A phony?

This man is a phony?

Apparently, his campaign is rebutting claims that Heir Hair is a phony.

Here's one I want to see his campaign rebut ....

He's a tort attorney!

What I don't get is why they don't have to register like child molesters.

Hey Baby, want to come to my place?

If/when Hillary gets the DNC nomination, expect lots of good ole stories about Bill and his latest trysts.

At least Bill is getting his new ho's from Canada and they're good looking.

This is Belinda Stronach. Look for her in a People magazine near you.

Levy Passage

The Middletown School levy failed yesterday after it was defeated in May.

Question, how is that when you voted against something just three months ago it gets back on a special election?

It seems to me when you vote against something it should take at least a year before that same issue comes up again.

If the public schools want the "public" to be more sensitive to their funding, they need to do a few things first.

1) Start a tax exempt, non profit organization for the purposes of funding a particular area of the school (ie extracurriculars, libraries, etc.) and aggressively seek funding from corporate and individual donors.

2) Do festivals just like the Catholic Schools, complete with booze and gambling. Not only are these fund raisers, they allow people like myself to actually go into the schools and see their condition. It actually makes the school a more personal asset.

3) Aggressively use the schools for neighborhood activities. I was heavily involved in a community group some years ago and one evening we need a room the size of a classroom for one of our meetings. Could we have it in a public school? We couldn't even get a return call from a principal. We had the meeting at the local Catholic school. Who do you think is more in the public favor after that?

4) Set up community repair days for the schools, just like a Habitat for Humanity project. Call on local churches and community groups to go into the schools and paint or make minor repairs.

5) Set up a parent oversight committee (and subsequent representation on a school board) to go over budgets and recommend changes in the way school money is spent.

As a taxpayer with no school age children, here's the information I get regarding the local public schools.

1) You're not welcome here.
2) We're the professionals..... you pay us to do all this.
3) Our students are ding dongs with lots of self esteem.

In essence, here is the contract public school officials want with voters........ Give us more money and, in return, we'll give you no accountability and we'll keep delivering dumb students.

I can't imagine why people don't line up for that deal.

Have some pride today

Maybe one of the most ignored and abused rights noted in the US Constitution is the right to assembly. I interpret that to mean if I want to have a group that excludes women, men, black white, gay, straight, kids, seniors, ugly, beautiful, I should be permitted to do so.

1st Amendment

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

In addition, I believe inherent in this right is the right not to be forced to be a part of a group you don't want to be in. Leave it to the people of "freedom" to force four fire fighters in San Diego to participate in a gay pride parade.

King's Right has some commentary on the issue.

Congrats Barry...

I'm sure you're proud.

For one spectacular moment, Barry Bonds and everybody cheering him could forget about the controversy surrounding his chase and appreciate the phenomenal feat: 756.

Nobody in the majors -- not Hank Aaron, not Babe Ruth -- has ever hit more home runs than the San Francisco star.

On Tuesday night, in his home ballpark, it didn't matter how many of them might have been fueled by steroids or performance-enhancers. Bonds has the title of home run king all to himself, ending Aaron's 33-year reign.

Cheater...

Jeni Lee in the Slammer

Jeni Lee Dinkel gets the slammer. It's a good thing we're throwing all these child molesters in the clink. I know I feel safer.

When she registers as a sex offender, do you think she'll have a lawn full of people protesting her presence in the neighborhood?

Maybe Dylan Klebold will show up

James Taranto has a interesting read about a rally this fall at Va Tech.

According to the press release Dave Matthews , John Mayer and Nas will perform at the show which will "honor Virginia Tech's enduring Hokie Spirit".

Here are some of the lyrics one of Nas' songs

One 44, two 45's
3 loaded clips, 4 niggas roll, one nigga drives
500 Benz, 6 reasons why
This kid should die
We shootin every m-----f---er outside
Pulled on his block, jumped out the car, guns in our hand
At the same time everybody ran
There that nigga go, hiding in the crowd
Let the trigger blow, 7 shots now he lying on the ground

Too bad the Columbine kids weren't around to honor Tech as well.

More

Happy 4000

As a result of looking over the 4,000 hits on the blog, I decided to see where this blog ranks in terms of other blogs.

I'm still new to this game so I was pleased to see that I rank 14,143 out of over 100,000 blogs on the service. The Truth Laid Bear places the blog in the Slimy Mollusc species in their ecosystem. I'm just behind Redstate Rampage and just in front of One Bob's opinion (both SOB bloggers).

I don't know if I should be elated or depressed but my blog ranks just 4 spots above the John Kerry For President 2008 blog.

Regardless, Keep on visiting and I'll keep on posting the things no one wants to read.

I'm so pretty

Elizabeth Edwards on her husband's campaign

"We can't make John black, we can't make him a woman. Those things get you a lot of press......."

Yeah but is it possible to make him a man?

Yeah, better to get your news from the MSM

A while back, I posted on a piece from some clown talking about how the main stream media will always be the place for news over blogs because of the "serious" fact checking done by editors of said publications.

Well, another one bites the dust.

The New Republic scandal has finally hit the fan. If you haven't followed the events it goes like this.

First, an anonymous active army private sends diary to the New Republic.

Second, TNR prints excerpts of these entries despite the obvious sensational claims of the author.

Third, TNR comes out and states all claims have been "fact checked".

Fourth, the unreliable bloggers state the obvious problems with some of the entries. For instance, the writer claims that truck drivers would go out of their way to run over stray dogs even though most people with common sense would know that you're not likely to get a thrill out of running over dogs when the roads are laced with IED's.

Fifth, author "comes out".

Sixth, author signs a sworn statement claiming he made up many of the stories.

The fact is. TNR didn't do a serious "fact check" because all the information fit very nicely into their liberal, anti military paradigm. So why check when we know it's right.

And you wonder why I watch the news in the hopes of watching two hot anchors make out.

I didn't see this on channel 5

If you know me, you know I only watch one news broadcast, WLWT's channel 5 local news. The only reason I watch is that I keep hoping that Sheree and Sandra throw their chairs to the side and go at it.

But then someone told me that they actually do news during that time slot so I watched last night to see if this story was on the broadcast.

25,000 Insurgents Call It Quits

I guess that good news in Iraq wouldn't make it to a news broadcast unless a bunch of soldiers got shot during the story.

4000

Although we've had the blog going since November, I didn't get a counter on the site until about March.

Since we've had the counter, we've had 4000 hits on the site.

I have to admit the whole blogging thing is a lot harder than I originally thought. After the first few months of bitching and moaning rants, you're confronted with having to do something fresh on a daily basis and it is difficult.

While my of my posts are inspired by something I've read from others, I try not to post on it unless I can bring something new to the game; otherwise you can just go to Drudge, RCP, BOTW et al and read it yourself.

I've kind of hit the wall during the dog days of summer, there's not much going on of controversy and the heat's got me panting 24/7.

Regardless, I want to thank Midas for his contribution. Aside from occasional threats of signing up with Cesar Chavez and demanding better working conditions, he's been a great add for the days I just don't have much.

I also want to thank everyone who's checked out the blog; especially those that comment. I think a dialogue of ideas is truly the only way we get to the truth and make the world a better place and when it's all said and done; it doesn't mean anything... but it doesn't mean anything that it doesn't mean anything so let's have a good time.

Barry's Armor

If I'm Clay Hensley, the next time I face Barry Bonds I'm throwing at his head.

An interesting take on Barry's elbow armor:

Beyond his alleged steroid use, Barry Bonds is guilty of the use of something that confers extraordinarily unfair mechanical advantage: the “armor” that he wears on his right elbow.

