Thursday Grab Bag

Normally I am a light sleeper and I rarely dream. The past few nights I have fallen into deep REM sleep, with vivid dreams. My dreams from last night/this morning were especially pleasant. At least I think they were. They remain as only fuzzy faded disconnected images in my brain as I type. Every second they disappear more, as morning and daylight and consciousness swallow and cover the dreams like sand on a beach is covered by the slowly rising tide. In spite of coffee, working through several emails and reading the paper, I am still a little groggy. Weird.

This evening should be interesting. We are going to meet our future son-in-law's parents. The wife is nervous and anxious. She is worried they will not approve of us, that we will come off like poor hicks and rednecks. The parents are what could be described as at least upper middle class. Neither works, other than the father manages their investments. We live in a tiny house with used cars and lots of bills. Me?, I am not too worried about these people's opinion. They have raised a fine son. I am prepared to like them. They can like me or not. Lets be honest, it is not like we will be spending much time together after the wedding. If and when my daughter has kids there may be an occasional birthday or holiday we cross paths, but I do not anticipate spending more than a few hours a year with these people. Their approval or disapproval means nothing to me. As long as they treat my daughter well, I have no opinion about them at all.

I have been warned enough to behave that it is starting to piss me off. I pointed out that I deal with customers and the public for a living. I know how to act. I know which fork to use. The wife tried to tell me I am sometimes sarcastic (what me?). She reminded me of the time I went to her company picnic and told everyone I was deaf in my left ear due to an industrial accident and asked everyone to stand to my right and shout if they wanted to converse with me. I thought it was a hoot. My wife was not amused. The President of the small bank where she worked stopped by her desk several times in the following weeks to see if I was getting better.

I get it. I will not embarrass her or my daughter. Some people have no sense of humor.

It is payday, that always gets me in a good mood. I am wearing shorts and the temperature is expected to hit 80 today. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and God has blessed me in so many ways. I had my favorite meal for supper last night -- beef and noodles with mashed spuds. Leftovers await in the 'fridge. Plus tomorrow is a holiday for me! In all, I guess it is safe to say it is good to be me today.

The Dems just spit at your defiance.

Taking stock of the current political situation:

Obama's approval rating stands at 46/46 and 47/53, according to Gallup and Rasmussen. 55% want ObamaCare repealed. 52% said Obama doesn't deserve re-election. And he is tied with a generic Republican for the 2012 elections, according to the latest polls. 60% see the country heading in the wrong direction.

Obama and his minions know they are following a scorched earth policy. Pelosi and the Democrat Party leaders know they are facing huge losses in November. Rather than discouraging further unpopular legislation, they are energized to get it done while they can. At this point they feel they have nothing to lose so why not forgive illegals and pass the cap and tax?

When your teenager has a party when you are away and the house gets trashed, he does not end the party and try to fix the broken furniture. He says "what the fuck" and and parties on. He is screwed anyway, so he might as well have fun before you ground him. He knows you will not punish him forever.

The Dems know that the stupid party will screw up and they will be back in power in time.

There is your Hope and Change.

Progressive is just another word for explosive diarrhea

WTF? People are dying at the rate of 27 per minute because they do not have health insurance and there is no healthcare available if you do not have insurance.

That is what we were told.

I guess it is OK to have these people die until 2014?

Can any of you Obamaites explain this seeming paradox? I guess it really is more about control and the redistribution of wealth than helping people.

Indiana has joined 13 other states in a lawsuit on Obamacare. Hey liberals, what are you going to do if the next Congress forces you to buy a Bible, or a gun? What if Congress were to force you to buy a smoked pork shoulder or a bloody beefsteak? What if you have to supplement your tofu with a ration of bacon? It is for the good of the American farmer! Plus the Government knows best -- righto?

What if the next Congress believes you must purchase a new Buick? No more Prius hybrids, we need to jump start our domestic oil industry -- we all have to get a gas guzzler. We must get the return for our investment in GM. It is more than than a slippery slope when you allow the Government to dictate what we buy. It is a fucking landslide of epic proportions. What if a future Congress dictates the amount and kind of asswipe we are forced to purchase?

Did you know the Obamacare demands every restaurant with more than 20 locations must put calorie information on every menu, including drive through menus? Owners must do this for EVERY ITEM on the menu. If I own 20 Hoosierboy Hamburger Heaven stores -- all in Indiana-- by what authority does the Federal Government mandate such onerous expensive changes to My Private Business? I do not sell across State lines so there is no Interstate Commerce at play.

I invite any liberal readers to show me how such regulation is acceptable or Constitutional.

I bet I get no comments on this post giving evidence. Anytime a liberal is forced or even asked to defend a position on logic they just curl up in a fetal position and cry racist, or hate, or FoxNews, FoxNews like some kind of deranged cookoo clock.

I know the liberal cowards will not take me up on this challenge. For them the Constitution is a dusty old scrap of parchment that gets in the way of real progress. What a bunch of hypocritical asstards.

Prove me wrong -- I double dog dare you.

2549

Two thousand five hundred and forty-nine posts, counting this one. The first was March 22, 2005, just over five years ago. My daughter had not yet graduated high school when I started this rag. Now she is a teacher and on the verge of getting married. My oldest boy could not yet drive, now he is of drinking age. My youngest a mere boy when I started, is now a young man at 16.

My hair is more gray, my eyesight worse. I have changed jobs and lost weight. My typing skills have not improved.

Dax proposed in a post the other day that blogging has jumped the shark. I think he is right. Facebook, Twitter and other mediums have taken our attention elsewhere. I still have 100 or so visitors every day. Thank you. Your visits and comments mean more than you could know.

I occasionally go back and read some old posts. I have written some unbelievably horrible garbage. I have written some good stuff too. I guess that is to be expected when you churn out a post every day. I think you can agree that I keep to this task pretty rigorously.

Like many of you, I consider The Acidman the greatest blogger ever. That is not meant as a slight against any of my daily reads or blogs I fail to read. Rob was able to mix politics, observations, stories and his personal life in way none of us can. He was willing to bare his naked soul to the world, at great personal cost. I wish I had the courage.

I reflect that it was the personal stories that most entertained me. When I re-read his archives I sometime skip the politics. Do you feel the same about this poor excuse of journalistic endeavor?

Over the past five years faithful readers and commenters have come and gone. Lots of bloggers disappeared or took on new identities or priorities. A small core of readers has been here from the start, or almost from the start. I remember the early days when I would get ten hits a day, six of them me checking to see if I had hits. I despaired of ever attracting readers!

Thank you for five great years. To each of you who comment, who read, who lurk -- I appreciate it. I hope I give you reason to keep stopping by each day. I fear you have heard my stories, my jokes, my opinions far too much over the past five years. If that is indeed the case, well too bad. You may read and say "WTF?", "I agree", or "who cares". I will keep trotting out the posts as long as I feel like it.

So, five years, and eight days later we continue.

I will post on whatever I care to write about. It may be political, humorous, or just boring, but you will always get my best. I may post some of my stories. I may post on historical items that interest me. It may just be crap...I hear you now. "Just who the fuck is this guy"? Well, I am a Liberally Educated Male. I am married. I have three kids. I hate mimes. I like beer. I like baseball. I hate soccer, it is not a real game.

That is all you need to know for now.

That quote is from my very first post. Not a lot has changed...

Quick thought for a Monday

What if you really have reached your full potential?

Weekend Funny

h/t Otter

Friday Five

I may have done this in the past, who cares. No one plays along with this stupid Friday Theme anyway.

There are certain movies you are drawn to. They may be classics, or old favorites. What movies do you have stop channel surfing to watch every time you run across them on the TV, no matter how far along the movie is?

For me;

1. Cool Hand Luke
2. Bridge on the River Kwai
3. Hoosiers
4. Breakfast at Tiffany's (I know)
5. Pale Rider

And lately, Saturday Night Fever. I don't know why, I hate disco, and did not care much for the movie when it came out. Nostalgia? Surely not, who has nostalgia for the late 1970's?

How about you? What movies are you compelled to watch?

Today's Earworm

If you are a Democrat you can kiss my hairy ass

No free man shall ever be debarred
the use of arms.
Thomas Jefferson


The strongest reason for the
people to retain the right to keep and bear arms
is, as a last resort, to protect themselves
against tyranny in government.
Thomas Jefferson

Liberals are always trying to take away our right to bear arms. They claim the Second Amendment says only a militia can have weapons. These same people who are anti-gun and are for the most part anti-religion. They see prohibitions against religion in the First Amendment when it does not exist, and are quick to point out a letter written by Jefferson that proclaims a "wall of separation between church and State".

