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!

Where'sssss Johnnnnnnny?

Be advised that if you think Jay Leno is the only host the Tonight Show ever had, you should skip this little piece and move on. No, even better, read on and see what you missed.

I turned to the Tonight Show and Jay Leno started his monologue with month old news -- it was a repeat -- he had the night off. I switched over to the CBS Late Show with David Letterman -- same story -- dated monologue lines -- it was a repeat, he had the night off.

That got me to thinking about the indisputable King of late night TV, Johnny Carson. A man so comfortable with himself that whenever he took a night off (and there were many) or went on vacation... he brought on substitute host comedians to replace him. And on those nights when he was present - he brought on a host of young comedians and gave them the floor and an intro to the American TV audience, letting them do their full 'stand-up' bit. They knew they had nailed it when they made Johnny laugh and he invited them over to the couch after their bit.

Picture our American comedic world without Joan Rivers, Bill Cosby, David Brenner, Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld, George Carlin, Garry Shandling, David Letterman, Jackie Mason. Without Carson, we'd probably never have heard of them -- well some of them anyway. What a shame that today's hosts, Leno and Letterman, for whatever reasons, never have guest hosts and never offer a stand up segment to guest comedians. Are we missing out on a whole generation of future comics? That would be a shame.....
Steve Allen started the genre, Jack Paar nuanced it, and Johnny Carson perfected the art and structure for late night TV for thirty years from 1962 'til he retired in 1992. Thanks Johnny!
Oh and by the way, don't you kind of reckon that Leno and Letterman might just freshen up their acts by bringing on some new, young talent and letting a little of their youthful exuberance and topics rub off.

Stuff I wish I had written....

Every now and then I come across something and say to myself, "I wish I'd said that!", kinda like the old commercial about drinking V-8, and slapping myself in the forehead. This is one of those articles. I have no idea who wrote it, but he/she gets a big Pecozbill ATTABOY!

"President Bush did make a bad mistake in the war on terrorism. But the mistake was not his decision to go to war in Iraq. Bush's mistake came in his belief that this country is the same one his father fought for in WWII. It is not. Back then, they had just come out of a vicious depression. The country was steeled by the hardship of that depression, but they still believed fervently in this country. They knew that the people had elected their leaders, so it was the people's duty to back those leaders. Therefore, when the war broke out the people came together, rallied behind, and stuck with their leaders, whether they had voted for them or not or whether the war was going badly or not. And war was just as distasteful and the anguish just as great then as it is today. Often there were more casualties in one day in WWII than we have had in the entire Iraq war. But that did not matter. The people stuck with the President because it was their patriotic duty.

Americans put aside their differences in WWII and worked together to win that war. Everyone from every strata of society, from young to old pitched in. Small children pulled little wagons around to gather scrap metal for the war effort. Grade school students saved their pennies to buy stamps for war bonds to help the effort. Men who were too old or medically 4F lied about their age or condition trying their best to join the military. Women doubled their work to keep things going at home. Harsh rationing of everything from gasoline to soap, to butter was imposed, yet there was very little complaining.
You never heard prominent people on the radio belittling the President. Interestingly enough in those days there were no fat cat actors and entertainers who ran off to visit and fawn over dictators of hostile

Clark Gable

countries and complain to them about our President. Instead, they made upbeat films and entertained our troops to help the troops' morale. And a bunch even enlisted. And imagine this: Teachers in schools actually started the day off with a pledge of allegiance, and with prayers for our country and our troops!

Back then, no newspaper would have dared point out certain weak spots in our cities where bombs could be set off to cause the maximum damage. No newspaper would have dared complain about what we were doing to catch spies. A newspaper would have been laughed out of existence if it had complained that German or Japanese soldiers were being "tortured" by being forced to wear women's underwear, or subjected to interrogation by a woman, or being scared by a dog or did not have air conditioning.
There were a lot of things different back then. We were not subjected to a constant bombardment of pornography, perversion and promiscuity in movies or on radio. We did not have legions of crack heads, dope pushers and armed gangs roaming our streets.
No, President Bush did not make a mistake in his handling of terrorism. He made the mistake of believing that we still had the courage and fortitude of our fathers. He believed that this was still the country that our fathers fought so dearly to preserve. It is not the same country. It is now a cross between Sodom and Gomorrah and the land of Oz. We even have the wicked witch of the west as the new Speaker of the House of Representatives. We did unite for a short while after 9/11, but our attitude changed when we found out that defending our country would require some sacrifices.

We are in great danger. The terrorists are fanatic Muslims. They believe that it is okay, even their duty, to kill anyone who will not convert to Islam. It has been estimated that about one third or over three hundred million Muslims are sympathetic to the terrorists cause...Hitler and Tojo combined did not have nearly that many potential recruits. We either win it - or lose it - and you ain't gonna like losing."

