Democratic Dragons

If you have ever read dragon lore, you know that they are: old, powerful, greedy, conniving, treacherous, and generally a pain in the rear.

Does that sound like some politicians in the news?

At first glance the Congressional Minority might look like they are trying to help those less fortunate than themselves, don't be fooled. The congress critters are buying votes with our money. They are falling into the trap of allowing the indigent voting themselves unlimited benefits. Historically this has been the end of Democratic government.

I know this argument has been made before, but in your household, when do you stop borrowing? Would you borrow the money to party the weekend away, and then borrow to make the payment, and then borrow to refinance the loans, and so on.

That's exactly what the US government is doing.

Note to Congress: You can't borrow your way out of debt....ever!

Giving people those things to people that they should provide for them selves is a disincentive to productivity. I have friends who have a house hold income above 150k, who are waiting for Obama Care for insurance. The "he" of the pair looked at me with a long face, with a voice like he was talking to a child, and asked "Don't you want everyone to have insurance?". My reply was, "Sure, if they pay for it!".

All my life I have known people who wouldn't work tasting pies. They would rather pay for a party than a dental appointment or checkup. Self described victims of some system that hates a poor man. I have lived and worked around people who would rather by a beer, and party all night, rather than care for their children. The children, by the by, are produced accidentally and required to do the house work.

The "victim class" have a sense of entitlement partially because they are bone deep lazy and also because they are taught the life style by the liberal government.

The worst thing the government can do is feed the "hungry man", because he will sit down at the food source and wait for the next meal. He will not feed himself, because it's easier to let some one else do it for him. I'm not condemning the hungry, I'd do the same, most likely. Giving someone something, however, makes it less likely they will search for other opportunity.

The Democrats sing the song "if you have more then you should pay more", how is that logical? That's class warfare, this country was founded on the premise that there are no classes. If you want more, do more. Since the beginning of humanity the most productive have had the best lives, providing the incentive to the rest of the culture to work harder or smarter, to secure those blessings for their loved ones. Unfortunately there have also been the "I want that and you should give it to me" crowd.

The point?

The political elite are mortgaging our children's future to secure their future. They have no need of good financial policy, they, for the most part are already rich. Rising interest rates will make them richer. We on the lower end of that scale will get poorer. They are the lenders, the rich who can invest for a return, we are the borrowers who have to borrow to have a place to live and a way to get to work.

There is enough empirical evidence to guide the decisions in this country. There is enough history to prove what will happen. We are no smarter than the leaders of old, quite the opposite, there is none so blind as he who will not see. Witness Jordan, Syria, Egypt, and Iranian upheavals.

There is an end, and we are rushing toward it like a train wreck.

Dude!!!! What are you thinkin"

4 suspects dead in police shooting in Miami area

Published - Jul 01 2011 07:06AM EST

MIAMI — Authorities in Miami-Dade County say police shot and killed four suspects during a confrontation after they got out of their vehicles wearing ski masks and carrying guns.

Miami-Dade Police spokesman Alvaro Zabaleta says the robbery bureau was investigating Thursday evening in the southwestern section of the county when they learned of suspicious activity.

Several suspects were identified and due to their criminal history, Zabaleta says the department's special response team was called in.

According to Zabaleta, the suspects arrived in the area wearing ski masks and carrying guns. A confrontation occurred as the men got out of their vehicles. Shots were fired and four suspects were killed.

Zabaleta says none of the police officers were injured.

No other details were immediately available.

Who needs details? Idiots confront cops with guns wearing masks.

Idiots get shot lots.

Cops reload, take pictures, get garbage off streets.

Normally, I don't carry a gun, though after my time in Florida City last fall, I do now. Scary place, don't leave anything in your car, don't fill up at a stop and rob(the name fits) after dark, don't go to Walmart unless you are of Cuban decent. I know of one guy stopped for driving the speed limit, then advised to drive like everyone else (speeding) or get shot for being a gang banger, or pulled by every cop in Dade county for suspicious behavior.

Warranty?????

I went to the village torture chamber, uh, excuse me.... Dentist for an overhaul the other day. You know, the usual, fill the cavities, clean the roots, and replace the crown that disintegrated when I chewed a french fry.

Yep, bit down on a semi crispy potato stick and developed a mouth full of eggshells. I took the gross mass out of my mouth and tossed it out the window. No problem, after all, I'm not going to save it for several weeks and a four hundred mile trip for show and tell when having it repaired.

