From the National Review: your tax dollars as farm subsidies....

"Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Down on the Farm [Yuval Levin]

Have a look at the map of Manhattan below (used recently by Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns in a speech). The red dots indicate people who live in Manhattan (and so clearly are neither hurting for money nor tilling the soil on the family farm) but receive agricultural subsidies from the federal government.

The larger red blobs mark people receiving more than a quarter of a million dollars in farm subsidies annually. The farm bill passed by House Democrats in July would continue giving millionaires farm subsidies (setting the income threshold for payments at $1 million a year, and keeping loopholes in place that allow some making much more to qualify). The Bush administration has proposed sharply reducing the income threshold to $200,000 a year and ending many of those loopholes. That would reduce the number of subsidy recipients by less than 40,000 (of the current million or so recipients)though I suppose it might put some rooftop gardens on Park Avenue out of commission.

08/29 10:30 AM"


http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MjA0MzEzZWU3MGM1ZjZmZTAxNjg0ZTQyNTcyMWU4ZjQ=


--

Love her or hate her -- she does cut to the quick....

RENO 911
by Ann Coulter
August 29, 2007

This week, congressional Democrats vowed to investigate Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' firing of himself. Gonzales has said he was not involved in the discussions about his firing and that it was "performance-based," but he couldn't recall the specifics.

Right-wingers like me never trusted Gonzales. But watching Hillary Rodham Clinton literally applaud the announcement of Gonzales' resignation on Monday was more than any human being should have to bear. Liberals' hysteria about Gonzales was surpassed only by their hysteria about his predecessor, John Ashcroft. (Also their hysteria about Bush, Rove, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Libby, Rice, Barney and so on. They're very excitable, these Democrats.)

Liberals want to return the office to the glory years of Attorney General Janet Reno!

There is reason to believe Reno is precisely the sort of attorney general that Hillary would nominate, since Reno was widely assumed to be Hillary's pick at the time. As ABC News' Chris Bury reported the day Reno was confirmed: "The search for an attorney general exemplifies Hillary Clinton's circle of influence and its clout. ... The attorney general-designate, Janet Reno, came to the president's attention through Hillary Clinton's brother, Hugh Rodham."

Let's compare attorneys general:

-- Civilians killed by Ashcroft: 0
-- Civilians killed by Gonzales: 0
-- Civilians killed by Reno: 80

Reno's military attack on a religious sect in Waco, Texas, led to the greatest number of citizens ever killed by the government in the history of the United States. More Americans were killed at Waco than were killed at any of the various markers on the left's via dolorosa -- more than Kent State (4 killed), more than the Haymarket Square rebellion (4 killed), more than Three Mile Island (0 killed).

-- Innocent people put in prison by Ashcroft: 0
-- Innocent people put in prison by Gonzales: 0
-- Innocent people put in prison by Reno: at least 1 that I know of

As Dade County (Fla.) state attorney, Janet Reno made a name for herself as one of the leading witch-hunters in the notorious "child molestation" cases from the '80s, when convictions of innocent Americans were won on the basis of heavily coached testimony from small children.

Charged by Reno's office in 1984 with child molestation, Grant Snowden was convicted on the manufactured testimony of one such child, who was 4 years old when the abuse allegedly occurred.

Snowden, the most decorated police officer in the history of the South Miami Police Department, was sentenced to five life terms -- and was imprisoned with people he had put there. Snowden served 11 years before his conviction was finally overturned by a federal court in an opinion that ridiculed the evidence against him and called his trial "fundamentally unfair."

In a massive criminal justice system, mistakes will be made from time to time. But Janet Reno put people like Snowden in prison not only for crimes that they didn't commit -- but also for crimes that never happened. Such was the soccer-mom-induced hysteria of the '80s, when innocent people were prosecuted for fantastical crimes concocted in therapists' offices.

-- Number of obvious civil rights violations ignored by Ashcroft: 0
-- Number of obvious civil rights violations ignored by Gonzales: 0
-- Number of obvious civil rights violations ignored by Reno: at least 1

On Aug. 19, 1991, rabbinical student Yankel Rosenbaum was stabbed to death in Crown Heights by a black racist mob shouting "Kill the Jew!" as retaliation for another Hasidic man killing a black child in a car accident hours earlier.

In a far clearer case of jury nullification than the first Rodney King verdict, a jury composed of nine blacks and three Puerto Ricans acquitted Lemrick Nelson Jr. of the murder -- despite the fact that the police found the bloody murder weapon in his pocket and Rosenbaum's blood on his clothes, and that Rosenbaum, as he lay dying, had identified Nelson as his assailant.

The Hasidic community immediately appealed to the attorney general for a federal civil rights prosecution of Nelson. Reno responded with utter mystification at the idea that anyone's civil rights had been violated.

Civil rights? Where do you get that?

Because they were chanting "Kill the Jew," Rosenbaum is a Jew, and they killed him.

Huh. That's a weird interpretation of "civil rights." It sounds a little harebrained to me, but I guess I could have someone look into it.

It took two years from Nelson's acquittal to get Reno to bring a civil rights case against him.

-- Number of innocent civilians accused of committing heinous crimes by Ashcroft: 0
-- Number of innocent civilians accused of committing heinous crimes by Gonzales: 0
-- Number of innocent civilians accused of committing heinous crimes by Reno: at least 1

Janet Reno presided over the leak of Richard Jewell's name to the media, implicating him in the Atlanta Olympic park bombing in 1996, for which she later apologized. I believe Reno also falsely accused the Miami relatives of Elian Gonzalez of violating the law, which I am not including in her record of false accusations, but reminds me of another comparison.

