Saturday, March 29, 2008
Riddle ; Seven, Seven, Star
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Too much time on my hands?
That is why I blog and don't work on Jeep at night, the blogging doesn't cost any money, working on Jeep does. Jeep stands for Just Empty Every Pocket you know. I don't spend my nights reloading ammunition any longer, a fact that thrills my wife, all that shooting gets me in the mood to purchase more firearms. My wife is of the opinion that I have far too many firearms while I counter with my opinion that a man can never have too many firearms, it is simply an impossibility. In this opinion, I am right.
My blogging may ultimately come down to the fact that I am getting cheap in old age.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Representative Mike Thompson, incredibly stupid, or usefull idiot.
I'm not sure why you meet with a dictator who actually does all the things the left accuses George W. Bush of doing, you know torture, by torture I don't mean water boarding six high value terrorists in five years, I mean cutting out the tongues of people who don't agree with him, chopping off various body parts as a way to make sure the person knows Saddam is mad at them, that kind of torture. Not to mention slaughtering tens of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands of political, religious or personal enemies, and we won't even start on his two murderous sons who ran the rape rooms and killed Iraqis for the enjoyment of it.
Now it seems that Mike Thompson's trip to get cozy with Saddam was arranged by a one of Saddam's spies working here in America.
Saddam Hussein's intelligence agency secretly financed a trip to Iraq for three U.S. lawmakers during the run-up to the U.S.-led invasion, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.An indictment unsealed in Detroit accuses Muthanna Al-Hanooti, a member of a Michigan nonprofit group, of arranging for three members of Congress to travel to Iraq in October 2002 at the behest of Saddam's regime. Prosecutors say Iraqi intelligence officials paid for the trip through an intermediary.
At the time, the Bush administration was trying to persuade Congress to authorize military action against Iraq.
The lawmakers are not named in the indictment but the dates correspond to a trip by Democratic Reps. Jim McDermott of Washington, David Bonior of Michigan and Mike Thompson of California. None was charged and Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said investigators "have no information whatsoever" any of them knew the trip was underwritten by Saddam.
How could Thompson know Saddam had given Al Hanooti 2 million barrels of oil, thanks to the 'Oil for Espionage', I mean 'Oil for food' program to pay for the trip? I will believe the Congressman, that he didn't know a spy was paying for the trip in order to give Saddam some great public relations opportunities, but wouldn't you be curious who was paying for the trip?
I mean when you are being pimped out by a Middle East dictator for some photo ops, one would think you want to know who is picking up the check?
It seems that the mainstream media doesn't want folks to know about Al-Hanooti being the former head of the Michigan branch of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the president of Focus on American and Arab Interests and Relations.
For some strange reason the Michigan CAIR web site is under construction, no doubt trying to erase any mention of Al-Hanooti.
There are some good folks running for Mr. Thompson's seat this year. He has lots of money on hand. Well, it doesn't hurt when his largest contributer is one of the biggest developers in the state. I thought developers were evil? I guess when they write huge checks, you can overlook a lot of evil.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Beijing, come for the Olympics, stay for the prison food
Monday, March 24, 2008
Caption Contest!
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Happy Easter
Luke 24
The Resurrection
1On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' " 8Then they remembered his words.Saturday, March 22, 2008
Easter Services in Woodland California
For Christians, its the most important day of the year. It is the day we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. To me, the eggs and bunny's are fine for the kids, although some folks will be offended that people are not celebrating the day as God has intended, with strict adherence to religious traditions and reverence, and I do see their point, but that's not the kind of church I belong to. On the other hand, there are many non Christians who are offended that all of us 'religious fanatics' are spoiling their secular, pagan, springtime ritual. Hey you can't win, but you can smile and say, Jesus loves you, and I'm trying.
At our last Sunday service Ted, who gives our 'news you can use' before we adjourn, said that if you have a tradition of putting on a fancy new Easter dress on your girls and a tie on the boys, go ahead and dress them up, take their picture, and then put them into their regular clothes and bring them to church because we are going to have fun at Bayside's Easter services. The kids have a great time every week, Darin our children's pastor is funny as can be, and the staff in children's ministries really have a heart for service.