Amid the press frenzy over Bonds’ unnatural bulk, the true role of the object on his right arm has simply gone unnoticed. This is unfortunate, because by my estimate, Bonds’ front arm “armor” may have contributed no fewer than 75 to 100 home runs to his already steroid-questionable total.Bonds tied Henry Aaron’s home run record of 755 on Saturday night and will go for the new standard this week back at home in San Francisco.

As a student of baseball – and currently a mechanics consultant to a major league baseball team -- I believe I have insight into the Bonds "achievement." I have studied his swing countless times on video and examined the mechanical gear closely through photographs.

More...

Blogger Union

So you start up a blog and just don't feel the public appreciates your work? under paid? no benefits? crappy coffee you have to make yourself?

Well join the local blogger union local 999.

Imagine that. A liberal looking for someone to compensate them for their crappy opinions no one wants to read anyway.

Well hear this Midas. You bring that union crap around here and you'll be posting for the Daily Kos or Democratic Underground because I'm shutting down the blog and moving it to Mexico.

Deterrent

When it comes to the death penalty there is one thing I have in common with the death penalty protesters.

The death penalty is not a deterrent to future criminals.

As an aside, over the weekend I watched Zodiac on DVD. The future Ms. Gekko and I were talking about other serial killers and their nicknames and I couldn't remember the nickname for Richard Ramirez the LA serial killer from the 80's.

So I did a Wikipedia search on old Richard Ramirez. His nickname was the Night Stalker and he was sentenced to death in 1989.

You'd probably think little Richard was toes up by now given that it's all of 18 years since his death sentence. You'd be wrong.

On August 7, 2006 his first round of state appeals ended unsuccessfully when the California Supreme Court upheld his convictions and death sentence.

First round?. Little Ricky is going to die of Alzheimer's before he gets the needle.

When this guy finally gets the needle people are going to say "who's he?" They won't have any memory of the horrific crimes he committed in the early 1980's and criminals won't be able to see their criminal role models bite the dust.

When a criminal knows that he's got a good 20-30 years of life in prison before he dies.... of natural causes, I'm guessing that the death penalty is definitely not a deterrent.

Personal Financial Tip Vol. 12 - Credit Cards

Check out my Tax Tip Blog

Valentine Tax Tips

X-games

Well it was too hot outside to do anything fun, so I thought I'd give the X-Games some time.

As I watched two guys almost kill themselves doing their "sport", I couldn't help but think that my definition of sports still stands.

If you have to judge it.... it's not a sport. I know that you figure skating fans out there will say. You can't do all the moves those people do on ice.

To which I would say, I couldn't drink as much whiskey as a Green Bay ice fisherman either, that doesn't make it a sport.

Just because it's hard doesn't make it a sport and judging leaves too much subjectivity in determining the winners. Too often, it's about reputation over performance. I guess that would make these sports for senators.

So I'll leave with this. You're not a sport unless you actually compete mano a mano or against a clock. No more "judging" things to determine winners... except for the NBA.

Nanny news media

Alert! Danger! It's hot outside!

Keep an eye on your pets and the elderly. Try to get plenty of fluids and avoid alcohol. If you exercise outside, do so in the morning or evening. If there's a smog alert, avoid filling up before the magic hour of 6 pm and combine trips. Don't leave your ice cream in the car for very long.

Geez... if you read the newspaper or watch the TV news, one would think it never gets hot around here in the summer.

Where's the money?

The Sleuths at the Enquirer report this headline.

Where's the bridge money?

Here's a clue for an Enquirer reporter. Maybe the bridge money is in the .30/gal in federal and state road taxes we pay for each and every gallon of gasoline we buy. Wait, look under this shell it's federal, state and local income taxes in the amount of over a trillion per year.

The fact is, the money is and always has been in the hands of government officials who decided long ago that it was more important to fund an Ohio Civil Rights Commission who's only note worthy act was to attempt to put a Mason Bar owner out of business for his "For service, speak English"

I guess having money to watch over those issues is more important than watching about 30 cars slide into the Ohio River.

Yet more bad government

So you want to take the decision making out of the hands of politicians who bend to too many political winds and hand it over to seasoned "professionals" who know what they are doing and not influenced by the electorate?

Here's what you get.

Over at King's Right a decision from the Ohio Civil Rights Commission.

Ohio Civil Rights Commission to propose changes that would strengthen the state's 30-year-old pregnancy discrimination law by guaranteeing all working mothers at least 12 weeks of post-childbirth leave without fear of losing their jobs.

The federal law mandates companies with at least 50 employees to allow new mothers who have worked at least 1,250 hours in the preceding 12 months to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave. The proposed state law would require employers with at least four workers to offer the same 12 weeks of unpaid leave regardless of how long a woman has worked for a company.

The FMLA and the existing state law, which requires companies to give women a "reasonable period of time" off work to care for their newborn, established a good basis for the rights of pregnant employees, More....

Now who do we get to fire for this decision? Who's responsible? Politicians, especially liberal ones love these deals because no one is ever accountable. Then, once the jobs start moving to North Carolina they have a reason to increase taxes to keep up these types of government necessities.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

State of Ohio

Not to be outdone for bad governance, the state of Ohio had to add some BS to the mix.

For an education to the average Joe. Ohio businesses are required to collect Ohio and county sales tax on the sale of taxable goods and services.

As a reward for a business doing the state's job, the state allows the vendor to keep .9 percent of the tax collected. So if you were to collect $500.00 in sales tax for a month you get to keep $4.50 for your trouble.

Keep in mind that if you are late sending it in, it's a minimum $50.00 late fee. So, needless to say, most vendor's would be more than happy to let the state collect their own damn sales tax.

Well vendors recently received notice that the discount was going from .9 percent to a whopping .75%. So that same $500.00 in sales tax gets you a whopping $3.75. You can't get a welfare mom to run across the street for that kind of money. In addition, the state said they would no longer send out notices when the sales tax rate changes. You'll have to know when you ship to Athens county whether or not they have changed their sales tax rate.

Somehow, I don't think businesses in Juarez Mexico have to deal with this circus.

Oh that compassionate government again

Let's begin with the city of Cincinnati Public Schools

This November, voters will be asked to approve a 10 mill levy for operating expenses. The cost to a home owner will be around $300.00 on a $100,000 home.

This is the quote from the article...

The district’s annual operating budget is about $428 million. Projected enrollment for the upcoming school year is 33,809, down by more than 20 percent since 2000.

Anybody done the public school math on this one? This comes to an average of $12,659.35 per student.

Are you out of your freakin' mind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They need another 79 million on top of this?

The quote from anti tax crusader Tom Brinkman says it all “When your opponent’s killing themselves, stand back out of the way.”

Now, the city of Cincinnati.

I'm a libertarian I don't think city government should be in the business of funding parades.

However, it seems to me there are much lesser priorities the city funds in front of the $40,000 the Opening Day parade costs. This an event that really showcases the city and promotes city businesses from Findlay Market to Fifth Street.

This is in addition to the $75,000 Stan Chesley coughed up to keep the city pools opened for the remainder of the summer.

It occurs to me that these should be funded well in front of the $200,000 the city gives to the Underground Freedom Center that no one actually wanted built in the city in the first place.

Ultimately, a philanthropic type person will cough up the money so the parade will go on but it begs the question; if private people can make these things go, why the hell do we need city government in the first place?

Hamilton County

Earlier this year, Hamilton County approved a sales tax increase to build a jail after citizens last November overwhelmingly rejected it.