Number of 6-year-old boys deported to totalitarian dictatorships by Ashcroft: 0
Number of 6-year-old boys deported to totalitarian dictatorships by Gonzales: 0
Number of 6-year-old boys deported to totalitarian dictatorships by Reno: 1

Not until Bush became president was the media interested in discussing the shortcomings of the attorney general. Whatever flaws Alberto Gonzales has (John Ashcroft has none), we don't have to go back to the Harding administration to find a worse attorney general.

From the phony child abuse cases of the '80s to the military assault on Americans at Waco, Janet Reno presided over the most egregious attacks on Americans' basic liberties since the Salem witch trials. These outrageous deprivations of life and liberty were not the work of fanatical right-wing prosecutors, but liberals like Janet Reno.

Reno is the sort of wild-eyed zealot trampling on real civil rights that Hillary views as an ideal attorney general, unlike that brute Alberto Gonzales. At least Reno didn't fire any U.S. attorneys!

Oh wait --

Number of U.S. attorneys fired by Ashcroft: 0
Number of U.S. attorneys fired by Gonzales: 8
Number of U.S. attorneys fired by Reno: 93

COPYRIGHT 2007 ANN COULTER

Cleanliness is next to..........

DaybyDay (Aug 30)

Week Two of the FedEx Cup! Wheee Doggies...

Guess y'all are pretty excited about this being week two of the FedEx Cup playoffs 'eh? Oh, you're not? Well shazam -- who'da guessed?

I guess somebody sold FedEx and the PGA a real bill of goods when they convinced them that they could turn a play off golf tourney into a Major Sports Event equal to the NASCAR Trophy. Like the whole country is on edge whether Tiger Woods can add a $10 million dollar purse to his 2007 winnings of $9 million+ and his endorsement monies of about $90 million more. He is so excited about it, he skipped the first of the four tournament count down himself 'cause he was tired and didn't even bother to show up to support the tour or the cup race.

Don't get me wrong, as a former hacker, I am a big fan and watch the tourneys every week, but I 'spect that the only ones tuning in to the Deutsche Bank Championship this weekend will be fans like myself. Don't see all those high school, college and pro football fans and professional tailgaters changing their weekend schedule to watch a bunch of rich boys hitting a little ball around the course.

A wise man once said; "You can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear!" I reckon today he might add; "You can't make a Superbowl out of a round of golf!" Maybe Tim Finchem never read that.

By the way, if you do miss this great season closing out event(s), you can always watch the six more PGA Tourneys that continue through Sept and October.... go figger!

Daddy Dearest?

A young punk gets on the cross town bus and sits down in the only vacant seat, directly across from an old man.

The young punk has spiked, multi-colored, green, purple, and orange hair. His clothing is a tattered mix of leather rags. His legs are bare and he's without shoes. His entire face and body are riddled with pierced jewelry and his earrings are big, bright red, yellow and green feathers.

The old man glares at the young punk across from him for the next ten miles, as the bus travels across the city. Finally, the punk looks across at the old man, and yells, "What are you looking at, old man! Didn't you do anything wild when you were young?"

Without missing a beat, the old man replies, "Yeah. Back when I was very young and in the Navy, I got really drunk in Singapore and had sex with a parrot... I thought you might be my son."

Just thought y'all would like to see...

The home of a Chinese 60 year old mail carrier in California who earns about $49,000 per year and his wife, a home maker. What is so unusual about this? In the last two years this feller and his wife donated $45,000 to Mrs Clinton's campaign and a total of $200,000 to the Democrat party in the same period. Man, that's clippin' a lot of coupons!! Oh, did I mention that they are personal acquaintances of Norman Hsu, the New York multi-millionaire and Hillary fan

Follow this lead to the Wall Street Journal article for the rest of the story - but y'all come back, hear? :http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118826947048110677.html?mod=Politics-and-Policy

An expensive mistress, this Ms Katrina!

On this, the second anniversary of Katrina's arrival on the golf coast.... the finger pointing, the graft, the waste of taxpayers dollars, and yes - even the suffering of a few folks goes on! Near as I can manage to see, gov'mint has spent about $112 Billion dollars -- no wait, that is too innocuous, let me rephrase; the Feds have spent more than $112,000,000,000 of your tax dollars on hurricane clean-up!

This figure of your tax dollars does not include the additional billions of dollars that have been spent by charitable agencies, the multi-billions of dollar paid out in claims by insurance companies. And yet what do we see? Progress and rebuilding and recovery in those states and communities led by conservative politicians. And a continued quagmire of hand wringing, hands out for more, and finger shaking by the liberal politicians of Louisiana and New Orleans.

I ain't gonna compete with all of the experts that are offering advice today in the media and in the world of blogs, but I would point out that government spending alone has amounted to $225,000 per every man, woman, child and dog in New Orleans. Not per household, per capita. mom and three kids... that's a million buckaroos, Buckaroos!

We got war czars, intelligence czars, and probably czar czars! Ain't there one person in this whole country that could be put in charge of that hurricane checkbook and start bringing sanity and honest management to this program. Shucks, they could build a monster apartment house by just gluing those $112,000,000,000 one dollar bills together! When you watch all the photo ops these next couple of days ---- think how high a pile of one dollar bills would be, and what a small -tiny - wee little bit of that pile was replaced by your individual hard earned taxes last year!

