeral in West Virginia.
Obama tried to take credit for the temporary increase of jobs with the census workers, and now must take credit when those jobs are gone. Then Obama and pals point to the 9.5% drop of unemployment from 9.7% the month prior as some kind of vindication. Of course they fail to point out that this is because 625,000 people just gave up and left the work force.
Wow….what a success!
The US economy lost 125,000 jobs in June, more than economists had forecast, as thousands of temporary census jobs ended and private hiring grew less than expected.
And though the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 9.5% from 9.7%, the lowest in a year, it was largely due to more people dropping out of the labor force.
The report was the latest sign that the economic recovery may be faltering.
“Overall what this does is it reinforces the market’s view that the U.S. recovery is losing steam,” said Greg Salvaggio, vice president of trading at Tempus Consulting in Washington.
But hey, Obama claims we are moving in the right direction with unemployment sky high, no jobs being created, people so dejected they are leaving the work force in droves, housing sales down, and on and on and on.
Complete and utter bull
What unbelievable chutzpah!
While the overall economy lost 125,000 jobs last month, Obama said that included the planned phase-out of some 225,000 temporary Census jobs.
“Make no mistake, we are headed in the right direction,” Obama said before boarding Air Force One en route to Sen. Robert Byrd’s funeral in West Virginia.
Obama tried to take credit for the temporary increase of jobs with the census workers, and now must take credit when those jobs are gone. Then Obama and pals point to the 9.5% drop of unemployment from 9.7% the month prior as some kind of vindication. Of course they fail to point out that this is because 625,000 people just gave up and left the work force.
Wow….what a success!
The US economy lost 125,000 jobs in June, more than economists had forecast, as thousands of temporary census jobs ended and private hiring grew less than expected.
And though the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 9.5% from 9.7%, the lowest in a year, it was largely due to more people dropping out of the labor force.
The report was the latest sign that the economic recovery may be faltering.
“Overall what this does is it reinforces the market’s view that the U.S. recovery is losing steam,” said Greg Salvaggio, vice president of trading at Tempus Consulting in Washington.
But hey, Obama claims we are moving in the right direction with unemployment sky high, no jobs being created, people so dejected they are leaving the work force in droves, housing sales down, and on and on and on.
Complete and utter bull
Friday, July 2, 2010
What New Taxes
Written by John Nothdurft of the American Spectator:
Today the first of President Barack Obama's 21 tax hikes to pay for his massively expensive health care law takes effect, levying a 10 percent tax on tanning salons. With this tax, the president once again breaks his promise not to raise taxes on Americans making less than $250,000 per year. In addition, this time he's targeting largely women-owned small businesses.
Today the first of President Barack Obama's 21 tax hikes to pay for his massively expensive health care law takes effect, levying a 10 percent tax on tanning salons. With this tax, the president once again breaks his promise not to raise taxes on Americans making less than $250,000 per year. In addition, this time he's targeting largely women-owned small businesses.
4th Of July Coincidence?
It was all a part of God's Plan. Two of the greatest statesmen in American history were involved in the ultimate coincidence. Thomas Jefferson, Virginian, and John Adams of Massachusetts were rivals of the highest degree. Jefferson was a States Rights man while Adams believed that power emanated from the Federal Government.
These men did not like each other to the point that, on their death beds one of the last thoughts both had was of their adversary. The dates for both their deaths: July 4, 1826; fifty years to the day after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
And that's the truth.
These men did not like each other to the point that, on their death beds one of the last thoughts both had was of their adversary. The dates for both their deaths: July 4, 1826; fifty years to the day after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
And that's the truth.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Jobs I've Had
I was reflecting at various times of this beautiful day about different types of jobs I've had since I first needed a nickel in my pocket. This excludes the time when I was seven and Dad said he'd give me a quarter if I mowed our yard. It was a corner lot. I jumped at the chance and quit about a tenth of the way through. We had a push mower, no motor, a 'real' push mower. I got suckered on that one.
