Dear Lefties

Breath. Relax.  That stroke may be covered under ObamaCare, that does not mean you want to suffer one.

Nothing has changed with the Hobby Lobby ruling. A person still have free and unfettered access to contraception, abortions, morning after pills and such. They will not lose their jobs anywhere if they partake in such products. The decision merely says if a person wants to use the above, said person will have use their own money to purchase them. 

An employer offers insurance as a benefit.  As such, the employer should be able to decide what benefits to offer, be it dental or vision insurance, medical insurance, vacation, or paid holidays.

Nothing has changed, you can screw like bunnies. If you don't want the babies, you are on your own.

As it should be.

Monday Musings, Episode 6,419

For some reason I was dreaming about the Archduke Franz Ferdinand last night. That sentence is not completely true.  I know why I was dreaming about the Archduke. June 28 was the 100th anniversary of his death. In case you are not an aficionado of history, it was his assassination that set off WWI and thus WWII and thus the Cold War.  That bullet fired by Gavrilo Princep killed 50 million people.  I'm not in the mood for research and effort on this cloudy and warm Monday morning. So you will have to learn about the Archduke on your own time.

I married my wife thirty years ago today. I did not realize when the Minister said "forever" it would be this long. Ha, ha I joke. I got far better than I deserved when I found this girl. She is a great wife and a wonderful mother. She grows more beautiful every day.  We currently find ourselves adrift in some rough seas, but I know she will be there by my side.

I am a lucky man.

I guess I should post something

Something

Friday Music

It has been a long time since we featured some Supertramp here. Enjoy.

I think

This is one of the most beautiful photographs I have ever seen. I don't know why. But I like it.

Thank you very much

It appears that sometime in the last week or so I surpassed 250,000 visitors to this old piece o' crap blog. Oh, I know that is a pittance compared to the big boys. It is a small number of visits even for many of the blogs listed over there on the right. But the notion that people bothered to look at my word splatters a quarter of a million times leaves me happy and humbled. I do not possess the vocabulary to express the thanks I owe each of you.

In my neighborhood

It is strange to see your environs on the TV news. There was severe weather in the area yesterday afternoon and the TV folks zoomed in right on my neighborhood to show the "hook" that could lead to tornadoes and winds and scary stuff, oh my. There was no damage at my house, thank God. In fact, the weather was weird, the rain was falling in torrents, yet there was no wind at all.  Nary a leaf was stirring while the storm raged over our heads. Very weird indeed.

The next subdivision to the south was on the news for more unsavory reasons. There was a murder right here in one of America's safest cities! It was not the sort of mystery that inspires great detective stories, Miss Marple won't be peeking around the corner of the vicarage any time soon. No, this killing was a stupid kids' fight over a girl -- as if the winner actually had a inside track to the mysteries that is the female brain. At 18 or 19, the odds either gent ended up with the chick long-term is slim anyway.

According to news accounts, killer and victim were arguing or not. Victim left killer's car with killer's phone. Killer paused in his chase to grab a knife from the glove box. Mistake numero uno. When he caught the victim he proceeded to stab him multiple times.  It is hard to plead self-defense when the victim is unarmed and sports cuts on his hands and neck to go along with the three stabs in the chest.

Sometimes stupid is not a strong enough word. Fighting over a woman was dumb when Menelaus brought a thousand ships filled with his buddies to whip Paris' Trojan ass over the hotness that was Helen. It is just as stupid today.

There will be no epic poems written about the fight over a girl that happened down the street. Only a pathetic post on a barely read blog sadly wondering how so many lives could be ruined over something so very trite.

Like a little beaver

Three conference calls are scheduled for today. It is a good thing my desk chair is comfortable. I have to write a five-year business plan by Friday. I don't know what my customers are going to do this year.

Big changes coming at work. I see storm clouds on the horizon. Things looking grim for your author. Prayers would be nice.

T-Shirt mania

According to my stats, this page from 2008 has been my most popular post for each of the past three weeks. It gets more hits daily than the fresh crap I put up. Is this a sign of my past genius? Is it a reflection on my current content? Is there still a secret cult sporting special logo T-shirts? Are search engines hitting on the pictures or is it mere spam-driven visitation? Only my hairdresser knows for sure.

Hopping down the bunny trail

This spring the wife planted some bulbs and for the most part they are growing and sprouting. Some, like the day lilies she planted came up late and will not bloom this year.  The gladiolas will not bloom for a few weeks yet. We planted six Asian lilies and five came up. On Friday one finally bloomed with three wonderful deep purple, almost burgundy blooms. Another had buds ready to open in a week or so. On Saturday morning the flowers were gone.  The leaves were gone. In fact all five lilies were but bare stems and chewed tops. The damn rabbits had struck again.