Well.........duh!

The young lady stormed into the dry cleaners just mad as she could be! She spoke sharply to the young man behind the counter and said; "I tried calling your store twenty times today to see if my party dress was back yet, and I couldn't even get through! Don't you people ever answer your phone?"

The clerk replied, "Ma'am I've been here all day - what number did you dial?"

She pointed back at the entrance and said; "Why 700-1000, the number right there on your door!"

The clerk sighed and said; "Ma'am that's the hours we are open......"

She said, in a much lower voice; "Oh, never mind, is my dress back yet?"

Hang on to your Stetson's

Just when I was beginning to yawn off the whole 2008 Presidential campaign as totally blah, with no sparkling stars in the field of either party, along comes Mr "Can't Win"! Call him the man with the plan, the mouth from the South, the has-been who ain't, the cuzz with the buzz.

If ever there was a true lightning rod in national politics - it would have to be Newt Gingrich. The former back bencher who rose to Speaker of the House by orchestrating control of the Congress away from the Democrats for the first time in forty years. Who's personal life was as screwed up as his business judgement. Who, when he felt his presence might hurt the party, resigned and went back to teaching history, studying history, and thinking and planning.

We all plead for politicians who speak with a straight tongue, instead of dancing the side-step until all the poll results are in. Say whatever you want about Newt, when he finishes a speech, you have no doubt what he said, what he meant, and where he stands! How refreshing is that? Of course the big question becomes: Can we handle that openness? Only time will tell, but I for one look forward to some energy in this listless, mindless, and seemingly endless nominating campaign by both parties.....


Speaking of Newt, by the way, I heard him announce Tuesday that police departments should be required to check on the citizenship status of a felony arrestees. I had to hit replay -- you mean they don't do this now?
Yegads! How about misdemeanor arrestees as well!!!!!!!

See also: http://money.cnn.com/2006/11/20/magazines/fortune/newt.fortune/index.htm

Update - 'Frisco vs Savage

At the Board of Supervisors meeting, Sandoval came up one vote short of the required unanimous vote needed for a vote of condemnation. The lonely NO vote was voiced by Mr Ed Jew, whose grandfather immigrated here from China, who allowed that "Freedom of Speech" is still a constitutional right in this country. Good for him!
Please note that Sandoval is the Supervisor who got into hot water for telling San Franciscans that if they had a problem with business leaders suing the city - they ought to picket them at their homes in Tiburon or at their Bar Mitzvahs. Hmm, do I detect a little racism there?

Across the country, as folks speak out against the flood of illegal aliens in this country, they are going to be painted with the racist paintbrush... By the way, I googled the S.F. Board of Supervisors and didn't find one vote of condemnation against folks who behead people, religions that preach genocide, or illegal aliens that smuggle drugs, terrorists and commit crimes in this country! Surprise!

An easy question......

If I asked you to name a Washington elected official who has locked up two million documents to keep them from public review, who would you think I was talking about? If I added the hint that the excuse given for such censure was to protect the privacy of advice given and received under the Presidential Records Act, would you change your guess? Here's a final hint, this official had over a thousand pages of records regarding the official's involvement with the effort to create a National Health Care system back in '92 sealed.... getting warm?

That's right, Mrs Clinton herself, she who was not even an official - elected or otherwise at the time, has had these records sealed so they cannot be reviewed until after the election of '08!

This would be the same - now Senator Clinton who joins the snapping pack of coyote politicians screaming for Vice President Cheney's head because he doesn't release every dotted i and crossed t in his archives for their staff's perusal and leaking... Go figure! Can you say "double standard" with a finger wave?
For more, go to:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-clintondocs14aug14,1,1086895.story?track=rss&ctrack=1&cset=true

Yikes, the emperor is plumb nekkid !!

After being berated and abused by Al Gore and his fellow sycophants for the last couple of years because of our lack of concern about global warming, it appears the Little Dutch Boy has pulled his finger out of the information dike and the truth is leaking out..

Paul Harvey's broadcast this morning pointed out that the fellow traveling Newsweek (of all news magazines) will present the whole global warming insanity as a grand hoax as a cover story in next weeks issue. I read in the Washington Times this morning that 'cooler" heads in Europe are expressing doubt as well - here is their take:

Article published Aug 14, 2007 Inside the Beltway
August 14, 2007 John McCaslin - Before Gore. D.C. resident John Lockwood was conducting research at the Library of Congress and came across an intriguing Page 2 headline in the Nov. 2, 1922 edition of The Washington Post: "Arctic Ocean Getting Warm; Seals Vanish and Icebergs Melt." The 1922 article, obtained by Inside the Beltway, goes on to mention "great masses of ice have now been replaced by moraines of earth and stones," and "at many points well-known glaciers have entirely disappeared." "This was one of several such articles I have found at the Library of Congress for the 1920s and 1930s," says Mr. Lockwood. "I had read of the just-released NASA estimates, that four of the 10 hottest years in the U.S. were actually in the 1930s, with 1934 the hottest of all." Worth pondering.