If you're new to Woodland or you know you probably should go to church on Easter Sunday but don't have attend a church regularly, please come to one of our services. I promise the whole family will have fun, the music will be upbeat and contemporary, and the message will be thoughtful and inspiring. You will probably see me at the door this Sunday, it our small group's turn to greet and usher.
I won't be wearing my hat, but you should be able to spot me!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
The Daily Democrat lifts yet another opinion piece.
It's ironic that the final nudge to bring race to the surface in this historic Democratic face-off was not innuendo from Republicans or the Clinton campaign but the fiery rhetoric of Barack Obama's own longtime pastor. Obama rose to the challenge Tuesday with a stirring speech, condemning racism without condemning individuals, and calling upon Americans of all races to rise above divisions of the past.
What could have been a political cataclysm was transformed into another opportunity for the first serious black presidential contender to show how he can bridge divides.
We in Yolo County - where there's a schism between Latinos and whites, albeit a small one - can learn from Obama.
It started when the Rev. Jeremiah Wright became a YouTube phenomenon with his rants condemning America and invoking racism - a dream come true for some of Obama's detractors, who had struggled with how to bring race front and center without themselves seeming racist.
Here is the opinion piece from yesterday's Mercury News
Notice any similarly in the two?It's ironic that the final nudge to bring race to the surface in this historic Democratic face-off was not innuendo from Republicans or the Clinton campaign but the fiery rhetoric of Barack Obama's own longtime pastor.
Perhaps it's just as well. Obama rose to the challenge Tuesday with a stirring speech, condemning racism without condemning individuals, and calling upon Americans of all races to rise above the divisions of the past.
What could have been a political cataclysm was transformed into another opportunity for the first serious black presidential contender to show how he can bridge divides. One speech may not do it, but the address in Philadelphia was a very good start.
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright became a YouTube phenomenon with his rants condemning America and invoking racism - a dream come true for some of Obama's detractors, who had struggled with how to bring race front and center without themselves seeming racist. The pastor may yet prove to be Obama's undoing as a candidate.
If you read the closing paragraph in both editorials, it doesn't matter which one, they are the same, you get to this line.
If Obama is, as we hope, the leader who can draw people across political divides to create real change and a renewed optimism in America, then confronting race head-on was inevitable. Perhaps Pastor Wright did us all a favor.Just who the heck is we Jim? If we is the Daily Democrat, that should tell it's readers all they need to know.
As for Obama's speech, it was flowery, well delivered, whenever he is in front a teleprompter or reading a prepared statement he is very good, but in the end what do we know about Senator Obama and his Pastor, friend, spiritual advisor and one time member of his campaign? Not much.
Wright's 'fiery' comments don't seem to bother many of the hand picked crowd who listened to Obama's speech. It seems if you hate the right people, whites and Jews, you can be forgiven easily, after all, the US of KKK is the reason black people are stuck in poverty, right?
Obama said "I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community," Ok, so you don't like what this guy said, but you can't break your ties from him and his church? After all, he is the Pastor who officiated your wedding, baptized your children, was on your payroll and from whom you took the title of your book.
The argument that everyone would stay in a church where this kind of hate is preached is insulting to me.
If my Pastor said any of these things, I would get up in the middle of his sermon and walk out, then I would wait at his car in the parking lot and we would have a 'fiery' discussion about keeping your hate filled, politically motivated speech out of the Lord's house. If he were not removed immediately, I would never set foot in that church again. Hey but that just me, I'm intolerant of hate speech.
So either Obama isn't serious about 'moving beyond race' or he was using Wright's church as a political tool to garner favor and political power in Chicago as an up and coming politician, or he doesn't really see anything that wrong with his spiritual advisor's teachings.
One or the other, or both.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Can the Democrats please find someone in New York who isn't having an affair?
The thunderous applause was still ringing in his ears when the state's new governor, David Paterson, told the Daily News that he and his wife had extramarital affairs.
In a stunning revelation, both Paterson, 53, and his wife, Michelle, 46, acknowledged in a joint interview they each had intimate relationships with others during a rocky period in their marriage several years ago
Is it a prerequisite to hold elected office in New York? If your not cheating on your wife, you just not reaching your full potential, is that it? You should be able to have it all, a family, a woman on the side, is that the message New York sends to its public officials, or is this just a run of bad apples?