If you really would like to know how many dollar bills that is, check: http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF2/276.html

It's your money - it's your responsibility to make folks responsible!

"There's no such thing as a lie"

(From "The American Thinker)

Beginning August 28, America will witness the new thrust of Anti-Iraq War Protests. The aim of these protests is exactly the same as the other protests you have seen to date: altering the public perception of the War, thereby manipulating public opinion (polling) against the war.
Americans, beware, you must be on guard against this tactic; it is one of the known symptoms of a fatal virus, historically infamous for killing off entire civilizations. Our mainstream media already has it, and if you are not very, very cautious, you will also - may already - be infected.

This is a very contagious, quickly spreading, society-fatal virus, known as TNSTAAL (There's No Such Thing As a Lie), and it is vital that every American be prepared with the antidote serum: the truth. Not to worry though; the serum is extremely potent. You don't even need "the whole truth" and "nothing but the truth," because even a little of the "truth" will help you defeat this virus, and it is easily available and pretty darned cheap. Just being aware of the virus every time you see the news on television or read a newspaper, gets you halfway to the cure. Take a pop quiz----

http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/08/iraq_antiwar_movement_a_pop_qu.html

Hey Pal, can you spare three minutes of your life?

This video might not explain away some of the mistakes that have been made by this Administration, but it surely does point out how we got to this point. Seems these folks seem to have perfected the art of selective memory and historical revisionism to an Olympic height! Have you heard any of these 'talking heads' repeat any of this rhetoric on your Sunday morning talk shows or share similar soundbites on the evening news lately? I sure ain't! Next time you see them talking - picture this video in your head...

http://www.bercasio.com/movies/dems-wmd-before-iraq.wmv

Hillary, 'Ban public smoking nationwide'!

That's not an exact quote of her words, but that was her message while speaking at a recent cancer forum. At stated by the NY Post;

By GEOFF EARLE Post Correspondent
HILLARY CLINTON Speaks at cancer forum.

August 28, 2007 -- WASHINGTON - Hillary Clinton lavished praise on New York City's tough anti-smoking laws yesterday - and said she supports smoking bans in public places across the country.
Asked at an Iowa forum on cancer whether banning smoking in public places would be good for America, Clinton replied, "Well, personally, I think so. And that's what a lot of local communities and states are starting to do."

Now don't misunderstand me - I am a reformed smoker who has been 'clean' for 12 years now. I quit for health reasons but now am glad I did for dollar reasons --- Egad, they are expensive now! When I started in the Air Force, Pall Malls were $1.00 per CARTON! Now with all the sin taxes piled on they cost five bucks a pack! Lord have mercy... is that a 5,000 per cent increase? Kind of makes me wonder what our state and federal government are going to do if all the smokers follow their warnings and quit! Whoa Nellie - talk about a tax stream drying up.

I am just against gov'mint, especially the federal gov'mint dictating personal life styles. Putting it another way --- I don't want to be in her village and don't want her runnin' mine!!

This accompanying picture is not one that I have searched out of the catacombs or doctored... it's the exact picture that accompanied this article in the NY Post. Look close - can you say Smirk, children of the village?

Gotta wonder if Bubba's strange habits with cigars effects her opinions?

From DaybyDay!

To good not to share......

On Finding Jesus......

When I was a lad, WWII era, a common phrase was that even atheists started searching for God in a foxhole. That a pretty quick transformation occurred in one's thinking. Who could forget Bill Maudlins "Willie & Joe" cartoons"?

Now it appears that the quickest way to find Jesus is to be indicted in a criminal felony case. I could name dozens, but you've heard them all -- today's Michael Vick confession is only the latest.... "I have found Jesus. I have to grow up!"

A Faerie Tale .........National Health?

An old friend e-mailed me yesterday and shared some thoughts that jest made my hair stand on end and ruined my evening. I did a little research - and that plumb ruined my nights sleep. Let me share this scenario with you good folks....

Supposing a certain pear shaped Democrat of the female persuasion were to be elected next year. And supposin' this here lady owed a lot of favors to several industrial giants for their support (financial and otherwise) during the campaign. Now then, suppose these high rolling CEO's had been sitting with their bean counters the last couple of years and discovered just how much employee health care was costin' them.

Now let's suppose these same CEO's had their legal staffs (that's a euphemism for pin striped, pointy toed lawyers) do some research as to how the Pension Benefit Guarantee Program (PBGP) got started up as a quasi-gov'mint corporation back in 1974. You remember those days, airlines were going belly-up, companies were folding and folks was gettin' left without the pensions they had been promised by corporations claiming bankruptcy. When I say quasi-gov'mint, I mean of course that it is run by appointed (not elected) folks who report to other appointed (not elected) folks like the Secretary's of Labor, Commerce & Treasury. Quick now - let's see you name one of them. Every employer pays pennies per employee per day and the Gov'mint agrees to pay pension benefits should the company either go belly-up or be able to convince these folks that they will go under if they are held to their pension promises! Right now this agency is making pension payments to 1.2 million citizens employed by private industries. And they are currently guaranteeing the pensions of 44 million others! Talk about a Ponzi scheme.