Wrong! That would be exactly what the warranty on the crown requires!

Notably, I had never even considered that there was a warranty on one of these things, or that it is only good for five years, not to mention that it has to be inspected every six months. Now lets toss in the idea that the insurance company doesn't want to cover it unless it is over five years old. The highly trained medical professional that I pay for all this, failed to mention any of the above.

Must have been a busy day.

This device will cost $982.

I've driven cars that cost less, and they lasted longer. Interesting to me is the crown adjacent to the expensive hole in my head has lasted for thirty years with no problems.

Let's see, I have no input to the choice of suppliers, no information regarding the warranty, no idea that this isn't a permanent fix, and no idea that the "lab" has had quality control issues.

However I am financially responsible.

As expected no one will assume responsibility for the failed component, by default it comes to me.

Imagine that!

The remaining pleasure was the "deep cleaning". Deep is a relative term, African gold mines are deep, some oil wells are deep.

Digging in my gums with sharp metallic objects is deep when I walk into the room.

Six or so syringes of numbing later,a very nice young lady spent an hour scratching under my toenails from inside my mouth. I thought I was going to have to clean blood out of my boots.

The cavities, I hardly noticed, a little drilling a little probing and four hands in my mouth at the same time, no problem there.

At the end of the morning, a bill for $1600 and a small bag of floss and toothpaste.

Don't you just love our health care system?

New title

I am now a full time employee, salaried and sitting at home, for a short while.

I just finished a stint at a plant in the south, testing their primary containment. I had eleven techs working with me, and supposedly for me.

Supposedly, because the little dears seldom accept the authority of any human living or dead.

It's a good thing they don't let me carry a club, or frustration might have led me to make a mistake. Not really, but I can dream, can't I?

We were testing the leakage from primary containment at design pressure in Loss of Coolant Accident conditions. The testing itself is pretty simple, put air in a pipe and see if it stays, if not, it's a maintenance problem.

The complexity comes with the accuracy required. We are testing in Standard Cubic Centimeters per Minute, and the Leak Rate Monitors are very expensive and accurate. The effects of temperature and changes in pressure will drive you to distraction. You can actually warm the plastic test line with your hand and change the leak rate. The leak rate tech needs to be able to understand the changes and decide when the leak rate is stable enough to take data.

All my problems were due to the personnel who were on the job. Slippery individuals that they are, some want to wander around when they should be available, that would be with out communicating with me. Not to mention, I had a few who were actively trying to undermine me as supervisor. Don't forget the one who didn't show up, or the one who showed up to get a badge, and get paid mobilization money, per-diem, and hours for getting a badge, just to "drag up" and go to the next job. We were staffed at sixteen techs, and ended with twelve.

The name of the game is roll with the punches, and we pulled it off. After several painful, for me, conversations with the little lambs, we got settled in, did the job, and left a good memory behind us.

Now I have to see if I can build a team and find us some more work.

Don't you remember?

Way back in 2008 the soon to be first lady made the statement that the pie is only so big, and some will have to take a smaller piece, so others will be able to get more.

Now we know who the "others" are.

That would be "she who must be obeyed" and forty or so close friends and family. That would not include the nearly seventy security folks. This was a "mother and daughter trip" per a White House spokes person.

Thank God it wasn't a family outing.

$375K, per the Drudge report. Somebody got themselves one humongous piece of pie.

Everyone I know is tightening their belt, and the White House staff is on over time planning trips for the first spouse. Eight this summer, or so reports say.

The next extravagance is the designer coat, from the UK, whass'amatter Mo-chelle, US designers not good enough for you?

The sense of entitlement is staggering.

If you were not terrified of government before.....

Now would be a good time to start.

From Congress a chart of the health care bill. If you can make anything of this you are way smarter than me.

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/tx08_brady/pr_100728_hc_chart.html

Except for the massive increase in taxes and government intrusion into your life.

Quiet drone...

sit down, shut up, and do only what you are told.

In another step toward a totalitarian world, the Obamasiah has committed to regulation on fishing, which could include, disallowing recreational fishing.

Previously the CHOSEN ONE has stated that "the right to keep and bear arms can be managed." His minion has committed to the Useless Nitwits small arms treaty. Discussions with every whack job in the world for any reason what so ever.

