How Much More Are We Going To Take?

This is just the stuff going on right now.

John Boenher Exposes Some of the Trash Crammed into Waxman-Markey Cap & Trade Climate Bill HR2454



So much (again) for the transparency of having a bill posted for at least a week before it gets voted on. This crap sandwich was released at 3 AM on the day it was to be voted on...not only that...there was 300 pages of additional junk crammed in at the last second...and...some of the pages are blank pieces of paper, to be filled in later, AFTER the bill is passed.

Think your house is yours to sell when you want? You can put it on the market and negotiate a price with a buyer as to the fair price? Nope. You will have to have the gov't's permission to sell it.

You are going to have to pay for a inspection of your property to make see if your house is "Green" enough for their standards, and if it isn't, you have to make the improvements before they will let you sell it. No negotiating with the buyer to reduce your price to offset the "lack of greenness", you pay it out first. If someone has to lay out 10 or 15 thou on upgrading windows, electrical hookups for cars,or re-insulating the place up to their standards, the price of the house has just gone up 15 to 25 thou to get your investment back.

That's going to open up the market to first time buyers and the poor.

Politicians are just that...Politicians. They've never held a job in the real world and if they did at one time, they are so insulated from it now that they don't know what it's like to live on a budget.

"Hell! If taxes eat into my lifestyle, I know I'll get a raise next year!!! I'm going to vote myself one!"

Listen to this asshat from my late great state of California:



She is correct in saying that "Living within our means" means nothing...TO HER!

She lays it out during her speech. When gov't has money during good times, they borrow even more, then when times cycle to bad...they still spend more than they have. You little guys are just going to have to suck it up and pay more so we can continue to spend more, and she'll need that raise next year so it doesn't hurt her lifestyle.

The consolidation of gov't over the last few months has scared the hell out of me. I listen to Obama and the Dimicrats tell me that this the the road our forefathers would have wanted us to take to ensure that everyone gets the benifit of living in this wonderful country, but they haven't read history.

[exerts from: Would the Founders Remake America?
by Brion McClanahan

Obama sez:

“At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding documents….Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”

For his being a "Constitutional Scholar", methinks he slept through the classes.

William Davie of North Carolina, a Revolutionary War hero, member of the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 and proponent of the Constitution

“If there were any seeds in this Constitution which might, one day, produce a consolidation, it would, sir, with me, be an insuperable objection, I am so perfectly convinced that so extensive a country as this can never be managed by one consolidated government.”

Connecticut native and patriot Oliver Wolcott:

“Mankind may become corrupt, and give up the cause of freedom; but I believe that love of liberty which prevails among the people of this country will prevent such a direful calamity.”

Alexander Hamilton:

“Sir, can it be supposed that the state will become the oppressors of the people? Will they combine to destroy the liberties and happiness of their fellow citizens, for the sole purpose of involving themselves in ruin? God forbid! The idea, sir, is shocking. It outrages every feeling of humanity, and every dictate of common sense.”

Patrick Henry:

“Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!”

That we are so rapidly giving up our individual rights and allowing the nanny state to dictate what is ours and what is the states has made me fear that my son may only be able to tell his children what America once was and stood for.

Odds 'N' Ends

Chris is in Korea. He landed just after midnight my time (4:00 pm there).

The kid has spent 36+ hours in airports or on a plane. He had to fly all the way back to Dothan, Al. to meet up with the Army and he figured that he'd just sleep at the terminal, no such luck. They turn out the lights and lock the doors there, so he had to get a cab and rent a motel room to get about 4 hours of sleep.

The good thing about the trip back to Alabama was when the ticket agent at Bob Hope Airport found out he was military, he made sure Chris got the Emergency Exit seat on all three legs of the flight which gave him that little extra room for his 6'3" length.

I've got to go to the post office now and buy combination's of stamps that add up to $0.95, the cost of 1st class mail to S. Korea.

---------------------------

I've added a widget to the sidebar to help me with the time difference to Korea.

---------------------------

Did you notice that Micheal Jackson was on the cover of both Newsweek and Time this week? How am I suppose to know who my President is?

