Ouch!

As a UC sports fan, as good as the football season was, the basketball season isn't.

So it especially hurts to see my Bearcats come in with an RPI rating of 196. But as much as that hurts, it's a lot less painful than Kentucky's 227.

Yikes

taxmanblog endorsements

Everyone's been waiting with baited breath for the taxmanblog endorsements for president.

Sorry to disappoint you but there will be no endorsements from this blog, at this time.

Unfortunately, all of the candidates with leadership qualities are liberals and what few conservatives are running have no leadership qualities.

Other notes....

I've had friends ask me why I haven't beat on Obama like I have Hillary or The Breck Girl. Well, if you've noticed, you haven't read any posts on the empty suits in my closet either and that's exactly the same feelings I have for Obama.

I'm really starting to dislike Mike Huckabee more and more each day. By January 15th, He'll rank right up there with the other bad smelling pols from the state.

For Mike and Mitt, I'm a practicing, hard core, Christian. But I don't care how close you are to God, I won't vote for you if that's all you can run on. Quit insulting my intelligence.

Rudy, I was in your camp for a while, but I just can't get over your unabashed love of liberalism. Look, I'm a recovering liberal but like most people I learned from my stupidity. Apparently, you haven't.

Johnny Mac. you were starting to grow on me. But your love of the media kissing your ass doesn't strike me as a leader. I can see you appointing Ruth Bader Ginsburg because you'll love to read the NY Times compliments the next morning.

Ronnie P. Love the libertarian thing but we are in a war and your response to said war make libertarians look as non serious as liberals.

For all you other bozos out there. Why are you running? I'm starting to think guys like Chris Dodd are running simply because they can line the pockets of some of their supporters.

Stealing a paraphrase from Dean Wormer; Hillary, liberal, corrupt, and nepotistic is no way to go through life.

I think I might have some warm fuzzies for John Edwards if that whole love child thing is true. It would prove to me he isn't gay.

Reason # 55 on why we should have the death penalty

So you are one of those "progressives" who believe the death penalty is wrong and we could keep our communities safe from violent criminals by simply keeping people in prison with no possibility of parole.

Well how does this excerpt about LA gangs suit you

But eliminating the gang won't be easy. It's survived for decades and is believed to have about 2,000 members. Its reach extends to Nevada, Arizona and into prisons, where prosecutors say incarcerated gang leaders were able to order hits on black gangsters.

I'm guessing that you "progressives" out there won't be lining up to tell people, who's family members were gunned downed by some derelict, was a direct result of not executing the thugs who arranged it.

Racial Profiling

Apparently, the cops are not the only ones who "racial profile".

Latino gangs in LA are targeting blacks.

Headline...

Feds take on L.A. Latino gang accused of targeting blacks

Of course, you have to read further into the article that the blacks the gangs are targeting are typically member of rivals gangs.

But hey, at least we got the feds in on the case.

If you have to say it.....

From the "if you have to say it, it's probably not true" department....

Clinton characterizes herself as deft uniter

Yeah, I remember how warm and snuggly all republicans felt when you blasted them as members of the "vast right wing conspiracy".

They're just waiting to vote for such a "uniter".

More....

Why the Bengals will always suck

The game isn't even over and I can here the post game press conferences.

1) We battled a lot of injuries, we don't need to make wholesale changes.
2) We finished the last eight games at 5-3 which shows we could have made the playoffs if the season had just started in November.
3) Once we get some draft picks in April to shore up the team, we'll be right back in playoff contention.
4) By the way, your season ticket increases are in the mail.

The Bengals have around 10 players eligible for free agency this off season. While most of them stink and should not have been on the team anyway, you still need to replace them, preferably better players. But the Bengals will do their normal off season patchwork of over the hill, over priced, low motor players.

They'll try and fill some needs with draft picks. But remember my previous preaching, every NFL teams get seven picks in the draft. With the Bengal's draft history, they'd be lucky to make that a push.

So when you renew those season tickets just remember, you're the enabler to horrible ownership. Because of guys like you, the Bengals will never change.

More Clinton Experience

More on Clinton experience or lack thereof.

Excerpt

A candidate with White House experience who really believes that would let voters examine the records from the period during which she claims she was such a vital part of "the White House team." But Mrs. Clinton's actions show that she does not believe what she says.

Her husband is keeping secret many of those records -- 2,600 pages worth, a National Archives official told The New York Sun. The Clintons have claimed that the National Archives won't release the records, but the Archives official in charge says Bill Clinton has not authorized their release.

This is not a trivial issue. Among those records is Mrs. Clinton's schedule, which would help show just how involved she really was in her husband's administration.

Because she has made her "experience" her primary qualification for the presidency, the people deserve to see exactly what experience she really has. Which policies did she help shape? Which did she oppose? Did she serve as a de facto staff member or did her role primarily consist of whispering suggestions into her husband's ear? That history is blackened out, and she is keeping it that way. Why?

I was wondering.... Remember when Billary ran as co-presidents, "two for the price of one" they liked to say. Shouldn't that make her term limited?

A conservative at the NY Times

The NY Times will finally have a conservative in it's op ed section, and not a David Brooks kind of Pseudo conservative, and the natives aren't taking it well.

This is from Katha Pollitt. You may remember her as the liberal who couldn't name her congressman on Hardball.

Excerpt

Just shoot me. First, it was Sam Tanenhaus, conservative editor of the New York Times Book Review being put in charge of the News of the Week in Review section. That means one conservative will determine how politics,culture and ideas are covered in TWO of the most important sections of the supposedly liberal newspaper of record. Now, says the Huffington Post, the Times is set to announce that Bill Kristol will be writing a weekly op-ed column. That's Bill Kristol ,Fox commentator , editor of the the Murdochian agitprop factory Weekly Standard, George W. Bush's propagandist in chief, co-founder of the Project for a New American Century, relentless promoter of the war in Iraq , ideological bully and thug. This is the man who blamed american liberals for the Khmer Rouge and the Ayatollah Khomeini (!), who will say just about anything, however bizarre or illogical or wild or (I'm guessing) cynical, to push the only ideas in his head: everything bad is the fault of Democrats and never mind the question, war is the answer.

And here I thought "progressives" were all for free speech.

More....

No lobbyists for Edwards

John Edwards will not have lobbyists in the White House, which is fine because he won't be there either.

But what would he do with all those sales reps from Vidal Sassoon, Mitchell's and Aveda?

The NFL Network

I think the NFL should have reconsidered broadcasting it's telecast on standard networks last night.

Why?

Because people without the NFL network thought they were missing something and they were. A chance to watch the worst play by play announcer in NFL history.

Bryant Gumbel is sooooo bad it made me dream for the day when NBC did a game with no announcers.

How is brother, Greg, even in the same DNA pool?

