Anti-Strib

We've Moved!

2009-06-05T17:45:00.001-05:00

The new blog site is www.anti-strib.com

The RSS feeds shoud be working and most of the bugs have been worked out, mostly.

Under construction, but open for business

2009-05-28T22:26:00.001-05:00

The new island themed Anti-Strib 2.0 is now open. Please go to www.anti-strib.com and register to comment.

It will be a mess for a while but we hope to be pretty functional by next Monday.

The Cooling Off Period

2009-05-27T16:09:00.002-05:00

I can see that some people still don't get what I'm trying to do.

This week was supposed to be a cooling off period. I hope to allow access to the new blog soon and those that don't mind the contstruction can start posting and commenting soon.

For now, note the stories you would like to blog on and we'll get everything up and running next week.

The new site will be at www.anti-strib.com. Right now that link goes right back to here but that will change in the next day or so.

I hope everyone has comepleted their island research. If that is done I suggest some study on time travel and exotic cocktails.

I may open a final insult thread to allow everyone one last therapuetic jab before joining the civilzed people on the new Anti-Strib 2.0 Island.

Too Good To Ignore

2009-05-27T14:06:00.002-05:00

Bacon Flavored Vodka

Is this a great country or what?

Memorial Day

2009-05-25T12:25:00.004-05:00

Anti-Strib 2.0

A sincere thank you to all of the men and women who have served this great nation in any capacity, be it the Armed Services, as a law enforcement officer, fire fighter, EMT first responder, etc.

Most of us serve this country in some fashion, but those who put their lives on the line deserve extra respect and admiration, regardless of their motivation. Freedom is not free, and history has proven time and again that it is not guaranteed. DO NOT take it for granted.

And just for the Anti-Strib community, a special reminder of what we hold so dear:

God bless America.

Anti-Strib 2.0

Anti-Strib 2.0

2009-05-23T11:20:00.000-05:00

Required reading for the Anti-Strib 2.0

Remy De Haenan

The History of Scotch

American Architecture

Wine

Cigars

Russian Literature

OK, just kidding on the last one.

Sayonara Suckers!

2009-05-23T00:36:00.002-05:00

I wish I had time to do an appropriate good bye, but as usual I don’t. I started this a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away (Santa Clara County) with a simmering rage at the Red Star for ignoring me and over ½ of Minnesota. (Tim Pawlenty is our governor)

I added some kick ass writers along the way and some clunkers. They are all one and the same, it just depends on the day and the post. I pissed a whole lot of people off and that’s good. You need to have your views challenged if for no other reason than to dust off those rebuttals that you haven’t used in years. For a while we added something to the blogosphere and then one day we didn’t. Time had come for a change.

To quote someone who knew something that few people ever will “We had to kill the village to save it”. The Anti-Strib had to die. The time had come and I knew it. So it shall be.

Thanks for all of the time and effort and even emotion everyone invested in this endeavor. It wouldn’t have been anything without all of you and no one knows that better than me.

And one final note: I have some bad habits and one of them is to get what I want. I got more than I expected from the Anti-Strib and yet somehow a bit less, if that is possible. There were mistakes made that were irreversible. You only learn by doing and if you are doing anything worthwhile you will fuck up. (Eberly’s Rule #1). So with that knowledge I have 2 choices. I can take what I have learned and piss it away like a trillion dollars in an Obama budget, or I can put it to some good use.

I don’t have time for this, I really don’t need this and at times I don't even want it, but sometimes things just need to be done. (you artists should at get that part)

So watch this space for the Anti-Strib 2.0. Re-booted, Re-vamped, yet still reviled. I’ll be back, stronger, meaner, tougher and with much more ammo. The left hasn’t won, nor has the jelly spined "moderate right". I just decided to change the game and up-end the existing apple cart.

No fear, no apologies, no explanations, no regrets. No shit!

Fuck - You

2009-05-22T15:50:00.000-05:00

And continued good health and prosperity to the wife and kids.

Last call

2009-05-22T15:45:00.002-05:00

I have enjoyed being a part of the Anti-Strib crew as a longtime commenter before I was a poster. It always seemed to me that when blogs, especially group authored blogs had moderation, standards and so forth they lacked a certain verisimilitude and authenticity. Anti-Strib had those things, and until recently, even in the comments section under the hottest of disagreements. It may be that as in a democracy, that kind of freedom eventually undermines itself.

I remember one post quite awhile ago, where conservative/libertarian commenters were invited to declaim which tenet of their philosophies were negotiable to them. That's the kind of honest conversation that's hard to have today because rather than agreeing to disagree, it's all about who can throw whom off the bus first.

Even the infamous heathen post had a kind of honesty about it, an honest frustration with political correctness that you seldom see even on conservative blogs.

How I came to post on Anti-Strib: I post on a couple of other blogs and one of them is a blog about telenovelas. I suggested to Tracy that I could post a few of the actresses for HCF and Tracy immediately gave me posting privileges. I didn't really think about doing any other kind of posts but I ended up posting a few times on other hot topics, like the heathen post and on a story about a spike in the price of food. I posted when I wanted my post to be read and commented on, which means a lot to any writer.

Finally, I want to thank the Anti-Strib family for supporting me in the last MOB mayoral election. Although our cause did not prevail we gave them a run for their money.

My Curtain Call

2009-05-22T15:45:00.001-05:00

I was totally shocked the day I sent a not to Tracy suggesting a topic for a post, and received back an e-mail that invited me to become a poster on the Anti-Strib. This year plus a few months has been an interesting, and frustrating time. My use of the English language has always been a problem for me through all of my school years, and on into my military carrier then into civilian life. When I stand up to speak before a group I have few problems, but when asked to put my words to paper lookout.

I cannot understand the left on one main thing. We slapped a few bad guys around and dripped water down the nose of three (3) of the worst of the worst to garner information of possible other attacks or how to find their leaders. After 7 years of no further attacks we are now looking at this administration trying to make what was done illegal. Yet they will stand up and scream if any one even thinks to make abortion on demand a thing of the past. Talk about total hypocrisy. It’s ok to kill millions of unborn babies for no reason at all but oh my god don’t even think of roughing up some terrorist scum that just took part in a plan that killed over 3000 of our countrymen.

The President of the United States made a speech yesterday talking about how we all share the same values. Well guess what we do not! I value human life, I value freedom from government control, and I value this country to much to sit back and listen to the radical ideas from the liberal left of how they are going to remake America. During his run for office the then Senator Obama called for a rewriting of the bill of rights. Well guess what he is trying to do that right now with legislation. It is not the job of the President to decide how a company will be run or by whom, but here we go he fires the CEO of GM and forces crystal into bankruptcy.

The Constitution tells us how much, AND how little power the government has in its grasp. Here we sit each day listening to Swamp boy, and Fiddler tell us how we are now irrelevant, and that the constitution means whatever the hell they say it means. Then we throw in Odin with his ideas of 100% confiscation level tax laws. Why? Well according to them our study of the founding documents are all wrong, and we just are confused. Fiddler you will be surprised as to how few judges are with you when you claim that the constitution is only a frame work that can be bent, and warp willy nilly. There is only two legitimate ways to change the constitution. The amendment process and a constitutional congress.
There is nothing written in any of the founding documents that allow a unelected judge (a single person) to totally change how the document is written or to change how its words are interpreted. Words have meaning you know so does punctuation. As you all have vigorously pointed out several times to me.

I am not a loon or a nutty righty. I am an American an independent person with freewill, and the ability to choose how I will live my life. It is not now nor has it ever been the Governments job or responsibility to tell me or decide for me how or where or even why I do something, and I will not sit here when I see the Government leading this country in the wrong direction. I started this post as My Curtain Call just remembers on curtain will fall but another will raise up. When that curtain raises I will be standing there ready to take up the fight again. Goodbye and good luck to my friends and antagonist we shall meet again some where some time we shall meet again.

Tracy Thank you for letting me post under your roof its been fun

Farewell, Friends

2009-05-22T12:31:00.002-05:00

I am terrible with good byes. So, I'm borrowing some of my favorite farewell quotes to help say what I'd like to when words fail me as they sometimes do.

Absence diminishes little passions and increases great ones, as the wind extinguishes candles and fans a fire.
-- Francois Duc de la Rochefoucauld, translated from French

May you always have work for your hands to do.
May your pockets hold always a coin or two.
May the sun shine bright on your windowpane.
May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you.
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.
~Irish Blessing

You and I will meet again,
When we're least expecting it,
One day in some far off place,
I will recognize your face,
I won't say goodbye my friend,
For you and I will meet again.
-- Tom Petty

Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.
-- Dr. Seuss

And my very favorite, written by one of my favorite comedians of all time, that really says it all for me:

I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next.
-- Gilda Radner

And lastly:

I will miss this place. I will miss it because you were here.
-- Marcia

Until We Meet Again

2009-05-22T10:40:00.001-05:00

I hate goodbyes…and ESPECIALLY the famous Minnesota goodbye that starts about 30 minutes before someone actually leaves, which is why I have waited so long to make this post.

A few years ago, 6 or more (?) ago, I got on the internet and though I’d see what the “blogging” thing was all about, and it didn’t take me long before I was hooked. One of the sites that grabbed my attention the most of the Anti-Strib.

In the very beginning I enjoyed the debate that occurred at the AS. I enjoyed seeing the view points of both other conservatives as well as liberals. I enjoyed the mostly respectable discussions…but then a few years ago, that started to change.

There is no one side to blame on this, but now thoughtful discussions have been replaced with name calling. Debates have been replaced with snide remarks, and in short, the blog become more and more disgusting to me over time.

Then, about a year ago, I changed jobs and posting from work became problematic, and commenting wasn’t ease either. So I would go home, read the posts, read the comments, and get ready to insert my .02 worth, but by the time I got into the comments, most of the threads were already so far into the sewer that I simply didn’t want to get involved…which is where I still find myself today.

I am going to miss the Anti-Strib, and I am going to miss most of the people on it, but I am also waking away with a new set of friends that I hope will keep in contact with where ever our life travels take us.

As for where I am going to end up…I don’t know. I don’t have the time or the energy to start a new blog of my own, so perhaps I will troll the net looking for the next conservative blog to latch onto for a while, and maybe in time, ask to be a poster for them.

So, for me, this isn’t a good bye, for me, this is, until we meet again.

Everyone have a safe and fun holiday weekend, and be well.

Hot Chick Friday - random hot chicks

2009-05-22T09:30:00.001-05:00

Random sampling of Hot Chick for this FINAL Hot Chick Friday on the Anti-Strib.

THe end.

HCF:Last Latin American Novela Star: Gaby Espino

2009-05-22T09:08:00.002-05:00

Can't believe I didn't put her up before but I did a search on all my previous Latin American telenovela star posts on HCF and she doesn't come up. This Venezuelan actress has appeared in a telenovela every year since the late 90s. Amazingly, she was never a "Miss Venezuela." She's a been in many commercials (she's one of the Pantene Pro-V girls) and was a calendar girl for the National beer of Venezuela, Polar (currently under threat of being nationalized by Hugo Chavez). Viva las Venezolanas! Viva la Venezuela libre!

Well What To Say...

2009-05-21T23:18:00.002-05:00

I suppose I should get this out before Duce shuts off the lights....

What can I say about this dysfunctional little "family" of whackos? I first discovered this joint about 4 or 4 1/2 years ago and while the posting style back then didn't match mine, I understood the frustrations of the writers and I stuck around. Then at the Tax Cut Rally 3 years ago, I ran into Duce, SharkBait and Sequel (was Brent there that day Duce? I don't remember - getting old stinks!). We chatted for a while and eventually went our separate ways. I still hung out, mostly as a commenter but after a while, I started sending Sequel stories for his "Why Islam Sucks" series. After sending him something like 10-12 stories he simply emailed me back and said "why don't you post it yourself?" and the invite to join the crazy crew came shortly thereafter.

Since then I have come to know most of the contributors (except for those added in the last year and a half while I was in the process of moving) as the passionate and not so politically correct people you see before you today. They are not perfect, but then again no one is. What they - what we all are is very simple. We are a bunch of folks who care passionately about the country and while we don't agree on everything (or much in some cases) we were able to discuss it amongst our selves and when necessary agree to disagree. Yeah Ed had issues with our "why Islam Sucks" series and Kermit and I had issues with his "Why God Sucks" or what ever he called it that day - we all attempted to get along.

I have to admit that over the last year I have not been contributing as much - especially after I got my new job out here in Utah. Work and getting the house settled and remodeling done has left little time for writing at my own blog let alone any of my other "homes" but I still managed to sneak in and lurk from time to time.

While I will greatly miss this place I do understand Duce's reasons for shutting the doors and I respect his decision. To Aunty, Moon, Ed, Harlan and A Non Y Mouse - I truly wish we could have met...especially Ed. I know we didn't agree on much Ed, but you were a rare liberal - one who could intelligently express and defend your position. I can appreciate that! If you all are ever in Utah - look me up and we'll head out for a drink somewhere.

To Duce, Sequel, Margaret and the rest of the reprobates on the crew - mi casa es su casa! If you are ever out this way you will have a cot to sleep on and you are more than welcome.

Oh and Duce - I think it is time to end this beast with one heck of a summer blow out bash! If you do - let me know when and I will lift a toast here in Utah toward the east in honor of the good times we have shared!

C YA!

I Couldn't Come Up With A Title

2009-05-21T19:41:00.000-05:00

I had planned on ripping and shredding the various and many versions of moonbats and other assorted loons that have cluttered the ledges and shit on everything here like so many stupid pigeons but why bother? I know they suck ass and are hardly worthy of the sacrifice of men and women better than they can ever hope to be but my satisfaction is I am convinced they know it too. They understand their ideology is flawed but they have invested in it and few have the courage to admit they are wrong.
I have no idea how we are supposed to reason with these fellow citizens when I firmly believe their policies and ideals will destroy this nation. I cannot in good conscience laugh with them when I know for a fact they would just as soon see me and all who think like me disappear. I won't disappear and I will not go quietly into the night. I will and must fight the creeping pestilence that is liberalism today as surely as I would fight the advance of any entity out to destroy the nation I love.
So libs, give it your best attempt because when the shit hits the fan you will be finished and then perhaps we can throw your shitty ideology on the dung pile of history once and for all.

Duce, Thanks for everything and I publicly apologize for my part in the creation of your attitude and bad feelings. I should've bailed from here long ago.
To all the other posters, Live long and prosper!
Auntie, you are not a loon!

To all the conservatives who may read this, I wish you good luck, good love and a good life.

All you liberals can lick me where I poop!

Damn!

2009-05-21T18:50:00.003-05:00

I just read one of the more interesting (in the strange-interesting sort of way) things I've read in a while. When asked the question of what were you doing and how did you feel on 9-11, the response was, (and I'm paraphrasing) 'when I got home the T.V was on and my brother and a friend were on the couch glued to the footage. I was glad to have the company...' Damn! Talk about sorrow in ones existence....

