I've heard of an "EYE FOR AN EYE" and .....

..... a "TOOTH FOR A TOOTH".... but this is the first time I've ever heard of a "Tooth for an Eye"!

Blind Irishman sees with the aid of son's tooth in his eye
Wed Feb 27
An Irishman blinded by an explosion two years ago has had his sight restored after doctors inserted his son's tooth in his eye, he said on Wednesday.
Bob McNichol, 57, from County Mayo in the west of the country, lost his sight in a freak accident when red-hot liquid aluminium exploded at a re-cycling business in November 2005.
"I thought that I was going to be blind for the rest of my life," McNichol told RTE state radio.
After doctors in Ireland said there was nothing more they could do, McNichol heard about a miracle operation called Osteo-Odonto-Keratoprosthesis (OOKP) being performed by Dr Christopher Liu at the Sussex Eye Hospital in Brighton in England.
The technique, pioneered in Italy in the 1960s, involves creating a support for an artificial cornea from the patient's own tooth and the surrounding bone.
The procedure used on McNichol involved his son Robert, 23, donating a tooth, its root and part of the jaw.
McNichol's right eye socket was rebuilt, part of the tooth inserted and a lens inserted in a hole drilled in the tooth.
The first operation lasted ten hours and the second five hours.
"It is pretty heavy going," McNichol said. "There was a 65 percent chance of me getting any sight.
"Now I have enough sight for me to get around and I can watch television. I have come out from complete darkness to be able to do simple things," McNichol said.

Guess the old man will be keepin' an eye on his son 'eh? Oooops, sorry - I couldn't resist!

I don't know about y'all, but I get plumb tired of folks...

..... tellin' me how much better off we were when Bubba was President before Bush gave all those evil rich folks the big tax breaks... Next time you hear some mush headed liberal or inane MSM parrot repeat that mantra --- lay these numbers on 'em. I have included the source to ensure you don't think I cooked the books.....

Taxes...Whether Democrat or a Republican you will find these statistics enlightening and amazing.

www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/151.html

Taxes under Clinton 1999-------------- Taxes under Bush 2008

Single making 30K - tax $8,400--- Single making 30K - tax $4,500

Single making 50K - tax $14,000-- Single making 50K - tax $12,500

Single making 75K - tax $23,250-- Single making 75K - tax $18,750

Married making 60K - tax $16,800-- Married making 60K- tax $9,000

Married making 75K - tax $21,000-- Married making 75K - tax $18,750

Married making 125K - tax $38,750-- Married making 125K - tax $31,250

It is amazing how many people that fall into the categories above think Bush is screwing them and Bill Clinton was the greatest President ever. If Obama or Hillary are elected, they both say they will repeal the Bush tax cuts and a good portion of the people that fall into the categories above can't wait for it to happen. .
I don't know what your definition of 'middle class' is, but I reckon that the married couple making $60K would be right about there, look at that chart again and see what President Bush's plan did for them...... A Tip o' the hat to an Ole' Air Force bud, "Tiger", who is now an investment counselor of some renown and shared these numbers with this ole' Texan....

Do you reckon these Giraffes were....

....... the origin of the word "necking"?

The story behind the story.....

..... by now y'all have heard that England's young Prince Harry (Cornet Wales, H.) has been in the heat of battle in Afghanistan for the last three months. The news, broken by Matt Drudge, has now caused the Brit's Minister of Defense to recall him. Not just for Prince Harry's sake, but for the safety of his mates.... since he would become a 'bullet magnet'.

There is a lot to read about this adventure and I'm sure we'll get the best and the worst of it, but I think these three short paragraphs excerpted from a long article in today's London Telegraph tells it 'like it is'!

[......] "And Prince Harry has been very expensively additionally trained as a joint forward air controller. It is he who, in contact with the Taliban, directs the fire of the RAF and Royal Navy's aircraft and the Apache attack helicopters of the Army Air Corps, and, on occasions, allied air support. It is the most precise of skills, and only painstakingly acquired. The rifleman can take cover, but the air controller's eye must still be on the enemy. Cornet Wales is at the sharp end, and a great deal rests on him.

Indeed, he has been at the sharp end for two and a half months, qualifying already, therefore, for the Afghanistan operational medal. Day by day he will have been patrolling, on foot and in armoured vehicles, with men who share his cap badge and others whom he is supporting. That he has been able to do so without the story leaking out says a great deal about comradeship in the Army, and, too, the respect in which the Prince is quite evidently held by his fellow soldiers. The temptations to spill the beans will have been intense.

"Every man thinks meanly of himself for never having been to sea nor having been a soldier," wrote Dr Johnson. And it is also true that every soldier thinks meanly of himself until he has heard the sound of the guns. Prince Harry's great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, famously welcomed the German bomb that fell on Buckingham Palace during the Blitz, declaring that "now she could look the East End in the eye".

Well, now Cornet Wales can look every soldier in the eye. Indeed, he can look the whole country in the eye. And his gritty determination to do his bit ought to have recruits clamouring at every barracks gate."

I reckon we'll all hear lame comments about his service from some pencil pushers.... but I also reckon we ain't gonna hear or read one bad word about this young Royal from anybody who has worn a uniform for their (or our) country! As my Brit brother-in-law would say; "Good on ya 'arry!!"

Now here is a story.........

