Thursday, June 28, 2007
Love Her, Loathe Her
You can’t deny that Anne Coulter is a genius.
I just heard her plan for shutting down illegal immigration immediately.
And I do mean, Right. The fuck. Now.
She was being interviewed on O’Reilly and was asked how she would bring an end to illegal immigration. Her reply was brilliant - allow immigrants to sue for minimum wage benefits.
}Poof!{ goes the financial incentive, since those business owners only have the power to force illegals to accept lower wages because the illegals don’t dare use the power of the state to prevent that kind of exploitation.
What do you guys think?
Days of Our Lives
I swear my life has become a bad soap opera. And it just keeps getting weirder and weirder.
First it was problems between my wife and I; Problems that almost lead to our divorce. Fortunately, they also lead to a level of communication that we haven’t experienced for a long time and things are much better now. They still aren’t perfect, but what relationship is?
Then my mother was rushed to the emergency room where she had emergency surgery to repair not one but four hernias, a ton of scar damage (from her hysterectomy years ago), and remove a foot of her colon. I was in Nashville at the time so obviously couldn’t be there. She spent about 2 weeks in the hospital recovering and then went home.
Things were relatively calm for about a week, then mom was back in the hospital for an infection, bedsore, and extremely low blood sugar (she’s a diabetic). Turns out she was dehydrated and her medication wasn’t flushing from her system properly. Another 10 day stay with IV antibiotics and hydration and the infection was gone, bedsore was better, and blood sugar was back to normal.
Next up my daughter went into the ER with a 104 degree fever and pain in her right side. Guess what we were all thinking? Fortunately, it was just a severe kidney infection and she only spent 1 night in the hospital.
A few days ago I was headed from Texarkana to Corpus Christi and had apparently blown a headlight. Well, a cop with a VERY bad attitude pulled me over and ticketed me for it. That’s a $250 ticket, assuming that the judge doesn’t turn it into a fixit ticket. All for a bulb that costs $20 and was working fine when I left Texarkana. I hate traffic cops.
And finally, when I was rolling through Waco last night, I got a call from my step- monster mother. Seems a tornado blew through the neighborhood, torn up a section of the roof, demolished the back fence, and broke a couple of windows. Fortunately no one was hurt. My night-time fleet manager managed to get me a drop at our local yard and I went home.
Does anyone else’s life seem this surreal?
Still a few weeks to go
for the Who Snuffs It? contest
We all know that Snape has to die, but there will be at least one other.
1. Which major character will die?
2. Who will kill him/her?
Just to recap, here are the (official) rules:
- The deadline is 12:01 am July 20th (or at least 24 hours prior to the secret’s release, whichever occurs first)
- If there is a tie for question one, question two will be used as a tiebreaker.
- If there is a tie for question two, the first posted entry will win.
So, whatcha got?
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Tancredo and His Lettuce
There’s more where this comes from.
I was politics was less politically correct, more down to earth, and had more politicians like Tom Tancredo who tells is how it is and does what he wants.
It’s not every day a presidential hopeful sends Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff a head of lettuce, but that’s what Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colorado, is doing Wednesday to show his disagreement with Chertoff’s recent comments on how failure of passing immigration reform might affect the agricultural industry.
Tancredo says he disagrees with recent comments Chertoff made that suggested if the immigration bill fails, the agricultural industry will suffer. To prove his point he is sending Chertoff a head of lettuce, a fruit basket, and a card saying, “much, much more where this comes from.”
“The administration has taken hyperbole to a whole new level this time,” Tancredo said in a statement. “They are now trying to convince the public that without amnesty, the American people are going to starve?”
“The agriculture industry and the free market has managed to keep producing through floods, droughts, and $3.00 per gallon gas,” Tancredo added, “I doubt very seriously that a nominal increase in labor costs is going to be the end of lettuce as we know it.”
Yeah, exactly.
Immigration
Well...I have spoken on this before. I believe that the POTUS is trying to affect a large change in the way we deal with immigration, and is trying to head off a crisis in the future. There are a lot of demographics that say the immigration from Mexico is a good thing for the United States in the long term, so I am all for a ‘liberal’ (in the pure, original sense of the word) immigration policy.
But not this one. And I’ll tell you why. Three easy reasons
First off, the way it is being pushed through the Senate is wrong, wrong, wrong. There is no reason that this legislation can’t be handled in the traditional, open way that the Senate handles everything else. Any bill where debate is crushed or stymied must be parsed and/or rejected. We have to keep the process transparent, and the reason it isn’t in this situation is because the creators of the bill, and especially Harry Reid, don’t want the contents of the bill to be seen. That sends up a huge “OPPOSE” alarm in my book.