Be Prepared!

2009-05-21T14:48:00.003-05:00

Odin and the rest who insisted on calling us Zombies: I bet you become pro-Gun when the shit hits the fan!!!

Before and After

2009-05-21T14:36:00.003-05:00

What Anti-Strib has done to the most innocent of us all...

Before

After

FANG: BAD ASS PUPPY TRASH!!!
model supplied by Il Duce;
tongue graciously supplied by Gene Simmons (without permission);
sick, twisted mind supplied by auntypsychotic

My lastest Antistribber Post with UPDATE!!!

2009-05-21T14:09:00.003-05:00

I are has been told I gots poor communication skills, so I's jest gonna say adios, folks. Like I says afore, three years past it were fun. Nowadays, not so much.
Best wishes to all.
And yes, my real name are Kermit.

OK, So in the comments Duce has prodded me into making a real statement, so here it is, my Anti-Strib valedictory.

The most prevalent type of warfare man has prosecuted throughout history has been ideological warfare. Which King is predominant, which religion is "true", which political philosophy is most effective (or beneficial). The common theme in all of this drama, suffering and conquest has been belief. Conviction. Even, dare I say it, faith.

What has been waged on this space for many, many years is ideological warfare. Faith is a strange thing. Conservatives generally embrace it. Liberals deny usually deny it, but cling to it nonetheless. Ideology is the underpinning of what we see ourselves as being. It is the unspoken essence of what we speak, both in public and to ourselves.

Some of us take ourselves very seriously, and in so doing often fail at the most critical requirement of communication: understanding. Strike that. MOST of us are guilty of this inadequacy.

There are always casualties in war. In the current version of ideological war in America, this blog has fallen. War often seems futile, and many times it is. But ideology is never futile. It is an essential component of the thinking person. It is the definition of all that is learned, all that is hoped for. And it is worth fighting for.

I will try to carry on the conversation (albeit in a much more well-mannered tone) at www.ideologicalwar.blogspot.com after this site goes down. This will be my first post there. Thank you all for everything you've given. It's been an honor and a privilege to post here.

The Admirals Farewell

2009-05-21T12:06:00.001-05:00

We've had last call, now it's time to clear out so Duce can turn the lights out and lock up. Anti-Strib is closing. A lot of good memories here, but we're at the point where its time to go our own way. There's nothing left to do.

It's sad. Kind of like reading the final words in the last chapter of a good book. Some of us are still writing our own books, and others may start. As with all books, eventually, there's a final chapter.

I'll miss Anti-Strib. I've been a contributer here for 3 years and consider it an honor and a privilege. Thank you for having me, Duce.

This short, 32 second video says all that needs to be said. Take care.

Hot Chick Thursday - celebrating the HOT CHICK FRIDAY classics

2009-05-21T10:21:00.001-05:00

It was November 6, 2005. Late Fall in Minnesota. We needed something to keep us warm. Our wishes came true when two Carolina Panther cheerleaders decided it wasn't enough to just get drunk in a Tampa Bay bar, but that they should take up a rowdy sex session in a bathroom stall in said bar. And then get into a brawl with a joyless woman that didn't like the fact that they were loving it up in that stall. Two more posts regarding these feisty, lady loving cheerleaders were put up that week and the beast was born. Many backroom discussions and emails floated around and we decided that we need some hot chicks to spice up the blog. And boy, let me tell you...a spicing they did.

Five days later, it was this post that changed the Anti-strib forever. The FSU cowgirls put us on the map as THE premier site that mixed politics, pop culture, entertainment, comedy, islam sucking, and hot chicks. Since then, we've put up hundreds of Hot Chick Friday posts...some stellar posts and some in dire need of sammiches. Sure, we've tweeked the format here and there, put up rules, and some have taken to telling the hot chicks' stories in each post. It even spawned copycats...We had one person that created "Hot Male Mondays" in response to HCF.

But the Anti-strib wasn't done. We really kicked it into high gear with this post. For nearly two years, we garnered more hits on this post than any other in our history. And for good reason - Kari Byron is goddamn hot. Geeky hot. And that's a good thing. We experienced a major surge in traffic as a result of Ms. Byron, so for that, and her hotness, she was dubbed the very first Anti-Strib Hottest Hot Chick award winner.

In the end, HOT CHICK FRIDAY became a staple in the local blogosphere. And I'm damn proud to have been a part of it. We've had detractors that hated it-they pissed and moaned about our oggling women, hell we even had some folks internally that incessantly whined to the HDIC (Head Douche in Charge) about the posts. So to those that didn't like HCF - bite me. Hot chicks kick ass, and if you don't like hot chicks, you're not right in the head. To those that did like it and religiously supported it, THANK YOU. It was all for you guys and gals that kept coming back for it.

Repost: BOOBIES!!!!!!

2009-05-21T00:11:00.002-05:00

I had to post this one again, just to go with the perky pair of hooters.

In Parting, a couple of small thoughts...

2009-05-21T00:01:00.003-05:00

I knew this was coming, the cold wind of change hung onto the backside of the warm spring breezes and the smell of both thawed decay and rebirth hung in the traces of humidity. We packed the car - just the last essential sundries – under the cyclical illumination and hum of the alley light, best time to get going is when there’s few others on the road; 2:45 a.m. no ifs, ands, or buts. Meanwhile, bath robed armchair pontificants type out their vision of the human experience. This is the root of the problem that I have with the entire blogging experience – experience and anecdotes are predominantly minimized – blogs and the technical age are the death of oral tradition, the passage of experiential wisdoms, the death of relaying ones tales of tragedy and heartbreak to the future in the vain hope that an effective cautionary tale may prevent the pains of the past from recurring.
I’ve not been a regular contributor in post form; so-fucking-what. Y’all don’t want to hear it, y’all don’t care, and y’all are experiential vultures. I COULD have told the tale of spending 24 hours with two truckers from Ghana and their take on colonialism, not to mention the ramifications on national unity in a nation of 52 dialects and how that is the surest way of maintaining division between neighbors – but fuck it, the only response is rote recitation of textbook evil in colonialism. . I could have related the tales of how welfare fraud is a very efficient machine – common, effortless and in many ways and industry in and of itself. Why? Y’all have your notions and selective pride in ignorance that you feel the need to defend to your dying breath. I COULD have brought up the idea that every and all Liberalistic policy decisions are a direct effort to kill and/or control the release valves of the ‘little man’ that they supposedly defend…but why? Your learned theories trump any and all of my experiences; I must be sheltered from myself if I’m to travel the true road of enlightenment. Sound ridiculous? Yah, well so are your opinions of my experiences.

I would wish upon all that you go out and experience as opposed to castigating the experience of others, but why? Y’all seem to dig the comfort of observing instead of experiencing – and I am deeply saddened for you. I’m just a titch empathic that way. I’m as saddened for those who have chosen to stop experiencing – though I do have great respect and understanding for you and why you’ve chosen to stop. Sometimes the gore and sadness is a bit too much to bear and the greatest desire for the afterlife is pure silence – you’ve earned it. To the detractors of experience however, I have nothing but the purest form of refined contempt for you. Pissants. Pussies. Pud munching sycophantic tools are you.
Who am I to say these things? I am no one, no-body, and everyman that has a great deal of simmering contempt for ‘theorists’. And I'm drunk. I have been; I have performed a number of roles, I have held a number of positions, am a screaming substance abuser, a medicant extraordinaire if you will; a point of true humor for me, those who choose to mock a diverse and dysfunctional background in the name of a better and truer understanding of salvation from the dark and degenerate - a man who has done EVERYTHING WRONGLY, and still managed to pull off a comfortable average Midwestern lifestyle with fantastic perks..."I" need to be lectured by "You"',really?

I just need to be shown the road to personal salvation…Y’all really crack me clean the fuck up. Pull your head out of the hypothetical ass and start allowing danger to determine your fate and decisions. Danger, failure and looking like a fool are NOT things to be avoided or protected from – these circumstances present themselves to be embraced, not avoided…I mock you for not having the balls to willingly and ably drag your own dicks through the dirt to test your abilities. Maybe you have not because of your comfort level in simulacra- it’s not for me to come to grips with, it’s ALL YOU BABY!
This experience has been candy. I come away from this with a palm-full of good relationships – therefore beyond value – and a few tertiary relationships that I’m damned comfortable with and wouldn’t mind taking further - the rest can go fuck yourselves. Kiss my ass, good-bye and feel free to stay in your dark, dank corner where you have rooted and thrive, away from the productive in this experience the rest of us have the balls to partake in and label as ‘human’.

A Perky Little Pair of Hooters

2009-05-20T14:26:00.003-05:00

Don't you just want to play with 'em?

Weeding out the stupid

2009-05-20T12:49:00.002-05:00

Cyclist crushed near downtown Minneapolis

A bicyclist was killed early this morning near downtown Minneapolis when a truck driver turned into the cycling lane on Park Avenue, crushing the rider.

Police were questioning the driver about the accident, which occurred about 7:40 a.m. at the intersection of Park and E. 14th Street. They also blocked off the street as they tried to reconstruct the accident.

Hot Chick Wednesday - Sofia Milos

2009-05-20T09:33:00.026-05:00

As promised, another Italian hottie. Well, technically Italian/Greek. And boy does it show. Sofia Milos might be recognizable to you, as she's done a great deal of TV and film work, showing up on such shows as CSI-Miami (for the last 6 seasons) and The Border. But I remember her most for her work on The Sopranos in season 2 as Annalisa Zucca, Tony's "friend from the other side". He meets this gorgeous woman when he travels to Italy to work on a deal to move stolen vehicles. Enjoy...

The Final Early Bird HCF: Malin Ackerman (Special Edition)

2009-05-20T05:25:00.008-05:00

I thought I was going to do this on Friday, turns out not to be the case. I'll be out of town over the Memorial Day Weekend so I figured I'd give it to you a couple of days early.

I'm leaving town early afternoon tomorrow, so my final post will be up around noon or so... tomorrow.

Malin Maria Akerman (born May 12, 1978) is a Swedish-Canadian actress and model.

At the age of seventeen, Akerman won the Ford Supermodel of Canada search. She appeared in several television commercials, including one for Noxzema skin care. After a career in modeling she turned to acting and moved to California. She has had roles in several films including The Utopian Society (2003) with Sam Doumit and Austin Nichols and Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004) as Freakshow's hot wife. She has made several TV guest appearances and in 2005 got the role as Juna in the HBO series The Comeback. She has also appeared on The Showbiz Show with David Spade as a correspondent and in the third season of HBO series Entourage in the role of "Tori".

Akerman starred in the 2007 Farrelly Brothers movie The Heartbreak Kid and in the 2008 film 27 Dresses. She played Silk Spectre II in the 2009 film adaptation of Watchmen. By mid-October, 2008, Akerman has signed on to co-star in Couples Retreat, a comedy chronicling four couples who partake in therapy sessions at a tropical island resort. Vince Vaughn will play her husband.

Technology

2009-05-19T23:26:00.000-05:00

I just closed a six figure deal by text message.

Early Bird Luke-Warm Chick Wednesday

2009-05-19T22:12:00.010-05:00

(Alt. Title: Not Bad for an Old Chick- No Sammich Needed)

(Sisters? Nope!)

Shameless, I know.. but I couldn't resist!
My Blog: stilllifewithcheese.blogspot.com

*photos #2 and #4, copyright© 2009 by R.R.L., used by permission*

Public Service Announcement

2009-05-19T21:57:00.002-05:00

Attention all Anti-Strib readers: The pleasant weather and jovial holiday this weekend may prompt consumption of adult beverages. We also ask that you have a good time, keep it down, leave us alone, and don't drink and drive.

Heed this Example:
Beginning- Happy & sober Frog complete with man-purse:

Middle: Add cheap scotch of choice

End-

Sequel Goes Camping

2009-05-19T21:29:00.002-05:00

....and finds a stump!

Just a little payback for all thost "Brent...bike" posts!

;)

(This is from last year's camping trip...I'll see what I can get on him THIS year!)

Please tell us

2009-05-19T21:07:00.002-05:00

It was nearly midnight at the Capitol late Saturday night when Rep. Ann Lenczewski, DFL-Bloomington, laid out with notable clarity the case for including a tax increase on upper-income Minnesotans in this year's budget solution. Here's some of what she said to the Legislative Commission on Planning and Fiscal Policy:

"This idea that tax increases are so evil, and cuts are not – I reject that. Cuts hurt people very personally, very seriously, very deeply, and actually very, very unfairly. That’s what’s so bad about cuts.

Please tell us if you are effected by Pawlentys cuts. I predict that not one working, taxpaying Minnesotan will be directly effected by these cuts. We may be indirectly effected as the over spending cities and counties might raise taxes rather than to the right thing and cut non-essential welfare programs like gree roofs and green buses.

These cuts will only effect the lazy loosers and those that make their living coddling them.

So What's Next?

2009-05-19T19:32:00.002-05:00

Believe it or not, there is life after Anti-Strib. I've been mulling over the options, and I'm starting to see a next generation. One that is not centrailized, but rather linked by a sense of community.

Anyone can make a blog. Blogger is free and easy to use. Best of all, you own the site. You can all be little douches in your space. The MOB, of which this soon to expire site is a member is a seminal example of this, and boasts many fine bloggers.

SO I put it to you people. Any and all can play, there is no compulsion, and the rules are what we say they are. Hell, we can ban Onan and filter 5Al and still have meaningful converstaions.

It doesn't have to end, people. It just has to change.

My new startup is www.ideologicalwar.blogspot.com. There's not much there, but it's a start.

Another Farewell Intro

2009-05-19T14:34:00.005-05:00

I like Jim W.'s post, so I'll follow suit.
My Name is Marcia. Yeah, I get the Brady Bunch references ALL THE TIME, but I allow everyone ONE shot at saying it before I get irritated.
Most know of my room mate, auntypsychotic, aka Beci to me and a few others. I'm her best friend, significant other, and service human as much as anything else.
My fiancé is Chris. He's kind of messed up too, but I've loved him since I was 14. What can I say?
I have 4 gorgeous children, ages 26, 22, 14 and 11. The older two are doing well on their own, and the younger two live with their father. He had the money and house after the divorce. I lost everything then, and spent a few months literally homeless until meeting Beci. We saved eachother, no doubt about it.
I write, I read, I like old Sci-fi, classic and bad B-movies, classical, punk, blues and metal music, have 4 tattoos and a couple of piercings, besides my ears.
I work at a finance company here in St.Cloud. It's a paycheck, but not what I really want to do.
My extended family is very close, as families go, and I've discovered over the years that my family wasn't NEAR as messed up as what I've come to believe is the norm. In fact, I've discovered that I'm profoundly lucky.
I've had 6 major back surgeries that have left me with permanent damage to my left leg and moderate to severe chronic pain, and I walk with a limp, but happy to be walking at all.
I'm Leading Knight in my local Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks lodge, and next year will be the first woman to hold the position of Exaulted Ruler here, as well. I'm quite proud of the work we do for Vets and kids. Check out the state or national websites sometime, to see who we are and what we do.
I've got a very twisted ironic sense of humor, and try to see the comedy in everything in life nowadays. It's just too damned short to take too seriously after having come so close to letting the dark engulf me.
I don't fit neatly into any category, whether you are talking politics, music, intellectual pursuits, choices of friends, or pretty much anything at all. I not only dance to a different beat- I let the bandleader in my soul have free reign. As Jubal Harshaw said in Stranger in a Strange Land, "My life is an open book..... that should be suppressed!" Robert Heinlein.
I'm pretty intelligent, and kinda sexy. I have great hair, and look pretty good for my age. And as Billy Crystal used to say- "It is better to look good than to feel good, daaaaahhhling".
I've enjoyed every minute I've spent here, and will miss writing for the blog. I'll have to put my energies towards other writing projects, and that's probably a good thing.
Thank you Mouse and Il Ducé for the opportunity to write here, and get to know so many wonderful people. I hope some of you will continue to correspond with me.
I have to get back to work- lunch is over.