..... that will warm the cockles of your All American Hearts!!! From ABC News (much to their chagrin I'm sure):

Lucky Soldier Wins $1 Million
Though He Hit the Jackpot, Sergeant Plans to Return to Iraq for a 3rd Tour
Feb. 28, 2008 —
After completing two tours in Iraq, Sgt. Wayne Leyde won $1 million from a scratch-and-win lotto ticket on Tuesday.
Now that he's won, Leyde, a 26-year-old member of the Washington National Guard, says he's still going to volunteer to go back to Iraq for a third tour and won't spend any of the money in the meantime.
Leyde was driving near his home in Mead, Washington when he stopped at a store on the side of the road and bought a ticket.
"I decided to walk into a local Zip Trip. I got a Coke and beef jerky and walked up to the counter and thought I'd pick up a few scratch tickets and try my luck. I was on my way out when the lady said, 'Do you have a lucky scratch coin?'
"I said 'no, you gave me a dime and nickel back.'"
"She said 'no, try this,'" handing Leyde a penny. "On my way home I started scratching tickets. They were losers. I'm thinking, boy, that lady didn't know what she was talking about."
Leyde couldn't believe it when he scratched a winning ticket, but he still plans to return to Iraq.
"It was a commitment I made about three months ago. I'm going to stick to it," Leyde said about his decision.
The sergeant says rents have gone sky high where he and his parents live in the Mount Spokane area of Washington and that, for now, he's not going to spend any of the money.
"For right now, I'm going to hold off [spending] and let reality sink back to earth. This is a true blessing. I'm going to turn it around and see if I can bless other people with this," Leyde said.

I tell you what Buckaroos! I hear about young fella's goin' back for third tours, one going back with only one leg for this third tour... and then I read about young Americans like this youngster ---- and the stink of all the candy ass- wussy -- anti-Americans in Hollywood and the New York Times just kinda washes off'n my back!

Speak'n of backs', who'd you rather have watchin' your back in times of troubles, Sean Pennless, Ben Afflected or this young Army Sergeant?

You make us proud Sergeant Leyde --- !!!!!

Here's a young lady that should be recruited....

..... and groomed by any number of law enforcement agencies. From the NY Post;

February 28, 2008 -- How's this for smart detective work?

Yudelka Polanco, 16, used an Internet networking site and some old-fashioned quick thinking to nail a violent teen thug who made the serious mistake of snatching her cellphone on the streets of Brooklyn last month.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly should pay attention to this girl.

She was helped, to be sure, by a perp who clearly had little clue as to the electronic footprints he was leaving behind - and who seriously underestimated his victim's cyber-smarts.

Almost immediately upon receiving her replacement phone, Polanco found her attacker's e-mail address in messages sent from her number. From there, she used the address to find his MySpace profile - which she then accessed by having a friend start an online friendship with him.

And then she took the profile - with its trove of incriminating information - to the police.

Pretty cool, huh?

As it turns out, the cops were also able to use the information to connect her assailant, 16-year-old Victor Hernandez, to a local gang - and place him in a mob that attacked two Williamsburg brothers last month.

He was arraigned yesterday on charges ranging from menacing to grand larceny.

The NYPD, you'll recall, was one of the first forces to prove that paying attention to petty crime policing can pay big dividends.

This time, the policing came from a world-wise teen with little more than a cellphone and a sense of justice.

Like we said: Commissioner Kelly, take note.

She could have a future on the force.

I reckon that this young lady hasn't bought the Democrat's premise that we are all supposed to be victims and accept that title and the fate that goes with it! Well done young Lady!!!

I think Ole' Pecoz has got a low tech solution....

..... to this high tech problem. From Reuters:

LOSS OF WIND CAUSES TEXAS ELECTRICAL POWER GRID EMERGENCY

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A drop in wind generation late on Tuesday, coupled with colder weather, triggered an electric emergency that caused the Texas grid operator to cut service to some large customers, the grid agency said on Wednesday.

Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) said a decline in wind energy production in west Texas occurred at the same time evening electric demand was building as colder temperatures moved into the state.

Seems to me, that if we could just get one or both of the upcoming political party conventions to move to Houston, we would have enough wind in Texas to turn those slow turning wind turbines in high speed fans. That, coupled with the fact that it is primarily hot air being expended, would end the cool weather as well! What do you think?

NY Times dragging the bottom.......

......for anti-McCain propaganda now that their 'sordid affair' scandal dropped like a lead balloon. How 'bout you first read part of their lastest raggedy ass story, and then I'll comment. From the NY Times;

McCain’s Canal Zone Birth Prompts Queries About Whether That Rules Him Out

By CARL HULSE

WASHINGTON — The question has nagged at the parents of Americans born outside the continental United States for generations: Dare their children aspire to grow up and become president? In the case of Senator John McCain of Arizona, the issue is becoming more than a matter of parental daydreaming.

Mr. McCain’s likely nomination as the Republican candidate for president and the happenstance of his birth in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936 are reviving a musty debate that has surfaced periodically since the founders first set quill to parchment and declared that only a “natural-born citizen” can hold the nation’s highest office.

Almost since those words were written in 1787 with scant explanation, their precise meaning has been the stuff of confusion, law school review articles, whisper campaigns and civics class debates over whether only those delivered on American soil can be truly natural born. To date, no American to take the presidential oath has had an official birthplace outside the 50 states.

“There are powerful arguments that Senator McCain or anyone else in this position is constitutionally qualified, but there is certainly no precedent,” said Sarah H. Duggin, an associate professor of law at Catholic University who has studied the issue extensively. “It is not a slam-dunk situation.”

Mr. McCain was born on a military installation in the Canal Zone, where his mother and father, a Navy officer, were stationed. His campaign advisers say they are comfortable that Mr. McCain meets the requirement and note that the question was researched for his first presidential bid in 1999 and reviewed again this time around.

But given mounting interest, the campaign recently asked Theodore B. Olson, a former solicitor general now advising Mr. McCain, to prepare a detailed legal analysis. “I don’t have much doubt about it,” said Mr. Olson, who added, though, that he still needed to finish his research.

Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and one of Mr. McCain’s closest allies, said it would be incomprehensible to him if the son of a military member born in a military station could not run for president.

“He was posted there on orders from the United States government,” Mr. Graham said of Mr. McCain’s father. “If that becomes a problem, we need to tell every military family that your kid can’t be president if they take an overseas assignment.”

