And I Don't Blame Them

The cactus in the photo at right planted along the Arizona border with California gives a pretty good indication of the reaction of that state to the boycott directed at them by the Los Angeles city council over the new immigration law. However, what is the opinion of folks in California? If a Los Angeles Times poll showed overwhelming support for the boycott, do you not think this would be front page news? Well, the results were overwhelming...97.6% of the respondents to this L.A. Times poll were opposed to the boycott of Arizona. The poll question: "Was the L.A. City Council right to pass a boycott of Arizona?" Here are the results:

Yes. Arizona needs to feel the consequences of enacting a bad law. 2.1% (378 votes)

Yes, though the boycott should be more of a symbolic gesture than an official measure. 0.4% (64 votes)

No, but only because doing so is probably illegal and not in L.A.'s interest. 4.2% (771 votes)

No. The city should mind its own business. 93.4% (17,030 votes)


Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/p-j-gladnick/2010/05/14/la-times-downplays-overwhelming-result-own-online-poll-arizona-boycott#ixzz0o1cUeZFt

For my part, My son and I went to Phoenix for 3 days last week and took in a D'backs/
Dodger game and purchased food and gas.

While I was out there, I talked to some people and they are pissed that L.A. is telling them that they have no right to deal with a very bad and scary problem. I wish I had the results of this poll while I was there so I could point out it's just the liberal elitist's in government that are pushing the asinine boycott.

Some Fun

For The Ones daily speech here's a little game to play to keep from falling asleep. the rules are simple:

Rules for Bullshit Bingo:
1. Before Barrack Obama’s next televised speech, print your “Bullshit Bingo”
2. Check off the appropriate block when you hear one of those words/phrases.
3. When you get five blocks horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, stand up and shout “BULLSHIT!”



Enjoy!

Truth In Advertising

A Quote

"We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force."— Ayn Rand

I have got to read this book!!!

Leaving On A Jet Plane

Instead of not posting because of laziness or nothing to write about, I'll most likely have an excuse for disappearing for the next five days. I'm heading north to the beautiful city of Beaverton, Or. to see my Mom and my brother.

Mom's not doing great, she's bedridden and the breathing problem she's had for the last 4 or 5 years has gotten real bad. She's in her mid eighties, so I figured I better get my butt up there. She's under hospice care with my brother taking care of her and a visiting nurse coming by to handle the hard stuff. NO MORE HOSPITALS!!!! by her orders.

My brother is suppose to be getting an internet connection by the time I get up there and I'm going to introduce him to the wonderful world of the net. He and my son are best friends and it will allow him to talk to Chris in Korea for free, so that was the selling point.

I know, it seems odd trying to get someone 50 years old to see the benefits of the net, but he thought he was off the grid until I told him about Spokeo.com. Most of the info is wrong, but mine was close enough to request they pull it off. (Go there and type in your name and see what data they have mined and assumptions made.)

Being this is a last minute trip the cost was a little steep, but I used a lot of the credit card miles I've racked up and being all they had left was first class it cost me $100 more, but it still works out a little less than a regular ticket. Now when I get home I'm going to have to go on a spending spree to build my miles up again so I can go to the RottFest in Texas this June.

Where There Is A Will....

There is a way.

Clueless

Back to the 50's?

I just turned 56 yesterday. I don't want to go back to the 50's. I don't really remember much about it except having fun playing those now forbidden games of dodge ball, tag, musical chairs at school, and entertaining ourselves with playing war, and throwing dirt clod at each other.

I don't what to go back to the '60's either. Fun times. The Beatles showed up along with all those entertaining hippies, but by the end of the decade I was seeing the cracks between what the "Free Love" generation idealized and what happens in the real world.

The '70's, still mostly a fun time for me. I really, really fell in love for the first time...I actually got engaged, but we grew apart (bummer), but I started working regular jobs (in hospitals), making money and being able to support myself. Made a lot of dumb decisions that taught me about how life works. All the years of my Dad telling me that applying myself would reap benefits started to sink in, although America had hit a low. The Carter years of "don't hope for better because we're past our prime".

The '80's, I hit my prime I had a job that I liked, met a good woman and got married, bought a house, had what turned out to be a great kid, and the country rebounded under Reagan.

