THIS is why we should have built new space shuttles

I'm a Baby Boomer.  I was fascinated when Alan Shepard became the first American in space.  And I stayed fascinated until December of 1972 when the Apollo 17 crew came home.  The Space Shuttle didn't grab me the same way.  However, I sat sadly, as the last shuttle landed in 2011.  I wondered that day, how long it would be before the decision to kill the shuttle program and not replace it with some platform, would come home to roost.

The answer is 2 years, 9 months and 8 days.

Russia warned Tuesday that American astronauts on the International Space Station could be hurt by new US-led sanctions over the escalating crisis in Ukraine, where pro-Moscow militants seized more public buildings in the east.

Washington was resorting to "Iron Curtain" policies from its Cold War-era playbook with the new Western sanctions, which were driving the Ukraine crisis towards "a dead end", Moscow raged.

Washington was resorting to "Iron Curtain" policies from its Cold War-era playbook with the new Western sanctions, which were driving the Ukraine crisis towards "a dead end", Moscow raged.
 
The International Space Station is operated jointly by Russia, the United States, Europe, Japan and Canada. Astronauts and cosmonauts depend on Russian Soyuz rockets to ferry them between it and Earth, ever since NASA scrapped its space shuttles in 2011.

There is a lot more to the article, but nothing about HOW the astronauts could be harmed.  But the most obvious answer is that they could be denied a return trip to the ground.  Let me say finally, I do not think the gov't is the answer here.  People like Elon Musk or even Richard Branson are.

D.D Harriman!!  Where are you!!!

BTW, I found this article via Yahoo News.  As of 14:00 DST today, not one major media outlet is carrying this story.  And the only American TV station carrying it is WDRB, outta my hometown of Louisville, KY.  That seems sad to me.


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Elk Hunting on a Friday

Two rednecks, Bubba and Jim Bob, are sitting on the front porch of their hunting cabin in Colorado. 

It's the day before Elk Season opens, and as luck would have it, a huge male elk walks right up the drive way, stands about 15 feet from the porch, and starts trumpeting loudly for a female. 

Jim Bob grinning from ear to ear, shakes his head then punches his hunting partner on the shoulder, and says, "Bubba, I hope old big boy there finds himself a girlfriend and knocks off a couple today, 'cause tam'arah he's mine!"

Bubba looks at him and says, "Aw hell, he'll do more'n that! Didn't you know that elks have sex 10 to 15 times a day?"

"WHAT!!", says his Jim Bob, "and just last week, I joined the damned VFW!"
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Schteveo

I'm often amazed at the cascade effect...

For me, one of the coolest things that happens or from which I learn things, is while I'm surfing or doing some kind of look-up or research, and one thing leads to another, and another and another.  I've heard it called the cascade effect. I love it when, each of the jumps uncover some new or interesting topic, but what I really like, is when I find some nugget of truth so profound I go "WOW!".   I like it too, when my stumbling research solidifies something I'd suspected, but couldn't prove.  It would be selfish to keep it to myself, so here's one from today.

Here's the set-up, and before I go on, I don't care a gnats fart about anyone's sexuality.  Gay sex doesn't appeal to me...but I know heterosexuals I don't like taking a shower near...meaning if they're in the same county as my bathroom.  But I digress. 

This morning, I was watching a show I recorded on BBCAM last night, about science fiction, in particular, this episode was about robots.  One of the 'experts' was a scifi writer named [and I shit you NOT] Charlie Jane Anders.  It seems Ms. Anders...Mr.Anders...this Anders person is a writer of scifi herself...himself...yeah, I had to look it up too.

So, ultimately, I can't tell IF this person is a dude or  babe, there is no single marker for male or female...I'm old and hetero...so I go to look up the person herself...himself...themselves...I TOLD you I had to look it the hell up! 

It seems that Charlie Jane Anders, was born male, but is self described as genderqueer and a trans woman, and you'll just HAVE to look 'em up, I did and I've said so repeatedly!

But that aside, Wikipedia bounced up near the top.  But guess what little bon mot popped up down below?  An article, where Ms. Anders was at odds with a Bisexual Women's group called Chasing Amy Social Club of San Francisco.  But here's what I thought was odd about all of them, being, well, at odds.

Ms Anders thought that it was unfair, wrong, not nice that the bi-ladies at Chasing Amy Social Club, didn't 'allow' transgender women to join their club.

WHAT!!!??  HUH??!!  WTF!!!??  HOW, oh HOW, could it BE!!?

Did I even read that shit right?  Hey, haven't we ALL been repeatedly castigated, belittled and shouted down for such things?  It's shouted from the roofs of the all inclusive gay bath houses with regularity, that California in general and San Francisco in particular are all inclusive areas of love, peace and tolerance.  I'm mean seriously, how dare we tell a female gay couple we don't want to make a cake for their gay wedding in our bakery run by narrow minded religious zealots!!!

Anyway, there is an article in the Bay Area Reporter  telling about the fracase.

But, in fairness to Ms. Anders and the bi-ladies of Chasing Amy Social Club, it is from way back in the dark ages of April of 2014...wait, wait, that's NOW!!!!  But I thought...no wait...I was TOLD that there is love and harmony among all these non-hetero groups.  Actually though, I'm just a tad more than hip to that lie, and I have been for years.

I've worked around enough gay men, gay women and bi-sexuals from both sides of the restroom to know that the supposed unity is just that, supposed.  There is no group of humans would rather be in a mixed group, than in a group of like minded, similar thinking people.  It's part of our human, survival matrix to want to stand back to back with someone who thinks like you do!!  We trust that group over any other.  And so WHAT!?  Let them have their group.  Imagine a world where anyone who DIDN'T like the rules your group has, going off and starting their own group!!!  I think the Hindus call it Nirvana!  But that's JUST the Hindus, IF, you start your own group, you call it what ever you want!   