As a retired U.S. Air Force vet with 14 years in the Far East, Europe and the Mediterranean, I would be plumb bent out of shape if the three of my four sons that were born overseas were considered second class citizens and deemed ineligible to serve as President of this great country! Registered at birth through the local American Embassys, granted instant citizenship and American Passports ..... !

This appears to be just one more stir of the 'honey bucket' by those draft dodging, pencil necked geek liberals at this former newspaper..... current in-house rag for the Democratic National Party!! A pox on their house and all that abide in it!!

What Ole' Pecoz finds truly ironic in this whole basket of B.S., is that every time this rag goes after McCain, his star seems to rise in the Republican Party. Many unhappy party conservatives came to his support after that last feces laden article..... now a whole passel of Veterans are gonna line up in support as well!

The greatest danger to this ole' country that a liberal President.....

can do is stack the Supreme Court with Justices like Thurgood Marshall, and Brennan. Not to mention his appointments to the many, many Federal Court benches around the country. If Obama were to win the office this November, what kind of folks would he appoint? He has already answered that and it's plumb scary! From Volockh.com:

Orin Kerr, February 26, 2008 at 2:11pm] Trackbacks Who Would Barack Obama Nominate to the Supreme Court?: When asked back in a November primary debate to say what kind of Justice he would want to nominate to the Supreme Court, Barack Obama responded:

I taught constitutional law for 10 years, and . . . when you look at what makes a great Supreme Court justice, it's not just the particular issue and how they rule, but it's their conception of the Court. And part of the role of the Court is that it is going to protect people who may be vulnerable in the political process, the outsider, the minority, those who are vulnerable, those who don't have a lot of clout.
. . . [S]ometimes we're only looking at academics or people who've been in the [lower] court. If we can find people who have life experience and they understand what it means to be on the outside, what it means to have the system not work for them, that's the kind of person I want on the Supreme Court.

Does anyone know of additional statements Obama has made in response to the same question (or similar ones) before or since? Obama made some statements about these issues when he announced his decisions to vote against the confirmation of Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito, but I don't know how much else is out there. UPDATE: Here's another statement Obama made:

We need somebody who's got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it's like to be a young teenage mom. The empathy to understand what it's like to be poor, or African-American, or gay, or disabled, or old. And that's the criteria by which I'm going to be selecting my judges.

UPDATE: Over at Slate, Emily Bazelon suggests that Obama would want to find a confirmable candidate who would vote like a Brennan or a Thurgood Marshall:

On Obama's staff, [the] absence [of a Thurgood Marshall-type Justice] is also keenly felt. How to fix that? "We'd want a nominee who would do what John Roberts did," one staff member said. "You go through the process and say 'Hey, I'll look at each case as it comes.' You have a moderate temperament. You're affable and everybody likes you. And then you get up there, and after a year and a half, you vote on the opposite side from John Roberts in every single case where that's warranted and it matters."

If that don't scare you into a case of the back yard trots, I don't know what would! I'm gonna be pullin' a whole lot of chains twixt now and November with "Come to Jesus" messages to try and sway you folks hangin' on principles ----DO NOT SIT ON YOUR HANDS IN NOVEMBER!
It's too damned important! If Conservatives can't win back the Senate and hand out the hall passes to these liberal appointees, then by God, they better be in the White House doin' the pickin'!

I know not many of you watched the Oscars Sunday night...

.... 'cause you got a life! But some of you might have heard about the instantly infamous 'orange lapel ribbons' that these self-centered miscreants were wearing. Thought you might appreciate this well written summary of this latest cesspool floater. Here's a follow up from Instantpundits.blog;

Shocker... ACLU Behind Orange Gitmo Lapel Ribbons At Oscars

The Oscars tanked this year to their worst ever ratings.
Some blamed it on a strike that was going on with the writers.
Some blamed it on the rainy weather.
Could it be that this bunch of self-centered useful idiots are so filled with contempt for their country that regular Americans don't want to support them or their work?

MORE PROOF: The Orange Gitmo Lapel Ribbons

Libertas reported on this latest Hollywood fad.

Documentarians Eva Orner (L) and Alex Gibney hold their Oscars for best documentary feature "Taxi to the Dark Side" at the 80th annual Academy Awards, the Oscars, in Hollywood February 24, 2008. (REUTERS/Mike Blake)

It looks like the ACLU was behind the orange Gitmo ribbons at the Oscars this year.
The Washington Post reported on Hollywood's latest stunt:

These represent the orange jumpsuits worn by Guantanamo prisoners, and call for the closing of the prison, and the cessation of a range of controversial U.S. behaviors. But how did do-gooders get this cause to accessorize the glitterati?

Enter Allison Walker, the entertainment industry liaison for the ACLU (whodathunk!?), which sponsors the Close Guantanamo campaign and distributes the ribbons. Walker is a former talent agent who once worked at William Morris. She left the biz after a spiritually cleansing sabbatical studying orangutans in Borneo, at which point she realized she wanted to use her industry connections to do good.

Having worked in the entertainment industry herself, Walker understands the unique plight of the celeb. "They get asked to do so many things for so many causes," she explained yesterday. The ACLU may have asked regular people "to wear T-shirts with the Close Guantanamo symbol." But ask Helen Mirren to wear a T-shirt? Horrors! No, the celebs must be handled as delicately as a Nothing Bundt Cake (also in the swag bag this year!). "I like to ask things that are simple and specific," says Walker. "The ribbon campaign is a very trusted sign in the artistic community."

So. Walker and her colleague Jenny Egan took out a full-page plea in Variety, which read, in part: "Whether you are walking the picket line, the red carpet or standing on the supermarket line, wear an orange ribbon."

This is just more reason to continue to boycott the trash from Hollywood.