An expert of the obvious

It has finally taken an expert to tell us what every parent could have already told you.

It's OK for boys to play with toy guns.

Excerpt

Playing with toy weapons helps the development of young boys, according to new Government advice to nurseries and playgroups.

Staff have been told they must resist their "natural instinct" to stop boys using pretend weapons such as guns or light sabres in games with other toddlers.

Fantasy play involving weapons and superheroes allows healthy and safe risk-taking and can also make learning more appealing, says the guidance.

WOW and here I thought all of my nephews were going to be homicidal maniacs.

More...

Columbus sex sting

A sex sting in Columbus.

I guess they didn't bother with the whole toe tapping morse code in the johns.

The Steyn Inquistion

I'm actually astonished that the main stream press hasn't carried the ball on Mark Steyn and the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

But then the media's all about free speech right?

Here's a journalist with a take.

Created in the late 1970s, Canada’s human rights commissions were to be the Holy Office of the Inquisition of the ultra-liberal state. This quickly gave rise to a dilemma. Human rights commissions always had a problem with a fundamental tenet of liberalism, namely liberty. But what the hell — the Holy Inquisition always had a problem with a fundamental tenet of Christianity, namely compassion. When zealots are hot to trot, they don’t let little contradictions stop them.

Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982) came into being to guarantee free speech, press, conscience and opinion. Canada’s human rights commissions (1977) came into being to limit free speech, press, conscience and opinion. Together they symbolize the divine omnipotence of the modern state that giveth and taketh away — whether rights and freedoms, or crass matters such as income and capital gains.

More.....

Friday Funny

I'm pretty sure this guy was my driver's ed teacher in high school.

Now that's progress

So your city is in tough financial straights and having difficulty finding dollars to pay for things like cops, fire, roads.

Well if you are a "progressive" politician, you don't let a budget crunch nuisance get in the way when you want to give $50,000 to a movie theater in town.

No kidding, the city of Cincinnati is giving a grant to a guy for running a for profit movie theater in Saylor Park.

Now that's "progressive" thinking.

Excuse me.... What's that sound?.... It's the sound of another person moving out of Progress City and into Redville.

Tonight's Bengal reunion

A DUI checkpoint has been set up for tonight in Butler County, Rt 4, just north of I-275.

I have no idea why the police are setting this up, I'm pretty sure the Bengals are down in Miami already.

Around the blogger world

American Spectator on Paul Krugman
Washington Times on Country Club Democrats
Arizona Republic on scientists fleeing border
Michelle Malkin on the surge

"Progressive" thought

"Our politics can get a little unbalanced. We move off to the left or the right, but eventually we find our way back to the center."

This quote from Hillary Clinton, "Progressive".

A buddy was asking me, "What's up with the 'progressive' in quotations?".

Because I'm still trying to find someone who can tell me what is so "progressive" about "progressive" thought.

You know what would be progressive in my mind. Before we started an SCHIP program, we actually did something about the 17 trillion dollar unfunded Medicare liability. I think it's "progressive" to consider private retirement accounts to stave off the 20 trillion dollar unfunded Social Security liability. I think vouchers are a "progressive" solution to a horrible public education system.

So one of you liberals out there. What's a new idea you bring to the table?

The fact is "progressive" is just liberal all dressed up; like putting lip stick on a pig. In my mind, everyone's for "progress" yet you can't get a politician out there to own the label.

Do you see conservatives out there trying to repackage the label and deny that they are conservative? You could even call me a "neo-con", if you would explain what the hell that means.

Don't liberals get upset when the pols won't own their liberalism? I'm always amazed when I read liberal blogs how much acceptance there is for a politician to run as a centrist. Shouldn't you be pushing the envelope of "progressive" ideas without running from the label?

The bottom line is this, the American people have rejected liberals and "progressives" since Lyndon Johnson. Jimmy Carter is the only Democrat to win over 50% of the popular vote since Johnson and he won a whopping 50.1% against a mortally wounded republican.

So for my "progressive" brethren out there, come up with something truly progressive, more of the old doesn't sound that progressive to me and apparently to the American public.

Let's celebrate Christmas

Apparently, I just don't get "progressive" thought.

For me, celebrating Christmas means being with my family, enjoying good food & company and watching kids open gifts.

But for "progressives" celebrating Christmas means going into the 'hood and shooting people. Four people shot Christmas day in the city of Cincinnati.

Now I know we've got a murder record inside the city that the thugs want to break. But take it easy guys, it's not going to happen this year unless we have one big ass shoot out on New Year's eve. Try again next year.

What's interesting is why the Enquirer, the paper of record, has no reports on the shootings. I guess their reporters must not be "progressive" because they were with their families Christmas night.

Hillary, The Movie

Click here to see the trailer.

Hat Tip to Doug Ross

Telemarketers

I wish I had the stones to pull this off.

Rated R for language

Tax burdens by city

Here's a graph showing the highest tax burdens on a typical family of three (click to enlarge). Buckeyeville is the only Ohio city on the list; coming in at a healthy #11.

The first thing you'll notice on the chart is that you'll see few if any "red" or "conservative" cities; all the cities are "blue"or "progressive".

But at least with all these "progressive" cities, you'll get to pay for such amenities as, higher crime, higher unemployment, crappy schools, toll roads, trans fat bans, red light cameras, etc.

Where's that "progressive" guy when I need him. Maybe he can explain to me how this is "progress".

Hillary's Presents

It used to be embarrassing to be so blatantly socialist. Now, the pols campaign on it.

Hat Tip NBS

Facebook libel

The Cincinnati Enquirer has an editorial and follow up emails about a group of students who posted about a certain teacher being a pedophile.

What was interesting, was this particular excerpt from the story

Legally, the students' lawyer may be right that the school has no right to interfere with whatever stupid things they say or do outside of school. But the outrage is over the monumental unfairness of the situation to the teacher.

Students' lawyers?

I'm just guessing but the fact that the parent's "lawyered up" instead of beating their kids and dragging them down to the school by the hair to apologize to the teacher, the principal, etc. for their behavior is exactly why their kids have turned out to be the punks they are.

For these parents, congratulations; you've raised yet another group of our future delinquents.

Two America's Edwards

Apparently the NY Times doesn't like John Edwards. How else can you explain this libelous hit piece on him.

Excerpt

Like Bill Clinton and Jesse Jackson before him, Mr. Edwards nearly always runs late while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination. He routinely begins events more than 45 minutes or even an hour past the scheduled starting time, keeping dozens or, lately, hundreds of people in jam-packed rooms awaiting his entrance.

Now everyone knows that John Edwards is one of the few politicians that "gets it". Despite being a billionaire, he feels the pain of the "other" America; the one not populated by billionaires.

He would never keep the hard working, generous, American people waiting for him, he's got too much respect for other people's time.