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Guitar Hero, bringing back old school Rock n Roll
With that being said, I have to admit one of the very small positives from the gaming world is Guitar Hero. Where else would a thirteen year old listen to ZZ Top, Carlos Santana, Foghat, The Clash, Lynard Skynard or Cream? Sure there are many new songs on Guitar Hero 2 and GH3, but its pretty cool that they still mix in some oldies and great songs from the 90s as well.
I may ask my son to bring out the PS2 into the living room tonight and challenge my wife to a guitar battle. We are both terrible and if we get through a song on the 'easy' setting without being booed off the stage, its a major accomplishment. I try to keep my competitive emotions in check, but kicking your wife's butt playing "I want to rock n roll all night" is sweet.
A week of kissing up to her is worth the thrill of ending the song in your best 'power stance' and shouting " I freakin' rock!"
Maybe Guitar Hero isn't a positive after all.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Arrg! Hippies!
Code Pink, more nuts than a can of Planter's Cashews.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Yolo County Fairgrounds gets a new CEO.
The Yolo County Fair Board of Directors on Monday chose fairgrounds deputy manager Rita Moore to replace retired CEO Lonny Wunder, according to two people with close ties to the process.The decision - made in closed session at the board's monthly meeting Monday night - was the culmination of a process that began last August, when Wunder announced his resignation after eight years on the job.
This job is not one I would wish to have. Kind of like being Saddam's food taster. Not a lot of upside, besides the paycheck, and downside a plenty.
Sounds like Rita Moore knows what she is in for.In an interview with the four-person CEO selection committee on Feb. 15, Moore, of Woodland, said she hoped to improve the fair's relationship with the community.
"We need to mend fences and reaffirm our integrity," she said. "We're a good place, and we need people to know that."
Her plans for the fairgrounds include establishing a foundation to raise money for basic fair operations and future developments, and building a "high-end, multi-use facility" to compete with Woodland's Community and Senior Center and the Heidrick Ag History Center, she said.
Moore, who has been with the fairgrounds for 21 years, said in her interview that she was not looking to make "a 20-year commitment or even a 10-year commitment" to the CEO position, but instead would draw upon her extensive experience and serve "until the ideal person comes down the road.
The facilities are in bad shape, the prospect of finding money to fix them will be huge uphill battle. The environmental pot stirrers will be out to get the animal events 'scaled back' and then eliminated because of the threat of ecoli or some other such nonsense. The City would like to buy the property because of its location. Every community group wants to use it free of charge, no one wants to charge admission to the County Fair, we are one the last 'free' fairs in the State.
A giant mess is in store for whoever is going to run the fairgrounds. Good luck to you Rita, you will need plenty of it. I mean it, best of luck, the fairgrounds could be a gem for the County, or it could wither away and become a blight to its residents.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island busted for pot possession?
Dawn Wells a.k.a Mary Ann had a bad day.
Under a plea agreement, three misdemeanor counts — driving under the influence, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance — were dropped.
On Oct. 18, Teton County sheriff's Deputy Joseph Gutierrez arrested Wells as she was driving home from a surprise birthday party that was held for her. According to the sheriff's office report, Gutierrez pulled Wells over after noticing her swerve and repeatedly speed up and slow down. When Gutierrez asked about a marijuana smell, Wells said she'd just given a ride to three hitchhikers and had dropped them off when they began smoking something. Gutierrez found half-smoked joints and two small cases used to store marijuana.
The 69-year-old Wells, founder of the Idaho Film and Television Institute and organizer of the region's annual family movie festival called the Spud Fest, then failed a sobriety test.
The Spud Festival? Hey its Idaho, what else are you going to do in the winter, there is only so much knitting and wood duck carving one can do.
Stupid criminal alert, in Yolo County no less.
A CHP officer pulled over a woman Monday night near Woodland who was carrying more than $5 million worth of cocaine in her SUV.Two lines from movies of my youth, to quote Tony Montana in Scarface, "dont' get high on your own supply" and to quote Capitan Kirk in Star TrekIV " double dumba$$ on you!"Lucretia Iris James, 32, from Washington, was spotted by a CHP patrolman traveling in excess of 90 m.p.h. northbound on Interstate 5 near CR 17 around 9 p.m. Monday.
Does it take one to know one?