According to the wisdom of one David Pepper "we got the message last November, that people wanted a larger tax increase to cover more than a just a jail"

HUH?

Well, voters got the increase back on this November's ballot where it will probably go down by a 70-30 vote. I guess that will send the message to Portune and Pepper that they need to increase the tax even more.

With the collapse of that bridge in MN this week on top of the absolute lunacy of the local politics here, I have to ask.... Do you have to be an absolute moron to be a politician today?

Around the Blogger World

Porkopolis has a great analysis of wasted highway spending, which could have rebuilt the MN bridge/

Weapons of Mass Discussion has a neat video of the future Cincinnati City Clowncil.

Bathroom Etiquette - Right on the right

and a Globaloney post by One Bob's Opinion

Pot Kettle Black Award

You just can't make this up.

John "the Breck Girl" Edwards is the recipient of this week's Pot Kettle Black award.

His sin. Calling out Hillary "for taking more than $20,000 in donations from News Corp. officials, arguing that the company's Fox News Channel has a right- wing bias and Democrats should avoid the company."

Except that Heir Hair forgot one little thing

...himself earned at least $800,000 for a book published by one of the media mogul's companies.

The Edwards campaign said the multimillionaire trial lawyer would not return the hefty payout from Murdoch for the book titled "Home: The Blueprints of Our Lives."

The campaign didn't respond to a question from The Post about whether it was hypocritical for Edwards to take money from News Corp. while calling for other candidates not to.

In addition to a $500,000 advance from HarperCollins, which is owned by News Corp., Edwards also was cut a check for $300,000 for expenses.

Look for the Hairball to be hiding behind a woman's skirt near you.

Hat Tip King's Right

Still seething after all these years.

I still cannot believe how upset I am about this whole bridge thing.

After bitching about it to the future Mrs. Gekko she finally asked "What the hell is wrong with you?"

I guess what's wrong with me is that I've been preaching roads, police, & fire for years. These are the basics the government should manage; before retirement benefits, before environmental agencies, before schools, before economic development. And yet we cannot trust that the nearest bridge we are crossing is going to hold up.

Plus, I've been stuck on the Brent Spence bridge after a horrific accident tied up traffic for hours. Drive across the northbound lanes one time and you fully understand that bridge is a death trap notwithstanding an actual collapse and yet everyone just keeps shuffling paper like some magic bridge fairy's going to fix it all.

I appreciate the friendly debate with Dave at Nix Guy. I think it's healthy to debate to advance the cause of better, more responsive, government.

Here are his thoughts.

But if you let the politicians direct the dollars, then we have the problem of money being spent on high-visibility projects while ho-hum things like adequate maintenance get the short thrift.

Bridge-to-nowhere being a prime example.

My conservative principle tells me to resolve the dilemma by pushing the decision making down to the lowest level possible, and trust the professionalism of 95% of the civil engineers out there. They'll get it done if you give them the adequate resources.

First, I'd be all about letting professionals deal with problems. However, what about the EPA? If you give them more money and they'll just bog down bridge construction with ever more litigation. In addition, you have intra agency fighting between NTSB, DOT's and local government's bickering about who's going to pay.

Second, even DOT's run by professionals become quasi lobbying groups. There is no pot big enough to fill all the "needs".

Look at your average school system. They are supposed to budget for capital improvements to maintain their existing infrastructure. School boards then "raid" those funds to pay for general operating costs. Twenty years later, they come back to the voters to fund school construction because the schools they have are falling down dumps.

I was walking through the old Riverfront stadium garage, at the time, all of twenty five years old and saw huuuuuge chunks of concrete laying on the ground. A few weeks later, I read that the city, the people responsible for the maintenance of the stadium, used funds specifically earmarked for maintenance general operations.

DOT's are no different. "We need more inspectors, more engineers, more this, more that". The next thing you know these guys have spent billions yet the infrastructure is falling apart.

At least when we get to vote on the people doling out the money the politician might lose their job, not so with a civil servant. These people are harder to get rid of than cockroaches.

The fact of the matter is, government's, including the pols and bureaucrats, are totally non responsive to the wants and/or needs of the citizens they're supposed to serve. I really thought that after 9/11 all government officials, elected or not, would be more apt to execute the mission(s) for which they were hired to handle.

Instead we get more of the same.

And you want these guys to manage your health care. You've got to be kidding me.

Fire, Police, Roads

NixGuy (I appreciate the link from him to me) has a nice post on the bridges and, contrary to my thoughts, believes there are too many politicians involved in the building of roads and bridges, which is why they take so long.

This is where I disagree with him. Long ago, congress and state reps decided to waive their responsibility for governing by allowing power to exist within government bureaucracies, also known as "agencies"

These bureaucrats are not elected and as a result have no accountability to the wants and needs of the general public.

I just heard Steve Chabot (for the record, one of our best congressmen) on the radio blathering about how the Brent Spence Bridge project had already begun. Bull Crap. If they started digging today on the project it would take 15 years to complete. Within 15 years, that bridge is not only going to be rated "Functionally Obsolete" but "Structurally Deficient". All that's been started by the bureaucrats is "starting to talk about it".

It all gets back to reps making government so big that they can't manage problems like these. If they simply kept government responsibilities to what it should be, roads, police, fire and, for the feds, add defense then we would actually see something happen on these bridges and four people would be alive today.

I'm telling you, I hold every congressman, senator, DOT representative, and state rep responsible for those lives being lost yesterday.

Coincidence?

This morning, I come to the office to be greeted by the remnants of a moltave cocktail that someone threw in my driveway last night.

Of course, being in the suburbs, here comes Bernard P. Fife fresh from a donut break. "Well, I guess we'll put out additional patrols tonight".

Great.... So as my business is melting to the ground, all the cops will be close for a wienie roast.

Given my recent post about how unions screw their members out of their pension money, I just wonder if it was a coincidence or something more deliberate.

Just remember Teamster Thug, I've got your IP address, new security cameras, and plenty of insurance so bring it on.

Congressional Hearings

The more I read about this bridge collapse the angrier I get.

I just wonder if Nancy and Harry will have congressional hearings detailing how something like this could occur?

I'll be keeping track of any developments in congress on the bridge issues and report it here.

Compassionate government?

So you're the person who wants the government to take over our care medical care systems.

Is that the same government that allows this kind of tragedy.

I'm sure this bridge has needed replaced for some time but probably ran into all kinds of delays in funding, environmental studies, who gets political credit, etc., etc., etc.

How would I know?

Because we have this very tragedy brewing right here in the Cincinnati area. The Brent Spence Bridge joins I-71 and I-75 across the Ohio River. The original capacity of this bridge was 80,000 vehicles a year and now traffic exceeds 150,000. It's needed replaced for the past 20 years and we're as close to getting it done today as we were 20 years ago.

At least once a week, a serious accident involving injuries or death occur on this bridge as a result of the increased traffic. Many times these accidents tie up the bridge for hours resulting in lost productivity for the area and it's citizens.

Can you get a politician to address it.

HELL NO!

So if you are one of those idiots that believe compassion can only be measured in how many dollars a government spends ask one of the seven families killed yesterday in the Minneapolis accident how compassionate the government is.

And if you are one of those congressman or senators responsible for funding the replacement of bridges across the country; How can you look at yourself in the mirror knowing you're responsible for this?

Compassion my ass.

Bush starves babies

Stealing healthcare from babies

That's the headline from a Ron Brownstein column in the LA Times. This is your typical canard thrown out by liberals to get their foot in the door and advance a socialist agenda.

