Pawns in a game of political chess...

Lately, there appears to be a new trend in how large municipalities deal with budgetary shortfalls. It seems that in most instances, emergency, education and infrastructure maintenance services are first in line for cuts. WHY?!?!

Newark Mayor, Police Union Head At Odds Over Layoffs
While Sides Bicker, Residents Fear Spike In Crime
November 30, 2010 8:55 PM

NEWARK, N.J. (CBS 2/1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – There is concern and worry in New Jersey’s largest city.

Newark residents were wondering Tuesday if their streets were safe after 14 percent of the city’s police officers were laid off, CBS 2’s Pablo Guzman reports.

The mayor of Newark and his police director said even with 167 officers laid off, people will not notice a difference on the street.

“Newark residents should know that tonight. We will have virtually the same amount of people, on patrol. As we had last night. And the night before,” Mayor Cory Booker said.

But that answer was not giving the citizens comfort.

“The criminals are sitting back, saying, ‘Oh boy. I like this. I like this!’” resident Emma Montgomery said...

*snip*

That's just the most recent example I've seen. Over the past couple of years, I've been seeing it more and more, and it's always large populated cities and coincidentally almost always run by Democrats. Not to sound overly partisan on this issue, but come on folks, we're talking political demographics 101 here. All you have to do is Google "city budget cut services" and you'll see what I'm talking about. But why? Why cut such important and essential services that would surely result in severely diminishing the quality of life for all people living and working in these metropolitan areas? Aside from the fact that union pensions are now strangling these large municipalities, I believe politicians target essential services for budget cuts in order to justify raising local taxes and service fees. By raping the taxpayers, politicians can pay off the unions to secure their political support and campaign contributions. In the meantime, emergency service workers are being used as pawns in a game of political chess. Until politicians begin cutting non-essential items from their budgets and union leaders stop shoving unaffordable contracts down the throats of taxpayers, emergency service workers, and moreover, society in general, will always be at their mercy.

Leslie Neilsen dies at 84 years old? Surely, you can't be serious.

Sadly, I am serious, so please stop calling him Shirley.

'Naked Gun,' 'Airplane' actor Leslie Nielsen dies
(AP) – Sunday, November 28, 2010

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Leslie Nielsen had the somber demeanor and stone-serious face that were just right for dramatic roles. They proved even better for comedy.

"Surely you can't be serious," an airline passenger says to Nielsen in "Airplane!" the 1980 hit that turned the actor from dramatic leading man to comic star.

"I am serious," Nielsen replies. "And don't call me Shirley."

The line was probably his most famous — and a perfect distillation of his career.

Nielsen, the dramatic lead in "Forbidden Planet" and "The Poseidon Adventure" and the bumbling detective in "The Naked Gun" comedies, died on Sunday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He was 84.

The Canada native died from complications from pneumonia at a hospital near his home, surrounded by his wife, Barbaree, and friends, his agent John S. Kelly said in a statement.

"We are saddened by the passing of beloved actor Leslie Nielsen, probably best remembered as Lt. Frank Drebin in 'The Naked Gun' series of pictures, but who enjoyed a more than 60-year career in motion pictures and television," said Kelly...

*snip*

Neilsen was one of my all-time favorites. Back in the day, quoting Airplane and Naked Gun in conversation was as popular as quoting Monty Python's Holy Grail and Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles. After all these years, I still LMAO every time I watch those old comedies. He will be sorely missed.

It's that time of year again...

Time to pull out the decorations, deck the halls and play the Christmas tunes. With economic circumstances being the way they are, I promise not to over do it this year. Although there's no need to scale back my decorating here at this website, I am going to scale back the usual amount of outdoor lights I put up each year. I just don't have the desire to be constantly finding and replacing bad bulbs. I've got better things to do with my time and better ways of celebrating the season. I have heard a couple old songs that I'll be adding to Santa's Jukebox as soon as I can find them on the internets. Other than that, what you see is what you get. Enjoy.

I can't believe I ate the whole thing!

*shameless image repost from last year*

OMG, just roll me over to the couch so I can pass out while watching the football games!

Can't find anything to be thankful for?

Also, if you are a citizen of the United States of America, you are better off than 95% of the rest of the world because you are an official member of the freest, most beautiful, most prosperous, most charitable, most peaceful and most powerful country in the world. Even with a socialist occupying the White House, by being in this country, you have more opportunity here to better the lives of yourself and your family than you do anywhere else on Earth.