A Fond Farewell to the Congenitally Irreverent Plate Throwers

2009-05-19T13:46:00.002-05:00

I guess you can say this has been a long time coming. I’ve been a part of this group of douchebags for 4+ years, and have enjoyed a great deal of it. The friendships I take away from this experience are what I hold on to the most. But, before I get to the "goodbyes", let me take care of a long overdue hello…I never did post this, so I think I’ll take my parting shot by giving an introduction.

I am Jim W. I am a socially moderate, fiscally conservative, patriotic dude. I lean more libertarian than anything. It has always made me laugh posting here when folks, with broad brush in tow, say things like “you guys” because I just don’t fall into the category. I have stated this on numerous occasions – I believe that while you may differ ideologically with the person in the office, reasonable people can still support the office of the President and show respect to the person in the office. With regard to the highest office in this land, some of the things I’ve seen here disgust me – however, the tipping point for me was the “Anti-Christ” discussion a few weeks ago. Repugnant and just plain stupid.

I was going to cover my political views on a few points, but if you don’t know where I stand on Abortion, spending, etc., you haven’t paid attention. Most important to me is my family, followed by friends, having fun and getting a good laugh out of life. I believe in working hard and playing harder. I’m a huge movie and music fan. I am not religious - I came to that conclusion after many years of thought and through sound reasoning… I don’t begrudge anyone else for being religious – do what you want and what makes you feel comfortable. Ultimately, I believe each person has within themselves the ability to know right from wrong – we all start as blank slates, and it’s what we learn and experience that helps form our ability. But the EASE of doing wrong is what is most appealing. It’s hard to be responsible and do right. I’d like to think that I’m basically a good person, but like many am flawed and don’t always do the right thing. I don’t need a higher being to tell me any of that. Nor do I need that being to absolve me of my wrongdoings. The point is, we never truly fill up our blank slates, we only continue filling in through learning and experience.

Over the years, Anti-strib helped me to fill in some of that slate. I'd like to think I’ve learned many things about this blogging thing. I’ll never suggest that I was always the best or most productive Blogger. I called plenty of names, did some shitty posts, and goofed up more than a couple times. But I also had a great deal of fun, made some friends that I wouldn’t have otherwise, and shared some laughs that will go down as classics. I look back fondly at many of those times where we sat around laughing…many times, it was at my expense (the BMW retelling the “hat” incident is just one of those).

Sadly, the same cannot be said for the blog itself over the past year. My exit from this blog really started two years ago when my life got much busier, but the past year has brought me to the point where it’s just not worth the time. It’s no longer a fun diversion. Hell, it’s no longer fun at all. Every single thread turns into the same tiresome bullshit. And I realize that, as one of the original plate throwers, it’s strange for me to say that. We’ve all done it, we’re all guilty of it, but after 4+ years of this and trying to gain some civility over that time, it’s a pointless endeavor. I’ve often heard it said that the life of a Blogger averages at 6 months. I’ve lasted longer than the average, and now it’s time to move on....but who knows what the future brings.

I want to thank Il Duce for bringing me aboard. Each of you that I've had the opportunity to meet, thank you for your support and for reading over the years. And to those, past and present, that engaged in debate with me, thank you for the opportunity. In the end, I’m quite proud of some of the things we’ve done here. I’ve accomplished some pretty cool things – Exposing Chris Stewart, creating HCF, my many movie posts, and we’ve had some great debates on many an issue.

After I post my final HCF on Thursday, I bid adieu to my fellow “Congenitally Irreverent Plate Throwers (h/t to Mitch Berg for coming up with that one). Some of you I’ll stay in contact with and share laughs, so this isn’t a goodbye, just a “catch you later”.

To close, I’ll do what I’ve done in many a post – I’ll reference a movie. This quote comes from the movie Tombstone, where there was an exchange between Wyatt Earp and Curly Bill Brocius. Playing the part of the Anti-strib is Wyatt, and playing the part of the loyal opposition (and carrying the very same contempt in their response as he did in the movie) is Curly Bill.

Wyatt – I want you to know it’s over.

Curly Bill – Well...Bye.

Woman With Big Jugs

2009-05-19T11:08:00.001-05:00

Do you think they're real?

Hot Chick Tuesday - Olivia Wilde

2009-05-19T08:47:00.010-05:00

Today's choice is now referred to as the "Hottest Woman in the World" by the perverts at Maxim Magazine. She is a mighty fine woman, and she's Irish, so she's gotta be hot. She burst on our TV screens as the lesbian lover of Mischa Barton on the O.C. She can currently be seen on "House". Enjoy Olivia Wilde...

Brent Goes Biking

2009-05-18T22:00:00.001-05:00

IM NOT DONE YET

2009-05-18T19:53:00.002-05:00

As one of the last posters to be invited to Anti-Strib the only other with a shorter time here is the Moon lady herself. This has proved to be a rather interesting time here at the Anti-Strib. As a service connected disabled vet watching the left drooling over the idea of having universal health care. fools you were and fools you shall remain. Enough said on that. I have this post that I have been looking at for a few days, and had one more piece add to it so would some one care to tell me how the current administration has the safety of this nation at heart.

1. The President of the United States of America goes on an apology tour. that is so wrong no President should ever apologize for the United States.

2. Releasing secret documents that tell our enemy's how far we will go interrogating captives for information. Really good job there just totally give away the information so they can train to hold out longer.

3. Cutting the military budget in the middle of a war. enough said there

4. One more log on the fire.

Biden Reveals Location of Secret VP Bunker
Vice President Joe Biden, well-known for his verbal gaffes, may have finally outdone himself, divulging potentially classified information meant to save the life of a sitting vice president.

According to a report, while recently attending the Gridiron Club dinner in Washington, an annual event where powerful politicians and media elite get a chance to cozy up to one another, Biden told his dinner mates about the existence of a secret bunker under the old U.S. Naval Observatory, which is now the home of the vice president.
>link is in the title<

This is the administration of President amateur and bobo the clown staring as the Vice President. Next trick on there plate will be to leave the guy with the football behind like and Ex President did several times. gee wheres the military guy?

The white house is working on renaming every thing evolving the war on terror and trying its hardest to sweep it under the rug. I fear for this nation because when the next attack comes, and it will come. This administration will not know what to do.

What is the next national secret that will be reviled to the world? Any one got a guess out there?

"Tell Duce Your Own Damn Selves" Open Thread

2009-05-18T19:31:00.003-05:00

I've told Duce what I think about the AS closing shop via e-mail and since I think a few of you folks might want the opportunity to do the same. Here ya go.
I suggested he go back to the core group, tighten the commenting rules and allow the blog to continue. I think there are people out there who like this place and there are posters who actually care enough to do the research, write the post and put up with the bullshit from the lefties. No, I donot include myself in that group. I was fried on the blogosphere and the at least 6 yrs of BDS from the leftists, the media distortions, the trolls and the sheer bloody ignorance of the average liberal. I'm tired of it! I'm tired of THEM! I have been for a long while. Btw, most of the trolls back some years ago at least had a touch of class, unlike the rodents running the halls around here.
Anyway, speak up if you've a mind too.

Having Enemies Is A Good Thing

2009-05-18T16:03:00.003-05:00

This whole, maudlin shut-down has me thinking about many things. Priorities. Values. Principles. I've come to understand that there are people out there who hate my guts and wish I were dead. Kinda like Wanda Sykes wishes Rush Limbaugh would have kidney failure. This knowledge validates something I've always suspected. If everyone loves you, you are a puppy. A cute little golden lab puppy with big brown eyes, floppy ears and no brain.

The posts I have put up here over three odd years have fallen into three rough categories.
Comment on topical issues.
Serious questions soliciting comment and discussion.
Extreme assault on liberal ideology and (snicker) "thought".
And the occasional post on a douchebag commenter that was particularly obnoxious.

Throughout this whole endeavor the objective was dialog. Sadly, lack of dialog seems to have killed this forum. So be it.

I have no intention of playing the part of a lovable little puppy. I have priorities, values and principles. I have never been shy about giving them voice, and I don't intend to stop. A door closes, a window opens.

I take every insult thrown at me as a badge of honor. After all this time I have accumulated quite a few badges. The most offensive of those badges was the accusation that I was "irrelevant". Interestingly, the person throwing that particular barb continued commenting, regardless of my "irrelevancy". Over and over again.

When one acquires enemies not through injury or accident, but rather on account of thoughts and words it is a validation. And something to be savored.

Hot Chick Monday? Maria Grazia Cucinotta

2009-05-18T15:22:00.013-05:00

The countdown has begun. I've had a few HCF's saved up, so here we go. First up for this week will be Maria Grazia Cucinotta. Maria is an Italian actress that has starred in a number of films and shows, most notably for me were Il Postino, a Bond girl in The World is not Enough. But the one that stands out above all was her role as Isabella in an episode of The Sopranos (titled Isabella). This woman looks so good it hurts.

High Tax States Lose

2009-05-18T13:53:00.002-05:00

With states facing nearly $100 billion in combined budget deficits this year, we're seeing more governors than ever proposing the Barack Obama solution to balancing the budget: Soak the rich. Lawmakers in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and Oregon want to raise income tax rates on the top 1% or 2% or 5% of their citizens. New Illinois Gov. Patrick Quinn wants a 50% increase in the income tax rate on the wealthy because this is the "fair" way to close his state's gaping deficit.

Here's the problem for states that want to pry more money out of the wallets of rich people. It never works because people, investment capital and businesses are mobile: They can leave tax-unfriendly states and move to tax-friendly states.

And the evidence that we discovered in our new study for the American Legislative Exchange Council, "Rich States, Poor States," published in March, shows that Americans are more sensitive to high taxes than ever before. The tax differential between low-tax and high-tax states is widening, meaning that a relocation from high-tax California or Ohio, to no-income tax Texas or Tennessee, is all the more financially profitable both in terms of lower tax bills and more job opportunities.

Updating some research from Richard Vedder of Ohio University, we found that from 1998 to 2007, more than 1,100 people every day including Sundays and holidays moved from the nine highest income-tax states such as California, New Jersey, New York and Ohio and relocated mostly to the nine tax-haven states with no income tax, including Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire and Texas. We also found that over these same years the no-income tax states created 89% more jobs and had 32% faster personal income growth than their high-tax counterparts.

Examining data from a 2008 Princeton study on the New Jersey tax hike on the wealthy, we found that there were 4,000 missing half-millionaires in New Jersey after that tax took effect. New Jersey now has one of the largest budget deficits in the nation.

Those who disapprove of tax competition complain that lower state taxes only create a zero-sum competition where states "race to the bottom" and cut services to the poor as taxes fall to zero. They say that tax cutting inevitably means lower quality schools and police protection as lower tax rates mean starvation of public services.

They're wrong, and New Hampshire is our favorite illustration. The Live Free or Die State has no income or sales tax, yet it has high-quality schools and excellent public services. Students in New Hampshire public schools achieve the fourth-highest test scores in the nation -- even though the state spends about $1,000 a year less per resident on state and local government than the average state and, incredibly, $5,000 less per person than New York. And on the other side of the ledger, California in 2007 had the highest-paid classroom teachers in the nation, and yet the Golden State had the second-lowest test scores.

One last point: States aren't simply competing with each other. As Texas Gov. Rick Perry recently told us, "Our state is competing with Germany, France, Japan and China for business. We'd better have a pro-growth tax system or those American jobs will be out-sourced." Gov. Perry and Texas have the jobs and prosperity model exactly right. Texas created more new jobs in 2008 than all other 49 states combined. And Texas is the only state other than Georgia and North Dakota that is cutting taxes this year.

When we move the Austin, TX we will have better weather, more job opportunities and a lower cost of living. Can anyone explain how MN plans to compete with this?

A thought

2009-05-18T13:30:00.000-05:00

It does kind of seem like we're all waiting for the end to finally come. I noticed that today in that it took 10 hours and 18 minutes for the first post. And I've been noticing that for some time now.

I can't say anything about Anti-Stribs fate. It's not my place at this point in time, although the hints aren't exactly what you'd call subtle, and I'm sure everyone knows 2 plus 2 equals 4.

This is a time to reflect and learn, speaking for myself. In my other endeavor, it's time to change course and use a different tactic, I'm tired of the attacks as well. And guilty of attacking. That needs to change. Ed is right. The debates need to be more friendly, less combative. That's the main thing I'm taking to heart, in every aspect of my life. More later, chow for now.

Why did some of you keep coming back?

2009-05-18T12:58:00.002-05:00

The blog, like every other technology, can be great or garbage. I have enjoyed sparing with some liberals like Ed, Shabadoo, Smithers and a few others I have forgotten. I have also enjoyed the contributions of many non-liberals like Nobody, Tom C., Sanders and Elmer to name just a tiny few. There was a small group of people that really enjoyed discussing the issues.

Then we have the trolls. The 5 Al gang was by far the worst. They added very little and had numerous people post under the same names; Happily Leaning Left, Fiddler, etc. They actively worked to make rational discussion impossible. I will probably never understand their motivations.

We also had Odin, Harold and a few others that rarely added anything other than vitriol. We also have K-Rod and Maxx that did much of the same. I admit that Kermit, myself and few other posters have lost it at times, but we at least tried to keep it interesting.

I asked those that thought that the writers of this blog why they came here day after day after day? If we are so stupid and so wrong why invest so much time?

I came to the conclusion a while back that while some are incapable of debate, others just like to destroy things. Defending your position tales work, insults are easy. Why follow the theme of a thread when you can just throw bombs to side-track the discussion?

Most blogs would have censored or editted many people here a long time ago. I tried to err on the side of free speach and what I ended up with was a cesspool of bickering and insults. This has led me to believe that some level of editting is required to keep anything worthwhile. I know that if I started to edit here, the cry of censorship would go up. I also know I don't have the time or inclination to edit each and every comment.

