Cain vs. UnAble

Get yours here  https://store.hermancain.com/orderform.asp?pid=15

What a beautiful day!

It's about time. 

Yesterday we had some thunderstorms roll in, dropping a good amount of much needed rain.  Today, the sun is shining and it's beautiful and the temperature is mild.

I'm going to the gun range after work.  I need to check on Natasha, who is in the shop at the range and Alexa has been begging me for attention so while I'm there, I'm going to shoot her.

Of course, tonight is dart night and my wonderful hubby is joining me, which is always a wonderful treat for me.

Yep, it's truly a beautiful day.

Newt's 21st Century Contract with America

Some quick reaction to the bullet points from the "21st Century Contract with America" put forth by Newt Gingrich today. The full text of his framework, as he describes it, can be found here.
I think this is not a bad start. I am becoming less put off by Gingrich the more I see of him. 
1. Repeal Obamacare and pass a replacement that saves lives and money by
empowering patients and doctors, not bureaucrats and politicians.
[I believe I heard Gingrich say that his first executive order would grant a waiver to all 50 states immediately.  I can already hear the hypocrisy from the left bitching about misuse of executive power.]
2. Return to robust job creation with a bold set of tax cuts and regulatory reforms
that will free American entrepreneurs to invest and hire, as well as by reforming
the Federal Reserve and creating a training requirement for extended federal
unemployment benefits to encourage work and improve the quality of our
workforce.
3. Unleash America’s full energy production potential in oil, natural gas, coal,
biofuels, wind, nuclear oil shale and more, creating jobs, stimulating a
sustainable manufacturing boom, lowering gasoline and other energy prices,
increasing government revenues, strengthening the dollar, and bolstering
national security.
   [Here, Newt calls for doing away with the EPA and replacing it with an "Environmental Solutions Agency".  Trading one bureaucracy for another is not much of a solution in my mind.  And, the bio-fuels subsidies need to go away completely.]
4. Save Medicare and Social Security by giving Americans more choices and tools
to live longer, healthier lives with greater financial independence.
5. Balance the federal budget by freeing job-creators to grow the economy,
reforming entitlements, and implementing productivity improvement systems,
such as Lean Six Sigma, to eliminate waste and fraud. Pass a balanced budget
amendment to keep it balanced.
6. Control the border by January 1, 2014 and establish English as the official
language of government; reform the legal visa system, and make it much easier
to deport criminals and gang members while making it easier for law abiding
visitors to come to the US.
[Newt speaks of relocating half the 23,000 DHS employees in New York to the border states. To that I say "bleh".   Relocating them isn't going to make them any more effective. I say put the National Guard on the border, cocked, locked and ready to rock with workable rules of engagement.]
7. Revitalize our national security system to meet 21st century threats by
restructuring and adequately funding our security agencies to function within a
grand strategy for victory over those who seek to kill us or to limit American
freedom.
  [How about a little Second Amendment love here Newt? Which reminds me, I need to read up on where he stands on 2A issues.  I bet one of our astute readers will comment on this before I can track it down though]
8. Maximize the speed and impact of medical breakthroughs by removing
unnecessary obstacles that block new treatments from reaching patients and
emphasizing research spending toward urgent national priorities, like brain
science with its impact on Alzheimer’s, autism, Parkinson’s, mental health and
other conditions that knowledge of the brain will help solve.
     [The "brain science" thing again. This still seems a bit non sequitur to me. In addition, some of the "expediting" that's been done at the FDA has resulted in some horrific unintended consequences.]
9. Restore the proper role of the judicial branch by using the clearly delineated
powers available to the president and Congress to correct, limit, or replace
judges who violate the Constitution.
     [I'm liking this one. This would severely limit the Prog's ability to circumvent the legislative process. It probably wouldn't take more than the removal of one or two judges to get the rest to shape up.]
10. Enforce the Tenth Amendment by starting an orderly transfer of power and
responsibility from the federal government back “to the states, respectively, or
to the people,” as the Constitution requires. Over the next year, state and local
officials and citizens will be asked to identify the areas which can be transferred
back home.
So, Cain has his 999 plan, and Gingrich has his new contract, and they are rising in the polls.  Bachman's numbers are slipping, and frankly I don't expect her to be around much longer.  Perry seems to spend more time apologizing post debate than making his case. And Romney? We all  know he's the candidate the Media wants to run against Doh!Bama.  Can't let that happen.

In comments and blogroll

Bob S. brings a new take on my rant about Top Shot.  Very interesting indeed and a different way to look at the topic of the jackass of Top Shot Season 3.

Makes me think, which is always a good thing.

At any rate, I went and checked out his blog and have added him to the roll here.

Things that make me go...Hmmm

Eric Holder.
Does that man ever look like he's not lost his last friend and his last dollar?
The Sipsey Street Irregulars post up regarding Patrick Leahy being Holder's punk ass bitch flunky boy, as noted by the Confederate Yankee.
But I'm looking at the pic in the post, and Holder's posture, like so many of his pics in the news, reflect the image of a man that is totally, and I mean totally owned by someone.
Holder is a puppet, like our president do'h!bama.    Someone else is pulling the strings.
The Sipsey Street Irregulars are blowing the lid off the Gunwalker  scandal. If you haven't already picked them up from North's Gun Blog Blacklist, hit the link and go read.

The 21st Century Contract with America

Reading at the Daily Caller earlier today, I ran across this, which piqued my curiosity. Hmmm, so Newt's going to pull a rabbit out of his hat?

Perhaps something was lost in translation or editing, but very quickly the article made me go, "wtf?".

Quoting Gingrich, the article states: 

"Moreover, he added, unlike 1994, people “are so fed up with the way the stimulus is written in secret, so fed up with Obamacare being written in secret, Nancy Pelosi’s line about how you have to pass it to see what’s in it, [that] I don’t think they want something jammed down their throat"

Yup, I'm down with that.
The article further paraphrases Gingrich with:

 "Furthermore, Gingrich said some of the ideas in the new contract “are so new and so different we have not yet developed the ideas on how to do it."

Huh?  This?  Right after nailing Nasty Pelosi with her own "pass it to see what's in it" quote?
The next Gingrich quote is the one that made me go "wtf":

“I would say in particular the section on brain science, which will be extraordinary as it is flushed out over the next few months,” he continued."

How freaking bizarre.  Brain science?
After a bit of research I find that the "brain science" comment traces back to a "how you deal with autism, Alzheimer's and a variety of other things related to brain science" comment made by Newt a while back.  This comment was thrown into the middle of a statement regarding US Energy Policy, Modernizing the FDA and replacing the EPA." 