I've lost quite a bit over the past 10 years and stand to loose even more in the near future, but even with all that loss and heartache, I still have many things to be thankful for. God blesses me each day that I'm able to rise and see the light of a new day. Every morning He gives me yet another day to try and finally get it right.


Happy Thanksgiving

This can't be a good thing, folks...

China, Russia quit dollar
By Su Qiang and Li Xiaokun (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-11-24 08:02

St. Petersburg, Russia - China and Russia have decided to renounce the US dollar and resort to using their own currencies for bilateral trade, Premier Wen Jiabao and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin announced late on Tuesday.

Chinese experts said the move reflected closer relations between Beijing and Moscow and is not aimed at challenging the dollar, but to protect their domestic economies.

"About trade settlement, we have decided to use our own currencies," Putin said at a joint news conference with Wen in St. Petersburg.

The two countries were accustomed to using other currencies, especially the dollar, for bilateral trade. Since the financial crisis, however, high-ranking officials on both sides began to explore other possibilities.

The yuan has now started trading against the Russian rouble in the Chinese interbank market, while the renminbi will soon be allowed to trade against the rouble in Russia, Putin said.

"That has forged an important step in bilateral trade and it is a result of the consolidated financial systems of world countries," he said...

*snip*

Now that China and Russia (for all intents and purposes, both still very much communist nations) have unpegged from the dollar, what will happen to our economy here in the USA? A much quicker onset of hyper-inflation! This is what many economists have feared would happen if we strapped our debt to the mercy foreign nations, as the following article adequately explains...

Schaef Brief: China Unpegs Yuan – Good or Bad for America?
Author: A Schaef - June 29th, 2010

...What if China Steps Out of the US Treasury Market? Two possibilities then lie before us: higher interest rates to lure new investors or the Federal Reserve will have to step in as the main buyer. Some say that the former is not even an option right now because of what higher rates will do to our economy, therefore the latter is the only immediate possibility. Eventually, a combination of the two is the most likely scenario. As the Fed becomes the main buyer of US debt (in other words, as we monetize our debt), inflation then kicks into high gear because we are basically just printing money at an incredible rate at that point. To try and curb this inflation, higher interest rates will soon follow. When this happens you should already be well positioned in commodities; mainly precious metals. When the rest of the world finally figures this out, the gold rush we will have will be unlike anything we have ever seen. Let not your heart be troubled. If you make the right moves now you will survive; maybe even thrive...

*snip*

I don't want to sound like an alarmist, but I've been keeping an eye this SHTF scenario stuff since 9-11 and this has all the indications of being the real deal. My spidey senses are tingling and the boy scout in me has been causing me to prepare for what I only see now as inevitability. NOW is the time, folks! Buy gold, stock up on canned and dry foods, try to secure additional cooking and heating fuels, and re-surplus your defensive and emergency measures - yes, guns and ammo, first aid supplies, etc. I'm not telling you this because I'm following the marching orders of anyone else; I'm telling you this because I've been researching this stuff on my own for nearly 10 years. Good luck and God willing, we will survive this storm.

Naw, Facebook isn't evi... OMG!!!

Facebook Closer to Trademarking the Word 'Face'
Updated: Wednesday, 24 Nov 2010, 8:34 AM EST
Published : Wednesday, 24 Nov 2010, 8:34 AM EST

(NewsCore) - Facebook is one step closer to trademarking the word “Face,” TechCrunch reported Tuesday.

The U.S. Patent And Trademark Office has sent Facebook a Notice of Allowance, which means it will grant the “Face” trademark to the popular social networking site.

Facebook now has three months to pay an issue fee before they officially own the word.

To be sure, if "Google" were a body part or reference to a commonly know bodily function, we'd be equally outraged at them as well.

No Joke

North Korea has been the proxy war/distraction used by communist China in order to take the free world's focus off of them for the past 60 years. While North Korea creates a diversion by warring with its southern neighbor, China builds its own military and economic strength. In return, China supplies North Korea with some food, but mostly military technology and armaments. Without a doubt, this is how that lunatic pot-bellied dictator got his hand on civil and military nuclear technology.

Recently, North Korea has been ratcheting up their military prowess by attacking the south without warning or provocation. First it was the sinking of a South Korean battleship back in March, and now there is the very real possibility that the north and south will resume where they left off 56 years ago due to North Korea's shelling of the south as reported this morning...