But you know what I like the best about this story.  If I ran the internet, from my own twisted and fever fingered lap top, I couldn't make up this kind of crap.  I'm not twisted enough to give it the time it needs to look just this ridiculous.

After all, with all the crazy cool lies I could make up if I ran the interwebs, why would I try to make up a story about a topic on which I have no divisive feelings, about people who's stock in trade, is to tell us how cool, loving, inclusive and thoughtful they are, while talking trash AT those of us in a category THEY call 'breeders', while, all  while, they exclude each other from their own self-important, look at me, look at me, look at MY organization groups, while daring us to do so, and suing us if we have the unmitigated gall to do so.

You can't make this shit up!  You just can't.
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Schteveo

This week's Phriday Phunny, is all about Disney cancelling their next Movie Project

After the success of 2009's "The Princess and the Frog", which included Disney's first African-American Princess, they had tentatively announced a remake of "Snow White", featuring yet another African-American Princess.  

CNN reported today however, that the Disney organization's new film, called "Jet Black: the African-American Snow White”, has been cancelled.

All of the seven dwarfs -- Dealer, Stealer, Mugger, Forger, Drive By, Homeboy, and Shank -- have refused to sing "Hi Ho" because they say it offends and belittles black prostitutes.

They also say, they have NO intention of EVER singing, "It's off to work we go!''

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Schteveo

Some Phun for a Phriday

Rambling, yet thought provoking, mental hijinks.

I'm not saying, let's go kill all the stupid people.  

I'm simply saying, let's remove all the warning labels and let the problem work itself out Darwinian style.

I changed my car horn to gun shot sounds.  

People REALLY move out of the way much faster now.
 

You can't always tell a lot about a woman's mood, just by her hands.  

But, if she is holding a gun, she's probably angry.
 

Gone are the days when girls used to cook like their mothers.  

Now they drink like their fathers.
 

You know that tingly little feeling you get when you really like someone?  

That's common sense leaving your body.
 

I don't like making plans for the day.

Invariably, the word "premeditated" gets thrown around in  courtrooms.

I didn't make it to the gym again today.  

That makes thirty-five years in a row!

Then again, I decide to stop calling the bathroom the 'john', now I call it the 'jim'.

I feel so much better about myself, saying I went to the 'jim' first thing this morning.

I don't understand paranoid people who check under their beds or behind their shower curtains for muggers, murderers or terrorists.

If they find one, what's their plan exactly?

Hypocrisy goes ALL the way, to the BOTTOM of the Barrel!!!

So, one of the things that I know from a partly mis-spent youth is the following.  "Snitches get Stitches!!"   And the epitome of that sentiment today in America, comes from the African-American Community.  Small children on school buses I've driven knew these rules.

I've seen and worked with guys who would cut their mother, if she ratted them out.  White or black.  Groups of young black or Spanish 'youth' have been know to go after priests and ministers who 'wronged' them, or talked to police or who they THOUGHT had talked to the police.

Then, the group most people know that should NEVER be talked about, the Mafia.

That being the case, given all these things among different and divergent groups, then WHY is Al Sharpton still breathing?  Just the idea that he's a rat, you would think, would get him a bad case of lead poisoning, or maybe he'd fall down a flight of steps or two..

The Rev. Al Sharpton admitted on Tuesday that he helped the FBI investigate New York Mafia figures in the 1980s, even making secret recordings that appeared to help bring down a mob boss.

But at a news conference, Sharpton insisted he never considered himself a confidential informant, despite a report identifying him as the "CI-7" referenced in recently released court records.

"I was never told I was an informant with a number," Sharpton told reporters at his Harlem headquarters in response to the report posted Monday on The Smoking Gun website. "In my own mind, I was not an informant. I was cooperating with an investigation."

Personally, again just personally, it seems like a fine line, of nuanced, rhetorical, semantics to make, the difference on being a brat, and in assisting an investigation.  He didn't 'know' he had a number and that he was an informant?  Aw, BS!

Sharpton would NEVER have spokn to anyone in a position of authority, without a lawyer handy.  He had too much to lose by doing so.  It's just more talking point, words said to offset words said, so that Sharpton can keep his paycheck and his lifestyle.  I wonder how Tawana Brawley is doing tonight?

I'm betting she's not worth the Rev's $5M.  I love these clowns and hopefully, there's a special place in hell for them.
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Schteveo

Another Fort Hood shooting!!

Not much known yet, but how MUCH do we need to know to understand that DIS-ARMING the people we train to protect us, is just friggin' stupid!!!

Four people are confirmed dead and at least 14 people are injured following a shooting at the Fort Hood army post Wednesday evening, according to the House Homeland Security Chair and U.S. Representative from Texas Michael McCaul.  CBS News confirms the shooter is among the dead and was killed by a self-inflicted wound.  The shooter has been identified as a soldier.  He has been identified at 34-year-old Ivan Lopez.  The shooting reportedly started as the result of a dispute between soldiers.

Great, we know who did it.  But why the f**k don't these guys carry on the base so thery can defend themselves and others!?

It's about time for a TOTAL change of 'leadership' in this country.  It's more than obvious that they ones we have now, only care about their own @$$es!

Schteveo 

The ever changing world...improvement or no?

Interesting.  As I began this post I noticed that at 9:18 PDT, we have had over 240 visitors to our little corner of the bloggosphere, but no comments.

So, I am on day two of my new job.  I have been home all of 3 nights since early February.  I hope Poots enjoyed the little gust from mother nature yesterday, It doesn't look like it is going to be a nice day up here in lovely Winslow.  But hey, the company is providing a brand new house for me and one other guy to use when we are here and I am Earning Money Sleeping. 

Now for the good part.....if you can call this good.....

I was in Denver a couple of weeks ago, staying at the perpetually under construction Red Lion Inn in Aurora.  I was given a luxurious 8th floor room overlooking the intersection of South Parker and 225.  It actually isn't bad, except that the heater was broken and only had two settings, off and sauna. The buffalo rib-eye wasn't bad, but still didn't compare to a good 16 oz at Outback.  But I digress....One of the nice things about the hotel is that there is a $250 per day charge for smoking in the rooms.  Being a chronic non-smoker, I appreciate that. 