Move to November 2008, and suppose that these bright businessmen go to Madam President who has a proven predisposition for a national health program in the past and suggest a "Health Benefit Guarantee Program", a quasi-gov'mint corporation which will run a national program responsible for the health care for all their employees, as well as everybody else. They'd be willing to chip in pennies on the dollar for these costs, but also agree to a ten percent corporate income tax increase to help fund this new program. Remember who pays corporate income tax in this country -- yeah - you'n me at the cash register! It sure doesn't come out of their salaries.

It ain't like it'd be the first time, remember all the screams when the Medicare system was initiated and all these same companies changed the game rules for all their retired employees eligible for Medicare coverage ----- they would only pay the co-pays and fill in the gaps for those eligible for Medicare. In one fell swoop dumping millions of folks plumb in the middle of the medicare pool!

Like FDR and his New Deal, LBJ and his Great Society, she could become HRC and the Health Benefit Plan! She had heard the people and she acted! How great is that!


Now folks, before you get excited, this is all just a faerie tale at the moment, pure conjecture! But this might be a good time to do your homework and hide your billfolds......

Might even chat with some of your friends ......

News Al Gore will never share.....

Supposing Ole' Pecoz told you that there was a humongous, ginormous source of global warming that you never hear Al Gore and his merry band of greenies talk about. Well, there is, but it isn't exciting to talk about and they can't use it as an excuse to regulate our lives.

I am talking about coal fires in China and India. Yes, plain old coal fires in seams of coal that have been burning since the Aztecs were throwin' nubile teenagers in the fiery pits. Caused primarily by spontaneous combustion and nere' impossible to extinguish, they are allowed to burn and pollute the area and the heavens for years. Stick this fact in your hat -- the carbon dioxide and pollutants emitted by the coal fires in China alone last year -- exceeded all of the pollutants emitted by all of the gasoline driven engines in America during the same period. And no amount of tree planting is gonna clean it up!!!

A recently American developed nitrogen laced foam will put out the fires, and has done so in a West Virginia mine. The Chinese and Indians have asked for help with this problem. The U.S. could help, so somebody please 'splain why all those Hollywoody's don't pound this inconvenient truth into Gore's wooden head and rally 'round this flag? We all know the answer - I'm just being cute..... How about a world concert tour starring Johnny Cash impressionists singing "Ring of Fire", and "John Henry" ! That'd get some attention!

For more information check out: http://www.itc.nl/~coalfire/problem/overview.html

Quote of the Week!

My nominee for honest quote of the week comes from Mitt Romney's wife, Ann Romney. While on the stump this week, Mitt Romney said:

"I asked Ann, my wife, 'Did you ever in your wildest dreams believe I would be running for president?' She told me, 'You weren't in my wildest dreams.' "

(Time)

More Mexifornia Justice!

Grace Valdez, a Santa Cruz, California teacher, was cited with a $300 dollar ticket for blaring her horn in the face of Police Officers - in support of an immigration rally. Yesterday, the police dismissed all charges just prior to entering court.

Next time you get a ticket for blowing your horn long and loud at a corner traffic policeman stopping you - cite the Grace Valdez case... I am sure they will let you off!

FUGGEDDABOUTIT! THEY'RE OUTTA HERE!

It would appear that that most illustrious of groups, the epitome of customer service - integrity- and technical job knowledge are about to go on strike. You guessed of course, from the description that I was talking about New York cab drivers.

It seems that the powers that be want GPS's installed in all licensed cabs in the city. The union representing ten thousand of the drivers threaten to strike on Sept 5th, a week from Tuesday unless the order is rescinded. Merciful heaven, not only would the cab driver know where exactly where he is for a change, but so would the Commission. How evil is that! Further, it would provide IRS with a more accurate estimate of income. The other union representing the remaining seven thousand drivers have no such reluctance and see it as a positive thing.

Don't know about all y'all, but when this Texas boy has ventured into the big apple, he's been burnt more'n once by either the greedy and purposeful extra trips around the block, or billed for the sheer incompetence and ignorance of the driver. When you pass the Statue of Liberty going in the same direction, three times, you get plumb suspicious. Back in my uniformed days, I had a cab driver drive around for an hour and a half trying to find the Brooklyn Navy Yards. I finally made him pull over, caught the cab behind us and was there in ten minutes... the second cab driver upon seeing my uniform and hearing my story -- refused to charge me any fare.

'Course it's hard to communicate with the driver when English ain't even his second language, when there is a bullet proof screen between you and him, and with his head out the window describing the ancestries of other drivers while waiving the not so secret hand signal to them.

In London, before a driver can even get a license he has to pass a written knowledge test on the city of London, courtesies and travelers habits, and display a full knowledge of the 37 most direct routes across the city. The latter, he has learn to do on a moped with maps attached to his handlebars so all can recognise the program he is undertaking. I won't even mention the fact that a shirt and tie are expected on the job. Granted, there is still a language barrier because London English and American English are two separate languages.

Back to the point! Seems to me that this would be a heck of a good time for the put-upon New York cab riders to rise up in rebellion and scream, "We're mad as hell and we aren't going to take it anymore!" like that TV feller did. Then call a cab rider's strike and refuse to ride in any cab that did not display a "GPS" logo prominently on the side of the cab. Ride only the seven thousand Yellow Cabs that comply and the thousands of Mini-Cabs available in Gotham! Sure, it might cause a little extra effort for a while but how long would it take the non-GPS cabs to get the message.