South Korea Vows ‘Enormous Retaliation’ After North’s Deadly Island Bombardment
Published November 23, 2010
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who convened an emergency security meeting shortly after the bombardment by North Korea, said that an "indiscriminate attack on civilians can never be tolerated."

"Enormous retaliation should be made to the extent that (North Korea) cannot make provocations again," he said.

North Korea bombarded a South Korean island near their disputed western border Tuesday, setting buildings ablaze and killing at least two marines and injuring 16 others after warning the South to halt military drills in the area, South Korean officials said.

South Korea said it returned fire and scrambled fighter jets in response, and said the "inhumane" attack on civilian areas violated the 1953 armistice halting the Korean War. The two sides technically remain at war because a peace treaty was never negotiated...

*snip*

My theory is that the lunatic pot-bellied dictator is preparing to hand over power and control to his son, Kim Jong Un. So as not to give the appearance of his country's weakness during this time of transition, North Korean military has been place on hair-trigger alert. But make no mistake, this is no laughing matter. Do not forget that North Korea has become a nuclear power - thanks to poor military intelligence and appeasement diplomacy over the past 20 years.

Only gone 3 years, but I sure miss him...

Ain't much of a secret NOW, is it?

Air Force Launches Massive, Secret Spy Satellite
Delta 4 Rocket Blasts Off With U.S. Spy Agency's "Largest Satellite in the World" - Believed to be 328 Feet Wide
(CBS) This story was filed by CBS News space consultant William Harwood.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Nov. 22, 2010

A powerful Delta 4 rocket roared to life and climbed away from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Sunday evening on a high-priority mission to boost a National Reconnaissance Office spy satellite into orbit...

*snip*

Well, at least it's not like it's going to be used to spy on our good friends over in Russia or China. It'd be much easier for us to just keep our focus on their proxy war comrades in Iran and North Korea respectively. *cough, cough* You see, to this administration, today's real threat comes from within our own borders from those fascist, racist, homophobic, and bigoted Tea Party terrorists. They'll probably just park the damned thing over the continental U.S. so as not to offend that all important global community. I mean, what's the sense in us having spent all those millions in tax payer dollars to have our wonderful President travel around the world apologizing to our enemies only for us to step on their toes again by sending up a spy satellite to keep an eye on them?

Besides, I'm sure they're much more concerned about those annoying pissants who are behaving like a bunch of babies because the TSA wants to take naked pictures of them, grope their junk or fine them $11,000 for disobedience. Yeah, that's probably the same ignorant bunch that opposed gubmint run health care earlier on. Go figure.

Got Presents? Better hurry folks, Christmas is coming!

As if you didn't know...

Well, we saw it coming months ago; With the economy in near depression and inflation threatening to make a bad winter even worse, for the past few months, retailers have been shoving holiday sales down our throats in hopes of turning some kind of profit before year's end. The early Christmas push has been getting worse and worse each year. Just last year, I was joking with my wife that before you know it, they'll be advertising for Christmas the day after July 4th! Trust me folks, you didn't need to be Nostradamus to figure that out. However, unlike previous years, I don't think retail holiday greed is solely to blame this time around. Like us on the consumer end, I believe retailers are pulling out all the stops in hopes of just surviving this horrible recession.

While prices are being slashed for the holidays to just above wholesale on most of the unnecessary garbage people feel the need to clutter their lives with, prices on everything considered to be necessities are going through the roof!!! Food, common household items and hygiene products have gotten way more expensive. Just about everything in the grocery store has either gone up in price or manufacturers are reducing weights and/or quantities in products in order to keep prices the same. The price of gas is back up over $3.00 a gallon and I'm sure heating oil and electricity increases will follow, especially if we suffer a cold winter. On average, it costs me an extra 10 dollars more to fill my Jeep's gas tank than it did just six months ago. Health insurance costs have become unaffordable (yeah, I know, don't get me started on that). Taxes and government service fees like DMV costs feel like they've doubled over the past couple of year. The real estate market is still extremely stagnant and unemployment is at levels I haven't seen since the Jimmy Carter days. Yet, they still won't call this a RECESSION?!?! But, I digress.

Despite all those economic woes, an increase in consumer turnout at some stores appears to be a prediction of good fourth quarter earnings. But should that be taken as concrete proof that the economy is on the upswing? Likely not. Everyone I've talked to tells me how much harder their families are struggling than they were this time last year. They're traveling less, shopping only when stores offer big sales, reducing their monthly expenses to a bare minimum and even clipping coupons to save money on groceries - something many claim they've never done in the past.