After a semi-strenuous week of training (strenuous by way of not allowing sharp pointed objects in your hands after noon because you might stab yourself in the eye), my cohort had Saturday afternoon and Sunday off.  We rented a car and took a nice trip up to Vail and people watched the souls with more dollars than sense.  Sunday night met us with the anticipation of more of the same for the following 4 days.  At about 10 at night I was browsing Netflix for anything else that might have Gemma Arterton in it.  I thought she did a credible job in Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, so thought I would see what else she had out.

Suddenly, my ears were assaulted by this horrendous noise, and I saw the alarm strobe above my door start to flash.  I thought to myself...great, some idiot construction dude tripped an alarm.  Then I thought, "well, I am on the 8th floor, maybe I should head out."  So I grabbed by tablet & hard drive, put my pants & shoes back on, grabbed a jacket, and headed for the stairwell and down to the 12 degree weather outside.

We passed the 7th and 6th floors.  At the 5th we could smell wiffs of some kind of burning material, but as yet unidentifiable.  On the 4th it started to take on a sickly sweet stentch, then somebody on the 3rd floor opened the door.  Immediately the burning material was identified as a green cloud of smoke rolled into the stair well.  At which point, we all held our breath because we knew that we would be "randomly" tested sometime in the following 4 days.  Since I am now in the transportation industry, that would be a bad thing.  Can you imagine how much dope someone has to smoke in order to set off a fire alarm?  Open forum:  Does anyone know the answer to that?

Thoughts...The war on drugs:  Like every other war that our government has waged since 1947; it is a war to be waged, but not to be won.  There is no money in winning. 

Should our government be involved in regulating drugs?  I don't have the answer for that.  I have an opinion. Prohibition did not work at the beginning of the 20th century, all it did was increase crime.  Does government regulation and restrictions on "entertainment" drugs have a place?  Is it useful?  Is it cost effective?  I am beyond beginning to wonder about some of those answers.

Conversely, there is a requirement to protect the public.  How far should the government go to protect a person from themselves?  A meth-head is going to get his fix.  He knows what it is going to do to him eventually, but he still has to get it.  The same goes for pretty much every other mind altering substance.  But the same can be said for pretty much anything that is abused, all the way down to the 128 oz Big Gulp at 7-11. 

In the interest of debate, what are our collective thoughts on this?  Me, the hardest substance I consume is the occasional Coke....Pepsi in a pinch, but I think it is too sweet. Drink of choice, A&W or Squirt.  Tobacco?  Really good for keeping the aphids out of my fruit trees.  Alcohol makes a good antiseptic.  But that is my choice.  It doesn't affect any other person that I choose not to imbibe.  For the most part, other peoples' use of these products do not affect me.  Until they do.

I do not like the smell of burning plants.  I like the smell of burning flesh even less.  But when you get in a crowded elevator after getting your "fix", maybe you should take the stairs instead.  It is true that you can't smell the stench, but now everyone else has to share it with you.  When you are getting your fix off of whacky tabaccy, it is just as bad.    I remember my days back in Uncle Sam's club for boys (male & female).  I hated Monday morning runs.  The smell from guys who had spent most of that months paycheck on liquid nourishment, made it really hard to find the remaining oxygen in the air.

Bottom line.  I am all for people having a choice in how they want to treat (abuse) their bodies.  But how about a little consideration for those of that don't want to, at least not in that way.  Freedom is a good thing, but freedom not to is a good thing too.

'shrooms and Ol' Spot

A group of friends from a local church wanted to get together on a regular basis, socialize, and play games.

The lady of the house was to prepare the meal. When it came time for Al and Jane to be the hosts, she wanted to outdo all the others.  Jane decided to have mushroom-smothered steaks. But, mushrooms are expensive.

She then told her husband, "I'm changing my menu, no mushrooms. They are too high."

He said, "Why don't you go down in the pasture and pick some of those mushrooms? There are plenty in the creek bed."

She said, "No, some wild mushrooms are poison."

He said, "Well, I see varmints eating them and they're OK."

So Jane decided to give it a try. She picked a bunch, washed, sliced, and diced them for her smothered steak.

Then she went out on the back porch and gave Al's dog Ol' Spot a
double handful cooked in some butter. Ol' Spot ate every bite!

All morning long, Jane watched Ol' Spot and the wild mushrooms didn't seem to affect him, so she decided to use them. The meal was a great success, and Jane had even hired a helper lady from town to help her serve. She had on a white apron and a fancy little cap on her head.

After everyone had finished, they relaxed, socialized, and played 42 & Mexican Dominoes.

About then, the helper lady from town, came in and whispered in Jane's ear.

She said, "Mrs. Williams, Ol' Spot is dead!" 

Jane went into hysterics.  After she finally calmed down, Al called the doctor and told him about the mushrooms and the dead dog.

The doctor said, "That's bad, but I think we can take care of it.
I will call for an ambulance and I will be there as quick as possible.
We'll give everyone enemas and we will pump out everyone's stomach. Everything will be fine. Just keep them calm."

Soon they could hear the siren as the ambulance was coming down the road. The EMTs & the doctor had their suitcases, syringes, and a stomach pump.

One by one, they took each person into the bathroom, gave them an
enema and pumped out their stomach. After the last one was finished, the doctor came out and said, "I think everything will be fine now, and he left."

They were all looking pretty weak sitting around the living room and about this time, the helper lady came in and said,

"You know, it was right mean of that fellow that ran over Ol' Spot, he never even slowed down n'er stopped!"
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Schteveo

Increase or Decrease

In the interest of starting a new thread, here are a few thoughts that I have had the last few days.