'90's...My life was stable, but things stared to change. Job that I liked, but my good woman started to phase herself out of the picture. The owner of my company, and best friend, died and the company was bought by a bunch of yahoo's that didn't understand the oil industry.

'00's, new job at a underfunded company, my wife and I separated, my boy grew up and joined the Army and left the nest.

'10's, we'll see, but it's looking ugly.

The reason for this?

I keep being told that Conservatives want to go back to a period they idealize. I don't! I've lived through five decades and some were good and some sucked, but I don't want to live them again or live them over and over. I love the advancements that have been made in my lifetime, however, I see the pitfall we are leaving to the future generations.

I want my grandchildren to enjoy these advancements, plus more, but with the debt we have already foisted on our children and with the shift to government directing where spending will go, My dreams that my grandchildren will have a better life than me is now just that, a dream.

As of today, I, my wife, and my son each owe $41,500 just to pay off the incurred debt. Ever run up a credit card debt and work to pay it off? It took me a long time to pay off an amount a hell of a lot less than $40K! And that was after I stopped spending. The government just keeps piling additional debt on us and telling us as soon as they can, they promise to stop spending and will pay off the debt....really!!! Any year now.

I am angry! I live on the front lines of what this country is turning to. ( A long read, but worth it) We are turning this country into a system where there are more bureaucrats and government workers than there are people actually producing something besides rules and regulations that they will tax or fine me with.

My Poor, Poor State

I really do like living in California. It's a beautiful place and I've lived here my whole life, so even living in L.A. with it's overcrowding doesn't bother me too much, it's normal for me. However the politics and government of the state/county/city has me wanting to escape at the first opportunity.

Obamacare Passed

NOTE: I wrote this two days ago, right after the vote to enact this POS and it took me two days to clean out all the really bad language.

To my son and my future grandchildren, I'm sorry.

My generation has saddled you with a bill that can never be paid.

Analysis: Health care's political lift uncertain

WASHINGTON – The initial blush of President Barack Obama's health care triumph immediately gives way to a sober political reality — he must sell the landmark legislation to an angry and unpredictable electorate, still reeling from the recession.

Voters may not buy it.

"angry and unpredictable electorate"...Hell yes we're angry. 60% of the people didn't want this bill to pass, but the congresscritters know better than us what we need. Unpredictable? I predict that us stoopids are going to wreak retribution on those that jammed this POS on us.

"We proved that this government — a government of the people and by the people — still works for the people," the president said late Sunday, beginning his sales pitch from the White House one hour after Congress passed the sweeping measure.

So sayeth "the one", they are working for the people, even though the people sayeth "NO!!"

Voters are furious. They hate Washington. They also detest incumbents. They're concerned most about the economy. And unemployment that's hovering near 10 percent. They're also split over whether Obama's health plan is good for a nation with enormous budget deficits and climbing debt.

How those variables play out is anyone's guess.

My guess/hope will be that these asshats get voted out of office at the first opportunity. With unemployment high and no new jobs (except gov't jobs, 16,000 new IRS agents to make sure you pay for Oabamacare). Oh, I get it, jobs created, but who pays the salaries of these IRS workers...the taxpayer, so we'll have to pony up more to pay for these new jobs that create nothing.

"It will end up being the smart thing to do politically because I believe that good policy is good politics," the president said Saturday at the Capitol.

The "smart thing to do politically", he said. Damn straight. Anytime you can give someone something for nothing, you've got a guaranteed vote in the next election.

Ahead of the vote, a Gallup poll showed more Americans believe the measure will make things worse rather than better for the country as a whole and for them personally. And most polls show most people don't like the plan although some surveys showed Americans giving high marks to individual elements.

The hell with the people and what they think. They actually bought into the idea that their elected Representatives where there to represent them. Most American's know that there are needed adjustments to health care coverage, but we also can figure out that putting more people into the system (a lot of them unemployed, be able to cover everything and we will save money, just isn't going to work out the way they are telling us.

Throughout the yearlong debate, the GOP derided the bill as "socialized medicine" and warned that it would be devastating. But Republicans may find themselves looking sheepish given that the status quo won't change for most people for years.

The only thing that changes right off is that our taxes go up. We pay for this for 5 years before the benefits kick in.