In both cases they see words in the Constitution that are not there. Perhaps the Democratic Party should just be honest and call themselves the Hypocritical Party instead. They can keep their symbol. The Jackass -- it still fits.


h/t in a roundabout fashion to Otter

Happy Monday

I have a huge case of "I do not give a shit" today.

The well is dry, the tank empty, I am bored. I have nothing ricocheting around my skull to entertain you.

I have nothing to add regarding the fucking President and his bitches Reid and Pelosi. If you think they have the best interests of th ecountry at heart you are a fucking moron first class.

Eat me, this counts as a post anyway.

Today's Earworm

Happy Spring

It's my Birthday too.

The Obama Care theme song

Ignore the Constitution at your peril.

"Blood on the streets up to my ankles" indeed.

Hey you stupid fuckers in Congress -- defeat this piece of crap not because of abortion language. Defeat it because it is UnConstitutional, Becasue it was passed in an UnConstitutional manner. Because it does not reduce the cost of healthcare. Because it is a bad bill.

Framing the argument as an abortion issue does not address the real problem.

Here are some essential health care reform issues in the Reconcilliation Bill.

Sec. 1408. Elimination of unintended application of cellulosic biofuel producer credit. Adds an additional revenue provision. In 2008, Congress enacted a $1.01 per gallon tax credit for the production of biofuel from cellulosic feedstocks in order to encourage the development of new production capacity for biofuels that are not derived from food source materials. Congress is aware that some taxpayers are seeking to claim the cellulosic biofuel tax credit for unprocessed fuels, such as black liquor. The provision would limit eligibility for the tax credit to processed fuels (i.e., fuels that could be used in a car engine or in a home heating application).

Sec. 1409. Codification of economic substance doctrine and penalties. Adds an additional revenue provision. The economic substance doctrine is a judicial doctrine that has been used by the courts to deny tax benefits when the transaction generating these tax benefits lacks economic substance. The courts have not applied the economic substance doctrine uniformly. The provision would clarify the manner in which the economic substance doctrine should be applied by the courts and would impose a penalty on understatements attributable to a transaction lacking economic substance.

Sec. 1410. Time for payment of corporate estimated taxes. Provides for a one-time adjustment to corporate estimated taxes for payments made during calendar year 2014.

Subtitle F – Other Provisions

Sec. 1501. TAA for communities. Appropriates $500 Million a year for fiscal years 2010 through 2014 in the Community College and Career Training Grant program for community colleges to develop and improve educational or career training programs. Ensures that each state receives at least 0.5 percent of the total funds appropriated.

Title II – Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

Subtitle A – Education

Section 2001. Short Title; References. Provides that this subtitle may be cited as the “SAFRA Act,” and that, except as otherwise provided, whenever an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or other provision of the Higher Education Act of 1965.

Part I—Investing in Students and Families

Section 2101. Federal Pell Grants. Amends the Higher Education Act to include mandatory funding for the Pell Grant. This provides additional mandatory funding to augment funds appropriated to increase the federal maximum Pell Grant award by the change in the Consumer Price Index. The mandatory component of the funding is determined by inflating the previous year’s total and subtracting the maximum award provided for in the appropriations act for the previous year or $4860, whichever is greater. Beginning in the 2018-2019 academic year, the maximum Pell award will be at the 2017-2018 level.

Section 2102. Student Financial Assistance. This section provides $13.5 billion in mandatory appropriations to the Federal Pell Grant program.

Section 2103. College Access Challenge Grant Program. This section amends section 786 of the Higher Education Act by authorizing and appropriating $150 million for fiscal years 2010 through 2014 for the College Access Challenge Grant program created under the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007. Provides that the allotment for each State under this section for a fiscal year shall not be an amount that is less than 1.0 percent of the total amount appropriated for a fiscal year.

Section 2104. Investment in Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions. This section amends section 371(b) of the Higher Education Act by extending funding for programs under this section created under the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 for programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and minority-serving institutions through 2019, including programs that help low-income students attain degrees in the fields of science, technology, engineering or mathematics by the following annual amounts: $100 million to Hispanic Serving Institutions, $85 million to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, $15 million to Predominantly Black Institutions, $30 million to Tribal Colleges and Universities, $15 million to Alaska, Hawaiian Native Institutions, $5 million to Asian American and Pacific Islander Institutions, and $5 million to Native American non-tribal serving institutions.

Part II—Student Loan Reform

Section 2201. Termination of Federal Family Education Loan Appropriations. This section terminates the authority to make or insure any additional loans in the Federal Family Education Loan program after June 30, 2010.

Section 2202. Termination of Federal loan Insurance Program. This section is a conforming amendment with regard to the termination of the FFEL program, limiting Federal insurance to those loans in the Federal Family Education Loan program for loans first disbursed prior to July 1, 2010.

Section 2203. Termination of Applicable Interest Rates. This section makes a conforming amendment with regard to the termination of the FFEL program limiting interest rate applicability to Stafford, Consolidation, and PLUS loans to those loans made before July 1, 2010.

Section 2204. Termination of Federal payments to Reduce Student Interest Costs. This section makes a conforming amendment with regard to the termination of the FFEL program by limiting subsidy payments to lenders for those loans for which the first disbursement is made before July 1, 2010.

Section 2205. Termination of FFEL PLUS Loans. This section makes a conforming change with regard to the termination of the FFEL program for federal PLUS loans by prohibiting further FFEL origination of loans after July 1, 2010.

Section 2206. Federal Consolidation Loans. This section makes conforming changes with regard to the termination of the FFEL program for federal consolidation loans. This section also provides that, for a 1 year period, borrowers who have loans under both the Direct Lending program and the FFEL program, or who have loans under either program as well as loans that have been sold to the Secretary, may consolidate such loans under the Direct Lending program regardless of whether such borrowers have entered repayment on such loans.

Section 2207. Termination of Unsubsidized Stafford loans for Middle-Income Borrowers. This section makes conforming changes with regard to the termination of the FFEL program for Unsubsidized Stafford loans by prohibiting further FFEL origination of loans after July 1, 2010.

Section 2208. Termination of Special Allowances. This section makes conforming changes with regard to the termination of the FFEL program by limiting special allowance payments to lenders under the FFEL program to loans first disbursed before July 1, 2010.

Section 2209. Origination of Direct Loans at Institutions Outside the United States. This section provides for the origination of federal Direct Loans at institutions located outside of the United States, through a financial institution designated by the Secretary.

Section 2210. Conforming amendments. This section makes conforming technical changes with regard to the termination of the FFEL program for Department of Education agreements with Direct Lending institutions.

Section 2211. Terms and Conditions of Loans. This section makes conforming technical changes with regard to the termination of the FFEL program to clarify the terms and conditions of Direct Loans.

Section 2212. Contracts. This section directs the Secretary to award contracts for servicing federal Direct Loans to eligible non-profit servicers. In addition, this section provides that for the first 100,000 borrower loan accounts, the Secretary shall establish a separate pricing tier. Specifies that the Secretary is to allocate the loan accounts of 100,000 borrowers to each eligible non-profit servicer. The section also permits the Secretary to reallocate, increase, reduce or terminate an eligible non-profit servicer’s allocation based on the performance of such servicer. In addition, this section appropriates mandatory funds to the Secretary to be obligated for administrative costs of servicing contracts with eligible non-profit servicers. This section also requires the Secretary to provide technical assistance to institutions of higher education participating or seeking to participate in the Direct Lending program. This section appropriates $50 million for fiscal year 2010 to pay for this technical assistance. Additionally, this section authorizes the Secretary to provide payments to loan servicers for retaining jobs at location in the United States where such servicers were operating on January 1, 2010. This section appropriates $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 and 2011 for such purpose.

Section 2213. Agreements with State-Owned Banks. This section amends Part D of Title IV to direct the Secretary to enter into an agreement with an eligible lender for the purpose of providing Federal loan insurance on student loans made by state-owned banks.

Section 2214. Income-Based Repayment. The section amends the Income-Based Repayment program to cap student loan payments for new borrowers after July 1, 2014 to 10% of adjusted income, from 15% percent, and to forgive remaining balances after 20 years of repayment, from 25 years.

And you liberal-types call me a fat stupid redneck?

Let me get this straight: Obama Care will provide coverage for forty million, twenty million, thirty million, 15 million, back to 30 million again people without current insurance. It will save medicare from insolvency, it will make sure people with existing conditions are covered, it will pay subsidies to those who cannot afford insurance, it will lower premiums for all Americans, it will reduce the premiums some employers pay for group health insurance by 3,000%, it will not increase taxes or increase the defect by one penny.

Liberals, progressives, Democrats, the education class, the journalist class, the country club elites all want us to believe this is true? Yet these same elites spend an inordinate amount of time telling us not to believe in the tooth fairy, Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and God. We are told they are all myths and fantasy.