The writers of this blog work for free. Thus they get a lot of leeway that a piad writer wouldn't have. I handled a few incidents off-line and attempted to keep this in the ballpark of what I wanted. In the end, the commenters created a site that wasn't worth reading.

All of us have invested a lot of time and effort into this site and I'll be sad to see it go. Yet I have no way of fixing it that makes sense for me at this point in my life.

So for those of you that choose to only destroy, you win. Destruction is always easier than creation. Your victory is hollow.

Sick and Tired

2009-05-18T10:18:00.004-05:00

Messages have been floating around that the Anti-Strib is on it’s last leg. It’s said that the responsible parties are sick and tired of the low and sinking level of debate we’ve seen here. I know how they feel. Most comment threads descend into name calling faster than LaBron James can drive to the hoop.

Let me tell you, responsible parties, that you deserve this. You brought it on yourselves. Years ago, when I started commenting here, it was pretty much the same, except the abuse flowed mostly one way. I got name called up and down, every time I commented. Duce, Jim W. Sequel and Kermit, at first you guys insulted me every which way. Later, Sequel and then Kermit became more friendly to me, and Brent was always civil.

Anyone who is interested in civil debate should engage in it.

The shit throwing contests that have become standard currency around here are not worth maintaining.

I’d like to see a kinder friendlier Anti-Strib, but if that can’t be, then good luck to everyone.

This Is My Opening Farewell

2009-05-17T16:53:00.002-05:00

There was a time.

There was a time when this was fun. I got to meet some awesome people, some very impressive people whom I could relate to and converse with. We shared a lot of opinions, and disagreed about a lot of ideas. But we had fun.

We had fun thumbing our noses at the Powers That Be. We had fun remarking on the insanity all around us. We had fun smoking cigars on Keegans back patio before the Nazis shut that down. We had fun.

Even the Moonbats were fun. They were just so darned pitiful in their collective, helpless rage.

There was a time.

Tracy, Jim, Sequel, Brent and me. We were the core of an irreverent, nose-thumbing crew of observers. People would come and bring their challenges, their arguments, their agendas. Damn, that was fun. Brent once told me that I could tell someone they were an idiot, and it took a while before anyone knew that's what I had said. Good times.

There was a time. There was always a time. But times change. You roll with the changes or you get rolled over by them. And there is nothing in this world more certain than change.

More later.

The End is Near

2009-05-17T16:09:00.000-05:00

Decisions, Decisions

2009-05-17T11:13:00.003-05:00

If you recall, I quit smoking a month ago. I decided back then if I could make it for a month I would reward myself with something I really wanted. That time has arrived and I'll bet you would be surprised if I said the reward would be a new carry pistola. I know, my wife was shocked too.

I've looked at wheel guns and semi-autos and in fact not too long ago decided on a Taurus 651 in .357 mag. I couldn't find because Taurus has not been producing this fine little pistol lately and instead seems to be concentrating on their new Judge pistol according to the factory rep I talked to. The Judge is a wicked little revolver chambered in .410 shotgun and .45LC. That is a goblin killer for sure but too big for me to carry concealed. It is pretty cool as you can see for yourself.
http://www.taurususa.com/products/product-details.cfm?id=599&category=Revolver

I've been looking at other pistols and have found a Sig 239 in .357sig and a fairly rare H&K USP Compact, also in .357 sig. I like the Sig quite a bit and I already own one so I know it is a quality product. The H&K caught me by surprise. It is a beautiful pistol and fits my hand like it was made for it. Decisions, decisions.

Here's the Sig:
http://www.sigsauer.com/Products/ShowCatalogProductDetails.aspx?categoryid=9&productid=71

Here's the H&K:
http://www.hkpro.com/uspc.htm

Before anyone cries foul and declares me to be an unpatriotic bastard for not mentioning a look see at US pistols let me say I am open to suggestions. I have yet to see Ruger or S&W match the quality and feel of Sig or H&K but I haven't looked at every damn gun out there. If you have something to say spit it out.

There is a reason I am looking at .357 sig. I like the round, my other Sig is that caliber and I have a few in stock. It means one less kind of round to have in the locker. That isn't etched in stone either so your thoughts on that would be much appreciated as well.

Thanks up front for your time and consideration.

Just A Reminder

2009-05-16T15:58:00.003-05:00

A picture is worth a thousand words.

How to stop Socialism

2009-05-16T08:07:00.002-05:00

It's pretty clear to most that we are moving in to Socialism. There are some that still refuse to look at that truth, and I'd be curious as to what their definition of Socialism is, it's obviously not the real definition.

The examples are all around us. The auto industry, the banking industry, the mortgage industry, the health care industry, the insurance industry, the energy industry. That's just the short list.

A most disturbing trend, is the push for Universal Health care, Single Payer, whatever terminology you choose to sugar coat it with, it is still Socialized Medicine, a terrible failure everywhere it has ever been implemented, yet, the current government is embracing it. The definition of insanity is repeating the same actions while expecting different results. A hallmark of the current government.

The present day "estimate" is it will cost 1 trillion dollars (as with any government estimate, it is low, the actual cost will be closer to 2 trillion). We've got a 1.8 trillion dollar deficit, our national debt stands at 11.2 trillion dollars, we don't have any money, we're broke, yet some still feel the need to spend even more.

Ronald Reagan had a very true quote back in 1961 regarding the very subject of Socialized Medicine, "Back in 1927, an American socialist, Norman Thomas, six times candidate for President on the Socialist Party ticket, said that the American people would never vote for socialism but he said under the name of liberalism the American people would adopt every fragment of the socialist program". Unfortunately for the country, it's true.

So how do we stop building this bridge to nowhere? The answer lies in the 10th Amendment which states, The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. In a nutshell, the Federal Governments power and authority stop at the 9th Amendment. It's called limited government.

In the past few months 30 States have declared their sovereignty from the Federal Government. And more are considering it. The governor of one State mentioned (not seriously) succession. Can anybody remember this happening in their lifetime? Maybe it's time to turn around and see if you really do have a tail. For those of you that don't get that last sentence, there's an old saying that goes something like this. "If someone says you have a tail, you can ignore him. If someone else tells you that you have a tail, you may or may not ignore her. But when 30 people tell you that you have a tail, you may want to take a look and see if you really have a tail".

Montana now has lawsuit which may be headed all the way to the Supreme Court, and it could overturn the 1942 decision of Wikard v. Filburn, the catalyst for the Federal Government to violate the Constitution. Let's hope Montana succeeds.

So what can we do at the local level? Glad you asked! ThePatrickHenryCaucus.com

I strongly encourage our legislators and local officials to sign up and get involved in protecting the States rights, and the rights of her people. I encourage regular citizens to sign up and get involved as well. We need to stand together and push the Federal Government back in to the constraints of the Constitution. If you believe in the Constitution, you need to check out ThePatrickHenryCaucus.com

It's not a partisan deal, it's for all Americans, Republican, Democrat or Independent. Those of us that feel the country, and the Constitution come first.

Insane, Stupid or Just Apathetic?

2009-05-15T15:47:00.002-05:00

President Barack Obama, calling current deficit spending “unsustainable,” warned of skyrocketing interest rates for consumers if the U.S. continues to finance government by borrowing from other countries.

“We can’t keep on just borrowing from China,” Obama said at a town-hall meeting in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, outside Albuquerque. “We have to pay interest on that debt, and that means we are mortgaging our children’s future with more and more debt.”

Holders of U.S. debt will eventually “get tired” of buying it, causing interest rates on everything from auto loans to home mortgages to increase, Obama said. “It will have a dampening effect on our economy.”

NO FUCKING SHIT OBAMA???!!?? If you honestly believe this how do explain your spending and you budget that projects trillion dollar deficits every year for the next 12 years? (Actually as far out as anyone cares to predict)

This guy is unbelievable. He says whatever the fuck he wants the the prss gives him a pass. His actions don't match his words. His campaign rhetoric was a delusional lie. In short the guy is completely and totally unreliable.

Yet the press lets it all pass because they love Obama.

Barak Obama's Role Model

2009-05-15T15:41:00.002-05:00

President Hugo Chavez's government seized temporary control of a Venezuelan pasta-processing plant owned by U.S. food giant Cargill Inc. on Friday, arguing the company broke regulations on food items subject to price controls.

The government claims the controls are needed to stem Latin America's highest inflation, which reached 28.3 percent in April. But businesses argue the controls make it difficult to turn a profit

Cargill has 12 food-processing plants in Venezuela. It was forced to turn over one of its rice-processing plants last month following the publication of an expropriation decree that Chavez enacted.

Chavez's government has nationalized foreign-owned steel and cement companies, as well as four major oil projects, in the past two years.

I know Obama has a real crush on Robert Mugabee too but Chavez is his true love. Hugo has done what Obama plans to do our economy. Note the hyper-inflation that allows the government to grab even more control.

Obama only has 4 short years to get this done, so he'd better keep wasting our money by sending checks to dead people.

Three Cheers for Tim Pawlenty

2009-05-15T15:28:00.003-05:00

Thursday night, he pared $381 million from a $10.7 billion health and human services bill, money that would fund the General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) program for childless adults in the year starting July 2010.

Now that's leadership! Why should childless adults get free medical care? Why should they get welfare? They shouldn't and thanks to Tim Pawlenty more of them won't.

The liberals will whine that budget cuts hurt the most needy but this is a stupid statement. The only people affected by most budget cuts are those that are needy. The hardworking taxpayers of MN aren't dependant on the state for food, clothing, shelter, healthcare and cable TV.

The cities try very hard to cut services that will affect taxpayers rather than cut handouts to losers. They do this because that's the only way to get any support from the tax payers. If they cut the losers off, no one paying taxes would notice and then the cities would have to firs some lazy unionized governement "worker".

Early Bird HCF: Miranda Kerr

2009-05-15T05:38:00.003-05:00

Miranda May Kerr (born 20 April 1983) is an Australian model best known as one of the Victoria's Secret Angels. She was the first Australian addition to the Victoria's Secret campaign, and was the face of Australian fashion chain Portmans and now David Jones Limited. Kerr entered modeling in the fashion industry in her mid-teens after winning a 1997 Australian nation-wide model search hosted by Dolly magazine and Impulse fragrances.

Pawlenty To Speaker: Go On A Diet!

2009-05-14T18:34:00.003-05:00

House Speaker Margaret Anderson-Keliher has a problem. It's pretty obvious, really. She has an enormous appetite. She also carries a lot of water. Mainly for Education Minnesota, AFSCME, SEIU, AFL/CIO and MAPE. I know, I know, it's not her fault, really. It's just the way she is. People can't always help the way they look. But sometimes a dose of tough love is the best thing.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) Gov. Tim Pawlenty promised Thursday to bring Minnesota's deficit-ridden budget back into balance on his own if the session ends Monday without an accord, using line-item vetoes and executive powers to shave billions in spending.

"There will be no special session. There will be no shutdown," Pawlenty said at a news conference flanked by fellow Republicans, who vowed to uphold any vetoes.

Pawlenty held out the possibility of a negotiated agreement, but said he was prepared to use vetoes, payment suspensions and so-called unallotment to cut the two-year budget to $31 billion. That's about $3 billion smaller than the slate of spending bills sent to him.

People can get pretty angry when you tell them things they don't want to hear.

The move infuriated Democrats who run the Legislature. House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher of Minneapolis dubbed Pawlenty "Governor Go It Alone." Pawlenty shot back that without the step Kelliher would be "Speaker Special Session."

"There will be no public hearings. There will be no public input. There will just be a governor alone with unelected people whispering in his ear of what to cut and what not to cut," Kelliher said, calling it "bullying."

I understand, Maggie. May I call you Maggie? You do work for ME, after all. Maggie, you've got a problem. You are eating off my table. Mine and every other hard working Minnesotan's table. It wouldn't be so bad if it was just you doing the gorging, Madame Speaker, but you're taking huge portions and feeding all of your buddies in the Public Sector. Like that fat little creep in the Education Minnesota commercials who proudly tells me his union has 70,000 members. I know he also has about 90 lobbyists rubbing elbows with you at the trough in St. Paul.

I don't mind paying for reasonable state services, but seriously, how much can you eat? You and you DFL pals are going to spend $31 billion. You want to spend $34 billion. Come on Maggie, can't you skip desert, just this once? It might do you some good.

Another example why sanctuary cities are bad

2009-05-14T11:09:00.001-05:00

I can't understand why some cities choose to ignore enforcing the law. If I violate a city ordinance, why should I be punished? The city isn't enforcing the laws, and if I don't feel like following a particular law, why should I be held accountable?

Some will say it's not a local matter, it's federal. Okay. With that being said, why do police respond to a bank robbery? After all, it's a federal matter, not local.

Liberals love to legislate and create laws all in the name of "public safety". No matter how outlandish they are, they usually come back with the excuse of, "It potentially may save a life. So it's worth it". I wonder why, since they are so concerned with public safety, they don't say the same things with regards to sanctuary cities?

Take that Del Cid woman down in Cottonwood. She had two prior contacts with law enforcement. Had they been able to enforce the law, those four children would be alive today. And that is as much of a fact as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west.

We have gangs, right here in Minnesota where most of the members are illegal aliens. I wonder how many crimes they are responsible for?

Let's move on to North Carolina where an illegal alien is finally being held accountable but unfortunately at the expense of a 7 year old boy. The alien is standing trial for murder. Oh! But here's the best part! The illegal alien was previously arrested and charged, not just once, but five times for drunk driving. Five opportunities to get rid of this guy. Five chances to deport him. And because of the sanctuary city status, a 7 year old boy is dead.

I want to know why, "If it saves just one innocent life" we still have sanctuary cities. Shouldn't we be a little more concerned about our own people?

Spineless Politician Back Peddles

2009-05-14T07:25:00.003-05:00

Fresh on the heals of Mr. Obama doing a 180 on releasing the detainee photos comes another reversal, this time from the incompetent DHS Secretary. This administration seems to make more waffles than IHOP.

A contentious "Rightwing Extremism" report that warned of military veterans as possible recruits for terrorist attacks against the U.S. was not authorized, has been withdrwn and is being rewritten, Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano told Capitol Hill lawmakers.

"The wheels came off the wagon because the vetting process was not followed."

"The report is no longer out there," she said. An employee sent it out without authorization."

Uh huh. The convenient Anonymous Employee. The old "I had no knowledge of" excuse. Not my responsibility. I'm just the boss. You can't expect me to keep track of everything that goes out the door. Look! Waterboarding teabaggers!

This woman just gets worse as time goes by. Thanks for appointing a political hack to head DHS, Barry. I feel so much safer than I did a year ago.