Got the word today That this is most likely force the owner of my company to implement a copay on our insurance premiums. Even with all the troubles our company has gone through, he still carried 100% of the cost, Medical, Dental and Vision, but he said this is straw that breaks the camels back. Thank you pResident Obama, you just reduced my income by $3,600 per year.

Is The Delta Smelt Saved Already?

Remember this from way, way back...8 months ago?

California's Man-Made Drought
The green war against San Joaquin Valley farmers.

California has a new endangered species on its hands in the San Joaquin Valley—farmers. Thanks to environmental regulations designed to protect the likes of the three-inch long delta smelt, one of America's premier agricultural regions is suffering in a drought made worse by federal regulations.

The state's water emergency is unfolding thanks to the latest mishandling of the Endangered Species Act. Last December, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued what is known as a "biological opinion" imposing water reductions on the San Joaquin Valley and environs to safeguard the federally protected hypomesus transpacificus, a.k.a., the delta smelt. As a result, tens of billions of gallons of water from mountains east and north of Sacramento have been channelled away from farmers and into the ocean, leaving hundreds of thousands of acres of arable land fallow or scorched.

For this, Californians can thank the usual environmental suspects, er, lawyers. Last year's government ruling was the result of a 2006 lawsuit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council and other outfits objecting to increased water pumping in the smelt vicinity. In June, things got even dustier when the National Marine Fisheries Service concluded that local salmon and steelhead also needed to be defended from the valley's water pumps. Those additional restrictions will begin to effect pumping operations next year.

The result has already been devastating for the state's farm economy. In the inland areas affected by the court-ordered water restrictions, the jobless rate has hit 14.3%, with some farming towns like Mendota seeing unemployment numbers near 40%. Statewide, the rate reached 11.6% in July, higher than it has been in 30 years. In August, 50 mayors from the San Joaquin Valley signed a letter asking President Obama to observe the impact of the draconian water rules firsthand.

Who'da thunk that the species would be able to turn around so fast...or I guess the reality would be that the Dems are throwing the fish under the bus. Now the news is:


Buying Votes With Water

Politics: The water spigots are back on, at least temporarily, in California's Central Valley. Turned off to protect a tiny fish, they happen to be in the districts of two congressmen "undecided" on health care reform.

One could chalk it up to good fortune or just good constituent service. But in the middle of a contentious health care debate marked by Cornhusker Kickbacks and Louisiana Purchases, we may be forgiven if we find an announcement by the Department of the Interior regarding California's water supply a tad too coincidental.

On Tuesday, the Department of the Interior announced it was increasing water allocations for the Central Valley of California, a region that depends on these water allocations for local agriculture and jobs. The timing adds to our suspicions.

According to the Interior announcement, "Typically (the Bureau of) Reclamation would release the March allocation update around March 22nd, but moved up the announcement at the urging of Senators (Diane) Feinstein and (Barbara) Boxer, and Congressmen (Jim) Costa and (Dennis) Cardoza."

Blue Dog Democrats Costa, who represents California's 20th Congressional District (Fresno), and Cardoza, who represents the 18th (Stockton to Modesto), are both listed as "undecided" in the upcoming vote on health care reform, whether it be on the Senate bill itself or the "deem and pass" resolution known as the Slaughter rule, after Rules Committee Chairman Louise Slaughter.

What a coincidence!!! Two congresscritters with districts with unemployment rates running at 40% suddenly get the water they have been begging for the last year released just before the vote on Obamacare.

The 2-inch-long delta smelt, a fish destined for the Endangered Species list, plugs the drains releasing water to the farmlands. So to protect it, environmentalists filed lawsuits and the decision was made to restrict the water flow and safeguard the smelt, even if that meant turning some of America's best farmland into the functional equivalent of Death Valley.

So, until the Department of Interior releases it's next allocation update, the Delta Smelt is off the Endangered Species List, whereas Reps Costa and Cardoza were on the list and needed a little bakshish.

The Best Of Us

A soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.

"But You Did Nothing For 8 Years!!!"