Secondly, there is no real enforcement. I used to think the other way on this, but the fine isn’t enough. I still maintain that we can’t deport 12 million aliens, but I say we can slow the inflow. The United States has the power and resources to secure the border, but the politicians don’t want to risk losing the Hispanic vote. That’s the problem, when it’s all boiled down. The urge to ignore people’s opinion seems odd when compared to the catering we see to the Hispanic voting bloc.
Lastly, this bill is too big, confusing, and unwieldy to be debated and passed. We should split this bill into pieces, and pass it in stages. First, put together an enforcement-only bill...one that deports criminals (felons and multiple misdemeanors), persons caught crossing the border, and companies that hire illegals. Enforce existing laws and build a viable barrier to illegal border crossers. Once that is passed, then address the legal immigrants that are desiring to enter the country and become citizens. Then, create your bill so that each person not a citizen must return home and be registered before they get any kind of non-emergency government support. Then, ENFORCE THESE LAWS!!!
There you go. Comment freely.
Teddy Kennedy…..
is saying that the Senate should not listen to the people where immigration is concerned. We are expecting action, but they shouldn’t listen to us.
What?
And, with all due respect, he is the worst speaker. He repeats himself, stutters, and is obviously used up.
How does this guy get re-elected. How can he stump? How can he give political speeches?
And, he is a big liar where immigration is concerned. Hate to say it, but he is. He is actually saying now that we can’t stop illegal immigration, so we should live with it.
Gawd-almighty. It’s hard to listen to him. Oh...and he just said that the Senate believes in ‘legality’. However, he wants to promote amnesty.
To Michelle Malkin….
I want to say “Thank You!”
She has been indispensable where the Immigration Debacle has been concerned, and took the time to commiserate with me via e-mail yesterday afternoon as the cloture vote went on.
I’ll respond to the Immigration debate in a few days, because I’ve had to reassess my stand a bit, but I wanted to publicly thank Michelle, because it’s not very often you get a nationally syndicated Fox News contributor and host chit-chat with me via e-mail. Michelle....thank you very much.
Rich Jerk, Poor Schmuck
There’s no such thing as a free meal.
Sometime or another I mentioned on this blog that I thought Robert T. Kiyosaki was a scam artist. He wrote a book called Rich Dad, Poor Dad that was hailed as a how-to book on how to become rich.
I don’t believe in get-rich-quick schemes. As a cop I can tell you that the vast majority of get-rich-quick scammers are criminals or criminals in hiatus. The sad fact of life is that you have to work hard and work for a long time to get rich.
People who read Kiyosaki’s book claim that he is a genius and the oracle of great money-making ideas. I didn’t find a single worthwhile idea in his book when I read it, and the whole thing gave me a feeling in my cop sensor that I was being sent up the river without a paddle. To my delight, a real real estate guru named John T. Reed wrote about 50 pages worth of facts and figures about how any why Robert T. Kiyosaki is full of bull crap.
There are probably many ways to became a financial genius, but Kiyosaki has certainly chosen an unlikely route:
• flunked sophomore year of high school and had to repeat
• U.S. Merchant Marine Academy
• 3rd mate oil tanker (or was it “Love Boat” type cruise ship as he said in one of his books?)
• Marine helicopter pilot (or was it fighters?)
• refused to return to ship when it was ordered to return to combat (or just missed the boat)
• Xerox salesman
• failed businessman (nylon surfer wallets)
• failed businessman (rock and roll memorabilia)
• failed author (1993 book If You Want to Be Rich & Happy, Don’t Go To School?)
• failed MBA applicant
• homeless person
• bankruptcy (or maybe not)Kiyosaki tries to make a virtue from all his failures and false starts—saying that’s how you learn and you have to get back up and all that. Fine. But couldn’t we see a little more actual success after all these great lessons were learned? And how did all this screwed-up stuff happen to a guy who had the benefit of “Rich Dad’s” brilliant wisdom back at age nine?
What is his background really? I am impressed by Xerox salesmen as a general rule, but that aspect of his background sure stands out from the rest. Did he really do that? He claims he was a “top-five” guy at Xerox—one of the nation’s most well-managed companies at the time. Really? And this after being something like a bottom-five guy everywhere else! (A man who called me said he understood Kiyosaki was a top salesman at Xerox, but since he is a friend of Kiyosaki rather than a Xerox guy, his knowledge may come entirely from Kiyosaki.)