Reacting yesterday to word that certain European governments and officials are suddenly trying to abandon their costly "global warming" policies, Royal Astronomical Society fellow Benny Peiser, of the science faculty at Liverpool John Moores University in Great Britain, recalls the teachings of Marcus Aurelius: "The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."

Emphasis mine. Is it possible that the left's 'Wooden Indian' has been hoodwinking us from his mansions, limos and private aircraft? Awww say it ain't so. Maybe he too, has just been on 'roids and needs an asterisk next to his public statements.

It had to happen......

Chicago's City Council is considering imposing a 25¢ tax on every bottle of water purchased! The city alderman proposing the tax stated that since everybody enjoys it when they walk or jog, they ought to pay for the privilege. Besides, city water usage is down!! Any odds on the alderman's political party?
http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/local_story_226071318.html

The First Salvo?

You'll recall that when the radio talk show hosts around the country helped rally the citizens to pick up their phones and let their voices be heard regarding the proposed Shamnesty Act that the President and Congress were about to impose - the bill died. But with it's death came a new rallying cry from those self serving beltway behemoths: "How dare the citizens threaten us with their votes? We know what is best - we don't need input from those people in the flyover states!"

Where did they point their wrath? Why at those rascally radio talk show hosts who dared share what was going on behind Oz's curtain with the great unwashed public. The new rallying cry on Capital Hill? FAIRNESS DOCTRINE - FAIRNESS DOCTRINE! Keeping in mind that fairness to the permanent class on capital hill means, "Its our way or the highway!" By resurrecting the Fairness Doctrine of the pre-Reagan days -- every side to every issue would have to be given equal time on the air on every program. The liberal talk shows have no problem with this, hell they would probably pick up listeners, 'cause there sure ain't anyone listening now to them now. Just ask the bankrupt Air America that was to be the liberal voice of America.

Like so many such incidents, wiser heads prevailed for the minute, and the congressional movement has been slowed. But then, as liberals often do, what they can't win in the ballot box or in the court of public opinion, they try to steal in the courts.

The first salvo will be fired tomorrow in that bastion of political freedom - the San Francisco City Hall. The Board of Supervisors will be asked to vote on a Resolution of Condemnation by Gerardo Sandaval, one of their own. The Resolution is aimed at radio talk show host Michael Savage - his sin..... speaking out against the City using taxpayers money to pay for green cards and other benefits for ILLEGAL ALIENS! Oh the shame of it all.

No lesser a light than nationally known civil rights attorney Daniel Horowitz has offered his services to defend Michael Savage. If this ever becomes a court case and it finds for the City Board of Supervisors, you can expect to see a host of these actions across the country. If they can't win inside the beltway, they'll go to their sainted pools to make their mark. 'Scuse me, should I have said "tainted pools"?

As they say in talk radio - stay tuned!! It's gonna be a long time until we hear the Fatlady sing the closing notes to this tune...

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57130

Questions.... not answers, in Newark, NJ

I don't need to fill you in on the gruesome murders over the weekend up in Newark NJ. The updates are all over the planet. But since my goal is to stir the cobwebs, not provide the answers, I have to ask three questions:

#1. Why when you Google "Newark Murders" do you get hundreds of hits, all identically headlined 'Three collegians murdered' or 'Four college students shot'? Not that two of them weren't students, but isn't this a little weird and a heck of a coincidence?

#2. Why was accused 28 year old, illegal alien Jose Carranza walking the streets? In the last year he was indicted for raping a five year old, assault with a deadly weapon and had been arrested three times, all while using a false SSN. For those who miss the point, arrested means; in custody of law enforcement officials!!!

#3. How many hours will it be before the Mayor or Governor or NJ newspapers starts screaming, "We need tougher gun laws"! Like that's the problem....duh. And lest you laugh, I saw one interview with a Newark public official yesterday on the what we used to call the 'news', and the official opined that the reason for the murders and crime in general in Newark was because of President Bush's policy in Iraq. I kid you not!

Heard it said.....

.... the other day that Reunions are like a study in English grammar: The Past is perfect and the Present - tense!

Red Meat for Political Junkies...