( which of these things is different?, circle the one that does not match)

Alzheimer's and Autism are serious medical conditions that need as much private sector funding as they can get for research, but why this needs to be in a new contract with America, and a plank in a political platform escapes me. 
It appears that Gingrich plans to release the "broad framework" for his 21st Centry Contract with America this week in Iowa. 
I now await this with trepidation.

3 line cricket and Herman Cain

There are two ways to get ahead of your opponent in the dart game of cricket, by closing numbers and by scoring points. In order to win the game you have to be ahead in points and have the requisite numbers closed. If there are no points on the board, the game can be won by putting three darts into each of the required numbers and the bullseye.
If your opponent is ahead in closing numbers, you can attempt to close a different number on the board and continue to throw darts into it to score points. Winning the game by simply closing the numbers becomes more difficult when you have more than two players, and "pointing up" becomes mandatory to win the game.
One of Belles favorite stories is from a 3 line cricket game we played with a dart buddy of ours years ago.  Belle started a bit slow while Mark and I commenced to immediately draw blood from one another and point up. We were going back and forth, trash talking, each of us gaining the advantage in points as our turn at the line arrived.
Meanwhile, Belle was quietly closing numbers. She was hundreds of points behind, but had every number closed before long which meant she could score points on any number not closed by all three of us.  Before Mark and I realized what was happening to us, Belle pointed up and won the game.
And so it is with Herman Cain and his Republican opponents.
Perry enters the race and his poll numbers immediately eclipse Bachman and Romney.  Bachman and Romney go on the attack to cut this Texas boy down to size, and of course, Perry responds in kind. So while those three are trying to score points on one another, Mr. Cain stays steady on the course and talks about his plans to get us out of the mess we've allowed to happen. Closing the numbers and handily winning the Florida Straw Poll.
One in a row does not a trend make, but Herman Cain is beginning to look more viable as a candidate. The other three "first tier" candidates had better step back and take a look at what's happening very soon.

Oh, and could someone in Perry's camp coach him on not standing there on stage like a Sears Catalog model, smiling at the audience while his opponents are delivering their responses to questions?  All the kool kids turn and listen intently to their opponents

Topshot - Holy Drama Batman!

Who needs soaps, when we can get all the drama we could possibly want on Top Shot.

I didn't do a commentary last week because last week's show was just sort of.......  there.

This week, however, things heated up between Mike and Jake.  In fact, Mike showed great restraint by not kicking the crap out of Jake.  Of course, as stated by Jake, that was his (Jake's) plan all along.

You see, that sawed off little jackass wants to only go up against the weakest shooters AND if he can antagonize them into throwing a punch at him to get them kicked off of Top Shot, all the better.  Simply put, the man is not only a royal asshole, but he's the worse kind of asshole.  He's decietful and cowardly.

I find it very hard to believe that this guy was really a Navy Seal.  He may have gone through the training, but whether or not he made the cut is another story.  He shows a lack of ethics, a lack of ability to work with a team and quite frankly, he's an ass and he would be dangerous to have around in the field IMO.

In my life, I've known a couple of special forces guys and quite a few heroes, while not special forces, who have served our country, and none of them were like this guy.  I almost have to wonder if some of this turmoil and drama that plays out behind the scenes is a result of those involved being solicited by Top Shot to play up the drama for what they think might be a better show.

I don't know, but I hope that this is not the case.  If it is, then I would rather find another show to watch.  If I want drama and assholes, I'll watch re-runs of Knots Landing or Dallas. 

So last night's competition was good.  They used a weapon that has been around since before the common era, or before Christ (however you want to look at it).  They used the recurve bow.  Learning to shoot a recurve bow accurately is not a task for the impatient.  There are no sights on this thing and you have to basically go with your instinct, kind of like throwing a football or, in my case, a dart.

With its beautiful lines and its smooth, soft and well defined curves, this weapon is just plain sexy.  Of course archery is fascinating to me because of the incredible strength and skill that it takes to be really good at it.

The challenge last night was pretty difficult and the red team, while they did well, had a couple of mishaps which ended up in a loss.  Cliff, not hiting a single target and Chris (I think that's his name) went to the elimination round where Cliff lost.

Now, we are down to the final 7 and it's every man for himself.  I hope that Jake gets sent home soon, though what I really want to know is why Top Shot will allow a dickweed like Jake to remain on the show if he's constantly picking fights and then when he's on camera alone admitting that he's doing it on purpose, why they let him stay?  It's just wrong and if Top Shot doesn't do something about these types of situations, I think that they will lose their audience.

If there's one thing about men that I know, it's that by and large they want to watch a good competition, not a bunch of drama and back-biting.  If they wanted that, they would watch daytime soaps.

Boy am I unobservant

I've had this blog in my bookmarks and been visiting for quite some time: From the Caer
And just now I manage to connect the dots. Welcome to the blogroll ProudHillbilly.
Should have done this quite some time ago. My bad.

The End of an Era

I have a few guilty pleasures.  Things that I indulge in that when spoken of by me, does one of two things...   it either creates surprise in folks that I choose to share these things with, or it causes them to laugh at me.  It's all good though because we are all entitled to our little guilty pleasures.

One of mine, and the one that I am specifically referring to, are my love of Daytime Soap Operas.  Yes, me, the tough woman likes her soaps.

I've grown up watching All My Children, One Life to Live and General Hospital.  Today was the first day since I can remember when All My Children was not on the air.  I found myself sad when I cued up the DVR and only had OLTL and GH to watch.

Ever since I can remember, I've watched Erica Kane on the TV fighting with Brooke English and getting married a gazillion times.  The Martin family and all of their trials and tribulations, the Courtlandts, the Chandlers, the Hubbards and so on and so on.

While I know that soaps really mean nothing, but to me, during some of the toughest years of my life, it offered an escape for me.  A way to take time out of my own troubles and focus on something else.  I know it seems silly to most of you who read this blog but that's okay, I'm a big girl and can take the criticism.

At any rate, today marked the end of an era.  After 41 years of being a part of my life, AMC is now gone from the airwaves.  OLTL will soon follow leaving only GH behind.

I hear that there will quite possibly be a webcast for AMC after the first of the year, but it's just not the same. Oh well, I suppose that all things come to an end at some point and for television, 41 years is an amazing run. Congrats to the cast and crew of AMC I wish them all most well in whatever endeavors they pursue.  It was fun and entertaining.  Through the years I've laughed, I've cried, I've cursed and I've applauded.

You can't ask for anything more.

Great, just freaking Great...

Welll, on top of the drought and fires. this is some wonderful news.
Close to home as well.  I'm hoping for a seriously cold winter to kill those little effers off.