Dropped by an old friends site today that I've neglected to visit for far too long. He had the proper response to the above meme:


When The Better Answer Is Still The WRONG Answer…

March 13, 2010 by Blackiswhite, Imperial Consigliere

Instead, the correct answer for every Republican faced with the OUTRAGE!!!!111!!! of leftist plant, member of the Fourth Estate, or Dhimicratic Lawmaker who employs the “YOU were in control for 8 years and did NOTHING!!!11!!!” meme is to look them in the eye, and say calmly, but firmly “You’re right. And do you know why? *pause, to make sure you have their attention* Because it isn’t for the FEDERAL government to address. The question that YOU should be asking yourself Mr. SEIU protester/Olbermann/Congressman Grayson is why you hate the Constitution, think you know better than the men who wrote it, or the wisdom of the voters and the legislators of your own home states? You keep trying to take power that doesn’t belong to you, and despite the Civil War’s net effect of shifting the balance of power between the Federal Government and the individual states, the states still are sovereign entities, and it is up to them to address this issue if the people of their states believe there is a compelling need to do so. Massachusetts showed the way on this, and yet you still persist in a nearly delusional belief that the Tenth Amendment no longer applies, and that we are empowered to forever expand special welfare for some and continue to call it “general welfare” for all. It’s time Congress confined itself to things within the grant of power specifically made to it in the Constitution.”

The More Things Change.....

Bathroom Books - My library of magazines and books that sit in the bathroom to occupy 10 minutes that would be wasted. One of them is "Let's Be Heard" by Bob Grant. The lead page to the third section has this:

WHOSE GOVERNMENT IS THIS, ANYWAY?

The career politicians and bureaucrats, along with the pundits of the left, are currently wailing and keening over what the depict as dangerous "antigovernment" sentiment at loose in the land, but they're way off base. Most people believe strongly in our form of government. We just don't like how it has been perverted and contorted out of shape over the past few decades.

Our dissatisfaction has two main, related causes.

First, government does too many things we don't want it to do. In fact, the general drift of government activism has been to do things that help small minorities and special interests at the expense of the majority.

Second, every time the government does anything, it ends up costing us too much money. The costs nearly always outweigh the benefits.

In other words, the people who pay for government are the people whom government seems least interested in serving. You could even say that we pay government to do things that damage us. But we're not angry at government--just at some of the bozos who run it.

This was written in 1996, but sounds like it could have been penned yesterday.

Where I'm At

Heard a song today and it hit home about what's going on in my life. For some reason I listened to the words and heard them all over again. This song came out back when I was in Jr. High so forgive me if the lyrics had kinda faded into the background.

No Flight For You, Achmed

Truly unbelievable!!

Airport body scanners violate Islamic law, Muslims say

"It is a violation of clear Islamic teachings that men or women be seen naked by other men and women," reads the fatwa issued Tuesday. "Islam highly emphasizes haya (modesty) and considers it part of faith. The Quran has commanded the believers, both men and women, to cover their private parts."

The decision could complicate efforts to intensify screening of potential terrorists who are Muslim. After the Christmas Day bombing attempt in Detroit by a Muslim suspect from Nigeria, some have called for the use of body scanners at airports to find explosives and other dangerous materials carried by terrorists. Some airports are now in the process of buying and using the body scanners, which show in graphic detail the outlines of a person's body.

But Muslim groups say the scanners go against their religion. One option offered to passengers who don't want to use the scanners would be a pat down by a security guard. The Muslim groups are urging members to undergo those instead.

The only reason they are installing these body scanners is BECAUSE of the Muslims. If their religion says they can't go through a scanner like the rest of us are forced to do, then the simple solution they don't fly.

Solves two problems at once. They don't have to risk their modesty and I don't have to worry about some towelhead blowing up the plane. Flying is a privilege, not a right, so they can take their fatwa and shove it.

I'm Baaack!!

All is well in my little piece of the world, I just took a break from blogging. The last month has been routine, but interesting.

I can now talk with my son over in Korea over the internet. The time difference is a bitch, but when I work graveyard it's something to do during that 1 to 3 AM lull. If I'm home, and up, we can use the webcams, though the video delay can be a little disconcerting if you pay too close attention.

It's good to be able to see and talk to him again.

My wife came through town a few weeks ago for a couple of days before heading back to Montana. It was good to see her again, but she's better off up there and I ain't going to live anyplace that has temperatures in the single digits. Not to mention there really isn't a thriving oil industry there.

Had to put my poor 19 year old cat "Belly" down. (I didn't name him) Cancer got him. Even though most of the time it was like we were two roosters in the same hen house, I miss the bastard.