Anyone who buys into the Obama Care fantasy makes those guys look sane who castrated themselves, strapped on their Nikes, and drank the poison Kool Aid so they could beam aboard that passing comet.

Dear Readers

I know times are tough economically, so I have a business deal for you.

Houses in my neighborhood are renting in excess of $1,00 per month. I have very nice house for rent for a mere $500 per month. You will save a bunch! The only catch is we will need a ten year lease, but with the savings I am offering that is a no-brainer.

I will also throw in your monthly groceries. I will pay today's market prices for your necessities at the nearby store. Now how this works is I will pay today's sale price for your groceries after you move in. if the store raises its prices or no longer offers an item, I will increase taxes increase the rent to make up the difference. I will decide the amount of ncrease. But you are getting a house, provided by me!

The lease will start in July 2010 and run through July 2020. Your first monthly payment is due on July 1, 2010. You will authorize me to take the funds directly from your checking account if you do not pay me on time. As soon as you sign the lease I will tell about the property. You will appreciate the amenities, trust me.

You will be able to move in on July 1, 2014. That date may change to 2016.

You must lease this property sight unseen. Since your neighbors are not excited about having renters nearby, you will have to kick in a hundred dollars to them to get them to agree. I will get you their addresses in Nebraska and Louisiana.

I am sure you will agree this is a great idea. You will save $500 per month and perhaps get a better place to live.

I should add if you do not agree with this lease, you will go to jail.

Who in their right mind would agree to such a crazy plan? Who would think this is a good idea? Why, your typical Obama supporter. Obama Care offers the same basic plan. Pay for it for 4-6 years and then you can get the benefits.

And those guys call us stupid fat rednecks.

Just a thought

Have you noticed the liberal-types that complained to no end about the abuses of the Bush era...

Patriot Act, Guantanamo, Military trials, over-reaching Government, abusive Congress, wild spending, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, The Middle East, voting rights, etc.

...are markedly silent these days on anything political?

I guess the Constitution and rule of law are only important when the other guy is in charge and it helps your argument.

How can you tell when a salesman Democrat is lying -- whenever his lips mover he or she breathes.

Sheep.

Your Government at work

A couple years ago Indiana changed the way it assigned licence plate numbers. Previously car plates began with a prefix denoting the county the owner lived in. For instance plated issued in Adams county were assigned a 1, Clinton a 12 and Shelby 73, and so on. Then the county prefix was followed by a letter, then random numbers. So your plate would look like this :

12 A 3456

Motorcycle and Truck plates were always a combination of letters and numbers. They also had "motorcycle" or "Truck" printed on the plate.

In an effort to make life easier for consumers The State decided to do away with the county prefix, allowing one to buy their plates at any BMV Branch in the State. This was a good thing. Plates for all vehicles are now a combination of letters and numbers.

Some bureaucrat decided that as long as the tags had "motorcycle" or "truck" printed on them there would be no problem if the combination of letters and numbers for the plate numbers assigned to automobiles might be duplicate. The geniuses in the Government had no clue that the wrong person might get a ticket. Since some States and localities use traffic cameras to issue a ticket (nefarious at best) the wrong citizens are getting tickets! Idiots. Source

Example two of Government incompetence. My oldest son is a server in a restaurant. To handle or sell alcohol in Indiana you have to have a liqueur licence (must the State be involved in everything?). He applied, sent in his $60 and took the required class in January. To date he still has not received his paperwork. More than six weeks to process a Liqueur Licence. This should be simple. Is the paperwork filled out correctly? Is the applicant over 21? EOS, issue the damn certificate. Three minutes tops. Why would this take six or eight weeks to process?

The State revenue agents are cracking down in the community where he works. An application on file at the restaurant is not good enough, without the actual licence on hand he is not allowed to work. Incompetence and bureaucratic laziness means he loses his income until he can get the paperwork.

He has tried to call numerous times to follow up his application. The ATC (Alcohol Tobacco Commission) has a recorded phone line telling the address and hours of operation. My son cut class yesterday to go in person. They are only open until 4:30 -- way to serve the working public Indiana. He drove an hour to the capitol City, paid to park. he spent ten minutes going through security and arrived at the ATC at 4:31. The doors were locked. The work schedules are done on Wednesday, so now he is out of work for another week.

And just think, some of you think the Government would be the best option to control or health care system.


* Yes, I know these are examples of State Government idiocy. Do you really want to make the argument the Feds are better or even less incompetent?

What he said

Go read this. I can add nothing to that post.

Drink One For Bobby Sands

Fuck a bunch of St Patrick's Day.

It is another fake holiday like Valentine's Day, Halloween, Kwanza and MLK Day.

Drunken Irish -- and especially fake Irish -- can kiss my ass.

Green Beer is not natural, it falls in the same category as blue food. It should not be consumed.

Dear Dennis Kucinich

To paraphrase Churchill: Mr. Representative, we now know what you are. All we need to know is what was the price?

I sure hope it was more than an airplane ride.

Dear President Obama

Back in January you promised during your State of the Union address you were going to focus like a laser on jobs and the economy. Could you let us know when you are going to get on that?

Instead, we see you still out stumping for a health care plan no one wants. Now nearly 60% of Americans hate your ideas. Let it go and focus on the economy.

Seriously, that shit sandwich you keep trying to sell just stinks more every day. As you said, all that can be said about Obamacare has been stated. Hop off the stump and focus your attentions elsewhere. Iran is going to get a bomb and use it. How about re-starting that dialogue? We get what you want to do, we just are not interested in your ideas to take over the health industry.

I do sales for a living -- sometimes the potential customer just does not want to buy. Pressuring only makes him dig in his heels. Since you have never has a job in business you do not understand these things.

You are welcome to the free advice.

Ramming Speed

Above is a pictorial representation of the Democrat's plan to pass ObamaCare.

The Constitution is burning

Several democrats have confirmed they will proceed to pass Obamacare under the so-called Slaughter Rule. This is a brand new concept were the House will not vote on the Senate Bill, but will actually just "deem it to have passed". In other words, Legislate by fiat.

This is in violation of the United States Constitution:

Section 7 - Revenue Bills, Legislative Process, Presidential Veto

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.

Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.

The language is straight forward. There can be no bill passed without a vote, and a recording of how the members voted on the bill.

Every American should protest loud and long if their representative goes along with this travesty. The Ends do not justify the means.

BiW offers a much better written commentary. Go read it here.

You say you want a revolution?

I woke very early this morning. I was not sure what time it was -- I had not yet done my clock thing. Quick sidebar -- I guess DST is with us so I might as well embrace it and get on with my life. For those of you unaware, until a few years ago Indiana did not subscribe to the insane notion that we can "save" daylight. We hicks understood that the number of hours the sun shines in a given day does not change. DST just means you turn on your lamps in the morning instead of at night. Hey, look at the bright side, our kids may go to school in the dark, but the golf industry gets a boon!

Anyway, I had a nasty rant circulating in my cranium. I was so upset it woke me before dawn. It was so strong that I almost fired up the old computer to get it down on electronic paper for your perusal.

What? You want a hint? If the Dems in charge actually try to put Obamacare into law without even voting on the bill, there will be hell to pay. I am talking blood in the streets kind of hell. Bloggers and patriots of all political stripes should, and must, be irate our politicians are even plotting tyranny of this magnitude. The end does not justify the means. Even the Kos Kids should be terrified over the prospect of simply declaring a bill "deemed as passed". The Constitution is written in very clear language on this matter. Your average third grader can understand it. Heck, go to YouTube and look up some Schoolhouse Rock.

Should the Dems go forward in this manner and Obama sign Obamacare passed in this manner -- a bill of impeachment should be immediately introduced. We do not rule by fiat in this country. Obamacare will become the modern Intolerable Act. For those of you who cannot remember their fourth grade history, the Intolerable Acts were the spark of the American Revolution.

I guess you got the mini-rant anyway. Here is some homework for you. Go to Wiki or whatever search engine you like and look up Germany 1933 and the Enabling Act.

What the heck, here is the work already done for you.

Fear mongering? Hyperbole? Nonsense? Maybe. I never believe that the past repeats. I do believe we can look to the past and see similar examples and better deal with the current situation. Let me ask you a serious question. Answer honestly. Do you think that if Obama and Pelosi and Reid could get a similar power they would not embrace it? If they could get a similar law passed today they would do it? Do you think that at some point, behind very thick closed doors Obama or Emanual, or Pelosi lamented that they did not have a similar power? Would they hesitate to use that power to dictate the provisions of HealthCare, of Amnesty for Illegals, and Cap and Trade?

I said a year ago it was not yet time for a revolution. We are getting closer every day. Let me be clear. That notion scares the shit out of me.