I Had to Buy Lightbulbs

2009-05-13T22:33:00.005-05:00

I went to Walmart this evening after work to pick up a few necessary items like toilet paper, a pen cup for work, and a popcorn popper.
I also needed lightbulbs. I usually buy the regular soft white, 60w for the reading lamps and ceiling fixtures, and some 100w for basement and low light areas of the house and garage. I tried one florescent bulb once since they said they lasted longer, but what claimed to be a 60w didn't even have as much light as a 40w soft white, so never got them again.
Well, was in in for a treat! Not only was nearly the entire aisle filled from top shelf to bottom shelf of every imaginable size shape and wattage of the new 'energy saving' yet earth polluting florescent bulbs, but they changed the wattages on what few regular ordinary incandescent bulbs they now carry.
What used to be 40w are now 32w; what used to be 60w are now 52w; what used to be 75w are now 67w; and what used to be 100w are now 90w. What in the living devil do they expect people to do, downgrade the wattage of bulb they use in order to save a few pennies a year? I'm not going to strain my eyesight for a few pennies. Glasses are expensive, and eye surgery even more so.
So, I did what any reasonable human being would do. I bought the 67w bulbs for our regular lighting needs, and the 90w in place of the 100w, since it was the highest they now go, and will just hope they prove bright enough where I need them, or will just get more lamps.
I have a pretty high suspicion that most people will do what I have done, a complete backfire on this misguided notion about 'energy saving' on a label being enough of an incentive to accept the changes arbitrarily. Nope. We'll buy higher wattages, more lamps, and use more electricity. God Bless America!

Tax Increases Could Kill the Recovery

2009-05-13T14:00:00.004-05:00

Some info for those that think raising taxes in the middle of a recession is a good idea.

The barrage of tax increases proposed in President Barack Obama's budget could, if enacted by Congress, kill any chance of an early and sustained recovery.

Historians and economists who've studied the 1930s conclude that the tax increases passed during that decade derailed the recovery and slowed the decline in unemployment. That was true of the 1935 tax on corporate earnings and of the 1937 introduction of the payroll tax. Japan did the same destructive thing by raising its value-added tax rate in 1997.

The Obama budget calls for tax increases of more than $1.1 trillion over the next decade. Official budget calculations disguise the resulting fiscal drag by treating Mr. Obama's proposal to cancel the 2011 income tax increases for taxpayers with incomes below $250,000 as if they are real tax cuts. The plan to modify the Alternative Minimum Tax to avoid increases for some taxpayers is also treated as a tax cut.

But those are false tax cuts in which no one's tax bill actually declines. In contrast, the proposed tax increases are very real. And despite the proposed tax increases, the government's new spending and transfer programs would cause the annual budget deficit in 2019 to exceed $1 trillion, or 5.7% of GDP.

Mr. Obama's biggest proposed tax increase is the cap-and-trade system of requiring businesses to buy carbon dioxide emission permits. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the proposed permit auctions would raise about $80 billion a year and that these extra taxes would be passed along in higher prices to consumers. Anyone who drives a car, uses public transportation, consumes electricity or buys any product that involves creating CO2 in its production would face higher prices.

The next-largest tax increase -- with a projected rise in revenue of more than $300 billion between 2011 and 2019 -- comes from increasing the tax rates on the very small number of taxpayers with incomes over $250,000. Because this revenue estimate doesn't take into account the extent to which the higher marginal tax rates would cause those taxpayers to reduce their taxable incomes -- by changing the way they are compensated, increasing deductible expenditures, or simply earning less -- it overstates the resulting increase in revenue.

The third major tax increase is the plan to raise $220 billion over the next nine years by changing the taxation of foreign-source income. While some extra revenue could no doubt come from ending the tax avoidance gimmicks that use dummy corporations in the Caribbean, most of the projected revenue comes from disallowing corporations to pay lower tax rates on their earnings in countries like Germany, Britain and Ireland. The purpose of the tax change is not just to raise revenue but also to shift overseas production by American firms back to the U.S. by reducing the tax advantage of earning profits abroad.

The administration is likely to be disappointed about its ability to achieve both goals. Bringing production back to be taxed at the higher U.S. tax rate would raise the cost of capital and make the products less competitive in global markets. American corporations would therefore have an incentive to sell their overseas subsidiaries to foreign firms. That would leave future profits overseas, denying the Treasury Department any claim on the resulting tax revenue. And new foreign owners would be more likely to use overseas suppliers than to rely on inputs from the U.S. The net result would be less revenue to the Treasury and fewer jobs in America.

Can you see how tax increases in many areas will lead to lower tax receipts? Obama is doing everything wrong economically. Sadly he's in for four years so Americans have a very bleak financial future ahead.

(Relative) Sanity in Congress?

2009-05-13T12:43:00.004-05:00

WASHINGTON (AP) - House Democratic leaders are scaling back plans to curb global warming and make the transition to cleaner energy in the hopes that they can get a bill passed this year.

Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., announced Tuesday evening the outlines of a deal that they said would ensure the legislation will please both environmental and industry groups and have the support of moderate Democrats on the House Energy Committee.

To do so, they have lowered targets for renewable energy, will require a smaller reduction by 2020 in the emissions blamed for global warming, and will give away valuable permits to release pollution to electricity distribution companies and auto manufacturers.

OK, so they aren't giving up their Big Government, interventionist ways, but it's yet another sign that the Democrat party is getting more than a bit uncomfortable with the hard Left that is trying to take it over.

Initially, the bill called for electricity producers to generate 25 percent of their power from renewable sources like wind and solar by 2025. That target has been lowered to 15 percent by 2020, with as much as 5 percent coming from improvements in energy efficiency.

The deal also makes more modest cuts in greenhouse gases. The draft unveiled in March called for a 20 percent reduction by 2020 in the emissions blamed for global warming. The version that will be unveiled later this week will call for a 17 percent reduction from 2005 levels by 2020.

It might just be that they actually understand the impact these policies will have on businesses large and small, as well as hundreds of millions of Americans unprepared for draconian tax increases in the form of gas and electricity price hikes. I somehow doubt it, but one can hope. All I can say is pushing back targets may allow for some dissipation of the religious fog enveloping the Global Warming scam. Keep an eye out for those sunspots folks. Figuratively, of course.

Federal tax receipts plunge to 14-year low

2009-05-12T14:57:00.003-05:00

The U.S. federal government budget widened to $192.8 billion in February as tax receipts plunged to the lowest level in 14 years, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday. It's the second largest monthly deficit on record, exceeded only by $237.2 billion gap in October. For the first five months of the fiscal year, the deficit has increased by a half trillion dollars to a record $764.5 billion. Outlays were flat compared with a year earlier at $280.1 billion, while receipts dropped 17% to $87.3 billion, the lowest since February 1995. In February, individual income taxes fell 64% to just $8.7 billion. That's the lowest monthly total for individual income taxes since May 1985.

In MN we have a similar issue:

"Outlays were flat compared with a year earlier at $280.1 billion, while receipts dropped 17 percent to $87.3 billion, the lowest since February 1995. In February, individual income taxes fell 64 percent to just $8.7 billion. That's the lowest monthly total for individual income taxes since May 1985."

Guess who's next? Hennepin County and the City of Minneapolis. One of the issues is the huge number of foreclosed and vacant homes. Banks won't pay the taxes until the property sells. There are also some banks that will never pay as they are bankrupt. The city will eventually be able to take some of these homes from the banks, but the city really doesn't want the houses. They will just cost the city more money.

Next, we have the landlords who don't escrow their property taxes. They pay bi-annually. This May 15th many landlords will decide to hold on to the cash rather than send it to the county and city. These taxes may be paid someday, probably when the economy turns around but for now that money won't be going towards taxes. Of course, some landlords will file for bankruptcy so the city has no idea how much in back taxes it will actually receive.

The budgetary problems for this recession are just getting started.

Getting the picture right in 1934 - and in 2009?

2009-05-11T17:04:00.005-05:00

This 1934 political cartoon from the Chicago Tribune says it all. They were aiming at FDR and the New Deal Ivy League Democrats who were digging a deep economic ditch for our country. They managed to extend a burst stock market bubble into a systemic decline that was not reversed until the middle of WW2. I wonder if we will also need a big war to bring ourselves out of what the coming years will bring?

Hat tip to "wa" of iowntheworld.com

File under: The more things "Change", the more they stay the same. (click image to enlarge)

How Big Is That Iceberg?

2009-05-11T10:19:00.004-05:00

Bolstering Duce's post on the iceberg that will sink the Obama Titanic comes today's news that it will top $1.8 trillion this year.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- With the economy performing worse than hoped, revised White House figures point to deepening budget deficits, with the government borrowing almost 50 cents for every dollar it spends this year.

The deficit for the current budget year will rise by $89 billion to above $1.8 trillion -- about four times the record set just last year. The unprecedented red ink flows from the deep recession, the Wall Street bailout, the cost of President Barack Obama's economic stimulus bill, as well as a structural imbalance between what the government spends and what it takes in.

As the economy performs worse than expected, the deficit for the 2010 budget year beginning in October will worsen by $87 billion to $1.3 trillion, the White House says. The deterioration reflects lower tax revenues and higher costs for bank failures, unemployment benefits and food stamps.

A government is bound to run some level of deficit. It's inevitable given the unpredictability of economics and tax receipts. I didn't like George Bush's deficits, and I like Obama's even less. Just think about it for a minute. We are borrowing 50 cents for every dollar we spend. The folks in DC aren't just doubling Bush's mistakes, they are tripling them.

What kind of a country are we leaving to our children? People like Barack Obama don't seem to be to concerned. After all, he's got millions in the bank, and his kids go to the most exclusive private school in DC. Those cute little girls have it made. Nancy Pelosi could not care less what she is doing to us. She's been busy steering government contracts to her millionaire husband for the last few years. Fat cat Democrats are going to be just fine when the shit hits the fan.

I worry about my neighbors. Those middle class folks with kids and a mortgage. I worry about the people who are retired and living on fixed incomes. All of these people have to keep a roof over their heads, and keep their homes warm in the Winter. Barack Obama would punish them with carbon taxes for doing this.

Inflation. That is the inevitable result of reckless economic policies like the ones being implemented, right now, in our nation's Capitol. Remember inflation? I do. Every day you go to work and you make less because your dollar is worth less. It's ironic that the same people who wrung their hands over stagnant wages during the last decade are silent about a real threat to working people.

How big is that iceberg? It's pretty damn big, and never forget, only about one fifth is visible above the sea of red ink.

Bring on the welfare state!

2009-05-11T10:18:00.000-05:00

Free cars are being handed out to the poor complete with a State issued warranty, insurance, and even a Triple A membership, paid for by the taxpayers of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts! Next year when the DFL proposes this "great idea", I'm sure a gas allowance will be tacked on to the old EBT card as well! It's a great, money saving idea where we all benefit, and we'll prove it to you, right after we raise taxes to pay for this program to get underway!

In case some of you took me literally, as far as I know, there are no plans for this handout to the undeserving here in Minnesota. But now that this program in Massachusetts has made the news, don't be surprised if the party that has the initials "DFL" has a similar idea in the forseeable future.

Gov. Deval Patrick’s free wheels for welfare recipients program is revving up despite the stalled economy, as the keys to donated cars loaded with state-funded insurance, repairs and even AAA membership are handed out to get them to work.
But the program - fueled by a funding boost despite the state’s fiscal crash - allows those who end up back on welfare to keep the cars anyway.

“It’s mind-boggling. You’ve got people out there saying, ‘I just lost my job. Hey, can I get a free car, too?’ ” said House Minority Leader Brad Jones (R-North Reading).

What else can we give the undeserving? A house? Oh wait! We're doing that already! We've got the car, insurance, warranty and Triple A covered already, Barack is working on the free college education and the free healthcare. Whatever happened to Hillary Clinton's free IRA? Let's see what else... Oh yeah! Got the credit card debt covered too!

Hmmm.... let's weigh this out. Work and be a productive citizen. You gotta be kiddin'! We've got a great big Socialist government to take care of our needs. Why work when you don't have to!

A name change for Christian Childrens Fund

2009-05-11T09:12:00.000-05:00

Let's see now. You can't be normal and express normal, traditional things such as, oh... I dunno, marriage. You'll be trashed, awards taken away from you, your family won't even be immune. The powers that be will go after them as well.

We've got HR 1966 which may pass. That bill is a censorship bill, bloggers, and really anyone that uses the internet using their speech rights that is not "acceptable" speech could spend up to two years in prison. To put it simply, it's rewriting the 1st Amendment and inserting the word "except", and adding excuses all in the name of "good intentions". Except if someone is offended, except if someone feels threatened, yada, yada, yada.

Then we have the Oklaholma City man that was arrested for a sign on his car that said, "Abort Obama, Not Babies". Something similar happened about two weeks ago as well.

Let's not forget Obama's Economic speech at Georgetown University where symbols representing Christianity and Jesus Christ were covered up. Then his erasure of National Prayer Day last week, and now, the Christian Childrens Fund is going to be renamed... without the word, "Christian".

When you stop and think about it. There's something really, really wrong with our government, and something very disturbing going on in the country. I suspect when it comes to a head, it isn't going to be pretty.

MSNBC Slips Up

2009-05-11T09:01:00.004-05:00

Upfront costs complicate Obama's health care plan
The tab could reach $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion over 10 years
link in title

We already knew this would be a problem- why didn't he figure it out till now? And of course, he's going to change his mind, and go with proposals he opposed during the election.

"Obama is hoping the Senate comes up with a bipartisan compromise that would give him political cover for disagreeable decisions to raise more money, such as taxing some health insurance benefits. In the 2008 campaign, Obama went after his Republican presidential rival, Arizona Sen. John McCain, for proposing a large-scale version of that idea."

We've already heard that he was probably going to okay this, also, but here's something which, right after I read the article it was in, they revised, and removed this juicy tidbit -

"Obama's opposition to taxing employer-provided health insurance isn't the only campaign position he might have to jettison to pay for health care.

He once criticized his chief Democratic presidential rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, for proposing that everyone in the U.S. be required to have medical insurance. Yet such a mandate probably will be in what Congress puts together because requiring individuals to pay would lower federal costs."

Now, here's the link to the article which replaced the one in the title-
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30667344/

Just one tiny mention about Baccus wanting mandated healthcare coverage, but no mention that it will probably end up in the final proposal- "Baucus favors requiring individuals to get health insurance, which will help. But he also supports subsidies for people who can't afford coverage — a cost to the government."
But nothing about Obama probably okaying this facisit plan that he supposedly opposed before. They backfilled it instead with more about taxing benefits.
I read it three times to be sure. And yet, some people STILL think that MSM will tell us the REAL story? Oh, they might slip up now and then as they did in the first article, but then 'rectify' it quickly, as they did here.

A Much Needed Shower

2009-05-10T12:05:00.002-05:00

I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do
They're really saying I love you.

I hear babies crying, I watch them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
Yes I think to myself, what a wonderful world.

Happy Mother's Day.

