Saturday, July 05, 2008

Joey Wins Again

Takeru Kobayashi, of Japan, and Joey Chestnut battle to eat the most hot dogs in under ten minutes in the annual hot dog eating contest in New York.

Word on the street is Gordon will participate in next year's giant soft pretzel eating contest (with cheese on the side).

Thursday, July 03, 2008

Faceless Faces

Word has it the faceless peeps showing up around London are actually Mr and Mrs Gekko. No word yet on how Gordon scarfs down giant soft pretzels with no mouth available.

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Gas Prices


Rene Marie

A jazz singer shocked some Denver residents after replacing the words to the national anthem with those of the "Black National Anthem" during the annual State of the City address this week.

Rene Marie was asked to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" before Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper delivered the annual address on Tuesday. Instead, she sang the lyrics of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" — a hymn commonly referred to as the "Black National Anthem" — to the tune of the national anthem, MyFOXColorado.com reported.

More...

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

Hymns are being replaced at funerals in one Australian city by popular rock classics like Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" and AC/DC's "Highway to Hell," a cemetery manager said Wednesday.

At Centennial Park, the largest cemetery and crematorium in the southern city of Adelaide, only two hymns still rank among its top 10 most popular funeral songs: "Amazing Grace" and "Abide With Me."

Leading the funeral chart is crooner Frank Sinatra's classic hit "My Way," followed by Louis Armstrong's version of "Wonderful World," a statement said.

The Led Zeppelin and AC/DC rock anthems rank outside the top 10, but have gained ground in recent years as more Australians give up traditional Christian hymns.

"Some of the more unusual songs we hear actually work very well within the service because they represent the person's character," Centennial Park chief executive Bryan Elliott said.
Among other less conventional choices were "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" by the Monty Python comedy team, "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead," "Hit the Road Jack," "Another One Bites the Dust" and "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead."

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Who Will He Vote For? #18

A Bellevue man will spend six months behind bars after police say he was caught on tape having sex with a picnic table.

Art Price, Jr., 40, has now pleaded no contest last week to several misdemeanor charges.
Police in Huron County say a neighbor secretly taped price on four different days this year.

They say the tape shows him walking out onto his back deck in broad daylight, at times completely naked, standing at a round, metal table on its side and having sex with it.

Police say it was all out in the open and within eyesight of Ridge Elementary School and its playground.

I guess these jobs don't count


For you "progressive" types, I have a question for you. What do you say to the people who once worked in this pay day loan operation that boarded up shop after the guv signed the payday loan bill?

When it's all said and done you really don't give a shit, do you?

No, you and your "progressive" buddies will sit around and pat each others back and refill your glasses of pinot noir because you helped shut down this business that exploits the poor. And after all, you help the poor.

And the things that's most nauseating about you douche bags, not one of you ever went into this store, you never knew a customer, you never knew an employee or owner but somehow you found it necessary "in your own holier than thou world" to make sure these relationships ceased.

Congratulations. You can go back to your arugula quiche and merlot now.

More Rush


Gordon's pretzel.

Our Supreme Majesty Kennedy

Rich Lowery on the self appointed King of the US, Justice Kennedy.
Why did the Founders bother toiling in the summer heat of Philadelphia in 1787 writing a Constitution when they could have relied on the consciences of Supreme Court justices like Anthony Kennedy instead?

Kennedy is the Supreme Court's most important swing vote and its worst justice. Whatever else you think of them, a Justice Scalia or Ginsburg has a consistent judicial philosophy, while Kennedy expects the nation to bend to his moral whimsy. With apologies to Louis XIV, Kennedy might as well declare "la constitution, c'est moi!"

In a 2005 interview, Kennedy said of the Court, "You know, in any given year, we may make more important decisions than the legislative branch does -- precluding foreign affairs, perhaps." (He was wise to include the "perhaps," in light of the recent Guantanamo Bay decision.) He went on to note how judges need "an understanding that you have an opportunity to shape the destiny of the country."

So much for the country's destiny being shaped by a free people acting through their representative institutions, within certain constraints it enshrines in the Constitution. That wouldn't allow nearly enough room for what Jeffrey Rosen, in a devastating profile of the justice in The New Republic, calls Kennedy's "self-dramatizing moralism."