Sic Semper Tyrannis. Is it coincidence that our Government considers a tyrannical act to pass Obamacare during the ides of March? Clio, you funny, funny muse.

You say you want some evolution

Saturday morning has dawned mild and cloudy. The robins are chirping and crocus and tulips are starting to push through the snow-melt damp soil. Spring is on the way, finally.

One cup of coffee is down my gullet as I read the paper. My daughter's engagement announcement is in the paper today. Did you see it?

It occurs to me that we can find fanatics and small-minded people of all stripes. The lefty liberal progressives are all about making fun of fundamental Christians. For your typical just out of college Che T-shirt wearing ignoramus, those that profess a deep abiding love of God are just ignorant mouth breathers.

I do believe that those who still are firm believers in man-made global warming display ignorance akin to those who deny the existence of evolution. To be clear, since there are some of you who did not pay attention in biology, Darwin did not claim man came from apes. For you on the other side, there is no evidence that the planet has warmed in the past 15 years. In fact, it has been warmer and colder at different times in history. Weather patterns change. Man has nothing to do with it.

Just as some televangelists use God to become rich, those who are at the lead of the Global warming hoax are getting rich too.

I hate to do it, but much of this post was inspired by these jackasses.

He lives

Good morning blog world. I come to you with my face blackened from a week of firefighting. Not literally, but solving the inevitable customer issues we all face from time to time in business. Unfortunately all of my issues are hitting at every customer simultaneously. Such is life. It is good to have a job, and a busy day makes the time go by faster.

That also means my time to post and read you guys is limited. We will just have to improvise, adapt and overcome as my man Clint says in one of my favorite movies. Do you know what movie that is from? No fair cheating and using a search engine to find the answer.

My daughter called last night. Apparently she has the same problem as Yabu, only hers was inside -- in the basement. She said it was the biggest possum she had ever seen. It was sitting on the speakers, next to the flat panel TV. She said it just bared its teeth and did that hiss/growl possums do. She asked me what to do. I told her to call animal control -- I am not going to try and catch a crazy possum, and shooting it inside the house is not an option.

Animal came and hauled it away, along with its brother they found patrolling in the backyard. The guy said he will come back today and try to see how it got in. I told her welcome to the joys of home ownership. She is a little relieved. She was starting to think her house was haunted the past few days -- she kept hearing scratching sounds under the floor! Now she thinks it was the critter. She hopes.

Patience Hoosierboy fans

Work and travel and work are taking precedence. We will return to normal programing when time permits.

The Second Monday This Week

Work, brings in the money that pays for food, lights, housing, gas, etc.

Blogging pays nothing, it uses valuable time.

Work comes first.

To the left is a pictorial image of my life today. Each animal represents me dealing with a different customer.

Plus, because I am the perfect man, I also did a load of laundry and cleaned/changed the furnace filters this morning.

And I am having a bacon sandwich for lunch.

Dear President Obama

I heard excerpts of the Health Care speech you read from the Teleprompter today in Pennsylvania. You sir, are either ignorant of the legislative process, woefully lacking in your understanding of mathematic principles, or a liar.

Since your resume consists of little work experience beyond serving as a politician, I have to believe you understand basic civics and how a bill is passed on the Federal level.

I am positive you can count to 60, and I am pretty sure you can count to 218. Surely a graduate of Harvard can count, or at least hire someone to divide 435 in half to ascertain the number of votes it takes to pass a law? Or to determine what 3/5 of 100 equals? That is the number of votes required to stop debate in the Senate.

That leaves us with the only remaining reason for your comments today. You are a willful, chronic, liar. You appear incapable of telling the truth. Blaming Republicans for the failure to pass sweeping Health Care Legislation is beyond disingenuous, it is a complete and total fabrication, a falsehood.

Until a few weeks ago your party had super majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. You could have passed any bill you presented. The Republicans could not muster enough votes to prolong debate. Claiming otherwise is a big fat damn lie.

Any of your sycophants that parrot these "Blame the Republicans" falsehoods are liars too.

Oh, and Mr. Obama, you pleaded with us to "make our voice heard in Washington". We are trying. Look at the polls -- your health care bullshit is as popular as veal at a vegitarian convention. We do not want it. We are speaking, maybe you should shut your lying pie hole and listen.

Slowly count to ten....

I did not get a paper again today. I think that is seven times since the beginning of February. I do not know what is so hard about the process. Put the paper in any red newspaper box you see on your route. It is sad when the customer service rep at the paper recognizes your address.

I am not even getting my hopes up this year

There was another sure sign that spring is just around the corner yesterday. The Cubs were on WGN. They are already back to their 2009 form --no pitching and no hitting. They were pounded by the Chisox 127 -0. It sure seemed that way. It is going to be another long year, I am afraid. My prediction -- 102 years and counting.

Chickaboom, chickaboom

It is the usual weekend routine. I wake very early and cannot go back to sleep. During the week I cannot get awake, on the weekends I get up early. I am sure it is all based on Global warming Climate Change.

I had a glass of OJ and went to fetch the paper while the coffee was brewing. The paper was there this morning. I decided to have a little more juice, but the jug was no longer in the 'fridge. Of course it was in the cabinet where we store th glasses. getting old sucks. I wish I could blame my stupidity on a hangover.

The sun is shining and it looks to be a good day here in God's favorite State of the Union. It may even hit 50 degrees today! I noticed when I came in from getting the paper the wife still has a snowman doormat out. She is to blame for the weather. I will get that put away this morning.

I saw a robin this morning. Spring is on the way.

BTW, my birthday is coming up in a few weeks, so you should start thinking about what you are going to get me. As I often say, if you are not actively trying to make my life better, you should be helping someone who is.

It is all about the old HB....

Friday Five -- Guess the theme, really easy edition

bonus, since you all love this feature soooo much...



I could have also given you Green Eyed Lady or Lady Marmalade, or that awful, Aerosmith song. What would you add?

Breaking News

Olympic committee takes back American skier Lindsey Vonn’s gold medal

The International Olympic Committee announced Monday that it has taken
back the gold medal previously awarded to American skier Lindsey Vonn
and given it to U.S. President Barack Obama.

Olympic officials said Obama deserved the medal more than Vonn because
no one has ever gone downhill faster than he has.

Tuesday Afternoon

I drove 10 hours yesterday to be in position to meet a customer early this morning. These things happen -- his kids were sick and he did not come into work. I met with a couple other people and hit the road.

I have a customer visit on Wednesday North of Knoxville, so I am safely ensconced in my Hampton Inn North a little early. The trip over the mountains from the Charlotte area was brutal. Heavy snow, ice and rain accompanied me. Sometimes the visibility was only a hundred yards or so.

Shouldn't we be past this kind of weather in the mid-south by now? At least it is just rain here in eastern Tennessee. I should have a short customer visit on the morrow and be home by supper time.

All was not wasted on this trip. I was upgraded last night to a full-blown suite. Full living room, 1-1/2 baths, etc. This has happened before, but it is always cool. There are some benefits to travel and always staying at the same chain of hotels.

Quick Comment Monday

Sidney Crosby may well be the most revered hockey player in Canada today. Even more popular than Gretzky.

My friend Dave is so religious he will only buy his insurance from Blue Cross.

The Olympics are finally over.

Curling is a fad, its poplarity will fade quickly to the dustbin. Just like pet rocks.

We may finally have average temperatures this weekend. We have not hit the average daily high since sometime in December.

Road trip.

I did get a newspaper this morning.

Too bad cheese and onion enchiladas do not love me as much as I love them.

What have you to add?

I want it I want it I want it

I will buy this the next time I am at the store.

Imagine it on chicken, on hamburgers, on a BLT! A bacon flavored bacon sandwich.....

No service today

I woke up in a good mood this morning. I got dressed and made some coffee. I braved the cold and gently falling snow to my curbside mailbox and newspaper bin. No newspaper. Again. This is the fifth time in under three weeks the local fish wrap has failed to arrive. The snow around me was melting do to the heat of my anger. My blood pressure was sky high.

It is not that I care so much about the contents, the local paper became a joke years ago. It is mostly AP stories and local high school sports. The Saturday edition usually contains human interest stories clearly written during the week. It is not so much that I cherish the five minutes (or less)I spend six days a week reading the paper. It is the principle that I bought and paid in advance for a service. Giving me Saturday's paper on Monday, or a credit does not adequately compensate me for the aggravation of not getting what I paid for. I am petty, but I want that carrier to have to be inconvenienced by bringing me my birdcage liner. If he has to leave the comfort of his home to do what he is paid, maybe he will quit skipping my house. It is not like the old days where some teenager is trying to make a buck, Ipay extra since I am a "motor carrier route".

