Chopped, the home version

I threw a very nice bottom round roast into the crock pot yesterday at lunchtime. By dinnertime the enticing smell of cooked beef scented the house better than the most expensive potpourri. Some mashed spuds, broth, asparagus and nice yeast rolls made for a fine Monday dinner.

I cleaned up the kitchen while the boy headed off to do homework and the wife sorted laundry.. We all have our jobs outside of work, don't we? As soon as the dishes were washed and/or put into the dishwasher I got out the big bowls and flour and sugar and chocolate chips to make a batch of chocolate chip cookies.

I love to cook, that is art.  Baking, well it is more like chemistry class. I hated chemistry class. Making a pot of chili you can throw in a little pepper, a dash of hot sauce and it is all to taste and whim. Cookies; one has to measure and concentrate and follow the freaking rules. Plus, it takes forever to bake cookies.  By the time I am putting the third dozen in the oven I am just plain bored with it all. I occupied myself with some Robert Louis Stevenson and his classic Master of Ballantrae in nine minute snatches.

But I persevered and the wife and boy were happy as clams with their sweet gooey chocolaty cookies.

No banjos were played while writing this post.

How I spent my Saturday

You have to watch a commercial, then you can get a sense of the Indy Superbowl Zipline

Human Magnets Are We

It is funny how two people with so little in common can find a life together. My wife and I are like that. We don't like the same music or food. Her idea of a good time is an afternoon at the mall. She would would be happy to never go to a museum or discuss history. If she sees a big crowd she heads straight toward it to be part of the action, while I head straight the opposite way. Yet somehow we have been together more than 34 years as a couple (almost 28 married)

Saturday she decided we were heading to downtown Indianapolis to check out the festivities surrounding the upcoming Superbowl. The whole time we were getting ready to go I imagined the crowds, the pain of street closures, the reported difficulty in finding suitable parking. It was windy and cold. I was fully prepared to be miserable.

There was little traffic. We found a great place right under Circle Center Mall -- right in the heart of downtown. The crowds were terrible, so I do have that to hang on to. We checked out the NFL painted IndyCars, the giant Roman Superbowl numerals. We mingled with the crowds. The primary attraction for the wife was the Zipline. Billed as the longest temporary Zipline in the United States it towers 100 feet above Capitol Ave in the heart of the Superbowl Village. You can se pictures here. The presale tickets were long ago sold out, but there was a chance you could buy tickets at the gate.

I could bore you with long details, but we finally got a chance to Zip around 8:30 in the evening. Here is a shot of the happy couple just seconds before we stepped off into space with nothing but a far distant ground below our feet:

The Zipline was a blast. The cold was not so bad and we survived the crowds. In all we had a a good Saturday.  But I am still tired of hearing about the damn Superbowl and I am ready for it to go away.

Just one note to the city of Indianapolis.  temporarily renaming the downtown streets after NFL teams is a horrible, awful idea.

I need a little help here

Do any of you know where the wife stashed the box her little Nikon came in?  The charging cord for the rechargeable battery and for transferring pics to the 'puter were in that box. She put it in a place she would know right where it was when she needed it. Now she has no clue.

Help a brother out will ya?

Ruminations

Sometimes life is weird. I met up with a couple of old colleagues this week. One I met for lunch, the other on the phone. I worked with these guys back in my first real professional job. We were all on the same sales team, a small very effective bunch of guys who knew their shit. I was the customer service manage that dealt with these two outside guys (there were actually six of us total) and they convinced management I should be an outside guy too. I guess these men can be responsible or to blame for who I am today, professionally.

I have not spoken to either of these guys for a long time.  One guy I have not been in contact since 1996 or 1997. It was good to relive old times and old stories. The company we worked for was sold and split up, we all went our separate ways.

There is a dusting of snow on the ground this morning. Only the grass is covered. The wind is blowing and the coffee is hot. As often seems the case the magic iPod knows exactly the music to play on this quiet Saturday morning. While reading the news and catching up on your blogs I heard The Judds, Bob Marley, a little mellow Neil Young and one of my favorite Sinatra tunes.

Have a great weekend.

Dear President Obama,

I have a situation that will anger you even more than the inequity of taxes paid by Billionaire Warren Buffett and his secretary. Your "That's Unfair" meter will peg full on to "outraged".

My son will pay an effective marginal tax rate of 15%. He is a line cook at a local Italian eatery.  He works part time. I will pay a  6% tax rate, even though I am an extraordinary widget salesman and I will make significantly more income than my son this year. Do you call that fair?

Of course I am comparing my son's federal income tax rate and my local sales tax rate. But hey, we do not want to confuse the electorate do we?  Buffett pays a different rate on his investments than his hardworking secretary does on her income. I understand, it is the message not the facts, Barrack my man.  I get it, you are all about the class warfare this election aren't you? I follow your logic Mr. President.  You have to capitalize on the misery and hard feelings your economy has spawned.  You cannot very well run on your record, I suppose. As blamer-in-chief this fits well with what you do best; blame someone else.