Fat to Cut

2009-05-10T12:04:00.004-05:00

The MN 2010-2011 budget has $2,915,399,000 in property tax aids and credits. Why do we need almost $3 billion in credits and aids to offset property taxes? Can't we just tell Minnesotans that they time has come for everyone to pay their taxes in full? If they balk we could suggest that they contact their local representatives for an explaination of why property taxes are so high in MN (Short answer, massive waste and abuse on the local levels of government)

In just one section we have an area that would fix most of our budget problem, yet no one is even looking at it as they all know that too many people are used to getting a free ride on property taxes. We should take Renter's credit away, why shouldn't renters pay the full load on taxes, don't they benefit from Minnesota's "great public amenities" too?

The Health and Human Services section of the budget is $9,347,152,000. This is section that is ripe for pruning. Currently we spend $4,286,806,000 providing free healthcare for Minnesotans too poor, lazy or stupid to have their own health insurance. I am aware that some people are hard to cover but there is also a large block of the uninsured that could get a private policy but refuse to do so as they know that the state will take care of them. We could easily cut $1 billion from this section of the budget with minimal impact on the working taxpayers of MN.

Transportation is a pathetic $452,062,000. The God Damned Metropolitan Council gets $184,770,000 and LRT gets another $40,769,000 leaving less than $226,523,000 for roads and bridges! (This number is so F'in low I checked it 3 times for a mistake) This is why most people pay taxes and yet it is a tiny part of the budget. Typical bait and switch by our lying legislators.

The Environment gets $421,962,000. Almost as much as transportation. How about some real user fees for the parks? Aren't all of those tree hugging dipshits "Happy to pay for a better Minnesota"? Well its time to start putting your money where your granola crunching mouth is.

We waste $1,578,000 for a board of Barbers and Cosmetology??? What the FUCK? How about if you get a bad hair cut you find a new barber?

Massive useless waste.
Council on Black Minnesotans 658,000
Council on Chicano Latino Affairs 622,000
Council on Asian-Pacific Minn 578,000
Council on Indian Affairs 976,000

$2,834,000 could be saved right there by eliminating these completely useless expenses. The Native American tribes are millionaires thanks to Skip Humphrey's terrible casino pact. Let them pay there own PR firms.

With a bit of a back bone Minnesota could easily save $4 to $5 billion and have almost no effect on the tazpaying workers of the state. We still don't have a budget crisis, we have a spending problem.

The Iceberg that will sink Obama's Titanic Budget

2009-05-10T11:49:00.003-05:00

Weak demand at a Treasury bond auction touched off worries in the stock market Thursday about the government's ability to raise funds to fight the recession.

The government had to pay greater interest than expected in a sale of 30-year Treasurys. That is worrisome to traders because it could signal that it will become harder for Washington to finance its ambitious economic recovery plans.

I know that no one likes these posts as they get very few comments, but for thiose up you not up on international finance please note that my prediction for the collapse in demand for T-Bills has happened to other nations already.

The U.K. government failed to find enough buyers in a bond auction for the first time in 14 years, underscoring the market distortions caused by the Bank of England's latest efforts to revive the U.K. economy.

Here is a graph of the projected Obama deficits.As you can see Obama never plans to balance the budget. He plans to have the globe finance our excellent adventure into socialism. The people that whine about Bush's spending are correct but willfully ignorant of the fact that Obama's deficits are so much more massive than Bush's that the arguement is absurd.

This is clearly unsustainable. The Obama Administration is clearly trying to cripple our nation financially. Our enemies must be ecstatic these days. We are allowing Obama to do what they could never accomplish.

Time to cut the fat

2009-05-09T20:09:00.003-05:00

Gov. Tim Pawlenty vetoed the DFL’s latest tax plan early today, sending legislative leaders back into mid-morning meetings at the State Capitol to try to come up with yet another alternative with nine days left in the session.

The plan would have included tax increases on alcohol, credit card companies that charge high interest rates and couples earning more than $250,000 annually.

If this were to pass, Minnesotans would be in for a permanent credit crunch and additional flight from the state by those making $250K or more.

In a different article Lori Sturdevant stated that Minnesotans didn't want to experience "the pain" of the last big budget cuts. Funny, I don't remember any pain. No one I know experienced any pain. I assume some welfare cheats and government slavkers may have been a bit uncomfortable for a short while but the hard working people that pay taxes in this state have nothing to fear from cuts in government spending.

The MN budget is packed with wasteful spending and pork projects. MN doesn't need to buy the land for Vermillion State park. MN should not have the best welfare benefits in the nation. We should stop paying schools more and more money to teach our children less and less every year.

Pawlenty could cut $6 billion out of the budget and your average working Minnesotan would notice any change at all.

Medtronic picks San Antonio for expansion

2009-05-09T20:03:00.002-05:00

Medical device maker Medtronic Inc. of Fridley has picked San Antonio, Texas, as the site for the expansion of its diabetes unit, bringing 1,400 sales and support jobs with it, local officials said. Texas Gov. Rick Perry will announce the deal Monday. San Antonio, in Bexar County, had been vying with the Kansas City area for the expansion of Medtronic's diabetes business. Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said Medtronic will receive city, county and state incentives.

MN wasn't even considered for this expansion. 1,400 high paying jobs will be based in Texas, not Minnesota.

I'm glad to see that my clients have made the same decission I have about the future of business in MN. I'll be moving with them in a few years.

Why Liberals Disgust Me

2009-05-09T19:35:00.002-05:00

Gun toting pussies who think honor is acting like a spoiled child -- this blog is for the birds...insane freakin morons. Have a good life, please do not have children.
Arnold | | 05.09.09 - 6:00 pm |

Too late Arnold. Some of them have bred already but it's unlikely their views will appeal much to today's youth.
The Fiddler | | 05.09.09 - 6:07 pm | #

It's not just the willful ignorance. It's not the unearned arrogance. It's not even the vapid lack of cognition. These pathetic examples of humanity worm their way into power and then kill people. By the millions.

A healthy democracy requires tension. Opposition is the key to preventing tyranny from swallowing up a represented electorate. But while in America our rights are bestowed by God, not Government, they are not guaranteed by God. Those rights were purchased at great and terrible cost by people who never knew you. It's up to us to preserve them, and part of that duty involves constant analysis and confrontation.

Retarded children like "Arnold" and "Fiddler" disgrace both the memory and the intent of far better people. They are the type of fungus that turns oppositional politics into a pathetic grade school food fight. It's really sad that this type of discourse has become standard fare here. I would prefer intelligent people discuss things in a civilized manner. But instead of that we have the Janeane Garafalo assholes ruminating on the composition of conservative brains. This is the thought process of nazi murderers, justifying their genocide.

Carry on. People of good will and clear conscience will eventually see you for what you are. And they will recoil in horror.

Ten College Students Dead In Home Invasion

2009-05-09T07:04:00.005-05:00

That's not how the night ended for ten college kids in Georgia but it could have and most likely would have if not for one student who was packing a firearm in his backpack.

“Apparently, his intent was to rape and murder us all,” said student Charles Bailey.
Bailey said he thought it was the end of his life and the lives of the 10 people inside his apartment for a birthday party after two masked men with guns burst in through a patio door.
Bailey said the gunmen started counting bullets. “The other guy asked how many (bullets) he had. He said he had enough,” said Bailey.

If you follow the link in the title you may get an inkling of the fear these young people must have felt. Imagine yourselves in the same situation. The bad guys were counting bullets to see if they had enough.

Thank God one young man had a gun and the balls to use it or this story would have made the evening news on CNN, NBC and the rest of the GFW networks with much blather and ballyhoo about the need to get guns off the streets, etc, etc, etc.

Not every situation like this can be solved by a law abiding citizen excercising their right to life and the defense thereof but let there be no doubt, as this story proves, that some can. Not everyone will end this well when someone tries but is it better to cower before the scumbags and die anyways or fight them in an attempt to live? I suppose your answer depends on whether you are a sheepdog or a sheep.
My bet is there are nine other students and their families who are thankful for the young sheepdog and his couragous stand to defend himself and his friends.

FYI GFW= Gun fearing wussies

Cue The Crickets...

2009-05-08T09:40:00.000-05:00

To all of you on the left (and on the right to be fair) who were so bent out of shape about the Patriot Act, I have a question....

What is your thoughts about this? Is there any concern or consternation here??????

Swine Flu 'Pandemic' Martial Law Passes MA Senate

5-4-9

"While Massachusetts residents were sleeping, our Legislature rushed through a bill- in response to the recent "Swine flu" outbreak.

This bill has been on the shelf but (the) state government felt this was the perfect time to slip this bill through.

What is the big deal about the bill- S18? It gives the Governor power to authorize the deployment and use of force to distribute supplies and materials.

It gives local authorities the permission to enter private residences for investigation and to quarantine individuals.

Basically during any "emergency" our state can and will declare martial law; you lose your Constitutional rights.

Emphasis mine.

Now that the "Democrats" are in complete control, we are hearing more and more rumblings about legislation to strip away the rights of the American people. Whether it is the re-emergence of the Fairness Doctrine, revoking the press credentials of media reps that disagree with you, threats of siccing the White House Press Corp on businesses who don't agree with the President's plans, annulling the voting rights of legit voters by engaging in voter fraud or threatening life long government workers with legal action just because they did their job, the "Democratic" Party office holders have done more, in the past 100+ days to remove the civil rights of the American people than the writers of the Patriot Act ever dreamed.....

I'm curious to hear the response, but I won't be at all surprised to hear.....

Primum Non Nocere

2009-05-08T09:34:00.001-05:00

First, do no harm (aka the Hippocratic Oath even though Hippocrates supposedly had nothing to do with it) is something that is drummed into medical students from the first day that they enter med school. Well that principle is about to become a thing of the past.....

Patients count on their doctor to do whatever is possible to treat their illness. That is the promise doctors make by taking the Hippocratic Oath.

But President Obama's advisers are looking to save money by interfering with that oath and controlling your doctor's decisions.

Ezekiel Emanuel sees the Hippocratic Oath as one factor driving "overuse" of medical care. He is a policy adviser in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and a brother of Rahm Emanuel, the president's chief of staff.

Dr. Emanuel argues that "peer recognition goes to the most thorough and aggressive physicians." He has lamented that doctors regard the "Hippocratic Oath's admonition to 'use my power to help the patient to the best of my ability and judgment' as an imperative to do everything for the patient regardless of the cost or effects on others."

Emphasis mine.

Now isn't that what doctors are supposed to do - to do everything possible for their patient? According to the administration the answer to that is "oh heck no!"

But President Barack Obama is pledging to rein in the nation's health care spending. The framework for influencing your doctor's decisions was included in the stimulus package, also known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The legislation sets a goal that every individual's treatments will be recorded by computer, and your doctor will be guided by electronically delivered protocols on "appropriate" and "cost-effective" care.

So you and your doctor are no longer going to be in charge of your heathcare - some bureaucrat in DC with a set of charts will be the one to decide whether you live (get treatment) or die (not get treatment).

Heading the new system is Dr. David Blumenthal, a Harvard Medical School professor, named national coordinator of health information technology. His writings show he favors limits on how much health care people can get.

"Government controls are a proven strategy for controlling health care expenditures," he argued in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) in March 2001.

Government controls - isn't that just a lovely euphanism for rationing?????! For all of you who accused me of over-reacting earlier I just have four little words for you.....I TOLD YOU SO!

Least you think that this is another "unintended consequence" - the administration is fully aware of what they are prescribing.

Blumenthal conceded there are disadvantages:

"Longer waits for elective procedures and reduced availability of new and expensive treatments and devices."

Yet he called it "debatable" whether the faster care Americans currently have is worth the higher cost.

Now that Blumenthal is in charge, he sees problems ahead.

"If electronic health records are to save money," he writes, doctors will have to take "advantage of embedded clinical decision support" (a euphemism for computers instructing doctors what to do).

"If requirements are set too high, many physicians and hospitals will rebel - petitioning Congress to change the law or just resigning themselves to ... accepting penalties," he wrote in NEJM early this month.

Emphasis again mine. So getting the care you want, when you need it is not worth the cost to this guy?

Essentially under the administration's plan to reduce health care costs we are going to have to accept the fact that some faceless DC bureaucrat has control of what care you get - not you and your doctor and that care is going to rationed or we are going to get the care we want and face fines and jail time!

Is that the "Hope and Change" (tm) that YOU voted for?????

Just Like You and Me

2009-05-08T09:29:00.003-05:00

First lady Michelle Obama called her "current life" in the White House "a very blessed situation, because I have what most families don't have -- tons of support all around, not just my mother, but staff and administration. I have a chief of staff and a personal assistant, and everyone needs that."

"Everyone should have a chief of staff and a set of personal assistants," Obama said with a laugh as she spoke before a crowd of business executives meeting today during a "Corporate Voices for Working Families" conference at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington.

There's just really, really nothing to add to that.

Early Bird HCF: Amy Weber

2009-05-08T06:19:00.002-05:00

Amy Marie Weber (born July 2, 1970) is an American actress, model, film producer, former professional wrestling valet, and aspiring singer who is best known for her time as a WWE Diva for World Wrestling Entertainment under the SmackDown! brand. Weber also has released a single, "Ghost."

Weber has played roles in numerous television shows including CSI: Las Vegas, Son of the Beach, Saved by the Bell, Melrose Place, Pacific Blue, The Young & The Restless, Baywatch, Jenny, USA High, and City Guys. She also appeared in country musician Toby Keith's video for his song "Whiskey Girl" as the Whiskey girl, and, on December 31, 2004 she was featured in a sketch on the New Year's Eve live episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Correspondent Tom Green traveled all over New York City looking for someone to kiss him at midnight, which Weber eventually agreed to do.

Weber has had lead roles in the movies Scarlet Mirror, Games (a.k.a Forbidden Games), The Bet, Dr. Life, Art House, Kolobos, The Contract, Starforce, Crackerjack III, Becoming Pony Boi and Transmorphers. She also had a lead in the movie Diablita.

She was an associate producer on the film The Pumpkin Karver, in which she also starred.

Amy has had starring roles in theater productions of Reservations for Two, 110 in the Shade, Apocalyptic Butterflies, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and Grease.

A former WWE Diva Search contestant, Amy Weber became a villain diva for World Wrestling Entertainment's SmackDown! brand, with a gimmick as John "Bradshaw" Layfield's image consultant in The Cabinet. During her time in The Cabinet, she feuded with Joy Giovanni, and actually defeated her by countout (although Giovanni never entered the ring) in both divas' only match. She resigned from WWE in February 2005 because of her allegations of harassment from some of the wrestlers. She later stated that she "wasn't happy with the pay and I wasn't happy with the 'frat house' like environment". To explain her departure, JBL stated she had been "fired" for accidentally firing a sleeping dart at him the previous week while he was clowning around with an inflatable dinosaur. The dart was actually intended for JBL's No Way Out 2005 opponent, The Big Show.

Weber has also been the face of a Shiseido cosmetic campaign.