Of course, the local newspaper offices are closed on Saturday. There is no recourse, I left a nasty message on their recorder, but nothing will come of it. I will bet they will not even call to apologize on Monday. That idea pisses me off even more. Now I will stew about it and come Monday morning I will be in a real rage against the paper. I might even tell them to shove it. I will not let it ruin my weekend though; it is just 8 or 10 pieces of newsprint. I ca compartmentalize better than that.

I guess customer service went to Mexico and China with the other jobs. No, I am mistaken, customer service jobs all went to India.

Today's earworm

I am not sure why this is bouncing around my skull today. I have never been a huge Rod Stewart fan. I heard this in my brain when I woke up, and I thought you should hear it too.

We should have Governement run health care because those who do want it are just smarter than I am

Liberals, Socialists, Progressives, Communist; different labels for similar products. They all have one thing in common. Those who agree with the tenants of a strong Government, who believe in income redistribution, who think it is the role of the Government to address the ills of society (real or imagined) all believe they are smarter than those who believe otherwise. They know in their hearts they are more compassionate, more feeling and care far more about the common man. They are the nanny, the teacher, the wisest among us who will lead us and take care of us. If they get a few privileges along the way, well, that is their right for being better and smarter than you and I. If some of us do not care to participate then we are heartless, greedy and dumb.

What if I do not want to be mothered and have my needs provided? What if you believe YOU know best for your family? The Progressives will do what is best for you in their eyes anyway. By force if necessary. The basic tenant is always in their message -- each will work to his ability and receive according to his needs. "They" will determine the "needs".

History is legion with examples of Socialists and Communists compromising by force. You see, compromise means YOU give in. 100,000,000 people failed to compromise with Stalin and they disappeared. Twice that number reached a compromise with Mao in China during the Communist Revolution. They also gave their lives. Should I mention the killing fields of Laos and Vietnam after the socialists took charge? Compromise seems to be a my way or the highway for these people, and the highway is clearly one-way.

We saw a similar "highway option" presented by the Democrats at yesterday's so-called Health Summit. You could see in their eyes and the smirks on their faces the lack of intent to offer any compromise at all. There was no consideration of reducing the cost of health care through tort reform or interstate purchases of health insurance. There was Obama's plan. The Republicans were expected to give. That was the only compromise on the table.

Then came the threats. Now the big bad Democrats will force Americans to the Compromise in the good old fashion way -- they will force it upon us whether we want it or not. Remember, they know what is best for us and if we do not see it, it is only because we are too ignorant, too stubborn, to clingy to our guns and religion and stupid, stupid ways.

They will ignore the facts that their plan will cost money we do not have: as a society, a government, nor individuals. They ignore the truth that what they want is not in the purview of the Constitution. They ignore what they desire is expressly NOT wanted by the American public.

Yesterday was a public civics lesson. You see what Obama and his team have in mind -- go along with what Obama wants or get it anyway. You see why they have avoided public transparency all along -- it makes them look bad. Someone is going to pay for making Obama and his team look bad in front of all America.

That someone will be you and I.

Did you know

Adolf Hitler had only one testicle?

First and last commentary on American Idol

Ellen is a disaster as a judge on American Idol. She hasn't a clue. She either parrots the other's comments, or utters meaningless banalities like "Don't be mad at yourself". WTF?

Putting her on the show was a joke.

Midweek ramblings

Sorry. But I think my positive attitude is broken right now.

I wished I had written that. But I didn't. Freddie did. She needs some positive reinforcement, even though she is right on track. Go over there and give her some love. This time of year does that to you; puts you in a bad mood. By late February we are sick of the snow, the cold. But more than anything, we are tired of the low, gray clouds. A little sunshine can so make your day better.

I did something last week I rarely do. I spent money on me. I bought myself a new humidor. It is supposed to be delivered today. My current model is at least a decade old, and it was a cheap one to start with. It has never had a good seal, and it takes constant monitoring to keep my cigars fresh. Did I need it? No. Did I want it? Yes. The one I chose was on sale, so I compromised a bit, passing on the model I really liked. It is double the capacity of my current humidor. I am sure you have already guessed that means I will get to buy more cigars! Too bad there has been little opportunity to enjoy a fine smoke with the long bout of below normal temperatures we have been cursed with so far this year. In fact it is snowing as I type.

My quarterly forecast is due tomorrow. I am nearly done. I have to get it into the overnight mail this afternoon. I am sick of staring at numbers, I can tell you that. It is all a f-ing guess anyway. Until the current administration offers a positive sign to businesses there will be no strong recovery. What businessman would hire anyone with the threat of increased taxes and regulatory costs hanging over his head? Why would you hire someone when you could be faced with onerous health care mandates? Obama already promised you he will increase your energy costs if he can get Cap and Trade passed. When we expect to be laid off at any time there is no incentive to buy a big ticket item. No purchases, no need to hire new employees.

Sadly, the Obama team is determined to moving in directions that discourage business. They are hellbent on passing legislation unwanted by the American People. There are many examples of how to end an economic recession. Too bad Obama and his ilk are socialists at the core, not capitalists. JFK, Reagan, and even further back in history McKinley all showed us the way. Too bad Liberals would prefer to put their fingers deep in their ears, close their eyes and chant "lalalalalala" Hoping for Change.

The Republican Health Care Proposal

We ask that President Obama and Congressional Democrats join with Republican leaders to start over on health insurance reform.

We ask that they help craft sensible reforms designed to lower costs and expand access without violating individual rights or the integrity of the market.

We ask that they enact medical liability reform and put an end to frivolous lawsuits that drive up the cost of medicine.

We ask that they allow individuals and small businesses to pool together to purchase high-quality affordable health care coverage.

We ask that they allow Americans to shop for health care coverage from coast to coast and purchase insurance policies across state lines.

We ask that they create new incentives to save for current and future health care needs by allowing people to use their health savings accounts funds to pay premiums for high deductible health plans.

We ask that they guarantee individuals with pre-existing conditions or past illnesses access to affordable coverage through the expansion of state-based, high-risk pools, and reinsurance programs.

We reject any attempt by the federal government to force any American to purchase an unwanted insurance plan.

We reject any attempt to implement a government-run insurance program.

We reject individual mandates, rationing, and special deals for any state.

We reject a separate set of rules for government and private sector health insurance purchases.

We oppose any plan that betrays our senior citizens by cutting Medicare coverage, or that allocates taxpayer funds to pay for abortion.

We reject any proposal that authorizes a government takeover of any portion of our health care system.

We ask that Congress and the President above all pledge to ensure the constitutionality of any health insurance reform legislation considered by the federal government.

We implore the President and his allies to listen to the will of the American people and start over on health insurance reform.

read it here

As if you needed more websites to read everyday...

I have several apps on my iPhone that amuse me. One of my favorite is FMyLife. This is a collection of losers telling about the things that make their life miserable.

you can visit the website here. Often, I think my day and life suck until I read these posts. Here is an example:

Today, after months of trying to potty train my son, he finally told me he used the potty. I went to the bathroom to check. There was nothing there. So I asked him "Where did you go to the potty?". He then grabbed my hand and took me to the cat's litter box. My son has successfully litter trained himself. FML

I also liked this gem:

Today, my pet rat had babies. We've only ever owned one rat. FML

Then there is this idiot:

Today, I had an interview for a college. The college is in Rhode Island. I live on the West coast. When I asked the interviewer if they got to the mainland by boat or by some other form of transportation, he told me Rhode Island is not an island. FML

And doesn't this story of family life bring a tear to your eye?:

Today, my daughter told me she wanted to be a stripper when she grew up, just like daddy's girlfriend. We're still married. FML

Go and read for yourself.

Today's earworm

This is whaat I hear in my skull today. This and the voices.

How about you?

Nah Nah Nah I told you so...

A Movie Review

The wife wanted to go see the movie Dear John last night. I give it a solid 2-1/2 out of 5. It wasn't nearly the total chick flick I expected, but it was not an awesome movie either. I will not go into details, but let me say this -- what a bitch. Guys, if you want a nice date movie that is not an over the top romance, you will be able to stand this movie. Hey, if she will go see Transformers, Avatar or GI Joe with you, you can do this for her.

I need to get busy and help out a little around here. You know, dust or run the sweeper or something. I did activate my new debit card this morning. Maybe I do deserve a rest! I bet I could find a nice action DVD, a real manly movie with Clint, or the Duke to wash away the chick flick experience. I need to find something with explosions and guns and maybe some damn Nazi killing. Horses or cannon will also do the trick. Some female nudity always cleanses the romance from the brain.Hold on...

I just went to the awesome DVD cabinet. I have not seen The Blue Max for a while. I found a copy of The Great Escape that is unopened. Ooooh, maybe Master and Commander? Bonnie and Clyde, The Longest Day, or Big Jake? Do I want The Warriors or Full Metal Jacket?

