I heard something on the radio last night

But I was too tired to look some numbers on childrens injuries caused by firearms. You remember the "ASK" thing in Pediatritians offices?

I came on some interesting numbers from the CDC. Your official government stats. These stats are generally for children 14 and under.

• Child Maltreatment- 2002 estimates 906,000 in some form or the other
• Child passenger restraint- How about 214,00 injured and 1638 killed
• Fireworks- 9,300 went to the emergency room
• Playground injuries- More than 200,000 yearly
• Poisoning- How does 2.2 million in 2000 sound?
• Traumatic brain injuries- an estimated 474,685 yearly
• Drownings and near drownings-3,306 in 2003 with five times that many treated.
• Teen drivers- 2 out of 5 teen deaths are here.
• Youth violence-# In 2004, more than 750,000 young people ages 10 to 24 were treated in emergency departments for injuries sustained due to violence (CDC 2006).~AND~ In 2003, 5,570 young people ages 10 to 24 were murdered—an average of 15 each day. Of these victims, 82% were killed with firearms (CDC 2006).
• How about Dogs?- 4.7 milliom bites per year

The reason I brought these facts up was because of something like this that was on some talk radio last night this morning:

Having a gun in your home, especially if it is not stored properly, can be a significant risk factor for injury and death in children. In fact, firearm related injuries are a leading cause of death in children, and include deaths from unintentional injuries, homicide and suicide.

Between 1994 and 1998, 6,287 children committed suicide with a firearm and an additional 1,896 children were killed by unintentional gun injuries in the United States. All together, 23,776 children under age 19 died from a gun related injury during these years, which is equal to 13 children a day. (source: CDC National Injury Mortality Statistics)
Now we're going from the "up to 14" catagory to 18+ years old,and including ALL injuries for ALL young adults- including the gangbangers who INTEND to shoot other kids.
-snip-
It is estimated that there are guns in half of all of the homes in the United States. Although most of these guns are purchased for safety reasons, it is important to keep in mind that a firearm in the home is much more likely (up to 43 times more likely in some reports) to kill or injure a family member or friend than an intruder. According to your CDC stats we oughtta git rid of our dawgs, too

Because of the number of injuries from guns, which many say has reached epidemic levels, programs have been developed to educate parents and children about gun safety. These include the Eddie Eagle gun safety program from the National Rifle Association, which educates children who find a gun to 'Stop! Don't Touch. Leave the Area. Tell an Adult.' The American Academy of Pediatrics also has a 'Keep Your Family Safe from Firearm Injury' program that educates parents about gun safety and advises 'the safest thing is to not have a gun in your home, especially not a handgun.' Epidemic? Like the Bird flu? Everybody, go up and reread thos CDC stats agin, then reread his numbers.
-snip-
As the American Academy of Pediatrics states in their book, 'Injury Prevention and Control for Children and Youth,' the 'risks of hangun ownership outweight the benefits.' If you have children in your house, then consider getting rid of your guns. If you must have a gun in the house, then at least learn to store it properly.

Mine ARE properly stored, ThankYouVeryMuch.


First off, the girls have absolutly NO interest in them.
Secondly., they wouldn't know HOW to even start loading the Black Powder ones, and
Third, the Taurus is locked.

At least I'm not French

Your Inner European is Irish!

Sprited and boisterous! You drink everyone under the table.

Who's Your Inner European?

American Cities That Best Fit You:

80% Austin

75% Denver

75% Las Vegas

65% Atlanta

65% Honolulu

Which American Cities Best Fit You?

That's good anyway

You Passed 8th Grade Science

Congratulations, you got 7/8 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Science?

Musta been that neutron thing..

I expected better out of FoxNews

I have it on in the background, listening to the coverage of the explosion over there. They just told the world that Natural Gas sinks, and could be a cause of the explosion.

Just to let you jounalists know- not that it could save lives or property- Natural gas is lighter than air (it floats) but propane is heavier.
Both have an unmistakable odor that is introduced before delivery for use.

Now, before everyone starts panicking because the gave *gasp* gas in their house, here are some facts that probably will get lost in the hype:

• In order to burn (or explode) the concentration needs to be within the range of 4.5% and 14.5% gas in air. Any more or any less and you can light matches all day long with nothing happening.
• In order to ignite, the source needs to be around 1200 F (more or less- it's been a while). A light switch is smack-dab in the middle of the heat range.
  
• You can't tell how concentrated the gas is from smell.
  

UPDATE- someone's getting sued. Fox just said the neighbors called the Gas Dept 7 times over the weekend reporting the smell of gas. I don't know about NYC, but in Texas we take that seriously. Any leak that is inside an active building is classified as a "grade 1" leak, and must be migitated immediately. This can involve fixing the leak, shutting off the gas including evacuating and venting the building.

I see several of jobs open in the NCY gas department , if anyone's interested. Probably ranging from the leak crew on up.

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE...Looks like it might have been a suicide attempt.

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

How do y'all like my new dress?

I'm still tweeking it....

And I lost Haloscan.