The other (and greatest?) effect would be on the Psyche of the average cab rider. They demanded change and they got it! Who knows, maybe they could strike those cabs that haven't been fumigated or the driver hasn't showered in two weeks next year. Shirts and ties in '09?

Power to the people!

"She is getting what everyone else would get,"

So spake Deputy DA Danette Meyers before a superior court judge in L.A. She was speaking of Linsay Lohan, charged with drunken driving and misdemeanor cocaine charges who had just plead guilty and was being sent to the hoosegow for ONE DAY! She was charged earlier in the day with seven misdemeanor charges from two drunken driving arrests in the past four months.

Guess that's what Black, Latino and poor White kids get in the L.A. court system too?

They are sure tough on these crimes out there - Y'all recall the Paris Hilton hullabaloo when she actually had to serve 13 days for DUI, reckless driving offense occurring when her driving license was suspended because of an earlier drunken driving, reckless driving offense.

Then they threw the book at the third member of this unholy trinity of Hollywood rich little brats! Nicole Richie, staring a year in the pokey because of an earlier DUI conviction, plead guilty to DUI charges when witnesses reported her black Mercedes-Benz SUV headed THE WRONG WAY on a freeway in Burbank. The Highway Patrol found her PARKED IN a car-pool lane on the freeway! Her sentence? Ninety hours in jail! Time served? 82 minutes -- yes, you read that right... One hour, twenty-two minutes!

And Ole' Pecoz is so strung out on this that I ain't even gonna mention that whenever the L.A. cops find cocaine in their vehicles or on their persons.... it is ALWAYS in amounts of .04 grams or less - it seems .05 grams constitutes a felony! Weren't they lucky?

Time for a change in your change??????????

Ole' Pecoz, your humble servant, has been railing against the penny for years. To no avail I might add! I have written editors, congressmen, senators and would have even written my Mama, were she still alive. The penny serves no purpose, buys nothing, costs the U.S. Mint more to produce that the face value - but still we end up with a pocket full, a change jar full, a trash can full.... Why?

The most common argument I hear is that if we do away with the penny, the price of every item for sale in the country will be rounded up to the next nickel and cost more. That is so lame a conclusion as to barely deserve an answer - but I will answer it anyway. If the penny coin is removed from commercial arena, prices will remain exactly the same - to the penny. You don't think the Walmarts & Targets are going to give up the $9.89 or $12.99 prices do you? Gas stations still price to the 10th of a cent, when was the last time you had a 10th of a cent coin in your trousers? The total of all our purchases at the check out counter would be rounded up or down to the nearest nickel. So at the very most, any impact would result in a two cent addition to our check out total on those $105.88 worth of groceries, products or whatever.

There is good news on the horizon however!! We are going to kill off a whole bunch of foolishness in the next few years, depending on how many prod our government into action. God knows, they ain't gonna do anything on their own hook, they got to see where the people are going before they can leap out in front and lead.

Here is what is going on now. The gold dollars are finally catching on across the country. In fact 3.25 billion were in circulation at the end of 2005 (opposed to 8 billion paper ones) and that was before the very popular Presidential Dollars were circulated. People are tired of all those crumpled ones filling their billfolds.

Quietly, the Two Dollar bill is making a comeback. In fact in 2005, 122 million were printed. That's twice as many as were produced in the preceding ten years! Folks like the coins, immigrants like the two dollar bills because they are accustomed to units of two in their native currencies around the world.

Okay, here's the drill. Picture us all carrying two dollar bills, one dollar coins, and no pennies. The two dollar bills would fit in existing cash registers where the one's used to reside. The slots would be for Twos, Fives, Tens & Twenties. The Gold dollar coins would fit in the cash register by moving all the coins to the left toward where the pennies used to reside. The coin troughs would be nickels, dimes, quarters and Gold dollars.

It would be Heaven on earth, no damned penny jars, no billfold full of crumpled, tired old one dollar bills! Think on it. If you like the idea, do like I do. When I cash a check at the bank I always ask for a roll or two of gold dollars and then I spend them! I am about to do the same thing with two dollar bills. Who knows, maybe if we all start this intelligent currency revolution --others will follow and even the blinkered donkeys inside the D.C. Beltway will get the message!

A penny saved is still worthless... (without a million friends)

Sensible Observations

When I die, I want to die like my grandfather--who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car."
--Author Unknown

Advice for the day: If you have a lot of tension and you get a headache, do what it says on the aspirin bottle:
"Take two aspirin" and "Keep away from children."
--Author Unknown

We're not in Kansas anymore Toto!

So said Dorothy to her dog Toto, when they arrived at the emerald city in the Land of Oz! Bless her heart, she wouldn't even have to be swept away by a tornado now-a-days to wonder if she had been blown out of Kansas.

A confessed drug dealer in Kansas was convicted of dealing drugs and endangerment of a child because he used his young son to make the drug deliveries. The sitting judge, waived the prosecutor's recommendation for probation and sentenced the defendant to one year in jail. It seems the defendant is an illegal alien, the judge said therefore, that probation was not appropriate because the very core of probation is to not violate the law -- and an illegal alien is breaking the law every day of the year by even being in Kansas.

Makes sense to me!

But apparently not to Kansas Appeals Court Judge McAnany, who overturned the lower court judge and ordered him to release the convicted drug dealer. An illegal alien may have broken the law when he entered the country, but now that he is here, he is no longer breaking the law unless he has been previously deported! ....Huh?

