In an unusual act of serendipity, Gordon and Midas share a birthday together and that would be today. As you can tell from our pictures we're not identical more like fraternal twins.
We share a birthday with such hotties as Ann Margaret, Elisabeth Rohm, Penelope Cruz, and Jessica Alba. We also share a birthday with notables Barry Larkin, Jay Leno and Saddam Hussein.
Instead of gifts, I am requesting that everyone buy carbon credits on behalf of me so that I can leave the largest one day carbon footprint in my life. I woke up this morning smoking a cigar and pushing down all kinds of bacon, sausage and eggs. I turned the heat up in my house to eighty degrees and when it gets too hot I'll just open the windows. Then I plan to rent a big ole Ford Excursion to cruise around in for the day. After that, I plan to drive that Excursion until I need gas, when I use the rest room at the gas station I think I'll pull one over on Sheryl Crow and use three or four squares of double ply toilet paper.
Of course it'll be all OK because you folks have all bought the carbon credits on my behalf. Just ask Al Gore.
By the way, it was 54 degrees when I woke up this morning, the coldest birthday I can remember, well where the hell is my global warming today.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Friday, April 27, 2007
Tax Deadbeats
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and ranking Republican Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) sent a letter to President Bush today complaining that over 450,000 federal workers and retirees owe $3 billion in federal taxes. The Senators also released this tax delinquency data, showing that the largest percentages of federal employee/retiree tax deadbeats are in these departments and agencies: - U.S. Commission on Civil Rights: 9.4%
- Government Printing Office: 7.4%
- Smithsonian: 5.6%
- Courts: 5.5%
- Defense Department: 5.4%
- Selective Service: 5.4%
- EEOC: 5.3%
- Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.: 5.3%
- Federal Labor Relations Authority: 5.0%
- National Endowment for the Humanities: 5.0%
The Tax Court had 4.9% tax deadbeats, while the Treasury Department had one of the lowest percentages (1.3%).
Media Accuracy
As everyone knows I'm always big on banging on the main stream media for the sloppiness of their reporting.
Here's proof in point. An article about all the Democratic candidates who took separate private jets for the debate last night. This is my beef, everyone knows how much the Democrats are looking out for the environment and the little guys. Surely, they would have flown coach on a commercial flight.
For cryin' out loud, everyone knows how John Edwards builds 28,000 square foot homes and $400 haircuts to take care of the little guys.
These were obviously GOP candidates on their way to last night's debate.
Get it right AP.
Here's proof in point. An article about all the Democratic candidates who took separate private jets for the debate last night. This is my beef, everyone knows how much the Democrats are looking out for the environment and the little guys. Surely, they would have flown coach on a commercial flight.
For cryin' out loud, everyone knows how John Edwards builds 28,000 square foot homes and $400 haircuts to take care of the little guys.
These were obviously GOP candidates on their way to last night's debate.
Get it right AP.
Carbon Footprints
This is the parking lot next to my office.I'm sure many of you are thinking "it must be GOP regional headquarters with all the SUVs"
Or maybe "must be a cabal of oil executives trying to increase oil prices on the American public."
But you would be wrong.
It's actually a cabal of stay at home moms having a mid afternoon aerobics workout at the dance studio next to me.
Question for the greenies... Who will leave a larger carbon footprint? All the families who own these pollution machines for one year or the Sheryl Crow Summer Tour with her fleet of bio diesel vehicles and her flights to all her various venues urging us to use cloth v. paper napkins and limiting our use of toilet paper.
Hey Sheryl, can you spare a square?
Compassion
I just read a good piece in the WSJ (subscribers only) regarding the publics' commitment to helping those with obvious mental illness.
It's now clear that the Va Tech shooter was having obvious mental problems. However, ever since the 1980's, when several liberal court rulings determined we couldn't commit someone to a mental health institution unless they were an imminent threat to themselves or others, we now have a population of homeless and otherwise troubled people who are ticking time bombs for problems.