Vertigo of the Day

Old video by internet standards, I know.   A friend emailed the link to this to me last year.  Like the old joke goes, I'm not afraid of falling, it's the sudden stop at the bottom that worries me.
Click the "full screen" widget at the lower right of the video window for the maximum effect.

We now return to our regularly scheduled program.........

I woke up this morning feeling like I had spent the whole day being Kx59's 'anchor bitch'.

Oh wait, I WAS the anchor bitch.

I always seem to forget how many muscles you use when you're on a boat, especially when you're actually hunting for the fish and you have anchor duty..........  OY!

That's okay, hubby isn't without his own pain issues this morning from unloading the gear from the boat, and from walking up and down stairs, etc. etc.

Yeah, it sucks getting old.

Oh well, it was good sleeping in my own bed last night, but I sure didn't want to get out of it this morning...........      more coffee please.

Trying to turn in........

but the girls are down at the pier still fishing.  I stepped outside to engage in my bad habit and they were bringing in a nice sized trout.  They were squealing as the trout was flopping around in the landing net and I was laughing at them.  They heard me and Bootsie called out, "MOM!  Can you help us?"

So, good mom and capable angler that I am, I went down and removed said fish from the hook.  It was a nice, fat keeper.  Bootsie went upstairs and told Kx about the fish, which brought him downstairs to filet it real quick.  That was about 40 minutes ago.

I took my shower, put on my pajamas and had just settled down to watch a movie when Bootsie pokes her head in the door, "Mom, we need your help again.  We caught another trout but it's too small.  The hook is way down in his mouth and we can't get it out."

*sigh*  So, I went down and of course, helped them out.  Poor fish didn't make it, which is a shame.  He was a pretty little fish and almost keeping size.

Now I am hoping that I can get settled in and get some sleep without having to rescue the girls again.

Funny thing is that it sounds like I'm complaining, but in all honesty.........  I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.  Life is good.

Overheard on the front porch

It's a beautiful evening outside.  Nice breeze, the sun is setting and you can hear good country music playing across the creek.  Hubby and I are talking about how wonderful it is to get down here on the water and relax, we have a nice, long silence as we listen to the music across the way..............

Kx59:    "BWWAAAAAP!"
Belle:    Turns and looks up at him with raised eyebrows
Kx59:    "I must have stepped on a duck."
Belle:     "Yea a big one"
Kx59     "At least I'm downwind...........   I'm polite that way."

There's a joke in there somewhere...

But I'm too sun baked and salt cured to bring the correct snark synapses into play just now.
From the Men's room last night at Stingray's:

So, I'll just leave that there as a teaser for our blogbud North to leave an appropriately blue innuendo.
We're on the water again with the youngest girl child and one of her school friends.
Stingray's sits on the inter-coastal water way at Sargent, TX. It's not Key West, but there's still something calming about having dinner on the deck outside at dusk watching the barges go by.
Fishing today didn't produce much, but we started late, so that's our bad. The fish are out there. We ran across a guy at Charlie's bait camp, that had been wade fishing the bay side of the barrier island at sunrise in East Matagorda. He limited out on Specs and caught a Red fish that just made me drool.
We met Charlie today.  I'd always thought it was the old grizzled guy that runs the shrimp boat. Turns out, it is his 4 year old granddaughter that's named "Charlie". She'd been on deck lending a hand since 5am this morning and she was still going strong when we drifted up for bait.
The water down here right now is as clean as it ever gets. It was worth the trip just to be able to see the bottom while floating in 24" of water.
What we refer to as "needle fish" were thick, and very hungry where we were fishing. We hooked up several of them, which is unusual given the bony snout. They must be really hungry. They were chasing bare hooks and bobbers on retrieval.
This was the only fish Bootsie caught today. (Needlefish)

Both the needle fish's lower and upper jaw articulate, and they are pissed off snappy little bastards when you are trying to remove the hook.
I caught one Spec an inch over minimum limit.  No pic since it wasn't that unusual. So the plan is to hit the bay at sunrise tomorrow.

Tonight's Debate

I thought that tonight's debate was a very good one all around.

Unfortunately, Mitt Romney won this round hands down.  Romney was strong and actually likable, in fact, his debate tactic tonight was borderline brilliant.  You see, the rules of the debate dictated that if a candidate mentions another candidate's name in their answer, then said mentioned candidate would have the opportunity to respond.  Romney, unless specifically asked, did not mention Rick Perry.  What this did was ensure that Perry had less face time, which considering the condition of Perry tonight  (he was looking very distracted and not quite 'all there') was probably a good thing.

Perry on the other hand, mentioned Mitt Romney in almost every single answer that he gave, which in turn gave Romney more time to speak and Romney defended himself well.  Perry ended up looking like a boob up there and he really needs some serious debate coaching.  Though I will say that his idea of 'mating up' Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain for the perfect running mate was hilarious.

What I liked about this debate was that it wasn't just the Perry-Romney show, but the other candidates had adequate time to speak as well.  Santorum came off wonderfully and of course I like Herman Cain

So, my opinion on the results of the debate are as follows:

1.  Romney
2.  Santorum & Cain
3.  Paul & Gingrich
4.  Bachman & Perry
5.  Huntsman
6.  Johnson

Obviously there are a few 'ties' up there.

What do you all think?


  

The perfect encapsulation of what Obama is

Upinak just nails it.
Evil Forest Gump
Obama was not the smartest man in the room. He was the rube that was in the right place at the right time for the puppeteers pulling the socialist strings.

Not sure what he's driving

But I want one for rush hour traffic.
Offensive Driving.

Great Arguments

Yesterday I posted a couple of tidbits from my brain and AOA, in the comments made a nice, strong argument in disagreement with me.  If you go to the comments under Tidbits from the Belle, you will see that I may have pissed him off with that post, which was not my intention.

AOA makes a decent argument against the idea that the gays in the military issue is a non-issue and it caused me to think about that statement.

I think that I should of explained myself a little better rather than leave it out there as a non-issue.

Here is my thing,  I called it a non-issue for a couple of reasons.  First of all, I don't think that appeasing the gays for brownie points and using our military in a political manner like that is appropriate and I don't believe that this was the time to make that move considering there are much more important issues at hand, like the deficit and the fact that the EU is about to tank.

Secondly, it's my belief that the vast majority of gays just want to be free to live their lives and love whomever they want to love without having to be made into a political tool.  I believe that they have a right to serve their country and I believe that the vast majority of them will stay in the closet anyway with regard to their sexuality as to not make their brothers at arms angry, uncomfortable or even afraid.