And just because he spends more money on hair care products in a month than the average American eats on, doesn't mean he doesn't have compassion for people who don't have health care.

And just because he lives in a 28,000 square foot house, doesn't mean he can't feel compassion for all those squatters who have to squeeze into a 3,000 square footer.

If I were his campaign, I'd sue the Times.

The Clinton Resume

The NY Times has finally done a piece detailing Hillary's experience.

Excerpt

In seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, Mrs. Clinton lays claim to two traits nearly every day: strength and experience. But as the junior senator from New York, she has few significant legislative accomplishments to her name. She has cast herself, instead, as a first lady like no other: a full partner to her husband in his administration, and, she says, all the stronger and more experienced for her “eight years with a front-row seat on history.”

More.....

You didn't have to waste your time reading the Times for this, I had it here for free 9 days ago.... Of course, here at taxmanblog we don't have things like fact checkers and editors to tell us she hasn't done anything as a senator since she's been one.

As an aside. After reading this piece, does anyone wonder about who the Times is pulling for here. I'd be shocked if they endorsed Hillary in the primary.

Merry Christmas

"No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light." Luke 11:33

The day Jesus Christ was born, God showed us the light. He didn't hide it under a bowl he put it all out there for the world to see just as the above verse illustrates.

But the question to my fellow Christians is this... Are we, as followers of Christ, being the light to others?

If you asked non believers to describe a Christian, you'd probably get hundreds of different adjectives and few of them would be complimentary.

So as we celebrate the birth of our savior, the light, use this day to evaluate who you are as a Christian. Not how you measure up on the sin score sheet but on the "light" sheet. Are you being a light for people so that they can really get who Jesus was/is through who you are.

Remember Jesus hung out with the tax collectors and prostitutes, not the religious types. Why? Because he knew these were the people who most needed to see the light. So I challenge all of my fellow Christians to not be a judge of others lives but to be the light just as Jesus is the light to us.

In Hoc Anno Domini

Every Christmas, the Wall Street Journal prints a piece from1949. I've always been incredibly moved by the piece.

It's so easy in today's environment where we battle between Hillary, Barack, Rudy, Mike, et al. to lose sight on the fact that at one time, men were considered subjects of rulers; nothing more.

It really wasn't until the birth of Christ, that the paradigm shifted. No longer were people the subjects of tyrants, but beholden to God, their creator.

To all our readers, have a great Christmas.

When Saul of Tarsus set out on his journey to Damascus the whole of the known world lay in bondage. There was one state, and it was Rome. There was one master for it all, and he was Tiberius Caesar.

Everywhere there was civil order, for the arm of the Roman law was long. Everywhere there was stability, in government and in society, for the centurions saw that it was so.

But everywhere there was something else, too. There was oppression -- for those who were not the friends of Tiberius Caesar. There was the tax gatherer to take the grain from the fields and the flax from the spindle to feed the legions or to fill the hungry treasury from which divine Caesar gave largess to the people. There was the impressor to find recruits for the circuses. There were executioners to quiet those whom the Emperor proscribed. What was a man for but to serve Caesar?

There was the persecution of men who dared think differently, who heard strange voices or read strange manuscripts. There was enslavement of men whose tribes came not from Rome, disdain for those who did not have the familiar visage. And most of all, there was everywhere a contempt for human life. What, to the strong, was one man more or less in a crowded world?

Then, of a sudden, there was a light in the world, and a man from Galilee saying, Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's.

And the voice from Galilee, which would defy Caesar, offered a new Kingdom in which each man could walk upright and bow to none but his God. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. And he sent this gospel of the Kingdom of Man into the uttermost ends of the earth.

So the light came into the world and the men who lived in darkness were afraid, and they tried to lower a curtain so that man would still believe salvation lay with the leaders.

But it came to pass for a while in divers places that the truth did set man free, although the men of darkness were offended and they tried to put out the light. The voice said, Haste ye. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you, for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.

Along the road to Damascus the light shone brightly. But afterward Paul of Tarsus, too, was sore afraid. He feared that other Caesars, other prophets, might one day persuade men that man was nothing save a servant unto them, that men might yield up their birthright from God for pottage and walk no more in freedom.

Then might it come to pass that darkness would settle again over the lands and there would be a burning of books and men would think only of what they should eat and what they should wear, and would give heed only to new Caesars and to false prophets. Then might it come to pass that men would not look upward to see even a winter's star in the East, and once more, there would be no light at all in the darkness.

And so Paul, the apostle of the Son of Man, spoke to his brethren, the Galatians, the words he would have us remember afterward in each of the years of his Lord:

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Happy Festivus

For those who don't celebrate X-mas.

Christmas Music:

Tell the kids Santa is on the way. Unless you're my kids... then the coal man is coming to town.

Entitlement poker

Two Dave's, Nix Guy and ThirdwaveDave, have some interesting takes on life in New Orleans.

Check them out.

Elf the movie

Beer Tree: The Ultimate Christmas Project

I think I know what I'll be doing with all those left over beer bottles from Thanksgiving.

"Progressives" part two

"conservatives" are for status quo while "progressives" are for progress. I can live with that definition.

This is the comment (from a liberal I'm guessing) that perfectly illustrates my earlier post on "progressives".

How is it that spending more money and energy on the same old tired programs that have already proven themselves to be ineffective is considered "progressive" on any level?

How can you call what's happening in Cuyahoga County "progress"?

Look at any inner city, dominated by "progressive" thought. Do they look like the models of "progress"?

One could say conservatives are for status quo? I would counter conservatives are for effective? And just like I pointed out in my post Blue City Red Lights, people are not flocking to those areas dominated by "progressive" leadership; they're leaving. Wouldn't you think people would love living in a "progressive" place?

Maybe they just prefer effective.

New definitions

The medical profession now has some new terms to use among themselves for unusual ailments or injuries.

Excerpt

Disco biscuits: The clubbers' drug ecstasy. As in: "The man in cubicle three looks like he's taken one too many disco biscuits."

Hasselhoff: Term for any patient who shows up in the emergency room with an injury for which there is a bizarre explanation. Source: Baywatch actor David Hasselhoff, who hit his head on a chandelier while shaving. The broken glass severed four tendons and and an artery in his right arm.

Agnostication: A substitute for prognostication. Term used to the describe the usually vain attempt to answer the question: "How long have I got, doc?"

Blamestorming: Apportioning of blame after the wrong leg or kidney is removed or some other particularly egregious foul-up happens.

404 moment: The point in a doctor's ward round when medical records cannot be located. Comes from internet error message, "404 - document not found."

Testiculation: Description of a gesture typically used by hospital consultant "when holding forth on subject on which he or she has little knowledge". Gesture is of an upturned hand with outstretched fingers pointed upwards, clutching an invisible pair of testicles.