On any politically charged case, we are supposed to wait with bated breath while the famously agonizing Kennedy decides which side he is going to bless with his coveted fifth vote. In so doing, Kennedy believes he is, in Rosen's description, creating "a national consensus about American values that will usher in what he calls 'the golden age of peace.'" Observers less besotted with Justice Kennedy than Justice Kennedy might put it differently: making it up as he goes along.

The US Supremes..... "We make it up as we go along".

Bluer than Blue

How are things in Blue Country?

Sales taxes in Chicago are now the highest in the nation, and business leaders are furious.

As CBS 2's Joanie Lum reports, a 1 percent sales tax increase is in effect Tuesday, hiking the sales tax in the city of Chicago to 10.25 percent. By comparison, the sales tax in Lake and Will counties is 7 percent, and in DuPage County, it's 7.25 percent.

A sales tax of 10.25 percent is also significantly higher than the sales tax in other major cities. The next highest rate in the country is in Memphis at 9.25 percent. New York, Los Angeles and Dallas all have a sales tax of under 8.3 percent, Phoenix has a tax of 6.3 percent, and Denver's sales tax is only 3.6 percent.

The Cook County Board voted to raise the sales tax at the end of February, after a five-month stalemate on the 2008 budget. Board President Todd Stroger and his supporters ultimately prevailed, saying the tax hike was necessary to provide health care and other services.

The tax hike applies to everything but groceries, medicine, cars and boats. For larger purchases like furniture or appliances, the taxes can add up.

It will definitely be cheaper to shop in the suburbs. Buy a $500 TV in DuPage County where the taxes are 6.75 percent and you'll pay $534, in Chicago where the taxes are 9 percent, you'll pay $545 for that same television, and when taxes increase to 10.25 percent, you'll pay $551.

For that reason, businesses are concerned that consumers will leave Cook County to make purchases.

And people wonder why guys like me give up on the city and move to the 'burbs. It's the taxes dumbass.

Free Will (Live)

From an older concert tour as you can tell from the clothes dryers instead of the chicken ovens.

What a Rush


The guys from taxmanblog invaded the Rush show last night.

I've seen probably well over 100 concerts over my years and I have to say Rush puts on the best total show I've seen, over Springsteen, KISS, AC/DC, etc.

They're one of the few bands who emphasize video & lighting as part of the show. It's three hours of big time rock and roll; no power ballads here.

The only downside to a Rush show.... a lot of their songs are epics so you're going to be waiting a while for the next tune or you can run to the john and get another beer.

Concert notes....

1) The videos with Jerry Stiller, Jeffrey Tambor, South Park & Bob and Doug McKenzie were awesome.
2) Those lights that hover over the band eerily remind me of the battle scenes in Terminator. Just don't bring any clowns on stage, I might get really freaked out.
3) Ladies, if you want to meet a man, a Rush show is the place to be; about 90-10 men over women.
4) This was my second show and they finally played something off of 2112. And why no Working Man?
5) They still have the rotisserie chickens on stage (look behind Geddy Lee in the photo.). What's up with that? The whole night I was looking to do a road trip to Boston Market.
6) They're the best thing to come out of Canada. Actually, the only other good thing to come out of Canada is Canadian Bacon.
7) Madonna's in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and these guys aren't? Huh?

Obamamania - Catch it

Monday, June 30, 2008

What are beliefs for?

The Terminator on California's gay marriage issue.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says it's a "waste of time" to try to get an anti-gay marriage measure on the November ballot.

Schwarzenegger has told NBC's "Meet the Press" that he personally feels marriage should be between a man and a woman, but he doesn't want to force his belief on anyone.


Out of curiosity Ahnauld, when you tax Californians more than they want to be taxed is that "forcing your beliefs on anyone"?

How about when you refuse to drill off the coast is that "forcing your beliefs on anyone"?

Maybe when you increase CAFE standards on CA automobiles, is that "forcing your beliefs on anyone"?

When you veto a budget bill is that "forcing your beliefs on anyone"?

Someone needs to tell the Guv that his whole job is about forcing his beliefs on everyone.

More "progressive" hypocrisy

On equal pay for women....
While Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has vowed to make pay equity for women a top priority if elected president, an analysis of his Senate staff shows that women are outnumbered and out-paid by men.

That is in contrast to Republican presidential candidate John McCain's Senate office, where women, for the most part, out-rank and are paid more than men.

Obama spoke in Albuquerque, N.M. last week about his commitment to the issue and his support of a Senate bill to make it easier to sue an employer for pay discrimination.