I received a copy of Woodstock for Christmas, but I do not think that fits my mood this morning. Do I want to go the comedy route, Happy Gilmore or something from Dean and Jerry? The boy has a copy of Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I could do Animal House or The Blues Brothers. I am sure the lovely Esther Williams is out of the question,as is Elvis. I need something manly like The Outlaw Josey Wales or Jeremiah Johnson.

I could watch my set containing the entire first season of Rat Patrol, or maybe John Wayne in North to Alaska. The Godfather (Parts I and II) sits quietly yet powerfully offering a viewing I cannot refuse. Dare I give up the three hours each volume demands?

Joe Kid, or Patton? Zulu Dawn or Zulu? Platoon or Saving Private Ryan? I could watch The Alamo or Billy Jack.How about Platoon, Gettysburg, Heartbreak Ridge or The Dualists?

There it is; the perfect Saturday morning movie...

Friday Five -- what is pissing me off edition

Here are the five things that seriously chap my ass this morning.

1. I did not receive my newspaper. Again. This is four times in less than two weeks. The paper is a poorly written rag with two day old news, but it is the only way to get the local news. How bad is the paper? Monday night football is covered on WEDNESDAY. You get this kind of quality reporting for $0.75/day. I can get the Indy Star for the same price and four to five times the content. Although the reporting and left-wing bias lowers the value.All the lady on the other end of my blistering phone call could say is " we have talked to your carrier." If you do not call before 10:00 am, they will not even bring you a replacement copy. That is some fine customer service.

2. I am tired as hell. I was up until after two.

3. I only have two things pissing me off so far today. That means I cannot even complete the hated Friday Five. I have not read the news yet, so that may resolve itself.

Help me here, People waht gives you a case of the red ass this fine Friday?

On an up note, Pitchers and Catchers reported this week!

Disco Inferno makes me thing of burning disco records

I watched a DVR'd recording of Saturday Night Fever tonight. My brother (Otter) calls me up to ask me a question. I tell him what I am watching. He laughs and asks if I have my white polyester leisure suit on. At that exact moment the scene where Travolta wears that suit (the bug dance contest) comes on. I bet Erica tawks just like the chicks in that movie.

For some strange reason I find the TLC show BBQ Pitmasters compelling.

My old buddy insomnia has stopped in for a visit. It is 1:30 in AM, I am ready for him to go bother someone else. 6:00 in the morning is going to roll around pretty fast. I did do a load of laundry (towels). There is some sausage in the 'fridge calling my name. I must resist the temptation to make some sausage gravy or even some sausage and eggs.

More snow is on tap for this weekend. Whee!

I have never really figured out why I waste so much time on this damn blogging thing. I do know some posts are written solely for me. The one I wrote yesterday is a perfect example. Sometimes I really crack me up. If you are not quite so amused, that is OK too.

In political news I can save Obama a lot of time. He does not need a blue ribbon panel to study the and find ways to reduce the deficit. Quit spending, dump all legislation that will increase spending (health care, cap and trade, and repeal what stimulus money has not been spent). Reduce taxes, especially business taxes (businesses do not pay taxes anyway -- you do. Email me if you do not agree or understand this fact of life). Cut all non-essential spending. If it ain't listed in the Constitution it is a responsibility of the individual or the States. Mandate, until some of the programs can be disbanded, that no Government budget will increase more than the rate of inflation for the previous year. Sorry Seniors, no inflation , no SS raise. Let me let you in on a secret. All of us live on a fixed income. You have received a raise since anyone I know in the workforce.

How much longer are the f-ing Olympics on? I do not mean tonight, I mean in general? I saw someone is giving away lifetime trips to the Winter Olympics. My first thought it must be the booby prize. Then I realize some people like this stuff. There are also people who like to be whipped by fat chicks in studded leather. Some people actually watched Rosie O'Donnell.

Hey, did you see Chris Mathews on Jeopardy? What a maroon, as Bugs Bunny likes to say.

Me and Obama

President Obama's stimulus has saved over 2,000,000 jobs.

I have created and saved 643,137 jobs.

You better get busy.

In addition:

I can eat 100 boiled eggs.

I can run the mile in under four minutes.

I once ate an entire elephant in one sitting.

I lifted a car off a pregnant woman.

I performed open heart surgery using only a ball point pen and a plastic knife. The patient went on to create and save an addition 9,766 jobs.

The Yankees wanted to draft me instead of Jeter. I turned them down.

Bill Gates occasionally asks me for a loan to get him through until payday.

Brooklyn Decker will not quit calling me for dates.

Payton Manning often calls me for advice from the sidelines. I am sure you have seen him on the phone.

I can shoot laser beams from my eyes.

I once made a horse cry.

I caused global warming

When I am in a playful mood I sometimes ride on the back of my pet grizzly bear.

Women want me, men want to be me.

I think I will save another dozen or so jobs this morning.

What Dan-O calls a compost

I sometimes slum around other blogs that sport a different political position from mine. This is important, because if you only listen to a single viewpoint you fail to consider all angles of a given situation. In my high school debate days, I prepared my case by taking the opposing viewpoint. This allows you to formulate a valid response.

There is an interesting debate going on at Ms O'Brien's. She has shut down comments. Interesting in that either some of my comments were somehow not posted, or they were deleted. I hope it is the former.

It is Ms O'Brien's position partisan bickering and gridlock in the Congress give comfort to the enemy -- it aids and abets terrorism.

This argument is fear mongering at its worst. Pass our agenda or the evil ones win.This has long been an excuse to institute tyranny. It was wrong when used to pass the Alien and Sedition Acts, and it is wrong now. This argument is akin to telling your three year old to go to sleep or the bogeyman will come out of the closet. It is bad parenting and worse political philosophy.

For the sake of argument, I will address the issues presented in the post and comments at Erin's anyway. There is the quick and easy response -- if you do not want gridlock and partisan bickering do not press an agenda that is an athema to the other party and a majority of Americans! Do not write bills without input from the opposing party and try to cram them through in the dark of night. That is the quick and dirty answer.

The more appropriate answer is twofold. Partisan bickering is as old as the Republic. The only time either party cries about it is when they are unable to pass their agenda. Get over it. The beauty of our Government is that the minority has its say and the majority has its way. It is disingenuous to pretend the Republicans are responsible for stopping the Obama/Pelosi/Reid statist programs when in fact the Democratic Party had a super majority in both Houses. As I have stated many, many , many times here the Democrats could pass any piece of legislation they so chose. It is the failure of the leadership of the Democratic Party to get things done, not the GOP. And seriously Erin, if the deficit and weak dollar is helping the terrorists, it is not the gridlock causing that. You can blame the stimulus that did not stimulate and the trippling of the deficit in one year of the the Obama administration. I know you have seen the graph that shows the whopping deficits began when the Democrats took control of Congress in 2007. Again, you might not like the source, but as Gradgrind said "facts is facts" (catch the literary refernce -- not all Conservatives are dumb)(although some of us are piss poor typists).

If you read the comments to O'Brien's post, there is a thread about terrorism and its nature. Jonas, whom I respect, maintains that terrorism is a product more of environment than religion. He is a scholar of religious studies, so I am sure he knows what he is talking about. He is right that we do not see terrorist attacks from Muslims in Toledo, Dearborn and such. He also should recognize there is a very common element to terrorist attacks in the past twenty-five years -- they are virtually all committed by Muslims. You do not see the equally poor and oppressed of Haiti putting explosives in their Fruit of the Looms, or Mexicans flying into buildings. You do not see the poor of Brazil blowing up pizza places and taking schoolchildren hostage. Cubans are not bombing Embassies and as far as I know, not a single Ecuadorian has beheaded a reporter shot up an Army base.

Then there is my buddy Cosmic Navel Lint. Alas in fairness I must admit he banned from his place when I made the indecent comment that the Constitution of the United States limits the power of the Federal Government. I would like to link him, but he asked me to never come back. I have been asked to leave better places. Mr. Lint is as lightweight intellectually as his nickname suggests. He is your typical Kos Kid, he can only fall back on blaming Fox News when he is confronted with an intellectual challenge. I am surprised to did not invoke the "Palin is dumb" meme, and throw in Quayle and Nixon references as well, they are part of the playbook. In Cosmic Lint's world facts are irrelevant if they are presented by non-liberal sources. In his world Fox is untrustworthy because of Beck and Hannity, but he sees no similar issues with Olbermann, Madow and the like. He is unable to discern between opinion and news.