Our men and women in uniform are trained as professionals.  I have never met a man who is in, or who was in the military whose actions have shown anything other than valor, courage and honor.  I have faith in our troops in that they will not worry about something as simple as who someone likes to sleep with.

Sexual harrassment may be a concern to some who may have to serve with a gay individual, but I will offer this up.  Sexual harrassment is wrong whether or not it comes from someone of the same sex, or the opposite sex, and I have confidence that it will not be tolerated.

As far as comparing the military to a private sector job, I should have made a better comparision, maybe a cop or a fireman............  

Anyway, thank you AOA for commenting and making me think on it some more.  I realize that many out there are not going to agree with me on this issue and that's fine.  Just know that it comes from my faith in human beings in general, but especially my faith in folks who choose to protect my liberties.  A debt that can not be paid enough.

Not in my pocket

the ubiquitous knife meme:

One of several I keep strewn about my environs.  I have a more emotional attachment to this one. It was a gift from a long time friend for no other reason than "just because".
Having lost many pocket knives over the years, I no longer carry in my pocket. I now subscribe to the more is better philosophy and keep several placed strategically along my daily path of travel.
This is my office mail opener, cuticle trimmer and errant nose hair trimmer.
What? (ok, I made the nose hair thing up. I have a small toolkit with needle nose pliers for that)
Eyes watering yet?
You can never have too many pocket knives, in my opinion. Belle and I picked one up while buying ammo just this past weekend. Well..we needed something to cut the plastic off of a better pair of Binoculars we also bought to spot the targets. (I suspect a bonified spotting scope will be on Belle's Christmas list). Now that I think about it, the newest addition needs to dropped in the Bellemobile glovebox.
Eventually, I will be no more than six degrees from a handy pocket knife.
If you want a pocket knife that has a real story behind it, go read this.

Tidbits from the mind of the Belle

Gays can now openly serve in the military...   alrighty then....  who really cares?  That issue is such a non-issue it's ridiculous.
I thought that the don't ask don't tell policy was not too bad.  I mean, when interviewing for a job in the private sector, the last thing that anyone asks is "who do you sleep with?"  Why should the military be any different?
Either way, the issue itself is  really a non factor as long as it doesn't have an effect on our troops' morale.  Only time will tell though.
Obama is doing this out of a political move only and it's a sad state of affairs when the President of the United States uses an issue like this for the sole purpose of drumming up a few votes.

Once again, Obama is wanting to raise taxes so that the weathiest Americans pay their fair share.  Of course, his idea of 'wealthy' has been lowered from $250K per year to $200K per year.  Of course, we knew THAT would happen.
Never mind that roughly 48% of those living in the US aren't paying any taxes, but somehow small businesses owners and individuals who make $200K or more per year need to pay more money so that Obama can redistribute it to the pockets of his buddies.
He claims that this is not class warfare, but someone needs to tell him, "If you have to bring up the idea of class warfare and feel the need to defend yourself against it  Mr. President, then obviously that's exactly what it is."  (If it quacks like a duck..etc.etc.)

Rather than raising our taxes, how about you cut spending?  Why should anyone have their hard earned dollars taken from them by force to support those who are unwilling to support themselves?

What's that in the sky?!!

A bird?  A plane?
No! it's the Tomball PD!
Yes, that Tomball, of Goodson's Cafe fame (where they have the chicken fried steak that makes Uncle Jay growl in subsonic frequencies)
Irony. They got this just in time for the rain to finally kick in.


Via Al Fin Potpourri

Healthy Start......

The girls in my office and I have just started Weightwatchers in hopes of shedding some weight.  I've tried Weightwatchers before, but I quickly gave it up because I didn't have a 'support group' doing it with me.  I know that the plan works because I did lose a little weight before.  So we'll see how it goes.  I really need to lose the extra pounds.

Part of my issue is hypo-thyroidism and remembering to take my morning medication is a chore.  I think that watching what I eat and drink along with remembering my meds should help me out a great deal.

In the mean time, it's starting out to be a great week.  We had more much needed rain this morning and my hubby heard me on the radio this morning..... lol

Head bobs and eye twitches

Belle headed off earlier today to take the youngest girl child's license plates for the JY Saturn to her.
Scooter, the oldest granddaughter was in tow. They did the lunch thing at the local chain Mongolian cuisine restaurant, and went to see "The Lion King" in 3D.
I had the day to myself.  It was nice. I combed the gravel in the Japanese Garden in the back, lovingly clipped the bonsai, and meditated some. (also known as playing xbox all day long)
What? I've seen Lion King eleventy million times. I have four kids, and a VCR that we don't use anymore.
Before Belle arrived home, I was blogging and marginally watching "Megamind".
This came on in the sound track and my head began bob.


Belle arrived home, and I'm still blogging and this comes on in the sound track.
head bobs:

Megamind ends, and Belle grabs the remote..oh look! Sleepless in Seattle
eye twitch

A bump for two good causes

In order of discovery:
Alan, aka  Snarkybytes is parading around in a skirt kilt for prostate cancer here, and here, and here.
So I thought well, if Alan is willing to display his flat backside in a skirt kilt, I can donate a few bucks in support. So I did.  Take your beer mug full of loose change and donate it. You know you read his blog..every day..don't you, well..don't you?
Gratuitous Cleavage.
Not here you noob.  Although, I am not above doing so to drive up the pageviews.  I suspect you'd be disappointed though, at best I'm an "A" cup.
No, it is the First Lady of Gun Blogs.  The one that can take wood chips, pine nuts and bark and turn it into a gourmet meal. (ok, I made that up..but she posts awesome recipes)
My inner voyeur raised his hand. So I went and looked again...and I donated.
And you should too.  Wounded Warrior
Thanks to Alan, and Brigid....but more to Brigid :-)

Addition to the blogroll

This tipped the scale for me.
I've been checking his blog for a while now. Be forewarned, this is a blog oriented towards the male of the species and some posts are NSFW.
Welcome The Feral Irishman.

A day at the range

After having a nice lunch, Kx and I went to the range today.  We were going to go to the outdoor range close to home but it started raining!   Actual rain!

So we went to the indoor range in Spring and had a nice time, though I cut the session short because the couple in the booth next to us were breaking every rule you can think of when it comes to handling guns safely.

They had a Glock with a laser sight on it and that laser would wave all over the place, including on the wall next to me.  After switching off several times with Kx, I happened to get a look at them and oh my goodness.  Not only were they waving that Glock around all willy-nilly but their fingers were on the boom-switch.  After seeing that, I told hubby that we were leaving.

I suspect one of these days one of those two are going to end up with a bad case of Glock-leg.

