Sorry I haven't been posting much

I have been busy at work and at home and just haven't had time to do much worth writing about or read much worth commenting on.

We bought an incubator and got it set up so the temperature can stabilize. Previously we borrowed one and had some success. The bobcats took their toll, so we are planning on repopulating our chicken pens. Hopefully the federal government won't come up with a new "socialized egg" law and mess up my plans.

I also read the book "Jaws". Why? Someone gave me a copy of the book. This is one of the few times that I prefer the movie over the book. This is a story about a man eating shark, right? I really don't think that a detailed list of all the places a women puts powder on her body and in her clothes before she goes to cheat on her husband has any place in a book about a man eating shark. I expect blood, guts, and terror, not a bunch of wishy-washy nonsense that sounds like an article out of Cosmo. Before I finished I was rooting for the shark and only finished the book because I was sort of hoping that it would eat ALL of the main characters. My advice: skip the book.

Debt will rise to 90% of GDP

This according to the CBO.

My opinion is that the CBO is optimistic. I think the debt will rise much faster than they are predicting.

OTOH if the dollar and the economy collapse then the debt may never reach the 90% mark.

I'm afraid of the nation that I am helping create for my children.

AT&T Inc. will book $1 billion in first-quarter costs related to the health-care law signed this week

This is no surprise. It is just the beginning.

Hurray!

Could we shut down the federal government?

What would happen if lots of people just started mailing envelopes full of flour or powdered sugar to their congressmen and senators and to all the alphabet soup agencies?

Here is one example.

People could even include a note that says "This is NOT a dangerous substance" so they wouldn't alarm anyone. Another possibility for the note is to say "I thought you would like some sugar to go with your tea."


Here is a quote for you:

The mystery of government is not how Washington works but how to make it stop.

P. J. O'Rourke

Now I think I'll go home and hide my dog.

Quote of the Day

Vote em out now, Hang em all later.

Dragon

Free Stuff at The Survivalist Blog

I'll admit that I like to get free stuff. I also read The Survivalist Blog regularly.

Now, let me see if I can follow the instructions and get it right the first time:

M.D. Creekmore over at the The Survivalist Blog – a survival blog dedicated to helping others prepare for and survive disaster, is giving away a The Tactical Advantage book and DVD set by Gabriel Suarez and a copy of Don’t Get Caught With Your Pantry Down by James Talmage Stevens! To enter, you just have to post about it on your blog. This is my entry. Visit The Survivalist Blog for more information.

I have not trained with Gabe Suarez, but that is because of lack of opportunity rather than preference.

Go visit The Survivalist Blog and check it out.

Cop Count so far this week

Monday morning: 1
Monday afternoon: 0
Tuesday morning: 1
Tuesday afternoon: 0
Wednesday morning: 3
Wednesday afternoon: 1
Thursday morning: 1

That is 7 in 7 trips. I've never seen it like this before. In less than a week I've seen more cops with radar than I've seen per year most of the years I've been here.

As far as this being a revenue thing it seems to me that if that's the case then they are starting a little late in this economic downturn. In 2009 I noticed a slight increase, maybe 18 or 20 for the year, but nothing like this.

Hey England, how is that online database of everyone's medical records working out?

While patients supposedly have the choice to opt out of having their medical records in the database, it seems that isn't exactly the case.

Governments are always pushing to collect all kinds of information on people and put it in databases. I understand why - because knowledge is power. They may not have plans yet about what they intend to do with the information, but if the government has information on people it will use it against them.

Governments also sometimes try to make it more palatable to their subjects by claiming that they can "opt out" of the system. Usually through some complex method that is not advertised to the public.

This sounds familiar:

Hamish Meldrum, its (it being the British Medical Association) chairman, writes: "The breakneck speed with which this programme is being implemented is of huge concern.

My thought is that if you really want your medical records or any other personal information stored in some government database that you should have to go out of your way to make the request.

No more public input on federal fishery strategy

From an article on ESPN:

The Obama administration will accept no more public input for a federal strategy that could prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing the nation's oceans, coastal areas, Great Lakes, and even inland waters.

I guess if you don't like the input you are receiving you just quit accepting it.

Seems that this administration is taking it's direction from a number of anti-hunting and anti-fishing organizations.

Go read the article.

Because the government won't secure the border, I've got to have a biometric ID card

Here is the link.