So we have a brand new look, but he same content. Well it works for Madison Ave., maybe it'll work here ; New flashy packaging- same crappy product,,, at a new price, too.


Ohhh, and I'm adding Rivr Dog to the blogroll.

Gun pr0n



It is based on the 1858 .44 Remington revolver with an 18" barrel and loads the same as a Black powder revolver.

Here are the specs:
Grooves:7
Twist: Left
Total length: 35¼"
Total weight: 4.4 Lbs
Price $455

I was going to start an online store to sell loading stands and pistol display stands, so I could buy that toy.
I saw a caution about it, and it dawned on me that like any other cap and ball revolver- you don't want your hands in front of the cylinder when you're firing it.
There is a remote possibility that there could be a chain fire, and you don't want a hand in the line of any of the chambers.

I just have a hard time imagining holding and steadying a rifle at the trigger guard.
Oh, and the almost $500 price makes it even less tempting.


I did come up with a new (different) template for this blog, so all wasn't lost. I'll be showing off my new dress soon.

Some praise for Bill Clinton

Ok not a lot, but I have to give credit where credit is due (That's what you do when you grow up - Libs). I dislike most of what he stood for, and the example he (and his apologists) set for the 90's generation.

I will give him credit for having the cajones to send a message with a couple cruise missiles.
His motives weren't exactly pure, but he didn't waste time on *yawn* endless and meaningless international 'dialogue'.

So, did the Spampire collapse?

Have you seen the news out if Nigeria?

Nigeria is cutting thousands of jobs.

Ok, they're not spammers, just guvimment workers who.....ahemmmmm......
Are unqualified for their jobs. They're finally getting around to fireing them after most of them were hired in 1988. Chit, two more years and they'd be able to retire.

OK, now listen up

Bono . Needs our help, he needs answers.
He wants to know "What can we do to make poverty history?",

Yours, actually- I gave already.

He's got some good answers already;

BRAD T says: Make rich liberals give up their material goods in the name of socialism which they are always beating us over the heads with.

How is it possible that rich whiney liberals live in the same city as extremely poor people? Am I the only one who understands this contradiction?

Problem solved

JAWN K says: Maybe rich white singers in far off lands should sell their mansions, limos, and clothes, get off their narcissistic trip and give it all to the poor.

Hard to believe people like that bono guy live in a million dollar mansion and has the gaul to lecture all of us about poverty. People like him and Paul Simon are white-guilters who want attention. When these people sell their mansions and go live here (see link) then I will donate a few bucks. Otherwise, it's do as I say, not as I do, hypocrisy!

AZHEELSHOCK lets' Bono have it: Start in Somalia, Bono. I'd like to see you walk those streets that have no name...oh yeah, but they are covered with the blood of innocent women and children. Do something about that! See how far your fame gets you in the face of a tyrannical warlord.

Those were in the minoity, though. Most of the answers were pretty much on the Liberal page that boiled down to "send more money"
He's got over 20,500 answers in about 20 hours.

North Korean missles


All I've got to say about that is that there ought to be some big smoking holes where the launchers used to be.
Negotiations won't do any good. He'll play the world until he gets what he wants, then we play the game all over again.

And again.

And again.

....Untill someone gets tired of it.

Now, will Iran get the same pass?
Or will we just let them nuke Isreal just once or twice before doing something?

Winston Churchill reaches across six and a half decades

to b*tchslap the liberals, both here and in the U.K.

Just after Dunkirk:

...I am not reciting these facts for the purpose of recrimination. That I judge to be utterly futile and even harmful. We cannot afford it. I recite them in order to explain why it was we did not have, as we could have had, between twelve and fourteen British divisions fighting in the line in this great battle instead of only three. Now I put all this aside. I put it on the shelf, from which the historians, when they have time, will select their documents to tell their stories. We have to think of the future and not of the past. This also applies in a small way to our own affairs at home. There are many who would hold an inquest in the House of Commons on the conduct of the Governments-and of Parliaments, for they are in it, too-during the years which led up to this catastrophe. They seek to indict those who were responsible for the guidance of our affairs. This also would be a foolish and pernicious process. There are too many in it. Let each man search his conscience and search his speeches. I frequently search mine.
Of this I am quite sure, that if we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the future. Therefore, I cannot accept the drawing of any distinctions between Members of the present Government. It was formed at a moment of crisis in order to unite all the Parties and all sections of opinion. It has received the almost unanimous support of both Houses of Parliament. Its Members are going to stand together, and, subject to the authority of the House of Commons, we are going to govern the country and fight the war. It is absolutely necessary at a time like this that every Minister who tries each day to do his duty shall be respected; and their subordinates must know that their chiefs are not threatened men, men who are here today and gone tomorrow, but that their directions must be punctually and faithfully obeyed. Without this concentrated power we cannot face what lies before us. I should not think it would be very advantageous for the House to prolong this Debate this afternoon under conditions of public stress. Many facts are not clear that will be clear in a short time. We are to have a secret Session on Thursday, and I should think that would be a better opportunity for the many earnest expressions of opinion which Members will desire to make and for the House to discuss vital matters without having everything read the next morning by our dangerous foes.