For those liberals who pride themselves on compassion for the less fortunate, here's a question. Would society be more or less compassionate towards the mentally ill if they forcibly incarcerated someone like Va Tech shooter? Someone who showed definite emotional problems that may not have arisen to the "threat to themselves or others" standard.
I bet the shooter's and the victims' families wish we were so not compassionate.
It's now clear that the Va Tech shooter was having obvious mental problems. However, ever since the 1980's, when several liberal court rulings determined we couldn't commit someone to a mental health institution unless they were an imminent threat to themselves or others, we now have a population of homeless and otherwise troubled people who are ticking time bombs for problems.
For those liberals who pride themselves on compassion for the less fortunate, here's a question. Would society be more or less compassionate towards the mentally ill if they forcibly incarcerated someone like Va Tech shooter? Someone who showed definite emotional problems that may not have arisen to the "threat to themselves or others" standard.
I bet the shooter's and the victims' families wish we were so not compassionate.
NFL Draft
Who is the player shown to the side? If you're like 90% of normal football fans you wouldn't know but this is Steve Emtman, the number pick in the 1992 draft.
He adds to a great list of other bad number one picks Ki-Jana Carter, Dan Wilkinson, Kenneth Sims, Aundray Bruce, Courtney Brown & Walt Putalski.
These were all "slam dunk" picks. "Difference makers", "Can't misses", etc. as proclaimed by the various draft gurus Mel Kiper, Jerry Jones, etc.
If you are one of the people that head to your local sports bar and watch the draft for three hours with a bunch of buddies, here's a hint; you are a loser.
Here's my prediction for the draft this weekend. Every team will make their picks, each owner, coach, general manager will tell the media they had a good draft and filled their needs and by the end of August half of the picks will be off their teams.
If you want to be entertained this weekend, go down to Liberty and Vine and dodge some bullets.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
PBS hatchet job II
An after thought about last night's Bill Moyer report.
The show was critical of the media's chumminess with government officials. I couldn't agree more with that premise.
In the old days of Major League Baseball, the beat writers were paid by the baseball teams. Over time, papers decided that there was inherent conflict of interest for writers to be paid by the teams.
But it is really no different today. Sure the teams no longer pay the writers but in order to be able to get the good stories, writers, too often, chum it up with the players/managers/owner and even allow themselves to be used by these people to leak information the player/managers /owner wants, all in the pretense of getting closer to the "big story".
The writers ultimately become too close to the teams and never want to write anything that may upset the apple cart (thus they get shut out of any information) so we, the media consumer, get watered down puff pieces passed by "journalists" as news.
It's no different for DC insiders. The whole beltway is nothing but a citizenry of pimps and whores. All too often, big media is positioned to "whore" the information that people in the know want them to deliver.
It was clear from the report last night that Judith Miller, formerly, of the NY Times and "Scootergate", was just such a tool for the administration to get out the information they wanted.
The fact of the matter is, the days of true Watergate style reporting are over and they have been for some time. None of the DC insiders want to do anything that jeopardizes their invitation to the next National Press Core function and none want to do anything to destroy their sources.
As a result, the DC bureaucrats, will keep using their classified knowledge and their pimp/whore relationship with the media to advance the cause or destroy the cause of our elected officials; hence the whole Joe Wilson/Valerie Plame affair.
So when I hear a "journalist" like Dan Rather rip the accuracy of blogger information, I have to laugh.
What's the frequency Kenneth?
The show was critical of the media's chumminess with government officials. I couldn't agree more with that premise.
In the old days of Major League Baseball, the beat writers were paid by the baseball teams. Over time, papers decided that there was inherent conflict of interest for writers to be paid by the teams.
But it is really no different today. Sure the teams no longer pay the writers but in order to be able to get the good stories, writers, too often, chum it up with the players/managers/owner and even allow themselves to be used by these people to leak information the player/managers /owner wants, all in the pretense of getting closer to the "big story".
The writers ultimately become too close to the teams and never want to write anything that may upset the apple cart (thus they get shut out of any information) so we, the media consumer, get watered down puff pieces passed by "journalists" as news.
