"Busted" or "Man, college sure has changed"

We had an interesting discussion about privacy this morning. Here is the scenario:

A local girl is a freshmen at a big state university. She is in her room, drinking beer. She is not rowdy, not causing a disturbance. She leaves to go to the restroom down the hall. She passes the RA, who smells beer. The RA calls the police. The 19 year old is arrested for underage drinking and public intoxication.

Are you allowed to break the law on your own private property? Is a dorm room considered your private property? Was the RA right to report the crime? Should the police arrested her? Should she be prosecuted, or disciplined in another way? Should she be expelled from school?

What are you feelings if the above were true?

The war in Iraq

The Delftsman has as good a summary as I have read about the Iraq war. He responds to the "left's" criticisms of the war in a sincere, no-nonsense, logical manner. Read it and agree.

Og, official torturer of roadcrews and bureaucrats

As I surf the electronic waves of the blog ocean I often find examples of great writing. I found this today. My friends this is how you write a rant:

Not a day goes by that I do not have the overwhelming urge to grab ten or twelve construction workers, tie them to my trailer hitch, and drag them through traffic at high speed, paying particular attention to the areas rife with potholes that are NOT BEING REPAIRED while PERFECTLY GOOD SECtIONS OF ROAD ARE DESTROYED AND REBUILT...Cut their budgets. Fuck them. Fuck them with a ben-gay soaked saguaro cactus. Fuck them with a flaming porcupine...

Read the whole post.

New Federalists

Right Wing Rocker has part two in a series of posts about the New Federalist Party. For many of us increasingly disillusioned Conservatives and small l libertarians this is exactly what we are looking for. So far I like what the party stands for. Unfortunately without a greater following, the Party is nothing more than a waste of votes.

The key question is can such a party fight through all of the impediments placed in its way by the two established parties to become a viable entity? Is the political expediency of trying to take over the Republican Party a better alternative?

This is the approach to Government I have been searching for. I am pleased to know I am not alone in my political thought. Can we be successful? Seventy years of big Government nannyism will be hard to overcome!

Wednesday joke

A little boy got on the bus, sat next to a man reading a book, and noticed he had his collar on backwards. The little boy asked why He wore his collar that way. The man, who was a priest, said, "I am a Father." The little boy replied, "My Daddy doesn't wear his collar like that." The priest looked up from his book and answered, "I am the Father of many." The boy said, "My Dad has 4 boys, 4 girls and two grandchildren and he doesn't wear his collar that way." The priest, getting impatient, said, "I am the Father of hundreds" and went back to reading his book. The little boy sat quietly thinking for a while, then leaned over and said, "Maybe you should wear your pants backwards instead of your collar.

You know why... 

Life in the Boy Scouts

I was reading this post at Dax Montana's place and it brought back some great memories. You see, I was a Cub Scout, and a Boy Scout, and eventually an Eagle Scout. Camping and time in the woods remains a favorite pastime of mine. Unfortunately the rest of my family has no interest. The little one's sports consume most of the summer and it has been a couple of years since I went camping.

I joined the Cub Scouts as soon as I was old enough. I burned through the ranks, finally moving on to Boy Scouts. I was ready. Camping was fun. We usually set up the old tent in the back yard the day school was out. My brother and I slept in that tent probably 4-5 nights a week. It was pleasant and cool. Like most people my age, we did not have air conditioning, so the summer breeze that came in through the tent made sleeping outside a pleasant experience.

Summer camp was always a blast, I learned camping skills and had a great time. I saw snakes and wild life. I went on to join OA and became a Firecrafter (an honor society special to a few councils in the county and MUCH superior to Order of the Arrow). I stayed in after I got my Eagle just so I could go camping.

After college I became an assistant leader of a local troop. I loved working with the boys and sharing my knowledge. And there was camping! My new wife was not pleased when I used my meager vacation each year to go off with the troop. I considered for a time becoming a professional Boy Scout. Eventually as I had kids and began to work lots of overtime, the activities with the scouts lessened.

My oldest son became a Cub Scout, and I found myself as a leader again. We did it all, including day camp and then two years of week-long (overnight)Weblos Camp. I enjoyed it, but I think he only did it to be with me (I was doing it to be with him!). The little one has shown no interest in scouting.

If I desired, I could put more than 20 years worth of year pins on my uniform. I learned a lot from Scouts. I would not trade the memories. Can you build a fire at least three ways without matches? Could you go into the woods with just a knife and survive for days or weeks? I can, and I have the BSA to thank for it.

Blondies Revenge

From a blonde friend:

THERMO-PANE WINDOWS



Last year I replaced all the windows in my house with those expensive double-pane energy efficient kind. But this week I got a call from the contractor complaining that his work had been completed a whole year ago and I had yet to pay for them. Boy oh boy, did we go around! Just because I'm blonde doesn't mean that I am automatically stupid. So, I proceeded to tell him just what his fast-talking sales guy had told me last year - that in one year the windows would pay for themselves.



There was silence on the other end of the line so I just hung up and I haven't heard back.



Guess I won that stupid argument.

Death Row Meal

I fixed beef and noodles last night for supper. I served them the way we do in central Indiana, over a heap of mashed potatoes. I know, that is two starches. I do not care.

I just returned from lunch where I had the leftover beef and noodles for lunch, sans potatoes. That is one of the truly great foods in this world. Beef and noodles are even better heated up the next day.

I loves my noodles. Not the slick pasta aisle noodles. I like the thick, soft, almost like thin-cut dumpling noodles. Full of starch and beefy goodness, they stick to your ribs as you do a hard days work of farming, lumberjacking, construction or making spreadsheets.

I have a lot of food I like: pizza, steak, tacos, and cheeseburgers. When I return from Europe, the first thing I want is a big juicy hamburger. To be honest, if I had one meal to eat -- the last food I would ever taste -- it would have to be beef and noodles with mashed potatoes. That, my friends, would be my death row meal. What would you choose?

From a survivor of Katrina

I always get the best stuff forwarded to me in Emails from my Dad. Here is one supposedly from a resident of Mississippi:

Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2005 12:37 PM

Subject: Fw: FROM A RESIDENT OF MC COMB, MISSISSIPPI


To my friends and family: From a Mc Comb Resident

What I have seen since Katrina:

The poor and the wealthy hurt by the storm.

Black, white, Hispanic, Oriental and Indian all hurt by the storm.

Christian people giving, giving, giving.

Churches going all out to minister in Jesus' name.

Neighbors going door to door helping one another.

Thugs and hoodlums going door to door looking for someone vulnerable.

Ice and water being fought over as police tried to keep the peace.

People coming up from New Orleans taking over empty houses because shelters are full.

Out of town volunteers coming with food and staying for now a week still serving it.

The Churches all over this part of the country doing what Christians do in a crisis.

The Red Cross doing a great job in the shelters.

The Salvation Army doing a great job in the community.

Four Hundred crewman from everywhere bring back the power to our homes, churches and businesses.

Lines at service stations a block to a mile long.

National Guardsman patrolling the streets of Mc Comb along with Kentucky policemen protecting us from the hoodlums and thugs of Mc Comb, Pike County and New Orleans (the most dangerous city in the world before Katrina.)

Drug dealers working outside shelters.

Doctors, nurses and other hospital personnel working tirelessly, even sleeping in the hospital to do the job God called them to do.

WHAT I HAVE NOT SEEN:

The ACLU setting up a feeding line.

People for the American Way helping in the shelters.

The NAACP doing any work whatsoever.

The American Atheist organization serving meals in the shelters.

Jesse Jackson directing traffic at the gas stations.

I could go on but you get my message. Its the Christian people with love and compassion who do the work.

The gripers in Congress should come on down and get in line to pass the water and the ice. Are you listening Hillary, Chuck, Teddy and all the sorry loafers we call Senators and Congressmen. They don't have a clue as to what this life is all about here on the Gulf Coast.

Boy I feel better now.

Note: Teddy will never volunteer to help in any mess like this one; remember, Teddy doesn't help anyone in deep water.

You make me sick, Evan Bayh.

Most of you have likely never heard of Evan Bayh. He is the son of a long-time Democrat Senator. He has served as Secretary of State and Governor of Indiana. He is now one of the State's Senators. He wants to be President.

This will shock some of you, but I have voted for Bayh many times, including every run for Governor and his first run at Senator. He has long been immensely popular in Indiana. As Governor, he was a fiscal conservative, conservative to moderate on social programs. He instituted welfare reform and kept the State in the black.