~And in a prescient warning to the anti-profiling crowd, he reminds us of what we Americans still want to imagine what the British public is like today~
We have found it necessary to take measures of increasing stringency, not only against enemy aliens and suspicious characters of other nationalities, but also against British subjects who may become a danger or a nuisance should the war be transported to the United Kingdom. I know there are a great many people affected by the orders which we have made who are the passionate enemies of Nazi Germany. I am very sorry for them, but we cannot, at the present time and under the present stress, draw all the distinctions which we should like to do. If parachute landings were attempted and fierce fighting attendant upon them followed, these unfortunate people would be far better out of the way, for their own sakes as well as for ours. There is, however, another class, for which I feel not the slightest sympathy. Parliament has given us the powers to put down Fifth Column activities with a strong hand, and we shall use those powers subject to the supervision and correction of the House, without the slightest hesitation until we are satisfied, and more than satisfied, that this malignancy in our midst has been effectively stamped out. Turning once again, and this time more generally, to the question of invasion, I would observe that there has never been a period in all these long centuries of which we boast when an absolute guarantee against invasion, still less against serious raids, could have been given to our people. In the days of Napoleon the same wind which would have carried his transports across the Channel might have driven away the blockading fleet. There was always the chance, and it is that chance which has excited and befooled the imaginations of many Continental tyrants. Many are the tales that are told. We are assured that novel methods will be adopted, and when we see the originality of malice, the ingenuity of aggression, which our enemy displays, we may certainly prepare ourselves for every kind of novel stratagem and every kind of brutal and treacherous maneuver. I think that no idea is so outlandish that it should not be considered and viewed with a searching, but at the same time, I hope, with a steady eye. We must never forget the solid assurances of sea power and those which belong to air power if it can be locally exercised. I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone. At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. That is the resolve of His Majesty's Government-every man of them. That is the will of Parliament and the nation. The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together in their cause and in their need, will defend to the death their native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength. Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.



I just love someone with such a command of both the English language and the knowledge of the human condition. The fact that he was on "our" side is a huge plus.

There IS hope for America after all

Listen to what these kids had to say to 'code pincko'




via rob at Say Anything.

DDT and you

(aternativly titled: HOT LATINA BOOBS -BARE BREASTS- MONKEE P0RN)

Ok, back to the DDT thing.
I guess I'm out of the scientific link here- living in the real world and all.
I just read this story on the residual effects of DDT.


First some chemistry:
DDT, an organochlorine, persists in the environment long after use, accumulating in the food chain and in fatty tissues of animals and humans.

Over time, it degrades into DDE and DDD, which have similar chemical and physical properties.

Thirty-three years after its use was banned in the US, DDT is still detectable in about five to 10% of people, while DDE is detectable in nearly everyone.

Now comes the chicken little act.


The UC Berkeley researchers measured blood levels of DDT and one of its breakdown products, DDE, in 360 pregnant women, the majority of whom were born in Mexico, where agricultural use of the chemical was only banned in 2000.

Well it IS California, so they only had Illegals coming to free healthcare to work with.
-snip-

For each tenfold increase in DDT levels measured in the mother, the team found a corresponding two to three-point decrease in the children's mental development scores at 12 and 24 months.

Children with the highest DDT exposures in the womb were associated with a seven to 10-point decrease in test scores, compared to the lowest exposures.

When the children's physical skills were measured, there were two-point decreases in children's scores at six and 12 months for each tenfold increase in DDT levels in the mothers.

Similar, but weaker effects, were linked to DDE exposure.

Ok, I only have my high school math here, but isn't a tenfold increase like multiplying by 10? You have say 10mg of DDT and a tenfold increase would be 100mg- right?
Then you measure it on a percentage scale, so one percent would be .001 of the standard. A two point decrease would be .002.
Or am I missing something?

-snip-
Professor Richard Sharpe, of the Medical Research Council's Human Reproductive Sciences Unit in Edinburgh, said: "The older the woman before her first breastfeeding episode and the longer and the higher her DDT exposure has been, the greater will be the amount of chemical delivered to the baby.

"So the first baby gets the worst of the chemicals stored in the mum's fat.

"There may also be a bonus to the mum in that she is ridding herself and her fat tissue of the chemicals in question and because some of these chemicals are potentially implicated in the development of breast cancer - the breast is mainly fat.

"This could be one of the ways in which early breastfeeding protects against breast cancer."

Ok, I can see the floodgate analogy with flushing out accumulated DDT.
But, ummmm- is my high school biology wrong? I was taught that milk comes from mammary glands, not the fat- or is it just leaching into the milk?

Ohhhhhhhhhhh,,,,,,,,so confused.
And here I thought that those illegals just didn't want to bother to learn English- not that they were to pendejo to learn.

In one last bit of patriotic chest thumping

before getting back to my usual moronic posts:

50 Reasons Why It's Good to Be an American Man (In No Particular Order)
advertisement
More from Esquire

1. The original Tommy's burger. Not Tommies, mind you, that sorry mall-rat imitator of the real deal in L.A., but Tommy's-the y indicating that the chili on top has been brewing in the same pot for fifty years, which may be why you find very few American women in the long line.

