I wonder what those cops are doing up there? Oh crap, hide the dope!

Oliver Stone was arrested for suspicion of DUI and drug possession Friday night. That makes two times for the drunken doper director.

I am sure that the DUI checkpoint was un-constitutional and was set up by the Bush administration to stop him from making his next movie.

Maybe some of that brilliant intellect and in-depth research could have been used my Mr. Stone to find this.

As Captain Kirk once said "Double dumb ass on you"

My prediction.

I predict this type of City ordinance will be brought up in 2005 with our trend setting neighbors in San Francisco.

Manfred Juraczka, a councillor in a Vienna district, said he wanted the city to register all dogs' DNA so that droppings left where people walk could be tested and the owner of the guilty dog punished, Associated Press reports.

It makes perfect sense for the city by the bay. More city workers, taking samples and doing DNA tests, cross-checking them against the city's database of registered dogs(and cats?) then issuing fines to support the expense of the testing. It would be the perfect storm of bureaucracy gone wild. The pet license fees would have to be increased to help with the costs, but hey folks, it's all in the effort to clean up our city! I know, how about doing this to the homeless that defecate in the doorways of businesses. If they are picked up for vagrancy, they submit to a DNA test to build a database and when a business owner discovers bum droppings in his doorway, he can call the city to find out who the perpetrator is? That I would pay for.

What about 'out of town dogs' leaving poop in golden gate park? Call in the Feds, they may have crossed state line to commit this horrible offense.

Could this be a new series for CBS?
CSI- gone to the dogs- San Francisco.

Who ever votes against this bill should be voted out of office.

Henry Hyde (R) Illinois, has introduced a bill that ties US funding for the Un to real reforms. Reforms such as not letting the worst human rights offenders sit on the human rights council.
Representative Hyde must be a reader of my blog. ( one could only hope )

Truthfully, who could vote against this? Only someone who believes like Amnesty International that the US is running a gulag in Guantanamo Bay.

Like a preacher on a bridge.

I think the line was by George Gobal, "I feel like the world is a tuxedo and I am a pair of brown shoes."

I had the privilege to officiate the wedding of my best friend and his lovely bride this past weekend. It took place on a small bridge over the creek on the most beautiful day we have had in while. I thought it may have been much warmer than it turned out to be, so I made the ceremony short, about 10 minutes total. When we were done, pictures taken and made it back to the Grange hall for the reception, I was met by many of my friends. I was a bit taken back by the reception I received. Most of the people congratulated me on the ceremony, but didn't know I was a Christian.

Most folks around these parts who know me, know I don't drink much, and try not to curse, but I feel I have not done a good job evangelizing to them. Most of my friends are good people. The kind of friends you could call at 3:00 am and ask them to drive 100 miles to pick you up if you had become stranded. However I can't think of one that attend church any regular basis. That may be partly because our local churches are very small and seem to be attended by mostly seniors. I don't know how welcome they would feel there.

I came from a great church in Granite Bay, near Sacramento, called Bayside Church. I was there when we held services at the high school gym. Recently, Bayside built a new church and is growing at a phenomenal rate. The differences in the local Presbyterian church and Bayside are night and day. The outreach ministries at Bayside are very dynamic, they have a ministry for almost everyone. The local church is limited by funding and the lack volunteers. I would like to see more of my friends and neighbors go to church, not because they should, but because they want to. I am not sure how to accomplish that goal or if it my place to try.

I still question if my friends would go to Bayside if were five minutes from their houses. The old adage of leading a horse to water comes to mind. It may be enough for me to share my story and my faith. For people who never think of God or that he might have a purpose for them on this earth, just getting them to think about God would be a good start.

My friend told me today that his grand daughter asked him if I was like a preacher in a church, he said no. He is like a preacher on a bridge.

The Lord does indeed move in mysterious ways.

RINOs win,

I will wait and see how this plays out, maybe the President can nominate for Supreme Court one of his confirmed circuit Judges without a filibuster from the dems.
Wait and see.

Just when I was getting back to the happy nice guy I usually am.

Driving home today I listened to Hugh talk about Indra Nooyi, the President and C.O.O of Pepsi Co, and her remarks given at a commencement speech at Columbia University. I was stunned.

"This analogy of the five fingers as the five major continents leaves the long, middle finger for North America, and, in particular, The United States. As the longest of the fingers, it really stands out. The middle finger anchors every function that the hand performs and is the key to all of the fingers working together efficiently and effectively. This is a really good thing, and has given the U.S. a leg-up in global business since the end of World War I. However, if used inappropriately – just like the U.S. itself - the middle finger can convey a negative message and get us in trouble. You know what I’m talking about. In fact, I suspect you’re hoping that I’ll demonstrate what I mean. And trust me, I’m not looking for volunteers to model. Discretion being the better part of valor...I think I’ll pass. What is most crucial to my analogy of the five fingers as the five major continents, is that each of us in the U.S. – the long middle finger – must be careful that when we extend our arm in either a business or political sense, we take pains to assure we are giving a hand...not the finger. Sometimes this is very difficult. Because the U.S. – the middle finger – sticks out so much, we can send the wrong message unintentionally. Unfortunately, I think this is how the rest of the world looks at the U.S. right now. Not as part of the hand – giving strength and purpose to the rest of the fingers – but, instead, scratching our nose and sending a far different signal."

She makes in excess of 8 million dollars a year. 8 Million dollars buys lots of things, it should also preclude you from making stupid political comments. What is she thinking? She works for Pepsi Cola, the 5th largest food and beverage company in the world. You know who buys a lot of their product? Americans. The middle finger of the world.

On Pepsi's worldwide code of conduct statement is says " There's only one way to hold together a company so big and diverse - through trust, shared values, common goals and consistent standards of conduct "

Seems to me that Indra Nooyi doesn't trust, or share the same values as the nation that allows her to prosper under it's freedom and protection.

That's a shame, I like Pepsi, my father-in-law is a retired route driver for Frito-Lay, a Pepsi Co subsidiary. I know there are literally thousands of hard working, dedicated employees who work for Pepsi. I don't want to effect them in a negative way, however I am not buying any of their products until Ms. Nooyi is either fired or goes on Good Morning America and begs forgiveness. I think her non-apology is a hastily written statement by the Pepsi lawyers.

Unfortunately, my remarks at Columbia University were misconstrued and depicted in a different context as unpatriotic. Although nothing could be further from the truth, I regret any confusion or concern that I may have inadvertently created. As I shared with the audience at Columbia, this country that I am proud and honored to call home is a “promised land” that I love dearly. I would never say or do anything to detract from our great nation and its people who have done so much for so many, including myself.

Misconstrued? Not Hardly. That Ms, Nooyi is a load of Bravo Sierra.

Give the guys in Gitmo a camera.

When I first heard of the Newsweek story of the alleged abuse of Muslim prisoners in Guantanimo Bay, I thought if it was true, what's was the big deal? I understand that to a Muslim the Koran is a much deeper symbol of his religion than my Bible is to me. It is said to be the actual word for word translation of God's message to the prophet Muhammad.

Ok, fine by me. I only have one question, when these same Muslims drive a carbomb into a Mosque that happens to belong to a different sect of Muslims, I bet they blow a couple dozen Korans into pieces. Where is the outrage in the Arab street at this?

If you gave the interrogators at Gitmo a digital camera and had them take a picture of a Koran being urinated on, they could apply for a National Endowment of the Arts grant.

Oh, wait, the NEA only pays for jewish or Christian symbols to be denigrated.

Digital Music, the bane of my existence.

For some one who spent more days in the saddle than in front of a keyboard, I consider myself to be somewhat tech savvy. I bought a mp3 player two years ago and had fun burning my CDs to mp3 files and listening to my player. I love to walk or workout with my mp3 player, it doesn't skip and holds more than 30 songs.

Now, on to the terror that is downloading music files. I still buy CDs, call me crazy, people that make music that I like should be able to sell their product for profit. It's called capitalism, it works. When the Napster craze hit the college campus' in the late 90s people were filling entire servers with music files without paying a cent. Like I always say, 'everyone likes a pig, but hog needs to be slaughtered'.

I am officiating the wedding ceremony of my friends this weekend and they asked me if I could get a song for the reception. I said I would and I did. I looked for the song and found it on Buy.com.