Kendall Coffey had to resign his US attorney post after a story surfaced about his biting a topless dancer in a delicate place as he ran up a $900 tab at the gentleman's club. Hey, the guy had just lost a tough case in court and was probably blowing of steam. He should have bought a punching bag and set it up the basement, it would have been much cheaper. How exactly do you spend $900 at a strip club, never mind, I retract that.
CNN does have a big list of experts, although they say they made a mistake inviting Coffey on the air to comment on the scandal. Why?
If you they ever find a television sports announcer dressed in women's clothes, bitting a hooker in the butt, I hope they bring on Marv Alpert for analysis. If the next President of the United States gets caught with his pants around his ankles in the oval office with an intern, I know the perfect guy who is experienced in that field.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Client 9 - Spitzer, will he go into 'bunker mentality' mode?
No way he stays on as President of the United States. No freakin' way.
I was wrong.
Never underestimate the power of the media to rally around one of their own after the initial shock of the story wears off.
I wonder if Eliot Spitzer will hunker down and try to ride this one out too? Don't think its possible? Ever wonder what happened to Larry 'wide stance' Craig? He is still a Senator from Idaho, you and I are still paying his salary. He had the good judgment not run for re election but it still gets me a little riled up that I will paying his retirement pension for years to come.
From most of the talking heads I listened to today, it seems that Spitzer has built his career on ruthlessness and political backstabbing from the time he was AG of New York until today as the Governor. His list of friends may get short very quickly as everyone Spitzer has stepped on, and destroyed on his way to the top starts plucking chickens and boiling tar for his descent back down.
Not being involved in New York politics, I can only assume that 'couldn't have happened to a nicer guy' is being toasted around the trendy bars of Manhattan tonight.
I feel for his family, as a political spouse, it comes with the territory, but the kids can't pick their parents.
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Living in a shipping container?
Looks pretty cozy, the Dutch seem big on the idea.
They are making, not only single family homes, but entire apartment complexes out of cargo containers.
Why not? Insulating them would seem to be the big drawback, a sweat box in the summer and a refrigerator in the winter, but with rigid foam insulation today, these problems are fixable.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
When did the Tacero dorms at UC Davis go Gaza?
It's not Hamas, it's not Hezbollah, it's not al Qaeda, its this goofy looking white dude.
First-year economics major Mark Woods, 18, of Torrance, Calif., has been booked into Yolo County Jail on charges of possession of chemicals to make explosives and possession of explosives on school grounds, said UC Davis Police Captain Joyce SouzaBy the way, when did Carrot Top start attending UCD?
I know its serious, making bombs is bad, even for fun.
As a dumb kid I pulled many bullets from their cartridges to gain access to gun powder. The frogs and muskrats in our streams came to learn that when the kids with the matches and coffee can comes walking down the hill, you better find a place to hide. I came close to blowing up my fathers shop when I found out about oxygen and acetylene. I was not the smartest youngster growing up, but then again, where were my parents? I know if I saw my son walking out of the shop with a black garbage bag filled with highly volatile gas, I would ask some pointed questions.
I am living, and I mean just barely living, proof that idle hands are the Devils workshop or at least his work bench.
I don't know if we will ever get the story from Mr. Woods as to what exactly he was going to do with the explosives in question. It could be way to make a great YouTube video if you had say, the twenty foot high pile of cow manure stacked behind the Tercero dorms at the school dairy, or he could be a truly messed up young man with evil on him mind. I'm hoping its the latter, exploding the manure pile at the dairy would be something I would have done if I had enough cartridges or acetylene.
But then again, I never claimed to be the brightest bulb on the strand.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
PU,G&E?
PG&E customers will now be able to get natural gas from cow manure for the first time.
In a ceremony at Vintage Dairy, a 1,700-acre dairy farm in Riverdale, not far from Fresno, officials from the utility, the state's Department of Food and Agriculture and the Energy Commission joined David Albers of BioEnergy Solutions Tuesday to turn a valve that will send the first of 3 billion cubic feet of natural gas a year into a pipeline.That's enough gas to create electricity for 50,000 California homes, and comes from 5,000 cows.
The potential for turning waste to energy is vast. "There are nearly 2 million dairy cows in California," said Jennifer Zerwer, a PG&E spokeswoman.
PG&E calls it "cow power," capturing methane released from covered lagoons of cow manure and sending the natural gas into pipelines where it'll be burned to generate electricity. It's all part of a state-mandated push to get more energy from renewable sources.