2. Canadian import Emanuelle Chriqui.

3. Redwood National Park in California. An atheist could find God here.

4. Outlaw Country (channel 63) on Sirius. Self-description: "A sanctuary for the freaks, misfits, outcasts, rebels, and renegades of country music.

5. 3-in-one oil.

6. The Wonderbra.

7. The first eighteen minutes of Conan O'Brien.

8. The first four days of the NCAA tournament. Forty-eight games in eighty-four hours.

9. Cheap cars with cojones. Like the Dodge Magnum, a wagon that'll do 130 miles an hour.

10. Slow-pitch softball. I'm old, nearer to adult diapers than to my free-wheeling days, and when I shut my eyes at night and try to pry dread's fingers from my failing brain, I don't count sheep, or women, or my blessings. I recall team names from my slow-pitch days, and in my mind's eye I see the balls I crushed fly again-over outfielders' heads and wiremesh fences-in Cleveland, Iowa City, Austin, Philadelphia, and Manhattan. It makes me feel young again-and proud to live in a country where being slow, fat, and stoned is no barrier to pseudo-athletic excellence. I have played slow-pitch with ex-major-leaguers and Division 1 footballers and Orthodox Jews wearing tzitzis and women bus drivers who could grow a much better mustache than me. Thanks to slow-pitch, I have walked into town a stranger and left with dozens of friends; I've scored runs, jobs, weed, apartments, and more women than you could shake a Bombat at, although never from those mustachioed broads. Not that I didn't try. What I'm saying is, I have insomnia. Also, slowpitch is more than a game. It is as good, and as free, as America gets.

-SCOTT RAAB

11. Texas Pete hot sauce.

12. Tater Tots.

13. Baked beans at Durgin-Park. In Boston, of course.

14. The lyrics to Hank Williams Jr.'s "Texas Women": I've got some fond memories of San Angelo / And I've seen some beauty queens in El Paso / But the best looking women that I've ever seen / Have all been in Texas and all wearing jeans.

15. Five-blade razors.

16. Four-door trucks.

17. Three-bean chili.

18. One-hundred-eighty-minute happy hours.

19. The Food Network's Giada De Laurentiis. Specifically, her plunging necklines and the placement of her oven so that she has to lean over at least a dozen times per show.

20. Low expectations. A few months ago I was outside a beer joint in Ecuador, peeing behind a blond horse named Gringa. Peeing behind his own horse nearby was an old friend, Enrique, who was in the middle of telling me about some unpleasantness he'd recently endured at U.S. customs in Miami. Officers there had refused to believe that a thirty-one-year-old banana republican earned enough honest bucks to own a vacation condo in Florida. Was he a narcotraficante? A terrorista? A narcoterrorista?! The interrogation concluded with an emasculating strip search, and the experience left Enrique thoroughly fed up with Americans. "I don't mean you," he quickly added. "You're different." For what it's worth, he's right: You'd never catch me rubber-gloving a rectum just because its owner looks a little Escobar-y. But my point here is that our rep has plummeted so low that it's almost impossible not to rise above it. Most foreigners, unless you're forcing them to play naked Twister or collaterally damaging their wedding parties, are pleasantly surprised by our lack of visible fangs. This has led to a happy paradox: While we're collectively in the toilet, we individually smell like roses.

-LUKE DITTRICH
21. You're never more than a car ride away from a decent public golf course.

22. You can eat Krispy Kremes sautéed in trans fat at every meal for the next three months and still not be the fattest person at the state fair.

23. When you think about it, our flag is still the coolest looking of any nation's. Except maybe Kiribati's.

24. Titanium is our mineral. Titanium drivers. Titanium bats. Titanium armor.

25. Salad in a bag.

26. Wine in a box.

27. Boy shorts on women.

28. DVR for just seven dollars a month.

29. The smell of a box of baseballs.

30. The duality of never buying a Jack LaLanne juicer but being happy that he's selling them.

31. The rebirth of the steak house. Less burgundy, better meat.

32. The C-note.

33. The red-eye out of Vegas. At 3:00 P.M., you're poolside, trying to sweat out an ill-advised round of mojitos with three women from Nova Scotia. You haven't eaten since the night before, when you had a porterhouse at a place where they made the Caesar salad at your table. At 6:00, you get your bag from the bellman and wash up in the casino restroom. You still look good. At 8:00, you stand at the craps table, your bag at your feet, and make one last concerted effort to hit on your famous parley on the horn high yo. At 9:45, after laying a quick five hundred on the Redskins, you grab a cab to the airport, where you drop a final hundred into the Wheel of Fortune slot machines as you tug on a Bloody Mary. At 11:56, you take your seat on the plane, and fifteen minutes later, every reading light goes out, every head tilts into a makeshift pillow. When you land, you debark bleary-eyed, crook-stepped. It's 5:58. In three hours you will be at work.