It's no different for DC insiders. The whole beltway is nothing but a citizenry of pimps and whores. All too often, big media is positioned to "whore" the information that people in the know want them to deliver.
It was clear from the report last night that Judith Miller, formerly, of the NY Times and "Scootergate", was just such a tool for the administration to get out the information they wanted.
The fact of the matter is, the days of true Watergate style reporting are over and they have been for some time. None of the DC insiders want to do anything that jeopardizes their invitation to the next National Press Core function and none want to do anything to destroy their sources.
As a result, the DC bureaucrats, will keep using their classified knowledge and their pimp/whore relationship with the media to advance the cause or destroy the cause of our elected officials; hence the whole Joe Wilson/Valerie Plame affair.
So when I hear a "journalist" like Dan Rather rip the accuracy of blogger information, I have to laugh.
What's the frequency Kenneth?
PBS hatchet job
Yesterday, I noted that the Frontline show on global warming wasn't necessarily a Bush hit piece. Well that came last night on Bill Moyer's show.
The show was supposed to be on the press' lack of candor on what they knew to be lies from the Bush "regime" on the war. Most of the information these reporters had was based on CIA "intelligence".
Here's what we know about the CIA. It's dominated by liberal bureaucrats whose sole mission is to create a need then fill it and that their pre war intelligence was abysmal at best.
But, just like global warming, they failed to answer the fundamental question regarding the Iraq War..... What was the motivation for the Bush Administration to pursue a war based on "lies" and why would John Howard & Tony Blair follow suit?
The liberal mantra is that it was all about oil. But if it was all about oil, the Bushies could have simply lifted the sanctions on Iraqi oil exports.
There's much more to it than that. Even in the special, they showed clips of the neo cons and other pols advancing the cause of eliminating Saddam prior to 9/11. So it appears to me that there is information the public does not know that made it imperative to have a fundamental regime change in Iraq.
I'm no fan of Bush on this war because he's failed time and time again to communicate to the American people why it's necessary to spill American blood in a country that we had contained in some matter.
After the past few nights of watching PBS, at least I got to see first hand how our tax dollars are used for "independent news coverage".
The show was supposed to be on the press' lack of candor on what they knew to be lies from the Bush "regime" on the war. Most of the information these reporters had was based on CIA "intelligence".
Here's what we know about the CIA. It's dominated by liberal bureaucrats whose sole mission is to create a need then fill it and that their pre war intelligence was abysmal at best.
But, just like global warming, they failed to answer the fundamental question regarding the Iraq War..... What was the motivation for the Bush Administration to pursue a war based on "lies" and why would John Howard & Tony Blair follow suit?
The liberal mantra is that it was all about oil. But if it was all about oil, the Bushies could have simply lifted the sanctions on Iraqi oil exports.
There's much more to it than that. Even in the special, they showed clips of the neo cons and other pols advancing the cause of eliminating Saddam prior to 9/11. So it appears to me that there is information the public does not know that made it imperative to have a fundamental regime change in Iraq.
I'm no fan of Bush on this war because he's failed time and time again to communicate to the American people why it's necessary to spill American blood in a country that we had contained in some matter.
After the past few nights of watching PBS, at least I got to see first hand how our tax dollars are used for "independent news coverage".
CVG
As we all know, it's expensive to fly out of Cincinnati. Second only to Anchorage, Alaska. The situation at CVG is a classic example of what happens when one entity has a monopoly on the market. But on the other hand, it's unlikely that Cincinnati would ever have such a large selection of non-stop flights to so many cities if this wasn't a major Delta hub.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Pat Forde's Cincinnati
Pat Forde thinks Cincinnati is weird. Didn't we already know that?
"There is no easy explanation for this place. Cincinnati is a cocktail of contradictions, a town too conflicted for easy labeling. Its outside doesn't readily match its inside, making this a real-life Wisteria Lane: What looks like quintessentially normal America seems to have a ragingly weird undercurrent sluicing through it.
It is famously conservative and proudly prudish, yet it launched the porn career of Larry Flynt and once elected Jerry Springer as its mayor. (Springer later ran for governor, and part of his campaign was a TV ad wherein he admitted paying for a hooker -- with a check.)