Coach of the Year

Act more like dawgs!

This coach is hilarious.

My boss told me to go and look at this...   it gave me a good belly laugh.

First time..........

Last night, when I got done with errands and my torture session at the beauty salon, I lovingly field stripped my pistol and cleaned her up and applied oil in the appropriate spots.  I actually got her put back together okay, tomorrow I will go and make sure that she still fires.. lol.

There's something really comforting in knowing that I can do these things myself without feeling intimidated or really worried that I will get it wrong.  There is also something really empowering that I feel to know that I have truly taken the first step towards my securing my own safety and by extension, securing my own individual freedoms.

I want to take the opportunity to thank all of you who have commented the last few days with bits of advice and your guidance ever since I first started shooting again.  I have stumbled into a wonderful blogging community and it's almost as if each of you have been with me as I've tried various pistols and as I've began and continued the next steps of my journey though the world of shooty goodness.

Parry, Riposte, Thrust

No doubt you've run across this on the blogosphere.

Via Planet Moron, the antidote:

AttackWatchWatch is here.
What was that I learned in publik school?.... oh yes, Newton's Third Law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Calling Lady Gunnies

Any ideas for a good holster?  What works better, inside waist band, or outside waist band?  Any particular brands?

I know that I will want leather, and something that's sturdy so that drawing and replacing will work well.

I really don't see myself with a shoulder holster.

What about if you are in a situation where you have to wear a dress?

This is just too cool

I don't know who these guys are but this is really neat!

Give a warm welcome to Alexa

Yes, Alexa is what I've named my new addition.  The name means 'protector of mankind'.  I think that it's fitting.

She's a beautiful Springfiled XDM Compact 3.8, 9mm.

I chose to stick with the 9mm because it is what I've been shooting mostly these past months and thanks to all the good, sound advice I received today I decided that was the route I wanted to take.

I bought her from the pawn shop that Kx and I went to with TBG when he was in town.  They're really nice folks out there in Tomball and my purchase was easy and no hassle, they even had ammo.  The gun is brand new, as they are a gun dealer as well as a pawn shop.  The guy that sold the gun to me even showed me how to field strip it and clean it and showed me where to oil it.  I was really surprised at how easy it is!

After making my purchase, I stopped off at the house and picked up my range bag and took her out for a test drive.  All I can say is that I am very pleased with my purchase and I can't thank my hubby enough for giving me the green light to go ahead and get my gun............    life is good, for now.

Without further ado, here is my new baby (I hope that Natasha doesn't get jealous, though she is at the gunsmith getting some work done at the moment)

What I really like about this pistol is that the magazine serves as an extension on the grip, but you can also use the shorter magazine for a more compact pistol.

She came with a holster, a magazine holster a speed loader and some other little odds and ends as well.  Next purchase on the agenda is a couple of extra magazines a cleaning kit and a bore snake.

Next comes the additional classes and practice, practice, practice.  In the mean time, I'm so tickled I'm about to just bust!  

Now, I'm off to go and get cleaned up and go throw pointy things!

I need some advice

Well, today is the day that I am going to take the plunge and with the hubby's blessing, purchase my pistol.

I've tried quite a few different weapons and I still always go back to the XDM.

Now, my only concern is which caliber I am going to go with.

With the XDM, I've shot both the 9mm and the .40, both in the compact 3.8 model, while it's been a few months (the Lockhart shoot) since I've fired the .40, I don't recall the recoil being all that different between the two guns.  I remember the .40 had a little more kick to it, but not enough to where I would feel like I would lose control of the weapon.

Control is one thing that I or any shooter MUST have.  I have no doubt that with a lot of target practice I will be able to develop good control over the .40 or the 9mm.  I've had to rent pistols periodically over the months and so have not been able to practice as much as I would like to, but that's all about to change.  Taking out a potential threat, is of course a natural concern as well.

If some of you gunnies out there would please give me a little advice and info on the differences between a 9mm and a .40, specifically how it would affect a potential target (damage) and other issues such as recoil, etc.

Keep in mind that in the XDM series, that the guns are identical in size and weight.

With all of that said, I am leaning toward the .40, but I've shot the 9mm a lot more often so my experience with it is better.

Any advice you all can offer would be appreciated.

Health warning.......

Do not eat cantaloupe grown in Colorado.  I believe the news guy said Rocky Ford cantaloupes in particular.  They are carrying a bacteria that has caused illness and 4 deaths.

Top Shot Comments

Well, I was happy to see Jake go to the elimination round; however, I'm not happy that he won it.  Apparently he's a a whiny jackass because he's going to move to the backyard.  What a jerk.

I was happy that the Red Team won today.  They did a fantastic job and I was glad to see Chris back on the show again and the red team winning today meant that money was donated to Chris' favorite charity, the Make a Wish Foundation.

I used to volunteer for Make a Wish many years ago while I was pregnant with my youngest daughter.  I would go to an Astros game once a month and I would get to watch the game for free but during the 7th inning I would run the throwing cage, where kids and adults would come and pay to throw the ball to see how fast they threw.

When I was about 8 months pregnant some dude asked me how fast a pregnant woman could throw that ball.  My response was, "Pay one dollar and we'll see."  He paid the dollar and I threw it right at 50 mph.  Not too shabby.

I had to stop volunteering once I had my daughter and later, life just got too darn busy.

It's raining ash again

Another fire about 20 miles south of us, in the middle of a city park.  Houston Fire Dept, The Community Volunteer FD, West I-10 VFD and Cy-Fair  VFD are on the scene.  I hope they get the fire out in short order and stay safe.

Smokers in drought areas, please don't throw your butts out the window.  I know that's a hard habit to break and they no longer make ash trays in many cars but I have a feeling that many of the wildfires could very well be caused by lit cigs being tossed out the window.

I've started keeping a bottle with a bit of water in it to throw my butts in while in the car.  Honestly, it's the right thing to do whether its a drought season or not....   as I think ASM826 said, "the world is not your/our ashtray".

Damned if you do...Damned if you don't

Windows updates. If I don't update, I may have one of  a zillion security holes, but if I update I may get hacked, but if I don't update I may have a security hole, but if I update I may get hacked....(X infinity.)
Related to "The incredible fraglility of Internet Security" , which Borepatch posted yesterday, I find this:
"Comodohacker: I Can Issue Fake Windows Updates"
Of course the rocket scientists engineers at Microsoft say there's nothing to be concerned about because we all know that Windows security has always been rock solid pretty good mostly squishy.