The good thing about dogsitting the boy's dog was he kept the squirrels, chipmunks, and rabbits away. Now, almost in revenge, the bastards doing their best to strip my flower beds. Surrounding every flower bed with chicken wire is not feasible, and even if it were who wants to enjoy a backyard that looks like a prison farm for elves? We mixed up some pepper water and sprayed everything under ankle height. I filled in and blocked some holes under the privacy fence. So far this morning there is no more damage.

Future historians

are going to look back on the current we, and ask why it was we let society drift into the the second dark ages, beset by famine, disease and war because we destroyed our economy and way of life by refusing to use the energy that was there for the taking -- our coal and oil to power society. Why we refused to farm tillable land, why we gave up freedom in the name of progressivism.

This issue pegs out the "I do not care" meter

If I owned the Washington Redskins I would make this the new team mascot and tell everyone to go to hell.

Friday Music

Old school crossover hit.

Genetically modified foods

This is what an ear of corn looked like a thousand years ago.

 

http://www.utahstories.com/2012/06/ancient-fremont-farming-in-utah/

Over time farmers practiced selective breeding, cross pollination and advanced farming techniques to create the ear of corn we have today.

Dogs, cows, pigs, and chickens are all bred for certain characteristics. farmed fish and shrimp are bred to give the meatiest and tastiest products. All of this is genetic modification.

Sometimes the genetic changes are developed in a lab, not a breeding pen. But developing grains and food that is resistant to disease and drought seems a good thing. A plentiful food supply is essential.

One of the "causes" of the modern progressive is a ban on genetically modified foods. Ben & Jerry ice cream vows to use no genetically modified ingredients. Sorry, but the Vermont cows that provide the milk have been genetically bred to provide the most milk. The whole concept is just silly.

The very people who cry chicken little over global warming are fighting  tooth and nail against grains modified to resist drought.

The same folks who want to use human tissue stem cells to develop cures for cancer, and other diseases are protesting genetically modified soy beans.

I swear hypocrisy is the foundation of the liberal mindset. 

Their treason is still felt today

Julius and Ethel Rosenburg met their traitor's end on this date in 1953. They were key catalysts in moving the Cold War to another level. They were also the prototypical hate-America progressive communist bastards that infected government and academia at the time. You can bet they voted a straight Democrat ticket. Too bad things have not changed a bit, their ilk still infest the government bureaucracy and academia. Hell, their type lives in the White House.

S'long

One of my all-time favorite Colts players is set to retire today.

Life in the NFL is fleeting at best

Why not let their relatives in Mexico vote too?

A New York Democrat thinks illegals should have a right to vote in state and local elections. His argument is that local laws affect illegals and they should have a say in those laws. He wants to create a sort of second class citizen. Since my employer is located in New York, and that state's laws affect the company's bottom line (taxes, healthcare costs, etc.) as well as some of my paycheck deductions (New York has some of the highest health insurance costs in the country) should I have a vote in local New York elections? After all, I am affected by New York laws.

Rivera claims one of the requirements is proof the person paid taxes for three years. If one is an illegal, he has no Social Security card or 'green card". Without a Social Security card or 'green card' you cannot be legally hired, If there is no legal hire then the person in question did not likely pay income, Social Security, or Medicaid taxes.

The Man

Summer has finally arrived with the usual heat and humidity. It is what generally happens this time of year, those who worship the Global Warming Deity be damned.

This guy should be listed right there with Edison, Tesla, the Wright Brothers, Goddard, or DaVinci as one of the greatest inventors of all time. Each of you who lives in the Southwest, Florida, or Nevada could not live there without his genius.

What the Heck III

Disgusting. Yet funny in a black humor kind of way. 

I feel for the poor cop who had to do that search.

What the Heck? II

I bet Nixon is moaning in his grave.  "I should have just said the tapes were lost, I should have said the tapes were lost..."

All politicians are lying bastards, but Republicans are mere pikers compared to Democrats.

What the heck?

I thought George W traded all of that American 'blood for oil' in Iraq? How is the current civil war unrest in Iraq now causing gas prices to jump?

I do believe, I do believe

Global Warming is truly a religion. It takes a firm belief that any and all climate change is man-made and man-controlled.  President Obama's graduation speech sounded much like a preacher, condemning those who do not believe in a deity.

Is the climate changing? Yes. Has it changed many times over the life of this planet we call Earth? Scientists will tell you the Earth has been warmer.  It has certainly been colder, yet somehow, we are to believe the changes in the past 150 years are solely the cause of cars and trucks and industrial growth. Currently there are more than 30 active volcanoes around the globe spewing carbon into the air, along with lots of other chemicals.