I am getting ready to start a new job in another week.  5th new full time job in 5 years since retiring from Uncle Sam's boys club.  At least it is going to be a full time job, with benefits.  Unfortunately I am leaving my current job because of government cutbacks.  I don't know very many people that can live off of "we will notify you on the first if we need you this month"  That kind of contract is just begging for an ulcer or heart attack.

I've been thinking about all of the hubba balloo about the increase of the federal minimum wage.  Has anyone thought much about the reciprical?  Let's think about this for a minute.

I have my new full time job coming up.  84 hours per 2 week pay period, with the potential to get up to 120 hours if somone takes a vacation or gets sick. 30% less pay than my current 20 weeks per year job.   I have a seasonal part time job that pays $11/hour in which I average 20 hours per 2 week pay period, if I am availale when they need me and only from February 1 - April 15 every year.  And a second part time job as a substitute teacher.  This pays $70 per day, if I am available ($10.76/hour) (I am available every other week since I will be working 12 hour shifts at the full time job. 

Here are the things to consider.  back in 2011 I collected unemployment for 2 weeks.  Based on my previous employment, I was eligble for the maximum compensation:  $412 per week.  Not enough to cover the mortgage for the month, but at least we wouldn't starve. 

Substitute teacher at $70 per day.  This yields $350 per week, if you manage to get a job every day, for the whole day, not just a half.  What is in the job description for substitute teaching:  Enter a classroom 20 minutes before class starts (unpaid 20 minutes) find out what the teacher has been teaching and what they want you to teach, then follow the lesson plan, assuming the teacher prepared one and deal with kids that know that you are only a substitute.  I always feel bad for the first period kids, because it is during that class that I am reviewing the material to figure out what is being taught and how to teach it. 

My qualifications:
    A BS in Aeronautics
   An MBA in finance and accounting
   An MA in history
   A grad certificate in education and learning
    nearly 3 decades of teaching experience as well as raising 5 children of my own.

here is some food for thought.   $350 week working or $412 unemployment to do nothing?

Now, Once the fed increases their minimum wage, it usually is only a few years before the states are blackmailed into following suit.  Or in the case of the left coast, matching and raising the fed.  So, with my $100,000 in education, I will be making about 66 cents more than the high school drop out flipping burgers if I continue to substitute teach. (I actually get paid less than a kid working at In & Out burger if he/she has been their for 6 months)

Thank you Mr. President for reducing teaching to a minimum wage job!!!!!

Me personally, I would love to teach full time.  The kids that I have been working with are great.  But thanks to the teachers' union, any principal would be foolish to hire me.  Why?  Because I have TOO MUCH education and experience.  They can't afford to pay me.  Not to mention the staffing nightmare that would ensue with the tenured teachers who don't have the education that I do. 

How do we get teaching out of being a minimum wage job?  Well, we give them raises.  But that would entail increasing property taxes.  We have a pretty small tax base in our area, so the increase would have to be pretty significant in order to cover all of the teachers in the area.  This would in turn reduce the residual cash on hand for the teachers since, they are part of the community and would have to pay this increase.  It turns into a net loss when you add it all together.

I was talking to a buddy of mine the other day, who owns and McD's franchise.  It is a fairly lucrative business, although it is getting tighter and tighter.  Most of his employees are high school and college students who work part time. He starts most people at minimum wage and increases it 25 cents every six months until they get to $10/hr. In our conversation he pointed out that it currently costs him $800 per day to open his doors, without paying himself.  This is the cost of building and labor. He has increased costs if he actually sells anything.

He has started doing the math on the new federal minimum wage and the impact it will have on him and his business.  Without increasing what he pays himself, and not providing complimentary pay raises above minimum wage to those already working for him, his costs will jump to $1100 per day to open his doors...before paying himself he loses an additional $9,000 per month.  That is a lot of Big Macs.  The only way to adjust for that will be to increase his prices, which get passed on to his customers and even his employees.  He determined that if his employees at the restaurant 5 times per week during their shift, they will have a net loss over what they are getting paid now, due to the increase in prices and the increased tax witholdings.

I think in reality, the only thing that increasing the federal minimum wage will do is increase tax revenues much more than it will actually help the employee.

Most importantly, does anyone know of many minimum wage jobs which are not supposed to entry level, unskilled in the first place?


Thank you Mr. President, thanks for nothing.

Here's one for the, "No SHIT, Sherlock" File!

As I read this article today, I  was trying to imagine just WHO would be surprised by the following description of Hillary Clinton?  How brain dead do you have to be to not see her this way?  And regardless of love her or hate her, this description fits.
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"...too politically ambitious, too strong, and too ruthless..." .
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She was and will ALWAYS be the smart one in their marriage, and if not for Hillary, Bill would be running a one man law office in East Arm Pit Ar, defending guys running porn stores, who get caught peeping into the female employees bathroom!

The real test of her political connections and savvy, is that she's going to walk away from having four people in Libya get killed on her watch, with little or nothing sticking to her as the Secretary of State!!!
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Schteveo

Worst and Best of Superbowl Sunday....

Best Ad..."...yeah, and WHAT happens at 200K miles, RAINBOWS come of their butts!?"

Worst Ad...that Maserati commercial thing...WTH was THAT?  [I'll watch Beasts of the Southern Wild again, to see that kid REALLY act] 

[Dishonorable mention to Bob Dylan and Buick...it's not that Detroit CARS suck outright, it's that the Union people who make them , DON"T care about the cars, JUST the money!]

Best play of the game...a Safety, at 00:12 of the 1st Quarter.  It quite literally took ALL the wind out of Denver's sails!  [...and I say that as a guy who had NO attachment to either team]

Biggest hidden story of the day, Bill O'Reilly taking on BHO, and BHO, as usual, BLAMING Fox for MAKING his Administration's scandals, by REPORTING them!


Worst use of everyone's 'awareness' of Superbowl Sunday...Hitlary tweeting about Fox.
     [if she personally wrote that, I'll kiss your @$$ on the SCOTUS steps, and give you an hour to draw a crowd!  AND, just like BHO, SHE blames FOX for HER failings...]