-TOM CHIARELLA

34. That concurrently Bob Dylan and Kanye West both, in some way, speak for you.

35. That the Yankees haven't won the World Series in five seasons. And it ain't gonna happen this year, either.

36. The surfeit of attractive actresses named Jennifer.

37. The ever-changing standards of American beauty. While men elsewhere have fairly stagnant tastes, our ideal swings constantly from Kate Moss to J. Lo. This is good. It means American women have countless norms to pick from and ensures us of a truly eclectic buffet.

38. NFL Sunday Ticket.

39. Tiffany's. Any schmuck with a credit card can walk in, buy the cheapest trinket in the store, have 'em wrap it in that peacockblue box with a satin bow, and melt any woman's heart.

40. Batting cages and driving ranges. In the same spot.

41. The never-ending quest to find the perfect barbecue joint.

42. And the perfect cheeseburger.

43. ZZ Top. They're from Texas, and they're not from old money. In fact, they just got paid today, and it was all nickels and dimes. They sport beards that would be unacceptable to most biker mamas. They have consumed booze, drugs, topless dancers, pork ribs, and pecan pie with equal and unadulterated ferocity. And considering that they haven't made a decent album since 1983, it's somewhat remarkable that they're still around. But ZZ Top continues to define the aesthetics of unrepentant American maleness; this is the music of liars, fighters, and gamblers. ZZ Top is what you hear when there are thirteen people in the bar and twelve of them are men (and the thirteenth is a waitress, and she's been divorced three times). It's a straightforward equation: Billy Gibbons gets his ax in the pocket, everybody hunkers down with Camel straights, the world turns into chrome and leather, and thirty years of political correctness evaporates like spit.

-CHUCK KLOSTERMAN

44. Corn bread.

45. Yellow mustard.

46. Macaroni and cheese. And hot dogs.

47. Because someday you could grow up to be Grand Exalted Ruler of a club called the Elks.

48. Because if you're an American man, you're not a British man.

49. This formula: a Tuesday, the dizzying sun, cheap beer, bleacher seats.

50. Eight more Sopranos episodes.

“Because I really want to live in a country where the poor people are fat.”

What a great title from a prospective immigrant from India.
Here is one of the better posts about what we all need to remember, and what alot of Americans don't realize. We do have it great in America.
Karten is in England right now, and sent me a mail telling about how much she realised she's changed- and how favorably we compare to the 'old sod'.

What's So Great About America

The newcomer who sees America for the first time typically experiences emotions that alternate between wonder and delight. Here is a country where everything works: The roads are paper-smooth, the highway signs are clear and accurate, the public toilets function properly, when you pick up the telephone you get a dial tone. You can even buy things from the store and then take them back if you change your mind. For the Third World visitor, the American supermarket is a marvel to behold: endless aisles of every imaginable product, 50 different types of cereal, multiple flavors of ice cream, countless unappreciated inventions like quilted toilet paper, fabric softener, roll-on deodorant, disposable diapers.

The immigrant cannot help noticing that America is a country where the poor live comparatively well. This fact was dramatized in the 1980s, when CBS television broadcast an anti-Reagan documentary, “People Like Us,” which was intended to show the miseries of the poor during an American recession. The Soviet Union also broadcast the documentary, with the intention of embarrassing the Reagan administration. But it had the opposite effect. Ordinary people across the Soviet Union saw that the poorest Americans had television sets and cars. They arrived at the same conclusion that I witnessed in a friend of mine from Bombay who has been trying unsuccessfully to move to the United States for nearly a decade. I asked him, “Why are you so eager to come to America?” He replied, “Because I really want to live in a country where the poor people are fat.”

-snip-

In the United States, on the other hand, the social ethic is egalitarian, regardless of wealth. For all his riches, Bill Gates could not approach a homeless person and say, “Here’s a $100 bill. I’ll give it to you if you kiss my feet.” Most likely the homeless guy would tell Gates to go to hell. The American view is that the rich guy may have more money, but he isn’t in any fundamental sense better than you are. The American janitor or waiter sees himself as performing a service, but he doesn’t see himself as inferior to those he serves. And neither do the customers see him that way: They are generally happy to show him respect and appreciation on a plane of equality. America is the only country in the world where we call the waiter “Sir,” as if he were a knight.

The moral triumph of America is that it has extended the benefits of comfort and affluence, traditionally enjoyed by very few, to a large segment of society. Very few people in America have to wonder where their next meal is coming from. Even sick people who don’t have money or insurance will receive medical care at hospital emergency rooms. The poorest American girls are not humiliated by having to wear torn clothes. Every child is given an education, and most have the chance to go on to college. The common man can expect to live long enough and have enough free time to play with his grandchildren.