More...

Congratulations to the 'Cats

Congratulations to the UC Bearcats for their 31-21 win of Southern Miss today.

It was a great cap off to a 10-3 season. If I would have told you on January 1 that UC football would be the most successful team in the city, you would have checked me into a funny farm. But it looks like that's how it's going to shake out.

Great job Brian Kelly and the boys.

"Progressives"

It looks like Cuyahoga county is going back to paper ballots because they can't seem to get their act into the the 21st century.

This a great case study in the differences between "progressives" and "conservatives".

It was the "progressives" that first complained that paper ballots weren't an adequate voting system and disenfranchised the poor.

Then it was the "progressives" who run Cuyahoga county that can seem to make the transition into the new voting machines like the rest of Ohio's 87 counties.

Now after months of time and millions of dollars, it's the "progressives" that claim they need to go back to the old way of voting.

And "conservatives" just sat back and said "there was noting wrong with the old way in the first place".

Leg lamp

How does this work?

The state of Ohio's unemployment fund is going broke.

What I don't get is how a fund that takes in 1.05 billion and pays out 1.07 billion is about to go bust (HT daily bellweather). What the hell do they invest these funds in, a Spear's Girl Chastity fund?

Look at the blue curve on this schedule... where the hell is the money going?

Once again, I'm not as smart as a "journalist" but it occurs to me that if you are taking in about the same amount that you're spending, how does your fund go broke?

Maybe a question one of those journalist types can ask.

If you have to say it......

Clinton Says Wife a 'World-Class Genius'

I'll give slick credit for one thing.... I took a world class genius to figure out that socialized medicine plan she laid out in '94.

More...

Economic lesson 101

If you are a recent public school grad or a liberal, in general, here is an awesome economic lesson for you.

Excerpt

What is less widely understood is that they have also transformed politics. A zero-sum economy leads, inevitably, to repression at home and plunder abroad. In traditional agrarian societies the surpluses extracted from the vast majority of peasants supported the relatively luxurious lifestyles of military, bureaucratic and noble elites. The only way to increase the prosperity of an entire people was to steal from another one. Some peoples made almost a business out of such plunder: The Roman republic was one example; the nomads of the Eurasian steppes, who reached their apogee of success under Genghis Khan and his successors, were another. The European conquerors of the 16th to 18th centuries were, arguably, a third. In a world of stagnant living standards the gains of one group came at the expense of equal, if not still bigger, losses for others. This, then, was a world of savage repression and brutal predation.

It's always been my impression that liberals view an economy as a zero sum game; one pie, what I don't get someone else gets. When, in fact, free markets create bigger pies for all to dig into as long as you add an ingredient.

More.....

Christmas Lights Gone Wild

If you've never seen the lights display by an electrical engineer in Mason, OH. Check this one out.

I've been told they moved this to a local park. If you know where, please let me know in the comment section.

Christmas Vacation Lights

My neighbors have this set up going without the class.

Fleeing a blue state

As posted just yesterday, when are the people who govern "blue state" areas ever going to wonder why people are flocking to "red state" areas.

An article in today's LA Times addresses California's migration out of the state.

Excerpt

California's population continued to grow modestly in the last fiscal year despite a significant exodus of residents to other states, according to a state report released Wednesday.

More...

Clear Channel sucks

Now that Clear Channel has a monopoly on local radio here, they're in the process of chopping heads; especially the talent on the radio. I cannot stand to listen to local radio here anymore.

Here's the email I sent to Daryl parks this morning.

Daryl

I saw a bum walking near Kenwood Town Center today. I figured he must be Burbank’s replacement.

After seeing what you guys have done with all the other Clear Channel talent, he must be just what you’re looking for.

Thank God my wife is getting me XM for Christmas.

Respectfully
Gordon

Bumper sticker of the day

My sentiments exactly.

Hat Tip to Taxprof

Prison rapes

Bill at the Daily Bellweather has a piece about the number of rapes committed on prisoners.

Excerpt

A Justice Department survey of 146 federal and state penitentiaries across the nation shows 60,500 inmates were subject to sexual victimization behind bars this year. That breaks down to 4.5% of all who are locked up, according to an estimate by the agency's bureau of justice statistics. The national survey included three Ohio prisons -- Belmont Correctional Institution, Grafton Correctional Institution and North Central Correctional Institution. All three hold male convicts.

I wonder how many of those rapes were committed by thugs on death row that should have been executed by now.

President Bush, tear down this bridge

During the the summer, I was pretty indignant about the total failure of government when the Minneapolis bridge collapsed.

In my opinion, we can expect a similar failure of government when the Brent Spence Bridge collapses into the Ohio River.

Yesterday, officials from Covington, Kentucky tried to ban trucks on the bridge because of the safety hazard they present. If you've ever driven the bridge, you know what they are talking about.

Here's the deal. Every city, state and federal government official knows this bridge is substandard and obsolete for the traffic it receives on a daily basis. So how close are we to getting the problem solved?

(silence)

No where. We don't even have a plan to start the plan yet.

I would wage a bet. If you polled people in this city they would overwhelmingly approve of spending money on that bridge over, say, sound walls along the interstate.

As far as I'm concerned, every politician is responsible for each and every death that occurs on that bridge until there's a plan to replace it.

And people want these same folks to manage our health care.

Speaking of Snoop

An old clip from the Man SHow

Snooping your records

The IRS has encountered an increasing problem of workers snooping on confidential taxpayer files.

By law, it's illegal for an IRS employee to look into tax records unless they have a business reason for looking at the records.

Here's a excerpt from a piece in the WSJ

Despite repeated warnings by IRS officials over many years, IRS employees still are getting nabbed for snooping through confidential taxpayer records without authorization. In some cases, IRS workers were curious about an ex-spouse or neighbor, but in at least one case, an employee was paid by an outsider for information that was used by identity thieves. According to interviews with Treasury officials and a new report, hundreds of IRS workers were disciplined in the year ended Sept. 30 for breaking the rules, and some have even faced prosecution.

Just imagine your medical records being house in some government building somewhere... Do you like the prospects of person keeping their sticky fingers off of your confidential files.

Delusional "journalists"

I used to think all these "journalists" were arrogant, now it's clear, they are delusional.

Case in point. An excerpt from this article

Still, the network continues to chase Fox News in across-the-board ratings, and at the same time must fend off MSNBC, which so far has enjoyed a 20 percent jump in total year-to-date viewers over last year—thanks in part to the popularity of its late-night “doc block,” which often features grisly true-crime narratives and repurposed Dateline programming.

“When they do that, they’re really competing with Court TV,” Mr. Klein later told NYTV in an interview in his office overlooking Columbus Circle. “They’re saying, in effect, we give up trying to cover the news in any meaningful way. It enhances our brand. We’re the last man standing in terms of covering the news. We love that.”