Of course, the only solution to illegal immigration is to require all Americans to have biometric ID cards. There is no other way.

If you look at the incredibly great job the government has done on securing the border and sending home the illegals that we find today you can get a good idea of how effective this idea will be for getting rid of illegals.

For you people that might think this is a good idea and a necessary tool for fighting illegal immigration I've got news for you: The government doesn't want to stop illegal immigration.

This scheme won't stop illegals because it will not be enforced.

First paragraph of the article:

Lawmakers working to craft a new comprehensive immigration bill have settled on a way to prevent employers from hiring illegal immigrants: a national biometric identification card all American workers would eventually be required to obtain.

Does that make you a little uneasy?

Want to know who is behind this nonsense? Well, from the article:

The uphill effort to pass a bill is being led by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), who plan to meet with President Barack Obama as soon as this week to update him on their work.

More from the article:

The card, he said, would directly answer concerns that after legislation is signed, another wave of illegal immigrants would arrive. "If you say they can't get a job when they come here, you'll stop it."

Does anyone really believe that?

I've got another idea. Why don't we make it against the law for illegals to own anything in this nation? How about any time any LEO comes across any person trying to use a matricular consular as ID, the LEO arrests the person. The state or federal government could use asset forfeiture to take every possession from the person, including cars, houses, clothes, cash, anything and everything. Then put the person in pink jailhouse jammies and dump them somewhere across the border. Canada has easy rules for immigrants so I suggest that would be a good place. Make it against the law for banks to make loans or open accounts for anyone using a matricular consular as ID. Any loan made to an illegal would be null and void and never have to be repaid. Of course the car or home of the illegal would be confiscated by the government and sold at auction to raise money for border security.

More from the article:

U.S. employers now have the option of using an online system called E-Verify to check whether potential employees are in the U.S. legally. Many Republicans have pressed to make the system mandatory.

How about that idea? We have what seems like a decent system but we don't use it. So, in response, let's create a new national ID. We'll have to have a new ID number because our SSNs are not to be used for identification purposes. Oh, wait, we know how well that worked out, don't we?

More:

But others, including Mr. Schumer, complain that the existing system is ineffective.

Yes, it is ineffective because there is no incentive for employers to use it. We wouldn't even have to make it mandatory. We could use the usual government stategy of saying "Participation in this program is voluntary. However, if an employer chooses not to participate then they will be required to pay a $10,000 fee per year per employee to help offset the additional cost of ensuring that they do not hire illegals." See, that was easy and it is entirely voluntary. Another step would be to make note of which companies use the E-verify system and which ones don't and concentrate ICE efforts on companies that don't use the system.

While we're at it, we could make the penalty for knowingly hiring illegals to be $10,000 per illegal. If that isn't enough then raise it to $50,000 per illegal, and keep raising it until companies quit hireing illegals. Some have said that the penalties should go directly to the CEO or owner. I'm not sure it should be limited there. If the company has publicly traded stock then the company should pay it so that the stock holders feel the pinch, too. Maybe there should be penalties for the executives/owners and another penalty for the corporation. The threat of the company being put out of business would be a powerful incentive for stockholders and employees to make sure that illegals are not hired or are fired if they are discovered later.

How about we build a good fence on the southern border? Oh, I forgot, fences don't work. That's why they don't have any at prisons or around the White House.

How about we change the law so that if a baby is born to an illegal in the US that the baby is also an illegal? That would get rid of anchor babies.

How about we make against the law for illegals or children of illegals to go to public schools or receive any kind of government assistance?

Why don't we try these kinds of things before we go crazy and issue biometric IDs?

More from the article:

Under the legislation envisioned by Messrs. Graham and Schumer, the estimated 10.8 million people living illegally in the U.S. would be offered a path to citizenship, though they would have to register, pay taxes, pay a fine and wait in line.

Giving amnesty is not a good way to reduce the number of illegals. I thought that was obvious.

More nonsense:

Most European countries require citizens and foreigners to carry ID cards.

I've never thought that we should follow the policies of European nations.

Here is a good bit:

A person familiar with the legislative planning said the biometric data would likely be either fingerprints or a scan of the veins in the top of the hand. It would be required of all workers, including teenagers, but would be phased in, with current workers needing to obtain the card only when they next changed jobs, the person said.