"Attackers are not able to leverage a fraudulent Windows Update certificate to install malware via the Windows Update servers," Microsoft engineer Jonathan Ness wrote in the blog. "The Windows Update client will only install binary payloads signed by the actual Microsoft root CA certificate, which is issued and secured by Microsoft. Also, Windows Update itself is not at risk, even to an attacker with a fraudulent certificate."

Way to go guys. A statement like that is like crak to a hacker.
I bet that's a challenge that will be taken up in short order. 
So after reading that article, my brain starts to veer its way to an infinite loop, preceded by the thought that perhaps I should turn automatic updates off until I find more about this. Fortunately I managed to execute the Taskill command in my brain and didn't overheat the processor.
Welcome to the Asylum, or perhaps it's Hell.

Thoughts on last night's debate

Last night's GOP / Tea Party debate was an interesting debate.  I thought all the candidates did well (for the most part) and for the first time in ages, I'm actually looking forward to the primaries and the general election.  Simply put, we have many more viable choices running than ever before.

That said, I'm going to give my impression of the candidates one by one based on last night's debate and what I believe to be their electability.  I have listed them in order of worst performance to best.

Ron Paul - I've always adored Ron Paul for his Libertarian points of view; however, I don't think that he did as well in this debate as times past.  He had a hard time expressing himself and when Santorum mentioned his blaming America's past actions for 9/11, it really threw Paul for a loop.  There is no denying that past foreign policy contributed to 9/11 starting with Jimmy Carter and the handling of Iran up to Bill Clinton for treating terrorism as a law inforcement issue rather than a national security issue; however, Ron Paul could have defended his view a little better than he did.  His electability has been tossed out the window, which is unfortunate because I agree with him on so many issues.

Mitt Romney - I'm coining him as the 'chuck and duck' candidate.  He kept dodging the Romneycare issue and refused to defend his views.  He was asked specifically about Romneycare and said, "Before I answer your question, I want to go back to (whatever he went back to)" he never answered the question posed to him.  He did that on several occasions.  Another thing that I really don't like about Romney is his whining about Rick Perry's successful Governorship being because he was dealt 4 aces.  Unfortunately, this bozo is electable.  For one thing, Obama cannot criticize Romneycare because then he would be forced to admit that Obamacare, in part modeled after Romneycare, is not a good thing.  The second thing, Romeny appeals to many who are in the middle of the road.

Jon Huntsman - He made some good points last night, but to me, he's so insignificant that I can barely remember what his answers were.  What I get from Huntsman is that he takes someone else's answers, repackages them, and then makes his point.  I don't believe him to be a strong candidate and I don't believe that he would be able to lead this nation and fight for what he believes in.  Again, I don't believe that he could beat Obama.

Rick Santorum - Another insignificant candidate, though he did come across better in last night's debate, Santorum needs more vetting.  I think that next time there is a Presidental run (hopefully in 12 years) Santorum will be a strong candidate.  As far as the debate last night, Santorum did a good job researching the other candidates and their records and what they stand for, and he did a good job pointing those out.  He also made a comment that I absolutely loved (referring to the HPV vaccine paraphrased), "They think that they know what's good for you, more so than you do."   Next run, Rick..  next run.

Newt Gingrich - It was fantastic that Newt was the only candidate that brought up wasteful spending.  Newt is a visionary and a true conservative; however, he is unelectable.  What I liked about Newt last night was that he would tone down the pig piling on Perry and the playground tactics between both Perry and Romney, simply by pointing out that the common goal is to get Obama out of office.  What I refer to is Newt saying, "I'm not worried about Gov. Romney and Gov. Perry scaring the American people when Obama scares them every single day!"  That was classic Newt.

Rick Perry - Gov. Perry did a good job defending his view on Social Security, however, when he had to try and defend his in state tuition at universities for illegals and his issuing an executive order for teenage girls to be vaccinated for HPV, he stumbled and it was hard for him to recover.  I will say that I admire the fact that he admited that the executive order was a mistake on his part, but well intended.  Perry would be able to beat Obama if Perry receives more coaching and prepares himself for some of the issues that are questionable.

Michelle Bachman - For me, it's a toss up between her and Cain for the winner of last night's debate.  Bachman came out strong and hit the nail on the head point after point.  She did a good job pointing out the fact that Perry had made that executive order regarding HPV after one of his buddies went to work for the drug company that would benefit from such an order.  The only thing that bothers me about Bachman is that I don't think that she would beat Obama.  The press is too hard on her and I think that she could possibly melt down.

Herman Cain - When it comes to substance and a man with a plan, Cain wins hands down.  I've liked him since day one and I believe that could beat Obama when it comes to the issues.  An advantage that Cain has over all the other candidates is that it would remove the race card from the stack and we could have an election based on the issues rather than race.  Of course the liberal media and various black groups such as the NAACP will most likely paint Cain as an "Uncle Tom", the fact of the matter is that Cain is self-made man and a natural leader.

The one thing that I noticed the most is that none of the other candidates could really go after Cain because he doesn't have prior experience in government.  What he does have though, is a plan and he was very specific about what his vision is to get America back on track.  I happen to like that.....   alot.

Cute and Funny

An elderly man is stopped by the police around 2 a.m. and is asked where he is going at this time of night.

The man replies, "I am on my way to a lecture about alcohol abuse and the effects it has on the human body, as well as smoking and staying out late."
...
The officer then asks, "Really? Who is giving that lecture at this time of night?"

The man replies, "That would be my wife."

Well this gets my ire up.

From The Telegraph

"A group of Muslim protesters set fire to an American flag outside the US embassy in London during a minute's silence to mark the moment that the first hijacked airliner hit the World Trade Center 10 years ago."


Full story here.


Yet we are told that this is the 'religion of peace'.

It's a good day already.........

When I got out of bed this morning, I felt that familiar little bit of soreness around my right shoulder.

That soreness of course, is related to our trip to the gun range yesterday.

Yep, it's going to be a good day.......  

Life goes on

Except for the financial part of rearing childrens, we are empty nesters. Just the two of us.  No kitchen slaves on which to foist character building anymore.
Whilst I was reading, Belle sighed and said, "well I guess I need to go do the dishes.
Moments ago she walked upstairs to watch HBO, for which the only reason to subscribe is "True Blood".
Shortly before posting, I made the mistake of walking into the kitchen and had my "Fish Named Wanda" moment. Wait..what was that middle part again?
Hey...I cooked tonight!??!
oh...yeah....

Recoil Therapy

Belle and I were both feeling rather maudlin this morning, watching all the 9/11 anniversary footage.
Feel better now.
Belle Loads:

Belle shoots:

Belle assesses the damage:

Belle's Target:

-need to get the sights worked on, the rifle sights low and to the left. Belle forgot to compensate on the first two rounds.  That was corrected in short order.  Mr. roundy orange target is dead.
kx59's Target:
Yes, I shot as well...don't snicker. I didn't forget to compensate for the off sights.