Toooo much money..... toooo much celebrity....... toooo much booze and dope..... toooo few brains! Why do Americans boycott companies that they think are doing wrong or are wrong for the country but still buy movie tickets, celeb 'zines, and cable movie channels? Jest wondrin'?

That so called "Debate" in Cincinnati last night....

...... may not be the end of the primary season, but Ole' Pecozbill can sure hear that fat lady warming up behind the curtain. If a certain Democrat candidate of the female persuasion were to issue an IPO about now --- I reckon we'd have a new 'Penny' stock listed on the American Stock Exchange.............

Billionair Sam Zell -- 'Calls 'em like he sees 'em"...

......in an interview on the state of the economy. The self made billionaire is the son of immigrant parents and is one of the fifty wealthiest American billionaires. Sixty-five years young and can't wait to get to the office each day! From CNBC.Com;

Zell Sees Start of Housing Recovery in the Spring

The US economy will avoid recession as the housing market begins to recover this spring, according to billionaire investor Sam Zell.
Speaking on "Squawk Box" this morning, Zell attributed much of the current economic troubles to fear-mongering and politicking by Democratic presidential contenders Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

"Obviously what we have going on is an attempt to create a self-fulfilling prophecy," said Zell, chairman of Equity Investments Group and owner of the Chicago Cubs, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and other companies. "We have two Democratic candidates who are vying with each other to describe the economic situation worse.

"The reality is that if you live on Wall Street and you're in the credit markets the world couldn't be worse. If you're a farmer and you're getting $25 for your wheat, you're having a great time. If you're a CEO and you've got a balance sheet that's bullet-proof, you're in a great position. This whole thing is way out of control, way out of hand."

Zell said that although he doesn't try to pick bottoms in markets he believes housing has hit its nadir and will turn around this spring as inventory clears out.

Ain't it amazin' how those folks who love free enterprise, work hard all their lives, accumulate wealth and create jobs -- are so optimistic and upbeat - compared to those society-sucking politico's whose role in life is to turn us into assorted victim groups, so we depend on them.....!

I received this story in an e-mail from an old Air Force pal....

.... and Googled it before I shared it here. A great story!! Hitting the target is the first item on the agenda! Second may be caliber…

Yes, Justice Sometimes Happens

Retired Green Beret shoots intruder, gets court martial Jan. 19, 2008 - Retired Army Green Beret Smokey Taylor got his court martial this weekend and came away feeling good about it. Taylor, at age 80 the oldest member of Chapter XXXIII of the Special Forces Association, was on trial by his peers under the charge of "failing to use a weapon of sufficient caliber" in the shooting of an intruder at his home in Knoxville, TN, in December.

The entire affair, of course, was very much tongue-in-cheek. Taylor had been awakened in the early morning hours of Dec. 17, 2007, when an intruder broke into his home. He investigated the noises with one of his many weapons in hand. When the intruder threatened him with a knife, Taylor warned him, then brought his .22 caliber pistol to bear and shot him right between the eyes. "That boy had the hardest head I've ever seen," Taylor said after his trial. "The bullet bounced right off."

The impact knocked the would-be thief down momentarily. He crawled out of the room then got up and ran out the door and down the street. Knoxville police apprehended him a few blocks away and he now awaits trial in the Knox County jail. The charges against Taylor were considered to be serious. He is a retired Special Forces Weapons Sergeant with extensive combat experience during the wars in Korea and Vietnam. "Charges were brought against him under the premise that he should have saved the county and taxpayers the expense of a trial," said Chapter XXXIII President Bill Long of Asheville. "He could have used a .45 or .38. The .22 just wasn't big enough to get the job done."

Taylor's defense attorney, another retired Weapons Sergeant, disagreed. He said Taylor had done the right thing in choosing to arm himself with a .22. "If he'd used a .45 or something like that, the round would have gone right through the perp, the wall, the neighbor's wall and possibly injured some innocent child asleep in its bed," he said. "I believe the evidence shows that Smokey Taylor exercised excellent judgment in his choice of weapons. He did nothing wrong, and clearly remains to this day an excellent weapons man."

Counsel for the defense then floated a theory as to why the bullet bounced off the perp's forehead. "He was victimized by old ammunition," he said, "just as he was in Korea and again in Vietnam, when his units were issued ammo left over from World War II."

Taylor said nothing in his own defense, choosing instead to allow his peers to debate the matter.

After the trial he said the ammunition was indeed old and added the new information that the perp had soiled his pants as he crawled out of the house. "I would have had an even worse mess to clean up if it had gone through his forehead," Taylor said. "It was good for both of us that it didn't."

Following testimony from both sides, Taylor was acquitted of the charges and was given a round of applause. Meanwhile, back in Knox County, the word is out: Don't go messing with Smokey Taylor. He just bought a whole bunch of fresh ammo.

I reckon Ole' Smokey would make one hell of a fine neighbor on my block or on yours. Hoooah!!!!

The "Gray Lady" really pooped in her mess kit!!

.... that's a cleaned up version of an old military expression describing somebody that really goofed, Pilgrims! And the New York times did this week......

(you may need to click on it to read the words.....)

Now here is what Ms Clinton really doesn't need right now...