You’ve got to read this, and then tell your friends who are about to buy the book to read it. Reed is a great writer who gets to the point and provides some entertainment along the way.
Monday, June 25, 2007
It’s probably old newz
to the rest of you, but I just ran across this site, and I was laughing until I cried.
At this one.
And this one.
This one, too.
Oh, and let’s not forget the quantum theoreticians out there - Schroedinger’s Lolcat
And that’s one of the things that are so great about this country - we have a collective sense of humor that many other countries seem to lack. And we’re not afraid of laughing at ourselves when we need to…
Chris Benoit dead!!
Around 2:30 this afternoon, Atlanta police found Chris Benoit, his wife, and his son murdered in their home. There aren’t much details, but this is a shock. He’s a leading star in the WWE, and one of the best wrestlers in the modern era.
I’ll update as I can.
Update (11:06 PM EDT) Looks like a murder-suicide, says an investigator. Ugh....this doesn’t look good. Not at all. I’ll update in the morning. If any of you get updates, put them in the comments. We’re still in the ‘fog of war’, though. We might have to wait for the autopsy.
Update (6:39 AM EDT) Not much new, though as a past writer/commenter in the wrestling ‘net, you can see the shock and surprise moving through the wrestling blogsphere. Note: The WWE looks bad as it is, running a ‘death’ storyline with Vince McMahon....now, giving tribute to a guy who may have ended up killing his own wife and child......geez. They couldn’t have known, but talk about piling on…
Update (7:19 PM EDT) Ugly truth. He murdered his wife and child, and then took his own life. No signs to anyone, and some steroids in the house. Look for that to be named as the cause, truth or not. This is going to be a huge blow to pro wrestling.
Comment freely. Next up is the toxicology report in 10 days or so.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Why Does Communism fail?
I have some answers.....really, I do. Probably a different take on the whole idea than you’ve read before, but it is a take.
However, to start, I have to tell you about a good friend of mine named Heather....who is actually the reason for this post.
Heather is a co-worker of mine....actually, we started the very same day. She’s smart, quick-minded, and is energetic almost to a fault. In the environment we are in, she’s one of the best of the bunch, and many people compare our relationship to that of a brother and a sister...we laugh, talk, bicker, and sit right across from each other.
It’s never boring. Believe me.
So, on Friday, she was expanding on the fact that she was going to Comfest....a community festival in Columbus, with a friend of hers that is decidedly liberal.
“Really?” I looked at her. “You mean that leftist, communist-sponsored party they have down there near downtown?”
She got that very-Heatherish look...that surprised/insulted/humored/challenged look that is quite hers....and she exclaimed, “Are you calling me a communist?” She then informed me it was a community festival, that I wasn’t tolerant, and that she was going no matter what.
Well, never one to back down from such a challenge, I went to the computer and pulled up the Comfest webpage. Here’s a link. Take a read.....if you don’t want to waste the time, I’ll copy a few quotes here:
“The first ComFest took shape when a handful of political hippies....”
“...and regular and high-test brownies at the Yippie table...”
“We’re not unaware of our powerlessness. We vote to bring troops home from an unnecessary and disastrous war....”
“ComFest has survived in the face of cultural and political forces that every day gravitate against our collective welfare....”
And, lastly, the first line from the Comfest Statement of Principles:
“We think that people ought to work for the collective good of all people rather than for personal gain. We support cooperation and collective activity rather than competition and individual profit.”
So, I was right. She didn’t really care.....but it at least motivated a thought process and this post, as a result.
Under the fold, I’ll explain the basic reasons why communism, or collectivism, fails.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
We now have enough for a game of bridge
Joining John Cross, Helo and myself here at The Rants is Longtime Reader (and part-time blogger) Jason, formerly known as Road Knight.
Please be kind to him. 
Or else. 
(Kidding.) 
Jason is a long-distance trucker and theology student, and while his schedule might not allow daily blogging, he’ll be helping to keep you all entertained with his particular take on things as circumstances permit.
In other news, my mother-in-law, Nana, is celebrating her 85th birthday today.
So raise your glasses and toast all of those who aren’t as lucky…
Ron Paul: Certifiably Insane
Like you needed more...
Here’s another great example of how stark raving mad Ron Paul is.