To suggest a novel idea that maybe people should pay for their own children's health care is somehow twisted to be "stealing healthcare from babies".

Of course, once the GOP relents (after all, they don't want to be known for stealing babies health care) and passes these stupid SCHIP programs we'll hear this.

"We can't insure babies while poor parents live uninsured."

Next from the liberal rags. Bush seeks to withhold food from children.

Colleagues won't judge Stevens

Ted Stevens is and always has been a scumbag. Regardless, of the FBI investigation, this guy needs to be out of the senate.

Of course, no one in the senate has the stones to say so. Once again, we find that the chumminess of the institution wields more power than partisanship. It's no different than the priest abuse within the Catholic Church. It's all about protection of the institution than the mission of the institution.

My guess is that no one will call out Stevens because they know they're just as much on the take as he is... so why drum up any additional scrutiny.

I'm sure that there are a few GOP people that want to give Stevens the old "hey everyone does it, he just got caught" pass but I think republicans need to purge themselves of these dolts and leave the democrats defend guys like William "I left $90,000 in my freezer?" Jefferson.

Sports or Reality Show

I rarely read a USA Today because their coverage of the news usually consists of where Lindsay, Paris, and Brittany's next rehab assignment will be.

I happened to pick one up today and let me list each of the headlines on the front page of the Sports section.

- Beckham won't make Galaxy Trip to Dallas
- Michigan, Notre Dame extend to 2031
- Phelps tries out new strokes for Beijing
- NASCAR TV ratings below '06 race
- Legend changed face of football
- Man in Vick case makes plea deal
- Castillo Teixeira head to NL
- Celtics trade for Garnett
- Bush all Business

Do you see a common theme here?

Not one of these articles has to do with anything related to performance on the field or court.

Granted yesterday was a slow sports day, but this is more the norm than the exception anymore. I used to be a huuuuge pro sports fan, but I'm not really interested in a bunch of crap not related to what actually happens on the field.

Sports by itself is a reality show. Highs and lows, upsets, domination, comebacks, etc. We don't need the drama of all the crap outside the field to make sport interesting.

Even as boring a game as baseball is, writers like Jim Murray and Red Smith could describe the field action in a way that would make Survivor watchers envious.

Instead of reading this crap in the paper I think I'm going to just get my hard news from FNC, at least the anchors provide for some nice eye candy.

Sex Offenders among Us

The Cincinnati Enquirer has a series of articles this week regarding the sex offenders laws.

It kind of verifies my beliefs that the laws regarding sex offenders 1) are so stringent they almost make compliance a near impossibility (with law enforcement and the offenders) 2) not constitutional in regards to ex post facto laws 3) not effective and 4) create a false sense of security or, in some cases, insecurity for the people living near such offenders.

I come back to Jeni Lee Dinkel. Really, how is my family safer as a result of knowing she'll be a convicted sex offender in my neighborhood? Do I need to worry about her coming into my home grabbing my five year old and trying to have sex with him?

Don't be ridiculous Gordon, of course she's no threat but the community should know anyway.

But that's my point. How do you know? We only know her facts and circumstances because it's in the news but how do I know that the offender isn't a 23 year old school teacher with a 17 year old student or a 48 year old that grabbed and raped a 12 year old with a gun to her head.

One offense strikes me as a crime but no different than Breaking an entering or fraud (none of which we get notification on), the other strikes me as a crime so heinous the creep shouldn't even be in the general population.

The bottom line is this. If these people are such a threat to society, they shouldn't be in the general population. If they are not let's quit playing "pretend we're doing something for the children", when you're really not doing a damn thing.

By the way, you probably need to fear Uncle Larry than neighbor Larry.

A Wave of Liberalism

John Podhoretz has a good piece here where he throws out an interesting theory.

Maybe at this point in the country's history the political trend may be moving liberal.

As a person who grew up a liberal during the Reagan revolution, I've seen my political views move way right thinking that the country's was as well. Maybe the country is asking for liberal policies.

I've always been a counter cultural kind of guy. I would have been the only guy with a crew cut at Woodstock and I wore big bell blue jeans at least 10 years after that fashion wave was at low tide.

So the fact that the country would be moving to the left as I become a flaming libertarian is all starting to make sense.

Oil Company Investigations

Senator Voinovich, I know you like to do useful things for the citizens of Ohio, like crying over the Bolton nomination and telling Hannity you can't be bullied.

With that in mind, I think it's time that you and your other senators launch an investigation as to why gas prices are dropping.

Just about a month a go, I paid $3.30/gal for gas. Now it's down to $2.60. What gives?

It's pretty clear that it's some kind of corporate conspiracy set up by ExxonMobil, Shell & BP. These guys know that by lowering the price their profits will go down. It's a cut and dry case of Big Oil screwing the little guy even though I'm not sure how lowering prices does that.

So senator, do the citizens of Ohio a favor and get on it or I'll have John McCain come over to your office and kick your ass.

John "Gee my Hair Smells Terrific" Edwards

I don't know what it is about John Edwards, but the more of him I see, the more I just want to get a big ole pair of hair clippers and shed all his beautiful locks off.

Here's a video where Edwards calls out the people trying to "shut him up" on his views regarding universal health care. Of course Edwards, doesn't have the stones to actually name the "they". He's probably leaving that one for his wife Elizabeth to fight, just like he lets her take on
Ann Coulter.

The fact is. Ann Coulter is right when she says she's more of a man than John Edwards is. This guy definitely got beat up in too many sand lot games as a kid.

Skip RIP

Skip Prosser, coach of Wake Forest basketball team died yesterday at 56.

Skip was truly one of the good guys in the college basketball landscape.

He will be missed.

Fortitude - the Democrats should try some

If you haven't read the pronouncement by John Kerry that widespread genocide didn't occur after the US pullout from Vietnam, read this James Taranto piece.

In addition the America Thinker has a great piece regarding various genocides throughout the world since 1932 and the President residing over said genocide.

How is it the party that's supposedly so "compassionate", turns it's back on the human atrocities committed by Castro, Ahmadinejad and Chavez. Over on Andrew Sullivan's sight he has a video of a public hanging in Iran. Where the hell's the outcry from Amnesty International? That's right, they're worried about the flushing of Korans in Guantanamo.

I've always thought it odd that democrats were so soft on dictators given that if these guys were in power the first people they'd seek to exterminate would be the media types, gays,
actors and the rest.

I've also always thought it odd that it's the conservatives that ultimately fight the wars that protect the democrat's rights to hate our country.

Pot Kettle Black Award

My weekly Pot Kettle Black award goes to anyone who's ready to gun down Mike Vick yet railed about the unfairness of the Duke players treatment (which includes myself).

For the record, Vick has been charged with some crimes related to dog fighting. He has yet to convicted. What happens to Vick if he happens to be found not guilty? How does he recapture his reputation? How does this compare to Ray Lewis who faced charges related to the murder of a human being? He never missed a game.

Don't get me wrong, the prima facie case against Vick looks pretty compelling. But so did the Duke case for some individuals. Before we all get our undies in a knot maybe we could all step back, take a deep breath and let the criminal justice system do it's job before we all start singing "Who let the Dawgs Out".

What a Spectacle

Arlen Specter want to review all the Supreme Court decisions to see if the justices overturned previous precedent; against the testimony of the justices when confirmed.

Yeah, I bet everyone wishes that "separate but equal precedent" was still standing.

Remind me again of why we elect republicans at all.

Throw the bums out

Gordon and Midas spent a wonderful evening last night at the Red's game.