.... seems one of Bubba's ole' playmates, no - not the one with the carpet burns on her knees, is getting ready to sell a part of 'living history. From Vegas Confidential:

FLOWERS PUTTING CLINTON PHONE CONVERSATIONS UP FOR BID

Gennifer Flowers sings the song, "Why Haven't I Heard From You" while making telephone gestures with her hand back in 1998 at an infomercial awards dinner sponsored by the Electronic Retailing Association in Las Vegas. (Associated Press file)

Gennifer Flowers is putting the tapes of her recorded conversations with Bill Clinton during their 12-year affair on the auction block, Vegas Confidential learned Monday.
Flowers, who came forward during Clinton's 1992 Presidential election campaign with details of the relationship, said she decided to part with the tapes after renewed interest surfaced. She was offered $5 million by a Japanese collector in the 1990s, she said.
Asked about the timing of her announcement coming out as Hillary Clinton continues to slide in her presidential bid, “I don’t need to hurt Hillary. She is doing a fine job of that herself, along with her idiot husband. Karma is an interesting thing. If these two don’t get elected, and they are a team, it will be karma coming back to visit them. It's about time."
When President Clinton denied the relationship during his presidential campaign, Flowers called a press conference played what she said were secretly recorded phone conversations.
"These are the tapes I brought forth as proof," she said.
Flowers, who lives in Las Vegas, sued Hillary Rodham Clinton, George Stephanopoulos, James Carville and other, accusing them of orchestrating a campaign to discredit her. Carville and Stephanopolous claimed Flowers doctored the tapes.
Flowers, 58, said she has kept the tapes "very safe all these years and I just recently received more interest and I said 'why not?'
"I certainly would enjoy the money for my future security. I don’t have any guarantee what might be coming," she said.
Flowers is also exploring a new book with "explosive story additions to the Clinton affair," her publicist Bruce Merrin said in a release. The book "ill contain a special item which must remain a protected secret until the book is published."
— NORM CLARKE, Vegas Confidential

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" or badly used!!! Kinda, gotta wonder if Ms Flowers read the tea leaves and decided that once Ms Clinton gets her butt kicked and falls off the front page - the value of these tapes might drop precipitously!

Doesn't it seem like we ain't heard much from Al Gorebot lately???

.... maybe he's snowed in to his global warming extortion headquarters and spa! Or just keep'n his head down until the Spring thaw. Here is an interesting column from the National Post:

Forget global warming: Welcome to the new Ice Age
Lorne Gunter, National Post February 25, 2008
Snow cover over North America and much of Siberia, Mongolia and China is greater than at any time since 1966.
The U.S. National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) reported that many American cities and towns suffered record cold temperatures in January and early February. According to the NCDC, the average temperature in January "was -0.3 F cooler than the 1901-2000 (20th century) average."
China is surviving its most brutal winter in a century. Temperatures in the normally balmy south were so low for so long that some middle-sized cities went days and even weeks without electricity because once power lines had toppled it was too cold or too icy to repair them.
There have been so many snow and ice storms in Ontario and Quebec in the past two months that the real estate market has felt the pinch as home buyers have stayed home rather than venturing out looking for new houses.
In just the first two weeks of February, Toronto received 70 cm of snow, smashing the record of 66.6 cm for the entire month set back in the pre-SUV, pre-Kyoto, pre-carbon footprint days of 1950.
And remember the Arctic Sea ice? The ice we were told so hysterically last fall had melted to its "lowest levels on record? Never mind that those records only date back as far as 1972 and that there is anthropological and geological evidence of much greater melts in the past.
The ice is back.
Gilles Langis, a senior forecaster with the Canadian Ice Service in Ottawa, says the Arctic winter has been so severe the ice has not only recovered, it is actually 10 to 20 cm thicker in many places than at this time last year.
OK, so one winter does not a climate make. It would be premature to claim an Ice Age is looming just because we have had one of our most brutal winters in decades.
But if environmentalists and environment reporters can run around shrieking about the manmade destruction of the natural order every time a robin shows up on Georgian Bay two weeks early, then it is at least fair game to use this winter's weather stories to wonder whether the alarmist are being a tad premature.
And it's not just anecdotal evidence that is piling up against the climate-change dogma.
According to Robert Toggweiler of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory at Princeton University and Joellen Russell, assistant professor of biogeochemical dynamics at the University of Arizona -- two prominent climate modellers -- the computer models that show polar ice-melt cooling the oceans, stopping the circulation of warm equatorial water to northern latitudes and triggering another Ice Age (a la the movie The Day After Tomorrow) are all wrong.
"We missed what was right in front of our eyes," says Prof. Russell. It's not ice melt but rather wind circulation that drives ocean currents northward from the tropics. Climate models until now have not properly accounted for the wind's effects on ocean circulation, so researchers have compensated by over-emphasizing the role of manmade warming on polar ice melt.
But when Profs. Toggweiler and Russell rejigged their model to include the 40-year cycle of winds away from the equator (then back towards it again), the role of ocean currents bringing warm southern waters to the north was obvious in the current Arctic warming.
Last month, Oleg Sorokhtin, a fellow of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, shrugged off manmade climate change as "a drop in the bucket." Showing that solar activity has entered an inactive phase, Prof. Sorokhtin advised people to "stock up on fur coats."
He is not alone. Kenneth Tapping of our own National Research Council, who oversees a giant radio telescope focused on the sun, is convinced we are in for a long period of severely cold weather if sunspot activity does not pick up soon.
The last time the sun was this inactive, Earth suffered the Little Ice Age that lasted about five centuries and ended in 1850. Crops failed through killer frosts and drought. Famine, plague and war were widespread. Harbours froze, so did rivers, and trade ceased.
It's way too early to claim the same is about to happen again, but then it's way too early for the hysteria of the global warmers, too.

I don't reckon there are a lot of 'Yeller Dog Democrats'...

.... that come to hear what Ole' Pecoz has to say. But I came across an absolutely outstanding, well written, thoroughly researched article by 'GrassrootsMom' on the Daily Kos blog, that I thought I really ought to share it with y'all just in case some conservative "Blue Dog Democrat" peeks in here every now and then.

The article is tooo long to cut and paste in here so I'll just link you to it. It's a long, hard read but she did all her research and discovered to her own great surprise that Obama had a much more productive year in 2007 than Ms Clinton had. And yet Ms Clinton is runnin' as the more effective and experienced legislator. Liberals to the core of course--- the pair of 'em!

I'd suggest it as good readin' for you Red Staters as well, one of these two may be our next President --- and like the old sayin' goes; "Know thy enemy!"