Many also tell me that they've even been preparing their children for the holidays this year by telling them not to expect a lot of stuff for Christmas. And while that may not bode well for the retail sector, it does give me some hope to know that folks are shedding some of the excess materialism that comes with Christmas and Hanukkah. Hopefully there will be more focus on the real meaning of the holidays and not be so reliant on gift wrapped presents to make the seasons bright. Speaking for my family, our kids only get a couple of toys each along with some new clothing, games (non-electronic) and books. I don't know about folks, but we just can't afford to spend hundreds of dollars on a bunch of crap that gets played with for a couple of weeks and then tossed in a closet where it sits for the next several years until it becomes yard sale fodder.

Economic conditions not withstanding, Christmas is supposed to be, first and foremost, about celebrating the birth of Christ and Hanukkah is supposed to be a remembrance of Jewish perseverance and victory over their enemies. More generally speaking, the holiday season is supposed to be about friends and family, charity and compassion, peace and good will. Regardless if we can afford to spend large amounts of money to make ourselves and others around us happy, we should all focus more on what really is most important, because even though your financial situation appears stable at present, everything can change in the blink of an eye and it is times like those that we rely on friends and family to help us survive the new year.

There will always be a segment of society that continues to enjoy economic prosperity, but in this economy, How long do you think that will last? I believe the vast majority of us are hanging on by a thread, living paycheck to paycheck, pinching pennies, tightening their belts, and hunkering down for a long, dark, cold, and frugal winter.

Know what today is???

Yup, that's right!
So make it a good one!

Defenders of the 4th Amendment, UNITE!

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." - 4th Amendment of the United States Constitution

It appears a lot of my blogger friends are covering this topic. The above image was taken from RightPundits.com and John Tyner, the guy who coined the phrase, has his own blog here...

Someone's bound to make a bunch of money off this idea for flags and tee shirts. No doubt.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise...

Oh well, so much for Nancy Pelosi's "most ethical congress, ever" legacy.

House ethics panel convicts Rep. Rangel on 11 of 13 counts
By Susan Crabtree and Jordan Fabian
The Hill
11/16/10 11:55 AM ET

A House ethics panel has convicted Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) on 11 of 13 counts of violating House ethics rules.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of the adjudicatory subcommittee and the full House ethics committee, announced the decision late Tuesday morning following an abbreviated public trial of the 20-term lawmaker and nearly six hours of deliberations...

*snip*

Despite being under investigation for all these ethics violations, this guy was able to be reelected just weeks ago by an overwhelming margin in his district of Harlem NYC. But now that he's been convicted, doesn't that mean he'll be punished?

...The full ethics panel will now convene a sanctions hearing to recommend a punishment. Serious sanctions — including formal reprimand, censure or expulsion — require a vote on the House floor. Expulsion requires a two-thirds vote, while a reprimand, which Rangel refused to agree to in July, or a censure would need just a simple majority. The ethics panel could also impose a fine and diminish some of Rangel’s privileges...

*snip*

Oh, I forgot, he's a Democrat career politician and a minority. He'll receive a slap on the wrist and get sent on his merry way. Isn't that nice.


11/18/10
I stand corrected...

Censure recommended for NY congressman Rangel
By LARRY MARGASAK
Associated Press
November 18, 2010

WASHINGTON – The House ethics committee's chief counsel recommended Thursday that veteran Rep. Charles Rangel of New York be censured for financial and fundraising misconduct as lawmakers neared closure on a 2 1/2-year-long scandal.

The committee deliberated behind closed doors Thursday after counsel Blake Chisam made his recommendation and Rangel pleaded for fairness, telling the panel he was not a crooked politician.

Chisam's recommendation was that Rangel receive the most serious congressional discipline short of expulsion. A censure resolution would require a vote by the House disapproving Rangel's conduct and the speaker would orally administer an embarrassing rebuke to the 20-term Democrat in front of his colleagues.

The ethics committee, made up of five Democrats and five Republicans, could opt for lighter punishments, such as a reprimand, fine or a report deploring Rangel's behavior.

The full House would have to vote on a reprimand or fine, but Rangel would be spared the embarrassment of being rebuked at the front of the chamber, called the well. The House also could change the recommended discipline by making it more serious or less serious...