Scariest Part of Superbowl Sunday [if you owned a Casino...or a 'book'...] The Denver Broncos, going SCORELESS, for almost 3 Quarters of the game.  [I'm betting that score at the :01 second mark, saved MILLIONS in losses...and unclenched hundreds of CEO / booky anal orifices!]

Best food of the day...Chicken Wings, made in sauce that the Anchor Bar had REMOVED from the interweb!

Worst Food of the day...Dulce de Leche Brownies...'so so' brownies, whose 'greatness' was lost in the PITA, way too complicated recipe and tying up the oven for 75 minutes!!! [we wound up Nacholess GD'it!]

Best part of Superbowl Sunday...Family!

Worst part of Superbowl Sunday...Family!
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Schteveo

Now I lay me down to rest

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/01/30/push-for-new-national-cemeteries-as-veteran-deaths-bring-sites-near-capacity/

Very interesting article to me, and one to which I am very grateful that someone is considering it.  I haven't given much thought to the closest veteran's cemetary.  So out of curiosity I found this VA website.

http://www.cem.va.gov/cems/listcem.asp

this lets you find veterans cemetery near you.  I never knew how few there are in the west.  This doesn't show the cemeteries run by the individual states. 

what do you guys think?  Is this worth spending tax dollars on?  It's almost rhetorical, I think I know what everyone would say, but I am curious about your comments.

The biggest advantage I see to veteran cemeteries is that the veteran's spouse can be buried in the same plot.  Now that our pensions are going to be cut, this might be the only way I can afford to die.

law suit after the fact?

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/01/28/texas-teen-in-good-condition-after-plummeting-over-3000-feet-in-skydiving/?intcmp=latestnews

Ok, here it goes.
A 16 year old gets a massive adrenaline push, which goes bad.  Amazingly enough, the kid survives.

THEN the father says that he questions the rational of the company for allowing a 16 year old to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.  Oh, and he jumped too.

As a pilot, I can't think of a good reason to exit a perfectly good airplane in flight....other then an incredible adrenaline rush.  Of course I can't think of a good reason to sit in the back of an airplane at all (except airlines get excited when they find a non-employee in the cockpit)

The bottom line is that this seems to be a "family building" activity which the father took his daughter on.  When it goes bad he starts questioning the company that allowed it?   How about questioning himself.  HE was the one who took her.  HE was the one who paid for it.  HE participated with her.  HE was the one that gave approval since she was under 18. 

At which point does HE take responsibility for placing his daughter in a high risk environment? 

This reminds me of the guy who kept telling his wife to get closer to the bear at Yellowstone, then got upset when she got eaten. 



On the up side, in about 3 hours the sun will come up.  My little brother, the First Sergeant, is coming out to Bike Lake, and for the first time ever in a 20 year career, we will finally get to fly together.  This is going to be awesome.  That my dear Poots, is the best reason for flying a scooter....you can fly it single pilot.

Dr. Goebbels would be VERY Proud, yet again!

pro·pa·gan·da

noun \ˌprä-pə-ˈgan-də, ˌprō-\

: ideas or statements that are often false or exaggerated and that are spread in order to help a cause, a political leader, a government, etc.

That, according to Messrs Merriam and Webster, is the first definition, of the word propaganda.  One of the problems that I have, with BOTH sides in America's current doomish downward slide, is that BOTH sides are ass deep in lies, half truths, exaggerations and in general, if their lips are moving, they're spreading bull shit.  

In the mid to late 20th Century, the name Joseph Goebbles was synonymous with propaganda.  He was also one of the authors of The Final Solution.  He was a rabid anti-semitte and he spread the lie that the Jews were the 'problem' in the world.  When Hitler took over Germany, Goebbels was right there, as his Minister of Propaganda, spreading whatever lies that were need to grab control of the country.  In a radio speech in 1933 he said,

 "We .. intend a principled transformation in the worldview of our entire society, a revolution of the greatest possible extent that will leave nothing out, changing the life of our nation in every regard ..." 



I gotta tell you, that sounds a LOT like a 'fundamental change' in my book.
  
 The Nazis consistently lied to the people of Germany, and then the occupied countries.  Even as the Allies were pounding away at Berlin, they had the German radio station in Berlin, telling the people of Germany, that the Allies would be pushed out of Germany, and the Reich would win the war. No lie was too big.

So, let me ask you a question.   If they lied then to further their agenda then, and it was propaganda and a BAD thing for the German people and the people in occupied countries, then why is it NOT propaganda or lying now to do the same thing, HERE?

Here's today's lie, and it's a whopper kids.

In a memo to clients provided to Secrets, David John Marotta calculates the actual unemployment rate of those not working at a sky-high 37.2 percent, not the 6.7 percent advertised by the Fed, and the Misery Index at over 14, not the 8 claimed by the government.

Marotta, who recently advised those worried about an imploding economy to get a gun, said that the government isn't being honest in how it calculates those out of the workforce or inflation, the two numbers used to get the Misery Index figure.

“The unemployment rate only describes people who are currently working or looking for work,” he said. That leaves out a ton more.

“Unemployment in its truest definition, meaning the portion of people who do not have any job, is 37.2 percent. This number obviously includes some people who are not or never plan to seek employment. But it does describe how many people are not able to, do not want to or cannot find a way to work. Policies that remove the barriers to employment, thus decreasing this number, are obviously beneficial,” he and colleague Megan Russell in their new investors note from their offices in Charlottesville, Va.

I'm not surprised at all.  Given the number of people I know who are STILL out of jobs, there is no way the rate is the idiotically low rate being reported.  But what pisses me off the most, isn't the lie from the current crop of Fascist leaders.

And Conservatives / Republicans are the new Jews, so all the Fascists need, is a tipping point.  By working toward economic collapse, they may get there before the jackass in the WH is SUPPOSED to leave Office, which I still doubt he will do.    