Andy Levy (Redeye)

---------------------

Top 10 Best States for Personal Freedom
by Human Events

Compiled by the Mercatus Center, a nonprofit public policy research center affiliated with George Mason University, using a wide swath of comparative data to determine personal freedoms, including alcohol and drug laws, asset-forfeiture rules, and education regulations.

1. Alaska

2. Maine

3. New Mexico

4. Arkansas

5. Texas [c'mon Texas whatcha doing down at #5?]

6. Missouri

7. Oregon [Now this one surprises me, must be weighted by the drug laws.]

8. Idaho

9. Virginia

10. Wyoming

Comments are mine.

He's Gone

I dropped the boy off at Bob Hope Airport (Burbank) at 0500 this morning. He's off to Dothan Al (via Salt Lake City and Atlanta) to report back in. He'll get to sleep in the terminal all night before heading to Korea.

I won't be seeing him until May, and even then I doubt I'll see him much as he's coming home for his best friends wedding on a fly in, fly out schedule.

Being he crosses the Date line, it takes three days to get home and back.

I can't explain how good it was to have him home. I'd been here on my own for 6 months and having someone come in and move things was odd. Mainly because we were on opposite schedules.

We did get in a baseball game last week and I took him to his favorite Steak House (Damon's) Friday night, along with a couple of hours of sitting around and just talking. He won't have a phone in Korea, so I'm going to have to crank up the word possessor again and start writing until he gets a computer and internet hookup.

Chris told me the other day that the U.S. is moving their forward bases farther south. I'm not sure what to think about that. My interpretation is that they want a longer time to react to an incursion, and that doesn't make me happy.

Dumbass With A Gun

How many things are wrong with this picture?
(borrowed from the Rott)



The right to keep and bear arms may be in the Constitution, but good G-d Almighty!

I can only assume that when his partner fired it didn't startle him and he pulled his fucking trigger.

* He's wearing an ATF hat (I hope he got it on Ebay)

* He's, like, pointing a gun to his head.

* Finger inside trigger guard...You never, never put your finger inside that space unless your 99% sure you are going to fire the gun.

And just to prove that there are Dumbass guys that even if you take guns away from them will still try to find a way to keep themselves from procreating.

Whoops

Missed one day of blogging because I was just too tired after work.

Missed the next day because I screwed up on paying the damn cable bill, they shut down my internet and was too tired to deal with it after work.

Today is a Friday for me, so I figured I'd deal with it. Igot caught up on the bill and while getting my internet connection back running, I got to talk to a very nice tech guy. My computer is over 7 years old and showing it's age...it's slooowwww. While waiting for my computer to reboot and get the browser going we had a lot of time to chat. Being he had asked me what state I was from at the beginning of our conversation, I asked where he was. He was in Panama.

He was pleasant, polite, knowledgeable, very patient and spoke English with only a hint of accent. I had to go though this same scenario about a year ago and it was not a pleasant experience. That tech was nice enough, but couldn't speak English worth a damn. On top of going through internet withdrawal syndrome and being PO'd at myself for missing the damn bill, I was dealing with a guy that couldn't explain how to correct the problem.

Either Charter is hiring better people, or I just had the luck of a bad draw last time. I just can't trust cable companies since my experience back in '85 when
Sammons Cable insisted I owed them $300 and I showed them all the bills that said that actually they owed me $75 credit. They threatened to sue me, ...then went out of business...I still have their converter box that they insisted I bring into their office sitting in my garage.

Senator....Maam...Bitch

SENATOR Boxer, because she's worked so hard driving California into bankruptcy...Actually she hasn't done a damn thing to drive us into bankruptcy escept vote for her compatriots bills. All her bills have to do with "honoring" some stupid group or event that happened long ago. The "lady" is a cipher.

But she's worked so hard to earn the title of SENATOR and those beneath her don't recognize what a Grand Dame she is.

She's been "employed" by the people of California for 16 years, but has no idea of protocol, most likely because it didn't involve her...or she's just one of those feminazi bitches that will find fault with anything that you say because you have the ulterior motive of dissing her.