OK, now what? First you have to create an account, log in, pick the song, buy it with a credit card, try to download it, switch to IE Explorer, try to download again, successfully download it, try to open it, register it with the 'digital music police' open it as a WMA file, try to figure out how to convert it to a WAV file, download some free software that says it can convert WMA files to WAV files, open the software, click on the song and tell it convert it, then have it tell me the file is actually a WMAis file and it is an unsupported file type.

Luckily I was not anywhere near a firearm or a good piece of hardwood or I would be shopping for a new laptop right now.

So for the past two hours or so I have spent exactly 99 cents for a song that can only play on my laptop, downloaded software that probably has spyware in it and have wasted a good portion of my evening.

We had set a dealine of today to get all the music together.

I love deadlines, I like the whooshing sound they make as they go by.

News weak, thanks for the riot.

I have never been a reader of Newsweek. Except in the waiting room of a doctor or dentist. I will never buy a copy on the news stand, ever. If I had a copy of Newsweek, I would flush it down the toilet.
I will send them my best wishes for a speedy demise. Email Newsweek.

The lessons we don't want to remember.

I was reading a piece by Victor David Hanson on the revisionist history being taught in our schools and around the world today. It as a great example of how our schools are failing. Young people don't understand the sacrifice made by their grandfathers to make the world a better place.


Revisionism holds a strange attraction for the winners of World War II. American textbooks discuss World War II as if a Patton, Le May, or Nimitz did not exist, as if the war was essentially the Japanese internment and Hiroshima. That blinkered and politically correct focus explains why so many Americans under 30 are simply ignorant about the nature and course of World War II itself.

This month is critical, and I'll tell you why.

As John Bolton's nomination as US ambassador to the UN goes to the floor of the Senate for and up or down vote, I am not sure that many people realize how crucial the next few weeks will be. I always look at how the opposition is acting to judge how important an issue is to them. The Senate democrats have been in hyper active, hammer down, full speed obstruction over the issues of Bolton and judicial nominees. Why? The easy answer is they don't like republicans and they want to thwart their agenda whenever possible, but that it not the whole story.

Republican victories in the past two presidential elections as well as control in both houses of the legislature have given the democrats only a few places where they have influence and power. First is the judiciary. Liberal activism is the only stop-gap measure left to get around the will of the American people. Let’s say a state wants to keep marriage between a man and a woman, they hold an election where the referendum passes two to one and the people of that state think that's the end of it. Wrong. Somewhere in a courtroom high atop a shining building sits a judge that thinks that gay marriage is a right and is sure that if the founding fathers would have thought about just a little longer, they would have put gay marriage in the Constitution.

Their bad. The judge says, I will fix it. The pledge of allegiance has 'under God' in it? That is un-constitutional. Never mind that Senator Robert Byrd can drone on while reading the book of Esther in the King James Bible on the floor of the Senate.

The only other place where the Liberal Democrats seek to retain power is in world opinion. Namely the United Nations, the World Bank and the EU. The next few weeks could be the beginning of the end for what is left of the Democratic power structure. If the Oil for Food scandal indicts Kofi and he gets the boot, or a nice warm cell somewhere, John Bolton will have good campaigning weather to change the UN from a do-nothing waste of US taxpayer money to a world body that can effectively become a force for good on the planet.

Bill Frist has just thrown down the gauntlet. As soon as the Highway bill gets off the floor, the judicial nominees will be next on the Senate's agenda. If the republicans can hold together for the next few weeks, enough to return the Senate back to its history on judicial nominees and confirm Bolton nomination, it could be one of the most important months in this decade.

Diana Griego Erwin resigns from the Sacramento Bee

I must admit that I was astonished to read this morning that DGE resigned from her Metro section column. The Bee's executive editor Rick Rodriguez said that the papers' own internal investigation found many people DGE identified in her stories did not exist.

'During our inquiry we found we could not authenticate the existence of several people even though they were identified by name, age and sometimes by the neighborhoods in which they were reported to have lived. We used extensive online database searches as well as old-fashioned shoe-leather work in our investigation over the past 2 1/2 weeks.'

Sounds like nothing can get in the way of a good liberal story. DGE was one of the Bee's most liberal columnists.
"I did nothing wrong, but could not fully prove that to The Bee. My gratitude also to the thousands of people who let me into their lives. I loved telling your stories."

Yea, people love to tell stories Diana, except when the people you write about don't exist, they call it fiction.

Hats off to Rick Rodriguez for throwing out the trash.

Jimmy Carter and Ayatollah Khomeini were pals?

A story that I came across in french news. Does Jimmy Carter have any shame?

Then Presidents Giscard d'Estaing and Jimmy Carter got together and decided it would be a good idea to replace the Shah of Iran with the Ayatollah Khomeini, who was then lurking in exile in Paris. He vividly remembers Carter saying: "Khomeini is a man of faith, a believer, we'll get on fine together".

Way to go James.

Those darn auto-mobile things will never catch on.

So thought the buggy and carriage makers at the turn of the century. I have a few meadowbrook carts and a horse drawn wagon, you know what, it is hard to find anyone to work on them. The reason? They are obsolete. For the folks who use buggies and wagon for pleasure shows or to haul tourists about town, a good wheel-wright is hard to find.

Today's print media must look down the tracks and see if there is a tunnel through the mountain before they can start looking for the light at the end. The New York Times is searching for ways to stay relevant in the land between the north east elites and the west coast Hollywood liberals. This task is not just important, is a life or death struggle. The MSM has been showing all the signs of a fatal disease for years now, but if your a smoker with lung cancer, hanging around other smokers that are coughing up black tar and saying they feel fine is not going to make you seek treatment. What the Times needs to do is get a MRI and a full body scan to find out how sick they are. The Times panel solution to it's ills are like going back down to the smoke filled bar and asking one of your friends, how do I look? Limiting anonymous sources? That is the snow that is sitting on top of the tip of the iceberg.

I live in the country, I have for almost all of my life, I have visited New York City and had a great time. My Son and I loved it, we went to a Yankees game and sat in the 6th row. We navigated the subway with relative ease, and did most of the tourist things. Most of the people were great, and I enjoyed the flavor and diversity of all the different cultures. Does this make me qualified to be the City Editor for the Times? Not hardly. The differences go much further than geography and time spent in the region. One of the qualifications to be a reporter in the City is knowing the heartbeat of the city, and the hundreds of places to find its pulse. If you rarely leave Manhattan, and can't wait for the next dinner party with the important people, you will see the City in one way. However, your view will be very different from the electrician that works in the basement of a building keeping the lights on so he can go home to his family every night.

How can the Times hope to reach out to the inhabitants of fly-over country? The easy way is to find like-minded reporters from the Midwest and the South and publish more of their reports. Sounds great, more liberal bias from different parts of the nation, whoopee. Speaking for myself, I don't really care if the Times prints an article from a reporter in Davis about this or that, the story will be skewed by that reporter's political bias.

Where would I start if I were given the rudder of Times for a year? I would start by having a 'step into the light' edition. This is who we are, this is what we believe, and this what we think about these key issues. Paul Krugman needs to tell everyone that he would like nothing better that to have America become more and more Socialist. That's who I am, that's how I feel. When I write about the President and his policies, please know that this is where I am writing from.

What would I do next? Replace one quarter of the reporters and editors with middle-right conservatives. Why on earth would I do that? To better reflect the views of the nation. The day their first column hits the page, they must do a 'step into the light' piece. Now I know who is telling me their opinion, and I can decide if they have another agenda. Diversity, it is something that the Times loves to report about, but not something they practice. A good coffeepot-throwing screaming match at the editorial meetings would be the best sign that they are making progress. Diversity of opinion is a great thing.

Will the Times change? Nope. They will put a new tie on the pig and haul it out to fair for all to see, but its the same old pig. The will slowly suffocate under the weight of their bias and traditions.

In the words of Agent Smith " Do you hear that sound? That is the sound of inevitability"

Why don't we celebrate V.E. Day anymore?

I have heard the statistic that everyday 1,500 veterans of WWII die. The recently celebrated 'Greatest Generation' is fast becoming just ink on history book pages and fading images in old photographs. That is a shame.

I am sure that my grandchildren will ask me if I knew anyone who fought in WWII and will tell them about my Great uncle and my step grandfather who fought in the Pacific. I never knew my great uncle, his submarine was sunk in the Pacific, and my step grand father Manuel did not like to talk about the war.