"Mr. McCain is an honorable man, we respect his service. But when you look at our records and our plans on issues that matter to working women, the choice could not be clearer," Obama told the audience in New Mexico, a voter-swing state. "It starts with equal pay. Sixty-two percent of working women in America earn half or more than of their family's income. But women still earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by men in 2008. You'd think that Washington would be united it its determination to fight for equal pay."

snip

On average, women working in Obama's Senate office were paid at least $6,000 below the average man working for the Illinois senator. That's according to data calculated from the Report of the Secretary of the Senate, which covered the six-month period ending Sept. 30, 2007. Of the five people in Obama's Senate office who were paid $100,000 or more on an annual basis, only one -- Obama's administrative manager -- was a woman.

The average pay for the 33 men on Obama's staff (who earned more than $23,000, the lowest annual salary paid for non-intern employees) was $59,207. The average pay for the 31 women on Obama's staff who earned more than $23,000 per year was $48,729.91. (The average pay for all 36 male employees on Obama's staff was $55,962; and the average pay for all 31 female employees was $48,729. The report indicated that Obama had only one paid intern during the period, who was a male.)

So he's going to force the public to do what he's not willing to do? That's kind of Messiah like.

A Friday Funny

It's not Friday but I thought this was hilarious none the less.

Read the captions on the video.

Blog of the week

Here's a great blog about all things Lancaster, Ohio; Crabby Fat Guy.

Since Mrs. Gekko and I will be spending some time this week up near my home town, this one seems appropriate.

You gotta love a blog that references Leo's Bier Haus; the place Gordon drank his first legal beer.

Anti science "progressives"

In a Pot Kettle Black article by a liberal, apparently he's concerned that conservatives are "anti science".
Conservatives put on a spectacular display of scientific ignorance this month in the U.S. Senate. During the debate on the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act, which would regulate carbon dioxide by setting a cap on emissions and allowing emitters to trade carbon allowances, most Republican senators questioned the reality of human-caused climate change or ignored the climate threat entirely and repeated the talking point that the bill would raise gasoline and electricity prices. It was as if they had been locked in an isolation booth for the past decade. Let's go to the highlights.
  • Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla.: "The vast majority of scientists do not believe that anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are a major contributor to climate change."
  • Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.: This bill means "people must turn off air-conditioning in the summer."
  • Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.: "This bill will attack citizens at the pump" and "increase job losses."
  • Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.: This bill will "leave us less competitive in the world marketplace."
  • Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.: This bill "could bankrupt U.S. air carriers."
  • Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo.: "Nobody in their right mind" believes we can get half our power from wind and solar or drive a "fleet of golf carts."
  • Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo.: "It's unclear as to what the long-range trend is as far as the temperature of the Earth is concerned."
  • Conservatives sure are good at staying on message, even one that has no basis in fact. None of their scientific or technological claims is true and most of the economic claims are a wild exaggeration based on studies funded by fossil fuel companies. This may be a defining moment for humanity according to the world's increasingly desperate climate scientists, but to many conservatives it's apparently just another moment to score political points at the expense of future generations.


    A couple of things for Mr. Science.

    First, conservatives are still waiting for the "science" on global warming. Maybe the priest of global warming, Al Gore, will allow some critical questions as to this "science" some day.

    Second, I think you'll find liberals are the ones most likely to ignore science; like the law of supply and demand, law of diminishing marginal utility etc. When it comes to the economic policies, they like to think they can over rule the law of gravity.

    By the way, the score of the global warming challenge through 6/29.

    Warm 180
    Cool 193

    We are now half way through the global warming challenge and I'm more than willing to extend the challenge to any liberal willing to take a $100 bucks from me.

    See, in my very unscientific mind, the challenge is a 50-50 proposition. But if you are a global warming believer, what could be better than taking $100.00 from a conservative heretic; it's a slam dunk. You can even use the money to buy some carbon offsets somewhere near the Al Gore estate.

    Well, except for the first six months of this year. I guess that was just some sort of variance that actually proves global warming.

    Obamamania - Catch it

    Meet Midas & Gordon

    In a rare joint appearance together, Midas and Gordon will be at the Rush show tonight singing our praises for the Ayn Rand inspired tunes from 2112.

    Since both of us are happily married, we won't sign any autographs on body parts that need a covering; that includes the guys.