I really think that if more Americans got out in the world to REALLY see what kind of a chithole the majority of the world is, that they'd realise we are the greatest country in the world.
I don't mean the tourist traps, go to the centeral forrests of Puerto Rico where the highway we built from Rosey Roads to San Juan is a one lane strip of uneven concrete lined by ventas with dirty kids and trash all around.
Look accross the border in El Paso- you can see by the windowless hovels where the line is.
Canada looks like America that I remember from the 60's with narrow highways, skewed power poles with no buried utilities, extremely limited cell coverage (and that's in their cities)- but they have government healthcare if you want to wait 3 months for an MRI.
Central America where they do the jobs that Mexicans won't- because Mexico is better than where they came from.
Africa- with their dictators and slave trade- propped up by the UN?
Asia- if you don't live in a city, forget ANY modern conveniance, and don't complain because the Communists or the Islamofasciests will shut you up.

I almost forgot- in Britain, a modern European country- when they start to get dry, they don't tell you to stop watering your lawn. They shut off the water to your house and make you go to a central water pipe for your domestic use.


Read more

I see by the news that NASA is getting into the 4th of July spirit

They may even supply their own fireworks.

I'm just wondering, is it less 'dangerous' for the environment to use the little bit of freon to make the right foam- or is all the chemical reactions of another an explosion more environmentally friendly?

Have a happy mournful 4th

From your pariotic Libs at the upstate NY Ithaca Journal. Now lets fly our flags upside down and have a parade, just remember how evil BusHitler is.

This rant will piss most Anericans off with it's strung together paragraphs and mirepresentations of both fact and fiction.

Our Constitution is being attacked and ignored by the very leaders who are sworn to uphold it. For example, Bush has never vetoed a law passed by Congress. Instead Bush signs the bill, which then becomes law. But after his signature is added a postscript called a “Signing Statement.” If Bush signs this statement, it gives him the authority to disregard the law he has just signed!

So, what is the point of Congress? Why doesn't Bush just make decrees and proclamations? How is Bush's rule any different from a dictator's? And what has become of our system of checks and balances?

What? So it's ok for Clinton to do it because he "cared"more?

Torture is used at Guantánamo Bay as it is used in other U.S. prisons. This is public knowledge. (See the book “Guantánamo and the Misuse of Presidential Power.”) Holding prisoners in Guantánamo detention camps for years without charge — while the whole world is watching and calling for the camps' closure and while Bush is traveling the world talking of “freedom and democracy” — has to give people of other lands pause to wonder what our country is about.

Yawn

Before the rise of Hitler, there was a breakdown of the German language. By misuse and reinterpretation of language, all the crimes committed in Germany during Hitler's time were made legal; none of the atrocities committed in Nazi Germany were illegal according to the remade German laws. In our country members of the judicial branch have corrupted our language, thereby making illegal actions “legal.” For example, calling people held at Guantánamo “enemy combatants” makes it okay to torture them since “enemy combatants” do not come under the rules of the international accords we have signed. These changes were made by Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez and attorney Samuel Alito, who now holds a seat on the Supreme Court, and their staff of lawyers in our Justice Department.

I'm sure glad that your PC thought police aren't guilty of corrupting out language- someone has to keep us on the right correct path.


Well that does it for me, let me go throw my medals over the White House fence as sonn as I can bother to get up there.

Now I actually have to find some uplifting and partiotic things to make up for this steaming pile I just dropped into your lap.

The publics' RIGHT to know

I keep hearing that out of the NYT. I know I don't have to supply any links to that mess.
So here you have an anti American a "progressive" newspapers (or papers) who decided to let our enemies know every detail of an effective and perfectly legal anti-terrorist operation.

So, where did these newspapers get this "RIGHT"? I don't remember anything about the publics' RIGHT to know about effective LEGAL programs. True, Bush had mentioned that they were tracking finances. That's like putting a security sign out in your yard. What the NYT (and others) did was announce where the housekey was hidden, and the security code.

completely wrong. We didn't need to know every detail about the program, if anything it would have been enough to give a sketchy description- a schematic.

As far as punishing them, I know that they need to go after the leakers like the MSM wanted to hunt down KKKarl Rove for the Plame thing. Hammer them hard, and clean out the CIA (where it most likely came from). Make them an example, show them and the rest of their fellow travelers that it's the people of the United States run the government- not a bunch of entrenched (liberal) bureaucrats who act like a shadow government sabotaging everything the Bush administration tries to do.

Moral pressure won't work on a Liberal. How can you pressure someone who's moral ethics are based on nothing but whatever the situation is at the time. A Liberal is immune to moral criticism, Bill Clinton is the perfect example of how the editors of the NYT are going to act. Hurt feelings at the unjust harping of the self-righteous right-wing conspiracy.

Put them all in jail- it IS a crime to reveal secrets.

Ok, now we're cookin' cutting

It took a while to figure out that I could cut better and faster with a 4 TPI 3/8" bandsaw blade rather than a 3TPI (teeth per inch) 1/2" blade.


Now I can trurn wood billets into boards.



And boards into these:






I sent a 9 x 11 cutting board with Karen, but forgot to take pics.
Wait, here's one-


If anyone wants some Mesquite scraps for their grill, let me know. I've got plenty of unusable pieces. Write me a note in my e-mail, or leave a post and I'll ship a pound or two (or more) for postage.