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/20/201332/807/36/458633

Shucks! Whoda' thought I'd ever be linkin' to the Daily Kos -- forgive me Daddy!

You go girl!!!!!!!!!!!!

There seems to be a whole passel of Democrats that are trying to figure out how to tell Shrillary that it's over! I hope she don't pay 'em no never mind! I think she and Obama should stay in and fight it out to the last vote at the convention. If you ever get a chance to share this thought with her --- please do! You Go Gal!!!

On the other hand, there is this popular opinion.....

Clarence Thomas.... the "Silent Justice"...

.... it seems that everywhere Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas goes, he is asked the same question; "Why don't you ask questions like all the other Justices during presentations to the court?" His answer is usually cryptic but every now and then, the question seems to irk him. When he does answer --- he explains in a frank and open fashion that even the dumbest questioner can understand ---- from a column by Mark Sherman, on the uber-liberal Huffington Post:

"He also has said he will ask a pertinent question if his colleagues don't but sees no need to engage in the back-and-forth just to hear his own voice. Lately, he has focused on the latter reason.
"If I think a question will help me decide a case, then I'll ask that question," he told C-SPAN's Brian Lamb in October. "Otherwise, it's not worth asking because it detracts from my job." He talked in that same interview about descriptions of him as the silent justice. "I can't really say that it's unfair to say that I'm silent in that context. I would like to, though, be referred to as the 'listening justice,' you know," Thomas said. "I still believe that, if somebody else is talking, somebody should be listening."
The following month, however, at an event sponsored by Hillsdale College in Michigan, Thomas was more combative when asked about oral arguments.
Suppose surgeons started discussing the merits of removing a gallbladder while in the operating room, Thomas said, as quoted by U.S. News & World Report. "You really didn't go in there to have a debate about gallbladder surgery," he said. Similarly, "we are there to decide cases, not to engage in seminar discussions." "

I hope folks' are takin' note of the media's fawning praise bestowed on Barack Hussain Obama during this Presidential race -- and thinkin' back on how this fair minded Conservative Black was treated (and still is) during his confirmation hearings.
He and Obama were both born poor and of a broken marriage - their early lives were similar. They both grew and excelled.
The only difference is that Justice Thomas left his liberal roots and evolved into a very conservative American! That's the sin for which the main stream media and political left have no forgiveness! More shame on them! And us, for not callin' 'em on it!

Apparently little Johnnie (the Breck Gal) Edwards...

.... has now found solace in the arms of MoveOn.org. Consoled a few years ago by John (he served in Vietnam) Kerry (see pic), he now finds hisself with a lot of money, a big house, and no resume or legacy exept as a one term failed Senator.
Thus, he is tying hisself to all manner of outfits.... From Politico. Com:

February 25, 2008 Read More: Iraq

Edwards joins anti-war coalition

"John Edwards—former North Carolina senator, two-time presidential candidate and darling of the left—started a new chapter of his political narrative today.

He and his wife Elizabeth Edwards are joining an multi-million dollar anti-Iraq war campaign dubbed “Iraq/Recession.” The couple will join a coalition that includes MoveOn.org, the Service Employees International Union and the Center for American Progress.

Edwards’ endorsement is being intensely sought by both remaining Democratic presidential candidates, which could bring presidential level attention to the issue. “The Iraq/Recession Campaign will highlight the majority of Americans who want to see leadership on investing in critical priorities at home and establishing real security throughout the world,” reads the announcement."

I reckon if this new gig don't work out, Johnnie could get a job joining in the morning gossip on "The View". Seems like he'd fit right in between Whoopie Goldberg and Joy Behar on the far, far left end of the table! Just a job suggestion.... 'Course he has better hair than any of them -- how would he look in dreadlocks do ya' reckon?
Any of you pilgrims dumb enough to think he is putting any of his own money in this new venture? I reckon he's found a new credit card to travel on -- with LPM (little people's money)!

This ain't quite as much fun as bein' there but...

..... it sure makes a fun read!! Dillards is a semi-upscale chain of department stores across the Texas and the South.... Ladies with 'Big" hair shop there!

The Dillard's Shopping Trip
(This story has to be true, you simply can't make this stuff up!)

Clutching their Dillard's shopping bags, Ellen and Kay woefully gazed down at a dead cat in the mall parking lot.

Obviously a recent hit---no flies, no smell. What business could that poor kitty have had here?' murmured Ellen.

'Come on, Ellen, let's just go...'

But Ellen had already grabbed her shopping bag and was explaining, 'I'll just put my things in your bag, and then I'll take the tissue.' She dumped her purchases into Kay's bag and then used the tissue paper to cradle and lower the former feline into her own Dillard's bag and cover it.

They continued the short trek to the car in silence, stashing their goods in the trunk. But it occurred to both of them that if they left Ellen's burial bag in the trunk, warmed by the TEXAS sunshine while they ate, Kay's Lumina would soon lose that new-car smell. They decided to leave the bag on top of the trunk, and they headed over to Luby's Cafeteria.

After they cleared the serving line and sat down at a window table, they had a view of Kay's Chevy with the Dillard's bag still on the trunk. BUT not for long! As they ate, they noticed a black-haired woman in a red gingham shirt stroll by their car, look quickly this way and that, and then hook the Dillard's bag without
breaking stride. She quickly walked out of their line of vision. Kay and Ellen shot each other a wide-eyed look of amazement.

It all happened so fast that neither of them could think how to respond. 'Can you imagine?' finally sputtered Ellen.