Wait for me Dorothy ... I am coming to Oz to join you................!

(For the full story, go to: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57266

Something we sometimes forget...

A VET
"A veteran - whether active duty, national guard or reserve, retired, or discharged from any of these- is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America', for an amount of 'up to and including my life.' That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it."

-- Author Unknown

An interesting adjunct to this statement is a review of the current veteran status of the US Congress - wherein only 31 Senators have ever served their country (less than 1 in 3) and only 101 Representatives have served... less than one in four. These are the folks that purport to direct the military policies of our country, foreign and domestic.
Lest you be impressed with these numbers (and you shouldn't be) please note that some of these Vet's are in the ilk of Ted Kennedy, who when expelled from Harvard in May '61 for cheating on an exam, quickly avoided the draft and joined the Army and slavishly served his country by spending his two years active duty at SHAPE Hqs in Paris. Just a lucky assignment I guess.

True Love expressed...........

Ode To A Martini

Oh Crystal glass I see your gleam,

With beads of sweat that glisten.

As cold as Artic ice you seem,

To those who will not listen,

Two drops of dryest vermouth wine

Two olives, queens-sized and green.

Juniper juices aged so fine,

Poured over the icy diamond's sheen.

Gently stirred as if introducing friends.

And slowly turned into the frosted glass.

After two of you even the worst day mends,

But after three ... I'm on my ass!

Pecozbill

(© June,2000)

European Union to Texas Governor - "Stop Executions!"

Texas Governor to European Union -- Drop Dead!! It appears the elitist leadership are personally offended by the execution of convicted capital murderers in the State of Texas. They advise Governor Perry to put a halt to them. From the San Antonio Express news:

AUSTIN — As Texas prepares today to make Johnny Ray Conner its 400th executed inmate since the state resumed the death penalty in 1982, the European Union is asking Gov. Rick Perry to do all he can to halt the practice.
Perry said, in essence, it's none of the EU's business.
The governor's spokesman, Robert Black, said in a statement that "230 years ago, our forefathers fought a war to throw off the yoke of a European monarch and gain the freedom of self-determination.
"Texans long ago decided that the death penalty is a just and appropriate punishment for the most horrible crimes committed against our citizens. While we respect our friends in Europe, welcome their investment in our state and appreciate their interest in our laws, Texans are doing just fine governing Texas."
It's not the first time the EU has sought such action, and it hasn't been alone in doing so.
One of the most high-profile Texas cases occurred in 1998, when pickax-murderer-turned-born-again-Christian Karla Faye Tucker's impending execution drew thousands of messages worldwide, mostly opposing the execution.
Then-Gov. George W. Bush refused to grant a 30-day delay, making Tucker's execution No. 145 since 1982.
Death penalty critics call the punishment cruel, barbaric and risky, because it imposes an irrevocable penalty in an imperfect system. Supporters describe it as just — assurance that the executed person will not commit another crime and potentially a deterrent to other criminals.
Conner was sentenced to die for the murder of Kathyanna Nguyen, who was shot to death in May 1998 in the Houston grocery story she owned.
In its declaration, the EU urged Perry "to exercise all powers vested in his office to halt all upcoming executions and to consider the introduction of a moratorium in the state of Texas."

I think the Governor done good and deserves an atta-boy, but might have made a counter offer. Since they have an "open border" anyway, how about if every time somebody in Texas is sentenced to death for a heinous, capital crime - we buy them a one way ticket to Paris, and let them worry about him/her. It would save Texans from caring and feeding them for the twenty years of the appeals process. Who knows, maybe even all these pin striped, pointy shoed lawyers would follow them over there as well! Talk about killing a whole lot of birds with one stone.....

Day by Day--

Today's "Day by Day" is a real thinker.........

The Ottawa Meeting proceeds.....

Well, it would seem that the White House has pulled every arrow out of their quiver to keep our attention distracted from the North American Union meeting going on yesterday and today up in Ottawa! With Tony Snow's and Carl Rove's departure, Jenna's engagement, positive reports regarding the surge in Iraq... we are so busy watching all the balls in the air, that we miss this one. This AP picture shows Mexican President Calderon, Canadian Prime Minister Harper and President Bush at their meeting Monday. Don't look for it in the news.....

Euphemistically called the "Security and Prosperity Partnership" (who could find fault with anything with a name like that) this North American copy of the European playbook is rapidly growing from a seed - into a steam rolling behemoth! Those of you just now hearing about it, 'cause you ain't gonna see much in the main stream media, need only Google; "North American Union", "NASCO", or "Nafta highway" to find hundreds of sources. So I don't need to beat it to death in this space.

On the other hand, if you want your kids (or grand kids) to grow up spending Amero's, live in a country without secured borders, and answer to a higher level than the United States Government ---- then spend your time watching to see if the Yankees catch the Red Sox, or if Tiger wins the FedEx cup. Your country - your choice.

Well they have done it!

When "There's a new speaker in town" Nan Pelosi and "Mr Excitement" Harry Reid rose to lead the new Congress in January -- they promised to set new standards! It's only been eight months and as you can see from the graph below - they almost have! The current congressional approval ratings have now sunk low enough to be tied with the all time low of 18%. A record low set back in 1992 when the House banking scandals broke.
I have confidence that when they return from their summer vacation and start making more mischief, they can break that long standard record and sink to the 17% rating, or lower! You go guys!!