When we got to Hot Wells right at opening time today, the place was just packed. (go figure)
Belle asked 25 yards or 75 yards? Until we get the sights worked on, 75 was out of the question.
Kismet:
We carry the Tokorev in the soft case that formerly housed my goose gun. It was the only one long enough to fit. So, it was cloaked.  We were assigned to bench "B". Turns out, another Russian rifle was next to us.  It caught my eye immediately....brain says...hmmmm.
After a while, the curiosity between Belle and I and the group next to us peaked, and Belle broke the ice.
Really nice folks.
A beautiful Mosin-Nagant that had just been purchased a week or so ago for $120.

It was the first rifle the guy next to us had ever owned. He'd spent most of his life shooting shotguns. Sounds like someone else I know (kx59).
He had three other 20/30 somethings there with him shooting. They made me a little nervous in that they struggled with the bolt action on the rifle. They were not intimidated though, and the two young ladies shooting would sit down and rotate their right shoulders to shake off the effects of the recoil before seating the stock.  They were still shooting when we left.

Magnolia Fire

It appears disaster for Belle's family members has been averted.
The orange is the burn area. Latest report is that the fire is mostly contained and no further structures have been lost. I marked a small red asterisk that marks the location of their homes. Spot the yellow triangle in the center and track due west and you'll see it.  By God's graces.  It's going to smell like smoke and ash for quite some time around there. Now comes the clean up.

Maybe it's just me.......

but my emotions have gravitated from sadness to aggravated to just plain pissed off.

Leading up to this day in history, I've been reflecting on where I was on 9/11, what I was doing, and the realization that it's up to each and every one of us to ensure our civil liberties and the knowing of how precious life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness truly is.

A few minutes ago, those reflections have turned into anger and disgust.  I've been watching the footage from Ground Zero today listening to various speeches and hearing names of those who met an awful fate read aloud.  The ceremony started out touching then as it went on and on, it became more and more.....   I can't even really say the right word to describe the feeling.

Knowing that first responders and clergy were not permitted to be there or speak was bad enough, but then to hear a President who has done everything he can to cripple this nation's economy and to do everything he can to apologize for this great nation's acts of the past, stand there and give multiple references to God and to read from the Bible.....   it disgusted me.

Then fast-forward to Rudy Guilliani's reading of lyrics from The Byrds and then Paul Simon singing is when I had to just find something else to watch.....   the reason is how inappropriate it seems to me, to have lyrics read and a musician/smelly hippie left over from an America-hating era, sing on this day, at that ceremony, is just way too much for me to handle.

The feeling started out Friday night when I was playing my usual dart tournament.  There was a live band there, they were pretty good and they were playing some good tunes.  After midnight, they called for a moment of silence in remembrance of those who died in the attacks.  After the silence was over, they played a rendition of Jimmy Hendrix's version of the Star Spangled Banner..........    I was pissed.

In fact, I was so pissed off that had I had just a couple more beers in me, I might have gone up to the idiot on the guitar and given him a music history lesson.  You see, Jimmy Hendrix did not play that version of our national anthem out of love of country, but out of hate.  He purposely distorted the tune to represent the division of our country at the time.

While granted, I will say that our country is divided; however, on 9-11-2001, we were united.  Playing that song after a moment of silence was, while well intended a foul move on their part.  I can't really say that they played that out of disrespect, but they did it out of total ignorance.

I realize that this post may be inappropriate in itself because after all, 9/11 isn't all about me; however, it many ways it has affected us all and in ways that we could have never imagined.

9/11/2011

9/11

My memories of the day, and my opinion of the BS that is so ubiquitous on the internet regarding the collapse of the Towers.
I was on my way to work, past most of the grinding traffic when the news report came over the radio. I was on 290 just before the 610 loop. All the news report said was that a "plane" had crashed into one of the twin towers.  I'm thinking daft Cessna pilot, but I happened to look out the side window at that moment at nothing in particular, and the events that followed that morning seared that image into my mind. I can see it clear as day as I type. I can vividly remember where I was when I first heard the news.
I got to work and the earlier arrivals already had a little TV set up in one of the conference rooms. I stop and watch periodically, still thinking this was accidental.  The amount of fire in the live TV coverage does not look like a Cessna crash.  After quite some time I stop by again to view the continuing coverage and comment to the other watchers that I don't know why that building is still standing after burning like that for so long. ( see the footnote below).
I felt like I was moving in slow motion, trying to go through the motions of my average day's work. Time seemed to drag on, and on.  I stopped by the conference room again just in time to catch the second jet slamming into the second tower, and I felt like my soul drained out through my feet.
Later, it came, the collapse of the first tower, and later the second. I felt completely numb from head to foot. I have spent my life designing buildings.
And it seems that an attack like this is the only thing that will unite us as a nation to defend our constitutional right to bitch, and scratch and fight...one another.

The aforementioned footnote:
I yuk it up on the blog here. I don't write about what I do for a living, because it is of no use to 99.9% of my fellow Americans.
So, to preface my comments below, this is what I do for a living.
(your flash will need to be current, and IE requires compatibility view for the site to correctly display. If you are using the current version of Firefox, you are sol)
My first comment is that the "Truthers" out there have no fucking idea, or knowledge of which they speak. In the interest of brevity, I'll attempt to bullet point this.
* Fireproofing on the steel columns and beams in a tower are nothing more than insulation.
* Fireproofing is designed to slow heat transfer to steel members for 3 hours for primary building columns, 3 hours for primary beams, and typically 2 hours for secondary beams.
* Fireproofing is designed to handle the heat produced by a content fire (the print of your latest report, your chair and the remnants of your left over bagel) in an office tower, not hundreds of gallons of jet fuel.
* It would require extremely unusual circumstances for a fire in an office tower to actually melt the steel structure. (think meteor strike)
*  The steel in the Twin Towers did not melt.  As steel is heated, it's ultimate yield strength lessens dramatically. I've seen the aftermath of a fire in a steel building that resulted in steel bar joists draped over  charred chairs and desks like thirty foot long strands of spaghetti.
* Let's do some math.  All we have to do is calculate this in general terms. Take a typical high rise office tower floor, in the vicinity of 22,000 square feet. Let's take an average Tower floor slab thickness of 6".
Normal weight concrete weighs 150 pounds per cubic foot.  22,000 x .5 x 150 = 1,650,000 lbs.
*  Bake every steel column in hundreds of gallons of burning jet fuel on the office floor until the yield strength can no longer support 825 tons. Drop it 13.5 feet onto the floor below.
*  Depending on where your are, tall buildings are designed for wind pressure, and / or seismic events.  Interestingly enough, high wind pressure usually trumps seismic activity from a total load standpoint.
I digress. Tower structures are not designed to withstand the impact load from 825 tons from above.
* That is where the hypothetical math ends.
*  The impact load, when the first Tower collapsed was not the weight of one floor slab. It was the weight of multiple floors, plus walls, plus curtain wall, plus all the content.
* The fire floor collapsed, and the weight and velocity increased. Then the next floor. And..so on.
* The buildings imploded themselves. I can't begin to resurrect my college physics to give a comparison on the force of the impact from 825 tons dropped from 13.5 feet, but I'm sure there would be nothing left of me.
* The "Truthers" speak of puffs of smoke on lower floors as if demolition charges had been set off. The exterior skin of an office tower only has so much vertical tolerance built into it. Best analogy is, stand up under a low beam with full thrust from your thighs..and yes you will feel it on your noggin, but it will compress a few of the vertebrae in your neck as well. (got the t-shirt)
* end of footnote.  tears in my eyes.