He continues to win elections in the State, easily defeating his opponent in 2004. I am not sure that would be the case if Hoosiers knew his true voting record. He is positioning himself as a moderate Democrat, but moving every day to the left.

Now he has decided to vote against the Roberts nomination. Not because he feels there is an ideological issue, after all it, was Bayh who did his introduction (Roberts is also a Hoosier). Bayh is voting against Roberts because Evan Bayh is running for President in 2008 and he knows he must win over the far left wing of his party to get the nomination.

Here is what we have, just another asshole politician working only to his next election. Thanks Evan for forgetting that you are in Washington to represent the People of Indiana. Thanks Evan for selling out a fellow Hoosier for no other reason than politics. Thanks Mr. Bayh for only looking out for yourself. I am not surprised, I am not even disappointed. Mostly I am sickened by what the political process in our country has become.

I know, I have studied history and it is no different than when Washington actively politicked for the first Presidency. I do have a sense that Truman, Jackson, FDR, yes, even that asshole Carter, all tried to do what they thought best. Not you, Evan Bayh, just look out for old number one. There is the legacy of Bill Clinton. When Bayh's name comes up in your local primary in a couple of years remember this post, and vote accordingly. I will.

Dick Butkus, Johnny U -- The ghost of Knute Rockne

The Broncos vs. da Bears. Both teams undefeated. The power and size of the Broncos against the speed of the Bears. For two weeks my Bears have scored at will, never a punt. Yesterday, we punted 6 times in the first half. It was a mighty struggle to move the ball, my four speedy runners thwarted in every attempt to run. The crashes up the middle were met with crunching force. The speedy sweeps and reverses were met with devastating tackles in the backfield.

The Bears defense was equally effective. At the end of regulation it was a 0-0 tie. College overtime rules apply. The ball would be placed on the 10 yard line. The coin was tossed, the Bears win the toss. We were faced with the decision, offense or defense? The other team has an excellent field goal kicker. We have not made a PAT yet in 9 attempts. I chose defense, if we go first and do not score, the Broncos will win on a field goal.

The ball was placed on the 10. My best eleven were on the field, it was warm, they were tired and bruised. The Broncos powered forward behind their big line. Third and two, the line held. Fourth and one, we get great penetration and throw them for a loss. Now it is our turn.

I called the play, smash right. We move two yards behind our big right tackle. We go with the same play, three yards, the running back dragging four defensive players each step. I tried a toss, again little or no gain. It is fourth and six. What to do? I look at my assistant coach he mouths the word "bootleg". I made the call -- fake smash left, bootleg right.

The little one lines up under center. The ball is snapped. He bobbles the snap, fumbles. The defense picks it up and runs the length of the field for a touchdown. We lose.

That is what I see in my mind, as the ball comes back from the center in slow motion.

My boy takes the snap, comes back, reverses into the left side handoff. He reaches out the ball to the running back, pulling it back at the last minute. He turns to his left tucking the ball into his elbow as he has been taught. The defense converges on the decoy running back. The QB hits his stride curving to the far sideline. The big right tackle flattens the outside linebacker. The tight end gets the safety, the cornerback is blocked by the wingback. The QB crosses the endzone right at the out of bounds marker. Game over. Bears win, Bears win. The little one is mobbed by his teammates, the sparse crowd goes wild.

The Broncos coach summed it up, a disappointed smile on his face -- ""Hell of a game, Joe, Hell of a game." I could only agree.

Make me...

I have spent considerable time this morning selling and being sold. It is my profession to try to get people to do what I want them to do. That is selling. Part of selling is convincing, and there are many ways to go about persuading others to do your bidding. I have boiled it down to three steps: need. plan. benefit. Prove to them they need what you are selling. Tell them how you are going to make it happen. Expound the benefits. More on this in a minute.

One of the telecommunication giants called me today and wanted me to switch my telephone service. She skipped over the need part, I NEED a phone for the business. She told me what she could do. She really hyped the benefits part -- namely saving money, while getting more and better services.

I quoted some new business opportunities today. The customer had the need, they asked me to quote. I told him how we would make the parts, the leadtimes, the price. The benefits are the better price, the consolidation of vendors, the quality etc. Will he buy from me? Time will tell.

In both of these cases there is a clear attempt at persuasion, trying to change someone's mind. I tell you now, it is impossible to change one's opinion. I bought the new phone service. Not because the salesperson explained the need, the plan, and the benefits, but because the old company pissed me off. I cannot use their voicemail when I travel. I have asked them to fix the problem. They claim it is not a problem. Whoops, mistake one in sales. Perception is everything. If I think there is an issue, then there IS one. It is the job of a good salesman to exploit the perceptions of his customers. Highlight what I am currently doing right, exploit the competitor's mistakes. In this case the other guy was also charging double. I made the decision to switch.

I heard a coach the other day try to answer how he motivates his players to work hard even though they are out of the playoff chase. He mumbled and stumbled and dropped the cliches. The coach knows the truth, you cannot motivate someone, just create an atmosphere where the individual wants to motivate himself. There is nothing you can do to make me do something I do not want to do. You can reason, argue, punish and even torture me, but until I want to do the action, nothing will happen. My motivation may be that I want you to quit covering my testicles with peanut butter and then offering me to hungry, rabid squirrels. In any case I convince myself to act. For the athlete it may be pride, money, or just the need to compete. In any case the coach must play on those emotions and desires to create the atmosphere where each and every player continued to do his best. The approach may be teamwide and or individually created. What "motivates" me probably is different than that which gets you to perform.

The same is true of persuasion and sales. I have to create the atmosphere where you want to buy from me. That is why I offer the need, the plan, the benefits to you. These are the munitions you will use to blow up the barriers to my success you have built mentally. I have to create the atmosphere where you will do my bidding. I offer the obvious proof by examining car sales. A new BMW or Rolls is superior in every way to a used '84 Chevette. Yet people continue to buy the Chevette. BMW continues to employ salesmen.

For months I have resisted the advances of the telecommunications salesperson. I have hung up on them several times. The need, the plan, the benefits are no different today than when she called last month. Why did I switch today? I finally convinced myself that the previous vendor had made my life too inconvenient. Besides, the new guys threw in DSL. Ah, it is the benefits that get me every time.

Life's Musical Soundtrack

I watched the movie Dazed and Confused the other day. They could have followed me around in high school and filmed that movie. I had a good time in high school, but I have no interest in going back. I blew off my reunion again this year. Those were not the best times of my life. If you live for your high school days, I feel sorry for you. Life has so much more to offer. You have not found the joy of holding your newborn child in your hands, your heart filled with wonder and fear. You have not seen the love of your life enter the church, the glow of love eclipsing the stark white brightness of the wedding dress. You have not savored the success of a business deal gone right, the bile in your mouth feeling of failure. It is the highs and lows of life that make every day the best day. If you experienced all of your highs and lows in high school, your life can only be judged a failure.

I think of that movie because the soundtrack of that movie has been the soundtrack of my life. I am stuck in the 70's musically. On occasion I listen to some 80's stuff. I am chagrined when my wife calls my music oldies, but she is right when she points out it is 30 years old. My parents listened to 50's music when I was in high school, it was "oldies" t me even though it was a mere 20 years old at the time. Elvis was still alive, which is more than I can say about Morrison or Hendricks.

I hear music all the time in my head. I am not sure if this is natural. I am a little afraid to ask, I do not want you all to think I am completely nuts. Today, I am hearing the base line that leads up to these lyrics:

Death defying, mutilated armies scatter the earth,
Crawling out of dirty holes, their morals, their morals disappear.

Yesterday a morning came, a smile upon your face.
Caesar's palace, morning glory, silly human, silly human race,
On a sailing ship to nowhere, leaving any place,
If the summer changed to winter, yours is no,
Yours is no disgrace.
Yours is no disgrace.
Yours is no disgrace.

Do you know that song? It is one of my all time favorites. Some days it reminds me of parties, of summer in the car, cruising the strip, stereo blasting. It reminds me of my brother, who turned me on to Yes. It reminds me of my college roommate, we met because he was blasting Close To The Edge on the first day of school. Our common interest help forge a lifelong friendship.

It is the soundtrack of my life that keeps me going. I hear Sinatra in the car, Yes late at night as I contemplate life. Skynyrd as I drink a beer, Hank Williams Jr. and Henry Lee Summer when I want to laugh. Crosby, Stills and Nash often serenade me in the shower, Styx has played in my head while I make love. For some reason Joe Walsh reminds me of painting walls, and Head East was jamming while I cooked chicken on the grill Monday evening.