It gets better (or worse, if that is possible):

Mr. Schumer said employers would be able to buy a scanner to check the IDs for as much as $800. Small employers, he said, could take their applicants to a government office to like the Department of Motor Vehicles and have their hands scanned there.

OMG what kind of insanity is this?! At least they aren't talking about inserting microchips, yet.

Seems to me that this whole national ID simply follows the normal government procedure. Some people break the rules so EVERYONE has to pay the price.

Examples:

Some people use sudafed to make meth so we all have to register our sudafed.

Some people misuse firearms so we all have to pay the price with silly forms, government databases, licenses, etc. Oh, I forgot, the govnment isn't allowed to keep that information after a NICS check. I'm sure they delete those records.

There might be one upside to this: After we get all this information integrated into one giant database we could do away with the silly census survey.

Another fine example of government competence

Here is the link.

Seems that the state police in PA were directed to go to bars and confiscate beer if the name of the beer was not registered with the state. BTW the registration costs $75. Some of the highly dangerous, unregistered contraband was confiscated because the name on the bottles wasn't identical to the name registered with the government. In some cases the brewer or importer forgot to register the beer. I feel much safer now knowing that the vigilant PA state patrol is on the lookout for unregistered beer.

I have no doubt that the government agents were directed to drum up some revenue, and if they could spread a little fear of the government then that was ok, too.

People will shake their heads and laugh about government stupidity as far as registering beer, but will still support government takeover of heath care.

I find it difficult to believe that anyone wants the government involved in health care in any way.

Are the Dems going to sacrifice one of their own to force socialized medicine on us?

Here is a link.

Here is another.

This has to do with Rep. Eric Massa, (D-NY) who claims that the House "ethics" committee is investigating him as a way for the democrat leadership to force him to resign because he has said he will vote "no" on destroying health care in the US.

From the article:

"Mine is now the deciding vote on the health care bill," Massa, who on Friday announced his intention to resign, said during a long monologue on radio station WKPQ. "And this administration and this House leadership have said, quote-unquote, they will stop at nothing to pass this health care bill. And now they've gotten rid of me, and it will pass. You connect the dots."

I don't know if he really planned to vote "no". I don't know if that is the reason for the investigation. If he was planning on voting to save the US then I wouldn't be surprised at anything the democrat leadership might do to get him out of the way. I do find it entertaining that a democrat came out with this story. If Massa were a Republican the LWM would rake him over the coals for starting a story like this. Of course, if a Republican had a name like "Massa" the LWM would play the race card and the guy would never win.

*****************************************************

I think that some form of socialized medicine will be passed and that it will destroy our health care system. I think that destruction is the purpose. This is like stepping off a thousand foot cliff in that once you go over the edge there is no way back and the landing is not going to be pretty.

Don't kid yourself into thinking that a "government option" will not destroy private insurance. Private insurance will be prohibitively expensive except for people with an income up in the Opra Winfrey/Bill Gates level. The rest of us that work for a living will lose whatever private insurance we have now and we will end up buried in red tape from the government.

You think your private health insurance sucks? You can't even imagine how bad it will be under government control.

There is no way that private insurance can compete in the market with government insurance. Why not? Because government does not have to make a profit to stay in business. When the socialized medicine program goes $10 billion in the red the government will just raise taxes, or print more money to cover it. Blue Cross doesn't have that option.

TX DPS proposes lower fines for poor people

Here is your link.

The article is short so I'll just post all of it:

The Texas Department of Public Safety proposed new rules for the state's Driver Responsibility Program to address the financial impact on low-income individuals.

In 2003, the Texas Legislature established a system to assess surcharges based on certain traffic offenses such as failure to maintain insurance, driving while intoxicated, and driving without a valid license.

The new proposal would require reductions on those fines for those who live at or below the poverty level.

College students, illegals, retirees (with their houses and cars paid off), and others are going to love this.

Here is a link for more info on the Driver Responsibility Program.

Here is some of that information:

Q: How does DRP work?

A: Surcharges are assessed using one of two methods.

POINTS: Points are assessed to moving violations classified as Class C misdemeanors. The Department will assign points to a person's driver license as follows upon conviction:

• Two points for a moving violation conviction in Texas or that of another state. Moving violations are defined by 37 TEX. ADMIN. CODE §15.89 which includes a list of those violations that will be assigned points.
• Points will not be assigned for speeding less than 10% over the posted limit or for seat belt violations.
• Child Safety Seat violations will accrue two points.
• Three points are assigned for a moving violation conviction in Texas or another state that resulted in a crash.