When we first got there I had to ask Midas, now are we razzing a player for steroids or dog fighting or point shaving... I get my sports all confused some times.

Regardless, I had a great time in the sun.

Due to my paying job, my posts have been few lately, but I hope to be in full force next week.

Compassion

I don't know if it's just me or does it seem like we've had a rash of particularly heinous crimes committed by juveniles.

Christopher McCoy, 17, was charged as an adult today with the beating and carjacking of a 72 year old woman. This is in the wake of my buddy, Alfonso Price, 15, accused of beating and kicking his girlfriend until she lost her baby.

We are now in the midst of the third generation of a poverty population that has been the target of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, how's that worked out so far?

The piece of the welfare puzzle your average liberal cannot understand is the deterioration of spirit that occurs when you simply give money to someone for simply "existing". After generations of this type relationship, we have succeeded in breeding millions of delinquents who simply grow up with the attitude "I want it, I deserve it and I'll take it" without regard to others.

And why shouldn't they?

If poverty were the sole cause of crime, prison populations should have exploded from the number of people in totally destitute situations. But they weren't because people understood that you don't just deserve something for existing; you have to offer something to others.

I just wonder if the compassion most liberals go on and on about extends to 72 year old ladies.

Liberals are soooo smart II

It appears that there may be some future controversy surrounding the author of various "diaries" printed by The New Republic related to the author's Iraq war experiences.

I have no idea whether or not the diaries are legitimate but just on their face, the stories seem odd.

For instance, the writer talks about how they like to drive over dogs and drive their Bradleys into concrete barriers.

Read more here and here.

It occurs to me that these news frauds are almost always perpetrated by liberal news services. The New Republic with Stephen Glass, Jason Blair at the NY Times and Dan Rather at CBS News.

Is it because they're so susceptible to their template of reality (that life's about rich hurting poor, whites hurting blacks, etc) that they are likely to not do a good job fact checking.

I'll wait for the fall out of this one, but let's chalk up another to the "fake but true" main stream media.

NBA is mobbed up?

NBA official, Tim Donaghy, is under investigation for allegedly betting on NBA games; some he actually officiated.

The NBA is worried that this investigation may cause the public to think that NBA officials are on the take.

Don't worry NBA, I've thought your officials were on the take long before this investigation was made public.

Trusting the blogs

If you have read this blog you know how funny I think it is when the main stream media attacks the credibility of blogs.

More examples of how main stream papers of record doctored stories to fit their paradigm of political correctness.

I think Katie Couric should sign off on her news cast with the phrase "and thats tonight's news brought to you by the fake, but accurate network".

Supporting the Troops

Bill Kristol hits one out on this one.

Compromise, Shompromise

Headline Democrats take an uncompromising stance

When you stand with your arms in the air surrendering, I'd say that's pretty uncompromising.

Lancaster Ohio revisited

Earlier this week I posted about Lancaster Ohio and the ethic of public service and such...
Lo and behold meet Randy Monroe, a 10 year old, who just earned his first aid badge in boy scouts and got to use it to save his great grand mother.

He'll be one bad ass marine some day.

Terrorists?

Within the last hour, 28 male, Irish passengers waiting in the customs line at JFK airport, sprinted past the customs agents and scattered themselves throughout the airport.

While agents were able to get five of the passengers, it is believed that the remaining 23 are now out of the airport area and scattered throughout the surrounding New York area.

Imagine that scenario playing out in on Fox News or CNN. It would be of monumental proportion. Think of the non stop crawler.

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!! Potential Terrorists, spread amongst New Yorkers.

But this scenario plays all the time throughout the US and nary a word. You know what they call it in El Paso Texas?...... They call it Monday. In San Diego CA? ..... Thursday night.

I'm convinced the news media would have a whole different attitude about the illegal alien problem if they actually had to live it.

With that said, one other aspect of the immigration problem that people don't get. Why do Mexican and Guatemalan administrations object so much to strict US immigration enforcement? They object because they know that if these people had to stay in their countries, the leadership would have to be accountable for the corrupt government they provide their citizens. It would be ugly.

So by us not adequately enforcing the border, we allow corrupt and ineffective governments in those countries to continue imposing poverty on it's people.

Now let's enforce that damn border and pass me the margarita.

When you lies wit da dogs....

Like most white people in America, one gets a little tired of the whole race conversation. Especially when it comes to sports. Sports may be the one place in today's world where race really has no bearings on the sports fans emotions.

Yet I keep hearing conversations on talk radio that the home run chase is a racial issue, that Michael Vick's problems are racial.

How is it that I'm a racist because I think the guy soon to have the home run title is an ass and a cheat and makes the record worthless when the man that holds the real home title, Hank Aaron, is black? How am I racist if I would be extremely enthusiastic if Ken Griifrey, Jr (a black man) won the title?

How am I racist if I think Michael Vick is a scum bag for electrocuting and hanging dogs?

It's why I'm always so glad to read a piece by Jason Whitlock. Because he's black and not a white guy, he's able to put out an opinion calling out stupidity without being shouted down as a racist.

Here's his take on Vick

...Seriously, Vick didn't do it for the money. The Atlanta Falcons gave him all the money he could ever hope to spend. Vick was involved in pit bull breeding (and quite possibly dogfighting) because he enjoyed it. He's a product of a culture that makes the "profession" acceptable and honorable. It's the same culture that has turned the dope dealer into mayor of the neighborhood.

To add to Whitlock's take...it's the same culture that elects Ray Nagin & Marion Berry as mayors of a city despite their obvious incompetence. It's the same culture that applauds when OJ gets one over on "the man". It's the same culture that applauds people like Al Sharpton, who's actions have resulted in people dying.

If American "black leadership" ever wants white America to embrace the hardships and struggles of discrimination, they have to be willing to make the first step and call out the culture that breeds an Alfonso Price. Until that day, "Whitey" will just continue to shrug his shoulders at all this other menusha.

Are you happy to see me.

The long term effects of too much Viagra.

Receipt of Stolen Property

I steal a radar detector from my neighbor's car and I sell it to you for $20.00. If caught, you could be charged with receipt of stolen property.

Out of curiosity, if someone steals $65,000 and blows it in a casino why isn't the casino charged with receipt of stolen property and required to pay it back to the owner?

Just a thought.

You want these guys to manage your health care?

So we all want "free" health care run by the government.

Well the government already runs a segment of the country's health care called Medicare. Here's the performance of that system as reported by John Stossel.

Medicare has a 75-year $34 trillion unfunded liability! Its costs are growing faster than inflation. Social Security has a 75-year $5 trillion unfunded liability. These are Ponzi schemes that will be bankrupt before Moore reaches retirement age. The U.S. mail manages to deliver his dad's checks, but compare its performance to FedEx or UPS. The Post Office said it wasn't possible to deliver packages overnight.

And the government has the kahunas to prosecute people for Ponzi Schemes.

Workin' the base

This is the kind of stuff that keeps Democrats from winning national elections. Like it or not, red states will just never go for this kind of stuff. It's surprising that the libs haven't figured this out by now.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., told Planned Parenthood Tuesday that sex education for kindergarteners, as long as it is "age-appropriate," is "the right thing to do."

"'Barack Obama supports teaching sex education to kindergarteners,'" said Obama mimicking Keyes' distinctive style of speech. "Which -- I didn’t know what to tell him (laughter)."

"But it’s the right thing to do," Obama continued, "to provide age-appropriate sex education, science-based sex education in schools."

More...

Speaking on behalf of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards before the family planning and abortion-rights group Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Edwards lauded her husband's health-care proposal as "a true universal health-care plan" that would cover "all reproductive health services, including pregnancy termination," referring to abortion.