The Stones, The Beatles, The Doors all jam in my brainpan as I create spreadsheets. The Outlaws were with me at football practice last night. I cannot play an instrument, but I live a musical life.

I should just quit, I am humbled again.

The man is a genius. He can write an entire novel in one short post. I am jealous, I am sad. I am better for having gone there today. Having been forced to think that much pisses me off too.

My brother was offended by the last picture, so maybe he likes this one better? 

Happy Birthday Big Brother 

Here's to You NOLA

Can you ID this staue or the story from American Literature it represents? 

Is that a battery in your pocket...?

My clock at work died the other day. I needed a new AA battery, so I slipped one in my pocket as I headed out the door. My wife dropped a variation of the old Mae West line on me with a laugh. She said she knew it was a battery because of its large size. Funny, funny, funny.

We are in the middle of birthday season at the Hoosierboy homestead. My daughter turned 19 last week. My brother's birthday is tomorrow. My youngest son will turn 12 on the 30th, while my oldest boy turns 17 on October 1. My Grandma's birthday would have been on October 5th.

We bought my daughter a new digital camera for her birthday, to replace the one she dropped and broke over the summer. The boy will get a car. I cannot afford it, but he needs a way to get to work. Don't tell him, it is going to be a surprise.

It has taken me about an hour to write this post. My dial up has dropped the connection 11 times in the last 1-1/2 hours. I am seriously looking into DSL or cable modem. Anything has to be better than this.

The little one's(the soon to be 12 year old -- I know he is not little anymore) football team takes on the only remaining undefeated team besides ours on Saturday. Should be a good battle, they are very big on the line, while we have exceptional speed.

Space, the final frontier...

NASA has announced we will again try for the moon.* We hope to return by 2020.

President Kennedy, embarrassed that the Soviets were kicking our technological ass, decreed we would get to the moon in a decade. My man Armstrong planted his space Nikes in July of 1969 on the surface of the moon. In less than 10 years, we sent the first Americans into space, we designed and built a rocket that got us to the moon and back several times. We created lunar modules to shuttle us from the rocket to the surface of the moon were we had cars to drive around in.

Americans were able to do this with slide rules and computers with less power than a $1.00 solar calculator. We got to the moon with analog gauges and the technological equivalent of a 1965 Corvair. We accomplished all of this in less than 10 years.

We have been there before. We had to create the technology to get there. We have been traveling space more or less successfully for 45 years. Why will it take 15 years to get back to the moon? Dust off the Saturn rocket, upgrade the electronics, drop in a new communications package and go.

Lets pick a new group of astronauts with the Right Stuff. To follow NASAs current timetable, they will have to be in elementary school. The private sector could have a guy on the moon for half the cost in half the time.

* you can find a link on your own.

The Clinton Effect

In the darkest days of the Presidency of Bill Clinton I often bemoaned the fact that he was still supported by so many people. I sent scathing letters to Evan Bayh, my Democrat Senator, asking how he could support a President who lied under oath? As almost anyone with any integrity will admit, the Clinton Impeachment was not about sex. It was not about stained blue dresses , or who smoked which cigar in the Rose garden. It was plain and simple an issue of lying to a Grand Jury under oath. It was about denying an American citizen her fair day in court. The righteousness of her case was completely irrelevant.

I did not and still cannot understand the people who gave Clinton a pass simply because the stock market was strong and dividend checks were large. How can you ignore the Rose Law firm, the cattle futures, Whitewater, and all the other issues that swirled around the Clinton's and pass them off as nothing as long as your party remains in power?

Maybe it is time we conservatives take a hard look at what is supposedly our man in office. Many of us have been blinded by real issues with GW Bush that we have forgiven the excesses. Here is the situation as I see it:

1. Many of us are pleased that the current president is not a Democrat. We have had it with the lies of the Clintons, the Al Gore of Florida, and the sleazy Kerry war records that he still will not produce.

2. In his first term Bush passed tax cuts. His first and biggest conservative promise

3. The War on Terror. For this alone he has received a long term pass from me. While I do not agree 100% with the plan to date, Bush has done the right thing. I think some of the low approval numbers trend from what many of us deem too passive an approach on Terrorism.

There are some issues that as a true Conservative I can no longer overlook in the Bush Presidency:

1. Illegal immigration. Bush's failure to address this issue will have long-term effects on this country reaching for generations. Is the American version of Aleric the Goth already in our midst?

2. Failure to prosecute the war on terrorism to his utmost. What happened to the Bush Doctrine? Why is Bush pushing Israel to give in to Hamas? Why do the Saudis and Syria continue to get a free pass? Why are we giving foreign aid to Egypt and the PA? Why do we tolerate Iran's continuing sponsorship of global terrorism?

3. The refusal to veto pork-laden spending bills. Bush's failure as the nominal and titual head of the Party in power to reduce spending, to reduce government waste, to abide to the principles of the people who sent him to Washington.

4. His increasingly liberal approach to problems in this country. The massive payoffs to the families of 9/11, the payoffs to Louisiana and New Orleans in particular. The President is becoming pretty free when it comes to spending my money. The NCLB Act, the Energy Bill that does not allow drilling for oil in known deposits, the farm bill, the steel tariff are just examples of legislation signed by the President that should have been vetoed instantly.

I still support the President in the WOT. I cannot continue to turn a blind eye to his abandonment of the conservative principles he espoused in order to get my vote. My silence makes me culpable in spirit for the continued liberal agenda from Washington. I am not sure what I will do about it, but to continue to prop up a man who has abandoned the very voters that put him in office makes me only a degree more honest than the Clinton supporters. My only consolation is that at least my guy did not commit a felony, lying under oath: Bush only lied to me. Why am I disappointed he is just another politician?

This is the second time I have had to do this

I did this before. It makes me angry I have to do it again.

I have been trying to pump out posts in the middle of a very busy work time. I am afraid my writing has suffered for it. You may, in the next few weeks, get fewer posts, but maybe better quality. I cannot promise anything at this point.

Thank you for stopping by and reading my garbage. You pump up a middle aged guy's ego more than you can imagine. Hey -- this ego surely needs some pumping.

I plan on regaling you with tales of euchre, drinking, culture, and history in the days to come. I am also sure I will have to force myself to opine on some subject, but that is really not my nature --HA!

Thanks for your patience.

Monday Grab Bag II

Sorry for the light posting over the weekend. Life sometimes intrudes on blogging. Sometimes a few beers and a football game are more interesting than dumping my brainpan into the computer.

For those of you keeping track at home, the little one won another football game on Saturday. We won 36-0 (we still cannot kick an extra point). The boy scored a touchdown and then badgered me the rest of the day to call more plays for him -- he wanted MORE. We put in the second team for most of the game. We are now 2-0 and have yet to even punt in a game.

Did you ever think you would hear the phrase "The Colts defense won the game?"

Whatever happened to the old sitcoms?* We can catch them on various cable channels. Nowadays the writers have to put social commentary and meaning into every show. We have to promote the gay agenda, a certain political point of view or make us "think". What happened to just plain entertainment?

I see the same trend in movies. The critics will pan any movie that does not have a message. What is wrong with just having fun? The American Pie movies or Porky's are perfect examples of great entertainment, but they were destroyed by the critics.

The Hillbillys are still funny. In the last few weeks I have watched several episodes of My Three Sons. Do you still laugh at Gilligan or Lucy? How about PT 109, Andy Griffith, or Gomer Pyle? Everybody Loves Raymond fits into that old time format, I often laugh out loud at that show. Raymond is not the funny one though, the show is stolen by Brad Garrett and the Dad.

What happened to the old shows? Besides, the girl who plays Katie on My Three Sons was hot.


* I think I am starting to sound like that asshat Andy Rooney -- sorry.

Happy Monday -- A Post About Choices

Choosing a wife

A man wanted to get married. He was having trouble choosing among
three likely candidates. He gives each woman a present of $5,000 and watches to see what they do with the money.

The first does a total make over. She goes to a fancy beauty salon gets her hair done, new make up and buys several new outfits and dresses up
very nicely for the man. She tells him that she has done this to be more attractive for him because she loves him so much.

The man was impressed.

The second goes shopping to buy the man gifts. She gets him a new set of golf clubs, some new gizmos for his computer, and some expensive clothes. As she presents these gifts, she tells him that she has spent
all the money on him because she loves him so much.

Again, the man is impressed.