The entitlement mentality will destroy this democracy, as it has every other democracy. There are only so many beans in the can, when they are gone, if you continue handing out beans that have been borrowed, eventually you will reach the point that you can borrow no more, then what?

The health care "reform" and bailouts are a disincentive to being productive, responsible, and self sufficient. "I don't have to know or do anything, the gubmint will do it for me."

If our Congress critters will postpone the spending until the election season, they will see what we the people want.

Until then the Obamasiah, will continue to destroy our way of life as fast as he can.

What the Hell is going on,

This is the letter sent to several offices around town. I was shocked by the lack of response. Silly of me I know.

And why haven’t we heard about it? I found out this weekend that there has been a rash of break ins’ and motor vehicle thefts in my neighborhood.

How do you suppose this came to my attention?

That would be when my truck was stolen from my drive way.

It was mentioned in passing by the responding officer. I live within walking distance of a police station. I never see them around, but I know where the office is. What I see on my street is drivers cutting through from College to Shipyard, at speeds up to sixty miles an hour. I have seen motorcycles go by so fast that you could only guess at the color of the bike. I don’t spend a lot of time in the front watching traffic, but it doesn’t take long for someone to blow by like they are going to a fire. The exception would be the Police Dept. I never see them. I have called the Police to my home and asked them to sit in my drive and clock speeders. They won’t do it.
This afternoon my wife and I started looking to see just what we could find regarding crime in our area.

Not very much.

The wife did several searches, had a bash with Google, and couldn’t find any report of my vehicle being stolen, or the other two being ransacked. We did find five motor vehicle break-ins and one theft, in our neighborhood.

I can’t call that a cover up, but the word sure didn’t get out.

I subscribe to the “newspaper”, and my wife reads it thoroughly, daily. We had no idea that there had been any problem close by, not to mention just down the street. That would be eleven property crimes, five this weekend. There have been twenty eight autos stolen in the last month in our district, thirteen recovered, who knew? Certainly no one in my neighborhood.

Why is that important?

Because when things start to happen you take extra precautions, as we do now.

Does the Star News have a crime reporter? If not, why not? If so, why aren’t they doing their job? I can sit in my living room and find out which restaurants in New York will allow me to use their toilets without being a customer , but I can’t find out about crime in my neighborhood. I know more about Haiti today than I can find out about my police department.

There are sixty two officers working from the Southeast Division Office, I had to walk in and ask. I did get a print out of the short title for the reports filed since Dec 1. It seems that if you are on College, Shipyard or Hollytree, you’re covered, otherwise you’re on your own.

There are some things I do know about our police. They are arguably some of the worst drivers in town. They might do better if they were paying attention, but most of the officers I see on the road are on the phone or computer.

I have been sitting at a traffic light at College and Shipyard and watched a car blow a red light by several seconds, it was in my line of sight and I knew the driver saw the light turn red soon enough to stop. The Police officer had his attention on his computer and never looked up.

Good job for the team dude.

I don’t even want to start with our TV “News Stations”, if someone isn’t on fire or laying dead in the street they don’t even notice. I hear more about John Edwards than crime in town, did anyone notice that the Enquirer scooped everybody? What does that say about reporting around here?

Crime reporting was once considered to be important, a public service, no more apparently. I heard the story regarding graft on the ABC board until my ears hurt, so what, politics as usual. It was, however, crime reporting, or at least embarrassing.

I actually got a call back from the Commander of Div. 6 (Southeast Station), a very nice Lieutenant. He did me the courtesy of researching the crimes and auto thefts in town. The situation isn’t as bad as it seems. It is, however, bad enough. The initial information I was given at the local station was twenty eight auto thefts this month, that’s almost one a day. There were several towed vehicles that were reported stolen.

Which drags up the question of why didn’t the people at the station know? I have been offered the opportunity to do a ride along, and I certainly will. I was informed that crimes in my area are down by forty nine percent, which is good, unless you happen to fall into the remaining fifty one percent.

It would be nice to have hard numbers for the amount of actual criminal activity. Ten percent of fifty isn’t bad, ten percent of fifty thousand is another matter all together. I will now be on the E-Mail list for the Div. 6 information on recent crimes. I also found out that the PD has a public information officer who reportedly sends out communications to the papers and TV stations.

What, exactly, is done with those items remains to be seen.