This is the same CNN that covered the size of Jennifer Love Hewitt's ass on one of it's program. Yeah, that's coving news in a meaningful way.

Who is Daniel Faulkner?

Prior to yesterday, I couldn't tell you one thing about Daniel Faulkner.

However, many people know who Mumia Abu-Jamal is.

Abu-Jamal is cause celebre for the Hollywood anti death penalty advocates like Sean Penn and Danny Glover. Faulkner is the cop he shot and killed.

You know there's one more reason I'm an advocate of the death penalty, the remaining victims.

Every time one of these liberal types worships at the alter of Abu-Jamal, it rubs the whole affair right into the noses of the friends and family of Daniel Faulkner.

The day Abu-Jamal meets his maker, the Faulkner family will finally have some peace and won't need to relive the horror each and every time they want to remind people of the crime Mr. Abu-Jamal actually committed.

Blue City - Red Lights

I'm not the smartest guy in the world but I always follow and emulate what the smartest guys in the world are doing.

So if I'm a city of Cincinnati Council member, I'm looking at what the suburbs are doing because they must be doing something right. After all, everyone's leaving my city for the 'burbs.

But it's clear that Cincinnati Clowncil members are dumbasses. You know why? They continue to do things that none of the suburbs are doing and wonder why people continue to leave.

Case in point. Just like all other urban centers, the city of Cincinnati is looking to install red light cameras to generate revenue for the budget. Now ask yourself this question... Do these cameras make it more likely or less likely for people to reside and/or do business in your city? Then ask yourself, what are the suburbs doing?

West Chester - red light cameras? Nope.
Mason - human rights ordinance? Nada.
Sycamore Twp. - earnings tax? negative.
Loveland - prevailing wage? sorry
Green Twp. - trans fat ban? Not there yet.

In fact, suburbs do none of this stupid crap which is why people are flocking to them in droves.

Once again, I throw out this map of the Kerry/Bush race by county.

While I do not have specific statistics, I think we can all agree on the following....

The Blue Counties are largely urban areas run by democrats; Red counties are largely suburban and/or rural areas run by republicans.

Urban areas have more crime, poorer schools, higher taxes, bad infrastructure, & lower standard of living.

Rural/suburban areas have less crime, better schools, lower taxes, better infrastructure and a higher standard of living.

I challenge all liberals. You tell me. Who's doing a better job of governing their respective constituency?

He's not withheld a single document

Remember the Slick One telling the media, after one of Hillary's debate bombs, that he's not withheld the release one document from the public.

Well...........

The National Archives is withholding from the public about 2,600 pages of records at President Clinton's direction, despite a public assurance by one of his top aides last month that Mr. Clinton "has not blocked the release of a single document."

The 2,600 pages, stored at Mr. Clinton's library in Arkansas, were deemed to contain "confidential advice" and, therefore, "closed" under the Presidential Records Act, an Archives spokeswoman, Susan Cooper, told The New York Sun yesterday.

I like to preach that the American public always gets the right president for the times and the Clinton's were no exception. The 1990's will go down as the least serious decade in the history of humanity. No "Cold War", a stock market boom that had 30 year olds thinking they were retiring before the age of 40, tech jobs where people could show up in pajamas to do their work, and a new concept in reality shows called The Clinton's.

We could watch 24 hour news channels and be mesmerized with the questions, did he nail the fat chick? what about all those people Hillary fired in the White House post office? Vince Foster? billing records? Whitewater? etc. etc. etc.

I'm convinced it was the beginning of the reality show craze.

Unfortunately, for the Clinton's their show is starting to wear thin... Just like Survivor - China.

Dick Morris

Whenever I read Dick Morris, I always get an insatiable urge to put on a ball gag and my leather chaps.....

Regardless, he's got a good piece on Hillary.

Excerpt

A lot of voters are backing Hillary because they see her as a winner and they are hungry to throw the Republicans out of the White House. When Mrs. Clinton touts her experience (and Mr. Clinton does it for her), the voters don’t necessarily hear government experience. A lot focus on her campaign experience instead. The team that survived Gennifer Flowers and the draft and the Contract With America and Monica and carpet-bagging in New York state can, presumably, weather any storm. Hillary has a carefully cultivated impression of invincibility that serves as one of her principal attractions to Democratic primary voters.

But what will happen if she loses in Iowa or in New Hampshire? The latest average of the past five polls in Iowa, compiled by www.realclearpolitics.com, shows Obama in the lead, 30-26. If the Illinois senator wins in Iowa, it could send Hillary to defeat in New Hampshire, where her lead in the past five polls averaged only 3 points.

Since so much of her vote is based on her presumed ability to win elections, her loss of the winner image might set in motion a domino effect of cascading defeats in the primaries far more dramatic than is typical in presidential elections. The more her current vote share is based on the presumption of invincibility, the more a defeat — or several in a row — could hurt.

More.....

You can fight city hall.

A long time ago, I read an article on wealth that proclaimed "it's not the wealth you own that matters.... it's the wealth you control".

For years, that cliche has stuck in my mind. But the longer, I live the more I see it play out.

One need look no further than Mike Brown, the owner of the Bengals. He doesn't "own" any stadiums or riverfront property but he has total control over a half billion dollars in property on the Cincinnati riverfront. What a sweet deal; total control and none of the responsibility.

It works that way for cities as well. Why buy property you don't want developed or want developed a certain way when you can simply put zoning restrictions on the property that makes it worthless.

Well, Half Moon Bay CA thought they could limit development on a property by declaring it a "wetland", thus making it worthless. The developer, who paid one million dollars for the property, sued the city.

The result....

Half Moon Bay is wrestling with unpleasant options for responding to a court ruling that officials say threatens the "very existence of our city government" - a $36.8 million judgment against the city for turning a proposed housing development site into wetlands.

More....

blog votes

If you are a blogger junkie as I am, you need to go over to Right on the Right to nominate and vote for your favorite blogs by category.

I'm sure he's handing out huge prize money for winners. Like Al Gore's nobel prize money :)

Would have been nice to know that

A interesting piece on the Hamilton county jail residents.

It might have been nice if we had received this information prior to actually voting on a new jail space for the county.

Clinton experience myth

While the Hill likes to trumpet her experience, I'd like to ask... What experience?

She was first lady for eight years, does that mean Laura Bush is qualified to be president?

Oh Gordon, it's her senate experience that makes her qualified.

Seven years in the senate, OK, I'll give you that, what committee did/does she chair? For that matter what legislation did/has she sponsored? What issue is she so committed to that she ushered it through the house and senate and got the president to sign because of public pressure?

chirp chirp chirp

Nothing, nada zero

Say what you want about Al Gore, but at least we know what we're going to get with the guy.