My father was born in 1915 and could not serve in the armed forces because he ruptured his eardrum as a young man and no service would take him. He spent a good deal of the war at Mare Island Naval Base building PT Boats. He would get sad when he talked about that time because of the friends and ball players he knew that never made it back home.

I did the math one day and if a young man of 18 fought in the Civil War in 1865, he would have been 78 years old when my father was 10. It would have been fascinating to hear from someone who talked to an actual soldier from the Civil War. That is what I think of when I take my son with me to my friend's ranch and talk with his grandfather. Barney is in his 80s and was in the Navy before Pearl Harbor and stayed in through Korea. I enjoy talking with him about his life.

If you have WWII veterans in your family, talk to them and listen to their stories, even if you have heard them before. Even if they are cranky and bitter, they will be gone soon and those memories can never be replaced.

What ever happened to the geek from the audio/video room at High School?

Found Him.

Muscle Cars, just another thing I cannot afford right now.

This is a picture of my brother-in-laws 67? Camaro. It is his new baby. If he didn't live a thousand miles away I would ask to drive it. I think I would need a home equity loan to fill it up with 94 octane.

At 5 miles a gallon, it is not a daily driver, but when you can break the tires loose at 60 mph, who cares!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Beekeeper cracks me up, yet again.

It reminds me of a story my buddy Dan tells about a guy he worked with a few years ago. This guy was Hispanic, a few generation removed from the home country. Dan asked if he had anything planned for Cinco de mayo. The guy said not really, he was just not that into it. He then added "but we sure whooped your ass back then".

My friend Dan replied " Are you under the impression that Mexico defeated America for it's independence?"

"Isn't that what Cinco de Mayo is?"the friend asked

Classic, just classic.

I bet that if you asked 100 twenty year old kids working at Blockbuster who we fought in the Revolutionary War you might get 11 or 12 that would answer correctly.

I guess I'll put down these stones now, I see some streaks in my glass house.......

Everything must go at crazy Pierre's! .......almost.

Looking at France is like getting into a time-machine. This is where the left in America want us to be as soon as possible. No Wal-Mart, no big-box stores, only mom and pop shops protected from competition from the courts.

I run a small business, two in fact, there is nothing better that finding a small business with knowledgeable staff and fair prices. I am not asking them to compete dollar for dollar with Wal-Mart and Home Depot, I just don't to pay double for my purchases.

Having a court tell Wal-Mart that they can't sell a box of Rice Crispies for less than 5% off retail is insane.

What did you do in school today? We made protest signs.

I was commenting on another blog and came across this example of the curriculum used in 8th grade in 1895. As Slim Pickins used to say "what in the wide, wide world of sports in a goin on here?"
I doubt if the average Freshman college student could complete this 8th grade final exam.

When are we going to realize that culture, activism, art and personal growth instruction are the function of the parents, not the schools? If you are passing all of you real courses, then you may take an elective, art or band or poetry. The liberals that control the teachers unions and the 'teach to the whole student' crowd are not helping our kids to compete for the jobs that America needs to remain a leader in science and technology. You remember science and technology right? That is where we could find an alternative to foreign oil and cure AIDS and cancer, you know, the kind of important stuff.

Let me, the parent, decide what cultural instruction my child needs. It seems the only college most children will be ready for is a liberal arts college. They should do quite well at UC Santa Cruz. Maybe the world will start outsourcing all its sociology, and cultural studies needs to the US, that is what we will be qualified to do. We may not be able to compete for this century's technology and science breakthroughs, but we can 'feel good' with the best of them.

Separation of Mosque and State?

What is up with our secular buddies and France? The are financing Muslim studies, and the building of mosques.

After months of hesitation and negotiation, the Minister of the Interior Dominique de Villepin has announced the formation of a foundation to finance the activities of the Muslim religion. The agreement was signed by the four main tendencies, those associated with Algeria, the Frères Musulmans, the Comité de coordination des Musulmans Turcs de France. When the conseil d’état has given its blessing the foundation will come into being. It will then be possible to finance courses for the training of Immams in France. At the moment one third of those in France do not speak French. It will also be able to help finance the building of mosques. A government commissioner will sit with the foundation to monitor the projects to be financed. The aim of the government is to integrate the Muslim religion in France and to end secret financing from dubious foreign souirces.

Nothing worse than a wet dog.

Except wet hay.

For anyone suffering from a drought, I am offering my services as a rain harbinger.

I will be happy to fly to your county and find a field of hay. When my fee is met, I will call the local hay farmer to cut the hay. As soon as the swather drives off the field, the weather should change, in three days the field will receive 1/4 to 1/2'" of rain or hail if that would be more suitable for your situation.

" your results may vary"

Hey let's get drunk and go to the Casino!

Living here in western Yolo County means many things, the beauty of the Blue Ridge in the spring, bringing the family to a picnic at one of the neighbor's ranches, the 4-H spring show at the fairgrounds and trying not to be killed by the Casino traffic.

Friday night it happened again, one of the locals that lived in Capay was struck and killed by a casino patron as he walked to his house. So what you might say, people get killed all the time and this is no different. No, this is different. When I was in my twenties living here, you could set up a poker game on Highway 16 after 10:00 pm on any weeknight and not get disturbed until 4:30 or 5:00 am when the farmers and ranchers started their day. Not anymore, now it's bumper to bumper on weekends and during the week its still 24 hours a day of speeding casino players. What has changed? Ten thousand new residences built in a small farming community? Nope. I know that has happened all to often in other places, but Yolo County is very agriculture friendly and does not allow much new building at all, especially in the rural, western part of the County.

What happened is the Rumsey band of Wintun Indians built a small bingo parlor on their land. I understand it's their land and they have the right to do what they want with it. I also know that before the bingo parlor went in, there were only a handful of Indians living there. As bingo grew more popular, the traffic increased. In the 90's the tribe, flush with money, opened a large casino. Cache Creek Casino was much larger and their patrons were coming from farther away to spend their paychecks.

The Casino is about 15 miles from Interstate 505, so when you take this exit you must drive through three small towns before you can start loosing your money in Brooks. The towns of Madison, Esparto and Capay are just obstacles for these people. Think of having a casino at the far end of your street in a residential neighborhood. Do you think people will slow down because you live there, your kids are playing and this is a residential area? Nope, hammer down, I've got to play those slots!

In 2004 the tribe opened the new Cache Creek Resort Hotel and Casino. The locals were not thrilled. The promise of no alcohol at the Casino was disregarded and now we have drunken casino players speeding through the valley. The tribe has built new luxury homes for their members and the handful of Wintuns has grown to close to a hundred. The tribe, to get approval on the new resort, is giving millions of dollars to the County over the next 10 years to help mitigate some of problems that the new resort is causing. Who replaces the lives of the people killed?

I don't want to get into the Ward Churchill debate of we screwed them first and now we are getting payback. My wife is a Pottawattamie Indian. I am an avid reader of US and western history, I know what happened.

I guess what really gets me, is they are beating us at our game. They have taken capitalism and greed to its highest form. The tribe may be good business people, they are just lousy neighbors. Their new motto should be "Yea for us, sucks to be you".

I geuss I can sell out move to Montana with all the other Californians.

The Minuteman, the Mexicans and Ahnold.

I cannot for the life of me figure out what is wrong with saying that the Federal Government should strongly enforce the border to stop illegal immigration. Can someone out there enlighten me?

The Minuteman Project is proof positive that all it takes to slow down this tidlewave to a trickle is effort and the will to enforce the law. Nothing deters illegal crossings better than 'boot on the ground' patrolling the border. Do we need more Border Patrol Agents? Yes. Are they the answer? Not entirely.

There will always be illegal immigration into the US as long as the opportunities exist to go from living in abject poverty to relative wealth and comfort here in the US. If were born in Mexico City's huge shanty towns that surround the Capitol, I would take my family to the US in order to have a better life for my children. This does not make crossing into the US without the proper documents legal, no matter how poor you are, the law is still the law.

I am under the impression that Carl Rove is a smart man, he knows more about politics and demographic politics more than anyone I can think of. I just wish I knew the reason why the President does not see illegal immigration problem for the huge crisis it is. I know that those on the left will say the Carl and W. and just pandering to Big-Business interests that rely on illegal workers as a cheap source of labor. That is not it. The majority in this country wants illegal immigration stopped or slowed down substantially, the Republicans would be poking themselves in the eye if they put this small special interest group in front of the party as a whole. Carl Rove is not that dumb.