Remember, these folks were voted into office by the educated American Public!!!

The Jury is Out!!

Well wranglers, I served my time. Got up at O'dark Thirty, drove down to the County Court house and sat in the basement with, count 'em, 431 other warm bodies ( that's three gross and pretty gross y'all) waiting to serve my God, my Country, my County --- and according to him, my Judge.

Got the cute lecture that only a county employee with 24 years on the job, and a Glock on her hip, could give. Took the oath of a good juror and felt like I had done good!

Then I sat....a panel of 60 went out, and I sat, a panel of 36 went out, and I sat, a panel of 54 went out, and I sat. Finally at 11:30 am, I was called as #4 in a 48 member panel... but whoa! We were to report to a satellite courthouse some 3 miles south and 4 miles east. at 1:30 PM.

The Juvenile Justice place -- why would a juvenile court place need a panel of 48 jurors for a trial?

Well it turns out to be the kind of butt kicking case that might jest scatter a few jurors here and there! And it did. Not sure what the rules are - but I'll wait 'til it's over to share the story. The lawyer folks kept sidling back and forth saying as how they couldn't share the details of the case with all of us, just the elite 12! On the other hand, they did allow that a good looking 16 year old kid is charged with 'touching' a five year old girl.

What's new? --- I was excused --again! Perfect record, 40 years, never a juror. If I hear the results, I'll share them right 'cheer! Scary part is that kid is facing a serious sentence and a lifetime Crimson "M' (molester) on his forehead, and the jurors that I saw selected had everything but ropes hanging over their shoulders. This with a third eye-witness who they said wouldn't appear, only the testimony of a 4 or 5 year old who wasn't even sure what year it happened.

Couldn't even narrow it down like "before Christmas or after" or "before the Easter Bunny or after"... ? Hope the young man is guilty 'cause his future is grim.

Ole' Pecoz is tough on crime but not blind to the ministrations of modern day psychologists and Child Protective Care civil servants............ I'll never know!

Hmmm Maybe I'll go down and peek tomorrow!

The Jury is IN !!!!

Well, I get to join all the morning commuters tomorrow morning and drive down to the County Justice Center to do my duty as a juror! I've been doing this for more years than I care to share with y'all, but find it totally frustrating that in all these years.... I have never -- I say NEVER been empaneled on a jury. I serve merely as a member of the 'cast of thousands' to scare folks into plea bargaining I reckon.

In criminal cases, defendant's lawyers seem to shy away from us retired military folks. Can't understand why. And in civil cases, plaintiff's lawyers give a thumbs down to those of us who suffered an accidental death in the family and didn't sue someone.

Oh well, at least the pay is good, six dollars a day and all I have to pay for is $9 for gas, $8 for parking, and lunch. Hmmm, maybe if I tell 'em I'm a high school dropout, on welfare, never had a job and have joined in six class action law suits....? Nah, better not, then some unhappy juror would be sitting in judgement of me in a couple of weeks.

I was gonna let that NAFTA dog sleep for awhile....

....but then I came across an article that casually mentioned that a Chinese Communist company has been selected to build the RFID (Radio Frequency) Sensor system into the new North American Union 10 lane superhighway across the middle of the United States. Let me see now, we are inviting in folks from our major trade/political foe in the entire world and permitting them.... no, paying them, to install sensors so they can track every van and truck using the highway! I didn't just fall off a turnip truck and that sure don't make any sense to me! Gee, maybe we could let them install RFID tags on all of our mobile missile vehicles and help us keep track of them as well. When that dirty bomb get loaded aboard a truck and sent across the country it would sure be nice for the bad guys to know where it is and when to pull the switch wouldn't it? What the hell is going on in this country?

I went to the NASCO (North American Super Corridor Coalition Inc) site and dug down to their Special Projects Page http://www.nascocorridor.com/pages/projects/projects.htm#naftracs and got even more confused. Written in eloquent gov'mint talk, it spells out the fact that these sensors will help track goods "right from the Buyers to the Sellers". 'Scuse me, but to this old boy, it seems like goods flow from seller to buyer - not the reverse. Not at NASCO I reckon. Lord, my head hurts, I'll let you Google around a little your ownself.....

If you ever wondered why all of a sudden, folks you always thought were conservative by nature, wanted to start opening our borders, create amnesty programs and shut down any fence building.... let your fingers do the walking. Go to the NASCO home page and read that list of sponsoring companies.....

Have a nice day now - hear?

Another rumor quashed.........

Regardless of what you heard, or what you've seen, there is absolutely no truth to the rumor that Sean Penn is the love child of Cindy Sheehan and Hugo Chavez. The fact that they make regular visits for private meetings with the Venezuelan socialist Hugo is purely coincidental and should not be misinterpreted.

They are all just fellow travelers in the "Can't we all just get along?" Club of South America.

Bless their hearts!!!

What's that big cloud on the horizon?

Some see it as dark and foreboding. Some see it with a silver lining. Old Pecozbill sees it as a flag waving semaphore saying; Look at me folks, for good or for bad --- look at me and keep yourself informed! What is the Cloud forming on our borders? It's the 'Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America. It is far too complex and involved for me to 'splain in this small space. A Google search brings sixty pages of references! I'll share this brief summary by World Net Daily and encourage all you good folks to research and draw your own conclusions.