For cryin' out loud, she wasn't even a managing partner at her law firm.

Debra Saunders echoes my sentiments.

Excerpt

Hillary Clinton has been in the U.S. Senate for seven years. Before that, she spent eight years as first lady -- and she did more than pick out the drapes. Mrs. C had a role in many Clinton initiatives, including as chair of her husband's failed health care reform task force.

Still, her most valuable political skill was to neutralize her husband's "bimbo eruptions." In 1992, she appeared with her husband on "60 Minutes" as he admitted to straying in his marriage, but denied having an affair with singer Gennifer Flowers -- a false denial, it turns out. In 1998, Hillary Clinton blamed the Monica Lewinsky story on a "vast right-wing conspiracy."

Somehow those 15 years have expanded like dog years into "35 years fighting for what I believe in." That is, Clinton's political years include her 15 years as a corporate lawyer, her three years as a law school professor, as well as her tenure as first lady of Arkansas.

More....

Another law firm of scumbags

The IRS has a whistleblower program, a program designed to pay people for information regarding tax cheats. The usual fee is about 15-30% of the tax collected.

Now that the program has been implemented, a number of law firms have just willy nilly started turning in companies for audit on whistle blower complaints.

The latest is the Ferraro Law Firm in Florida who's turned in two billion dollars in whistleblower complaints yet to be investigated by the IRS. What a great deal, if the IRS audits the company, comes up with 2 billion in revenue that's a cool 600 million for the firm; and the best part? They don't have to do one damn thing.

All the while, companies have to deal with the consequence of dealing with audits and IRS agents with no probable cause.

While the guys at my fellow conservative blogs NixGuy, Bizzyblog, and Smoke if you got 'em want to spend their time and energy making sure payday loan operations aren't ripping off the public, how about spending some of that energy on these low life parasites.

And the legal profession wonders why they have such a bad reputation.

Clean up some confusion

I've been getting google hits as taxman gordon. While my pen name is Gordon and my site is taxmanblog this is not the taxmangordon site.

The taxmangordon site is a fun little game where you play "pacman" and attempt to make as much money as possible while avoiding one of Gordon Brown's 111 tax hikes.

Try it here.

Who's your daddy? part 2

I'm always upset that there is never a reference to a father when you see a delinquent accused of a crime.

Apparently, it's because liberals have difficulty in distinguishing who their actual parents are. Quote from a letter to the editor in the San Fransisco Chronicle (hat tip to BOTW)

Editor - I keep reading about the mortgage crisis and the credit card debt Americans keep accruing - and then I remember that we learn from our parents - in this case, the United States government. Why shouldn't Americans continue to purchase luxury items like flat-screen TVs, purchase huge homes and cars they can't afford? The government continues to spend money on a war we can't afford, and our debt is the highest ever. We learn from the best.

TASHA SCHUMANN Castro Valley, CA

Tasha, honey, the government isn't your parent. Your parents aren't the government. Your parents are your parents and your government is your government.

But seriously, when you look at your government as some kind of nanny.... a tit to suckle off of. I guess no one should be surprised that liberals expect their government to do so many things for them.

So Tasha, sweetie, I'm going to call a Senator tonight to come over, tuck you in, and give you a little kiss on the forehead. Maybe even tell you a story. Like the one where he got wasted, drove a young girl off a bridge and killed her.

A college football contract

Apparently, Brian Kelly, coach of the University of Cincinnati football team, signed a long term deal with the school to extend his existing contract through the year 2012.

Right!

Don't get me wrong, I like Kelly and he's done a great job with the UC football program, but these contracts aren't worth the paper they're written on. Remember Rich Rodriguez? How about Bobby Petrino? Maybe Nick Saban? Mark Dantonio? All under contract.

College football has never been more exciting. But like most things in the free market, they will cannibalize their own success.

Along the football coaching front. I listened to Marvin Lewis' press conference yesterday. He has to lead the league in my self defined "arrogance ratio" (total arrogance divided by number of wins).

Let's face it.... football coaches by definition are arrogant (remember the show "Coach"). But for Marvin Shula to be as condescending to the media as he is, reaches an all new low.

Here's a clue phone for you Marvin Coslett, you're team sucks and you are it's leader. Reciting mantras like "making plays" and "doing your job" aren't cutting it and are not going to turn it around.

This city spent one half of a BILLION dollars on that playground for convicts down there. Your arrogance isn't needed to rub our noses in it; we get it after each and every loss on the field.

So Mr. Marvin LeBeau, remember.... you are a football coach (a losing one at that), not a neurosurgeon. Keep your arrogance to yourself.

And you wonder why players like Chad Johnson have bad attitudes.

Huck the Huckster

An interesting piece on Mike Huckbee from the American Thinker

Excerpt

When evangelicals embraced Jimmy Carter during the 1976 presidential campaign, they didn't know he would repudiate the Southern Baptist Convention a generation later. Today the very same constituency has glommed onto Mike Huckabee, and I can't help but lament how history truly does repeat itself.

One can see why the man I dubbed "Huck the Huckster" would appeal to evangelicals. He's a pro-life Southern Baptist minister with charm, wit and a good-ol'-boy, yuck-it-up style. Yet this resplendent exterior only serves to obscure the stain of liberal sin.

More....

Another example of gov't run healthcare

During lunch today, I needed to mail out some Christmas gifts and pick up some postage for Christmas cards.

So I ran to the local MailBox etc. to ship my package UPS. I waited for one person total of 5 minutes.

I get to the USPS and there is a line out the door! Needless to say, I'll mail cards tomorrow.

But Gordon, this is the holiday season, they're just really busy right now.

Really? the USPS didn't know that the Christmas season was their busiest time of year?

How is it that UPS managed to handle their busiest time of year without making their customers wait for an hour.

Welcome to your next prostate screening if a democrat wins the White House.

If you have to say it......

Once again, if you have to say, it's probably not true......

New Clinton campaign
out to show her likability

Article....

Thoughts on Christmas shopping

In the past, Christmas shopping for Gordon simply meant a picking up a bunch of gift cards at the local Kroger's.

Now that ole Gordon is married, I'm am reduced to actually "shopping" for Christmas gifts.

Some thoughts that occurred to Gordon while "shopping"

1) Christmas Shopping v. Waterboarding.... Which one is truly torture? I bet KSM would have stuck with the waterboard.

2) I don't understand why I should pay Old Navy or The Gap for clothing with their name on it. As far as I'm concerned, they should pay me for advertising their stores. At least, Joe's Painting gives me their ball caps and T-shirts for free.

3) If you are one of those fat asses who follow a person leaving the mall to their car so you can have their spot, fine. But could you at least get the hell out of my way so I can park out in the boonies.