As you can tell, I didn't go to J-school

So I'm going to apologize for this rant, and not bury it in the classifieds section.
The Cajun has the reason for the price jump that the MSM didn't bother telling us. You know, with aiding and abetting Americas enemies- and all.

so,



Nevermind.

Ohh my ears!!

Stopitnow,,, hit eject--NOW!!

I just got back from putting Karen and the girls on the plan.
On the way back I put in a CD expecting to hear something like


THIS:


instead I got

THIS:





Thanks to my superior driving skills I avoided anything near a close call.

I notice that gas prices took a nickle jump yesterday

I wonder what kind of trouble made that happen?
It couldn't be the news that in Iraq, the attacks on the pipelines have stopped could it?

Or that the volatil oils market is reacting to the news that Iraq is producing at the highest level since the war started.

It couldn't possibly be that the oil companies are just gouging us because of the 4th of July weekend, could it?

I've layed off the oil companies because I realize the "record profits" are part of mass marketing.
The laws of supply ans demand etc... But Goddammit- enough is enough!!
Somebody needs to bitchslap those executives for profiteering, now. What the f*ck is their excuse? People will be driving on this 4 day weekend- we can really mug them now----because they don't have any options.

You may notice that the "One year ago, I was paying $1.37 for gas" is gone. That's because it's been over a year since the oil companies have been screwing us.
I told my father-in-law(a Brit), when he asked about the gas price spike- "It'll go down, it always does". Boy, I was wrong big time.

Throw 'em all in jail

Why go through the expense and effort of trying to kill our troops when you can just as effectivly take them out by accusing them of murder and rape. As an added incentive, the U.S. government will pay you for your story.

Think of it, toss up several false accusations of murder or rape and "poof-their-gone". They end up in the states shackled for 23 hours straight and end up spending hundereds of thousands of dollars defending themselves from their own chain of command.

Because, you know Terrorists would NEVER lie about something like that. Because, ya know how upright and manly they are.


Why carp about an "exit strategy" when all combat troops will be in prison making lawyers rich by defending themselves against false charges.

Friends in Texas!
Happily stolen from Jenni.

OTHER FRIENDS: Never ask for food
TEXAS FRIENDS: Are the reason you have no food.

OTHER FRIENDS: Call your parents Mr. and Mrs.
TEXAS FRIENDS: Call your parents mom and dad.

OTHER FRIENDS: Bail you out of jail and tell you what you did was wrong.
TEXAS FRIENDS: Would be sitting next to you saying, "Damn...we fucked up...but that shit was fun!"

OTHER FRIENDS: Borrow your stuff for a few days then give it back.
TEXAS FRIENDS: Keep your stuff so long they forget it's yours.

OTHER FRIENDS: Know a few things about you.
TEXAS FRIENDS: Could write a book with direct quotes from you.

OTHER FRIENDS: Will leave you behind if that's what the crowd is doing.
TEXAS FRIENDS: Will kick the whole crowd's ass that left you.

OTHER FRIENDS: Would knock on your door.
TEXAS FRIENDS: Walk right in and say, "What up!"

OTHER FRIENDS: Are for a while.
TEXAS FRIENDS: Are for life.

OTHER FRIENDS: Will take your drink away when they think you've had enough.
TEXAS FRIENDS: Will look at you stumbling all over the place and say, "Bitch, you better drink the rest of that, you know we don't waste!!"

OTHER FRIENDS: Will talk shit to the person who talks shit about you.
TEXAS FRIENDS: Will knock them the fuck out!!

OTHER FRIENDS: Will ignore this.
TEXAS FRIENDS: Will repost this

OK, so...can we scare them away with depth charges first?

In today's feature on the imbecile animal rights front- we have a lawsuit to stop the Navy using sonar.


Environmental groups sued the federal government Wednesday to prevent the Navy from using active sonar during drills off Hawaii next month, saying the sound could harm whales and other marine mammals. The Natural Resources Defense Council asked a federal court in Los Angeles to issue a temporary restraining order unless the Navy takes "effective measures" to protect marine life when it uses high-intensity, mid-frequency active sonar to hunt submarines in the drills.

-snip-

The permit comes after NOAA said in April that Navy use of sonar during maritime exercises off Hawaii in 2004 may have contributed to the mass stranding of more than 150 whales. The report, however, did not say definitively that the sonar caused the whales to gather in the bay. The Navy agreed to several measures to limit the impact its sonar might have on whales and dolphins, including not using active sonar in coastal waters — except in channels between some of the islands — and lowering the sonar's power when marine mammals are nearby.

So, sonar is the (probable) cause of mass beachings? What was the cause before WWII?
Besides, the world is getting noisier. I have to put up with the @ssholes that insist on shaking my truck with their f*cking 25"speakers, the whales can learn to live with sonar.

Ahhhh, the wonders of having NO expectations

I just got home.
I took the garbage to the street- I left the two cans behind the big truck when I left(as a signal that they needed to go). I didn't expect anyone except me top do it. I wasn't wrong.