I have also heard that the majority of Mexicans that cross the border are Catholic, family oriented, and hard working folks that given the choice would be more apt to vote Republican that Democrat. This makes a little more sense, but still does not deal with the reality of the party's resistance to illegal immigration. If you are bringing in new voters to the party, you will be alienating far more.

A family crossing the border to make a better life is a problem that we can handle, maybe with some type of guest worker card that they can use to stay here for two or three years. We will know who and where they are, they will pay taxes and they can apply for citizenship when they get back to their country of origin and wait their turn to become citizens. They would not be eligible for welfare or medical, but there kids should be able go to school. Here is the catch, we must enforce the border to stop all the rest of the immigration or the plan will fail. Farmers, restaurant owners and construction companies will hire the cheaper non-guest workers. There will be a black market of illegal workers. We will be back to square one.

The biggest problem I see, is the illegal aliens that make up close to 20 % of our prison population here in California. Why should we pay 70,000 dollars a year to house these criminals? I know that we buy a few billion dollars in crude oil from Mexico, why doesn't President Bush tell Vincent Fox to build a couple dozen prisons on their side on the border? Heck, I would even be willing to subsidize them. I would rather pay a $5,000 dollars per Mexican criminal to be held in Mexico than $70,000 to have him here. Mexico gets the jobs that come with building the prisons, they staff them, and we pay them to keep them there. Everyone wins.

I hope the Governor will get behind this effort to curb illegal immigration. He should fire the folks on his staff that think that "enforce the border" is hate speech. Come to think of it, maybe the President should do the same.

Hat tip to Miller Time.

What are you doing May 4th? How about a BBQ?

May 4th has been named International Respect for Chickens Day. No, I am not kidding. Just what kind of lunatics spend their time making up fake holidays? The people at United Poultry Concerns of course.
I am making a point to stop by KFC for lunch on May 4th for some popcorn chicken. I respect chickens enough to eat all the little pieces. When I get home that evening, I will fire up the grill have some marinated chicken breasts. Fire roast a few ears of corn and a fresh salad.

Heck, I might see if KFC has gift certificates available and buy them to hand out a Halloween.
Chicken eaters of the world unite!

What ever the Animal Rights folks want people to do, do something else, it makes them crazy.
OK, crazier.

Commies aren't cool.

I was just over at beekeeper's site and found this.

Che-mart. Classic, this wil be my site of the month for sure.

The Democrats in D.C. are wrong or stupid, take your pick.

Lets take the time to look at the post for which John Bolton is being nominated. The United States ambassador to the United Nations. An organization that is as useful in it's current state as nipples on a boar hog. To prove the point, yesterday the U.N. re-elected Zimbabwe to its Human Rights commission for a three year term. Zimbabwe? If anything underscores the need for real, drastic and fundamental reform, this would the sign. Right in the middle of the billion dollar Oil for Food corruption scandal, the UN slaps the world in face with Zimbabwe.

I just hope John Bolton is tough enough to change this giant waste of our tax money back into something resembling an effective world body. I would like to suggest someone even better suited to this task.

Allan Keyes.

Sure he is a little crazy, but I would love to see him stand up at the podium at the UN and tell the world's despots and dictators that you will not receive a penny of US money, period. Tell the UN that we will give our money to World Vision for humanitarian outreach, we will spend our money for NATO lead peacekeeping forces, not child molesting UN thugs.

It will never happen, but one can always wish. Someone tell Senator Voinovich that he needs to visit the UN and see what kind of Dictator Disneyland they are running on their 18 acres in Manhattan.

A scene from Magnolia?

I still think frogs falling from the sky is pretty darn weird even for a movie, but exploding toads, now that's entertainment.

Best feed year ever, now if I only had some land.....

The heat of the oversized BBQ was scorching the hair off my arms as I cooked tri-tip roasts for the Glen-Colusa-Yolo cattlemens event at a Hamblet Ranch just south of Dunnigan. I didn't mind a bit, in fact I had a great time. Around 80 people attended the field day to discuss the various ways to work with State and Federal government agencies to improve conservation and rangeland habitat. Agencies presenting information to ranchers and land owners were from the NRCS, the RCD and UCCE. Having once ran cattle on large ranches in the area I was a bit sad that I could not take advantage of the experience and resources that are available. I am limited to my own small 27 acres of irrigated pasture. Although I do not feed off my pastures and always leave the edges of my fields for the local pheasants and other critters that need a place to nest. I guess if you have a quarter acre back yard in the city or 10,000 acres of grass and oaks, we can all do something.

When was Barbara Boxer's thinking tube removed?

When ever I travel out of state, I usually ask the locals where to eat, what to see and what to avoid. I have had great luck in finding some great sites and met some very nice people off the beaten path. I do find that when an stranger visits a local hangout, one of the first questions they ask is where I am from. I find it harder and harder to say I am from California with any sense of pride. With the exception of Chuck Schumer and Tedd Kennendy, I am not aware of a more embarrassing person to represent me in the Senate than Barbara Boxer. She is truly a bizarre woman. Mark Steyn is one of my favorite pundits. His piece this week is another exhibit of Boxer's lunacy.

The Walking Eagle - Ward Churchill

A very in depth story on and an interview with the fake indian.

Senator Frist, call the vote to the floor.

Listing to Senator Santorum on Hugh Hewitt's show I am growing more and more angry with the Republican leadership in the Senate. Bill Frist needs to remember who gave him the keys to the car he is driving. We in his base are the ones who wrote the checks and walked the precincts that gave him 55 Republicans in the Senate in 2004. If he doesn't have the votes to pass a simple majority rule on judicial nominees we need to know who is caring the daggers to stab the GOP in the back. I agree with Hugh that I would rather loose on the vote now and re-group for another battle. I am also on board with sending money to the conservatives that will run against those republicans who jump ship.

Let's separate the sheep from the goats.

Kiss up, kick down?

From the Bolton hearings today Carl Ford, former head of the department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research, said that he had serious misgivings about Mr. Bolton suitability for high office. No where in the piece is the fact that Mr. Ford was not present at any of these chewing out sessions of Ford's subordinate. Mr. Ford is passing out hearsay evidence at a Senate hearing? Is this best the democrats can muster?
Bolton seems to be the right man for the job.

Resistant to resistance free training?

Anyone who owns a horse, has read any horse magazines or watched RFDTV on dish network has seen or read about resistance free training. Many horse owners ask, who are these folks and what does whispering to horses do anyway? Why doesn't my local trainer do this type of training if its so good. You may not have asked, but I will give you my take on this subject.

A little background first, I was raised on cattle ranches in California and Oregon. My father would tie me to my horse with the saddle strings when I was two years old and send the horse on his way to the bunk house where the cook would find me asleep on my old horse, get me down, give me a treat and reverse the process sending me back. My mother was not a fan of this method in case you are curious. I can honestly say that I grew up on horses, and have spent a lot of time polishing the seat of a saddle. I have managed 2,000 head of cattle on a 14,000 acre ranch here in Northern California. Does this make me a horse trainer? No.
Let me re-phrase that, hell no. I have ruined more horses that I have ever trained. I may fool some folks because I can stay on a rough horse but that doesn't mean I am training him. I hope I am getting better, as I grow older and more patient.

Back to the clinicians. I have been a reader of Western Horesman for 20 years or more, and I first saw articles on Ray Hunt and Tom Dorrnance there. Most of the resistance free training you see today in one way or another can be traced back to them. Pat Parelli, Dennis Reis, and a slew of top clinicians have been influenced by these people. So does it work? Yes. Do I use some of their techniches and methods? Yes. Do I own a shelf full of DVDs and books from Pat Parelli? No.

You may ask why, if it works, are you not a follower of Parelli or Clinton Anderson or Dennis Reis? The answer may lie in the question. There are many 'followers' of Pat Parelli and others, and boy do I mean followers. The vast majority of these folks are novice owners. They see what Pat and his wife Linda can do with horses and they buy into the marketing. It is a very impressive, and effective marketing strategy. There are legions of Parelli followers who believe that if Pat didn't say it, it is wrong. That's too bad.