Even worse, the piece of Lint is unable to grasp basic civics of American political structure. Perhaps this is the European in him. He is of the mindset we are just dumb hicks who blunder about the world. He considers us barbarians who lack the political savy and nuances of sophisticated denizens of the EU. To him America is just a bull in the china shop, too dumb to know that socialist policies are best for us. Maybe he is just ashamed deep down in his genes. after all, we Americans defeated the superior British twice and saved their ass twice. You always hate those to whom you are indebted and don't we all resent being bested?. That is just a theory anyway. Somehow I am confident Cosmic naval Lint will find a way to blame Fox News -- that is his stock retort. Sometimes I think he is the bloggyverse version of a cuckoo clock. Instead of an irritating "cuckoo" he chimes a repeated "foxnews, foxnews".

And by the way, CSN, there are lots of Democrats, many Republicans and a couple of Independents in the Senate. There are no teabaggers, Tea partiers, or tea anything in the Chamber. Teapartiers are not a political party. And for the record, we get it. You wrote "teabaggers" Tee hee. What are you thirteen? If that is the best insult you can come up with (it is not even original), I would just retire from commenting on politics and debate in general. Are you going to next try and titillate us (hee hee he said tit) by shouting penis? Perhaps you could put a little more effort into studying the Constitution and American Politics before throwing your two centshalf a Euro.

Anyway, I will end this post with a paraphrase of the comment that was deleted or lost over at the lovely Ms O'Brien's: I have to quit arguing with fools and idiots, they just drag me down to their level and beat me with experience.

Are you sick of winter yet?

Did you know

-40 Celsius is equal to -40 Farenheit?

I knew that.

I can also convert millimeters to inches.

Ants do not sleep.

There, you are smarter for reading here today.

Limping Along

If I loved you I would show you awesome pictures of the snow.

I do not have pictures, and you all have seen snow pictures enough to last you a lifetime.

You are all aware that my small campaign against Evan Bayh was the final boot in the ass that made him realize he was done, defeated and toast. You are welcome.

Boy, there are people out there with short attention spans. For you Dimocrits who actually believe the Republicans are obstructionists and just by saying "NO" defeated the awesome-everybody-wants-it-except Republicans-health-care-bill, can I point out that Democrats owned a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and control by overwhelming votes the House of Representatives? The republicans, up to the seating of Senator Brown of Massachusetts could not prevent any policy, bill or crazy agenda pushed by Obama, Reid and Pelosi from passing.

Pissed that the Country is not embracing your leftist agenda -- blame your own party.

Yet another Democrat sees the writing on the wall

Fearing the consequences of his voting record, Liberal Dimocrat Evan Bayh has announced he will not run for re-election.

Please, please Democrats, run that SOB Barron Hill.

The downside is the asshole Bayh can now vote for all of the liberal socialist policies without fear of repercussion. Hurry up November.


h/t Big Dick

Enjoy Your Monday

It is snowing again. The weather pattern is much like we would expect in April, with waves of moisture coming in every three or four days. The only problem it is snow, not rain. We have not been dumped on like some other parts of the country, but we are getting whacked six inches at a time. We now have about a foot and a half on the ground. We are expecting about 4-6 inches more this morning.

It is so flat here that drifting is a major problem. a few inches can create drifts of a foot or more. Six inches of snow gets you three foot drifts in the country. Drifting on the secondary roads has caused school to be cancelled 4 days in the last week (including today). The wife works at the school, and only gets paid if she works, so her next paycheck is going to be mighty small.

There is some good news in the blogggity world. Leeann wrote a whole post about ME!

President's Day. I have the day off!

When your biggest decision of the day is whether to have a Raspberry Zinger or a Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pie for breakfast, life is pretty good.

Weekend Funny

Cupid, Draw back your bow

I first posted this in February 2007. It generated a ton of comments. I guess it is appropriate for this weekend to trot it out as a rerun. Sometimes you find love when you are not looking for it

February 12, 2007
A love story

Thursday, the second wrestling meet of the week. I took a beating, yet still won. You remember the old joke about "does your face hurt?", yes it did. On the bus ride home I had time to think. In the dark it all became a stark reality. I just had to get out of going to that dance.

How could I break it to her? She bought a dress, I had ordered the corsage. Dinner reservations were made. I did not even know this girl. I could say I was sick. Think, man, think. If I cancelled I would be a heel, and Teresa would be pissed. That would be bad. She would not like me to cancel a date with her best friend.

Friday, I woke, no closer to a resolution. I had a crush on this girl, Teresa. Her best friend asked me out to a Sadie Hawkins dance. It was a big deal, the biggest dance of the year except for the prom: dresses were bought, suits were worn. I said yes, thinking the girl would talk about how wonderful I was and Teresa would see me as something besides a friend. Sixteen year old boys do not always think logically, especially when it comes to women. Yes, my motive was wrong. I did not care.

Wrestling practice was supposed to be short, most of the team had a date for the dance. I had two black eyes, the result of high cheekbones and sharp elbows. We started wrestling around and my partner Jeff got a bloody nose. He got them all the time and of course, I laughed at him. This really made him mad and he was determined to give me a bloody nose as well. The only problem is I had never had one. EVER. He proceeded to give me several hard cross-faces. He hit me with an elbow, he smashed me with his skull. No bloody nose. I took a quick shower before heading home to get ready for the dance. Shit, my left eye was swollen shut, my right eye and cheek were hues of blue, green and purple. I bet her parents would be real impressed.

I circled the block twice mustering the courage to knock on the door. Her nephew answered. Fortunately she was ready. A few quick pictures and we were on our way. No one asked how I came to look like a prizefighter.

On the way to the restaurant we did not speak much. I gave this girl a quick glance. I barely knew her. Only after she asked me to the dance did I discover her last name. Her short hair was dark, almost black. It fell in soft waves framing her face. Her nose was straight and narrow, freckles covered her cheeks. Her eyes lit up each time she smiled. They were hazel.

We went to the local Moose Lodge for dinner (the oldest in the world), there was not much else in the little town where we lived. I had pork chops. Neither of us spoke much during dinner. Aborted conversations ended with one word answers. "Is your steak OK?"

"Yes, It is fine," she muttered. Oh God, what have I gotten myself into? OK, dinner, go to the dance stay an hour or so and make an excuse to take her home. Maybe I can claim I have wrestling practice in the morning. I noticed her hands. The fingers were long and smooth, a small hint of white fingernail polish graced the long nails. A few freckles dotted her arms. I tried hard not to stare at her chest above the white sleeveless dress. The swell of her breasts was enticing. She was kind of pretty. When she stopped in the ladies room after dinner I briefly thought about just leaving. She was in there a long time, and maybe she was hoping I would.

I still remember clearly the events before the dance. What I ate. The back of my neck burning with embarrassment. The feeling everyone in the dining room knew I was a lousy date, a failure, a hoodlum. The rest of the evening remains a blur. We found our table at the dance. We were sitting with her friends. I knew some of the other guys. The lights were low and suddenly this strange girl looked lovely. The band was playing and we sat and tried again to talk. Finally a slow dance was played and I summoned the courage to escort her to the floor. She fit perfectly in my arms. the top of her hair came to my eyes. Her waist was the perfect size for my skinny arms. She smelled faintly of flowers. After the song we walked to the punchbowl holding hands.

As we sat back at the table I moved my chair closer, we began to find things to talk about. My hand was on her thigh. I forgot my mother's admonition to not try to be funny. Mom told me that often others just did not get my dry sarcastic sense of humor. The girl had the most melodious laugh. We danced some fast songs. She had rhythm, I could only jerk around like a spastic monkey with a lobotomy. I was having a good time in spite of my efforts not to.

Another slow song began and we moved to the floor hand in hand. I put my arms around her, her hands locked around my neck. I looked into her eyes and saw my soul. She leaned to me, and I to her. Our lips met and electricity shot through my body. My hair stood on end. As our tongues met, I never felt like this before! Wow, I said as our lips parted. I was out of breath. I was not sure if we had kept dancing or not. The room spun. I kissed her again.

The night lasted forever and ended too soon. As we made out in the front seat of my parent's Monte Carlo, hurried plans were made for another date the next day. I drove home with her taste on my lips. Pizza, a movie and more electric kisses followed on Saturday.

Monday came and Teresa did not look quite so hot. She asked me how the dance went, a knowing leer on her face. I know now girls talk about that stuff*. Teresa told me she just knew the girl and I would get along. She suggested a double date the next week. Why not?

I found an old picture taken at that dance back in December of 1978. I see a skinny boy, his left eye shut, his right black. I see a couple of kids, unsure of life, of themselves. The pretty girl is standing next to that boy. I know the picture was taken as we arrived, before the slow dances, before the kiss. I know this because in the picture I am just a shy boy, smirking at the world.

I dated the girl for several years. I left for college. I got engaged. I got married.

The girl is now my wife. Her kisses are still electric.