*snip*

Well, the House still has to vote on the censure, but so far, ol' Charlie is getting a serious tongue lashing which was more than I originally expected him to get.

How to enjoy bacon from the foxhole

In my field manual, anything with cooked bacon is a win... doubly so when it involves using what appears to be a 7.62 mm MG3 to do the cooking!!!.
For full cooking instructions, visit TheFoodBeast.com

Drudge echoes my sentiments exactly...

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-- Benjamin Franklin

OH NOES!!!

Wordpress (my website blog engine) offers me a software update and I'm like "OK" because there are some security bugs that hackers and spammers have been exploiting and causing this website to crash. So after the update, my side-bar menus disappear!!! I tried getting them back through manual code tweak to no avail. I fear it has something to do with Wordpress' inclusion of widgets (mini Java code applets) used to now handle typical side-bar tasks like log-ins, blog post history, local weather, blog-rolls, etc. Now I've got to figure out how to incorporate these new tricks into my website's old HTML code. Just wonderful and if that wasn't enough, my Windows smart-phone doesn't ring anymore. I tried removing and replacing the battery, but that didn't fix the problem, so now I'll have to try doing a hard reset which will pretty much get rid of all my settings and other programs I've installed over the past 6 months. Hmmm, I wonder if the ROM cookers have a newer OS that I can use.


Sunday, November 14, 2010

Almost done. What a PITA!!! I've got a few CSS tweaks to do, I'm redoing some of the images on the sidebars and I'm trying to go through my links to weed out the dead ones, but FWIW, I appear to be back in business for the most part. Just think; in less than 2 weeks, I'll be putting up the website's Christmas decorations!!! Man, time does fly.

OH GOODIE!!!

I've got a great idea: Lets all meet in DC, attend her party and tell her how much we appreciate her accomplishments.

2010 Autumn Leavin'

***click the image for full size panoramic view***

This past Saturday, we took our annual ride to admire and capture the Autumn splendor of area where we live (for now, at least). It really is quite breathtaking. It's a shame that despite all this beauty, it is becoming damned near impossible to remain living here. The economy is bad enough nation wide, but even more so here in the Socialist Republic of New York State where, irregardless of the political change across the rest of the country, the intellectuals here, in their infinite wisdom, have decided to keep the state in a perpetual downward spiral.

Anyway, if you would like to see where this panoramic picture was taken, here's a link to the actual location on Google Maps. It's about 20 minutes north from my house along side Route 208 just south of New Paltz, NY. I snapped it on our way back from traveling almost all the way to Kingston on the same road. Perhaps next year we'll tour the Catskills or the Delaware Valley and hopefully the weather will be more cooperative so that conditions will permit us to capture the next images a bit earlier when the trees are more full with colorful leaves.

If you're interested in viewing my previous Autumn panoramic pictures you can go here for last year's and here for 2007's images.

And 229 Days Latter...

Wow! Nice to see the site is still here and in tact. :D

Well, I know I've been away for quite an extended period of time (yet again) and although my regular readers have long thought me dead, I can assure you I am still very much alive.

For the last 7 & 1/2 months, I've been keeping in touch with the outside world through Facebook and email. I know, not befitting someone with a registered URL address, but I've had somewhat of a falling out of sorts with the internet. Aside from keeping an eye on the positive effects the Tea Party movement has had on politics and the 2010 mid-term elections, I've pretty much become an internet recluse of sorts. Hopefully that will change. I've just gotten so tired of politics all the time. Suffice it to say that I'm happy about the outcome of the recent elections and hope these events will start having a positive and restorative effect on our economy.

Back about a month or so ago, I received a notice from my web host that my monthly bandwidth allotment was exceeded and as a result, this web site was down for a number of days. Apparently this was due to a bunch of people "hot-linking" my website's images for their own use in other sites around the internet and my site was also being overrun by search engine bot scans. Thankfully, to resolve the matter, all I needed to do was add a couple of Wordpress plug-ins to my site and that appears to have solved those problems.

OMG, I can't believe we are approaching Christmas already. Where has the time gone? In less than a month, I'll have to switch the website theme for the holidays. The weather is supposed to be nice this week so I'm also going to try and get a jump on putting up the Christmas lights this year. Last year was a nightmare with trying to replace all the blown bulbs. I might just forget all that nonsense this year and buy new lights instead (not that I can afford it). We shall see.