Chris Stewart Update

2009-05-07T15:49:00.003-05:00

Written by Peter Tharaldson- http://www.independenceminnesota.org

_______________________________________

Press Release: IP starts questioning related to MPLS School Director Chris Stewart

by Peter Tharaldson

For Immediate Release:

INDEPENDENCE PARTY, CITING CONCERN OVER PAST STEWART BEHAVIOR, MAKES DATA PRACTICES REQUEST OF MINNEAPOLIS SCHOOL DISTRICT IN MATTER OF DIRECTOR STEWART AND BURROUGHS SCHOOL

Contact:

Peter Tharaldson, 5^th CD Chair 612-710-5324

The Independence Party will be submitting numerous public information requests to the Minneapolis Public Schools over the next several days. These requests will ask for data related to past performance concerns of the Burroughs school principal and any district memoranda regarding the school.

“In 2006 the Independence Party made a commitment that it will remain vigilant in questioning any activity or comment by Director Stewart which may hurt another person”, said District 5 Chair Peter Tharaldson (Minneapolis). “You see cynical politicians in many places who spoil the public’s view of government, however, as far as we are concerned we have never been so shocked as we were by the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde act of Chris Stewart in 2006.”

Director Stewart created a website which viciously attacked 5^th District Independent Candidate Tammy Lee with hateful remarks which were racist, sexist and homophobic in nature. The Independent campaign discovered the trash site and hired a former federal forensics expert who identified Chris Stewart as the originator. “Upon Stewart’s admission of the website, the StarTribune, Independents, Democrats and Republicans joined together to call for Stewards resignation”, said Tharaldson. What was so shocking to us is that Chris Stewart had previously praised the reform-minded principles of the Independence Party when he considered his run just seven months prior…principles which included honesty and integrity.

“If there be a solid reason for the principal’s suspension, so be it. We made a commitment, however, that Mr. Stewart’s actions be questioned at every turn”, said Tharaldson. “Now we begin the questioning.”

______________________________________________________________

Edited by Siteowner - cross posted at http://chrisstewartresign.blogspot.com/

The Real Reason for the Hijab

2009-05-07T14:58:00.004-05:00

Being the culturally diverse and sensitive person that I am, I have given a lot of thought to the increasing number of hijabs being worn around my once strictly cold, Northern European refuge here in the Midwest. I first noticed them when working a contract in the old Dayton's building downtown. Most of the cleaning staff wore the full robe thing. To me they were reminiscent of Jawas in appearance and mannerism.

Since at the time I was working with a bunch of guys from Bangalore and Mumbai it seemed to be a nice counterpoint to the rich tapestry of diversity I was being woven into.

But that hijab is popping up more and more here in the frozen North, and I am beginning to understand why.

Don't believe that nonsense about it being a religious deal. And as far as "preserving women's modesty"? Nonsense. The entire hijab in America phenomenon is economic. All those Muslim dudes are just cheap-ass bastards who don't want to pay for hair CAIR (pun intended). Plus she'll never get away with the old "I'm washing my hair tonight" line.

Please, don't even get me started on the cost of stylists. Hair cuts. Perms. Braiding. Extensions. Shampoo. Conditioner. Styling spray. Styling gel. Hair straighteners. Hair curlers. Hair color. Sweet chocolate Mohammed, it's a multi-billion dollar industry.

And the chicks? They get a free pass! Don't want to wash your hair today? No problem. Just throw the old Hijab over the greasy locks and head on out for busy day running the little ones to and from madrassa. A get together with the other ladies is so much less of a stressor when you don't have to worry about the others thinking bad things about the latest doo. You've got it covered!

Yes, the hijab is far from a symbol of religious orthodoxy. It's a practical solution to an age old problem.

If only we could figure out a way to make it socially acceptable for old, bald men...

Green Weenies Saved By Oil Tanker

2009-05-06T15:38:00.002-05:00

Damn if this isn't funny.

Eco-sailors rescued by oil tanker

An expedition team which set sail from Plymouth on a 5,000-mile carbon emission-free trip to Greenland have been rescued by an oil tanker.

Raoul Surcouf, Richard Spink and skipper Ben Stoddart sent a mayday because they feared for their safety amid winds of 68mph (109km/h).

All three are reportedly exhausted but safe on board the Overseas Yellowstone.

The team, which left Mount Batten Marina in Plymouth on 19 April in a boat named the Fleur, aimed to rely on sail, solar and man power on a 580-mile (933km/h) journey to and from the highest point of the Greenland ice cap.

The expedition was followed by up to 40 schools across the UK to promote climate change awareness.

But atrocious weather dogged their journey after 27 April, culminating with the rescue on 1 May after the boat was temporarily capsized three times by the wind.

Oil. It's everywhere you want to go.

I may be wrong...

2009-05-06T12:25:00.003-05:00

Flu virus kills Texan, European cases reach Sweden
WHO confirmed more infections in Britain, Spain, Italy and Germany. If the U.N. agency detects a sustained spread within Europe -- as there has been in North America -- this could trigger the official declaration of a pandemic.

Second strain of flu may complicate picture-study
A second strain of influenza, one of the seasonal strains, may have mutated and may be complicating the picture in Mexico, Canadian researchers reported on Wednesday.

They have found a strain of the H3N2 virus that appears to have made a shift and could have complicated the flu picture in Mexico, epicenter of an outbreak of a new strain of the H1N1 swine flu virus.

Oil prices jump to high for the year
Crude prices above $55 as US reports lower-than-expected jump in crude inventories

More than one in five homeowners underwater: Zillow
Home values in the United States extended their fall in the first quarter, with more than one in five homeowners now owing more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, real estate website Zillow.com said on Wednesday.

U.S. home values posted a year-over-year decline of 14.2 percent to a Zillow Home Value Index of $182,378, resulting in a total 21.8 percent drop since the market peaked in 2006, according to Zillow's first-quarter Real Estate Market Reports, which encompass 161 metropolitan areas and cover the value changes in all homes, not just homes that have recently sold.

U.S. homes lost $704 billion in value during the first quarter and have depreciated $3.8 trillion in the past 12 months, according to analysis of the reports.

This summer has the potential ot be very, very bad. Unfortunately we have an incompetent administration that lies to the US public with immunity.

Details thin on stimulus contracts

Although President Obama has vowed that citizens will be able to track "every dime" of the $787 billion stimulus bill, a government website dedicated to the spending won't have details on contracts and grants until October and may not be complete until next spring — halfway through the program, administration officials said.

Devaney told a House subcommittee Tuesday that it will be a challenge to have the site ready to present spending data in five months. He said after the hearing that the board doesn't have enough data storage capacity, for example.

These people regularly see millions to criminals like ACORN and yet that can't scrape up the cash for a few terrabytes of storage? Has anyone placed a call to Silicon Valley? I'd bet that there is tons of free space just waiting to be put online.

Knife Control NOW!

2009-05-05T18:36:00.002-05:00

A 24-year-old homeless man has been charge with murder after stabbing his sister to death in the parking lot of a Richfield apartment complex, as she tried to protect her eight-month-old son.

Gucci Beyena Mokonnen, 24, was charged with murder in the first degree on Tuesday after he stabbed his sister to death because she wouldn't allow him to move in with her.

Mokennen told police that he thought about killing his sister for the last three years, according to the criminal complaint. Mokennen was angry because he was homeless and unemployed.

You have to click on the link at get a look at this loser. He's unemployed and homeless, and he gets pissed that his sister doesn't want his loser ass planted on her couch. Gee, I wonder why? This asshole spent three years nursing a grudge against his own flesh and blood. Did he do anything to change his circumstances? Sweet chocolate Mohammed, I've been unemployed and I never once blamed someone else for it. Instead I did what a responsible person would do, which is look for a friggin job.

But this walking turd attacks his sister in a parking lot while she's holding an infant. She died protecting her baby. From her brother. The loser.

Is this the kind of society we are nurturing? This piece of filth was obviously eating, and since he hasn't frozen to death during three years of global warming, I can only surmise he had someplace to stay besides his sister's couch. Well, he ain't homeless any more. You and I will be supporting his worthless ass for the next thirty years in one of our fine institutions of public correction.

If only we had stronger knife control laws.

Bicycling is Dangerous

2009-05-05T18:18:00.003-05:00

He both rides bikes and sells them. So college student Aaron Marks spends most of his time on two wheels, riding 40 miles a day from his home in Eden Prairie.

"I'm broke," Marks said. "I have no money, so it works really good especially because I don't to pay for gas or insurance that way."

But Marks paid a higher price two years ago at an intersection on a Hopkins bike trail.

He says a line of cars was waiting as he crosssed, but that one went around them, hitting him so hard he spent a week in the hospital and six months in bandages.

"All my ribs on the left side broke, my lung collapsed, two vertebrae in my spine fractured, my back's been skinned by the windshield of a car," Marks said.

A thousand other Minnesotans were injured last year on bikes, and 13 were killed, up from four the year before.

Duce is on record as being fairly anti-bike. Our mutual friend Mitch at Shot In The Dark is an avid biker. I personally have no dog in this fight, but really, common sense (if such an element exists) would indicate two things.
1. If you are on two skinny wheels without a substantial structure around you, you are vulnerable. Even a Smart Car is going to do serious damage to your ass.
2. Someone riding a bike is a person. We have a responsibility to take care not to run over people while driving our Smart Car, whether they are walking or riding.

I don't advocate bicycling as a valid transportation option in a state like Minnesota. Unless you are a complete nut, there are six months out of the year when it just isn't practical. On that note,

A memorial in Minneapolis marks one of those deaths, the spot where Jim Nisser was struck by a driver who's never been found. With biking in Minnesota up 30 percent in just the last year, safety advocates like Nick Mason of Share the Road says people on bikes and in cars have to use more caution.

I hereby declare the Official Position of Anti-Strib to be opposed to bicycling death.

Actor, comedian, chef - Dom Deluise passes away at age 75

2009-05-05T12:45:00.000-05:00

This sucks. Dom Deluise was a comic genius, often letting you know the humor in a situation by saying nothing, just using his face to express it. And his laugh was as infectious as his ability to make you feel good. The last time I remember seeing Dom was on an episode of "Dinner for Five", where he was cracking jokes and busting up the whole group. He was on the episode with Burt Reynolds, Charles Durning, and Charles Nelson Riley and it was an entire hour of laughing...

And who can forget his roles in so many classic comedies - Blazing Saddles, History of the World Part 1, the Cannonball Runs, just to name a few. Watching his films, even as a youngster, is a great memory of growing up. Nothing like Friday nights with the family - pizza or take out and one of the many comedies starring Dom...he was a family favorite.

Long time friend and co-star Burt Reynolds commented on Dom's passing -

"I was thinking about this the other day," Reynolds said in a statement released
to TVGuide.com. "As you get older, and start to lose people you love, you
think about it more, and I was dreading this moment. Dom always made you feel
better when he was around and there will never be another like him. I never
heard him say an unkind word about anyone. I will miss him very much."

I'll miss this guy...Much like the comic geniuses that left us before him, his passing had made Hollywood is a lot less funny today. Damn, they just don't make em like Dom anymore. Rest in peace, Dom.

Chris Stewart's Body Language Speaks Volumes

2009-05-04T14:39:00.035-05:00

Hat Tip to Craig Lassig (photo) and Beth Hawkins from www.minnpost.com.

NOTE: commentary* that has been interjected is denoted in (*parentheses) & is not the opinion nor the written word of www.minnpost.com. See link above for original article.
____________________________________________

The Minneapolis Public Schools parent advisory group had just called its meeting to order last Monday night when Chris Stewart slipped (*slithered) into the room. Quietly, he slid (*like a snake) into a seat at the back of the room, opposite the dais where he and the other school board members usually sit when they're here, and next to a man with his elementary school-age daughter.

The two nodded hellos. And then the father broke into a grin (*patiently waiting to give the school board a piece of his mind). "Hot in here," he quipped, laughing (*hmmm shaudenfraude).

Stewart snorted (*like a swine)and shot back a rueful smile (* can a snake smile with just a set of fangs?) The temperature was actually quite comfortable, but the remark was dead-on. On the agenda was a preview of the district's controversial proposal for changing the way students are assigned to schools. The parents present each represented a different MPLS program, and each stood to lose something in the reorganization (*aka:forced student reassignment by a school board drunken and blinded by power.)
Tensions have been rising for weeks over the scale of the planned overhaul, which parents fear could uproot kids from successful schools and force them into struggling ones. Stewart, elected to the school board in 2006, has landed squarely at the center of the most headline-grabbing chapter of the entire saga (*not chris's first race baiting incident -see a history of posts at http://chrisstewartresign.blogspot.com) .

During his visit (*witch hunt) to Burroughs Community School last month, Stewart, who is black ( *AAhemm, biracial ), and Principal Tim Cadotte, who is white (* no public person really knows his DNA make up, Tim may have different races in his makeup), got into a heated argument about race. The following Monday, Cadotte was placed on paid administrative leave pending outside investigation into the dustup. Cadotte is being reinstated to his post today (*because why should the opinion of one school board member have the power to pull an efficient, competent principal in the first place? What crime did Mr. Cadotte commit?), even though the district’s investigation will not be complete for several more days. (*Will this report be public record?)

The Cadotte-Stewart incident prompts meetings, rallies

In the wake of the incident, Burroughs' tightly knit, vocal and politically connected parents have organized meetings and rallies and pelted ( *fantasizing pelting rotten tomatoes now) board members and news media with angry letters demanding Cadotte's reinstatement and calling for Stewart's resignation. Much of the din is heard most loudly online (*wonder how many written letters and protesting e-mails were sent to the Mpls school board?), at websites with names like Save Tim Cadotte and Chris Stewart Resign Now.

The outcry put district administrators under tremendous pressure (*it's about time!), particularly after seven Minneapolis DFL lawmakers wrote to School Board Chair Tom Madden demanding Cadotte’s reinstatement. Among those signing the letter are House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher and Patricia Torres Ray, who sits on the state Senate’s education and E-12 education finance committees.
There are several bills of crucial importance to Minneapolis under debate at the Legislature right now, including the ultimate fate of the program that pays(*wastes tax payers money) for integration programming (*integration programming!!?what's that PC speak for? that's one for you commenters to define.)
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Edited by site owner - cross posted at http://chrisstewartresign.blogspot.com/

Minnesota: The State of Fools

2009-05-04T12:37:00.005-05:00

Yes, we elected a professional wrestler governor. At the time it seemed like a good idea. It was a gesture of contempt for both the wishy-washy GOP and the obnoxiously imperial DFL. This place is frigidly cold in the Winter and plagued with mosquitos in the all too short Summer. We are the first state to breed homicidal Muslim extremists. We build expensive choo-choo trains and ignore critical transportation infrastructure. We store nuclear waste on an island in the middle of the largest river in America, because well, nuclear waste storage is a "problem".