I am sure that the Parellis' are good people and they started their horse training business to spread the word about a new way of training that most people could do regardless of their prior experience. Somewhere in the past few years it seems to me that it is becoming more about the business and less about the horses. I could be wrong.

How about the horse whisperer? Whenever I talk with someone and they find out I have horses, one of the first things they ask me is if I have seen the guy that whispers to horses? Most of the time they are talking about Monty Roberts. I have seen Mr. Roberts program and while I think he is a capable trainer, I get a strange feeling about him and his background.

So, why doesn't my local trainer use this stuff? A couple of reasons. First, he or she may not be a very good trainer, they can ride the buck out of most horses and get them to stop, go, turn, and that's about it. That may be all they know. Second, they may be very good at what they know, say reining cow horse work, or dressage or western pleasure, they have won some ribbons or national championships by doing it their way, so why change. The last reason is fear, most of the people selling DVDs and two day clinics want to become your new trainer. Your local trainer may tell you what a load of manure these new guys are because a starter course on DVD may cost less than one month at the trainers place and you can do it yourself.

Here is where I have a problem with the 'clinic in a box' approach. No one is there to see how the person is handling the training. What I mean is I have seen some people who should not own horses, or at least not handle the horses they own. They are afraid of their horse in a way that is very dangerous to themselves and others. I have a healthy respect for horses, you could say that as much as I like my horse, I am afraid of a 1,200 pound quadruped that can run faster, jump higher and bite harder that I can. The people I am talking about are the novice owners who buy a training DVD, the new halter and stick, then walk into the pasture with 'fluffy' and get so petrified with fear that they loose control of the horse as soon as they feel pressured. I see it more often than you would think.

If you are a Parelli student, or anyone of the top clinicians, please don't take offence, I am sure they have thousands of happy customers, if there were not, they would not be on TV. I just think there are many ways to skin a cat, I may just not be ready for the 'Catskinner 2000' video series.

I would like to attend a week long course taught by one of these trainers I have mentioned above, Parelli or Reis or Clinton Anderson, I just don't want to be beaten over the head into buying $1,000 worth of videos if I do.

Please feel free to comment.

Does Europe hate us? Should we care?

I just finished watching a Discovery Channel special by Thomas Friedman. The piece called 'Does Europe hate us?' finds Mr. Friedman in the EU talking to folks on the streets. The amount of disdain for America and Americans is striking. While most of the young people interviewed by Friedman find George W Bush the object of their anger and outrage, it must be said that these sentiments did not sprout up in November 2000. The European hatred of the America started decades ago and has now found a convenient target of ridicule in President Bush.

A few highlights for me were the gentleman Friedman interviews about religion in Europe and France in particular. I can't find the transcript at this time, however to paraphrase, he said that there are four major religions in France. Christianity, Islam, Judaism and secularism. I found that very intriguing indeed. Secularism is a religion,, plain and simple. As much as it offends the French that our President swears an oath of office on a Bible, it is our tradition and our right. The freedom to practice your religion without fear of oppression from the government should be celebrated, not condemned.

Mr. Friedman also interviews an American living in Germany. The couple have four children and receive 9 hours a day, five days a week of free childcare. They also have free healthcare and three years of unpaid leave for the birth of a child. When asked if he paid more in taxes, the man said he wasn't sure, but didn't think it was any more than he paid in the US. I was talking to the television (again) asking Mr. Friedman what it was like looking years for a job in Germany with its staggering 12% unemployment rate?

I refer back to my post last week on Germany and Europe.

Do I wish to see our relationship with the EU improve? Absolutely. Do I hold much hope for such improvement, no. The two ways to think about our relationship are the same as the two ways we fight the war on terror. The EU wants America to submit our ideals and assimilate to their ways, period. The US believes that it is right to stand up for freedom and confront serious threats now rather than wait until we have another smoking hole in the ground.

As socialist Europe surrenders its identity and becomes predominantly Muslim, they will become more antagonistic towards the US.

Should we join them in march towards a two religion state, secularism and Islam?

Could California be back in play in 08?

Interesting demographic info released from the 2004 election could give the battered golden state GOP something to lift their spirits.
If the Governor can get the fair districts initiative passed, California's 55 electoral votes may again come into play in 2008.

The Kyoto Protocols, an expensive feel good exercise.

Now that the countries that ratified the Kyoto treaty have to abide by it, it make less sense than ever. Destroy the environment to earn carbon credits that government trades like commodities to each other and power companies. Sound confusing?
That is whole idea.

A global bureaucracy dealing in carbon credits or emission units penalizing people for driving cars or emitting "more than your share" of greenhouse gases. The terms arbitrary and capricious come to mind.

Give our environmental group $40 to plant trees to offset your car emissions, or what? Will I be getting a bill from the UN for driving over my allotment of miles?

A super deal on a 96 Camary!

I have hear of factory rebates, dealer incentives and no money down, but $52,000 worth of Cocaine in the gas tank is deal I would pass on..

Germany; just why do we want to emulate them?

'Recent figures show that early this year unemployment reached more than five million people, or 12.6 percent, the highest numbers since the years before World War II.'

I do wish the folks in this country who love the European way of life, the culture, the liberal ideals, the social programs, take a long hard look at the utopia that is Europe. No thanks, keep your socialism and great wine, I will be fine without it.

Just think of what a economic disaster they would have on their hands if the US took it's troops home and they had to start spending more than 3 or 4 percent of their budgets on defense?
They would collapse, or the free medical care and fifty paid days off would have to go by the way. Canada is quite close to this trend. The Canadian government does not have to spend much on defense with the US next door.

Why doesn't the US slash it's defense spending and give everyone free healthcare?

The same reason that 8 million Iraqis voted on January 30th and 800,000 Lebanese citizens marched in the streets demanding democracy. Without a strong American military, and the will to use it for the better good, folks like Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot get the idea that they can kill as many millions as they want without anyone telling them no.

The US military is far from perfect, it is made up of people, and people are not perfected yet. Do they make mistakes? Yup. Does the military have some people who break the rules and give our country a black eye for the world to see? Yup. Does the US military still make the world a much safer place? You bet it does.

As for the free healthcare, I would not be fond of waiting months for life saving treatment. Look at the lines of Canadians in our border states spending their own money to get cancer treatment and surgery because they could die waiting for a their paperwork to get through the giant bureaucracy.

'A letter from the Moncton Hospital to a New Brunswick heart patient in need of an electrocardiogram said the appointment would be in three months. It added: "If the person named on this computer-generated letter is deceased, please accept our sincere apologies."

The Brotherhood of Hangman and Floggers Local 12

If crime doesn't pay, it seems punishment is a thriving endeavor.

"I'm from a city, I don't know anything about sheep."

The best quote of the day from Ben Siegert, a football player from Oregon State when arrested for DUI with a stolen ram from the University sheep center. The ram was part of a study on homosexuality in sheep.........Oh just read the story.

God gets up early.

Being the lukewarm Christian that I am, I have not attended the men's morning group at my church for quite some time. I actually don't mind getting up early in the mornings, but hitting the shower at 5:30 to get to the meeting an hour later takes a bit more effort than I have been able to muster lately.

I was browsing the church web site last night looking for Easter service times and saw the men's group meeting. It was late, but I thought it would be good to get the day started with prayer and fellowship. I am glad I did not hit the snooze button. I have been thing all day about what we talked about this morning, living for heaven or living for this world.

My wife was asleep when I decided to go to the meeting last night and she was asleep when I left this morning. When she came home this evening she asked me where I went so early and I told her. She then asked why we meet at 6:30 in the morning? I said that God gets up early and we wanted to be with him.
She rolled her eyes and muttered something about my sanity.

Defense starts at home from some Iraqis.

Regular Iraqis are saying enough to foreign insurgents.
The story from the NYT is an example that the insurgency is loosing its grip on the inhabitants of Baghdad. Fear is only a motivational force until you become more afraid of doing nothing.

Back in Iraq.

Scanning some of the Iraqi and milbloggers, I came upon this story. Where is the mainstream media when Christians are killed for their beliefs?

Do you make a difference?

This past Friday I attended the funeral of my wife's uncle, John Rouse Jr. or little John as he was known. I had known John for 17 years and always enjoyed speaking with him at family gatherings. John was a big guy, and when he was on his Harley in his leathers, he looked downright intimidating. Until he smiled. When you saw that smile you felt instantly at ease.
He was a member of the Viet Nam Vets Motorcycle Club. They were a second family to both he and his wife Rhonda. A great bunch of people, all of them.