The metro area population is around 2 million, placing it in the top 25 nationally, and there are many major corporations located here. But its residents admit that Cincinnati is as likely to think small as it is to think big: resistant to change, wary of the outside world and happy within its own cultural cocoon.
For comparison's sake to other cities, Cincinnatians might need to get out more. Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer says he has neighbors in his suburb whose idea of a vacation is to go downtown and stay in a hotel. "
"There is no easy explanation for this place. Cincinnati is a cocktail of contradictions, a town too conflicted for easy labeling. Its outside doesn't readily match its inside, making this a real-life Wisteria Lane: What looks like quintessentially normal America seems to have a ragingly weird undercurrent sluicing through it.
It is famously conservative and proudly prudish, yet it launched the porn career of Larry Flynt and once elected Jerry Springer as its mayor. (Springer later ran for governor, and part of his campaign was a TV ad wherein he admitted paying for a hooker -- with a check.)
The metro area population is around 2 million, placing it in the top 25 nationally, and there are many major corporations located here. But its residents admit that Cincinnati is as likely to think small as it is to think big: resistant to change, wary of the outside world and happy within its own cultural cocoon.
For comparison's sake to other cities, Cincinnatians might need to get out more. Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer says he has neighbors in his suburb whose idea of a vacation is to go downtown and stay in a hotel. "
Why the Internet is so Great
The internet, probably the greatest invention by Al Gore since global warming.
Outside of Google Earth and some GPS software which allows me to keep tabs on Shania Twain 24/7, the next best thing is Retrosheet.org which has the box score of every single baseball game played.
I couldn't remember much about about the first baseball game I ever went to outside of it being in the nosebleed section of Riverfront Stadium, we got there late, the Reds played the Pirates and beat on John Candelaria; or at least that's how I remember it.
The site let's you cross reference any box score you may want by player, team, umpire, date, etc. It's awesome.
My memory was pretty clear on the game. The Reds had to have won by a dozen runs. It turns out they only won 5-3.
Outside of Google Earth and some GPS software which allows me to keep tabs on Shania Twain 24/7, the next best thing is Retrosheet.org which has the box score of every single baseball game played.
I couldn't remember much about about the first baseball game I ever went to outside of it being in the nosebleed section of Riverfront Stadium, we got there late, the Reds played the Pirates and beat on John Candelaria; or at least that's how I remember it.
The site let's you cross reference any box score you may want by player, team, umpire, date, etc. It's awesome.
My memory was pretty clear on the game. The Reds had to have won by a dozen runs. It turns out they only won 5-3.
NY Bat Ban
From the "don't they have something better to do" department.
The city of New York passed a law by a 41-4 vote banning the use of aluminum bats for youth baseball leagues. What's interesting, is the vote was after Mike "RINO" Bloomberg vetoed the bill in the first place.
I guess ridding the city of the obnoxious tings of aluminum bats is more important than rats in Taco Bells.
The city of New York passed a law by a 41-4 vote banning the use of aluminum bats for youth baseball leagues. What's interesting, is the vote was after Mike "RINO" Bloomberg vetoed the bill in the first place.
I guess ridding the city of the obnoxious tings of aluminum bats is more important than rats in Taco Bells.
Global Warming Good News
Finally, something good to come out of the warming earth.
Spinal Tap is planning a reunion as part of the Live Earth concert in London.
Hopefully they'll whip out all those Stonehenge props for the show.
Frontline
Against my better judgment, I watched the Frontline piece on global warming last night. I typically pass on Frontline because it's normally a publicly funded hit piece on conservatives.
However, last night I thought they were pretty fair. They spent as much time banging on Clinton/Gore than the Bushies.
The interview that most caught my attention was with a researcher who came out with a report prior to the Brazil conference in the early 90's. The interviewer sought to discredit him because his research was funded by energy groups. This was his response (roughly quoting) "90% of all academicians are registered democrats. They already start with the paradigm that human consumption of natural resources is wrong; are you questioning their influence from government money?"