If you are a political junkie like old Pecozbill, you probably like to express your views on the hot topics or cold candidates of the day. You probably like to see what other folks are thinkin' too!
Let me recommend you check out PolitiChoice and scratch both of those itches. They make you jump thru a couple of hoops to get into the red meat area, but it isn't too bad. Don't do like I did and mix up your sign in name with your screen name though, or you foul up your sign in process like I did. You can compare your view regarding the candidates, the parties, the HOT TOPICS and see if you are one of the crowd or a Lone Ranger..
You can also link from their site to half a hundred other polling results sites... Wheee Doggies!
I'll be honest - my candidate match-up surprised me, cause my man was third on my result list... oh well, he was in the neighborhood. Here's how my candidate match-up went:


Candidate
Total Score
John McCain 85.78 %
Mike Huckabee 85.29 %
Fred Thompson 85.29 %
Mitt Romney 85.05 %
Duncan Hunter 81.86 %
Tom Tancredo 78.68 %
Rudy Guiliani 74.26 %
Sam Brownback 70.10 %
Ron Paul 61.27 %
Joe Biden 43.38 %
Chris Dodd 36.76 %
Hillary Clinton 33.33 %
Barack Obama 32.35 %
Bill Richardson 30.64 %
John Edwards 28.92 %
Dennis Kucinich 13.73 %

(Of course this Kucinich lad wouldn't rate even that high if was for a real job - like dogcatcher!)

I owe ole' Lem over at HillbillyWhiteTrash.blogspot.com for the head's up. Here's the link, have fun y'all!: http://politichoice.com/

Perception is Everything....

HE STORMED IN THROUGH THE BAT WING DOORS
LEFT THEM FLAPPING IN HIS BREEZE
STRODE UP TO THE BARTENDER AND SAID
“A DOUBLE OLIVE MARTINI IF YOU PLEASE.”
THE BARROOM NOISE WENT DEADLY QUIET
THEY ALL HEARD THE ODD REQUEST
AS THEY EYED THE SQUINT EYED STRANGER
WITH THE BADGE UPON HIS CHEST

A LOUD MOUTHED YOUTH ON HIS SECOND BEER
WITH A GUN SLUNG LOW AROUND HIS HIP
DECIDED THAT HE WOULD BE THE ONE
TO GIVE THIS ODD LAWMAN LIP
BUT ABOUT THAT TIME THE BARMAN SAID
“I’M OUT OF OLIVES THAT ARE PITTED!”
“JUST HAND ME TWO WITH PITS IN”
THE LAWMAN SEEMED COMMITTED

HE STEPPED OUTSIDE THE BARROOM DOORS
AND AS HE FLUNG THE OLIVES IN THE AIR
HIS SIX-GUN CLEARED IT’S LEATHER
AND TWO SHOTS RANG OUT FAST AND FAIR
HE STIRRED THE NOW PITTED OLIVES IN HIS DRINK
AS HE PERUSED AROUND THE BAR
SPOTTED THE WANTED LAD YOUNG BILLY
WHO WANTED TO BE AN OUTLAW STAR

"COME ON ALONG WITH ME YOUNG BILL", HE SAID
"I HAVE COME TO SEE TO YOUR ARREST".
AFTER WITNESSING THE OLIVE'S PITTING THING
BILLY OPINED THAT COMPLYING WOULD BE BEST
AS THEY SLOWLY RODE OUT OF TOWN
THE LAWMAN WINKED BACK AS HE SCANNED
HIS OLD GIRLFRIEND ON THE BALCONY
WHO'D DROPPED THE TWO PITTED OLIVES IN HIS HAND…


©Pecozbill

Peppermint Jumpstart for the Mind?

Did you ever come across a newspaper columnist that stopped you in your tracks? That washed away those cobwebs in your head like a full fire hose on a chuckwagon cook's breakfast fire? I did, Stu Bykofsky, a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News! He throws his ink in every direction - to the left, to the right, down the middle - but mostly at those of us who let ourselves become trapped in that; "Oh well, that's the way it is" syndrome. I'm going to post a link here, leading you to his latest hand grenade, "To Save America, We Need Another 9/11!", but before you jump over there, let me encourage you to stay there long enough to read his column from July 30th, "Cindy Sheehan's Sad Form of ADD".... As in ....."when she isn't getting any attention, she gets disorderly". For a Yankee, Stu gets a serious 'attaboy'!

So clear that debris in your head with this Listerine for the brain -- like him or hate him - you'll love him!

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/stu_bykofsky/20070809_Stu_Bykofsky___To_save_America__we_need_another_9_11.html

Another Rumor Denied---

There is absolutely no truth to the rumor that since singer Sheryl Crowe announced that folks should be allowed to only use one square of paper when they visit the 'facility', nobody cares to shake her hand in the reception lines at her concerts. No truth at all.....

"I propose a limitation be put on how many squares of toilet paper can be used in any one sitting "
Sheryl Crow

Mexican Government "Outs" Itself!!