'The nerve of that woman!' Kay sympathized with Ellen, but inwardly a laugh was building as she thought about the grand surprise awaiting the red-gingham thief. Just when she thought she'd have to giggle into her napkin, she noticed Ellen's eyes freeze in the direction of the serving line. Following her gaze, Kay recognized with a shock the black-haired woman with THE Dillard's bag, hanging from her arm, brazenly pushing her tray toward the cashier. Helplessly they watched the scene unfold: After clearing the register, the woman settled at a table across from theirs, put the bag on an empty chair and began to eat. After a few bites of baked whitefish and green beans, she casually lifted the bag into her lap to survey her treasure.

Looking from side to side, but not far enough to notice her rapt audience three tables over, she pulled out the tissue paper and peered into the bag. Her eyes widened, and she began to make a sort of gasping noise. The noise grew. The bag slid from her lap as she sank to the floor, wheezing and clutching her upper chest.

The beverage cart attendant quickly recognized a customer in trouble and sent the busboy to call 911, while she administered the Heimlich maneuver. A crowd quickly gathered that did not include Ellen and Kay, who remained riveted to their chairs for seven whole minutes until the ambulance arrived.

In a matter of minutes the curly-haired woman emerged from the crowd, still gasping, strapped securely on a gurney. Two well-trained EMS volunteers steered her to the waiting ambulance, while a third scooped up her belongings.

The last they saw of the distressed cat-burglar, she disappeared behind the ambulance doors, ........................ the Dillard's bag perched on her stomach!!
Sometimes, God does take care of those who do bad things (AND once in awhile.. He allows us to witness it!

Those who live by the sword......

..... shall be hung on their own petard! How's that for mixing metaphors?
John McCain, he of the McCain-Finegold Bill, which did more to restrict free speech (in the name of election reform) in this country since any restrictions imposed during WWII, has boxed hisself into a campaign finance corner. Here is a brief AOL news summary of his situation:

Obama Hold Source of McCain's Money Woes
By Mark Impomeni

Feb 25th 2008

"Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign finds itself in something of a catch-22. Last summer, when the campaign was not going well and McCain was thought to be finished as a candidate, he agreed to accept Federal matching funds. That was a sign that the Senator could not raise money and might soon drop out of the race. But now that his fortunes have turned, and his campaign coffers have filled, McCain wants to forego Federal funds and the spending limits that go along with them. But the Federal Election Commission, and Democrats, is balking at the campaign's plans.

FEC Chairman David Mason has laid out a set of conditions that the McCain campaign must meet in order to qualify for a withdrawal from the Federal financing system. The trouble for McCain is that the conditions are impossible to meet because the FEC itself cannot meet. The commission is short of members and cannot achieve a quorum in order to take action on any campaign's requests. Four of the six seats on the commission are the subjects of holds in the Senate. A Senator may block action in the Senate on a bill or a nomination by placing a hold on it until his concerns about the action are addressed. Republicans placed three of the holds in retaliation for a Democratic hold on Hans von Spakovsky over allegations that the nominee was insensitive to minority voting rights. The Democratic Senator who placed the hold that is now holding up McCain's financing is none other than McCain's potential general election opponent, Sen. Barack Obama."

So now, the Republican candidate has painted himself into a corner that can only be cleared by his opponent.... Hmmmm. Unfortunate as it may be, does Ole' Pecoz see some kind of political justice in this course of events? You be the judge!

This is too small to be a Bumper Sticker ....

... at least for my eyes.... but it still get's the nod as "Bumper Sticker of the Week"...click on it for easier readin', but then hit that return arrow to come back, ya hear?

In my continuing search for truth and justice in the world......

....... I want to advise you about this story you may see circulating!

http://www.dailysquib.co.uk/

Ku Klux Klan Endorses Obama

February 7th, 2008

by James R. Crowe

KENTUCKY - USA - Imperial Wizard, Ronald Edwards has stated that, "anything is better than Hillary Clinton."

White Christian Supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan has endorsed Barack Obama to be the next President of the United States of America.

Speaking from his Kentucky office in Dawson Springs, the Imperial Wizard exclaimed that anything or anyone is better than having that "crazy ass b**ch" as President.

This is the first time in Klan history that any member of the KKK has ever publicly supported an African American candidate for the presidency.

KKK lodges all over America have been gathering and holding rallies supporting the black presidential candidate.

Ole' Pecoz just wants to make sure y'all recognise that this is one of them urban legend/hoax things. If you look way up there in the left hand corner you'll see where it was published by the "Dailysquib", a satirical blog out of the United Kingdom.... that's England folks -- and they don't even know what the IRA is up to, much less the KKK. But it sure do look authentic, don't it.....

A Man in Full!!!...............

.... Nah, I ain't talkin' about Thomas Wolfe's hero in the book by that name.... I'm talkin' about the General Motors Vice President,, Bob Lutz. He stood up on his hind legs a week or so ago and said that "global warming is a crock of sh*t'! Naturally, all the main stream media, tree huggin' bloggers, green organizations, and indignant environmental snobs came swinging down from their chalet's in the mountain ski ranges and started beatin' on his head. Unlike most modern weak-kneed business exec, he didn't fold and offer a mea culpa. And much to General Motors credit, they didn't fire or suspend him to 'get his head right'! Here's part of how Reuters reported it;

GM exec stands by calling global warming a "crock"

Fri Feb 22, 2008 3:08pm EST

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp Vice Chairman Bob Lutz has defended remarks

he made dismissing global warming as a "total crock of s---," saying his views had no bearing on GM's commitment to build environmentally friendly vehicles.

Lutz, GM's outspoken product development chief, has been under fire from Internet bloggers since last month when he was quoted as making the remark to reporters in Texas.

In a posting on his GM blog on Thursday, Lutz said those "spewing virtual vitriol" at him for minimizing the threat of climate change were "missing the big picture."

"What they should be doing in earnest is forming opinions, not about me but about GM and what this company is doing that is ... hugely beneficial to the causes they so enthusiastically claim to support," he said in a posting titled, "Talk About a Crock."

[....]