This election you will blame the more successful in life.  Your massive increases in spending cannot be responsible for the large deficits, the rich just are not paying enough. Hey, how about we confiscate all of the wealth of all of the people making ten million or more? What, it will not make a dent in the deficit? What? The richest 50% pay ALL of the taxes? The richest 10% pay 50% of the taxes?  I guess we have to redefine "fair".

Mr. Obama there is one point upon which we do agree.  It is shameful Warren B's secretary pays a 35% tax rate.  Add in local and state taxes and that hard working woman is giving more than one half of her wages to government. In the olden days that was called indentured servitude.  The old company store worked on a similar principle. The Government has plenty of money fueling the coffers.  It is the spending that is the problem. It is time to wean the Government off my paycheck. Like I said, let us not let actual facts get in the way of a good campaign.

Because we're here, lad. Nobody else. Just us.

Alphonse-Marie-Adolphe de Neuville (1835–1885)

I am not sure how it escaped me.  I guess I am getting forgetful in my old age.  I seriously thought the anniversary was January 29th. But last Sunday, January 22, marked the 133rd anniversary of the Defense of Rorke's Drift and the Battle of Isandlwana. Eleven Victoria Crosses for heroism were given out in the former, and the latter marks one of the worst defeats in British Military history.

At Rorke's Drift less than 150 British soldiers defended a small mission station and hospital against an estimated 4,000 Zulu warriors through the evening and night. You can read a rather good description of the battle here

If you want to read what I consider one of the finest books on the Zulu Wars, I recommend The Washing of the Spears by Donald Morris. I have read my copy at least twice, parts of it multiple times.

Of course action movie lovers will know the movies Zulu Dawn, and Zulu. While both take some liberties with historical accuracy, they are great fun. I give them each a huge thumbs up.  In fact, I plan to watch both before the week is over. What?  You have not seen Zulu?  Here is a teaser:



Yeah, the whole movie is like that. Catch it on Netflix, or at your favorite video store or streaming service.  Trust me, you will glad you did.

'Splain this Lucy

The Republicans in charge tell me the best candidate is the guy who lost to the guy who was trounced by Obama last time. 

My other choice is a big government insider named Newt.

Yuck.

But even the guy who pushes carts out at my local WalMart would be better than the guy currently playing golf while living in the White House.

If I can't do it in three years...

State of the Union Preview

I have obtained an unedited copy of The Obama's rehearsal for his upcoming State of the Union Address this evening*:



Remember the main themes:

-Tax the rich

-Spend more, except the military.  We have to eliminate the military.

-Create jobs, unless it involves oil or gas or coal or actually building something like a pipeline What he means is to create Government jobs.

-Help the middle class, except when making their energy bills skyrocket.

--Remember America is great, so we have to change everything about it.

--Mostly tax the rich


Read this

h/t PRS


* yes, I know I have done this before, but the song really does sum up the Obama position perfectly.

I have answers

Want to know why those folks who are citizens of the World but not of the US are clamoring to get here? Looking for answers of why a person would risk life and limb to wade the Rio Grande, dodge the hated Border Patrol, and risk dying in the deserts of the American Southwest? 

Curious as to why the vast majority of the Third World hates us?  Concerned about the roots of Muslim anger against "The Great Satan"?

It is not our blue jeans, our music, our movies or our decadent culture.  The love/hate attitude of the world is not our wealth, our lifestyle, or our big gas eating automobiles. Global envy is simple to surmise.  It can be summed by three things we have and they want: Gravy, Bacon, Corn Bread.

The Northeastern media elites hate the citizens of flyover country not for our bitter clinging love of guns and religion, but rather the wholesome goodness of a pan of white gravy., the smoky wholesomeness of our bacon and the pure greatness of homemade cornbread. The Anthony Bourdains of the world look down on Paula Deene and her butter/fried culinary inspirations, but you and I know they just have bacon envy.

I fried up some chicken last night, mashed some spuds and baked some biscuits. I topped it all with a delicious batch of white gravy and I knew I was living the High Life.

Sucks to be you world.

Ice

A Haiku for Jean:

ICE

Needed for cocktails
Perfect for skates and hockey
On streets, not so great

It also makes walking down the drive to fetch the paper at O'dark thirty a bit hazardous.  My Nike's do not have ice treads. I should have put on my golf shoes. I will take snow any day over ice.

Blame Obama

When gas hits $4.00 or more per gallon, blame Obama.

When we continue to depend on foreign regimes who are not our friends for oil imports, blame Obama.

When terrorists take money we spend on Mideast oil and use it to build bombs and weapons to be used against us, blame Obama.

When companies fail to provide new shovel-ready jobs, blame Obama.

When unemployment continues to hover at high levels, blame Obama.

When Union jobs are lost, blame Obama.

When the Chinese are finding steady sources of oil right in our backyard, blame Obama.

When allies like Canada turn their back on us politically and economically, blame Obama.

When you read that the Keystone XL Pipeline has been stopped dead in its tracks, blame Obama.