The third invests the money in the stock market. She earns several times the $5,000. She gives him back his $5000 and reinvests the remainder in a joint account. She tells him that she wants to save for
their future because she loves him so much.

Obviously, the man was impressed.

The man thought for a long time about what each woman had done with the money he'd given her.

Then, he married the one with the biggest boobs.

Men are like that, you know.

Education, round two

A reader had some concerns about a post I wrote on Education. Often this commenter has some far-left ideas that merit no response at all. In this case I want to respond to him, not to fisk, but to open a dialog without name calling, etc. Feel free to add your two cents.

His first concern:

I got this from the constitution website. It says:

"For children with disabilities special education is available. To qualify for special education a child's disability must adversely affect the child's educational performance. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. §§ 1400 et seq) establishes a process for evaluating a child's special needs and for providing an individualized education program. The Federal Act is binding on all states. In addition, most states have their own laws which parallel the Act. Under the Act, parents and families of special education children have specific rights such as the right to inspect the child's school records."

First, nowhere is interference on local education by the Federal Government allowed in the Constitution. The department of Education should by abolished immediately along with all laws etc. that deal with Federal education mandates, especially the NCLB act.

And your boy Bushy is all about the NCLB act, which is ineffective and costs the school system a crapload of extra money.

I could not agree more, and that is one of many disappointing decisions by the President.

Every child has the right to eqeducationtion. Its our duty as PEOPLE, human beings, to educate ALL children. And those who need extra help should get it. Not just those who YOU deem worthy. Thats bullshit.

I agree. If you read the post carefully I had two concerns. When we mainstream children with disruptive behaviors, we cheat the other students in the classroom. If the teacher is having to constantly take time to discipline and cater to the problem student's needs, the remaining kids miss out on their instruction. If we hire an aide to spend all of their time with one student, to make sure they behave, we are in essence hiring a one-on-one babysitter, again this is a waste of tax money.

I firmly believe everyone is entitled to an education. The money we spend on the remedial, the behavioral, and the special needs students significantly outweighs what we spend on the gifted student. So many decry the state of education in this country. We spend an inordinate amount of money bringing the lower students to average. The net result, if barely acceptable is our goal, is barely educated students. In Indiana you have to pass the ISTEP, a standardized test, in order to graduate. The test measures to 10th grade competencies. If our expectations are for students to have tenth grade skills, that is what we will get. Why should a student with a tenth grade education be given a dipolma that says he has completed the coarsework for a senior in high school?

Second, sadly, there will always be those students who are less intelligent, or have learning disabilities. By mainstreaming those students you have the same issue as with the behavior problem students. The teacher has to spend so much time with that one student, that the balance are cheated. We promote children whether they can do the work or not, because we are concerned more about the child's self esteem than his education. If Billy cannot do long division, he should not exit the third grade. For me it is that simple.

Finally, the section that I believe enraged my reader the most is where I pointed out that it was our brightest students who have the best chance to be successful in life. That is just a cold hard fact. Of course there are exceptions to the rule, but I am convinced that our future doctors and scientist will not come out of the group of students still trying to pass the ISTEP in May of their Senior year. I stand behind that position 100%

Taxes

A woman walks into her accountant's office and tells
him that she needs to file her taxes. The accountant
says "Before we begin, I'll need to ask you a few
questions."


He gets her name, address, social security number,
etc. and then asks. "what is your occupation?"

"I'm a whore." she says.

The accountant balks and says "No, No, No, that won't
work. That is too gross. Let's try to rephrase that"

The woman says, "OK, I'm a high-end call girl".

"No, that is still too crude. Try again."

The both think for a minute, then the woman says, "I'm
an elite chicken farmer."


The accountant asks, "What does chicken farming have
to do with being a whore call girl?"

"Well, I raised over a thousand little peckers last
year."


"Good enough"

Three wishes for the Hoosierboy

Alli tagged me again. Here is the meme of the week:

List three things that you want and the reasons you want them. Then tag three people to do the same. Bonus points if they start with the letter M.

1. Money -- just like everyone else

2. More time to read, watch movies, spend with my kids goof off, blog

3. Magic -- the ability to go back in time, to actually experience history, not read about it.

I think, Alli, that is THREE bonus points.

Feel free to list your three wishes.

Please Help Me

My Brother sent me a picture of the CNN Tower in Toronto. It is supposed to be one of the highest buildings in the world, but I cannot see it. He said he pointed it out with an arrow. Please help.

Department of Child Services

I try very hard not to burden these pages with local news or concerns, because to the best of my knowledge, not a single local reads this blog. I want to highlight an example or two of how government encroaches upon our freedoms.

The counties of Indiana are beginning the budget process. As this affects me right in the wallet, I try to pay a little attention. (As an aside, why do we not have a provision in local, state and federal law that prevents the budget from EVER increasing higher than the rate of inflation for the previous year?)One of the agencies that came forward looking for a substantial increase this year was the Department of Child Services. This agency oversees troubled children, abused children, foster care, etc. This year they are looking for a budget of $3.8 million Dollars.

I live in a rural/suburban county. The population of Shelby County in 2004 was 43,717. That means DCS expects every man, woman, and child to contribute $87.00 next year to their needs. Of course, only adults pay taxes, so that means a burden of $118. In Indiana, these agencies are funded by property taxes. That means only those of us who own a home (the more successful) will pay $229 each next year to fund this agency.

I am all for protecting children. But do we really need to place a child in a $300 per day facility? At some point should not the taxpayers, and those who are so free with spending our money, ask themselves "if I had to pay for this service out of my pocket would it be worthwhile?".

You see, today it is all about making sure each individual does not feel left out. Everything must be geared to promoting self esteem. Children with developmental and behavior problems cannot be excluded from the general classroom. It does not matter that one disruptive student cheats the other 20 kids in the class from their education. Little Tommy Troublemaker must not be made to feel bad that he is different.

The standardized test required for graduation that indicates you can do 10th grade work is too hard for the retarded kids? Why, we will give them a waiver and give them a diploma anyway. What happened to the fact that the diploma indicates you have completed the required coarsework? Why are we allowing students to graduate who can only do 10th grade level work?

Do you a third grader that threatens other kids, spits on the teacher and trashes a classroom? Today we respond by hiring an aide to sit by him all day long. We do not want to hurt little Kenny the (future) Killer's self esteem.

We spend more money on remedial and special education initiatives in this country than we do helping those students with above-average abilities. Under the socialist recommendations of the Teacher's Unions we just give those kids busy work projects. We assign them some of the bad students to "tutor". In essence, the school system does everything in its power to make sure everyone is mediocre.

Let us consider the facts. Who are going to be our future politicians, our doctors, our lawyers, our scientists? Which student is more likely to cure cancer? Billy Bright or Joe Average student? As I have stated in the past I am a cold hearted SOB. The student with below average intelligence is going to be a drain on society forever, via unemployment, food stamps, Department of Child Services if he beats his kids. Why should we be spending extra money on him now? Lets give the funding to our brightest prospects, the future of the country is in their hands. I would much rather give an extra $229 of my hard earned wages to a student that will invent the first water powered car.

Happy Birthday, Gimme Your Money

We met my daughter last night to celebrate her 19th birthday. She was in a great mood, happy and content. She chose the restaurant, opened her presents and we all had a great time. She is over her home sickness, has met some new friends, and likes every one of her classes.

On the way home she went through downtown Indianapolis. To get to her destination she has to exit on Martin Luther King Street. She usually does not go this way and she was lost. She noticed an open gas station and pulled into the left turn lane so she could go in and get directions. Just as she started to turn a motorcycle appeard her left side and she hit the rider.

She jumped out see if he was Ok, He told her he was unhurt and asked "How you gonna fix this bike, beeitch?" She told him she had insurance she would get the information from the car. He said he did not want to mess with insurance, but she better fix it. She told him she would call her Dad. The biker replied "I done wanna talk to your Dad, I want some cash. Gimme all you cash, now you bitch."

My daughter told him she did not have any cash, He told her to forget it jumped on his bike and took off. In the meantime a group had formed around her car, and the young black males began to yell at her that she hit a brother; they would tell the cops what happened unless she gave them her money. The called her a white bitch.

Hysterical, she jumped in her car and drove off. She got lost several times, but finally made it back to campus. She reported the incident to campus police, who shrugged it off. They agreed with me, it sounded like a scam. She is fine. Her car, at least last night, appears undamaged, she reports.