Obama, who earlier gained the endorsement of Washington, D.C., Mayor Adrian Fenty, offered the group a vision of equal opportunity for women, tying a call for improved access to contraceptives for low-income women with a call for an "updated social contract" that includes paid maternity leave and expanded school hours.

Asked about his proposal for expanded access to health insurance, Obama said it would cover "reproductive-health services." Contacted afterward, an Obama spokesman said that included abortions.

More...

McCain Speech

Nasty Brutish & Short has an excerpt from John McCain's speech on the Senate floor this morning. It's a good read.

Ponzi Scheme Conviction

Jerry Ray Rose of Hamilton was convicted of a felony for running a Ponzi scheme.

A description of the activity.

"He ran a Ponzi scheme, with money coming in the front door as money went out the back door to current investors," Ferguson said. "He has acknowledged that he has taken in more than $10 million and is upside-down to investors, that is, short of paying them off by $5 million."

Rose's biggest mistake.... he committed his offense in Ohio. If he ran the social security system in DC, we'd call him Senator.

What are Parks for?

Years ago, I used to enjoy stopping by a deli, pick up a sandwich and head to a local park and read the paper and/or listen to the radio in my car and get some fresh air. I did that until I got hit on twice by gay guys.

So I started going to more recreational parks until I realized that a single guy sitting in a car while kids are playing, probably doesn't look so good.

As a result, Gordon is often confined to his office during lunch time.

What I don't understand is what took Cincinnati police so long to set up a sting in Mt Airy Forest (one of the parks where I was hit on ten years ago) for gays soliciting sex. It had been rumored for years as a "lollipop park". Here's a hint Cincinnati police.... check out Burnet Woods. You're going to find some activity there as well.

The other thing I don't understand is why gays frequently pursue sex in parks. As a hetero, I can't ever remember me and my buddies saying "hey let's go to a park and meet some babes". Parks don't strike me as a place to meet people. In fact, I go to parks to get away from people. Why can't George Michael et al meet guys the ways hetero's meet women.... in bars.

Here's a thought. If I want some piece and quiet and fresh air, I'll start reading my paper at a roadside rest.

Post Dying

We're down to one paper in Cincinnati. After 12/31/07, only the Bird Cage liner will be left.

The Cincinnati Post and The Kentucky Post - afternoon daily newspapers serving Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky for more than a century - will cease publication on Dec. 31, 2007, the newspaper's owners announced today.

The last edition of the newspapers, owned by Cincinnati-based E.W. Scripps Co., will be published on that Monday, New Year's Eve.

The decision by Scripps to cease publication comes three years after the company was notified by the Gannett Co., owner of the Cincinnati Enquirer, that the 30-year contractual agreement under which the Enquirer handles business operations for The Post would not be renewed when it expired at the end of this year.

More...

The NFL should be proud

A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick for his alleged role in a dogfighting operation in Virginia where breeders fought pit bulls for purses as high as $20,000 and losing dogs were electrocuted, drowned, hanged or shot to death.

More...

Liberals are soooo smart

Ezra Klein at the LA Times has a piece about vacation time in the US. Money quote from the piece.

....Every other advanced economy offers a government guarantee of paid vacation to its workforce. Britain assures its workforce of 20 days of guaranteed, compensated leave. Germany gives 24. And France gives, yes, 30.

We guarantee zero. Absolutely none. That's why one out of 10 full-time American employees, and more than six out of 10 part-time employees, get no vacation. And even among workers with paid vacation benefits, the average number of days enjoyed is a mere 12. In other words, even those of us who are lucky enough to get some vacation typically receive just over a third of what the French are guaranteed.

This is strange. Of all these countries, the United States is, by far, the richest.

Hello, did it ever occur to this guy that maybe this is the reason the US is the richest. I know one of the societies we need to emulate is the French... Give me some of that 11% unemployment any day.

Time off

I was just looking at the blog and noticed that few of my recent posts have been about government or politics. Consider it a vacation.

I'm really sick of posting on all the ding dongs and derelicts in the political spotlight right now. I guess the "Live Earth" show threw me over the edge.

For instance, over on Sheryl "One Square" Crow's site is her concert schedule. She goes from Ohio to Illinois back to Ohio. How carbon neutral is that? When is the media going to call out the hypocrisy? How about Madonna? She goes from NY on July 3rd to London on July 7th and back to NY for a show on July 18th? Anyone see the hypocrisy there?

Or how about Al Gore, eating his Chilean Sea Bass (a fish being fished to extinction) at his daughter's wedding. Where's the call out from the environmentalist?

Or how about John Edwards and his poverty tour? How does living in a 28,000 square foot house qualify you as speaker for two America's? When does the media call it out?

I've told friends that one of the things you notice about blogging on politicos is that you start to smell like them after a while; and given that I'm recently engaged I'm still trying to smell my best, so I'll probably just be posting on cultural icons like Alfonso Price for a few days.

Big Government

Tax Girl has an interesting post regarding the effective tax rates of the US largest companies.

The next time I hear one of the political types talk about "big oil", I'll search them out kick them in the kahunas, or change the channel depending on what's on.

ExxonMobil's effective tax rate is 34.4% that means for every dollar of profit the company earns, they pay over 1/3rd to the government; more than three times the roughly 10% the company gets to keep.

Yeah Gordon, but look at what the government does with it's profits. They invest in new equipment, explore for new reserves, employee thousands of people, upkeep for refineries, invest in alternative fuel sources, etc, etc.

Except the government does none of that. Like I've said before, if you like that deal, I'll send my buddies, Tony, Sal and Carmine over to your house and take 1/3rd of your pay. At least they'll pick up your garbage for you.

Red America

Over the weekend, Gordon made the drive to his home town of Lancaster, OH, a bedroom community about 30 miles from Columbus. While I was in town, I stopped in a grocery store and was really struck by the number of pictures of active service members on the wall on the store.

From my count, there were at least 125 pictures of service men and women. The Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines were all represented on the wall. I'm guessing the men and women on the wall we're just fraction of all the people currently serving in the military.

Now the town of Lancaster has seen better days. Anchor Hocking plants, which once dominated the town's landscape, show the wear and tear of factories no longer maintained. So I would imagine that the democrats would tell us that these people enlist in this town because of lost economic opportunities.

But I would bet all of Midas' extreme wealth, you could not find a 40,000 population inside of "Blue State" America with the number of enlistees that "Red state" Lancaster, Ohio has serving.

That's because places like Lancaster, Ohio teach walk over talk, service over served, and causes bigger than yourself.

For a long time, I wrote off my home town for being small minded and hick. Seeing those pictures on the wall, reminded me that I learned a hell of lot more about life in my 18 years in little Lancaster, Ohio than I've ever learned in the "Big" city.

Gordon's getting hitched

In what may be the most amazing thing to occur since the Big Bang (for you evolutionists out there), Gordon finally met a beautiful woman who would take his paw in holy matrimony.

No date set has been set, but I'm sure it will be every bit as big as Elvis and Priscilla, Charles and Di, and Don and Melanie (both times). I'm just hoping that when the roofies wear off, she remembers actually saying yes.

Watch for the details in your local society pages.

One of Life's Winners

Meet Alfonso Price, 15 years old. A product of our poverty system also known as welfare.

He's been charged with felonious assault and murder in connection with the attack on an 18 year old pregnant woman.

Price and two others “beat and stomped (the woman) so bad” that the fetus was killed. Authorities did not release information on the other two.