What pisses me off the most, is that the people, are huddled in their nice warm homes, thinking that this 'war' can still be won, by these fascists, even though they own it, run it, and get rich from the ruins.  Meanwhile, the MSM is so enamored with the propaganda and so in love with Der Jugears, that they keep right on playing the lies and hate, while we're being economically bombed into submission BY the leaders that the MSM and majority of the voters trust.

It's insanity, pure and simple insanity, because once the end comes, there is no one to save us.
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Schteveo

For this amount of $$$, they could get into PRIVATE Schools...

This principal runs a school of “no.”

Students at PS 106 in Far Rockaway, Queens, have gotten no math or reading and writing books for the rigorous Common Core curriculum, whistleblowers say.

The 234 kids get no gym or art classes. Instead, they watch movies every day.

“The kids have seen more movies than Siskel and Ebert,” a source said.

The school nurse has no office equipped with a sink, refrigerator or cot.

The library is a mess: “Nothing’s in order,” said a source. “It’s a junk room.”

No substitutes are hired when a teacher is absent — students are divvied up among other classes.

A classroom that includes learning-disabled kids doesn’t have the required special-ed co-teacher.

About 40 kindergartners have no room in the three-story brick building. They sit all day in dilapidated trailers that reek of “animal urine,” a parent said; rats and squirrels noisily scamper in the walls and ceiling.

 PS 106 is allocated $2.9 million to serve a low-income population with 98 percent of its students eligible for free lunches. As a Title 1 school, it gets extra federal funds, but community members say they’ve never seen a budget tracking the income and spending..

 In case you don't have your calculator ready, the Federal Funds ALONE come to almost $13K per student.  Even in NYC that could pay for private schooling that MEANS something.  And here's a question, WHERE is Al Sharpton on THIS?!

NYC pays $20K per student, so that school gets $33K per student.  That should get them a very decent education, EVEN in NYC.  So, where are the race baiters?  Where's Jesse, where's Al, why ain't Oprah looking into dis may'n?!!?  Dey be needin' he'p down dere may'n!!!

There must not be enough white, non-Lib handwringers on the NYC School Board for Al et al, to get involved.  They get ZERO Race Points for saying BLACK and Minority School Board Members mistreated minority kids!

Too late for LAST Friday, too early for NEXT...

So, I get a phone call from my idiot brother who USED to work running the kitchen at an upscale burger place.  He needs to borrow some money because he got fired last week.

"OK, I'll bite, but WHY did you get fired THIS time bruh?"

"...well", says he, "...a couple months ago we started getting complaints that the pickles we make for our burgers and sandwhiches, were squishy or soft.''

"HUH...wtf does THAT have to...", says I.

"Shut up and I'll tell you!", says he.  "So, to make sure we didn't serve bad pickles, we put a pickle tester in the kitchen, and for the last 6 months, I've been dying to stick my...uh, my, well, um....".

"OK, I GET IT pervo, but why did you get fired!!??"

"...so the other night, I was the last one in the kitchen...well, it was me and the pickle tester, and just after I 'mounted', here comes the boss...so I got fired."

"Well, YUCK!!!! And remind ME not to eat there ever again dude!  But what did they do with the now defiled pickle tester?", says I.

"Oh, they fired her too, we've got a date tomorrow night and THAT'S why I need to borrow some MONEY!!!"

That's when I hung up on him.
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Schteveo

WWII Hero Passes Away

Not that I'm one of those re-writers of history, who thinks the Japanese were 'goaded' into attacking Pearl Harbor, or that they received two unjust attacks in August of 1945.  I just thought it was worth mentioning, that a real WWII Hero has passed away.

How many of us, would have gone on for 29 years?

Hiroo Onoda, the last Japanese imperial soldier to emerge from hiding in a jungle in the Philippines and surrender, 29 years after the end of World War II, has died. He was 91.

Onoda died Thursday at a Tokyo hospital after a brief stay there. Chief government spokesman Yoshihide Suga on Friday expressed his condolences, praising Onoda for his strong will to live and indomitable spirit.

"After World War II, Mr. Onoda lived in the jungle for many years and when he returned to Japan, I felt that finally, the war was finished. That's how I felt," Suga said.
 
Onoda was an intelligence officer who came out of hiding, erect but emaciated, in fatigues patched many times over, on Lubang island in the Philippines in March 1974, on his 52nd birthday. He surrendered only when his former commander flew there to reverse his 1945 orders to stay behind and spy on American troops.
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I remember this story from back then.  There had been one or two others who had surrendered a few years before.  But they had stayed in the jungle because they feared for their lives, NOT because they were still fighting.

I remember stories from then, saying Lt. Onoda had set pigs free, and he had turned over outhouses to cause trouble.  He never gave up the fight, he just followed his last orders.

UPDATE: a few minutes later 

I just read what I posted, and I've got a question about something, something I missed the 6 times I read this account.  WHY does it say, ."...Japanese imperial soldier..."? 

Shouldn't it read, "...Japanese Imperial Soldier...", with Imperial and Soldier being in caps too?  That, according to my grade school training.  It was the Japanese Empire, or the Empire of Japan, so ANY reference specifically about them, that entity, it should be capitolized.  And beings it references a specific Soldier OF the Empire of Japan, the word soldier gets a cap too.

I guess they don't teach that shit any more.  But if that's the case, how come every time some hand-wringing, MSM writer says American Imperial blah, blah, blah...or, Bush's push for an American Imperial corner stone, or some other nonsensical crap going back to the early 1960's and the war(s) in S.E. Asia?

I guess it's because the U.S. is evil, and the Japanese were goaded?

Schteveo

Phriday Phunny

Saint Peter is sitting at the Pearly Gates when two guys wearing dark hoodies and sagging pants arrive. St. Peter looked out through the Gates and said, 


"Wait here. I'll be right back."