So, what do I want?I want PD to step up and be an example to other departments and drivers in the area.

I want the Star News to inform the subscribers of problems in their area, I want our local TV stations to leave the national news to the networks and get on the street to report the issues in our neighborhoods.

I’m tired of rumor mongers and mullet wrappers, I want reporters not “personalities”.

Up date: My truck was recovered five days later with relatively minor damage. The insurance has already paid me for the damage. Loss of electronics and such will cost me about a grand. The castle will get a monitored security system. I am contemplating unpleasantness for any future issues.

I'm sure there's a good reason for this

Mrs. Michele Obama's Staff This has nothing to do with race but has to do with greed, egotism, and spending of over $1,500,000 PER YEAR in personal salaries by the first lady in a time of severe financial problems in the U.S. This is amazing!! From the Canada Free Press :First Lady Requires More Than Twenty Attendants July 7, 2009 Written by Dr. Paul L. Williams"In my own life, in my own small way, I have tried to give back to this country that has given me so much,"she said. "See, that's why I left a job at a biglaw firm for a career in public service, "... Michelle Obama

No, Michele Obama does not get paid to serve as the First Lady and she doesn't perform any official duties.

But this hasn't deterred her from hiring an unprecedented number of staffers to cater to her every whim and to satisfy her every request in the midst of the Great Recession.

Just think, Mary Lincoln was taken to task for purchasing china for the White House during the Civil War. And Mamie Eisenhower had to shell out the salary for her personal secretary from her husband's salary.

Total Personal Staff members for other first ladies paid by taxpayers: Mamie Eisenhower : 1 paid for personally out of President's salary
Jackie Kennedy: 1
Roseline Carter: 1
Barbara Bush: 1
Hilary Clinton: 3
Laura Bush: 1
Michele Obama: 22

How things have changed! If you're one of the tens of millions of Americans facing certain destitution, earning less than subsistence wages stocking the shelves at Wal-Mart or serving up McDonald cheeseburgers, prepare to scream and then come to realize that the benefit package for these servants of Ms Michelle are the same as members of the national security and defense departments and the bill for these assorted lackeys is paid by YOU, John Q. Public.

Michele Obama's personal staff:
1.. $172,200 - Sher, Susan (Chief Of Staff)
2. $140,000 - Frye, Jocelyn C. (Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Policy And Projects For The First Lady)
3. $113,000 - Rogers, Desiree G. (Special Assistant to the President and White House Social Secretary for Mrs. Obama)
4. $102,000 - Johnston, Camille Y. (Special Assistant to the President and Director of Communications for the First Lady)
5. $100,000 - Winter, Melissa E. (Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)
6. $90,000 - Medina , David S. (Deputy Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)
7. $84,000 - Lel yveld, Catherine M. (Director and Press Secretary to the First Lady)
8. $75,000 - Starkey, Frances M. (Director of Scheduling and Advance for the First Lady)
9. $70,000 - Sanders, Trooper (Deputy Director of Policy and Projects for the First Lady)
10. $65,000 - Burnough, Erinn J. (Deputy Director and Deputy Social Secretary)
11. $64,000 - Reinstein, Joseph B. (Deputy Director and Deputy Social Secretary)
12. $62,000 - Goodman, Jennifer R. (Deputy Director of Scheduling and Events Coordinator For The First Lady)
13. $60,000 - Fitts, Alan O. (Deputy Director of Advance and Trip Director for the First Lady)14. $57,500 - Lewis, Dana M. (Special Assistant and Personal Aide to the First Lady)
15. $52,500 - Mustaphi, Semonti M. (Associate Director and Deputy Press Secretary To The First Lady)
16. $50,000 - Jarvis, Kristen E. (Special Assistant for Scheduling and Traveling Aide To The First Lady)
17. $45,000 - Lechtenberg, Tyler A. (Associate Director of Correspondence For The First Lady)18. $43,000 - Tubman, Samanth a (Deputy Associate Director, Social Office)
19. $40,000 - Boswell, Joseph J. (Executive Assistant to the Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)
20. $36,000 - Armbruster, Sally M. (Staff Assistant to the Social Secretary)
21. $35,000 - Bookey, Natalie (Staff Assistant)
22. $35,000 - Jackson, Deilia A. (Deputy Associate Director of Correspondence for the First Lady)
(total = $1,591,200 in annual salaries)

There has NEVER been anyone in the White House at any time who has created such an army of staffers whose sole duties are the facilitation of the First Lady's social life.One wonders why she needs so much help, at taxpayer expense.