I realize this piece was predominately related to the political side of the issue. However, despite all the information I have read on this issue, I have yet to get some of the basic questions answered on the subject. (see my post from January)
Related to the issue is a great guest piece in the Enquirer where a reader points out that we've so politicized the issue that we are all skeptical of the "scientific" results reported in the media. The writer mentions other scientific scares that never materialized. He forgot to add African killer bees, SARS, & Bird Flu.
However, last night I thought they were pretty fair. They spent as much time banging on Clinton/Gore than the Bushies.
The interview that most caught my attention was with a researcher who came out with a report prior to the Brazil conference in the early 90's. The interviewer sought to discredit him because his research was funded by energy groups. This was his response (roughly quoting) "90% of all academicians are registered democrats. They already start with the paradigm that human consumption of natural resources is wrong; are you questioning their influence from government money?"
I realize this piece was predominately related to the political side of the issue. However, despite all the information I have read on this issue, I have yet to get some of the basic questions answered on the subject. (see my post from January)
Related to the issue is a great guest piece in the Enquirer where a reader points out that we've so politicized the issue that we are all skeptical of the "scientific" results reported in the media. The writer mentions other scientific scares that never materialized. He forgot to add African killer bees, SARS, & Bird Flu.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
I chose not to vote!
Back in November there was a tight congressional race in Florida District 13 (Sarasota, et al) where a disproportionate number of ballots came back with no votes for either candidate. It was inconceivable to the politicians that people would not vote for either candidate.
Well they've found a solution for the problem... an "I chose not to vote" option on the ballot. It's good to see that politicians trust the voters so much. And it's reassuring to know that candidate "I chose not to vote", "could not win a race".
"Hoping to prevent a repeat, [Bennett] persuaded the Senate Ethics and Elections committee to approve a bill, SB-494, on Monday that would require ballots to have the additional option of 'I choose not to vote.' That option could not win a race, and the actual candidate with the highest number of votes would win the election.
Bennett, R-Bradenton, said the no-choice option would enable uninformed or disgusted voters to opt out in a way that clearly displays their intention to abstain for elections officials. "
Well they've found a solution for the problem... an "I chose not to vote" option on the ballot. It's good to see that politicians trust the voters so much. And it's reassuring to know that candidate "I chose not to vote", "could not win a race".
"Hoping to prevent a repeat, [Bennett] persuaded the Senate Ethics and Elections committee to approve a bill, SB-494, on Monday that would require ballots to have the additional option of 'I choose not to vote.' That option could not win a race, and the actual candidate with the highest number of votes would win the election.
Bennett, R-Bradenton, said the no-choice option would enable uninformed or disgusted voters to opt out in a way that clearly displays their intention to abstain for elections officials. "
American Political Knowledge
A Washington Post-ABC News poll found that two-thirds of Americans believe that Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales' firing of eight U.S. attorneys was "politically motivated."
Your kidding me right? I'm going to do a random poll of my own the next few days to determine how many people can even tell me who Alberto Gonzales is. If 10% got it right, I'd probably fall on my butt from disbelief.
Here's a piece by Jonah Goldberg in which he states the obvious, how can we trust the non informed public to make important policy decisions.
Your kidding me right? I'm going to do a random poll of my own the next few days to determine how many people can even tell me who Alberto Gonzales is. If 10% got it right, I'd probably fall on my butt from disbelief.
Here's a piece by Jonah Goldberg in which he states the obvious, how can we trust the non informed public to make important policy decisions.
CPS lays off 99 teachers
Cincinnati Public Schools plans to lay off 99 teachers for the next school year as well as some psychologists and social workers.
Obviously, some teachers needed to go as the school district is losing students year after year. The one thing of interest to me is this. How come no administrators or principals lost their jobs? This is the main reason I cannot stand the government provided services. I went to a high school that had five, count 'em 5, principals. After about 20 teachers lost their jobs in that high school you know how many principals remained? If you guessed five you would be correct.
When it's all said and done, teacher to student is what education is all about. Everyone else is an add on as far as I'm concerned. But this is what school districts do to blackmail a community into passing levies.