This is highlighted by the end of the segment where "Liz" is sooooo upset that someone dared to use a friendly address and she has to take 19 Emails to push her point that she would preferred to be addressed as "Elizabeth".

Hell, I hate to be called "Scottie", but it doesn't grind my gears, and by pointing it out that it annoys me, it just give someone a button to push when they get desperate. (I only admit this because I'm way beyond that, so you can try....then I'll walk away and have another beer and know you were desperate for a rebuttal...and I won.

Times Change

When I was a lad (8 to 16) my parents would send me "up north" to Aunt Lee and Uncle Curt's place in Bayside, Ca.. Bayside was a little town about half way between Eureka and Arcata. This was rural country. I mean rural. People living on a few acres of land raising vegetables, corn, potatoes and berries. There were barns to play in and a "crick" running through the back yard (if you could brave the stinging nettles to get to it).

There were pumps to bring the water up from the crick and they burned their trash in a 55 gallon drum in the back yard. There were no street lights and nobody wanted them.

You had to cross the neighbors sheep pasture to go hiking in the Redwoods across the street.

Being a "city boy" this was my training ground for doing real chores. I could sleep in as late as I wanted, but I was always given something to do the next day. Mow the back section, weed the corn, paint the fence, roto-till the bean patch. When my project was done, I was free to go off on my own (Just remember, suppers at 4:30 and if your more than 15 minutes late...).

At that time, I thought most of the folk up there were ancient, you know in the 40's to 60's, but I loved talking to these "old farts", they were real people, They had jobs, plus they worked their little bit of land because they liked doing it, or they were retired and loved keeping busy. My Uncle Curt was around 70 when I stared going up there, had gone through 2 heart attacks and was still up at dawn (literally) and doing something around the place until Aunt Lee got breakfast cooked.

The reason I'm telling you about this childhood experience is last night I read an article that made me realize that this bit of heaven probably doesn't exist anymore.

Calif. towns challenge feds on military recruiting

Two towns nestled in the rugged coastline and the liberal politics of Northern California have fought the federal government by banning the U.S. military from recruiting minors within their city limits.

Arcata — a town known for taking a stand against the USA Patriot Act and repeatedly passing symbolic measures to impeach President George W. Bush — approved in November an ordinance that would limit Armed Forces recruiters' ability to contact people under 18. And so did nearby Eureka, the Humboldt County seat.

My G-d, the people I knew living there 40 years ago would die all over again if they knew what that area has become.

"We fully expected a challenge, and we got it," said David Meserve, 60, a builder of environmentally friendly homes and former Arcata City Council member who spearheaded the measure. "But more importantly, people are becoming aware there is a problem — and the problem is the recruiting of minors."

The problem is...they don't recruit minors. They offer them a job opportunity to consider when they become adults.

"You will find that establishing trust and credibility with students, even seventh- and eighth-graders, can positively impact your high school and post-secondary school recruiting effort," reads The Recruiter Handbook, published in 2008 by the United States Army Recruiting Command.

The push to reach the young makes sense. A 2007 Department of Defense study found that at 16 years old, more than 25 percent of students considered joining the Armed Forces. By the time they were 21, only 15 percent considered joining.

Gee, going into the Army when you're 16 and getting to play with guns, tanks and other things that go boom sounds great...but a most get older, they realize there are other opportunities available and maybe they don't want to join the military.

My boy was Army from when he was around 8 or 9. Not through my pushing...and certainly not through his Mother's. He cut his hair short, wore camo and joined AFJROTC all on his own. I expected him to just enlist when he graduated, but he waited until he was 20.

So all those talks with recruiters, his paramilitary classes and his natural inclination to join where weighed out. I didn't know he had enlisted until the deal was done.

Meserve said he took up the fight one morning while sitting in a coffee shop and overhearing a National Guard recruiter giving three high school girls a hard sell. The sharply dressed young man bought them fancy coffee drinks and pitched the career opportunities, the scholarships, the camaraderie, while assuring them there was virtually no chance they would end up in a war zone, Meserve said.

This was in 2005, when members of the National Guard were regularly being sent to Iraq, he said.