Note: This does not include makeup artist Ingrid Grimes-Miles, 49, and "First Hairstylist" Johnny Wright, 31, both of whom traveled aboard Air Force One to Europe .

The reason is probably because she is so ill tempered the kids and dog avoid her, so they have to pay someone to be her friend.

To: Annony Mouse

Anonny Mouse has seen fit to pass gas in regards to a post regarding the rights of a state to pass laws that meet the approval of the residents. I was invited to leave the Union, and receive a flag. Then, if you can believe it, Mousey, resorted to personal attack. I would rather any attacks be in person, the better to respond appropriately. The disparaging remark about my intelligence was very hurtful, and probably too close to the truth, so my barbaric response should come as no surprise.

Though you don’t believe in my rights, I believe in yours. If you choose, feel free to submit everything to your federal masters. You can trust your government, ask any Indian, (sorry, Native American.)

A second nameless genius left a comment ambiguous enough to leave me wondering which side of the line he or she fell on. But the statement about “fat, old, white guys” really hurt my feelings.

So no publishing from me.

Present your case for your statements, sign your name, be a man or woman about it, I’ve been wrong before. Yes, Yes, I Know DW isn’t my name, but this is my forum.

Herding cats

I've learned some new ideas about work ethics.

Not adopted, by the way, just barely tolerated.

Such as; One and Done, Nothing New After Two, Nothing For Me After Three, Nothing More After Four.

Poor poetry, and not addressed in the schedule.

The "nuclear professionals" working for me have readily embraced these lyrical tenants.

I have found it virtually impossible to snap the tap root connecting their butts to the chairs in the break room.

The "one and done" is one work order per day. If that is one 24", 45 degree Rockwell globe isolation valve rebuild, it's a miracle or an alien intervention. If it happens to be a three quarter inch gate repack, somebody is taking a nap.

Unfortunately all of us are on a twelve hour schedule, and the "nothing new after two" means if I get done by two, I expect to sit in the break room until six thirty.

Let me be plain here. When I am on my tools, and the man gives me a work order and a brief, I get off my hind quarters, and go to work. The time doesn't matter, fair doesn't matter, what some one has or hasn't done doesn't matter, I have a contract that says I will be paid for the hours I work, so I work.

Not so my little lambs. I have given the task brief, asked for questions, given out the work order and then watched for an hour as the bull session continues.

I could have cooked an egg in the palm of my hand.

I got a news flash killer, if you get done at two and you will not accept more work, then you need to go home. If you don't want to work, you don't have too.

Those little poems display the attitude of "pay me but don't expect anything".

There are other games, Question it to death, only deal with one issue at a time (each separate issue requires a walk back to the break room and a break), and of course, I'm not qualified.

If someone brings me a problem, I will find them an answer, please use the phone. Our income depends on doing a better job than any of a dozen other contractors, and doing it in a timely and professional manner.

Childish poems do not a professional make.

I try to hold my temper, and mostly I can. Sometimes it just slops over the edges, and then we get the eruption. When we have a plan, don't change the plan with out telling me. I really hate having to explain why no one can be seen working on camera FOUR HOURS after I have ushered the entire crew through the briefs and sent them to work.

They thought they had a better idea......WRONG! That one slopped over the edges.

When an older team member decided to ignore safety and his work partner decided to let him, that went bad quick.

I have two levels of counseling on these matters, "a word of prayer" and "we're all gonna' come to Jesus"!

Ignoring safety will get you to the "come to Jesus" meeting quick.

I don't have the power to discipline, or fire. I can write a bad evaluation, which may effect pay or rehire. Unfortunately we can't get enough techs as it is.

So, for now, I will try to keep forcing my little kitty's into doing their jobs.

Working for a living isn't so bad, trying to get the unwilling to do their part sucks.

The end of an era

AD has warned that those who haven’t updated their blogs will be deleted. I don’t blame him, I need to do the same thing.

I also need to recover my interest in the changing face of America. Since the last election my interest has declined because I find it difficult to believe any one, much less the majority of voters, wanted a socialist president.

Lower case is deliberate.