My daughter is one of those people that always sees the best in people. She was elected student body president in high school precisely because she was friendly to everyone. I might put down a student as trash, she would always reply, "But he is Ok once you get to know him." Sadly, now she has lost her innocence the hard way. The admonitions of her father to always be aware of your surroundings, trust no one, now hit home. She now believes me when I tell her to not drink the punch at a fraternity party, to never drink anything she did not open and mix. She was not raised as a racist, but now I am not so sure.

You see, her real problem with the incident is that a black IPD officer watched the whole thing. He did nothing but walk to his car and drive away. Now she does not even trust the police to help her.

Happy birthday, my little girl.

merci beaucoup, danke shoen

I would like to offer a very belated big thank you to Banedad for his kind link and banealanche.

Welcome to Bane readers. I hope you guys stick around, hit the archives, come back often.

You never know what you will get here: rants, jokes, ramblings. I will try to keep you entertained. Come on in. Hey, shut that door, you are letting in the damn bugs! Jeez, were you raised in a barn?

Vacation all I ever wanted...

Screwed by history

GW Bush just screwed the pooch. He has accepted the blame for the New Orleans fuck-up. Forever in history we will not hear of the buses, the refusal to hand off control to the Feds by the Governor. All that will be know by school kids in 20 years will just be GW telling everyone it was his fault. He put his head on a plate. He is about to let the press shove a big hard dick up his ass while Swimmer Kennedy and Babs Boxer laugh and drink martinis. Hillary is masturbating with glee.

It is a noble effort, but he just handed the Dems the victory they have been searching for. He deflected the crap for five years, the charges of incompetence, stupidity, the "prisoner abuse", Gitmo, the WMDs, Iraq, Afghanistan, Patriot Act, National Guard, you name it. All of it bounced off his scrawny chest. No more. He just made himself fall guy. If he fucked up the hurricane response, the rest of it must be true -- so sayeth history. Mark my words.

No Cheating

Without googling or using any other search engine, does anyone know the significance of this guy:

Joe "Ducky" Medwick.


I will give you two hints:


one of nine.

1937

What a sleazebag

LBJ just may have been the most sleazy, corrupt President in history. Compared to him, some of Clinton's antics are Cub Scout pranks. They do have a similar pattern of making sure people around them end up dead.

I was doing some research for a post on Abe Fortas, the only Chief Justice candidate to be voted down by the Senate. His ties to Johnson and all of the bad and scary people involved become so complicated I am not sure I have the patience to sort it out. I am becoming more and more convinced that Oswald shot Kennedy, but there were a whole lot of people behind it including Johnson and the Mob. I am not one of the conspiracy nuts, but there is a lot of strange coincidences out there.

Bobby Baker was LBJ's long time secretary and aid. He was also good friend of Meyer Lansky and Sam Giancana. Baker helped set up JFK and Communist spy Ellen Rometsch. JFK was also screwing Giancana's girlfriend. Baker was involved in the Don Reynold's affair and the subsequent leaking of Reynold's FBI file. Baker's secretary was one Nancy Tyler. Tyler died in a plane crash. Her roommate was one Mary Jo Kopechne. Mary Jo died when she was driven off a bridge by one Edward Kennedy...

Is there a single honest politician out there?

A Cautionary Tale

The Texas border was porous. Legal immigrants and Illegals were coming in at impossible numbers. Most of the State had more immigrants than native inhabitants. The business owners encouraged the immigration because the immigrants were willing to do work the natives would not. Some of the immigrants opened small businesses.

They came to Texas with the understanding they would melt into the local customs and language. Soon, as their numbers increased, the immigrants insisted that their native language be used. The State became bi-lingual. They complained the courts were unfair, so translators were provided.

Soon the immigrants became fed up, they had their own culture and traditions, they wanted to celebrate their own holidays in their own ways. The Government tried to crack down, close the borders, but it was too late.

The immigrants feared their freedoms would be taken away, they formed militias, raided an armory. The Government sent a squad of troops to get back the guns. The Government troops were ambushed outside of town. Civil War was imminent.

The colonists/immigrants declared their independence, forsaking the agreements made with the Government when they crossed the border. The Government sent an army to restore order. The immigrants, now insurgents, holed up in an old church. The army general pleaded with them to surrender. They told him to go to hell.

The general sent in his superior troops, the insurgents were wiped out to a man.

You may say this could never happen. It is said history is written by the victor. The General was himself defeated by the insurgents a month later. You may have figured it out. Texas was born. The church was the Alamo. The rest is true.

When it comes to immigration, maybe we should study our own history, lest it is repeated.

changes

I have been reading blogs for about a year. Some I read every day or just about everyday, but for whatever reason they did not appear on my blog roll. I have added a bunch of new sites -- check them out. My favorites folder is now much slimmer, my blog roll a little fatter.

I wish I was that smart at 20...

I want to highlight a comment I received on my 9/11 post below. Here is Alli from Fox Rants:

I have the hardest problem remembering to breathe when I see pictures of that day. So much of it just comes crashing back and then I start to get angry all over again. Not a passing annoyance a deep seated anger that makes my blood boil and triggers that RCOB effect. America is like that I think. A friendly giant that will extend the hand of help to anyone, slow to anger but with a deep resolve. Well I think the majority of America is like that, but there will always be the little yapping part that cries for understanding and blame.

Alli is 20 years old and wise well beyond her years. Thank you, Alli, for keeping my hope that future generations are more than the Starbucks, MoveOn.Org crowd.

Do not read this if you are easily offended

I warned you.


A white guy is walking along a beach when he comes across a lamp partially buried in the sand. He picks up the lamp and gives it a rub. Two blonde genies appear, and they tell him he has been granted three wishes.

The guy makes his three wishes and the blonde genies disappear.

The next thing the guy knows, he's in a bedroom, in a mansion surrounded by 50 beautiful women. He makes love to all of them and begins to explore the house. Suddenly he feels something soft under his feet, he looks down and the floor is amass with $100 bills.

Then, there's a knock at the door. He answers it and standing there are two persons dressed in Ku Klux Klan outfits. They drag him outside to the nearest tree, throw a rope over a limb and hang him by the neck until he's dead.

As the Klansmen are walking away, they remove their hoods; it's the two blonde genies.

One blonde genie says to the other one, "I can understand the first wish having all these beautiful women in a big mansion to make love to. I can also understand him wanting to be a millionaire...but why he wanted to be hung like a black man is beyond me!"

To quote a famous comedian, I don't care who you are, that's funny.

Sunday grabbag

The little one played his first football game of the year yesterday. He quarterbacked the team to an 18-0 drubbing of the competition. He had two runs, one 20+ yards and the second run of more than 45 yards that ended with a desperate pull of the back of his shoulder pads to drop him on the one yard line. Boy was he pissed. He wanted that touchdown. After the game one of the officials came over to tell me how good the team was, and how impressed he was by the team's skills. He said they were clearly well coached. 'Course I blushed and gave rightful credit to my assistants.

Did you see the mayor of Myrtle Beach give a big ol' bitch slap to the Today Show sub/Katie Couric clone? She was discussing hurricane preparedness and asking him if he was afraid that FEMA would screw up his city like they did Nawlins if Ophelia was to hit. He only had good things to say about FEMA and said that the FEDS should only come in afterward, that preparedness was a local issue. No matter how she tried to spin it, he just softly told her she was wrong and subtlely smacked the mayor of Nawlins and the LA Gov, buy pointing out it is locals who have to act!

Purdue, IU, Notre Dame, and Wabash were winners yesterday. More importantly, Ohio State and Michigan both lost. Spurrier did too. The Colts play tonight, we will see what they have. My Cubbies have blown it again this year, will the Colts also let me down?

In all, a pretty good weekend.

I hope you are paying attention

Look at this picture. Remember how you felt. Read my previous post. If you voted for one of the people listed below (and they are ALL from the same party) you should probably be asking yourself a lot of hard questions.

I have been chastised

I have been chastised (do that mean what I think that mean?..it do...) by Breezy for calling liberals unAmerican. See the following from the Opinion Journal and tell me I am wrong:

The House yesterday passed an anodyne resolution commemorating the fourth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. It extended sympathy to the victims and survivors; honored the military, first responders, and others who helped; thanked foreign leaders for their support; declared that America is not waging war "on any people or any faith"; reaffirmed a commitment to the global war on terrorism; and vowed "never [to] forget the sacrifices made" on 9/11 or to "bow to terrorist demands."