A 40-year auto industry veteran who joined GM earlier in the decade with a mandate to shake up its vehicle line-up, Lutz is no stranger to controversy.

As part of a campaign against higher fuel economy standards, Lutz wrote in a 2006 blog posting that forcing automakers to sell smaller cars would be "like trying to address the obesity problem in this country by forcing clothing manufacturers to sell smaller, tighter sizes." [....]

Good on him and a pat on the back to the GM CEO for standing by their words. (for the full article - go to: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N22372976.htm

There was great quote in this months American Legion Magazine....

.... I thought it extremely appropriate and share it with you this mornin'! Eleanor Rooselvelt comments on our country being at war......

Dear Lord,
Lest I continue my complacent way, help me to remember that somewhere, somehow, out there a man died for me today.
As long as there be war, I must then ask and answer, am I worth dying for?
Eleanor Roosevelt

Kinda wish this was printed on the top of the front page banner of the New York Times every day instead of that insipid "All the news that's fit to print". Come to think of it, I reckon that should be changed to: "All the news, as we see it, and choose to print!"

Ole' Pecoz is strayin' far, far off the beaten path.......

..... with this article! But I reckon it's of enough value to be repeated wherever, even in this ole boy's space! If someone in your house suffers from recurring urinary infections, read on. From Reuters:

Urinary tract infections may come from pets

Fri Feb 22, 2008 , By David Douglas

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Picking up an E. coli bug from your pet might lead to a urinary tract infection, according to Minneapolis-based researchers.

"Sharing of E. coli strains among humans and pets within a household, including strains that can cause urinary tract infections, is extremely common," Dr. James R. Johnson told Reuters Health.

Harboring the same strain of the bug implies that it is passed from one person or animal to another.

Johnson and his colleagues at the University of Minnesota investigated the extent to which E. coli strains were shared between humans and pets in 63 households. They identified 152 people, 48 dogs, 26 cats, and 2 other animals that had stool samples that tested positive for E. coli. Five of the humans had an acute urinary tract infection.

In the Journal of Infectious Diseases, the researchers report that the same strain of E. coli was shared by several of the inhabitants within a household in 68 percent of the domiciles. That included three of the five households in which one person had a urinary tract infection.

Given the high rate of E. coli strain sharing, Johnson concluded: "If future research shows that this process increases the risk of urinary tract infection for household members, this could lead to new options for preventing such infections."

SOURCE: Journal of Infectious Diseases, January 15, 2008.

There, I shared it and feel better---!

I know it ain't Sunday, and that's "Bumper Sticker of the Week" day...

.... but this ain't exactly a bumper sticker -- and it's too good to sit on. It's a home town pic from an ole' Air Force Bud from Batesville, Mississippi...

Shazammmmm!

Somethin's been nibblin' at my butt for the last few days....

.... and I just figured out what it is. Now that the excitement of Presidents Day is over --- I guess that means y'all have your new mattresses put together -- or new car deal done --- did ya' notice that you didn't see any sale ads for ML Kings Birthday Federal Holiday?
Now I know that both days are only a true holiday if you happen to work for the Feds or local government, or perhaps a bank or a school -- for all the everybody else working in sales, and trade's, it was a work day like any other. But it do give pause for thought, why clutter up a day dedicated to the 43 men who have led this country to greatness with mattress sales, and yet keep King's day so pristine?

Hell, I remember when we had separate days for Presidents Washington and Lincoln -- the two gentlemen universally recognized as our greatest Presidents. Now they not only don't have a Holiday in their own name --- we don't respect the one they share with all the others.

I'm gonna give this some ponderin' and get back to you when I find out why this happens. I'd welcome a (polite and intelligent, please) comment of your opinion in the meantime...

"Those who are not willing to learn from history......

...... are doomed to repeat it'! We've all heard those words. Before Ole' Pecoz comments, run your eyballs over this article from the World Tribune:

U.S. tab for translation services in Iraq could hit $4.6 billion

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army has turned to private contractors to supply translators and analysts for Arabic and other languages in Iraq as well as other regional states. The military has launched a five-year project meant to embed thousands of Iraqi translators into U.S. ground force units in Iraq. The prime beneficiary of the project has been Global Linguist Solutions, based in Falls Church, Va. GLS, a joint venture of DynCorp International and McNeil Technologies, which has won a contract with a maximum value of $4.6 billion through 2013.

The contract, awarded by U.S. Intelligence and Security Command, called for the recruitment of up to 7,000 translators from Iraq and the United States. Under the program, GLS would employ up to 6,000 locally-hired translators and up to 1,000 U. S. citizens with security clearances who are native speakers of languages spoken in Iraq. DynCorp has billions of dollars worth of security contracts with the State Department, particularly in bolstering the protection of U.S. embassy personnel. McNeil recruits and deploys linguists, including in Iraq.

This was the third time GLS has won such an army contract. The last contract to GLS was awarded in December 2007 amid a protest by a rival firm. On Feb. 15, 2008, GLS won the award for a third time. "Under the contract, GLS will provide foreign-language interpretation and translation services to the U.S. Army and other U.S. government agencies supporting OIF, including embedded Iraqi translators who operate with U.S. forces," GLS said. (World Tribune.com)

Some of you older pilgrims might remember a lil' ole' book called "The Ugly American", written by a guy named William Lederer and somebody back in the late '50's. The point of the book was the ineptitude of our embassies and staff overseas because they not only were incompetent, they were English language only and had to depend on local folks to do their interpreting and translations for them. They assumed that those locals were working in the best interest of the USA and the Embassies! Not!

Now here we are fifty years later, and the US Gov'mint is gonna spend Billion$ hiring Islamic translaters, citizens of Middle East countries, who's very religion calls for the death of us 'infidels', and put them to work for us in sensitive positons! Adding insult to injury, they are even gonna 'sub-contract' out the hiring............! I am finally at a loss for words!