I had hoped to let this business of the Mexican government's apparent strategy to hobble US Border Patrol Agents rest for a few days. But sure enough, I opened my morning paper today and there was as an AP column: "Border shooting decried". Wanna take a wild stab at who did the decrying? Right on your first guess - the Mexican Government;

Marco Antonio Torres Moreno - public safety director in Ciudad Juarez, the city across the river from El Paso - said Ortiz was shot once in the chest and once in the right forearm.
The Mexican government demanded in a statement that "all the weight of the law be brought to bear against the person or persons responsible."
"The Mexican government expresses a firm protest against the use of lethal weapons in the face of situations that do not represent a proportionate risk," the Foreign Relations Department said.
Ortiz had been deported from the U.S. in 2004, Mosier said.
Jesus Castillo, 43, Ortiz's brother, initially acknowledged that his brother had worked as an immigrant smuggler. But after speaking to investigators, he said his brother worked in construction and occasionally crossed the border to look for work in El Paso.
{Bet he didn't have any stinking badge either----}

By way of background, understand that the Ortiz, the smuggler, had been arrested and deported 28 times in the past and in this instance was still holding the bolt cutters and a rock. Like department stores, we are going to have to replace the revolving doors with sliding electric ones because the deportees can't get through them fast enough!

But when a foreign government, in this case Mexico, puts all of it's weight on Washington and on local officials.... as if Sister Teresa was trekking across the border to help the sick and needy...it gets to be a bit much.
I would promise to leave this topic alone for a few days but sure as heck if I do, the Mexican federales will be galloping across the Rio Grande to rescue one of their poor, put upon sterling citizens tomorrow morning. Please note that this was just across the border from Ciudad Juarez, a city that the Mexican government cannot (or will not) even protect. You've read about it in your local papers even if you are in New Hampshire reading this.

For the whole article, click on: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BORDER_PATROL_SHOOTING?SITE=TXSAE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Cheaper than Divorce? And quicker!

(from KENSTV News)

NEW: Confessing man prefers jail to marriage, police say
When most people want out of a marriage, they separate or file for divorce. But a San Antonio man took a unique approach.
According to police, Danny Joe Herrera confessed to robbing a Northwest Side sporting goods store with a fake gun Thursday evening because he was tired of his wife and wanted to go back to jail.
Herrera was arrested and charged with aggravated robbery and other criminal charges out of Dallas. He is currently being held at the Bexar County Detention Center.
According to police, the 31-year-old showed a gun to a cashier at Academy Sports and Outdoors in the 2600 block of Northwest Loop 410. He demanded the cash register, grabbed it, and left the store.
Herrera was caught on the side of a nearby strip club. Officers recovered the cash register. They also found the plastic BB gun used in the robbery.

Wait 'til the American Divorce Attorneys Association hears about this. They'll get the judge to throw the book at Herrara. This could take hold and put them out of business.

Ain't it the truth.....

BAR ENCOUNTER - A guy sees a gal in a bar. Walking up behind her he says, "Hi there, good looking! How's it going?" Having already downed a few power drinks, she turns around, faces him, looks him straight in the eye, and says, "Listen up, buddy. I screw anybody, any time, anywhere, your place, my place, in the car, front door, back door, on the ground, standing up, sitting down, naked or with clothes on, dirty, clean, it just doesn't matter to me. I've been doing it ever since I got out of college and I just flat-ass love it." Eyes now wide with interest, he responds, "No kidding? I'm a lawyer, too! What firm are you with?"
Ya gotta love honesty!!!

Forgetful or purposeful lack of follow-up ...

by the media? Remember last year when overnight, liquids of any kind were declared verboten in carry on bags on commercial air flights? Remember the hue and cry when bottles of formula, mother's milk, and God Help Us, even Gen X'rs bottles of Evian were confiscated? "Over reaction" the headlines screamed! Government (meaning President Bush of course) has gone too far!" the talking heads on the evening news declared! Tsk Tsk, we all muttered to our selves, for a country who weren't about to let a rag tag bunch of terrorists effect us, we sure seem to be getting cowed.

Well strangely enough, it turns out plans to blow up commercial airliners en masse were the terrorist plot du jour. Bigger than 9-11. Arrests were made in England of British citizens of Middle-Eastern descent and the plots foiled for the moment. But the fact remains that in twelve hours (6 PM to 6 AM) the Department of Homeland Security turned boarding procedures 180 degrees across the land. We'll never know just how many wanna-be martyrs were frightened off by the new strict boarding policy.... but we do know this: The main stream media was aware of the facts behind the new rulings and did their best to downplay or under report them. Unlike the bad news of course, which receives top billing. Here is a sample of ABC News reports a year later (Aug 7,'07). Did you see this in any headlines or as the lead-in to the evening news? No? Neither did I!

http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=3451976

Perhaps we should fingerprint the Mexican Government..