No one could disagree with that, right? Not quite. The House vote for the resolution was 402-6; here are the six far-left Democrats who voted "no":

John Conyers (Mich.)
Barbara Lee (Calif.)
Jim McDermott (Wash.)
Cynthia McKinney (Ga.)
Pete Stark (Calif.)
Lynn Woolsey (Calif.)

thanks to GOC

What are you?

An optimist says the glass is half full

A pessimist claims it is half empty.

Me, I want to know who stole my damn drink.

Where do you stand?

Just thinkin'

I have seen plenty over the past few years in the papers and on the news and in blog comments about the evil Republicans. I have heard how incompetent is George Bush. I have been told Conservatives are heartless, if we did not ruin social programs through inhumane "cuts", welfare etc. would work.

Louisiana and New Orleans have been ruled by the Democrats for more than a Century.

Louisiana ranks in the bottom tier in per capita income, education, and literacy. New Orleans has one of the highest murder rates per capita. More than 50% of the population is on welfare. There is double digit unemployment. The State and local government routinely take in more Federal funds than they pay in taxes. The City has pro sports teams, conventions, one of the most dynamic tourist industries in the World. They have the opportunity to gain a significant tax revenue from restaurants, hotels and rental cars, all on the backs of out of towners. Yet the city is virtually broke.

If the Democrats have had nearly unfettered reign over the State and local governments, why are both so fucked up? How do you blame Republicans for the mess that is New Orleans and Louisiana, and I mean before Mother Nature kicked them both in the crotch?

Just thinkin' out loud.

Human Tragedy

In 1941 Leningrad (St. Petersburg) was the second largest city in the Soviet Union. On September 8, 1941 it was attacked by German and Finnish troops. The 872 day seige of Stalingrad resulted in the loss of more than one million of the city's Red Army defenders and citizens.

At the time of the attack more than 2 million people remained in the city. Stalingrad was nearly surrounded in short order by the Finns and Germans (side note -- why are not the Finns view in the same light as the Vichy French?) except for the shores of Lake Ladoga. All able bodied people in the city, including children and women were put to work building defensive works and anti-tank fortifications. On the first day of the seige an aerial attack by the Axis set fire to the warehouse district, destroying much of the available food.

By December the food supply was exhausted. The animals from the zoo and almost all of the pets in the city had been eaten. Rations were down to 125 gram of bread (about one slice = about 4 ounces). Temperatures fell to around -40 F, one of the coldest winters in decades. Inhabitants burned books and furniture for warmth, they ate wallpaper paste and boiled shoe leather. Grass and weeds were cooked. Cannibalism became rampant. A few supplies were smuggled across Lake Ladoga.

The seige wore on. Air attacks continued. More than 600,000 died in the year of 1942. The Leningrad Police formed a special unit to combat cannibalism. The German air attacks were relentless. Barges braved the air attacks to just keep the city alive. By January 1943 the Red Army boke through the lines widening the lanes to the Lake. Finally in January 1944 the Red Army approached Leningrad, forcing the German Army to retreat. On January 27, 1944 the seige was over.

More than one million Soviets died during the seige of Leningrad. It would take more than 20 years for the city to reach again its prewar population of 3 million.

read more

Has this ever happened to you?

While standing in line at the local supermarket I noticed a rather dishy blonde behind me who raised her hand and smiled hello. I was rather taken back that such a looker would be waving to me. Although she looked familiar, I could not place where I might know her from, so I asked, "Sorry, do you know me?"

She replied, "I may be mistaken, but I thought you might be the father of one of my children."

Shocked by the statement, my mind shoots back to the one and only time I have been unfaithful. "Holy crap," I said, "Are you that stripper from my bachelor party - the one I screwed on the pool table in front of all my buddies while your girlfriend whipped me with some wet celery and stuck a cucumber up my behind?"

"No," she replied, "I'm your son's English Teacher."

I did it, you can too!

I took up moonbatty on her challenge by offering three questions. One was serious, one was inane, and one was my favorite trivia question. You have to decide which is which.

'Course now I offer it to the first respondent:

01. Ask me 3 questions. Any 3, no matter how personal, private or random.

02. I have to answer them honestly. I have to answer them all.

03. In turn, you post this message in your own blog or journal and you have to answer the questions that are asked of you.

bring it on...

Edit. : If any more of you have questions, I will answer them also, under the same conditions.

Another myth busted

I really hoped I was done with Hurricane posts, but the misinformation seems to weigh me down.

We have already proven the Mayor of New Orleans and the Governor really screwed the pooch. Come on, do I have to point out the school bus pix again? Now we are hearing it is all the President's and republican Legislature's fault that the levees were not fixed. Because the funding was cut from the budget, the levees failed and BushHitlerHaliburton killed thousands. One, even if the funding had been approved, do any of you think the work would start and complete in a few months, weeks , or even years? This is the Government! We have been waiting four years to get a traffic light installed in the town where I live (yes I am aware that it is a State, not Federal problem).

It appears we have the leftist Enviro weenies to blame. It seems they are the ones who objected to improvements to prevent the flooding of New Orleans, because saving people and property always takes a backseat to preserving wetlands, animals and the environment to the likes of The Sierra Club:

[T]here was a proposed flood prevention project, aborted nearly thirty years ago, which would have alleviated the flooding of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina. This project was to build floodgates at Chef Menteur and Rigolets passes to block storm surges from the Gulf causing Lake Pontchartrain to flood New Orleans, which is what happened during Hurricane Katrina.

Why was this project aborted? Environmentalists sued to have it stopped. An environmentalist group stated the proposed Rigolets and Chef Menteur floodgates of the Lake Pontchartrain Hurricane Prevention Project would have a negative effect on the environment.

During the course of the trial the defense counsel, US Attorney Gerald Gallinghouse, felt so strongly that the project should continue that, according to one source, he said, "...He would go before the United States Congress with (Congressman) F. Edward Hebert to pass a resolution, exempting the Hurricane Barrier Project from the rules and regulations of the National Environmental Policy Act because, in his opinion, it is necessary to protect the citizens of New Orleans from a hurricane."

Despite this, the judge ruled in favor of the environmentalists and the project was aborted. However, the ACE (Army Corps of Engineers) considered this project so important they never scrapped the plans for it.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1479991/posts (stolen from C&S)

At this point, I guess we can blame all living Presidents for the flooding. There you go, Hillary, YOU (as Co-President) are to blame for listening to American hating, people hating enviromentalist dickwads. Hearings over, taxpayer money saved.

Creationism and Evolution

I am inspired by a post over at the Neanderpundit to expound a little on the Creation vs. Evolution debate. I tried to post a comment there, but something in my comments triggered a ban. I will therefore take this opportunity to pontificate on my own site!

I spent a great deal of my teen and young adulthood as an agnostic at best, an atheist in many ways. I was raised a Methodist, I had the benefits of Church and Sunday school just about every week until I was 11 or 12. Some of the lessons remain in my mind, most have not. I studied the Bible in college through a couple of religion courses. Here the Bible was broken down,the history of the passages, the inter-relationships of the Books were examined. I found it interesting, and entertaining, but I did not believe. I was never ready to completely renounce God, but I came pretty close, certainly I was a blasphemer. I will be presented with the consequences in the hereafter. The funny thing, it is through the "educated study" of the Bible that I became a believer again. I still am not a Bible thumping, go to Church twice a week, Born Again Apostolic. I do not go to Church. I do pray to God several times a day. HE always answers my prayers, sometimes I just do not hear or like the answer.

If you have read much here you will know I view myself as an amateur historian. I cannot in good conscious intellectually or emotionally accept the earth is a few thousand years old. I accept the fossil record, Homer and Herodotus may have stretched the truth, but man's life on this planet is detailed in many ways.

I believe the dinosaurs roamed the earth, I accept the ice ages. Continental drift and volcanoes and sedimentary rock and fossils all present me with incontrovertible truth to evolution.

Do I think we understand it fully? Not a chance. Most people cannot even get Darwin straight. He never claimed man descended from apes. Read his very boring work.

You see, for me the fact that there IS evolution is all the evidence I need to prove there is a God. Only an omnific God could have created the amazing mechanisms that are life. The incredible sequences involved in cell replication and the codes found in DNA and RNA and the amino acids that make up life are so complicated and amazing, I cannot accept that it is all random chance! I cannot accept that the entire interlocking aspect of all life on this planet is random gene splicing. God put the entire process into motion. Some animals had roles to fill, some did not survive, some evolved faster and adapted better. This is a genius plan. Only a GOD could have done it. Look at the human circulatory system, I cannot believe this is just random cells forming over time.