"Hard Sell", I would guess that would be talking about all the positive aspects of the job. Like "We'll start you out mopping and cleaning, but soon you'll be on the fryer, then, you'll be running the grill and if you develop people skills working the register it's just a small step to Manager. From there you learn the knowledge to open your own franchise and then...Whoa...the money just rolls in".

The lawyer argues the ordinances prevent abuses without interfering with the federal government's ability to fill the ranks of the military. Anyone, independent of age, can still reach out to the military, he said, and recruiters are free to contact adults.

"If they don't contact minors, they can still meet their goals," Yamauchi said. "We believe there are limits to the federal power to recruit children."

They want to make this ordinance legal? Write it so that NO COMPANY can contact minors for jobs. That means no advertising a position unless specifically stated that those under 18 need their parents written permission to apply for the job.

My son chose to join the Army. He had my full support to do so, when he finished High School, and he had his Mom that was dead set against it. He waited until he was sure that he was doing what he wanted in his own time, in spite of the years of "hard sell" by his recruiters.

I can't say it enough. I'm damn proud of him!

He's going to Korea at the end of the month and it scares the hell out of me. It's a tossup whether Korea or the Middle East is the most dangerous place to be right now, but my son is going to be in Korea, so that makes it the most dangerous to me.

To all those anti-military communist assholes that have taken over a part of the country I use to love, FU!!

LAKERS: Congratulations!!!

The Los Angeles Lakers won their 15th Championship title and being I'm SoCal born and raised, I love my Lakers (and Dodgers, and Kings, and still love the Raiders...sorry Clippers and Rams).

There will be no victory parade:

...such a celebration could cost the city $1 million or more at a time when city leaders, faced with a deep budget deficit, were contemplating worker layoffs and cuts in services.

"We can't afford to cover the costs," City Councilwoman Jan Perry told the Los Angeles Times. "How could we make a decision about people's jobs and then sponsor the parade?"

Barbara Maynard, a spokeswoman for the city's employee unions, agreed, telling the paper: "We do not believe its appropriate in this economic climate for taxpayers to be funding a parade."

Oops...never mind, I just this minute heard the parade is on. Guess the city isn't as broke as they were telling us. Either that or somehow the parade can be added to the next stimulus bill somehow.

Of course living here in Los Angeles, we just can't let a good chance to riot be wasted.

LOS ANGELES — Hundreds celebrated in the streets outside Staples Center after the Los Angeles Lakers' NBA title win Sunday night, with some revelers damaging police cruisers, throwing rocks and bottles at officers and setting bonfires in the street, authorities said.

About 25 people were arrested, most part of a rowdy crowd that split off on to surrounding streets after police declared the gathering an unlawful assembly, officer Karen Rayner said.

I'm sure the owner of this car is really celebrating the Laker win today:



I was at work last night about 1/2 mile from Staples Center when the game finished. I heard LOTS of sirens and horns honking, but the crap was kept in a small area.

When I left for work, my son asked if I was going to take protection? I decided no, the games in Florida, how insane can people get here?

Next L.A. championship...I will reconsider.

Houston Gives Pelousy A Big Welcome

Last Friday, my states contribution to the downfall of the U.S., Nancy Pelosi visited Houston, Texas to deliver a speech to the Progressive Forum on health care, the war in Afghanistan, energy -- and her autobiography (and puff up her war chest...and betcha she used her gov't funded jet to get there).

The good news was there was some patriotic dissent there to let her know that there is a reason her poll numbers suck.



If only my fellow Californians could get this worked up about her idiocy and vote her butt out.

Flag Day

Mines up! Is yours?



G-d bless and protect this country and allow us to continue to be that shining city on the hill for those who do not enjoy the benefits that too many of us here take for granted.

We Have Our Own Rules

If it didn't turn my stomach, I'd think it was funny.

Remember the hue and cry that went up when President Bush fired some U.S. attorneys in 2006? Oh, the left was beside itself about how eeeevil it was that Bush was to fire so many U.S. Attorneys… even though he had the authority to do so. Charges that the firings were made for “political reasons” were thrown about and Congressional Democrats clamored for new laws and the head of Bush’s Attorney General on a pike.