My buddy, Dick, and I made lots of cash as kids shoveling sidewalks. Seems to me the snow was a lot higher in those days. Maybe it was that we didn't have global warming. Or, it could be that we were only 5'4" tall and the drifts seemed higher. We did Mr. Neighbors walk and he gave us 50 cents---apiece. That was big money. We'd spend our snow money at the bakery and then buy Pepsi's and unload a bag of Planters peanuts in the bottle. That was heaven. We did old lady Barnes sidewalk but only once. Stupid us. She told us to shovel it then she'd pay. The old crow shelled out a measley 15 cents. I think my Grandpa walked over to her place and chewed her out.
Dick and I had another job that didn't last too long; not even one day. We detassled corn on the Roswell Garst farm. You might remember Garst. He became good friends with Nikita Khrushchev back in the 50's. Anyway, we had this cruel slave master who cursed at us all day for being so slow so he eliminated our water breaks. You could do that in those days. It was hot in the corn rows with stalks above our heads. The corn leaves were like razor blades when they came in contact with our arms. Simon Legree had his own water bucket and we decided to put some black, loamy Iowa dirt in it. He found out who did it when some goody goody snitched on us. We were fired on the spot but didn't care. It was a wash since he lost his water. Whatever swear words I didn't know Simon finished the job for me.
I sold ice cream the summer of 1960. I was fourteen. I had a bicycle with a freezer attached on the front. For every dollar I sold I kept ten cents. That job came to an abrupt end when David Hellwege(I can use his name since he's deceased)slammed the ice cream door on my hand as I was getting his fudge bar so I hit him. I knew I was in trouble when I saw two knuckles on my right hand an inch closer to my wrist. My broken bone file at the Boone Co. hospital is as thick as the Bible.
I didn't have another job until the spring of my junior year in high school. The only reason I took it was so I wouldn't have to go out for track. I worked 40 hours a week at fifty cents an hour and took home, after taxes, $18.50. I did miss out on one thing. A girl who worked there was more than good looking. I sweat bullets sneaking peeks at her and if I had to talk it took five minutes to untie the knots in my tongue. Her name was Lindsay and she wanted me to ask her out but I was, how do I say it, Dumbo shy and, aw schucks, afraid of girls. Lindsay tried to teach me how to make a DQ cone with the curly top. It was---an impossibility. The end result was that it looked like a log. The job just happened to end the same day as track season. What a coincidence.
During college I had all types of employment; mostly for beer money but also to snag food on the run. I did have a great one between my junior and senior years. I started out as a gandy dancer on the railroad i.e. I laid RR ties and track. I've never been in such great shape in my life. Even better, I moved up to being a brakeman on that railroad, the FTDDM&So.RR. I'd explain it to you but it's out of business so who cares.
Sad to say, but I had the most jobs when I was teaching and coaching; liquor store stocker, bartender, unloading turkeys at a processing plant, school janitor in summers, golf driving range manager: I had kids and I had to put food on the table.
I'd say the most interesting job I had in my life was as a private investigator. We didn't do the domestic cases. They are toooooooooo dangerous. There is nothing worse than getting in the way of an adulterer or adulteress when they've been found out.
Regardless, I investigated people who claimed work injury then were out doing other jobs to double dip or lie on their backs while the checks came in. I was involved in some fascinating and challenging cases and the adrenalin started pumping when one of these guys was nailed. For your information, and if I haven't put you to sleep, the best, most lucrative case involved a former employee of Phillips Petroleum in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. He tried to 'off' his former boss with a .45 but missed. For some reason the judge let the dude out on bail and he was allowed to go back to Iowa, his place of origin. Phillips wanted our company to keep tabs on him. Since he lived a quarter mile from my home I was picked to drive by his house at 7 am on my way to teach school then drive by again at 9 pm. Purpose: just to see if his car was in the driveway and he wasn't back in the Okie state. For this I was paid $50 a day, seven days a week. That's a pretty good gig for 1982. Gosh, that'd be a winner for 2010. Too bad it lasted only three months.
I think I've missed out on some part time jobs in this post but it gave me a chance to think about some people I haven't thought about in a very long time; the good ones and the bad ones.