Got another dog. A Pit/Lab mix. Sweet as hell, but she's 1 1/2 years old and full of energy. Shannon was loved by the family I got her from, but her training was a bit on the harsh side so she still cowers if I speak loudly to her. She'll fit in as she gets more comfortable. She's smart enough. Ralph, my other dog, was able to teach her the dog door in one day (Thank the gods)

Here is the best pic I've got of Shannon. If I crouch down to try to snap a shot, she's in my lap and all I get is a close-up of a dog nose. Got plenty of those.



Finally, Here's a pic of the mountains over my little valley from my drive home from freezing my butt of at work last night. 35 degrees at 3AM and for a SoCal boy that's more cold than I like.



That's how I like my snow...UP THERE. It's pretty to look at, but getting up and going out to dig my truck out before going to work...I'll pass.

The Rifleman

I finally break down and get a new machine and what do I get hooked on? A black and white TV show from the '50's.



I went to HULU to find a movie to watch but ran into "The Rifleman", a show I loved while I was growing up. Lucas McCain was my hero. In those 30 minute shows I found a man who was fair, honorable, worked hard for what he wanted and above all loved his son.

In all the years I have watched this program, I had never known how Lucas and Mark got to North Fork, now I do.

Did you know Sam Peckinpah wrote and directed the original screenplay and a lot of the first year episode?

And for you rifle purists, I know that the show is set in the early 1880's and the rifle was produced in 1892...I don't care!

There are 50 episodes on Hulu if you'd like to go back down that trail.

New Toy

I've been gone for a while due to getting a new computer. The last one lasted over 9 years, so I was due.

I am now involved in trying to get all the crap transferred from the old machine to the new one plus adding on some new toys.

I should be able to handle phone and video chat over this system, so I can really talk to my boy in Korea for free and if the video works, I can see what he looks like.

When You Think You've Heard It All

From boston.com

But as a progressive, I would sooner lay my child to rest than succumb to the belief that the use of a gun for self-defense is somehow not in itself a gun crime.

DOUG VAN GORDER
Quincy

This idiot is not only a "progressive", he's a teacher! And not only is he a teacher, he's experienced the horror of being a helpless victim.

I AM a math teacher at Brockton High School, the site of a school shooting earlier this month.

I was mugged once. I was scared, and just wanted the situation to be over, but the more I gave into the demands of the mugger, the more he'd demand, until I finally decided that the next step could/would be to get rid of the witness.

That is the one "no holds barred" fight I have ever had in my life...hell, it's the only fight I've ever had, but the one thing I learned from that experience was that the second I fought back, the mugger was the one conceding position.

Current school security procedures lock down school populations in the event of armed assault. Some advocate abandoning this practice as it holds everyone in place, allowing a shooter easily to find victims.

An alternative to lockdown is immediate exodus via announcement. Although this removes potential hostages and makes it nearly impossible for the shooter to acquire preselected targets, it unfairly rewards resourceful children who move to safety off-site more shrewdly and efficiently than others.

Schools should level playing fields, not intrinsically reward those more resourceful. A level barrel is fair to all fish. [emphasis: mine]

If one dies, we all die, that makes life "fair". He recognizes the danger of sitting and hoping the police show up in time, but is willing to sacrifice the many for the few.

This asshole has to be one of those that worked to forbid games like Dodge ball and Musical Chairs because someone loses, either through guile, speed or luck.

Let's go back to the quote I cited at the top:

But as a progressive, I would sooner lay my child to rest than succumb to the belief that the use of a gun for self-defense is somehow not in itself a gun crime.

First off, I going to guess that this asshat has no children of his own. God help you if you did anything to hurt my boy. I don't care if he is 21 years old and bigger, stronger and faster than me, my duty is to protect him and do everything in my power to see that he lives a long life.

That last line is the best:

than succumb to the belief that the use of a gun for self-defense is somehow not in itself a gun crime

Using a weapon to protect the innocent...is a crime itself. (I'll bet a months wages this spineless sheep voted for Obama.) This guy, DOUG VAN GORDER of Brockton High School in Quincy, Mass. is not going to be like Liviu Librescu at Virginia Tech, he's going to be hiding behind your children hoping HE doesn't get shot.