4) After my post on Who would Jesus endorse? I think I need to ask WWJB (What Would Jesus Buy) Mrs. Gekko? After all, it is his birthday. So far, Jesus is telling me jewelry.....

5) Have you noticed that most of the people who cruise around in those scooters probably wouldn't need said scooter if they got a little exercise, like walking around the store.

6) After sniffing colognes, looking at clothing, picking up CD's etc. I'm thinking, you know, the best gift anyone could give is a free subscription to their favorite blog; it keeps on giving and giving...... much like an STD.

A muslim kitty cat

I thought this was a little humorous

Steyn against the Canadian Thought Police

Mark Steyn face charges against the Human Rights Tribunal

Excerpt

These days in Canada, if you're feeling down and blue, and you think somebody hates you, you bring your case to a Human Rights Tribunal. And the people you think hate you get that knock on the door, celebrated in the literature of the Soviet Gulag, and wherever else ideology triumphed over humanity in the 20th century's painful course. Your daddy, your mommy, your brubber, or more likely some newspaper pundit gets dragged before a committee of smug, leftwing, humourless, jargon-blathering adjudicators. After long delays that are costly only to the defendant and the taxpayer (and justice delayed is justice denied), you will have the satisfaction of making your enemy squirm, in a kangaroo court where he is stripped of the right to due process, in which there are no fixed rules of evidence, in which the ridiculously biased “judges” make up the law as they go along, and impose penalties restricted only by their grimly limited imaginations -- such as ruinous fines, and lifetime "cease and desist" orders, such that, if you ever open your mouth again on a given topic, you stand to go to prison.

Sounds a lot like the Ohio Civil Rights Commission.

Where's my global warming

It was 19 degrees this morning. The normal low is 26. Where the hell is my global warming? That global warming I drive my SUV to help create.

I should look on the bright side... Without the global warming, it would have been 17.2 degrees outside.

Bill Clinton intensifies his role

I wonder if he'll give up dating....

Article

Kennedy's split on endorsements

The Kennedy family has split on their endorsements.

To date, no Kennedy has endorsed the idea of taxi cabs.

Quit encouraging copycats

Excerpt

The way the media cover an event influences whether there will be repetitions. For example, if a fan runs onto the field during a baseball game, the broadcast cameras usually avoid showing pictures of the fan. The TV producers know that the fan on the field is seeking attention, and that, presumably, getting his picture on television will reward him. Moreover, broadcasting the man's antics would encourage copycats.

Killing time at a baseball game is a tiny misdeed, compared to killing people, but many media decisions have the effect of encouraging copycat murders.

More....

Ban gun ban areas

A great piece on allowing guns in public places.

Excerpt

Police have identified Robert A. Hawkins, 19, as the assailant who killed eight people with a semi-automatic rifle (not an assault rifle) at the Westroads Mall in Omaha Dec. 5.

Chalk up eight more deaths to "gun control."

The shooting was at least the fourth at an American mall or shopping center so far this year, including one in February in Salt Lake City.

Once again, the killer chose a "gun-free" zone.

More...

The "christian" candidate?

It appears Huckabee's surge in the polls have caused quite a debate as to who the "Christian" candidate should be, or more importantly, struck a real debate as to the role of faith in elections.

NixGuy, RedState, Right on the Right and Brian Shavings have all got good takes on the issue.

While these guys have some insight, I like to refer to the man himself, Jesus Christ, on the issue.

In Matthew 22:21 Jesus says Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God those things that are God's. NIV

Many Christians have interpreted this to mean "My wealth is not Caesar's so I'm going to give it to God".

But I think what Jesus was saying is (to crudely paraphrase) "I'm not here to deal with Caesar's, or Hitler's or Stalin's. I'm here to connect your heart to God. Government's are going to do what government's are going to do. With that said, what will you do to clean up your relationship with God".

Jesus understood the world would always be full of tyrants, murderers and con men. He wasn't really interested in dealing with those issues. He was most interested in each individual person's soul.

With that said, it does beg the question, WWJE? "Who would Jesus endorse"?

First, I don't think he would even vote let alone endorse. But I don't think he would encourage any of us to vote for a moron just because he was a "Christian".

Second, remember who Jesus had the most problems with? The religious types. Pharisees, I believe.

So all that's a long winded way of my saying, I don't care how close to God Mike Huckebee is; I could never vote for him simply based on his speech that's all over youtube. Anyone that at ease to increase taxes is not a good candidate in my mind.

Once again, where's the daddy?

Meet 17 year old Julian Douglas. Charged withe murdering 53 year old Gary Secone.

Once again, no mention of a daddy in the story. Maybe if Julian had one, he wouldn't be looking at a life time in prison.

You know... as a conservative, it would go a long way if liberals could just own for once that Julian here is a product of the welfare state. After all, once welfare allowed a families to exist without fathers, guess what? They did. And Julian here is going to pay the price.

Once we can all agree on the fact that welfare has caused a disintegration of the family, we can really start to look at things that might help keep families together and kids like Julian here out of the penal system.

My father was far from perfect, but I know my life was so much better for having him in my home than without. You could ask my friends growing up if they would have preferred having their fathers in the home, except you can't. They are now dead. My guess is, they would have agreed.

Count those votes

Remember when hanging chads were the only thing we had to worry about when it came to voting?

Since that was such a big problem, the state of Ohio, has spent 100 million on new voting machines and technology.

That's all good except for

"To put it in everyday terms, the tools needed to compromise an accurate vote count could be as simple as ... using a magnet and a personal digital assistant," she said.

More.....

The Democrats new slogan, "finding problems and making them worse since 1932".

Funny Friday

A clip from Animal House. The Language is R rated. You are now warned

Friday Friday

It's an "R" rated video from Rodney Carrington.

Funny Friday

Flight of the Conchords

Trouble for Hillary?

Now that the conventional wisdom is "Hillary's in trouble", I think I need to be the contrarian once again.

As I said last week, the early primaries are less about running against your opponent than running against expectations.

You can pull 10% of the vote in Iowa, but if the talking heads predicted 5%, you're going to dominate the headlines for a few days. The converse is also true. If Rudy's looking at 30% in the polls and only draws 20%, put a stake in 'im.

Now that Hillary's poll numbers are going down faster than one of Bill's skanks, she's effectively lowered expectations; especially for the media. It's a perfect set up, she's now looking at potentially losing one or more of these early elections.

But what happens if she wins them all by a slim margin? or loses but it's tight? The media's going to be on it like bears on honey.

Welcome to government health care

Now that we're married, Mrs. Gekko has to go through the process of changing her name on everything.

So this morning, I went to the social security office with Mrs. Gekko so I could get my social security card replaced (my original is over 30 years old and you can barely see the number through the coffee stain).