Do I believe man has evolved? Yes. We continue the process even today. Indiana kept very precise records of the men who enlisted in the Civil War. We know that the average height was 5'4". The average height of a human is now around 5'9". We are bigger, stronger, and faster as a species than ever before (steroids not withstanding). Sports records are doomed to fail. Look at the intellectual accomplishments of the last 100 years. Tell me man is not smarter than ever before. He spent eons trying to fly, and now he is exploring the space of the universe.

By coincidence I watched part of a program on PBS last night that discussed these very issues -- life how it formed, is there life on other planets, etc. We do not know the answers. Even the brightest scientists, those who worship knowledge, not God, cannot answer how a collection of carbon atoms and molecular structures went from inanimate elements to LIFE.

In the beginning there was just the unformed clay and the wind and the water. And God said "let there be light". Life was formed and the evolutionary rollercoaster that is Earth started down the track. Why can't both sides be right?

Who to blame for the death and destruction of Katrina

This is going to be a long post, so go to the bathroom now. Ok, get a drink. Are you ready now?

I posted a lot of jokes and funny pictures over the weekend. It was a Holiday weekend, the weather was as close to perfect as you can get, and I did not want to waste all day on the internet. Was it appropriate with the death of a Supreme Court Chief Justice, and massive death and destruction in the heart of the Old South? I do not know nor care.

I enjoy reading a great number of blogs. One of my favorites is Moonbatty. She is a liberal, but that is OK, it takes all kinds to make this great country work. She writes in an honest heartfelt manner. I believe she is a good and caring person. I made a half-thought comment on this post. I believe more thought is in order.

My heart goes out to the families and victims of Katrina. I am truly sorry for their loss. Now for the heartless bastard side of me. This attitude represents much of what is wrong with this country. We have created a whole class of people who think they are owed something. Someone is always to blame. Spill some coffee -- blame McDonald's. Slip on some ice -- sue the homeowner. If life is not perfect -- someone is at fault!

I have a small scar on my left shoulder blade. I was born caesarian, the doctor cut me. Today, that little scratch would be a hefty lawsuit. My parents were just glad I was alive and healthy.

A few years ago my daughter was a passenger in a car driven by one of her friends. The driver hit a patch of ice and struck a utility pole. My daughter hit her head pretty hard and had to go to the hospital. The insurance company paid the doctor bills. She was fine, just a headache. A few days after the accident, I received a call from the adjuster. The insurance company wanted to send me a sizable check, if I would sign a waiver and promise not to sue. I refused. Not because I wanted to reserve the right to file a lawsuit, but because THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY DAUGHTER. I know many of you will think I am a dumbass. But how could I honestly take money for a non-existent injury? The adjuster said I should think of it as payment for me or my daughter missing work. No work was missed. I routinely bitch about the cost of my auto insurance, without a doubt, it is the rip-off of the times. But by taking the payoff, I would have only added to the problem. I signed the papers, refused the money.

This hurricane visited terrible tragedy and destruction upon the States of Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana. Moonbatty posted an incredibly sad quote from a NY Times interview with a victim:

The guy who runs this building I'm in, emergency management, he's responsible for everything, Mr. Broussard said. His mother was trapped in St. Bernard nursing home and every day she called him and said, "Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?" And he said, "Yeah, Mama, somebody's coming to get you. Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Thursday. Somebody's coming to get you on Friday." And she drowned Friday night.

"Nobody's coming to get us" he said through his tears. "Nobody's coming to get us."

On Saturday, weather experts were predicting that Katrina, fresh from hitting Florida (we seem to have forgotten that 11 people died there), would gain strength to Catagory 5 and make a beeline toward New Orleans. By Sunday and Monday it was clear the Gulf Coast was in for a pounding. FEMA and others were calling for evacutaions of New Orleans. Why did the Mayor and Governor not order the mandatory evacuations of nursing homes and hospitals? More to the point, why did this man not personally go and rescue his mother and take her to safety himself? "Oh Mommy, I am so worried about you, I hope someone comes and gets you".

When (not if) the next big disaster comes, whether it be a tornado, a flood, a hurricane, an earthquake, or major terrorist attack, you are depending on someone else to save you and your family -- you are an idiot. Disaster preparedness begins at the local level. In this case, local is your immediate family. Next you look after your neighbors and friends.

The city of New Orleans did a woefull job of ppreparing for this tragedy. Now they just want to place the blame and point fingers. This hurricane was an act of nature. Regardless of RFK, Jr's idiotic position, this hurricane was not caused my global warming, George Bush, nuclear testing, big oil, the world bank, Karl Rove, Halliburton, Osama, Tony Blair or the Euro. It is a naturally occuring act of nature. Period. Go to the Hurricane Forecasting Center's page. You will see that hurricanes are not getting stronger, or more frequent, but they go in decades long patterns. We have more destruction, but that is because we have more to destruct than we did 70 years ago. 100 years ago we did not have hurricane warnings, just a strange swell to the sea, and storm clouds on the horizon. Hurricanes and typhoons struck with little warning of their true ferocity. Loss of life was stupendous. Now we know days and weeks before landfall. There is no reason the elderly are stuck in a nursing home waiting on rescue. Mr. Broussard should be ashamed, it was his responsibility to save his mother.

Much has been written and broadcast about the slow response of FEMA and others to rescue the victims. One jerkoff at the DU wrote with "trembling hands" of his anger over the delays. He related that the people of New Orleans had resorted to cannibalism. He made claims that we did not save these people because the were black. Such ideas sicken me, this is the worst kind of race baiting. I do not deny there are race problems in this country, but the individual who would let a person suffer and die for the color of skin are far and few between. I will take no arguments on that statement. One last bit, to really piss off some of you. It was less than 10 miles to dry ground from the Superdome. Many healthy able bodidied people stood there, screaming for help. Even the slowest, most out of shape person could have walked to safety in a day. Like hell would I just stand around and let my kids go hungry and thirsty. I would have carried them as far as necesary to get food and fresh water.

One of the commenters at Moonbaty described the process required to mobilize the National Guard. Funny, the same liberals who are against the military, do not want the guard recruiting in schools,are the first to scream for National Guard help.

Thank you for sticking with me this long. To sum the situation, the corupt administrations of the cities and Parishes and State of Louisiana did not prepare for a calamity of this magnitude. The plans were half formed at best. The Feds can react only with the speed of a turning battleship. The suffering is caused by people who did not heed warnings, who did not prepare, who counted on inept local politicians to save their ass. Somehow, all of this, to the liberals, is the President's fault.

Hell, lets blame my dog. He farts a lot, putting methane into the atmosphere. This contributes to the hole in the ozone that causes global warming. Thie rise in ocean and air temperatures created a hurricane force storm that hit the southern tier of States. Lots of people died and businesses and homes were destroyed. My dog killed Mr. Broussard's mother. It makes as much sense as blaming the President.

Submit your own caption

Ok, the hairy guy was not me either. Here is one more funny picture to complete the long weekend. Serious post begin again tomorrow.

Maybe there should be a caption contest for this one.



Put your caption in the comments. Enter as often as you like, there will be no prizes, except a mention in an upcoming post.

World Peace

WHY WORLD PEACE IS TOUGH!

Two Arabs boarded a flight out of London. One took a window seat and
the other sat next to him in the middle seat.

Just before takeoff, an American sat down in the aisle seat. After
takeoff, the American kicked his shoes off, wiggled his toes and was
settling in when the Arab in the window seat said, "I need to get up
and get a coke."

"Don't get up," said the American, "I'm in the aisle seat, I'll get it for you."
As soon as he left, one of the Arabs picked up the American's shoe and
spat in it. When the American returned with the coke, the other Arab said,

"That looks good, I'd really like one, too."

Again, the American obligingly went to fetch it. While he was gone the
other Arab picked up the American's other shoe and spat in it.
When the American returned, they all sat back and enjoyed the flight.
As the plane was landing, the American slipped his feet into his shoes
and knew immediately what had happened.

"Why does it have to be this way?" he asked. "How long must this go
on? This fighting between our nations? This hatred? This animosity?
This spitting in shoes and pissing in cokes."

World peace is tough.

Which one is more difficult?

The man is a genius

Go read Hog on Ice. Read his latest several posts. They are all good and right on target. Here is a fine example:

If George Bush crapped gold bars and handed one to every single hurricane victim, and then he raised the dead and parted the flood waters and turned the power back on and resurrected the Beatles and got them back together and lowered the price of oil to two cents per barrel and invented a cure for cancer while farting Chopin nocturnes and turning the oceans into chilled Dom Perignon and the beaches into caviar, liberals would STILL find reason to bitch.