My buddy, Dick, and I made lots of cash as kids shoveling sidewalks. Seems to me the snow was a lot higher in those days. Maybe it was that we didn't have global warming. Or, it could be that we were only 5'4" tall and the drifts seemed higher. We did Mr. Neighbors walk and he gave us 50 cents---apiece. That was big money. We'd spend our snow money at the bakery and then buy Pepsi's and unload a bag of Planters peanuts in the bottle. That was heaven. We did old lady Barnes sidewalk but only once. Stupid us. She told us to shovel it then she'd pay. The old crow shelled out a measley 15 cents. I think my Grandpa walked over to her place and chewed her out.
Dick and I had another job that didn't last too long; not even one day. We detassled corn on the Roswell Garst farm. You might remember Garst. He became good friends with Nikita Khrushchev back in the 50's. Anyway, we had this cruel slave master who cursed at us all day for being so slow so he eliminated our water breaks. You could do that in those days. It was hot in the corn rows with stalks above our heads. The corn leaves were like razor blades when they came in contact with our arms. Simon Legree had his own water bucket and we decided to put some black, loamy Iowa dirt in it. He found out who did it when some goody goody snitched on us. We were fired on the spot but didn't care. It was a wash since he lost his water. Whatever swear words I didn't know Simon finished the job for me.
I sold ice cream the summer of 1960. I was fourteen. I had a bicycle with a freezer attached on the front. For every dollar I sold I kept ten cents. That job came to an abrupt end when David Hellwege(I can use his name since he's deceased)slammed the ice cream door on my hand as I was getting his fudge bar so I hit him. I knew I was in trouble when I saw two knuckles on my right hand an inch closer to my wrist. My broken bone file at the Boone Co. hospital is as thick as the Bible.
I didn't have another job until the spring of my junior year in high school. The only reason I took it was so I wouldn't have to go out for track. I worked 40 hours a week at fifty cents an hour and took home, after taxes, $18.50. I did miss out on one thing. A girl who worked there was more than good looking. I sweat bullets sneaking peeks at her and if I had to talk it took five minutes to untie the knots in my tongue. Her name was Lindsay and she wanted me to ask her out but I was, how do I say it, Dumbo shy and, aw schucks, afraid of girls. Lindsay tried to teach me how to make a DQ cone with the curly top. It was---an impossibility. The end result was that it looked like a log. The job just happened to end the same day as track season. What a coincidence.
During college I had all types of employment; mostly for beer money but also to snag food on the run. I did have a great one between my junior and senior years. I started out as a gandy dancer on the railroad i.e. I laid RR ties and track. I've never been in such great shape in my life. Even better, I moved up to being a brakeman on that railroad, the FTDDM&So.RR. I'd explain it to you but it's out of business so who cares.
Sad to say, but I had the most jobs when I was teaching and coaching; liquor store stocker, bartender, unloading turkeys at a processing plant, school janitor in summers, golf driving range manager: I had kids and I had to put food on the table.
I'd say the most interesting job I had in my life was as a private investigator. We didn't do the domestic cases. They are toooooooooo dangerous. There is nothing worse than getting in the way of an adulterer or adulteress when they've been found out.
Regardless, I investigated people who claimed work injury then were out doing other jobs to double dip or lie on their backs while the checks came in. I was involved in some fascinating and challenging cases and the adrenalin started pumping when one of these guys was nailed. For your information, and if I haven't put you to sleep, the best, most lucrative case involved a former employee of Phillips Petroleum in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. He tried to 'off' his former boss with a .45 but missed. For some reason the judge let the dude out on bail and he was allowed to go back to Iowa, his place of origin. Phillips wanted our company to keep tabs on him. Since he lived a quarter mile from my home I was picked to drive by his house at 7 am on my way to teach school then drive by again at 9 pm. Purpose: just to see if his car was in the driveway and he wasn't back in the Okie state. For this I was paid $50 a day, seven days a week. That's a pretty good gig for 1982. Gosh, that'd be a winner for 2010. Too bad it lasted only three months.
I think I've missed out on some part time jobs in this post but it gave me a chance to think about some people I haven't thought about in a very long time; the good ones and the bad ones.
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