He apparently beat the woman, carrying his child, because she refused to have an abortion.

Well, I guess he won't have to worry about child support anymore.

Starship

Saturday night, Gordon, et al. saw Starship with Mickey Thomas.

I gotta give it up to Mickey; the guy is in his 50's and his voice is still awesome. It was a good show, the band sounded great. The female vocalist, Stephanie Calvert, was better than Grace Slick could have been on an acid trip.

My notes

I still don't know how these guys 1) stay slim and 2) keep their hair.

This must be the rock star diet

Breakfast - Two shots of vodka and a couple of lines of coke over easy.

Brunch - A shot of scotch and two baked Oxycontin

Lunch - Two shots of tequila, and a couple of rocks of Meth, lightly breaded.

Dinner - Two shots of bourbon, 7 Percocet and an Ambien sauteed in a light rum sauce and for dessert, one Whiskey Sour.

Your liver will be a wreck but man you'll sure look good.... unless you're Keith Richards.

We're not Michigan?

A few months ago, I made fun of a couple of guys in Michigan electrocuted as they tried to steal copper wiring from live power lines.

Not to be upstaged, the state of Ohio submitted their "pee in the gene pool" candidate. An unidentified man was found hanging in some power lines trying to do what class? Steal copper wire from an active power line.

According to the article, copper is now running at $3.59 a pound or what you would essentially make if you worked a job.

So I guess when it's all said and done I guess the new Ohio motto should be "Ohio, Hey, We're not Michigan for at least a half a year".

Approval Ratings

You know you're in deep when approval ratings come out and you're below Bush.

Bush - 33%
Congress - 24%
Horse Droppings - 22%

Lifestyle changes

Gordon went to the doc yesterday for some symptoms above and beyond the normal worms and fleas.

Apparently, there are some lifestyle changes in the works for Gordon.

Here are some of the changes

No's - Beer, Pizza, Ice Cream, Nachos, Cheeseburgers, Cheescake, Funnel Cakes

Yes's - Exercise & Broccoli

Apparently, no more table scraps for old Gordon either. It's enough to make the old bulldog go back to his cage and sleep.

Take it Easy on Me

Last night Gordon caught the Little River Band at the Miami Meadows Festival last night. I guess I was somewhat disappointed in the show even though they played all the big hits. It just seemed like the band lacked energy. Maybe, I've just been to too many head banger balls lately.

Some other notes.

If you let your 200 lb. teenage daughter go to a festival with a T-shirt on that says "I (heart) sex", it's probably a little too late to instill any discipline in the girl.

When the same said girl is texting and talking to her friends on her cell phone while you're yelling at her, she's probably not listening.

Have you ever noticed that the people who do the most texting and talking on cell phones have the least to say?

If you wear a blue tooth all the time, I'm sorry, but you're still an idiot.

Tonight is Starship at Miami Meadows. I will be there signing autographs... I think tonight I'll sign as Sting.

Pot Kettle Black Award

This week's PKB awards winner goes to.

Every dumb ass involved with the Live Earth fiasco; attendees, musicians, promoters, and Al Gore, the king of hypocrisy.

All of whom left a larger carbon footprint from their participation in the event than most SUV ridden families do in a year.

Really, what did Cameron Diaz & Leonardo DiCaprio, add to the event with their participation? Do you think that all their private plane trips were worth the price to educate all of us peons?

The only thing good about the whole thing is that so many of these self absorbed a-holes will think the problem is solved because they made us "aware" of the looming climate catastrophe.

It's been 80 plus degrees here lately, about normal for July, but the humidity has been great.

I'm firing up the SUV and get me some more of that.

Trivia Question

There are four universities that have produced a president and a Super Bowl MVP. Name the school, the MVP's and the presidents.

The Free Speech Party

Yeah the free speech liberals are at it once again.

Apparently, John Edwards, hair man for the little guy, and Hillary Clinton, the man in the family, had a conversation overheard where they wanted to eliminate the "lesser" candidates from future debates.

You know that Edwards guy; always talking for the little guy who he doesn't want to speak.

I'm goin' pro

This morning I read that Tadd Fujikawa, a 16 year old golfer. Tadd has made the decision to go pro following in the footsteps of Michelle Wie and Ty Tryon.

You don't remember Ty Tryon? Don't worry, neither does anyone else. Ty is now 23 and turned pro as a seventeen year old. He finally won a tour even, albeit on the Hooters Winter Tour.

Call me Nostradamus, but I'll predict as many PGA tour wins for lil' Tadd as Ty and Michelle.... a big fat zero.

You can't make this stuff up

You're the director of a cadaver program at a local university; you're hurting for cash because you've been playing some point spreads with my cousins Tony, Vinny and Sal and you've had a streak of bad luck.

You have to come up with some fast cash, so you do what?

How about selling some cadavers? Great idea. Right? I mean who the hell's going to tell.

Well, wrong. But what makes getting caught so horrible is not that you got busted by the cops for something like gross abuse of a corpse; Instead you get busted by the IRS for not claiming the income on your tax returns.

I would call that a streak of bad luck.

Got a crappy product... Change the name

The Pittsburgh Public Schools have decided to drop the word "Public" from it's name because of "the district might be able to avoid the negative attitude often associated with public schools".

I know this sounds like a crazy idea but if you want to avoid the negative attitude associated with public schools how about not doing the things that generate the negative attitude about public schools.

Has it ever occurred to these geniuses, that acts like these are the very reasons people have a negative attitude about public schools. It's all about form over substance with these bureaucrats.

Really, has the school board ever considered doing a survey and actually improving the things that give "public" schools such a bad name. It's like putting perfume on a pig.

McCain again

I was just listening to the radio while running some errors. Apparently, John McCain and George RINOvich got into a tussle regarding RINOvich's remarks about the military being responsible for Al Queda.

Let's see, McCain was a boxer in the Navy and RINOvich....

Let's just say it shouldn't take long before the honorable Ohio senator starts crying.

McCain in Flames

Through out the campaign, one of the things that has gotten lost about John McCain is his overwhelmingly conservative voting record. The ACU rates him at 82.3 percent (compared to 75 % for George RINOvich) which is better than any of the other candidates running for president.

Unfortunately, on the few issues that he's not conservative on, he's more than willing to throw conservatives under the bus to get his face out on the issue.

So I don't think it's surprising that his campaign is falling apart. After all, what does McCain stand for? What sword would his campaign workers fall on for him? What is his vision for the country and how's he going to get people to enroll in the vision?

While I really haven't followed the campaign at all because, for me, it's way too damn early, the one thing these campaigns illustrate is your ability to manage your own campaign, to lead people when the going gets tough, and to keep people enrolled in the vision. If you can't manage those things within your own campaign, how are you going to manage a country for cryin' out loud.

When your vision is to simply be on TV all the time, you're going to fail long term.

I still offer that republicans in this race need to make a call, you either believe that government makes a difference in the world or it doesn't. If you believe that it does, then you're really a socialist. Why should conservatives vote for a socialist when we already have democrats?

So it ain't so

So let's say you are in Israel protesting the plight of the Palestinian people.

The Israeli army finds a tunnel where bombs have been smuggled in. The army decides to destroy the tunnel with a bull dozer.

You and your peace niks decide to protest at the site and a bull dozer accidentally runs over you and kills you.

Who do you sue?

Well, you could sue the Palestinians for building the tunnel in the first place; except that Palestinians have no money except for Yasir Arafat, who's already dead.

You could sue the Israeli Army, but chances are good they'd send the Mossad to take you out and you don't want that.