St. Peter goes over to God's chambers and tells him who is waiting for entrance. God says to Peter,

 "How many times do I have to tell you? You can't be judgmental here. This is heaven. All are loved. All are brothers. Go back and let them in!"


St. Peter goes back to the Gates, looks around, and lets out a heavy sigh. 


He returns to God's chambers and says, 


"Well, they're gone."


"The guys wearing hoodies?" asked God.
 
"No. The Pearly Gates."
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Schteveo

What F**king world do WE live in?!!

Let me say first and foremost the FISA Court in my opinion, is an American Gestapo / KGB Control Office, they just call it a court.  

It's absolutely against the Constitution to even HAVE the damned court.  It violates between a third and half of the Bill of Rights, depending on what they do to whom.  AND. it's completely and totally un-necessary.  Most of the people being checked out for terror reasons, by FISA and Congressional admittance, are NOT citizens.

So, even IF they live here on a Green Card, they don't GET Bill of Rights Protections.  If they are here sans card..Pick them up, lock them up, send them HOME.  It would be cheaper to buy them plane tickets home, and have them delivered to American Diplomats in Whereverthef**kland, and then turn them loose in the than it is to have them here.

As to 'secretly' looking at Americans under this Court, that shit is ILLEGAL.  And evidently, there is SOMEONE in the Congress who has suggested that, because the 'Judges' on the FISA Court are pushing back.  But you gotta see their attitude about that, to see just how far down the Rabbit Hole we've fallen.

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Speaking for the entire U.S. judiciary, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates sent a letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee saying that appointing an independent advocate to the secret surveillance court is unnecessary and possibly counterproductive, and he slammed other key reforms as adding too heavy a caseload to the secret court's work. In FISA court hearings, judges only hear from the government seeking a spy warrant.

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So, he's a Judge, he had to be a lawyer first, so he at least read law books, which, to me, would mean that he's READ parts of the Constitution.  Sadly, he seemingly missed the 5th and 6th Amendments.  And if he approves TAKING anything from the accused's home or place of business, he missed the 4th Amendment TOO. 

Sadder still, I haven't heard ONE word about this in ANY of the MSM.  Do the idiots OF the media think they won't be investigated?  Or are they SO sure that their Lib buddies will stay in power perpetually, that they're 'safe'?

Schteveo

The Third Amendment to be Repealled

Or at least that's what some California residents are ASKING for.  Mark Dice reels in more of the most numerous fish in Cali, the Infamous Stupidfish!!!

Illustrating once again how many Americans’ knowledge of the Bill of Rights is virtually non-existent, Californians signed a petition to repeal the Third Amendment and allow U.S. troops to commandeer their homes.

Dice managed to persuade several passers by to sign their names up for scrapping the Third Amendment, which states “No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.”

Two other young women simply agreed with everything Dice said even though most of it was nonsense. “They should be able to come into your house and they can quarter there forever if they want to.” Dice stated, as the women both replied “oh yeah definitely” and “I agree”.

Other people didn’t seem to understand what the term “Third Amendment” even meant.
Dice has now successfully managed to get Americans to agree to repeal the First, Second, Third, Fourth , Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Amendments, as well as the entire Bill Of Rights.
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I know it's SoCal, but it's still SO sad that these idiots can and DO vote.
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Schteveo

Is Chris Christie being "Cained"?

Now, right from the 'get go', let me say, I am NOT a Christie guy.  However, many Republicans love the guy.  Having said that, it seems that although he was the (R) Darling of the the Leftist Media for hugging Obumble post Sandy, the closer we get to Mid-Terms, the more shit the MslimeM talks, prints, SPINS about him.

But lets look at HOW the media does things.

Over the last 5 years, various and sundry events have happened on Obama's watch.  Including the death of the Ambassador in Libya, and the ObamaCare internet debacle.  Regardless of the severity of the event, the media NEVER goes after Obama for his involvement or lack thereof.  And they've NEVER gone after him for the Billions of $$$ he's spent nor over the fact that we've gone 5 years with NO Federal Budget. 

They go after the Aids, lower level Cabinet Appointees and even lifelong gub'ment employees.

Since the whole BridgeGate thing started, I've heard Christie accused of everything from orchestrating the bridge shut down, to placing the barricades himself, to malfeasance of office for NOT knowing, to animal cruelty and child porn.  Now he's under investigation for 'misuse' of Federal Funds meant for Disaster Relief. 

Feds investigating Christie's use of Sandy relief funds.

Just days after dismissing two top advisers for their roles in the George Washington Bridge scandal, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is facing questions over the use of Superstorm Sandy relief funds.

CNN has learned that federal officials are investigating whether Christie improperly used those relief funds to produce tourism ads that starred him and his family.

The news couldn't come at a worse time for the scandal-plagued Republican, who is facing two probes into whether his staff tied up traffic near the country's busiest bridge to punish a Democratic mayor who refused to endorse his successful re-election bid.

So, he used the money, to help the businesses on the Shore, by making a video, saying the Shore WAS running, post Sandy?  HOOOOOW is that 'misuse'?  Why is it misuse of funding to try to get the word out that bus9nesses are OPEN, in an area where the WORLD thought was closed misuse, but taking 50 or 60 of your 'closest' friends to Europe is just f**king fine!?

Anybody else ready for a good, old fashioned lynching / revolution?

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Schteveo 

Friday Funnies, On Sunday

A Blond's Year in Review

January
Took new scarf back to store because it was too tight.

February
Fired from pharmacy job for failing to print labels ... Helllloooo!! ... bottles won't fit in printer!!

March
Got really excited ... finished jigsaw puzzle in 6 months ... box said '2-4 years!'

April
Trapped on escalator for hours ... power went out!

May
Tried to make Kool-Aid ... wrong instructions ... 8 cups of water won't fit into those little packets!

June
Tried to go waterskiing ... couldn't find a lake with a slope.