THE NEW WORLD DISORDER

Posted: December 15, 20061:00 a.m. By Jerome R. Corsi© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

North American Union leader says merger just crisis away. Leading intellectual force behind effort toward EU-style unity looks at future
American University Professor Robert Pastor Robert Pastor, a leading intellectual force in the move to create an EU-style North American Community, told WND he believes a new 9/11 crisis could be the catalyst to merge the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
Pastor, a professor at American University, says that in such a case the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, or SPP – launched in 2005 by the heads of the three countries at a summit in Waco, Texas – could be developed into a continental union, complete with a new currency, the amero, that would replace the U.S. dollar just as the euro has replaced the national currencies of Europe.
In May 2005, Pastor was co-chairman the Council on Foreign Relations task force that produced a report entitled "Toward a North American Community," which he has claimed is the blueprint behind the SSP declared by President Bush, Mexico's then-President Vicente Fox, and Canada's then-Prime Minister Paul Martin.

Now I have just presented a tease here, 'cause I honestly don't know enough just yet to draw all the right conclusions. I am bothered that these meetings, their agendas, and results are so secret that no press is allowed in. I am bothered that the working papers are being drawn up by the Ten CEO's (or their reps) representing the ten biggest corporations in each of the three countries. Not elected officials. I am bothered by the destruction of the national border integrity of many of the great countries of Europe since the European Union has been organized, as well as their loss of governance rights to the ministrations of Old Europe leadership. Finally I am bothered by anything named SECURITY & PROSPERITY PARTNERSHIP FOR NORTH AMERICA, because it's been my experience that those omnibus bills and treaties with the sweetest sounding names are usually the most onerous!!

The next closed meeting of the leaders of Mexico, Canada and the U.S. start Monday, 20 August, in Ottawa, Canada. Keep your eyes on them clouds folks, and see if you can figure out whether they are foreboding or silver lined.

Waukegan? Whoda' thunk it.....

When I think of Waukegan Illinois, I think of Middle America, Peoria, Des Moines, Mom, Apple Pie.... I don't think of teachers being laid off because they don't speak Spanish. Shows what I know about today's Middle America. An article from World Net Daily sets forth the situation pretty succinctly -----

Posted: August 17, 20072:00 p.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

INVASION USA
No Spanish? No job, teachers told!

I know what the trend is, and it's not looking good,' educator says.

Spanish-speaking students are flooding into an Illinois school district so fast that teachers who educate in English only are being involuntarily transferred, and they believe there will come a time when they no longer will have a job.
"I know what the trend is, and it's not looking good," Valerie Goranson told the Chicago Tribune. "Even if my job was saved this year, what about next year?"
She has twice lost a teaching assignment in the Waukegan district because she doesn't speak Spanish, she said. Last year, after teaching 5th grade at North Elementary for six years, district officials moved her to Clark Elementary to make room for a Spanish-speaking teacher at North.
Now she says it's happening again.
"I can understand why they are a little nervous," Mary Lamping, the district's chief academic officer, said. "If we don't have an English-speaking population to serve, then we're not going to need English-speaking teachers."
The situation harkens to a Florida dispute on which WND has reported. There a South Florida businessman says he's being evicted from his office space because he does not speak Spanish.
Tom McKenna, 51, says he faces a move-out date of Aug. 31 from his location where he's run Seacoast Water Care for the past seven years, and doubts he can stay there.
"I don't think I've got any choice [but to move]," he told WND Wednesday. "[The landlord] wants to make my life a living hell."
A high-profile lawyer known for winning million-dollar judgments had offered to assist, but McKenna indicated he was having trouble coming up with a $10,000 retainer fee.
In Goranson's case, officials from Waukegan School District 60 say the reassignments are the result of a districtwide restructuring, not simply an accommodation to Spanish-language students.
The newspaper reported Waukegan appears to be the first in the Chicago area where such alarms have been raised. Officials say the Chicago district's immigrant population hasn't changed significantly, even though Latino immigrant numbers are rising in the suburbs.
Waukegan reports a 25 percent hike in its Spanish-speaking student population since 2000, and other suburbs are following closely behind.
"Other communities will face this problem," said Linda Asma, who teaches 5th grade at Oakdale Elementary in Waukegan, but expects one monolingual teacher at her school to be reassigned soon.
"I'd give it less than 10 years," she said.
So far, the district said, officials have been able to find new classrooms for teachers who have been moved involuntarily. But they confirm bilingual classrooms have jumped in number from 124 in 2003 to 153 in 2006. The total classroom number grew by 39, from 296 to 335, and 29 of those are bilingual.
District officials cite a state law from 1973 requiring a bilingual teacher if there are 20 or more students who speak the same foreign language.
The North Elementary principal, Angel Figueroa, said Spanish instruction helps students learn better and faster.
"Of course they need to learn English, but they also need to know science and math," Figueroa said.
But teachers suggest learning those subjects while they also are learning English is best.
"We have kids from China, Belize, Serbia, everywhere, and they catch on and end up doing well," said Linette Oliver, a teacher at Clark. She said she has been reassigned to teaching 2nd grade because her 1st grade class is becoming bilingual. "I don't understand why we can't do that for any child, no matter where they are from."

This is pretty scary stuff, even in a border state --- but Waukegan? C'mon, gimme a break! I'd sure like to get that polecat that first decided that we ought to replace the description of this great country from "melting pot" to "grand mosaic" in my sights. Bless his peanut sized brain, reverse racist, little self!