The US House of Representatives urged the UN Security Council Wednesday to charge Iran’s president under genocide conventions.
The non-binding resolution, initiated by Reps. Mark Kirk (R-Illinois) and Steve Rothman (D-New Jersey), passed by 411-2. It cites an October 27 speech in which Mahmoud Ahmadinejad allegedly called for Israel to be “wiped off the map.”
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) attempted to have read into the record alternate translations of Ahmadinejad’s remarks that suggest the Iranian leader was calling Israel to come to an end through democratic means, and not through violence.
“I am unequivocal in my support for the security and survival of Israel, and I do have serious concerns with the remarks made by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of Iran,” said Kucinich, a long-shot candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. “But I object to resolutions that lay the groundwork for an offensive, unprovoked war.”
One of the alternate translations was by the Middle East Media
Research Institute (MEMRI).Kucinich and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), a long-shot contender for the Republican presidential nomination, were the only votes against.
The sponsors of the resolution cited the UN charter to support their argument that Ahmadinejad should be charged.
The charter - which Iran has accepted - requires all UN member states to “refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.”
“When the leader of an armed nation such as Iran calls for the destruction of a fellow member state of the United Nations, the UN must prosecute and punish him,” Rothman said. “It is my hope that this resolution will effectively increase pressure on the United Nations to hold Iranian President Ahmadinejad accountable for his genocidal words and prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.”
It’s almost as if proof of his lunacy just drops in my lap. And some of you guys want this guy to become president?
Friday, June 22, 2007
Legislative Constipation
Time for some Ex-Lax.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Senate colleague Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., want to “fix” talk radio because of its conservative influence on America, according to Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla.
Appearing on John Ziegler’s evening show on KFI 640 AM radio in Los Angeles, Inhofe reported hearing Clinton and Boxer discussing plans for a “legislative fix” and confronting them about it.
Inhofe told Ziegler he’d been walking to a vote “with two liberal gals” who were outraged over something a conservative radio talk show host had said, according to the Breitbart.tv recording.
“They said we’ve got to do something about this. These are nothing but far right-wing extremists. We’ve got to have a balance. There’s got to be a legislative fix for this,” Inhofe said.
“As we got off the elevator, I said, you gals don’t understand. This is market driven, and there’s no market for your liberal tripe,” Inhofe said.
Inhofe told Ziegler that such complaints about the opinions expressed by talk show hosts is “common chatter” in Washington.
Ziegler asked if the two were talking about shutting talk radio down, and Inhofe said, “They just want to influence it.”
The conversation had begun with the Oklahoma senator saying that opinion in the nation is influenced by the conservative leaders in the industry and he related the conversation where he’d been present.
Initially he didn’t identify the Democrats.
“Was that Boxer and Feinstein?” Ziegler asked.
“You’re halfway there,” Inhofe said. “The other one’s running for president.”
“So it was Boxer and Hillary?” Ziegler said, who were complaining about talk radio.
“Oh yeah … this is common chatter,” the Oklahoma senator said.
“So Boxer and Hillary were conspiring to end talk radio?” Ziegler asked.
“Not end talk radio. They just want to influence it,” Inhofe said.
A WND message left with Clinton’s Washington office requesting a comment was not returned. But on an ABC blog both offices issued denials.
“Senator Boxer told me that either her friend Senator Inhofe needs new glasses or he needs to have his hearing checked, because that conversation never happened,” says Natalie Ravitz, the communications director for Boxer,” wrote Jake Tapper on Political Punch.
“Jim Inhofe is wrong,” said Philippe Reines, Clinton’s press secretary. “This supposed conversation never happened – not in his presence or anywhere else.”
How do liberals win? By crying, bitching, and moaning. Wahhhh, wahhhh, wahhh, it’s so unfair! The evil right wingers have more listeners than us! Someone make a law and make us more popular! Wahhhh!!!!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Sorry about that, folks
Been a bad couple of days and I’ve been forced to take care of myself instead of posting here, and I’ve barely had enough energy to check my mail.
I’m really glad I didn’t feel like this last week, or I would have never made it home.
First full day of summer, and the temperature was up over 104F (40C) here. It was over 80F (27C) by 8:30 this morning. I think I even saw a cloud this afternoon, but it might have just been a stray pocket of smog sneaking in from the west…
I’ll try to get back to posting as soon as I’m feeling better, but in the meantime, you should go visit the other sites on the Journey this year - JimK, Scott, Larry, Cosmicbabe, and Doug