The Department will assess a surcharge when the driver accumulates a total of six (6) points or more on their driver record during a three-year period. The surcharge assessment will be reviewed annually. If the driver record continues to reflect six or more points during the prior three-year period, the surcharge will be assessed.

Therefore, drivers may be required to pay for one or more years if six or more points continue to accumulate on the driver record. The driver must pay a $100 surcharge for the first six points and $25 for each additional point. Point surcharges are cumulative and may vary with each annual assessment if convictions are added or removed from the driver record.

OTHER: Surcharges are also assessed for certain convictions as defined by law. The surcharge amount varies based upon the type of violation committed. No points are accessed for these offenses because the surcharge is automatic upon conviction. The offense information and associated surcharges are listed below:

• Driving While Intoxicated or a DWI-related offense
  • First time offense = $1,000
  • Second or subsequent offense = $1,500
  • DWI with Blood Alcohol Content 0.16 or greater = $2,000
• Failure to Maintain Financial Responsibility= $250
• Driving While Driver License Invalid = $250
• Driving without a Valid Driver License (i.e. No Driver License, No Commercial Driver License, No Endorsement Violation, No Motorcycle License, Operate with License for other Class Vehicle) = $100

Surcharges, which are cumulative, are automatically assessed for these convictions. For example, an initial conviction for DWI will be assessed $1,000 annually, and a subsequent DWI conviction within the same three-year period will be assessed an additional $1,500 annually.

You want a position of power in the federal government? Then cheat on your taxes!

Another tax cheat.

Honestly, stories of democrats cheating on their taxes are so common that it is almost a non-story.

I love this quote:

“This is not a tax credit that Rep. Levin applied for and in an abundance of caution he has paid the full amount to Montgomery County to correct their mistake,” Levin Chief of Staff Hilarie Chambers wrote in an e-mail Friday.

So, "in an abundance of caution" the guy actually decides to obey the law. LOL.

Actually, what makes this a news story is that Levin may not have intended to cheat on his taxes, but instead did it accidentally.

Now everyone else needs to get back to work so you can pay your fair share.

Pic of the Day

I love it. After admitting that I'd better go hide my dog. Honestly, if kids acted like that in this country the SS would swoop down on them and teach them to honor their leaders.

Here is the link.

From the article:

The students carried banners branding Obama as an enemy of Islam . . .

LOL.

Of course the left-wingedness of the author of that article must come out. Here is a sample:

They also threw shoes at large pictures of Obama's head. An Iraqi journalist was sentenced to a year in prison for throwing his shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush during a news conference in Baghdad in 2008.

You see, it's all Bush's fault, or something like that. How long has this loser been President? The left wing is still trying to compare him with George W. Bush.

Funny, but the last time I checked a map Jakarta wasn't in Iraq.

I just liked the pic.

National Debt to be Higher than Whitehouse Predicted - No Kidding!

HA HA!! I LOL'd at this.

Here is your link.

When a left wing rag like the Washington Post has a story about this then you know we are in deep trouble.

From the article:

President Obama's proposed budget would add more than $9.7 trillion to the national debt over the next decade, congressional budget analysts said Friday.

I'll interpret "more than $9.7 trillion" as "at least $20 trillion and probably closer to $30 trillion".

Here you can see the left wing ragness of the paper showing through:

Proposed tax cuts for the middle class account for nearly a third of that shortfall.

Equating tax cuts with loss of revenue is a classic error that marxist make. However, in this case you have to be careful about the definition of "middle class". A lot of people who are really middle class are redefined as "evil rich" and will never see a tax cut.

Here is a particularly scary part:

Deficits of that magnitude would force the Treasury to continue borrowing at prodigious rates, sending the national debt soaring to 90 percent of the economy by 2020

I have a difficult time even imagining what that really means, or maybe it is too frightening to think about.

These are "pretty" numbers in my opinion. They don't include stuff like huge increases in illegal immigration and people being taxed so much that they quit trying to earn more and start looking for ways to have a good lifestyle on less money. Published numbers like this from the government are almost always optimistic.

This is humorous:

Obama is convening a special commission to bring deficits down to 3 percent of the economy

The best thing the President could do to help the situation is resign, but I'll bet that won't be one of the recommendations.