Humor via Email

Post Turtle:
While suturing a cut on the hand of a 75 year old Texas rancher, who's hand was caught
in the gate while working cattle, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man...
Eventually the topic got around to Obama and his role as our president.
The old rancher said, 'Well, ya know, Obama is a 'Post Turtle''.
Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him, what a 'post turtle' was.
The old rancher said, 'When you're driving down a country road and
you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a 'post turtle'.
The old rancher saw the puzzled look on the doctor's face so he continued to explain.'
"You know he didn't get up there by himself, he doesn't belong up there,
he doesn't know what to do while he's up there, he's elevated beyond
his ability to function, and you just wonder what kind of dumb XXX
put him up there to begin with."
**********
News Flash:
President Obama has just confirmed that the D.C. earthquake occurred on a rare and obscure fault-line, apparently known as "Bush's Fault".
Obama also announced that the Secret Service and Maxine Waters continues an investigation of the quake's suspicious ties to the Tea Party.
Conservatives, however, have proven that it was caused by the founding fathers rolling over in their graves.
**********
Nancy Pelosi called Harry Reid into her office  one day and said, "Harry, I have a plan to win back Middle America in  2012!"
"Great Nancy , but how?” asked Harry.
"Well,  we'll get some real cheesy clothes and shoes, like most Middle Class  Americans wear, then stop at the pound and pick up a Labrador  Retriever. Then, we'll go to a nice old country bar in Montana and  show them how much admiration and respect we have for the hard working  people living there, you know, “clinging to their guns and bibles and  such".
And so they did. They found just the place they were  looking for in Ennis, Montana .
With the dog in tow, they  walked inside and stepped up to the bar. The Bartender took a step  back and said, "Hey! Aren't you Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi?" "Yes we  are!" said Nancy , "And what a lovely town you have here. We were  passing through and Harry suggested we stop and take in some local  color."
They ordered a round of bourbon for the whole bar, and  started chatting up a storm with anyone who would listen.
A few  minutes later, a grizzled old rancher came in, walked up to the   Labrador , lifted up its tail, looked underneath, shrugged his  shoulders and walked out. A few moments later, in came another old  rancher. He walked up to the dog, lifted up its tail, looked  underneath, scratched his head and left the bar. For the next hour,  another dozen ranchers came in, lifted the dog's tail and left shaking  their heads.
 Finally,   Nancy asked the bartender, "Why did all those old ranchers come in  and look under the dog's tail? Is it some sort of custom?"
"Lord  no," said the bartender. "Someone's out there running around town, claiming there's a Labrador Retriever in here with two assholes!"

H/T: BJF

Redundant?

Or Infinite Loop?

Patent Reform Act

The Daily Caller writes about this as if it's a good thing.

"The patent system overhaul, which passed the House in June, will change the system from “first-to-invent” to “first-inventor-to-file,” which much of the developed world has been using for years, as it prevents inventors from laying claim to a patent after the fact."

Because, of course, the rest of the developed world is so much better off than the U.S.
Gee whiz Mom!, all the other kids are doing it!
After six grueling years, the mighty Senate has now passed the bill.
So, let me get this straight, Mr. Kearns, who invented the intermittent wiper circuit, used on every car on the face of the planet these days, presented to Ford Motor Company, poo pooed by FMC, stolen by FMC, sued by Mr. Kearns in 1978, case finally won in...1990, WOULD NOW BE SHIT OUT OF LUCK.
Well ain't that nice.


This caught my eye:

"Leahy’s partner on the bill, Texas Republican Rep. Lamar Smith, noted the bill’s job-creating potential."

Ruh Roh, someone's been nipping Obama's Kool-aid.

Job creating...Really? I'd love for Representative Smith (R) to 'splain that one to me.
They really do think we are beyond stupid don't they.

I can phrase this no better way than the Mighty Borepatch; 

Vote Them Out

All of Them

It's Snowing!

Ash.

We are 25 miles or so away from this mess.  I can't imagine what they're getting up in Tomball or worse, the south side of Magnolia.

The wind has shifted direction

The smoke from the Magnolia fire, and I suspect the smoke from the Fort Bend County fire are blanketing the Northwest side of Houston all the way inside of loop 610.
Two low quality pics from the cell phone:
Too bad this isn't fog and rain...

Hotel Belle

Well, my family is still evacuated and last they've heard the fire is just about a 1/2 mile away from their homes.

It's my aunt & uncle, their oldest daughter (my age) and her two boys... then on the same property but in their own house, their youngest daughter and her husband (married about two years I think) and they have a baby on the way.

Kx59 has generously agreed for me to make the offer to have them come stay here if the worst happens.  I won't know for a couple of days but the plan is that my aunt and uncle will go to my mother's house and I will take in my cousins.

If their houses are spared, there will be a ton of clean up from smoke damage, which we will be helping them with as well.

Not a problem though.. that's what families do for one another.

We're from the Federal Government

And we're here to "help" your entire state burn to the ground.
Only the Federal Bureau-weenies think fewer boots on the ground to fight the wildfires is a good thing.
Morons.

You can't make this stuff up........

Weatherman found in hot tub with a dead naked man wearing a dog collar..........


Full story here.

I found it a little comical that the story says, "An Arkansas weatherman didn't predict he would wake up in a hot tub with a naked dead man, but that's exactly what police say happened."

So this begs the question, "When does a weatherman every predict anything correctly?"

I'm just saying.........