NASCAR

OK, the mullett haired family picture I posted below was not really me or my family. Sorry, I thought it was funny.

To make up for it here is a picture taken of me at Bristol a few years ago.

Test answers

Tough huh? Now that we have found out what you don't know, lets look at the answers to the quiz:

1. The one sport in which neither the spectators nor the participants know the score or the leade r until the contest ends . . . boxing

2. North American landmark constantly moving backward. Niagara Falls. (The rim is worn down about two and a half feet each year because of the millions of gall ons of water that rush over it every minute.)

3. Only two vegetables that can live to produce on their own for several growing seasons . . .asparagus and rhubarb.

4. The only sport in which the ball is always in possession of the team on defense, and the offensive team can score without touching the ball .... baseball.

5. The fruit with its seeds on the outside . . . the strawberry.

6. How did the pear get inside the brandy bottle? It grew inside the bottle. (The bottles are pl aced over pear buds when they are small, and are wired in place on the tree. The bottle is left in place for the entire growing season. When the pears are ripe, they are snipped off at the stems.)

7. Three English words beginning with dw . . . dwarf, dwell and dwindle.

8. Fourteen punctuation marks in English grammar. . . period, comma, colon, semicolon, dash, hyphen, apostrophe, question mark, exclamation point, quotation marks, br ackets, parenthesis, braces, and ellipses.

9. The original lakes referred to in Lakers . . . in Minnesota.
(The team was originally known as the Minneapolis Lakers, and kept the name when they moved west.
)

10. Seven ways a baseball player can legally reach first base without getting a hit . . . taking a base on balls (a walk); batter hit by a pitch; passed ball; catcher interference; catcher drops t hird strike; fielder's choice; and being designated as a pinch-runner.

11. The only vegetable or fruit never sold frozen, canned, processed, cooked, or in any other for m but fresh . . . lettuce.

12. Six or more things you can wear on your feet beginning with "s" . . . shoes, socks, sandals, sneakers, slippers, skis, skates, snowshoes, stockings, stilts.

Family portrait

People have called me a Hoosier Redneck for years. It is a damn lie. We are good clean folks. To prove it I had a family portrait taken. This is my wife and youngest son, taken last week. Is this a redneck family?

How smart are you?

THIS WILL MAKE YOU WORK THE "OLE" BRAIN...... HAVE FUN!!!!!

This is a quiz for people who know everything! I found out in a hurry that I didn't. These are not trick questions. They are straight questions with straight answers.

1. Name the one sport in which neither the spectators nor the participants knows the score or the leader until the contest ends.

2. What famous North American landmark is constantly moving backward?

3. Of all vegetables, only two can live to produce on their own for several growing seasons. All other vegetables must be replanted every year. What are the only two perennial vegetables?

4. Name the only sport in which the ball is always in possession of the team on defense, and the offensive team can score without touching the ball?

5. What fruit has its seeds on the outside?

6. In many liquor stores, you can buy pear brandy, with a real pear inside the bottle. The pear is whole and ripe, and the bottle is genuine; it hasn't been cut in any way. How did the pear get inside the bottle?

7. Only three words in standard English begin with the letters "dw" and they are all common words. Name two of them.

8. There are 14 punctuation marks in English grammar. Can you name at least half of them?

9. Where are the lakes that are referred to in the Los Angeles Lakers?

10. There are 7 ways a baseball player can legally reach first base without getting a hit. Taking a base on balls (a walk) is one way. Name the other 6.

11. Name the only vegetable or fruit that is never sold frozen, canned, processed, cooked, or in any other form except fresh.

12. Name 6 or more things that you can wear on your feet beginning with the letter "S."

Bushwhacked by GuyK

Just because I complained about a small case of writer's block yesterday, I have been tagged by Guy. Here goes:

1) Number of books owned: 2,000+. I owned more than 1000 books when I was 16. I have books at my mother's house, my mother-in-laws house, my house, my office. There are nearly 400 on the shelves in my office, boxes in the closet.

2) Last book I bought was The Frank Sinatra Reader edited by Steven Petkov et al. This is a collection of articles etc. written about Frank.

3) Last book completed was McNally's Bluff by Vincent Lardo. This is a continuation of the series begun by the late Lawrence Sanders. Mysteries, and comedy set in Palm Beach. Also The Marines of Autumn by James Brady. The story of a rifle company commander in Korea. This is one of the finest novels of war I have ever read. I cannot recommend it enough.

4) Books that have meant a lot to me. Where to start, I would rather read than watch TV. The Louis L'Amour book Tucker was given to me by my grandfather when I was about 11 or 12. That started me on a several year binge of reading L'Amour books. These are great reading, though his later books get a bit preachy. A master storyteller. My favorite books include Flight of the Intruder by Stephen Coonts, the Brotherhood of War series by WEB Griffin, The Aubrey/Maturin books by O'Brian (Master and Commander), this man is a master of prose. He can transport you to the Napoleonic world through his rich language alone. The books are impeccably researched, you feel a part of the story. Tom Sawyer, and as a boy I loved the stories of Robin Hood edited by Pyle. One of my favorite all time books is The Last of the Breed by L'Amour. This is not a western, but a Cold War tale, and I often think this would make a great movie.

5) I am currently reading the afore mentioned Sinatra book, a book about the Philippine War of 1898-1903, and The Intruders by Stephen Coonts (for about the 5th time).

Why do I do this to myself?

I clearly am a masochist of the worst order. I must want to die early from a stroke. I watched the Today Show this morning, and as usual, my blood pressure skyrocketed, my anger peaked. Every time I watch this crap I spend the rest of the morning pissed off.

According to "Lefty Lauer" and his gang, the lack of water and supplies in New Orleans is all the President's fault. He has blown it, and he will pay a price politically. Chris "Commie" Mathews went to far as to infer that the whole sad situation is racially motivated. He tried to make it look like the whites, the wealthy, the middle class were deliberately withholding the aid. Who the fuck does he think has contributed the 95 million dollars already donated in four days -- Welfare queens, looters?

There is one criticism I will agree with. The Department of Homeland Security and FEMA are proving they are not prepared to handle a major disaster. If this is the organization these departments bring to a crisis, I fear the results of a major attack or nuclear detonation in an urban area. If news crews can get to the city center to film the conditions, why can't trucks with water and food get in?

The relief efforts should be coordinated from a local level. I have to see the organization on the ground by the mayor of New Orleans or the Governor. Rudy G they are not.

Edit:

I just heard on the radio that Indiana is sending a contingent of over 200 State personnel to Mississippi. The group includes health care workers, civil defense and FEMA representatives, National Guardsmen, and State Police Troopers (who have been granted police powers via an executive order by the Governor of Mississippi).

Thursday Ramblings

According to a radio report I heard earlier today, the Mayor of New Orleans is blaming President Bush for the levees failing. She says the Federal Government knew the levees were bad and did nothing. Why in the ff..heck should the people of the United States be responsible for the levees in the city of New Orleans? It is high time somebody pointed out that the powers of the Federal Government are limited, and the Constitution is designed for locals to take care of local problems. If your town has bad levees, you should pay the appropriate taxes to fix them. Earlier this spring, my town was hit by floodwaters. It was feared the nearly 100 year old earthen levees were going to break. Water surged over the top in some areas. It is our responsibility to fix those levees, not the state, certainly not the citizens of North Dakota or Washington, or Georgia.

Can we get this agreed NOW, GW Bush did not cause the Hurricanes. Nor did global warming, or the removal of people from Gaza.

I have given up on the Cubbies. Maybe next year.

My wife recently bought me a 8x10 glossy of my favorite actors/singers this is a copy. Can you get any cooler than the Rat Pack? Only Elvis comes close. I will discuss Elvis and my trips (yes plural) to Graceland in some upcoming posts.


Has blogging jumped the shark? So many have quit, all that remains are a few good blogs and a lot of bad blogs (you decide where this one fits). Maddox, the DuToits, Den Beste, Queenie, Rachel Lucas (again),RTG, so many of my favorites either are quitting or rarely post anymore. The Instapundit has become a boring club, IMAO is no longer funny, and the Georgia bloggers just seem to fight like a bunch of school children. I can't find anything to even post about. Is it all going off the falls in a leaky barrel? Only time will tell.