The hue and cry that went up about the President expecting lawyers of his administration to lean towards his view. What to do to make sure this doesn't happen again...Ah yes, Pass a law.

Inspectors General are part of every federal department. They are given the responsibility of independently investigating allegations of waste, fraud, and corruption in the government, without fear of interference by political appointees or the White House. Last year Congress passed the Inspectors General Reform Act, which added new protections for IGs, including a measure requiring the president to give Congress 30 days prior notice before dismissing an IG. The president must also give Congress an explanation of why the action is needed.

Who, pray tell, was one of the Senators to sign this bill?

Then-Sen. Barack Obama was one of the co-sponsors of the Act.

Once again we find what must be a then Senator and now President sponsoring bills where he doesn't know what's in them, but hey, he got his name on an important bill that would stop corruption of an independent agency.

Well, last night, clearly for political reasons, Barack Obama tried to fire AmeriCorps inspector general, Gerald Walpin. Not only is it for strictly political reasons (Short take: “the AmeriCorps IG accuses prominent Obama supporter of misusing AmeriCorps grant money. Prominent Obama supporter has to pay back more than $400,000 of that grant money. Obama fires AmeriCorps IG.”) but Obama does not have the authority to summarily dismiss an IG as he tried to do last night.

Well, the IG has 30 days to plead his case to stay on, right?

Last night, Obama’s office sent a terse note to IG Walpin stating that he had one hour to resign or he’d be fired. Walpin alerted Congress and asked what he should do because he knew that his position wasn’t solely at the discretion of the president. He knew that he answered to both the president and Congress.

Let's sit back and watch this unfold. A socialist president with a socialist controlled congress, bet the interpretation of what 30 days really means comes into play. Perhaps 30 days before they appoint another IG to handle this...or not.

And The Winner Is...

LC Forger from the Rott.

Yesterday I did a shout out here and on a open thread at AIR for anyone who could figure out what kind of plane was in a picture given to my kid.

Turned out to be a B-19, the forerunner to all long range heavy bombers. Only one was built and it was scrapped in June of 1949.

Some more pics and a quick history of the plane here.

And a more detailed history here.

Thanks to all for playing!

Looking For Some Help

All you military buffs that drop by here, I could use some assistance.

My son has always been in love with military stuff, particularly aircraft. He can name just about any plane flown by this U.S....but this one.

The picture was given to him by a friend that found it in a relatives garage for a welcome home present. We know it's a bomber, a big bomber, but that's about all.

It's a big photo, so I had to chop it into two pieces to scan it (No!, I didn't cut it up.)

First the main fuselage:



And the tail section:



If you click on the pictures, they should biggify.

Thanks in advance for any info.

"Saved Or Created"

I was wondering how long this would be allowed to go on?

From "The Media Fall for Phony 'Jobs' Claims"
By WILLIAM MCGURN

"Saved or created" has become the signature phrase for Barack Obama as he describes what his stimulus is doing for American jobs. His latest invocation came yesterday, when the president declared that the stimulus had already saved or created at least 150,000 American jobs -- and announced he was ramping up some of the stimulus spending so he could "save or create" an additional 600,000 jobs this summer. These numbers come in the context of an earlier Obama promise that his recovery plan will "save or create three to four million jobs over the next two years."

Ever since his trip to the Caterpillar Factory and his promise that his Stimulus Package would save the threatened jobs there, only to have the President of Caterpillar come out immediately after the speech and say the jobs were gone regardless, I haven't believed what Obambi says about the economy.

Well, being they got laid off, if they do get rehired sometime in the future maybe they can count as "created" jobs.

Of course, the inability to measure Mr. Obama's jobs formula is part of its attraction. Never mind that no one -- not the Labor Department, not the Treasury, not the Bureau of Labor Statistics -- actually measures "jobs saved." As the New York Times delicately reports, Mr. Obama's jobs claims are "based on macroeconomic estimates, not an actual counting of jobs." Nice work if you can get away with it.

I'm curious if they are using the same guys to write the program to get this "Saved or Created" statisticB.S. that the Goreacle use to get his Global WarmingClimate Change B.S.? Nothing like made up, unprovable numbers to back up your argument.