This political creation has convinced me that Jimmy Carter is not the worst we could pick for this high office. Carter proved that the US could survive four years without a President. Obama may prove that we can’t survive four years of social programs.

I become more convinced each day that the most powerful, productive nation in the world is doomed because the indigent have learned to vote themselves unlimited benefits.

If you are physically unable to work, or care for yourself, a compassionate nation should help. However, if you have made decisions that continue to deprive you of the means to care for yourself or your loved ones, give up the twelve pack, jerk your panties up, wipe your nose, and get on with doing what you know is right and needful.

I have been around too many that their entire life centers around where they will party the weekend away, too many that would rather buy a beer, than milk for their child. If I have to feed the child, I want the little dear put under the care of someone who will teach them how to live. Harsh I know, but we need a defense against unlimited reproductive rights by the electively stupid.

Sorry for the anger, I’m in the mood to throw someone down the stairs,

repeatedly.

The significance of the collapse of this nation will be the death of millions from starvation, and the violence of nations unrestrained by the threat of a police action. The Useless Nitwits will have to leave Turtle Bay and go harass someone else. They have no teeth without us, and no tolerance for us. The banana republic we are about to become will certainly not be able to fund them.

I was doing some of the recurring training that is done at Nukes, and heard a woman say in this weird adoring voice, “I love Obama”.

I thought I was going to puke.

Glassy eyed, unthinking adoration.

If he was a preacher in a Midwest church (sorry Midwest, Jim Jones wasn’t a southern boy), his supporters would be lining up for cool aid. I remember that party, almost had to help clean it up.

I suppose I should focus on something more positive, perhaps the building wave of protest by Dems against their own leaders. I’m seeing more protests now than since Vietnam. I think it’s only going to get worse.

Our national leadership no longer cares what the constitution says, our president ignores it, and the Supreme Court looks for inspiration to interpret that document in nations ruled by government employees instead of elected officials.

Sad days indeed.

Thieving Government

I have been layed off for lack of work, a condition to be expected in my current career path.

So, unemployment?

Ain't happenin"!

It seems the new requirements that require income, in the claim state, in each of the last five quarters, will prevent me from ever filing a claim for unemployment payments, as long as I am a contract tech.

It will not prevent my employer from having to pay those taxes.

Thieving bastards.

I was talking about fishing....

I haven’t thought of this story in a long time. A friend of mine is from the Land Between the Lakes in Kentucky. He invited me and another friend to do some snag fishing below Kentucky Dam.

I’m always ready to go fishing.

The process is simple. Take a fishing rod seven feet or less long, a sixteen ounce sinker, 140 lb line, and a 14/0 treble hook, then go to the river and whale the thing as far as you can.

Hopefully it will hit the river. When you feel the sinker hit bottom, swing the rod to the side, and occasionally you will hook a fish. The day I went, we used two rods, for three men. The result was more fish than me and a big man could carry to the parking lot. I was worn completely out and I only fished for part of the day.

It’s a popular pass time. The fly in the ointment can be the commercial fishermen.

The commercial guys buy the biggest flat bottom john boat they can, and a six horse power Johnson out board motor. They have one wash tub for cut bait, and another for fish. Their sinkers are two or three pound balls of lead. Those are kept in a bucket with the pistol. They will motor to the top of the boil below the dam, drop a bait from a two inch long rod and wait for something whiskered to show an interest. They then hand over hand it to the top of the water, accesses the danger, apply sedation with a small pistol as appropriate, and throw them into the wash tub.

Pistol?????........yep, pistol!

If you’re wondering why a pistol in the boat, consider what would happen if you hauled an unsedated catfish of,, say,, 100 lbs into the boat? Nothing good, you can be sure. Some times a tourist will see the big fish, and see just enough to be foolish and drag a pissed off monster into the boat,,, sans sedation. Said tourist will immediately be balanced on the windshield like an ungainly cat, whilst the fish swats every thing not nailed down into the river. The oh, so helpful river rats, between gasping for breath and belly laughs, are yelling helpful advice, like, “shoot ‘im”. Like the dude has a gun or it wouldn’t blow a hole in the boat.

The bank fishermen have a gun also, in their sinker bucket, after all they don’t want to get a leg broken, or get finned by a catfish.

The problem starts when a boat fisherman decides to fish the boil nearest the bank. The bank fishermen are shut out until he leaves.

They take exception to that, seriously.