I got into the house and was greeted with an empty Tombstone cardboard. Figures; I mean- really- who wants to come home at gawd-only-knows-what-time of the morning, and wants to eat and go to bed? Now I'm here waiting for the hamburger to cook down, so I can turn it into hamburger helper. Why should I complain? Mom worked 8 hours and the three girls didn't think about even cleaning the cutting board they used to make that nasty guacamole- it's been two days that I've been throwing both cutting boards into the sink--just to find the filthy things sitting on the counter yet again.
The dishwasher is almost empty, but the dishes are piled in the sink.

The girls are going to England for 4 weeks (I think) and mom is going for two.
it'll be nice to batch for a while- things stay clean when you clean them. Things don't just-end up- lost, or broken, or filthy- and nobody knows what happened.

When I'm by myself, I clean what I make dirty, and actually put it away.
If the garbage is full, I take it out- not ignore the crap that's falling on the floor.
I clean the stove when I make a mess.
I put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and don't turn it on when there's 6 f*cking things in it.
I can look at the outside waterbowl, and actually fill it when it's dry.
I wipe up my spills, so I don't have my feet sticking to the floor.
When I'm batching, I'll actually be able to plan meals three days ain advance--and have what I bought for it--available.


I'm anal like that. It came from the military.
Besides, I'm not a selfish, lazy teenager.

The hamburger is ready, and now we have to wait for the pasta to soften for our "Beef and Pasta" meal... ohh, and add time to let it cool down, too. Looks like about a 4AM bedtime.

Drew Curtis doesn't like this picture

I note the fact that he got the flags decription wrong (as usual).
I'd bet that you could almost wear the original Confederate flag down the streets of N'awlins-With Jesse Jackson, and nobody would raise an eyebrow, much less be "offended" at "what it represents". Hell, Jesse probably woudn't recognize it either.

The reason the other flag was used on the battlefield because the two national flags were too easy to be mistaken- with deadly results.

And in anther a shocking display of hypocrisy

the Liberals in L.A. are using their city to block the free speech of animal lovers.
That's right, they want to stop Hooters from their constitutional right of freedom of speech.

This is Hollywood we're talking about, the same people who want to force everything homosexual on everyone in America- and if you object, YOU are the problem. The same ones who have no problem (I don't either) in throwing a gratuitous female nude scene into a movie to boost sales.
Wants to censor a private business holding a fundraiser.

Boks promised a more rigorous vetting process for future fundraisers.

The fundraiser is not city-sponsored, but a promoting flier is posted on the Animal Services Web site.

The original flier showed a bikini-clad woman, but the latest version shows a dog wearing a T-shirt that says "Hooters for Neuters."

I bet they'd get more money with the babe- but that's sooooooo un-PC.

...And in a related bit of PC run amok.
In John Kerry's Mass. (he was in 'Nam, ya know?) - a Finance Committee member is in trouble for an e-mail she sent to an awards committee.
Here is the offensive language.
"Lord, that girl has sat over there with those testosterone gushers for 37 years and lived to tell about it," Arnold wrote in an e-mail dated June 16.

BUT, some were "offended" by it:
Sgt. Thomas Plourde, president of the Police Officers of Westport Alliance, said Arnold should step down. He told the Standard-Times of New Bedford that he would ask town selectmen to look into her remarks.

Her response:
"I mean, they've got biceps 10 inches around. My God," she told the newspaper. "I mean, have you seen their shoulders? They're huge. Their shirts are tight, they are busting out of them. Â… Testosterone is just a metaphor. "If I was in trouble, I'd want one of those big moose to be there," she said.

Some people are just looking to be "offended".

If this isn't enough to keep you awake tonight

You must read Steven King to your kids as bedtime stories.

We've been hearing about the "Trans-Texas Corridor" for a while, here. In our rumors, it is supposed to make it easier to go fast in central Texas, a conduit from Larado to Dallas 400 yards wide with railroads, petroleum pipelines, comm lines and all kinds of other goodies. Oh, and there will be pretty much no speed limit.

That's only part of it. Now comes the part where y'all accuse me of listening to those overnight coast-to-coast radio programs where they discuss their latest UFO abductions.

There may be a reason besides Bush being in the pockes of his contributors that he's blowing off our illegal problem. How about the North American Union with NO borders between Mexico, the U.S. and Canada? The first time a Mexican semi is inspected is in St. Louis, Mo from Baja Mexico.

See, you haven't heard about it, and no-one in Congress will admit to being involved because Bush is doing it all under the table. No oversite needed, just a tri-lateral commision where America used to be.

Ohhh, and that pesky illegal problem? It'll just go away since there are no borders anymore.

Via Michael Reagan (and other radio programs).

I finally got rid of my tick

I was heading homs and passed him (her?) around the I-10 and I-35 interchange.
Did you ever have someone that just *wouldn't* , no- refused to pass you no matter how slow you went? How about someone who didn't want to be left behind, so they sped up when you did?

How about this on a highway at 2:30Am with us as the only ones going west? My tick stayed with me for over 30 miles untill I turned into my subdivision.

I bet he was lonely after that- hadda turn around and head back to San Antonio just to have company.