I'll bet the environmentalist will be freaked out by it. Methane from cows is killing the planet, just ask the environmental fanatics. In a world where we are constantly bombarded by the professional alarmists in the environmental movement who claim America is killing the planet and we all need to do something to stop it, one wonders if they will get behind this, clean, green and abundant source of domestic energy?
In Davis its easy to find a bumper sticker on the back of a Prius telling the world "NO BLOOD FOR OIL", I wonder if we will see this bumper sticker "COW POOP FOR PEACE" or "YOU CAN'T GO GREENER THAN COW POO" or "COWS, SAVING THE PLANET ONE COWPIE AT A TIME".
I doubt it, but who knows, one day I could be a methane millionaire.
Interesting thoughts on John McCain
They also have a serious side and that is where this post came from. I have similar feelings towards Senator McCain, he is an honorable man and a pain in the butt to Republicans from time to time.
Let Hillary and Obama get personal. Let them get nasty. It will only make them seem pettier and less serious. And if that’s all they’ve got, they’re in trouble eight months from now. Because McCain won’t just stand there and take it. He’ll give it right back, but no one will fault him for it. And he’ll come away from it looking like the good guy.Read the whole thing.Fans of the movie "Road House" know that Dalton the ass-kicking bouncer's default mode was to "be nice". It garnered him respect. Of course, when nice no longer worked...
No, I think McCain’s instincts are right on here. Bill Cunningham’s support of McCain wasn’t genuine. He went to that rally despite his disdain for the candidate. His opposition to the two Democrat nominees was genuine. And that’s what drove his emphasis of Obama’s middle name. It wasn’t out of bounds. Hussein is the man's middle name, after all. But it wasn’t necessary either. McCain responded out of conviction, not fear.
John McCain has a long way to go to convince movement conservatives to not just vote for him, but to back him enthusiastically. He gets this. But there are some places McCain is just not willing to go. He made that clear.
If Republicans make this election about ideas – as Reagan did – then they can persuade plenty of voters to their side. Maybe they can pick up a few Senate and House seats too.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
This is going to be fun to watch
I was going to start in on a list of movie plot lines that culminate in disaster, but the next movie was Dracula, and the stake through the heart reference seems a bit out of line.
I have never liked Hillary Clinton, either as a person or politician. That is pretty hard for me to say because politics is a contact sport and you need to throw a few elbows if your going to get the ball, but Hillary and Bill are the Tonya Harding of politics. No holds barred no rules, no class.
There will always be a few rabid groups on each side who go way over the line, MoveOn and Code Pink on the left and Pat Robertson and his ilk on the right, but the Clinton machine complete with the 'bimbo eruption' team is a dynasty when it comes to playing dirty politics.
Karl Rove plays to win and will twist a few arm until they yell uncle, but Clinton Inc. will publicly ruin a person's life, or several, who have damaging stories to tell about the Clintons. Their path to office is strewn with ruined lives of political enemies, business partners, former friends and of course, Bill's lady acquaintances.
So will it be tonight? I don't know. I still think Barack Obama is a formidable candidate, but he just might have a lot of explaining to do when it comes to how he was able to buy his mansion. Hillary may just stick around and see if the smoke coming from Chicago has a few flames attached to it.
Wouldn't that be great? Barack goes on to win the nomination, Rezcogate actually gets some real media coverage and he is told to give up the nomination for the good of the party and with that deal, he secures DNC backing to keep his seat in the Senate, and Hillary gets the nomination.
Hey, stranger things have happened.
I love politics.
UPDATE Hillary wins the Buckeye State and Texas.
The pumps seem to be keeping up with water, she might just stay afloat. The SS Hillary may make it to port after all.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Holly the Christmas goat and Roxie update
Capay Valley Almond Blossom Festival, 2008
Next up, the small town of Guinda.
The Security at the 4-H petting zoo is formidable, he looks like you owe him money.
The final stop on our trip up the valley ended in the tiny town of Rumsey.
Rumsey, home of the famous Rumsey Ribs
The Shane Dwight Band was very good, Rock and a little Blues thrown in made for a great time.
Inside the craft fair and silent action at the Rumsey Hall
The famous Rumsey Ribs, big suckers aren't they?
I hope you make it next year.