When you scratch your head and wonder how a decision can be so poor that the Obama-fanboys at the Washington Post thinks it is bad, blame Obama.

Read this

Read this

Super sick of it

I love the NFL.

I am utterly, completely, totally sick of hearing about the Superbowl in Indianapolis.  The next few weeks cannot come and go fast enough.

Dear NFLPA

Really?  The NFL Players Association wants join in the union protests over Right to Work legislation in Indiana. This legislation would make it illegal to force a person to pay union dues as a condition of employment. It would not stop unions from collective bargaining for wages and benefits.  It would not prevent anyone from joining a union or organizing any workplace.

The NFLPA is so gung ho on union membership it actually DISBANDED as a union about a year ago. That is right, the NFLPA decertified the union allowing each member to individually bargain and negotiate wages, etc. You might remember Brady et. al and their law suit against the NFL? I guess the NFLPA is OK with their members opting out, but they insist the poor UAW schmuck making a decimal point of the wages the average special teamer earns must pay into the union no matter what.

I guess those football players did not study the definition of irony in English class.

The taxpayers of Indiana are being robbed.

Refuses to work, still takes the pay

I see the crybaby Democrats are continuing to refuse to come into session in the Indiana House. They cannot defeat legislation they do not like so in true fleebagger fashion the Indiana democrats refuse to participate.

Democrats say they want a referendum on the RTW bill. Well except it is unconstitutional. But let us not let facts get in the way. Dear Democrats -- want a referendum? The true referendum will be at the ballot box.  If the Democrats are right and the People of the State do not like the law, then they will vote out the Republican majority and the new leadership can bring back unioncentric policies. It is really that simple. In the meantime, show up and vote.

Democrat lawmakers who refuse to do the work they were elected to do are stealing from the people of Indiana. Just as any employee who takes the pay and refuses to work, they should be fired. A vendor for the State who took payment and did not deliver the contracted goods and services would be guilty of fraud and theft. Representatives who refuse to show up and vote, who refuse to do the work of the people, are frauds and thieves. Last year this same group of Democrats took the pay of a Legislator and then fled to Illinois to sit in the hot tubs and bars of Champaign. Now they are stealing from us again.

This is not about good or bad legislation. That is a different argument.  This is about the failure to live up to the oath of office, about taking from the People of Indiana without conscious.

You should each be ashamed.

Today's Earworm

Doom dada doom dada doom...I dig it that boots are back in style.



I like the original better, but Simpson is hotter.

Here is Miley Cyrus taking a stab at it:



How about a dance version with a hot brunette?:


Here is Siouxie without the Banshees:


This tune seems to be a favorite of punk bands the world over.  You know where to find other versions.

Voter ID

Seriously, is there any true arguments against voter ID laws? Why is it unreasonable to expect one to prove his identity to vote when you have to prove you are you to cash a check, buy beer, get unemployment or welfare?  You have to have proof of ID to board a plane. The franchise is among the most precious of our freedoms, and any measure that protects that Right is worthwhile in my view.

As long as the State offers free identification cards, it is a stretch to find a person who is really inconvenienced by having to show an ID to vote. Unless you hail from Chicago or the numerous Democratic strongholds where even the dead routinely vote (early and often), I cannot see it as a problem.

I would be happy to see arguments against Voter ID in the comments.

I think our feckless Attorney General is tilting at windmills on this one.  Perhaps he should focus on Voter Intimidation at the polls instead of promoting potential voter fraud. maybe he should look into the massive voter fraud perpetuated every election by Acorn? Methinks he doth protest too much.

I'll be damned

I just figured out yesterday's Federal Holiday had nothing to do with MILK, but rather it celebrated Martin Luther King -- MLK.

This is how your lose a Republic

In the last decades of the Roman Republic the Senators discovered it was just easier to let a strong executive run things than it was to actually govern. Political power was far more important than rule of law.

In a similar fashion, Harry Reid is willing to ignore Constitutionally mandated Senate responsibilities to ensure his party gets the power it craves. Reid is willing to give up long-term checks and balances for a short-term victory for his President. His hypocrisy is sickening and his sudden reversal in position should worry Americans of every political stripe.

Rest assured Obama's abuse of the recess appointment provisions of the Constitution will be repeated by future Presidents.  Some who will not be liberal Democrats.  The Harry Reids and everyday liberal bloggers who pretend this is no big deal will rue the day.

Without a trace of hyperbole, I believe there is no doubt we are witnessing the slow decay of the Republic. How far are from that one Big Crisis and a recommendation we suspend Congress so the President can manage the problem without Congressional and political infighting. Reasonable people will agree that is the best path. And then there will be the next crises and another and soon we will have a permanent Caesar ruling the nation. We are not there yet. But the continuous strengthening of the Executive Branch has gone on for a while now. Congress has given away the legislative power to various agencies and even the courts.

Think it cannot happen? Open any history book at random and read. The timeline of history is replete with examples of Caesars, kings, emperors and dictators. The list of successful Republics is short.