Pete Bronson has a piece about Milford City Schools and their hostile relationship with the community they are supposed to serve.
In their case, despite a 1.8 million dollar surplus the school forced athletes and bands to pay $175 to $250 when the district rejected it's last levy. When parent groups offered to set up a fund raising group to cover the expense, the school district rejected the proposal.
I'm glad everyone remembered that it's all for the kids.
Obviously, some teachers needed to go as the school district is losing students year after year. The one thing of interest to me is this. How come no administrators or principals lost their jobs? This is the main reason I cannot stand the government provided services. I went to a high school that had five, count 'em 5, principals. After about 20 teachers lost their jobs in that high school you know how many principals remained? If you guessed five you would be correct.
When it's all said and done, teacher to student is what education is all about. Everyone else is an add on as far as I'm concerned. But this is what school districts do to blackmail a community into passing levies.
Pete Bronson has a piece about Milford City Schools and their hostile relationship with the community they are supposed to serve.
In their case, despite a 1.8 million dollar surplus the school forced athletes and bands to pay $175 to $250 when the district rejected it's last levy. When parent groups offered to set up a fund raising group to cover the expense, the school district rejected the proposal.
I'm glad everyone remembered that it's all for the kids.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Cause Celebre'
Have you ever noticed that whenever a cause comes to the "conscience " of the music types, the only ones who show up are the same people. Elton John, George Michael, Sting, etc. Do you ever see the Stones at one of these things?
For me, it always looks like these people are looking to jump start their from the "cause".
I guess Sheryl Crow can now join the list. It does seem like it's been years since she's had a hit and it weren't for her relationship with Lance Armstrong she wouldn't be in the papers at all. So maybe the Global Warming Bio Diesel Tour can help out ole Sheryl.
Look for her at the next Save the Rain Forest, Help the Homeless or Kill a Republican concert near you.
Free Ride
Last week, local amusement park Kings Island, was getting all kinds of flack after it decided to stop paying for special buses to transport teens with jobs at the park up from Cincinnati. In past summers, city teens have been able to use the buses as transportation to work at the park during the summer months. The buses ran on schedules that matched the shift times. Late last week, the city of Cincinnati and the park worked out a deal where the city pays about two-thirds and the park one-third of the costs.
First off… it's Kings Island's right to stop financing this benefit. It's the bottom line. They're in business to make money and if it's not beneficial financially for them, they have every right to cancel it. If it is financially beneficial, than Kings Island made a mistake in canceling the service.
But what bugs me the most about it is the special treatment that is being made for kids in the city at the expense of Kings Island and now the city taxpayer. It's assumed by everyone that someone else should be responsible for getting kids living in the city to work. If a young girl out in Brown County wants to work at the park, she has to find a way to get there herself. She doesn't have the advantage of access to a bus that will come to her town, pick her up in time to get to her shift and then take her back home when it's over. I had to find a way into work myself this morning. My company didn't have a limo waiting in my driveway to make sure I got in on time. When did publicly financed transportation to a summer job become a right?
First off… it's Kings Island's right to stop financing this benefit. It's the bottom line. They're in business to make money and if it's not beneficial financially for them, they have every right to cancel it. If it is financially beneficial, than Kings Island made a mistake in canceling the service.
But what bugs me the most about it is the special treatment that is being made for kids in the city at the expense of Kings Island and now the city taxpayer. It's assumed by everyone that someone else should be responsible for getting kids living in the city to work. If a young girl out in Brown County wants to work at the park, she has to find a way to get there herself. She doesn't have the advantage of access to a bus that will come to her town, pick her up in time to get to her shift and then take her back home when it's over. I had to find a way into work myself this morning. My company didn't have a limo waiting in my driveway to make sure I got in on time. When did publicly financed transportation to a summer job become a right?
In God We Trust
Isn't it ironic that public colleges and universities are constantly trying to limit religious expression, evangelism groups and any references to God? But the first thing they do when a tragedy occurs is schedule prayer services and ask the country to pray. Who are they praying to...
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