They told stories of little Johns involvement in 'Stand Down', an event where homeless vets can come in off the streets and get help of all kind, not only a hot meal and warm change of clothes, but legal advice, a new pair of glasses, counseling, and help getting back into the mainstream of life. A few of the people John and his brothers from VNVMC helped back on their feet spoke at the memorial service, it was truly touching. I knew of John's involvement in the club and his service in Viet Nam, but I never knew how many lives he touched, and what a difference he made.

I wish I had known John Rouse Jr. better.

Oops I did it again.

Live from the Moveon.org rally its Bawbwa! and Chucky, Ted, Harry and Bobby Byrd.

Yep. Babs strayed from the script, again. She actually said what she thought. The problem is her thinking and the United States Constitution are very different things.
Here is her quote

"Why would we give lifetime appointments to people who earn up to $200,000 a year, with absolutely a great retirement system, and all the things all Americans wish for, with absolutely no check and balance except that one confirmation vote. So we're saying we think you ought to get nine votes over the 51 required. That isn't too much to ask for such a super important position. There ought to be a super vote. Don't you think so? It's the only check and balance on these people. They're in for life. They don't stand for election like we do, which is scary."

Here is what the Constitution says;

"He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate"

Wow, talk about scary. How about this Babs, lets just make up the constitution as we go along? I mean if its a really good idea, why not just ignore 200 years of precedent and change the rule about how judges are confirmed? There are only seven instances where a super majority is called for in the constitution, confirming federal judges is not one of them. They are; convictions related to impeachment, adoption of treaties, overriding vetoes, expelling members, amending the Constitution, 14th Amendment, and 25th Amendment.

Harry Reid must want to get back to the peace and quiet of Searchlight Nevada.
Maybe ex-senator Daschle can get him a cushy job as a lobbyist in DC.
Go ahead Harry, shut down the Senate, make my day.

Where is that CIA Gulfstream 5 ?

Do you remember the story about the CIA running a charter service to take foreign prisoners off to places to get a little more thorough interrogation?

I have an idea. Isn't Scott Peterson at San Quentin now?

"Tehran tower this is November-379-Papa, requesting clearance for final approach.
Thank you, yes we have a delivery for you."

Political Correctness is getting people killed.

There will be dozens of stories written about the events surrounding the Brian Nichols murder spree and kidnapping of Ashley Smith.

I was watching her interview today and came away with a calmness of spirit. She is a remarkable person. Her faith and compassion in the face of fear and terror is quite extraordinary. Ashley Smith is no stranger to tragedy. Her husband died after a stabbing four years ago leaving Ashley to raise her daughter alone. I can only imagine her first thoughts when she knew who had abducted her. Not me, I can't let my daughter loose the only person she has left.

The interview that I want to examine is the one where District Attorney Paul Howard, when asked if a 5'1" female officer should have been guarding Brian Nichols alone he said "Yes. Women are capable of doing anything men are capable are doing."

Really? That is a nice ideal to have and a very politically correct thing to say, I am sure that Susan Estrich would agree with Mr. Howard. That is just not true. The facts are that Brian Nichols is a very strong athletic young man. He was found to be carrying a sharpened door hinge the day before his hearing. He was a high threat individual. The idea of a 51 year grandmother controlling this man is just ridiculous. Maybe deputy Hall was a great officer, I am sure her fellow deputies liked her and she may have been a great person. That does not change the laws of physics or criminal behavior. Now four people are dead.

I have met a few female police officers that I would not want to tangle with, I have also seen dozens who couldn't stop a fight over the last pair of Bruno Magli shoes at Macy's.

Is it too much to ask that our police and firefighters have the physical ability to deal with real world situations?

Save Cache Creek!

Save it from the Sierra Club and Federal control.
Does anyone remember the Klamath Basin water war of 2001-2002?
That is what the Lois Wolk and her friends from the environmental movement ultimately want. The open ended language in her bill does not exclude the Federal government taking control of the water in two or three years. The next drought we face here in Yolo County, the water that farmers and ranchers depend on will go down the creek, past the irrigation ditches to the creek or river or delta or wherever they find the next sucker fish to put on the endangered list.
Local water, local control, it's that simple.

Rather disappointed in Baghdad Dan.

As I watched the CBS Special; 'Dan Rather, a reporter remembers' I thought about his quote after the bad comb-over of the Rathergate debacle.

"I regret every nanosecond when I let anybody at CBS News down, and even more, when I let the audience down. It's painful to me."

Dan, when was the last time you finished first in the evening news ratings? You have consistently let down your viewers (they are leaving you), your news department ( ad sales have plummeted) and most of all yourself. In your drive to tell a story about the news you have let your opinions drive your storytelling.

"I have my weaknesses," admits Rather. "I've made my mistakes, but the one mistake I've tried hard not to make is to say, 'OK. I know which way the wind is blowing, and I'm gonna tailor my reporting to fit that.' Ain't gonna do that. Haven't. Don't. Won't."

It seems obvious to me that the boys and girls at West 57th want to make their own weather. If the wind is blowing in a direction they don't happen to like, they can always make up a story and change the air currents.Your job is to read the news off of a teleprompter, that it. It's not to drive the news cycle by inventing stories you wish in your heart of hearts were true. Your gig over at 60 minutes Wednesday is supposed to be your link to hard journalism, where you get back to your roots as a get out your pad and pencil and get the story. I love the way you threw your four comrades under the bus and would not take the blame directly. Courage Dan, courage.

Cache Creek Wild and Scenic legislation, is it needed?

Our wonderful environmental activist are up to their tricks again. Lois Wolk (D-Davis) introduced legislation AB 1328 to "protect" the upper Cache Creek area in Yolo and Lake Counties by placing it under State control. The obvious question is why? Protect it from what?

(1) Cache Creek from
one-fourth mile below Cache Creek Dam to Camp Haswell.
(2) Nothing in this subdivision shall prejudice, alter, delay,
interfere with, or affect in any way, the existing rights of the Yolo
County Flood Control and Water Conservation District or the Lake
County Watershed Protection District, or the implementation of those
rights; any historic water use practices; the replacement,
maintenance, repair, operation, or future expansion of existing
diversions, storage, powerhouses, or conveyance facilities or other
works by the Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation
District or the Lake County Watershed Protection District; or changes
in the purpose of use, places of use, points of diversion, or
ownership of those existing water rights; nor shall anything in this
subdivision preclude the issuance of any governmental authorization
needed for utilization of those rights, except that no changes shall
operate to increase the adverse effect, if any, of the preexisting
facilities or places, or the purposes of use upon the free-flowing
and natural character of the river segment designated herein.
What Does that mean? Who deems the effects adverse?

The Sierra Club and groups like tuleyome.org, reflexpoint.org and cachecreekwild.org say they want the State to take control from the local Water and Flood control districts and the local farmers to keep the creek wild and increase access. They don't want to see a dam built on upper Cache Creek they say. That brings me to second point. When was the last dam built in California? Hmm? There was a plan to dam the creek for flood control that has been sitting for years gathering dust, however environmental groups would never let it be built anyway, not in 600 years.

How many people "hike" the trails around upper cache creek? It is a tangled mess of chemise brush and manzanita. I know, I have hunted deer in that area for years. It is very steep, very rough and a dangerous place to hike. There are many good trails on public ground all over the Blue Ridge, Cache Creek ridge and the Judge Davis trail to name a few. Why do we need to have the State of California ( they wanted the Federal Government, but backed down after major opposition) control this area that has small privately owned tracks throughout the riparian area? So the State can seize the private land at whatever they deem a fair price?

If these groups love the upper Cache Creek area, that's great, I love it too. They can hike up there right now, today, tomorrow, forever. There is no need for this legislation. The environmental lobby just hates to see land that they can control through proxy not be swallowed up by the government.

Talk about real estate values going up...

"Our island was sold for 2000 coconut plants, and stories told by our forefathers are that they were forced to leave at gunpoint," tribal member Timoci Waqalevu told the newspaper this week.

Mel Gibson just bought this island for 19 million dollars.
How many coconut plants is that now?

China leads the way on family values?

It is indeed getting strange when China cares more about marriage than the US government.

Chinese authorities are sending "think again" letters to couples applying for divorce after the number of people ending their marriages surged by 21 per cent last year.