'cause it would appear that their fingerprints are all over the recent spate of prosecutions of US Border Guard Agents. Let's see now - at $16 Billion, the remittances that illegal aliens in this country send back to their families have surpassed even oil revenue as Mexico's greatest contributor of their Gross National Product (GNP). Following that thought - it does not take a great leap to realize that it is in Mexico's national interest to hobble the efforts of our Border Agents.

We are all painfully aware of the prosecutions of Border Agents Romos and Compean by US Attorney Johnny Sutton in West Texas. Well, maybe all of us except the ostriches that are more concerned with being good neighbors than protecting our National borders. What isn't so well known is the role that the Mexican Consulate played in these prosecutions.

Now comes the case near Naco, Arizona, where a Border Agent fired a defensive shot with his weapon when attack by an apprehended illegal alien wielding a rock. Heads remained calm as an incident investigation played out. Then the Mexican Consulate stepped in, brought in three witnesses (some related to the deceased), clothed them, fed them, put them up in a local hotel, and coached them. The US Border Agent Nicholas Corbett, 41, has now been formally charged with Second Degree Murder and will have to stand trial.

The Mexican Government's interference and pressure emanates all the way from their offices in Washington... a far piece from where the Border Agents have their boots on the ground! It is time for all of us concerned with the current state of affairs start doing our homework, and then communicating with each other and those elected employees we hire and send to local, state and federal offices. Take a minute to read the attached article, then read it again!
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57063

Now I am going to be honest folks, like I shared with my older brother, "While I am against criminal behavior by Border Agents or anyone else, I get really bent out of shape when I hear that Agents are charged with being too rough on these drug and people smugglers. I would rather that rumors abound in Northern Mexico about the hard and mean Border Agents north of the border, than rumors about how they are just going through the motions with velvet gloves on to protect themselves from false and over zealous prosecution for restricting some coyote's civil rights!"

Thank You in Any Language

feels just as great! I had an old retired Air Force veteran friend e-mail me today and the subject of his e-mail was "Not in Sixty Years!" It seems that yesterday he was standing irritably in a long check out line in a department store when a tall young man tapped him on the shoulder. Whipping around thinking somebody was trying to edge ahead, he looked at the young man and before he could say anything (fortunately), the young man said: "I noticed the Bronze Star and rank insignia on your Air Force Veteran's cap, and just wanted to say 'Thank you for serving our Country when you did, Sir!"

Well, my grizzled old friend was so taken aback, he was at a loss for words for the first time in many years. We have come to see and appreciate the general appreciative attitude Americans have for our warriors in this little dust up in the Middle East, but are tickled to see that perhaps it is rubbing off on some of our veterans of those earlier set-to's. It may have been missing then, but that just makes it all the sweeter now.

Did you know that the words "Thank You" can be spoken in 465 different languages? Link to this site and see if you don't recognise a few.... surprise someone someday!
http://www.elite.net/~runner/jennifers/thankyou.htm

Pete Rose is still striking out...

How Pete Rose ever managed to steal so many bases and score so many runs with one foot in his mouth I'll never know. Even at the age of 66, he still doesn't get it! Speaking before a group of eight and nine year old baseball players, their parents and staff, Rose used every profanity normally restricted to the locker room after a loss. He lamented in four letter words that Marge Schott, the Reds owner, didn't leave him any money, he admonished the kids that if they come in second place.... they are losers! Here, read it for yourself in the Cincinnati Enquirer. The next time I hear some rosie cheeked, good haired sportscaster opine that Rose should be in the Hall of Fame for his play...despite his gambling. I'll substitute Hall of SHAME and nod in agreement.
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070802/COL05/708020317/-1/all

I can't make stuff like this up....

Here is an exact cut & pasted replica of a comment posted on an AOL report regarding the current approval ratings in the latest polls for the Democrat nomination for President (no editing):

ClydeNowlin123 03:45:51 PM Aug 07 2007
Report This!
ANY MORON CAN SEE THAT HILARY IS THE ONLY CHOICE FOR PRESIDENT VOTE HILARY

Bless his little heart, I won't even comment on his spelling of Hillary's name, just 'cause I like what he says so much!! "ANY MORON CAN SEE...... " Hot damn, do I agree with that or what? Now the half bright folks, they might see other choices.......

A Silver Lining to a Sports Cloud?

After trying to find any good thing in the mess created by the Falcon's Michael Vick, Bruce Tinsely, creator of "Mallard Fillmore" came up with the answer today. Ms Pecoz will try this out on her newly acquired Jack Russell/Chihuahua.

RINO's & Demos'

Every time I pick up a paper or watch a news show, all I hear about are the "far right wing of the Republican Party" and the "extreme left wing of the Democrat party"! Well folks, the more I look at these two parties and watch them evolve... or devolve as it were ... the more difficult it becomes to tell the difference.