The hilarity continues:

Other policy changes, such as Obama's signature health-care initiative and a plan to dramatically expand the federal student loan program, would have significant effects on the budget, Elmendorf wrote, but they generally would be paid for and therefore would not drive deficits higher.

What kind of drugs are these people taking!? Is this Elmendorf character serious? Does anyone actually think that the socialized medicine plan "would be paid for and therefore would not drive deficits higher"?

This reminds me of a Three Stooges episode. The relevent part starts about 8:40.


I feel like the government is blowing more holes in the bottom of this sinking ship to let the water back out. I don't think it's going to work.

I've been seeing more police running radar lately

Maybe it's old news but I've seen a huge increase in the last few months. I commute about 45 miles each way to work. From when I started this commute 10+ years ago up until the last year or so I would see police running radar once or twice each year. Usually one state patrol and one county sheriff or small town police.

For the last two months I've seen at least one LEO per week running radar. Three this week already.

Do you know the difference between Obama being President and my kids playing soccer?

My kids have to present a birth certificate before they can play.

True story.

Watch out for barnyard animals

I knew a woman once who raised cattle with her husband. They had a bull and described it as "one of the family" and treated it like a pet. Great. Fine. My advice, though, was "Don't turn your back on it and don't ever let your guard down." She laughed. I've lost touch with her and don't know if she or her husband were ever injured or killed by any of their 1000+ pound "pets" or not.

Here is a guy that seems to have let his guard down and paid the price.

From the article:

"The poor man, he loved his animals," (Deputy Coroner) Straka said. "They were his pets."

The guy forgot that large animals can easily kill or maim you, on purpose or by accident. I know a guy that raises cattle and he was almost killed when a cow suddenly moved sideways and pinned him against a fence in his feedlot and almost squished him through the fence. He wasn't sure if she was pushed out of the way by a more aggressive cow or if she decided to scratch herself on the fence. Either way he could have ended up badly injured or killed. After that he decided to always carry a cattle prod with him when he worked in a close area with his cattle.

Be especially cautious if an animal is injured or is a mother with little ones. Mothers sometimes decide they don't want you too close to their young and a cow or pig is big enough to do something about it.

When my dad was a boy he went with his dad to pick up a bull. Grandpa towed an open-top cattle trailer over to the place behind his car and backed the trailer up to a chute so they could load the bull. My dad will playing in the back seat of the car. At first the bull decided that he didn't want to go into the chute. That provided some moments of excitement for Grandpa and the seller, but since my dad was inside the car my grandpa wasn't worried about him. Finally, after some effort on the part of the men the bull decided he would go into the chute after all. He was so enthusiastic that he charged through the chute onto the trailer and then jumped over the front end of the trailer and onto the trunk of the car.

My dad recommends against sitting in the back seat of a car when a bull jumps onto the trunk. Of course if the bull had covered a few more feet in the air before he landed then I might not be here to type this drivel.

The moral of the story: Barnyard animals are unpredictable.

It doesn't matter if you think they are pets. They can still kill you.

What is wrong with this picture?

This pic was taken in Concepcion, Chile, the day after the 8.8 quake.


The caption for the pic was:

Wary: Soldiers stand guard as people loot a supermarket in Concepcion the day after the huge quake

Here is the link to the article.

What exactly are the soldiers guarding? Are they there to make sure that the property owners don't try to prevent people from taking things that don't belong to them?

From the article:

Eduardo Aundez, a Spanish professor, watched with disgust as a soldier patiently waited for looters to rummage through a downtown store, then lobbed two tear gas canisters into the rubble to get them out.

That soldier was really doing a great job of guarding there, wasn't he?

More:

A dusk-until-dawn curfew has been imposed in Concepcion after looters sacked virtually every market in a city stricken by Saturday's massive earthquake.

There's nothing like closing the barn door after the horses have all gotten out.

In times of disaster you are truly on your own.

If you have supplies stored they may be destroyed or you may not be able to reach them.

If you are a store owner you are screwed and are dependent on an insurance company to cover your losses.

If you work for an insurance company then you are screwed because nobody will stop the looters and you will have huge claims to pay when it is all over. Don't even think about raising your rates afterwords or the whole world will declare you the bad guy and congress will subpoena you to testify as to why you are so evil as to actually try and make a profit.