* My buddy Jeff just asked me if I got 'any'.

Your Valentine's Day Gift Giving Guide -- Advice from your favorite blogger

Unless you live in a cave somewhere you are probably aware that Sunday is the ultimate Hallmark Holiday. Like it or not men, your lady is expecting something. Do yourself a favor and go get your wife, girlfriend and/or significant other (check all that apply) a friggin card. You should also spend $40 bucks and grab some flowers. You may have to go to Walmart or that creepy guy who sells roses out of his van on Highway 9. Even a cheap bouquet of mixed flowers will work. If that is too much effort, grab a box of chocolates (get the heart shaped box) or even a teddy bear. Jewelry is always a perfect gift. Use your head when gift giving. She does not want uncomfortable underwear and negligees. She does not want a Jersey with her name on the back. If it plugs in or is used to do housework or cooking -- it is not a good Valentine's gift.

Yes, I know it is a stupid holiday, but you just have to play along. Buy her a nice dinner. Hold open the doors (open the car door for her). Compliment your woman. Do not wear your "I'm with stupid" T-shirt. Shave, put on deodorant. Be nice.

Women -- your man does not want any of the items listed above. No candy, no boxers or socks with hearts on them. he does not want a coffee mug. He does not want a cute stuffed animal. Never buy matching shirts. What your man wants is a steak, a beer and some sex. Trust me on this. He is willing to skip the beer and steak if necessary. He only cares about getting a card if you include a hand written coupon for a blowjob, a backrub, and/or a free night of gettin' laid without complaints from you. The old Hoosierboy would not lead down the wrong path. Your man just wants to get laid. To your guy, that is romance.

Men -- turn on the charm. Spend a few bucks.

Women -- give up the nookie. It won't kill you to be a little sexy.

Pygmy Sex, with pictures

Good Morning blog world. I arrived home last night from a whirlwind trip to sunny but cold Florida. I attended the worlds most boring trade show. Fortunately I only had to spend one day at the booth. I flew out of snowy Indy on Wednesday morning and was back home Thursday night. I know, I missed you too.

I bet you did not know that rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over 1 million descendants.

Shakin' the bush here boss

There is one thing to be said about getting up at 5:00 am, by 9:00 you have done a bunch of work -- none interrupted by the f-ing phone.

The snow has tapered off a little. It is probably a waste of time to shovel until it is done. I hate my driveway not cleared.

The Creator is shaking his giant snowglobe today

Good morning blog world. I hope this Tuesday finds you warm and dry. We are getting another dose of snow. We have been told to expect 6-8 inches by Wednesday morning. I have a flight out to points south in the morning at 6:00 am, so I hope the snow ends early this evening. I am not looking forward to shoveling the drive and cleaning off the car at 3:00 or 3:30 in the morning to get to the airport.

Now we go to an imaginary news conference:

What? yes, you in the back with hand up. Umm hmmm, yep, OK, The car is in the driveway because the wife finally found a car. You might remember I wrecked her car nearly a month ago. She is happy, I am happy, and I feel we made a good deal (at least a fair deal). Yes, I am aware that if you think you got a good deal, then you probably got cheated.

I have a ton of work to do today. School is closed, so the wife is home and so is the boy. They will be bugging me later, so I better get after it while I can.

That is why they play the game

Here are a few random thoughts on the Superbowl:


Why in the world would Jay Leno do a spot advertising for David Letterman, and why would NBC allow it?

For the most part I thought the commercials were rather lame.

Great ballsy move by the Saints to start the second half with an onside kick. That was the difference in the game. How can Mr. Kendra not scoop up that ball? It was kicked right to him.

I am not sure if Reggie Wayne was injured worse than we thought, but he did not have a great game.

Just before the big interception I told my friend "Manning is going to hit Wayne on a skinny post right here for a big gain." If I knew what was coming, the Saints would to. I understand that it is Manning's job to not get hurt, but he could have made a tackle on that interception -- it is the Super Bowl, man. Compare the hustle of Wayne to chase Porter after the interception to the reaction of Garcon in a similar situation a few weeks ago. Garcon chases after Ed Reed and knocks the ball loose. Wayne jogs a few steps after the defender. Again -- it is the Super Bowl.

The Colts defense made a great goal line stand in the 2nd quarter. The offense came out and ran the ball. With a crucial third and one, they try to run right up the middle with the THIRD string running back. WTF?

there were some huge dropped passes for the Colts. They would have been better off to go for it on that fourth and long or punt rather than try to kick a field goal clearly outside of the aging Matt Stover's leg.

In the end, the Saints played better and deserved to win.

I have nothing. In fact I am not sure I have the desire to do this any more.

Friday Fantasies

The snow team scare team is in high gear this morning as a winter storm is expected today/tonight. We are told we should expect a Kunta Kinte of snow -- a half a foot. So far it is just rain/sleet. The news has been building hype since about Tuesday. I bet every gallon of milk and loaf of bread is gone from the store.

I just poured a big ol' glass of grape juice. There is a floater in it. Could it be a bit of dried detergent from the dishwasher? perhaps it is a bit of grape guts that sneaked past the filter? I will drink it anyway. Live dangerously, I say.

If you are putting money on the Big Game, take the Saints and the points. I think the evil Colts pull out a victory. 28-26.

No Friday covers today. I am sure none of you care.

A cure for the common cold -- home remedies that work

Happy Hump day. I hope you are all feeling fine and productive today. I know I do. Too bad that feeling usually wears off by around 10:00 am. It is another typical overcast day here in God's favorite State. It looks like we are set to get a blast of snow Friday and Saturday. I hope not too much -- we have tickets to see The Blue Collar Comedy Tour Saturday night! I could sure use a laugh or two these days.

I am sitting on the edge of my seat to see what Pelosi, and Reid and The Obama have up their sleeve. Those Rat Bastard Leftists are up to something. There is no way they are going to slow the socialist train because some kid threw a few pennies and sticks on the tracks. Those fuckers are like rust -- they never sleep and they will continue to weaken the support structure of our economy at every chance.

The wife is home sick today. She is asleep right now. She started out Monday extremely hoarse (Yay!(relax it was a joke)) and developed a deep cough over the past two days. I offered chest massages, but she was not interested. She did not think pelvic massage would help either. I am not a doctor, and I do not play one on TV, but I do have some good ideas on medicine. I am confident some serious rubbing and poking would make at least one of us feel better. I know she does not feel well, 'cause she is sure irritable.

Maybe I will have more later. Maybe not. Check back often, I need the hits.

Groundhog Day

I had the weirdest dream last night. I dreamed I turned on the TV and the movie Groundhog Day was on every channel. I watched it over and over.

Boo hoo wahhh wahhh

Here it is Monday afternoon. You would think after pretty much mailing it in to the old blog last week I would be refreshed and recharged. You would also be wrong. You might think that the reason I am not posting my usual insightful, amusing and incredibly brilliant posts is that I am too busy studying up for Black History Month. Again, you would be completely in error. Does that make me a racist bigot, a veritable auxiliary member of the KKK, a redneck Nazi, a latent, modern Nathan Bedford Forrest? I like to think otherwise. Is it wrong to ask why MLK gets a Federal Holiday when Lincoln, and Washington have to share a day with far less notables like Buchanan and Carter? Did the words of Frederick Douglass or the midnight rescues of Harriett Tubman do any more set the slaves free than the blood and health of great great however many times grandpa Hoosierboy? Do we have a month to honor the anonymous farmers and store clerks that have given their service to the country to ensure we all are free -- white redneck history month?

Last week was a shitty week and I do not anticipate this week will get any better. Is there any form of life more despicable than a used car salesman? Does no one in that profession have any integrity? When I pointed this out to one such denizen this past weekend, he gave me a smirk to say get over it sucker. I pointed out that if I treated my customers in a similar manner I would soon have no customers. The rat asked what I sold and I said it was widgets. He scoffed, "Those are low dollar items". I asked him if he believed that it was OK to treat potential customers like shit if you are selling a high dollar item? I added BTW, I sold around $26,000,000 in widgets last year, how many dollars in sales did he have? Car shopping with the wife is every bit as painful as I anticipated.

I got my incentive/bonus/commission payout levels last week. If I increase sales at each and every customer by 50% this year, I will just make the minimum level for a payout. Since we enjoy 100% of the business at my top 6 customers (90% of my total sales)this should be no problem! And yes, I do thank God every day I have a job. But I would be a little less angry if they just said there will be no payouts this year. That is better than setting goals that are impossible.

Enough whining ( I hear you before you even type Big Dick). The sun is shining and it is a glorious day. In case you are not aware, there is a football game this weekend. I assume you are rooting for the Saints -- the city of New Orleans were devastated by a Hurricane and the city deserves the championship...