Although I am not a fan of "Unity08", they could probably use this picture as their logo! It speaks volumes of the disappearing line of differences between the two parties. Aww Ronnie - we miss ya'!

Artist Mows Purple Heart into New York Field

A Purple Heart medal is shown mowed into a lawn in Thomas Bull Memorial Park on Sunday in Hamptonburgh, N.Y. The replica medal, created by Roger Baker, occupies an area of 850,000 square feet and measures more than 1,000 feet long. (Daniel Morel/AP Photo)

This Sunday is the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the creation and award of this medal to American Servicemen and women wounded in battle. What a grand use of a great skill in design, layout and execution.

(This is an ABC News Story.)

A Bridge Tooooo Far?

I don't want to belabor the issue of the Minneapolis bridge collapse, but this picture caused ol' Pecozbill to scratch his head and wonder. So I'm gonna scratch that itch by posing my consternation here.I sure ain't no bridge building engineer or rocket scientist - but this particular picture sure poses some questions. Like how come these two bridges built side by side aren't equally stable? Look again at the picture. The remaining, solid bridge is built on arched trestles with a support in the middle of the river and the bridge. The section of the 1900 foot bridge that failed was (is) a spanned truss section some 470 feet long with no support in the middle.... because they didn't want to interfere with the river traffic at the time of construction.
Long spanned bridges are buildable with arched spans and suspension cabling. But the length of simple beamed or truss bridges is limited.
With all of the traffic growth in numbers and weights over the past forty years, it stands to reason that the middle (most stressed and weakest) part of the span that constantly rises and sags would eventually fatigue and fail! And that's apparently what happened.
If I had a little more ambition and time, I'd look back through the records to see if the fingerprints of some greenie organization weren't all over the decision to build without center support. When all the politicians get done pointing fingers at each other, I expect that somebody is going to recognise this and start to ask these questions.... just remember, you heard it here first.... (interested folks might check bridge building 101 at: http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/jmac/rs/bridges.htm )
-See also Bridge postings below.....

'JSS" The Johnny Sutton Syndrome?

I read the following short article in the Yuma Sun (AZ) today. I am copying the article in it's entirety so that you get the flavor of it and they get the credit:

Spear Thrown at Border Patrol Agents
Nicole E. Squibbs
August 1, 2007 - 2:14PM
An attempted assault with a rock and a homemade spear was made against Border Patrol agents in the Yuma Sector who were trying to apprehend 15 illegal immigrants. Around 5 a.m. today, agents in the Boat Patrol Unit were assisting agents along the Colorado River in capturing the group, and as they closed in, the group scattered and fled into surrounding brush. One man, suspected to be the group's smuggler, entered the shallow water along the river bank and allegedly threw a rock at agents in the boat, but missed them, according to a Border Patrol press release. When the boat moved closer to the apparent smuggler, he allegedly threw a homemade spear at one of the agents, which also missed, the release said. An agent used a substance similar to pepper spray to stop the spear-thrower, who crawled out of the water and into nearby brush before agents could catch him. He and two others fled to Mexico and five others fled shortly after them. Agents were able to apprehend eight people during their search for the remaining members of the group, the release said. The eight illegal immigrants were transported to the Yuma Border Patrol station for processing.

I got to wondering, if this had happened in the Western District of Texas under the keen eye of U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, would he have prosecuted the Border Patrol Agent for using professional pepper spray instead of just tossing common home ground pepper back at the chucker of the homemade spear? So now the coyote escapes and lives to continue smuggle more poor souls another day. Were the Agents hesitant to draw their weapons in an effort to stop them because of Sutton's actions--- one wonders!

Be careful what you wish for.....

The whole country screamed for transparency in the federal earmark spending programs. If politicians were to dip into the pork barrel for our tax dollars for their favorite constituents, then we wanted to be able to see it! Sounded simple 'eh?

But wait!! There's more!! It seems that this new transparency has started a race in congress to see who can garner the most pork. A new badge of honor to be worn with pride as it were. John Murtha (D-Pa) leads the pack with $$163 million, Nancy Pelosi lags behind with $63 million and the race continues. John Q Public can share the blame because with this new transparency, we will expect our representatives to bring home the pork! "Round and round she goes, where she stops...nobody knows!" In 1996 there were 3000 earmarks, in this year of our Lord 2007, in the age of the new transparency it is only August 5th and there are 6500 earmarks posted spending $11 BILLION OF YOUR TAX DOLLARS. Never call them federal funds (the government has no funds), they are YOUR TAX DOLLARS.