A story from the Gaurdian.

Domino Democracy?

As I read about the dramatic events shaking up the Arab world, I am trying to shake my own sense of cautiousness about real change. While it was my hope that just such a wave of outcry from the terrorized populations that make up the majority in the Arab world would lead to a demand for some type of democratic reform, I did not foresee such a swift response.

I would like to believe that Jordan will get a chance at democracy, and that Egypt will soon hold multi-party elections, but I seem to remember having such a belief years ago. I think back in time to 1989, to what I thought I was seeing. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, I was sure that I was witnessing history seeing the student protests in Tiananmen Square. I remember thinking that I would remember this moment for the rest of my life as the students built their statue of freedom only to have the communist tanks roll in and crush the protests.

The difference between the two situations may come down to distance. The former Soviet Union’s eminent demise in Eastern Europe may as well been on the moon to the average Chinese citizen. They did not know anyone who lived there, they did not have relatives living in East Germany, and they did not have the internet and satellite TV readily available to them. The Jordanians know people in Iraq, as does everyone in the Middle East.

The students in Tiananmen Square had access to information about what was taking place around the world, the rural Chinese did not. With the popularity of satellite TV and all Arab news agencies, the citizens of the Middle East can see what is happening, even with the anti-American slant of Al Jazeera and Al Arabia. Those purple index fingers held up by over 8 million Iraqis was a message that needed no translation.

As I watch my hope is renewed.

Encumbered by my own stupidity, I presses on.

New cars are not built to last, they are built for gas mileage and profitability. Detroit has been building cars for a century or so, why can't they build a car that you can drive for a 10 years and 150,000 miles? Sure there are a few good models out there, I had over 250,000 on my 88 Chevy pickup when I traded it in, but it seems that kind of performance is very unusual in today's cars. My 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan has 75,500 miles on the odometer. The transmission has been worked on at 40k and it is now slipping in the mornings when it is cold. I took the van to my local transmission shop and discovered it needs to be rebuilt or replaced. The van's wholesale value is 5,000 dollars, that is just about what I owe on it. I am now faced with a 2,000 dollar repair that will bring its value up to $5,100.
I was just about to cry when I remembered that I did buy the extended warranty on the van. I thought is was 60 months 75,000 miles and with my luck I had just missed the deadline and would have to pony up the two grand. I wanted to double check, so I looked in the glove compartment. I don't know why they are called glove compartments, I have never kept a pair of gloves in any compartment of any car I owned. I have kept the owners manual, my purchase invoice, two tear open packages of ketchup and three unfired 270 cartridges, but no gloves. We should start calling them "document compartments". Anyway, when I did find my warranty papers I discovered that I did buy the 72 month, 100,000 mile package. I have been wondering what to do with the van for two weeks, asking my friend in the car business what I can get as a trade in on the van with the transmission going out, it has not been a fun time.

The transmission gets pulled today and I should be driving it by Thursday. Sometimes I wonder how I make it through the day.

BTK Free zone. and Michael Jackson too

I am sure if I lived near Wichita Kansas or had relatives there I would follow the BTK killer arrest and upcoming trail. I do not, so I will not.

I confess that I may have owned the 'Thriller" album, I cannot be sure, it may have been my sister's album. In any event, I did enjoy Michael Jackson's music at one time. That time being back when he was a young black man. I have not followed his career after his transformation to a middle-aged white woman.

I am sure we will be getting wall to wall coverage of these two stories on Larry King and the rest of the MSM.

The Lebanese government has just fallen. The people of Lebanon may get a chance at democracy after decades of Syrian control. The Hezbollah training camps could be shut down, giving the Palestinian/Israeli talks a chance to succeed. Who cares about Jacko and BTK?

A slow news cycle? Only if you are a slow thinker.

Vox Blogoli 2.2: Does the Senate GOP Go McClellan or Grant if Harry Reid "Goes Gingrich?"

McClellan or Grant. Very good question Hugh.
Bill Frist must be playing Abe Lincoln deciding which direction to take.

McClellan was very good at doing one thing, building an army. He was indecisive and fell apart during the heat of battle, but he could train and organize better that just about anyone you could name. McCellan constantly demanded more troops, he was convinced that the much smaller force standing between his army and Richmond was twice his size and would not move until he had a super-majority.

Grant was out for one thing, victory. He looked at the situation facing him and did the math. We are a larger force, they are a smaller force and should be put on the defensive. We can wear them down. We may pay a price to do it, but we will win.

A great insight into Grant came just after he was named to take over the Army of the Potomac. His staff, who had been with him in the west were talking about his victories and his strategy with the old guard from McClellan's command. The union generals who had been crushed by general Lee time and again where telling Grant's staff that Lee was brilliant and he would hit you out of nowhere, there was no telling what Lee would do next.

Grant heard this, and told McClellan's old staff 'stop worrying about what Lee is going to do to you, and start thinking about what you are going to do to him'.

If the democrats 'Go Gingrich' Bill Frist and the Senate GOP needs to 'Go Grant' on them. Stop worrying about what Harry Reid and Barbara Boxer are going to do to you, and start thinking about what you are going to do to them.

We have the numbers, we have the message, if only we have the will.

Home prices, insurance rates and contractors.

In the 1990s a homebuilder worked with a few good sub-contractors. Companies who were reliable and offered good work at a good price. Most general contractors used good subs because they were liable for any defect in the subs work. Today the relationship has changed, large homebuilders are transferring all the risk to the sub-contractor. That is the model today. If you won't sign a contract assuming the liability of not only your work, but the work of other subs on the job, you will not get the contract. When you are offering sub-contracts on 200-800 new homes, you will find people who need that amount of work to stay in business. Assume the risk or go out of business. If the general has enough subs that take on the liability, they will pay for the insurance claims against the project.

How many claims are there? Thousands and thousands, some of them legitimate, some that are coming from a cottage industry of attorneys that sue every one listed on the project. The sub-contractors, or their insurance company will pay about 5,000 to settle the suit regardless of it's validity. It drives up the cost of homes, makes insurance companies fight hard against real claims filed against a new project, and drives good sub-contractors out of business.
A great article in the Sac Union about this issue. If you live in the Sacramento region, you should subscribe.

I am a contractor, I understand that there are more than a few bad builders out there. Once the house is sold and they have your money, it can be impossible to get them back out to do repairs or punchlist items. These are the times to call an attorney. Here is the problem, when a crack develops in a patio in the backyard of a new home and someone trips and falls, they don't sue the General Contractor or the concrete sub, they sue everyone, the roofer, the cabinet guy, and the garage door installer all have to pay the claim.

If I install a phone outlet in a new home and a year later the roof leaks and damages the plasma screen TV, I will be named in the suit and my insurance will settle my end for a few thousand dollars. It doesn't matter that when I installed the phone jack, the roof was not there. Even if I had letter from a thousand structural engineers testifying that there is no way I can be responsible, me or my insurance will pay. It will be cheaper than fighting it in court.
My insurance rate goes through the roof, my hourly price goes up, the cost of the new house goes up.

There are many factors involved the soaring prices of homes, this a large part of that increase.
And please don't get me started on workmen's comp...

Chris Webber traded!

Details here.
I have never been a huge C-web guy, he seems like a good person, he just is not a closer. Ever since he ankle injuries, he won't get in the air in traffic. He rebounds flat footed in a crowd, and his high-post shots makes sure that one of teams big men will not get an offensive rebound.

I wish him well, I do. I hope the Sixers get a long run from Chris. I hope I don't see him on injured reserve for long stretches in a sixers uniform.

We also loose Matt Barnes. A hometown boy with tallent.
The upside?
We get back Scoreless Williamson!

A company of soldiers. PBS' Frontline

I have quite a love-hate relationship with PBS. Some of my absolute favorite series have been PBS exclusives. Ken Burns 'Civil War' and 'The West' are both fantastic television, some of the viewpoints are liberal, but I still enjoy the history. The problem I have with PBS is usually the slant of their news pieces and investigative series, Frontline and Nova.

This week's Frontline was a fantastic look inside the 8th Cavalry Regiment. It follows the men of D Company, known by their nickname 'the misfits' through their daily lives in south Baghdad November of 2004.