Well, if you're the family of Rachel Corrie, you sue Caterpillar, Inc., who manufactured the bull dozer in Peoria Illinois.

If you wonder why businesses take their production elsewhere, consider dealing with this caca.

Do the Wrong People Vote? Yeah

I while back I was having a conversation with a woman about voting. She became very apologetic when she said "I know I should vote but I just don't know what I'd be voting for."

Being Mr. Politics, I think she expected me to blast her for not voting. Instead, I said, "If you're not up to speed on what you're voting on, I'm glad you don't vote.

Well, the New Yorker has an article about voting and the the electorate that actually votes.

If the only people that actually voted were up to speed on the issues, maybe we'd end up with a congress that would actually fix Social Security instead of Global Baloney.

Vacation Ideas

So it's almost half way through the summer season and you still haven't decided what to do for vacation....

Think about taking a long weekend to visit the Accounting Hall of Fame in Columbus, Ohio.

Among all the picture of a lot of old white guys, you'll see fabulous displays of such things as

The first abacus.
The first slide rule ever produced.
The first adding machine.

Man, it gets me shivering just thinking about it.

Another SLUTH already

Meet Kent Couch. He's probably hard to see given that the guy is 11,000 feet above the earth's surface.

Couch does remind me of Larry Walters, the man he emulated with this stunt.

Here's the Wikipedia description of Walters 1982 act.

Walters and his girlfriend, Carol Van Deusen, purchased 45 four-foot weather balloons and helium tanks at California Toy Time Balloons. To avoid suspicion, they used a forged requisition from his employer, FilmFair Studios, saying the balloons were for a television commercial shoot. Walters then attached the balloons to his lawnchair, filled them with helium, donned a parachute, and strapped himself to the chair with a pellet gun (with which he intended to shoot the balloons to lower himself), a CB radio, sandwiches, soft drinks, and a camera. After that, things did not work out as he had planned. When his friends cut the cord that had tied his lawnchair to his jeep, Walters' lawnchair, which was planned to rise 100 feet above the ground, quickly rose to a height of about 16,000 feet (3 miles); he did not dare shoot any balloons, fearing that he might unbalance the load. He drifted over Long Beach and crossed the primary approach corridor of Long Beach airport.

After spending about 45 minutes in the sky, though, he came to the conclusion that he would have to shoot a few balloons after all; doing so caused him to descend slowly again, until the balloon's dangling cables got caught in a power line, causing a black out in a Long Beach neighborhood for 20 minutes, but also allowing Walters to climb down to the ground again.

If you are one of these types who believes in evolution, explain to me how, after a million years or so, we haven't be able to eliminate these guys from the gene pool.

Around the Blogger World

Candidates outside the box - One Oar in the Water
Scamming the Democrats - The Boring Made Dull
Senator's number found in Black Book - King's Right
Moore on CNN - Lincoln Logs

Good to have your priorities right.

Nice to see Rachel Hutzel, Warren County prosecutor, is out making the public safe from all those drunken canoe paddlers.

You see Hutzel is one of those politicians full of wisdom. She knows that drunken canoe paddling is a gateway crime and if you don't crack down, the next thing you know, you have Kayakers doing heroin or drunken flea market shoppers.

The SLUTH award

I forgot all about this award (SLap Upside The Head) a long time ago but I'm dusting it off today.

In many ways, kids have it so much easier than we did as kids but in many ways it's harder. For instance, my family was too poor to by me a car for my own personal usage so I saved $500.00 to buy my first baby blue 1972 Ford Pinto; top end speed of 58.5 mph (downhill).

So when I read in the paper about a kid getting killed driving a Camaro 100 mph, my first thought is "what in the hell were these parent's thinking?"

I was a teen age boy at one time. If I would have my hands on a Camaro, 100 mph would have been the standard. Fortunately for me and my friends, we had cars like a 63 Rambler, a 1970 AMC woody wagon, a 1970 Vega, a 1979, three on the tree, Ford Grenada. You never had to put a governor on these cars... they were self imposed.

So if you are a parent that lets your kid tool around in a car like this, I would like to slap you upside the head right now.

Trust me. It will be less painful and humiliating than a call from the Highway Patrol telling you your kid is dead.

Slow news day?

Front page story on my morning Cincinnati Enquirer: Pills for fat dogs.

That pug's too pudgy. Is your Husky too husky? Pooch got a paunch? Dogs get fat just like people, but a new drug helps

Now that I think about it..... Gordon looks like he could lose a few too.

Terrible Ted Strikes Again

Lo and Behold. Just as I finished up my post about the drug situation this morning, I just happened to be going through a Wall Street Journal I didn't get to read from last Tuesday.

Off all things to run into on the op-ed section, is a piece by non other than Ted Nugent about the 40th anniversary of the "Summer of Love", or as he calls it the "Summer of Drugs".

Here's Ted's Analysis of 1967

Forty years ago hordes of stoned, dirty, stinky hippies converged on San Francisco to "turn on, tune in, and drop out," which was the calling card of LSD proponent Timothy Leary. Turned off by the work ethic and productive American Dream values of their parents, hippies instead opted for a cowardly, irresponsible lifestyle of random sex, life-destroying drugs and mostly soulless rock music that flourished in San Francisco.

and the aftermath

A quick study of social statistics before and after the 1960s is quite telling. The rising rates of divorce, high school drop outs, drug use, abortion, sexual diseases and crime, not to mention the exponential expansion of government and taxes, is dramatic. The "if it feels good, do it" lifestyle born of the 1960s has proved to be destructive and deadly.

It's why Ted's the man.

Around the Blogger World

UC Financial Mess - BizzyBlog
The McCain Collapse - Third Wave Dave
Compute your Carbon Footprint - Earthlab
Live Earth Celebrities - Red State Rampage

What's up with the Drugs

For the past month or so, I've had numerous conversations with people regarding various drug addictions and the people who support said.

It blows me away the number of drug addictions people out there are managing; heroin, cocaine, meth, crack.

Then I hear a NASCAR driver was busted shooting heroin in the King's Island parking lot. I guess the Beast just wasn't enough of a thrill.

I know it's all anecdotal, but I would appreciate some feedback. Have you noticed a rise in addictive drug use? I'm just curious, maybe I'm hanging out with the wrong people.

Freddy's Back

Like the last five minutes of a horror movie; you know, just when you think Michael Myers is dead and somehow with a dagger through the heart and his eyes shot out, he raises up for yet another attack, here comes Cindy Sheehan.

You might remember Cindy as the woman who a couple of months ago decided she no longer wanted to be in the public spotlight. I guess running for congress against Nancy Pelosi isn't in the spotlight.

And just like Mike Myers, we couldn't kill her off with a six shooter full of silver bullets.

SOS

I couldn't resist watching the Live Earth shows over the weekend.

My thoughts...

I saw The Police in concert in one their last shows before the break up. It will always go down as the worst show I ever saw. But they didn't fail me over the weekend, they were probably the 2nd worst show next to Madonna.

Madonna hun, I think your act needs to be moved to the Las Vegas strip. I wouldn't go watch that crap if I was comped with a free buffet.

It was nice to see all people coming in from Chicago, Philadelphia, LA for the show. I'm sure no one left a carbon footprint for those trips.

Finally, I've been thinking, after the Live Aid concerts apparently Ethiopian hunger ceased; after Farm Aid, every thing's hunky dory in Iowa, so hopefully now that all the music stars have contributed what they could maybe all the problem is solved as far as the media is concerned.

Oh and by the way, Kanye, you look stylish in all those sweatshop clothes you wore.