Lest you forget what a BILLION dollars is: If you spent a thousand dollars a day, in a little less than three years you would have spent one Million dollars... but then you would have to carry on and spend the same $1000 per day for the next THREE THOUSAND YEARS to spend that BILLION DOLLARS in your hand. If Judas had been given a quick earmark of $1 Billion (instead of those 30 pieces of silver) and followed this $1000 a day habit, he'd still be at it and have another 900 years to go!

If you are reading this, you have Internet access obviously, Google "earmarks", do some research then follow your conscience...

Falling for a sport....

One look at this video, and you'll know why I think that maybe golf isn't such a bad choice for a sports hobby after all: http://youtube.com/watch?v=KBvCrSjpx9I

New Home for the United Nations?

It occurs to me that with all of the congestion on the Eastern seaboard, perhaps we could kill several birds with the same stone. It also happens that Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota was named for closure in the last BRAC (Base Realignment & Closure) findings. So here we are - a need to reduce congestion in the New York City area and a closing Air Force Base with full infrastructure in place for other purposes.

Why not serve an eviction notice to the United Nations for it's current site and offer them the full facilities of Grand Forks AFB in North Dakota. Grand Forks, the neighbor city of 50,000 souls would appreciate a replaced mission for the base and the inherent financial fall-out, and the Mayor of New York would lose the headache of Diplomat's limos double parking all over Manhattan.

Every two bit despot in 150 countries around the world that take over their government and appoint their brother-in-law to live high on the hog as Ambassadors to the U.N. (on our money mainly) would appreciate the lower cost of living. A few extra parkas for the winters perhaps, but lower overall. There are visiting officers quarters, NCO quarters, and Dorms with all the basic amenities available. Even a couple of Base Commander quality houses, maybe even a spacious 2000sf, available for the Secretary General and other key officials. Those who insist on off base quarters could fill the Motel 6's and Days End Motels. There already is a great flight line to allow U.N. members to fly in for meetings and then get the hell out of here and fly home between sessions.

True, the bureaucrats wouldn't be able to hit Broadway shows and Maxim's every night but they could attend the local multiplex theaters, McD's and IHOP.

With all the money that the U.N. would save in operating costs, they could forgo the oil for food money and other doubtful sources of income that they now require.

What do you think - is this an idea whose time has come, or what?

Bridge Disaster, First of Many?

While we all pray for the victims, survivors and their families of yesterday's collapsed bridge disaster in Minneapolis... We have to wonder --- how many more? Congress will beat their chests, hold hearings and pass laws, camera seeking pols of the ilk of Conyers and Schumer will try to lay the blame at President Bush's door... but the truth be known - it could have been prevented. Maybe by a couple of simple brass plaques!! Look below to my posting of July 21st, just 10 days ago entitled: Infrastructure? Where is the Glory?

The Times, They Are A Changin'

... And it ain't necessarily for the better! Case in point: For two hundred years, there was an unwritten rule that domestic politics stop at the water's edge. Unfortunately, that ethic has ended with ex-presidents Carter and Clinton. Both of whom have made a cottage industry out of traveling around the world bashing both the sitting President and U.S policies in general. It's truly a sad sight to behold. I guess you can the cracker out of the feuding South, but can't take the feuding South out of the Cracker!

Ole' Pecozbill has heard it said that the New York Times front page is an integral part of the daily intelligence briefing for Osama and his staff each morning. War plans, surges, withdrawal plans, new weaponry... read it there first. Bless the old Gray Lady's heart.. used to be "All the News That's Fit to Print" -- now it's "Any news, whether it will hurt our troops and country or not"!

Finally, the exchange of letters between wannabe Hillary and Vice President Cheney seems to lowering the ethics bar even further. In an attempt to separate herself even further from her vote to go to war in Iraq, she has repeatedly asked Cheney for "the Pentagon's plan for withdrawing from Iraq". He of course has refused, opining that if such a plan existed, making it public would only bring aid and comfort to our enemies and cause demonstrable morale problems for our troops on the ground. She is now in the process of elevating the level of this pathetic discourse. Again, the word unfortunately fits this space.

For more detail, go to: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070801/D8QOEV2G0.html

If not so serious, this transparent exercise in sucking up to the far left wing of the Democrat party would be merely disconcerting. However - it is much more serious than that!

Tough Reading....

But worth the effort! I am attaching a column called "Death of Sweden" from the "Brussels Journal" regarding the not so gradual erosion of living standards and freedoms in Sweden as a result of massive Islamic immigration. It is a scary read about a country we have always respected for their civilized society. Between the incursions in daily life by the muslims and the heavy taxes (60%) imposed by the liberals running the government... it's not a pretty picture.
But certainly one that every American should be aware of, and guard against. Pick up one of our newspapers anyday and one see's the new "rights" insisted on by minority immigrants. Prayer rooms, foot baths, neighborhood self-rule, protected group status... Take a minute when you can---
http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/2278

And then watch and read the news across this country with a new perspective!