The true climate believer tells us global warming is a real danger, but cannot explain why there has been no measurable warming in more than 15 years. The true climate believer cannot explain why their models do not work, nor why these same models cannot "predict" what happened in the past.  We just have to "believe". Climate scientists cannot explain why we had ice ages and warming periods in the past, eons before man started burning coal.

Should we be good stewards of our environment? Sure. Should we destroy our economy and way of life to prevent something that we cannot control? What we do not know about science is mind-boggling. A few centuries ago a consensus of scientist believed the sun revolved around the Earth, that if one sailed too far into the ocean you would fall off the edge. There are some who once believed you could stop a volcano from erupting if you offered up a human sacrifice. Obama and other true "warmists" seem to believe we can control the climate by sacrificing our economy. And some children believe that if they wish hard enough for a pony when they blow out their birthday candles Old Paint will be saddled and hitched in the backyard.

I know if you take grant money to investigate a theorem, and find out the research was a waste of time, you do not get the next grant to keep working on your theory. I wonder why so many researchers keep looking for proof of man-made climate change?

Seriously

Does anyone really believe the IRS lost two years worth of emails? Are we truly to believe the Government does not keep emails on backup servers? Most businesses keep emails and other records for at least 4-6 years. The IRS demands companies keep tax records for 6 years. They expect individuals to keep their records for 7 years. But somehow, the ethernet has swallowed Lois Lerners IRS emails just when she is under subpoena.

Funny, when my hard drive crashed a couple of years ago the IT Department (one guy) at the small company that employs me was able to replace the hard drive and return my computer even with the personal files and pictures that were stored on the laptop. Every single email was right back in the inbox or file just as it was before the hard drive crashed.

More from people who know what they are talking about:

Here
Here

Happy Fathers Day...

...to all you Dads out there, especially mine. Here's to you Dad.

More old ads

Friday Music

Me and Elvis were hanging out in Blue Hawaii last night. I have seen that movie maybe 30 times, but this is the first time I recognized landmarks. Heck, Elvis even hung out at the Hawaiian Village for a bit.  That is where the wife and I spent our vacation. None of that has anything to do with today's music selection. I was just in the mood to listen to The Clash. I hope you are too.

I can't believe I ate the whole thing...

We had chicken kabobs and cheesy potatoes for supper last night. I just finished a giant plate of leftovers for lunch.  What the hell was I thinking? Now I am stuffed and ready for a nap.

eye-catching title

interesting content

you get none of that today.

maybe later

The list of things I have no interest in

It may not be number one, but the soccer World Cup is pretty high on the list.

Practicing for grandkids

We are dog sitting for the youngest boy's dog this week. He got him a few weeks ago.  The dog is a 2-year old Corgi mix. It is a very good dog. he loves to run free in the fenced-in back yard.  In fact he doesn't want to come in.

We had lots of pets in the house growing up.  Dogs, cats, fish, birds, turtles, guinea pigs. A box turtle spent the winter roaming the house and a chipmunk lived in a cage in the kitchen for 8 years. The wife, on the other hand, has never cared much for animals. The dog promptly shit on the carpet as soon as he came in, so he got off to a bad start. The dog loves her though.  He follows her around and watched her do a load of laundry last night.

The squirrel that lives in the tree out front has him wound up already this morning. He really, really hates squirrels.

Nonsense

Happy Monday blog world. For reasons no one will ever know, including me, I woke up at 4:30 in the aye em today. I tossed and turned for a bit and finally was standing at the Keurig at 5:30 waiting on the coffee cup to fill. I read the news of the day, checked some emails, and watched yesterday's episode of Game of Thrones on the old iPad. I did some on-line quality training from one of my customers and here I am typing away at the old blog. It is now 7:30.  This is going to be a long, long Monday.

I had a good weekend. Yesterday was the wife's censored birthday. We went to the movies, we had some cake. Not at the same time. The boys both had to work, and the daughter is away on vacation so the birthday girl was stuck celebrating alone with me.

I finished downloading (uploading?) our pictures from vacation. Between the camera and our two iPhones we have almost 600 pictures of our Hawaiian holiday. Many are duplicates. I will not subject you (or anyone else) to that kind of torture. Some of the images are pretty good I think, but as the wife said, given the scenery it is hard to screw up a picture. If you care (and I do not know why you would) there are a couple of selections after the jump.

Sunset on Waikiki

Not bad for an amateur with an iPhone

June 6, 1944

"Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon a great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers in arms on other fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.
Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened, he will fight savagely.
But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man to man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our home fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to victory!
I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory!
Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessings of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking."

-- Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower

BOHICA America

The Obama promised us our electric bills would necessarily skyrocket with his agenda. Since he could not get his eco-friendly agenda passed through the Democrat-controlled Congress in his first term, nor the Republican-controlled House in this term, he has dictated tough new standards for coal-burning plants through fiat via the EPA. Experts predict your electric rates will increase by as much as 30% with these new rules.

For a party that claims to be all for the poor and the middle class, the Democrats sure do push for policies which hurt those very groups the most. A kilowatt of energy costs the same whether it is going to an affluent suburb or a tenement in the heart of the metropolis. That means electricity is a smaller part of a wealthy person's monthly expenditures and a large percentage of a poor person's. Increasing electric rates will hurt the poor the most. Similarly, a wealthy person is more likely to have newer, more energy efficient appliances and HVAC systems.

Every single business, factory, and store in America uses electricity. If their costs go up, the price of their goods and services will increase. Who is hurt most by those price increases?  You guessed it -- the poor and middle class.

I am all for lessening our dependence on fossil fuels.  The problem is there is no viable alternative at this time. I want clean air, but I also recognize that carbon is an essential life force on planet Earth and eliminating CO2 means the death of us all. I wonder if Obama was out partying with the Chum Gang when they covered organic chemistry in high school? Climate science is far from settled, and there is no proof these new standards are needed or will have any effect on the climate.

Obama has withheld vast areas of the oceans from oil exploration, he has refused to allow the XL Pipeline. Both measures would reduce our dependence on foreign oil and reduce the costs of gas and oil (and plastics and chemicals) for the average American. Again, these policies hurt the poor and middle class disproportionately. Why is Obama opposed to helping you and me? Because wealthy special interests have paid him off with campaign contributions. Opponents all claim their opposition to the XL Pipeline is about protecting the environment.  Which is more likely to spill, a pipeline or a tanker truck?  Which uses more energy and fossil fuels, a pipeline or a tanker truck?  Which spews more CO2 into the air, a pipeline or a tanker truck? So can someone explain to me how a pipeline is not better than fleets of trucks?

If you are still so naive to believe the Democrat party cares about the working man I have some oceanfront property here in Indiana to sell you.

I am not doing the heavy lifting

The news of the week about Sgt. Bergdahl reminds me in many ways of the Bobby Garwood story.

Things I know

If Susan Rice told me it was a warm sunny day, I would put on snow boots and a parka.

She is either the most gullible public servant in history or a fucking liar. Your opinion may vary (depending on your IQ).

Easy tuna cassarole

Morning drive DJs, Political talk radio, sports talk radio -- they are all wearing me out. A week of not hearing about the Colts, the Cubs, The Pacers, The Democrats, The Republicans, and yes -- this blog-- has me in a complete state of ennui. It occurs to me it would be easier to leave this place behind than I thought.

Cause and Effect

I’m at the breaking point,” said Gretchen Gardner, an Austin artist who bought a 1930s bungalow in the Bouldin neighborhood just south of downtown in 1991 and has watched her property tax bill soar to $8,500 this year.

“It’s not because I don’t like paying taxes,” said Gardner, who attended both meetings. “I have voted for every park, every library, all the school improvements, for light rail, for anything that will make this city better. But now I can’t afford to live here anymore. I’ll protest my appraisal notice, but that’s not enough. Someone needs to step in and address the big picture.” source

 It appears the concept of "cause and effect" is lost on MS Gardner and liberals in general. 

via Hot Air

Infamy

As part of our agreement to celebrate our anniversary in Hawaii, the wife had to let me visit Pearl Harbor.My interest in history has taken me to many battlefields and historical spots. I have to say the National Memorial at Pearl Harbor was one of the most moving places I have been.  It ranks right there with Arlington Cemetery. My only complaint is there seems to be an over-emphasis on the sinking of the USS Arizona, sometimes ignoring the other victims of the Japanese sneak attack on December 7, 1941.

I was pleased the short documentary on the attack made no attempt to obfuscate the facts in light of the number of tourists from Japan to Oahu. My wife, who has no interest in history, found the tour moving and interesting. We sprung for the headsets and the audio tour, I think that helped her a lot. She gets tired of my historical droning and tuned me out decades ago.

If I was king of the forrrressst

If I was head of the GOP, and I wanted to shed the image of the "old guy party", I would push hard and fast for a legal drinking age of 19. It is silly that you can don the uniform of the US and not drink a beer. Lowering the drinking age would help reduce the chronic binge drinking on college campuses.