"The expression 'create or save,' which has been used regularly by the President and his economic team, is an act of political genius," writes Mr. Mankiw. "You can measure how many jobs are created between two points in time. But there is no way to measure how many jobs are saved. Even if things get much, much worse, the President can say that there would have been 4 million fewer jobs without the stimulus."

It's a "When did you stop beating your wife?" formula. You've got the answer you want no matter the answer.

Now, something's wrong when the president invokes a formula that makes it impossible for him to be wrong and it goes largely unchallenged. It's true that almost any government spending will create some jobs and save others. But as Milton Friedman once pointed out, that doesn't tell you much: The government, after all, can create jobs by hiring people to dig holes and fill them in.

The "Jobs Created" part is what really bothers me. I know that we've got 21 new "czars" with attendant staff and support that are jobs created, but who pays the salaries of these new employees?

Lucky us! We get taxed more to pay some more SOB's in Washington to tell us what else we are going to have sacrifice in our life so they can receive their bennies.

But we must remember that things aren't as bad as we think, just like back in in 2003 things weren't as good as we thought.

Music Monday

I've had a few songs running through my head the last week or so, so to purge them I figured I post 'em.

First one I got from the Imperial Tech Wizard at the Rott, DJ's site. It's an amazing A Capella rendition of Toto's Africa.

(I know it doesn't fit right, but big group you need the big screen)



This next one takes me back to 1979 to one of those "I wonder what my life would have been like if...?" moments.



The above always brings up the opposite side of a relationship.



This last one is one of those that just stick with you. The juxtaposition of acoustic and rap just amuses me. It gets in my head and stays.

He's Home...Or He Was Home

Chris landed at LAX right on time yesterday and I got to see him for about an hour (including the drive home)before he was off. First to the young couple next door. He's know Alexa his whole life and they're only about 6 years age difference. It really didn't matter, with getting his car legal, working that night then staying up until his flight got in, I was up for over 30 hours. That allowed me 4 hours of sleep before going back to work. When I got up, he was gone for his camping trip (home again Tuesday morning).

His tale of his trip home from Ft. Rucker confirmed my belief that the people of this country really do appreciate those who are serving. Of course he traveled in his ACU's and in Montgomery, they stopped at a 7-11 to get some snacks and a lady asked them where they were heading, she left, then came back inside and insisted on paying for anything he and his friends were getting..."No, Thank you ma'am, it's not necessary" was not an acceptable answer.

On the cross country flight, just before leaving the gate, the flight attendant moved him up to First Class. (Lucky little sh*t)

The thing that stunned him the most was while he was waiting for his gear to hit the carousel at LAX some guy came over and shook his hand and thanked him for serving. Chris was about dumbstruck. He told me that almost anywhere else in the country it wouldn't have phased him, he'd appreciate it, but in Los Angeles, he expected to be ignored, if not shunned.

He's damn proud of his Warriors patch:



and his 2nd Aviation Crest:



and I'm damn proud of him.

Home Tomorrow

Just talked to the boy. He's about 1/2 hour away from Montgomery Regional Airport where he'll get to spend the night sleeping on the floor. No USO's in Alabama. He'll hit the tarmac at LAX at 10:30 tomorrow morning which means I get to hang around work for 3 hours after my shift being work is 1/2 way to LAX from my house.

I spent the last two days getting his car insured, registered and smogged. Thank G-d for AAA. Chris should have handled this before he left, but didn't, so dear old Dad got to deal with it. I forged his signature so many times I can sign his name better than he can.

I'll only get to see him for about 2 hours because he's coming home dropping off his gear, loading up what he wants and is taking off for 3 days of camping with one of his buddies.

He got totally screwed on the Home Town Recruiter, his commander wouldn't let anyone tie their leave before deployment to an HTR, BUT... you can only do HTR right after boot and training.

Also, for reasons know only to the Army, he has to fly back to Alabama (on his dime) at end of leave to fly to Korea. Even though the plane flies from Alabama to LAX then to Korea.

Ah well, he'll be home for ten days, that's something.