Now keep in mind, the Social Security Administration does what? Class? Class? They administer a government run pension plan.

After 50 minutes, I finally got to speak with a live person and have my card request taken care of. It will now take another 10-14 days to get my card.

Now imagine walking into a bank or brokerage house and waiting 50 minutes to get an account statement, would you put up with that? Also imagine that while you're waiting those 50 minutes, you are not allowed to work on a computer or talk on a cell phone. In fact, you're not even allowed to have a cell phone on (it can't be on vibrate or silent) inside the building.

How long would you put up with that kind of service?

Well, welcome to government health care.

The Delta House Congress

Last week, I mentioned how I could never be elected to office as a result of "the incident" which included a drunk Gordon, in a toga, demanding he be referred to as Senator Blutarsky.

Apparently, I'd fit right in this congress, just ask the Wall Street Journal.

Excerpt

In the movie "Animal House," the fraternity brother known as Otter reacts to the Delta House's closure with the classic line, "I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part." To which Bluto, played by John Belushi, replies, "We're just the guys to do it." The movie ends by noting that Bluto becomes a Senator, so perhaps this explains the meltdown among Democrats on Capitol Hill.

More.....

Liberal Education Standards

I've preached often about the Pygmalion Effect as it relates to inner city education... Or as George Bush would call it "the soft bigotry of low expectations".

Here's an article that illustrates how liberals have implemented the bigotry in public education.

Excerpt

The principal of an East Harlem high school last month stunned his staffers by suggesting they dumb down their classes.

"If you are not passing more than 65% of your students in a class, then you are not designing your expectations to meet their abilities," Principal Bennett Lieberman wrote in a Nov. 28 memo to teachers at Central Park East High School. "You are setting your students up for failure, which in turn, limits your success as a professional."

More.....

Don't worry. You've bought the credits.

So you've cheated on your wife but you want to continue to say you've been faithful.

Well now, mirroring global warming carbon offset credits you can now purchase "cheatneutral" credits. So you can cheat all you want.... Simply pay me to remain monogamous and we're all good.

What a great idea for that next trip to Bali and you're really looking to score with some global warming scientists.

Can Dems win over white males

A really good piece in the Huffington Post, with a lot of thoughtful insight among many liberals.

The question? Can the Democratic Party ever win back the white male vote without aliening it's other constituencies? And if they can, should they?

Excerpt from one of the writers

When the top-tier Republican candidates skipped a debate geared toward African-Americans, the media rightly pointed out that it sent an awful signal to the black community. But for decades Democrats have sent a similar signal to a far larger constituency. More than a third of the American electorate was told the party they once built did not need them.

Democrats have not won more than 38 of every 100 white men who voted since Jimmy Carter defeated Gerald Ford. It is no coincidence that 1976 was also the last time Democrats won a majority. Yet this causes remarkably little concern on the political left. One reason is that some liberals are depending upon an ever-diversifying nation. But white men will be at least a third of the electorate for the coming decade. And they will be larger than the Hispanic bloc for far longer.

Quoting Ronald Reagan "I didn't leave the Democratic Party... It left me".

Tis the season

Looks like Santa consumed a little too much egg nog.

That's a relief

Baseball finally came out with their Mitchell Report and guess what? Baseball players took performance enhancing drugs.

The finding of the next report... the sky is blue

Mr Gorbachev, let's build that wall

What's in this picture?

These are the pylons installed to build a wall along this stretch of interstate.

Gordon, it's about time the feds finally started building that wall to keep illegals out of the country.

Except this picture wasn't taken in Texas, Arizona or California; it's Ohio.

And the wall the feds are building has nothing to do with immigration.

This is one of those sound walls. You know.... graffiti magnets.....the thousands of miles of wall built near interstates so people don't have to hear noise from the freeway. Even though many built their homes well after the freeway was built, knowing full well the noise pattern.

So I would like someone to explain to me how we have billions upon billions of dollars to build sound barriers that are no more effective than a good planting of trees, yet we can't seem to find enough money to patrol 1969 miles of border.

Around the blogger world

Several good post to read.

Maggie Thurber on Ohio's economic ranking
Tom @ Bizzyblog on federal spending
Nasty, Brutish and Short on an Obit that shouldn't have been
The Boring Made Dull on Strickland and the Ohio Civil Right Commission

Yet Another UC attack

The second UC attack this week.

I've decided to start reporting each and every one of these as they occur. Maybe if the University and city of Cincinnati are humiliated enough, they actually do something about the problem.

Don't ask me why, but the media coverage on these assaults is downright deplorable. The cynic in me tells me it's a political correctness issue. But the realist in me tells me it's become so common place, it's no longer newsworthy.

Bronson

Pete Bronson on the latest in the Lakota Schools "Diversity" shakedown.

Excerpt

Don't tell Gary Hines to quit protesting a student play in Lakota Schools and go mind his own business. Race problems are his business. And that might explain a lot.

Hines is the local NAACP president who wants to make a federal case out of the high school production of "And Then There Were None," because the play once had an obscure, racially offensive title nearly 70 years ago. But he's also the owner of a diversity-training company that profits from racial problems, GPH Consulting.

So when Hines demands that the Lakota Schools receive more sensitivity training, it's not unfair to ask if he's trying to get a contract to provide that training. He has tried in the past, but Lakota hired other diversity experts. In 2002, Hines accused Lakota Schools of "systemic racism."

Avoid death

This sign is the winner of this year's Wacky Label Contest awarded by the Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch.

More.....

Harvard for free

Last week the WSJ had a piece about why people give to college endowment funds despite the already incredible size of these endowments. He used Harvard, with a 35 billion dollar endowment as his prime example. Today, they have a piece about why Harvard cost so much in the first place.

Harvard must have been listening. This week, they announced a plan to pay for the education for any who's family earns less than $60,000/year.

Good for Harvard, now if we can just get the rest of these endowments to start kicking in, we might start to see some reduction in education inflation.

Class Act

I really couldn't care less about Bobby Petrino leaving the Atlanta Falcons for the Arkansas Razorbacks.

But you have to rank this letter from Petrino to his players announcing his resignation, as an all new low for classlessness..... Even for a football coach.

Click on the image to enlarge.

Why does race matter?

I'm reading an article on the Las Vegas shooting and the "journalist" threw this sentence in the end of the article...

Mojave had some 2,300 students last year, about evenly divided among blacks, whites and Hispanics, according to district materials.

That sentence appears after this sentence

"At this point, the indicators that we have found ... it's a dispute over a girlfriend," Gillespie told reporters.

What does this information have to do with the price of beans? As of this posting, there does not appear to be a racial component behind the attack. So why put it in? Because this is a fight over a girlfriend, we need a racial census on the school.

I guess I'm not a "journalist" so I'm not smart enough to figure it out.