July
Lost breast stroke swimming competition ... learned later, the other swimmers cheated, they used their arms!

August
Got locked out of her car in rain storm ... car swamped because soft-top was open.

September
The capital of California is 'C' ... isn't it?

October
Hate M & M's ... they are so hard to peel.

November
Baked turkey for 4 1/2 days ... instructions said 1 hour per pound and I weigh 108!

December
Couldn't call 911 . 'duh' ... there's no 'eleven' button on the stupid phone!


A man was in his front yard mowing grass when his attractive blonde female neighbor came out of the house and went straight to the mailbox.  She opened it then slammed it shut and stormed back in the house.

A little later she came out of her house again went to the mail box and again, opened it, slammed it shut again. Angrily, back into the house she went.

As the man was getting ready to edge the lawn, here she came out again, marched to the mail box, opened it and then slammed it closed harder than ever. Puzzled by her actions the man asked her, 'Is something wrong?'

To which she replied, 'There certainly is!'
'My stupid computer keeps saying... YOU'VE GOT MAIL!'

Goor Advice from Wall Street...no, Seriously!

Wall Street advisor recommends guns, ammo for protection in collapse,

 

A top financial advisor, worried that Obamacare, the NSA spying scandal and spiraling national debt is increasing the chances for a fiscal and social disaster, is recommending that Americans prepare a “bug-out bag” that includes food, a gun and ammo to help them stay alive.

David John Marotta, a Wall Street expert and financial advisor and Forbes contributor, said in a note to investors, “Firearms are the last item on the list, but they are on the list. There are some terrible people in this world. And you are safer when your trusted neighbors have firearms.”

In his latest note, he said that Americans should have a survival kit to take in case of a financial or natural disaster. It should be filled with items that will help them stay alive for the first 72-hours of a crisis, including firearms.

“A bug-out bag is a good idea depending on where you live even if the emergency is just power outages, earthquakes and hurricanes. And with your preparedness you will be equipped to help others who might be in need,” he wrote. “Be prepared. Especially because it keeps you from being scared.”

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Finally, advice I can agree with, or get ahead of in fact.  I just wish I'd bought ALL the guns and ALL the ammo I wanted two or three years ago.  I would have sold off stuff at a good profit AND still had plenty for myself.

Oh well, a day late and a dollar short as Pop used to say! 

Joining the Target Christmas party

Well, as I am sure that you all know, some 40 million credit card numbers were misplaced by the renowned Target (pronounced Tar - zhay) Company.

On this glorious Christmas Eve, someone in Chicago, of all places, is using my wife's debit card at Target believe it or not.  My bank, not BoA, Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Bancorp, HSBC, or Capital One, (notice I listed the 7 biggest banks in America) a place in which I have never set foot inside a branch in my life, called and asked....we have seen charges in the town where you live today, but suddenly this charge shows up in Illinois.  Is one of your kids or your wife there?

No.

ok, well we are going to put a hold on your account, do you need to do any more shopping today?

Yes.

Will you be making any online purchase or any purchases outside of your city of residence.

No.

Ok, we will approve all charges where you live, but deny all else and refund the charge that is already made.

thank you.

Have a Merry Christmas Mr. alan

You too.

I love my bank!!!  Now I just hope that the SOB that is using my wife's card to fund their Christmas tries it one more time.  I get the feeling that Target is not happy about it and will probably press charges.  At least I hope they do.

And Merry Christmas to all of you my friends.  I hope each of you gets all of the ammo and other supplies that Santa was asked for.

merry xmas


1. If you refine heroin for a living, but you have a moral objection to liquor, 
You may be a Muslim. 

2. If you own a £3,000 machine gun and £5,000 rocket launcher, but you can't afford shoes,
You may be a Muslim. 

3. If you have more wives than teeth, 
You may be a Muslim. 

4. If you wipe your bum with your bare hand, but consider bacon to be unclean, 
You may be a Muslim. 

5. If you think vests come in two styles: Bullet-proof and suicide. 
You may be a Muslim 

6. If you can't think of anyone you haven't declared jihad against, 
You may be a Muslim. 

7. If you consider television dangerous, but routinely carry explosives in your clothing, 
You may be a Muslim. 

8. If you were amazed to discover that cell phones have uses other than setting off roadside bombs, You may be a Muslim.

9. If you have nothing against women and think every man should own at least four, 
You may be a Muslim. 

10. If you find this offensive or racist and don't forward it, 
You may be a Muslim.

The Irony of the Evolution of Society

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/12/23/judge-denies-request-to-halt-same-sex-marriages-in-utah/

Here is just one of several articles on the forced acceptance of homosexual marriage by a federally appointed...not elected....judge.

It is ironic that the 3rd amendment to the Utah State Constitution, which defines marriage as being between a man and a woman, has been declared unconstitutional.

What is ironic about it you ask?   Well , the fact that in 1898 the state of Utah was forced to included in its constitution, in order to become a state, that it only recognized the "traditional definition of marriage"

So, over the course of 115 years a group of people have been forced by politicians to abandon a portion of their religious freedom (good bye 1st amendment) and forced to accept what they consider to be a sinful act (goodbye  9th & 10th amendments).

Just out of curiosity, I wonder if it is that same "group" that has done both?  It isn't so much about condoning a particular lifestyle as it is about forcing others to abandon theirs.

A Simple Christmas Love Story

A couple was Christmas shopping.

The shopping center was packed - as the wife walked through the mall she was surprised when she looked around to find that her husband was nowhere to be seen.

She was quite upset because they had a lot to do.

She became so worried that she called him on her cell phone to ask him where he was.

In a quiet voice he said, "Do you remember the jewelers we went into about five years ago where you fell in love with that diamond necklace that we couldn't afford, and I told you that I would get it for you one day?"

The wife choked up and started to cry and said, "Yes...  yes I do remember that shop."

He replied, "Well, I'm in the mall pub right next door to it."

I love that guy!! 

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Schteveo