A new boat fisherman decides that the bank fishermen are having better luck a hundred feet away, and they can’t do anything to him, so he’s going to putt over and drop a bait. Profanity and verbal abuse ensue. Threats and such fly back and forth. Still the boat guy doesn’t move off.

A small group of bank fishermen gather and discuss tactics, then spread out and get ready to cast. The boat guy is lulled into a false sense of security. When the boat comes into range, all the bank conspirators cast at the same time.

It sounded like a hail storm on a tin roof.

Remember all those 140 lb lines and 14/0 hooks?

The boat guy is caught, and the six horse motor starts to lose ground. Someone is about to get his butt kicked.

Boat guy panics and grabs his pistol first, after a couple of shots, the bank guys, not to be out done, grab their pistols and return fire.

These are .22 or .25 hand guns with a two inch barrel, kept in a bucket full of lead balls. Probably not target pistols to start with and likely abused for years, a hit would have been an act of Providence, who was bent over laughing hard enough to puke at the moment, not deciding anyone’s fate.

The unarmed people freak and streak.

Good idea!

The TVA guard hears the commotion and takes cover with my friend behind a parapet wall.

Boat guy finally grabs a bait knife and starts cutting lines to make his escape.

So my bud asks the guard, who is holding his .38 revolver in his best TV dude, “point in a safe direction”, grip…”What are you going to do about that?”

He replied, “As soon as they run out of ammo, I’m going down there and run them off!”

Who says fishing is boring?

Sotomeyor,

The law has no color, no ethnic background, no personal history.

This country was founded on the premise that all men are equal, that premise has been changed by the will of the people to include all genders and races, as it should.

The law can have no preference, no "more equal than others".

The racial quotas created by the Federal Guilt mongers is counter to the literal reading of the Constitution.

We don't need ethnic experience to be just. We must all be compassionate to those in need, but not because of the color of their skin or their gender.

From George Will on Townhall

A New York Times article, "Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending" (9/30/99), reported, "Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people …" The pressure was the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act that was beefed up during the Clinton Administration. It required banks to make high-risk loans they would not have otherwise made. Failure to comply meant fines and difficulty in getting approval for mergers and branch expansion.

When questions began to arise about government policy that intimidated lenders into making high-risk loans, we received congressional assurances. At hearings investigating the solvency of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Rep. Barney Frank said, ''The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.'' In a speech to the Mortgage Bankers Association, Frank advised, "People tend to pay their mortgages. I don't think we are in any remote danger here. This focus on receivership, I think, is intended to create fears that aren't there." Protesting against greater controls against lax mortgage lending, Sen. Harry Reid said, "While I favor improving oversight by our federal housing regulators to ensure safety and soundness, we cannot pass legislation that could limit Americans from owning homes and potentially harm our economy in the process."

I heard Frank on Good Morning America make the bald statement that there was inadequate Federal oversight in the free market.

Sounds to me like they hammered the lending institutions in to a corner and then fooled them into thinking the Govt. would protect them.

Turns out the Govt. did protect them, but not for the reasons they thought. Congress had to stop the "correction", which has only been postponed, so no blame would accrue to them.

Too much federal interference more likely.

My lucky red hat...

All of us at one time or another have had our "blankey", that ugly dirty thing that was a charm or comfort totem.
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Mine was a red knit cap that I bought for a dollar in a gas station. I think I remember buying the thing when working as an electrician's helper. In those days becoming a helper was no more complicated than adopting a cat. It also paid as well as adopting a cat. We would gather at the bosses house and get our days assignment for the day and off we went to string wire in the morning and then go to a finish job in the afternoon. Summer time wasn't too bad, winter was another story. Have you ever hit your fingers with a hammer when they were so cold you had to wait to warm them up to bleed?
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It sucks swamp water.
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I was working with my future brother in laws. Bruce was a comical little troll, who tried to scare me one morning by almost rear ending a car, and swerved just in time to hit another car turning across our lane. He didn't see that one.
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He almost scared me to death. I came out of the seat in a ball, bent the dash with my knees and destroyed the wind shield with my head. The red hat didn't help.
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A new job taught me cool things like welding and grinding. How to saw asbestos with a sawzall, and line heat treat ovens. That one gives me nightmares. I came so close to dieing so many times there I can't count. One that made a real impression, and collected four stitches, was pulling a fly wheel off a punch press. The dudes who installed it were a little less than patient when fitting the key. The end result was a 20 ton porta power to remove the fly wheel. It slipped with about ten tons of load on it and I caught a one inch diameter threaded rod across the top of my head with a sound like breaking a ball bat.