Minnesota is about to distinguish itself yet again by making a mockery of representational government. Or perhaps not. Perhaps this man is the ideal representative of Minnesota:

All I ask is, will the last sentient being to leave this joke of a state please turn off the compact florescent light?

I really don't think we're dead and dying

2009-05-04T12:29:00.001-05:00

Democrats and their media allies are still touting Benedict Arlen's defection, for lack of a better term to the Democrat Party, like it's actually some great accomplishment and prize. Some Republicans are adding to that by speaking about Specter. But absent from all this talk, this building the Democrat Party in to sainthood by the media, is the fact that 2 U.S. Senators and 2 U.S. Congressmen switched party's from Democrat to Republican in 1994 & 1995, not to mention the countless candidates that switched before election. The most notable that I can think of offhand is Norm Coleman.

Was the Democrat Party dead then, like they are proclaiming of the Republican Party? Democrats were pretty irrelevant for an eight year period between 1994-2002. Now, it's our turn. Yet the disgustingly biased media never mentions that. They are so consumed with trying to destroy the Republican Party, showing nothing but hatred for the Republican Party, they don't look at anything objectionable these days. I think when we are the majority party again, it might be time to declare war on the media, and dismantle it

If newspapers, I think we all know which one I'm talking about, publishes classified documents and intelligence, the editors should be jailed, and the paper closed down. Now I'm getting off track, allowing my disdain for the openly biased mainstream media to rear its head. The point is, the Republican Party is not dead or dying, just like the Democrat Party almost 20 years ago was not dead or dying. It comes and goes in cycles, just like the warming and cooling of the Earth. It's natural, and has always been this way, and will continue to be this way.

There is something terribly wrong with this..

2009-05-03T11:39:00.003-05:00

French forces detain 11 suspected pirates
‘Mothership’ allegedly loaded with assault rifles, rocket launchers
link in title

"It was the French ship's third pirate intervention in a month. France has been the most aggressive in pursuing pirates out of more than a dozen nations patrolling shipping routes in the Gulf of Aden."

Uhhh... I don't get it. The French are being aggresive, while we are not? What has changed? I have a few guesses, of course. The first being that the French actually have more at stake in the Gulf of Adan than the US currently does. They perhaps have potentially more to lose. Or perhaps they are growing a spine? Or, perhaps we have lost ours?
Regardless, I'm amazed by this odd turn. At least someone is actively going after these thugs.
From what I've been reading lately, the pirates are getting more sophisticated in tactics and weaponry. I think they will be turning into something beyond piracy, and more like open warfare much sooner than anyone thinks. This will soon get completely out of hand if more are not stopped, boats and ships either confiscated or destroyed, and the men responsible thrown into prison for a very very long time.

The Advance of the Thought Police

2009-05-01T14:09:00.006-05:00

The passage of this latest attack on freedom of thought should leave no doubt regarding the attitude the Liberal Congress takes towards the Constitution and equal protection under the law.

Victims of violence who are gay would have new federal protections under a hate-crimes bill approved by the House. The vote was 249 to 175, with most Democrats voting in favor and most Republicans against. The bill defines hate crimes as those motivated by prejudice and based on a victim’s race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. The measure would provide grants for state and local authorities to investigate and prosecute hate crimes , and it would empower the federal government to prosecute cases if states asked for Washington’s help or were reluctant to exercise their own authority. The Senate has not yet scheduled a vote on the bill, which President Obama supports.

This puts Government into the Thought Police business for real. They get to interpret what motivated any given act. And once established, the precedent can be extended to any thought or "protected class" the government decides upon. This creates a dual-tier justice system that, as Ed at Hot Air notes, would violate not just the First Amendment, but the Fourteenth Amendment as well.

The First Amendment arguments are obvious, but Jazz Shawthinks this also violates the Fourteenth as well:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Long story short: When you pass laws which assign greater guilt to certain parties for committing the same crimes, based on nothing more than what they were thinking at the time and the “class” of citizens who were the victims, then you are providing unequal protection of the laws. You are assigning a higher value to the lives, liberty and property of some victims than others based on their sexual orientation, their race, skin color, religion, etc.

The imminent departure of Justice Souter is ominous in light of this further detraction from the principles of our Bill of Rights. I have no doubt that President Obama believes that our rights devolve from Government and are not protected by, but rather bestowed on us by the good graces of the same.

There is no such thing as "hate crime". All crime is hateful, and treating one crime differently from another based on the perceived difference of the victim is not justice. It is the tyranny of the minority.

Early Bird HCF: Patricia De Leon

2009-05-01T06:11:00.004-05:00

Patricia De Leon's career was kick-started when she was crowned Miss Panama. She then established herself as a familiar face on television across Latin Amercia as a news anchor/reporter for Univision.

She moved to Los Angeles and quickly landed roles in movies and television.

In 2007 Patricia starred in Michael Paloma's Blue Lake Massacre. She recently filmed guest star roles on NBC's Crossing Jordan and CBS's Cold Case.

Her film credits include Cloud Nine with Burt Reynolds, DL Hughley and Paul Rodriguez.

Patricia is also the host of Billboard Latino, for The Billboard Music Charts.

Breaking news - Justice David Souter to retire from the Supreme Court

2009-04-30T21:12:00.002-05:00

It is being reported in various news outlets that Justice David Souter plans to retire from the Supreme Court at the end of the court's current term (June 2009). He has been a Supreme Court Justice since 1990, when he was nominated by Pres. George H. W. Bush and approved in May 1990.

China is Assuming a Leading Role While Obama Diminishes America

2009-04-30T15:52:00.006-05:00

While the Obama Adinistration pays lip service to economic stimulus, they are merely using it as cover for pursuing the socializing of America. Simultaneously the Chinese are leading the way to a genuine recovery. China will be the first country to lead the globe out of the severe recession caused by the toxic U.S. mortgage and derivatives deluge created by the policies of the Democratic Party. China is going whole hog on building new infrastucture that will lead to real economic benefits, instead of the politically shaped Obama-Pelosi Porkulus Bill, that is doing little to help America.

As legendary global investor Jim Rogers says, the Chinese have become the world's best capitalists. This in contrast to the American Democrats turning the nation towards failed Socialist ideas that anyone with serious knowledge of economic history would reject. They are betting on the ignorance of the American electorate and the compliance of the MSM to keep them ignorant. Even Vladimir Putin has warned America against entrusting the government with too much economic control. But did the networks report his warning? No way~!

In only 100 days Obama has been extrememly successful in advancing his agenda of American decline. Our President, who clearly shares the worldview of Reverend Jeremiah Wright, is working to punish America for its racist history. Flagellation of America by third world dictators is met with a smile while our allies and friends are ignored. With SO much accomplished in only 100 days, what will the remaining days of his administration bring? Will we recognize our own country after he is finished with it?

Why Islam sucks part 290

2009-04-30T12:55:00.001-05:00

This latest exaple of Islamic depravity brought to you by Canada’s National Post.

Having spent this morning catching up on my weekend reading, I came across this Page 4 article from Friday's New York Times. Here's the lead paragraph: "BAGHDAD — At least 80 people died and 120 others were injured Thursday in three bombings, one by a female suicide bomber in Baghdad who, Iraqi officials said, held a young child’s hand as she set off her explosives among a group of women and children receiving emergency food aid."

Even putting aside our baseline revulsion at terrorism, there are three especially hideous things that jump out from this:

1) A mother deliberately taking her (presumed) child with her as she immolates herself. For all the hundreds of suicide bombings that Iraq has already witnessed, this has got to be a first.

2) This was a line for food aid. Islamists have gone from attacking U.S. soldiers, to attacking Iraqi soldiers, to attacking police stations, to attacking the religious ceremonies of rival sects — on down the line of nihilism until, now, they are reduced to blowing up hungry people seeking sustenance.

3) This hideous crime was played on page four of The New York Times. And a quick scan of other media suggests it got similar B-rate treatment elsewhere. This sort of act would have been worth a worldwide banner headline a decade ago. But now, it's just another demented Islamist senselessly slaughtering fellow Muslims. With her kid. Yawn.

Says a lot about the world we live in, doesn't it?

Filled with her love for Allah, she murders her child and the poorest of the poor women and children of her county.
She didn’t target Americans, or infidels of any stripe. Nope just downtrodden fellow Muslims slaughtered in the name of the pedophile prophet of death.

It's falling off the radar

2009-04-29T07:48:00.000-05:00

Some will say I'm probably beating a dead horse, trying to keep yesterdays news alive, I can understand that if I were on the other side. But with todays 100 days in office crap being front page news, and Arlen Specter finally admitting what we all knew he was, and officially joining the party of [fill in the blank]. The NYC photo op is disappearing very quickly.

Let me ask a question. Hypothetical? You decide. What if a corporation that has been receiving tax dollars, and is dependent on tax dollars, our money, took the old corporate jet up for a spin following the same flight pattern as the terrorists used at ground zero, for a photo op for the new company brochure. And while doing that, wasting 350,000 dollars of our money that is subsidizing that company. And they did it in a sneaky way, like AIG with the half million dollar party in Malibu, the 200,000 European hunting trip, and the bonuses. It's legal, it may not be ethical, so don't tell anyone. How would you feel?

EPA to Indians: Screw You

2009-04-28T17:26:00.004-05:00

If anyone doubts the dictatorial and repressive nature of our new masters in Washington, all I can say is either wake up or go buy your jackboots.

Via Ed at Hot Air:
In a dramatic move yesterday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) withdrew the air quality permit it issued last summer for the Desert Rock coal-fired power plant, which is slated to be built on the Navajo Nation in the Four Corners region just southwest of Farmington, New Mexico. …

Jeff Holmstead, former head of the air program at EPA and now head of the Environmental Strategies Group at Bracewell & Giuliani, the law firm representing the plant’s developer, Sithe Global, said in a statement that he has “never seen anything like it.”

Those silly Indians! The nerve of them, trying to develop industry and actually sell a product. Every good liberal knows the only thing Navajo should be making is blankets. Gaia forbid they threaten Our Mother. What were they thinking?

Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley said in a statement the decision was further proof that the U.S. government isn’t “honest and truthful in its dealings with Native America.” Shirley said that the EPA withdrawal of the permit will harm the Navajo people.

“I have people dying every day because of poverty, alcoholism, drug abuse, domestic violence, gangs, and the U.S. Government is not there to adequately fund the direct service programs that cater to these needs,” he said.

Shirley concluded by saying that the message from the EPA is that it will hold projects “on Navajo land to standards that may well be impossible to meet — and that wouldn’t be applicable elsewhere.”

Oh. That's what they were thinking. Well those Redskins don't know that there's a new sheriff in Washington D.C. who has an agenda that doesn't include coal burning anything.

So, if somebody wants to build a coal plant, they can — it’s just that it will bankrupt them, because they are going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted. - Barack Hussien Obama, interview San Fran Chronicle in 2008.

Can't get the Cap 'n Trade forced on America? Just use an agency with dictatorial powers! Brilliant! Who needs all that messy "democracy" anyway? Like Nancy Pelosi says, We've got a planet to save! Besides, everyone knows that Indians should be in the gambling business. Let them buy their electricity like everybody else.

Maybe the next big "stimulus" bill can include some money for purchasing blankets. Those Navajo weave a mean blanket.

Senator Arlen Specter confirms what we already knew

2009-04-28T11:26:00.004-05:00

Sen. Arlen Specter intends to switch parties, run in next election as a democrat. Not that anyone should be surprised, but newsworthy nonetheless.

My favorite part of this is the Livia Soprano moment...

"I deeply regret that I will be disappointing many friends and supporters," Specter said in prepared remarks to be delivered at a news conference on Tuesday.
"I can understand their disappointment," he continued. "I am also disappointed that so many in the party I have worked for for more than four decades do not want me to be their candidate. It is very painful on both sides."

Awwwwwwwwww....poor you! So, you're sorry that people voted for a Republican and you didn't deliver the goods, so now you have to switch parties? Uh.......huh?

However, the larger issue here is the potential filibuster-proof majority should the inevitable happen and Franken is confirmed as the junior senator from MN.

At least now, Arlen admits it and tells us what we already knew - he is a democrat. Now it's confirmed, so we can get a real conservative into that seat when election time comes around. And we can put the "four decades" under Arlen's belt to rest.

Good riddance, I say. Short term pain, long term gain.

Ellison get's one right

2009-04-27T22:34:00.004-05:00

WASHINGTON, April 27 (UPI) -- Five members of Congress were arrested outside the Sudanese Embassy in Washington Monday as they demonstrated against the situation in Darfur.

Hundreds of thousands of people have died in Darfur in western Sudan in what the U.S. State Department has described as genocide.

The protesters spoke out against the general situation in Darfur and Sudan's expulsion of outside relief agencies.

A spokesman for Rep. Donna Edwards, D-Md., told The Hill that the five and organizers of the protest from the Save Darfur Coalition crossed a Secret Service perimeter around the embassy and ignored three warnings to leave the property. They were expected to be fined for a misdemeanor and released.

Members of Congress arrested were Edwards; Jim McGovern, D-Mass.; John Lewis, D-Ga., a veteran of the civil rights movement in the 1960s; Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the only Muslim member of Congress, and Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif.

Credit where it's due.
Ellison is the only Muslim I can recall who has a problem with the genocide of the blacks in Darfur.

What's been happening in Darur really is a crime against humanity.
The people of Darfur are not sufficiently pius enough or Arab enough for the Arabic Islamic fanatics in Khartoum (think North African Taliban).
This is one of the very reasons for the very existence of the U.N. Of course they have done nothing to stop it.
Again Kudos to congressman Ellison for making a stink.
I don't think his Wahhabi masters at CAIR and the MAS are gonna be happy about this.
We'll have to wait and see how that relationship goes.

Well now, that didn't take long!

2009-04-27T18:31:00.000-05:00

Hey! Alright! The swine flu is now officially the Republicans fault too! Nothing bad in this world ever happens unless a Republican is involved! Ooo-yeah!

The Service Employees International Union has launched an online petition criticizing Republicans for delaying the confirmation of a Health and Human Services secretary in the face of a swine flu outbreak.

The union accuses Senate Republicans of delaying the confirmation of nominee Kathleen Sebelius to “curry favor with extremist outside groups” and depriving the department of leadership as the nation confronts a potential flu pandemic.

“This is simply unacceptable,” the union says on its website. “This disease is spreading as we speak, but right now, a Bush-appointed accountant is running the department. We need an HHS secretary NOW. Sign the petition telling the Senate to vote immediately to confirm Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. If we don't act, the swine flu might just turn into another Hurricane Katrina.”

As a public service I should let you know about a presidential directive that states, if there is a pandemenic such as, oh... I dunno... the swine flu. The CDC falls under the complete control of the Department of Homeland Security. Does the name Janet Napolitano ring a bell? I feel so much more confident already, knowing that Janet Napolitano could be handling this, personally! She absolutely exudes confidence and competence. I can't tell you how pleased I am knowing that she's in charge!