While I watched this piece, I was moved on many levels and in many ways. I watched as the misfits went from hotspot to hotspot, taking enemy fire, being hit with a roadside EID, and when they get to a suspected insurgent house, the Captain tells his men to watch their muddy boots when they go inside because it's a Muslim holiday. The pressure of being in combat and wondering what car coming beside you may be filled with explosives should be enough to keep your mind occupied. Having to remember the local customs, trying to be courteous and professional at the same time is multi-tasking taken to a new level. I am so impressed with these young men.

The Army's mission in the past has been to kill people and break things. That is what is does. The mission-shift ability in the past few military engagements is a credit to it's leadership and the men and women of our armed forces.
Building schools, hospitals and farmers markets is not the first thing that comes to mind when I think about an armored cavalry regiment. When their area cools down, they go back to getting the power back on, fixing roads and rebuilding schools. What a magnificent testimony to the character of our military and our nation.

The program also shows the human price being paid by these soldiers. The memorial service for Spc. Babbitt, a misfit that was killed in an ambush, brought me to the point of tears. His fellow misfits talk about his family and the love he had for them, especially his son. I think of my son, and what he would do if I were killed. Who would show him all the little things, how to shave, how to drive a stick, how to ask for your first date? Spc. Babbitt's son will not be able to ask his dad. My heartfelt prayers go out to all those who have lost loved ones and family in the war on terror.

One of the best moments of the program was taking one of the soldiers to the Baghdad airport. As the convoy of humvees move past a small group of Iraqi children are standing next to the road smile and wave at the soldiers. One of the men says 'the children love us'.
Lets hope so.

Where is a root cellar when you need one?

Living in Northern California, tornados are not something I worry about. Ever. Today when my Mother-in law called saying she was driving through a huge thunderstorm and KFBK was reporting a tornado heading straight for Woodland, I started worrying. She and my daughter had just gotten out of the theater and were heading home when the thunderstorm hit. I told them to get to Raleys and go inside away from the windows. They did, and the storm passed without much damage other than heavy rain and some hail.

We do get severe weather here, mostly too much rain leading to local flooding. When that happens I usually wish I had built a two story house, today I wished I had dug a root cellar.

Luke warm Christians

Jump in, the water is tepid!
Today's sermon from our pastor was very interesting and it was not easy to hear. It came from the book of Revelation , a book that I have not spent much time in. Revelation 3:14 is was a letter to the church in Laodicea. Wealthy, prosperous, and pretty full of themselves. Jesus was not impressed.

"I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!"

Being a lukewarm Christian myself, this hit home. I used to believe that if I were pretty good, especially in comparison to those around me, I was in good shape. Not so. Since I became a Christian, that same mindset came back into my life. I think 'well, I am a pretty good Christian, I don't cheat on my wife or steal from my neighbors, isn't that enough?'
Like they say on the Hertz commercials, 'not exactly'.

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me."
Our Pastor made a great reference to this passage. You may open the door and let the Lord in, but you may just leave him in the hallway. That's far enough, you can come in, but you just can't go into these rooms of my house, the room where I keep my money, the room where my friends meet, the room where I keep all my time.
It was a great message for me. I have invited Jesus into my heart, but I haven't given him the keys to all the rooms yet.

Prayer and practice I guess.
Prayer and practice.

Things I wish I had been doing in High School (instead of drinking)

Reading books that matter.
Spending more time talking to successful people.
Finding a mentor.
Taking AP classes.
Volunteering.
Spending ten minutes a day in quiet reflection.
Being a mentor.

I was just reading a piece over at The Claremont Institute.

America has been described as an ongoing experiment in self-government, an experiment that can and will fail if the American people ever lose sight of the principles upon which America was founded. The same challenge faces our democratic friends around the world, including those in Iraq who are bravely attempting to bring self-government to a region of the world where it has been little known.

The article is written by Tom Krannawitter. I am sure he did not waste his high school days. As Dean Wormer put it; "fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life son" This is not the part of the story where I blame my parents for letting me have an apartment at 17. I was all for it, I lobbied hard for the chance to prove I could handle the responsibility. In the end, this turned out to be a flawed plan. My grades were always respectable. 3.0 and above for the first two years, then down to 2.14 my junior year followed by an astounding 0.17 the first quarter of my senior year. The realization that if I wanted to sleep through the first two periods hit me soon after school started. My Mom and Dad did drop the hammer on me when they received that grade update. I did a few calculations and came up with the minimum number of classes/most amount of absences I could get away with and followed my plan to graduation. I never did get an 'F' on any report card, although I did earn a few 'incompletes'.

Oh to hit the rewind button!

I look at people like Mr. Krannawitter and wonder if I could have developed a deep, critical thinking mind as sharp as his if I had focused on my education as a young man? I have been playing catch-up since my late twenties when I started reading Shelbe Foote and Ambrose. The past few years I have been reading the 'classics', Shakespeare and the Bible. I love the use of language and enjoy the history lessons. I am trying kindle an interest in reading and history to my son. He would rather play his PS2, but I just keep dripping little bits of it on him to at least make him aware what is out there. Last year I was listening to the radio on my way to his school to pick him up. The radio host had his 'man on the street' interviewing people outside NYU. He asked them three question; Who is the current Vice President? Who is the Secretary of State? Who is the Secretary of defense?
They interviewed 7 or 8 college students before they found one who could answer all the questions. I pick up my son and started on our way home, I asked him the same questions. He answered all of they correctly.

I may not be such a screw-up after all.

Social Security tax cap, what's on the table?

President Bush today said that raising the cap on the amount of your income is subject to SS tax is on the table.

"I've been asked this question a lot, and my answer is that I'm interested in good ideas," Bush said, according to the Birmingham (Ala.) News. "The one thing I'm not open-minded about is raising the payroll tax rate, and all the other issues are on the table, and that's important for people to know."

If that is on the table, I would like to the democrats bring a few item to the table.
If the President agrees to raise the cap from 90,000 of income to, lets say 120,000. I want three things.

1 Personal Accounts, without these, there is no deal at all. I want the money that I have paid into SS, even the one third figure that is being thrown around, to belong to me. If I have paid 50 or $150,000 into SS and I die before I turn 65. I get zero! I have been robbed of that money, my children will not see a penny of it. Even if I live until age 72, SS will still have much more of my money than they gave back. A personal account that could be transferred to my children, in the event of an early death just makes sense.

2 Raise the amount of money I an contribute to my IRA, Roth IRA, SEP IRA or 401k by one half.
Make it easy for Americans to be savers.

3 Make the tax cuts permanent.

I will make that deal today.

SMUD, coming to Yolo County?

SMUD, the Sacramento Municipal utilities District, has been approached by the large cities of Yolo County, Woodland, Davis and West Sacramento to provide electrical service for their citizens. A release of a independent report has found that savings are likely and service interruptions would be improved by upgrading the existing electrical infrastructure. PG&E has questions about the reports conclusions.
David Rubin, PG&E's director of service analysis, complained that the study wildly underestimates the value of PG&E's system, uses overly optimistic power price assumptions and overstates other savings.

I do not pretend to be a electrical infrastructure engineer, but I have been a customer of both companies. I did like SMUD's rates, service and it's free shade tree program was very well received by me and my neighbors. I also realize that being a rural customer is very different than being a urban customer. Out here in the hinterlands, our electrical service is hit and miss during storms and strong winds. Hit and miss is a very accurate description of the speeding lunatics that think the narrow rural roads that take them to the Indian Casino are the backstrech of the Daytona 500. Twice this year my power has gone out due to these folks smashing into power poles. It does not make much difference what names are on the poles, PG&E or SMUD. The front bumper of a speeding Honda Civic with it's windows blacked out and the radio thumping out the latest rap hits will still take down the power.

The rates I received as a SMUD customer were very reasonable, so if I lived in Woodland I would hope that SMUD does come to Yolo County. I don't think anyone living outside the I-80 Hwy113 corridor will ever see SMUD service. The customer to miles of line ratio is way to high to be profitable out here and up the valley. I just hope that if SMUD does take the low hanging fruit of the cities, that PG&E will not close it's local office and those of us out in the country will have to wait longer for a repair dispatched from further away.

That's the price we pay for a living out here. It is a price I am willing to pay.

Blog Condoms.

Protect yourself from being the next blogger threatened with a lawsuit. Here are a few tips from Matt that are getting many hits from the blogesphere.
Information, isn't it wonderful.
Thanks to Josh.