Guess what I was wearing instead of a hard hat? (They ordered them while I was on the way to the ER).
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I was somewhat smaller than I am now and drove a Triumph Spitfire MKIV, probably the coolest car I have ever owned. It met it's demise one evening at the bumper of a 1965 Galaxy 500. It was my fault. When the dude hit me the car spun so violently I broke the passengers window with my head.
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Still wearing the red hat.
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I kept the hat for a long time, it was just something I wore because I had it.
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I sat down one night and counted all the scars and stitches I had accumulated while wearing the one dollar hat. When I was done and the total considered, I couldn't get it in the trash soon enough.
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Slow learner, that's me.

And I'm off....

Well. I'm always a little off, but I have to go to work too. The company I will work for this fall called yesterday and wants me to take a supervisor position. More money, possible bonus based on no rework and no injuries to my direct reports.

OK, more money, and an extra weeks work, on the front end. That cut all the slack out of my prep time.

Therefore, posting will take a beating.

I was getting all would up for a bash at Gaffey the Democrap. (Obamessiah, This is the best country in the world, lets change it!)

Guess it'll have to wait.

Nohussein,,,,,ever

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIdbYjmbFzo

B. Hussein Obama wants to lead this country,,, where?

Doesn't the Bible, which he professes to believe, say "And the King shall answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these my brothers, you have done it to me."

B. Hussein Obama would you have let Jesus die?

B. Hussein Obama would you lead us to hell and open the gate for us to walk through?

I think I have my answer!

When the wind gets up....

When I moved to the coast close to thirty years ago, I had never experienced a hurricane. I have nine under my belt now, that would be nine direct hits, not not near hits or close misses.
The map of where I live, yes all those are storm tracks.
http://dragonwatch-south.blogspot.com/2007/08/now-thats-depressing.html

Needless to say, there have been some interesting quotes from people waiting for those storms.

The redneck from New Jersey-"I hope it hits here, I want to get out in the wind and feel what a hundred miles an hour is like!" This while striking a heroic (or in this case stupid) pose with his fists clenched and chest pushed out.

My reply, "Hey hero, what you gonna' do when you're out in the wind and see a stop sign coming edge on at a hundred miles an hour? Or maybe a pine cone off those Long leaf pines?"

His reply, ????blank stare???

The guys in the back room at work- "Hey, look at the window, it's bulging inward when the wind picks up!"

My reply, "Shit, see ya! I'm getting inside the shield wall!"

The Sheriffs deputy in charge of the shelter- "See that guy, (points at me) he knows what's going on, put him too work!"

Me- "Damn it!"

Me- "Boss, I need to go check my house, my wife has passed out from shock and fear in the service building."

Boss- "You can't leave!"

My reply- "This isn't a bleeding jail, hide and watch me bud!" He turned several shades of white and got me permission. I drove home and back, in a seventy mile an hour cross winds in a Subaru Brat, all was well. Except for the pinch marks in the seat and steering wheel.

Me cutting one of my trees off the neighbors house in the middle of the storm.
TLOML stomping and spitting like a wet cat, while screaming at me to get off the top of the neighbors house. The words and gestures exceed my ability to describe, but I was more afraid of her than the storm.

My neighbor Bill from New Jersey, "How much will you charge me to cut up this tree?"
Me- "Nothing"
Bill- "What do you mean, nothing"
Me- "We're neighbors, I'll do it for nothing."
Bill- "Whats your favorite poison?"
Me- "Excuse me?"
Bill- "Liquor"
Me- "JD Black label"
Bill brought me a gallon.
After that when any of my non chain saw owning friends asked me to work up a blow down, I always told them "I work for Booze", I don't remember much after that.

After several hours of work with one of my big chain saws the neighbor I'm helping asks, "Do you guy's want a beer?"
Me -"Yes, please!"
As the three of us are standing in the rain drinking our beers, "Uh, guy's do you realise how stupid we look standing here in the rain?"
Neighbors- "Yeah, maybe we should come in out of the rain."

All my prayers to those on the Gulf Coast, God knows I hope all you have to remember is the stupid quotes