How about a big helping of ….
Why? You may ask?
Just because I can.
Just because I felt like it.
Just because I’m up at 2 am and can’t sleep.
Cheers my friends.
Good morning campers!
I’ve had so much fun putting this issue together that I’ve completely lost track of time.
So…
Without any further ado….
…
This is great! Very funny. Can you imagine finding it missing when you come to work the next day, finding it missing and watching the security tapes the next morning and finding this? I laughed!
What?
You can’t see the video?
GO
TO
THE
WEBSITE!
http://dragonlaffs.com
And while you’re there…buy us a lousy cup of coffee, will ya?
Wow. Times are moving fast. Saw my first Hillary for president bumper sticker today.
The OBAMA motto: We’ve got what it takes, to take what you’ve got!
The biggest thing that annoys me about the man is that he firmly advocates the cause of racism in America, yet he is the BIGGEST Racist this country has right now! The amount of outright racist comments he has made in his capacity as president is astounding. If a white man had uttered 1/10 of the comments he has, he would’ve been ridden out of Washington on a rail!
For those of you who are interested in the area of self-help, as in, I’m going to help myself survive after the Zombie Apocalypse, here’s a great video on starting a fire with a bottle of water. Can’t see the video? You gotta go to the website! Come on campers, how many times do we have to go over this? You old hands over there, nudge the new guys and help them go to http://dragonlaffs.com
What I do at my job.
This is a video that appeared on local TV, shows what I had been working up to all last week. I was behind the scenes setting off explosions and smoke. (Gads, I love my job!). And for those of you who are trying to see, no, I don’t appear on any of the shots, either as a dragon or in my human guise. So, run by the website and check it out. And why not buy us a cup of coffee while you’re there?
This is great. How do they do that? Magician Penn & Teller show how the old cup and ball trick works. Again, you gotta go to the website to see them. And I need another cup of coffee. Who’s buying my coffee this week?
I was the nurse caring for a couple’s newborn first child, a son, after his cesarean birth. Since the mother was asleep under general anesthesia we took our tiny charge directly to the newborn nursery to introduce him to his daddy. While cuddling his son for the first time, he noticed the baby’s ears conspicuously standing out from his head. He expressed his concern that some kids might call his son names like “Dumbo.” The pediatrician reassured the new dad that his son was healthy, the ears could be easily corrected later during childhood. The father still worried about his wife’s reaction to those large protruding ears. “She doesn’t take things as easily as I do,” he worried. By this time, the new mother was ready to meet her precious son. I placed the tiny bundle in his mother’s arms and eased the blanket back so that she could gaze upon her child for the first time. She took one look at her baby’s face and looked to her husband and gasped, “Oh, Honey! Look! He has your ears!”
A Swiss guy, looking for directions, pulls up at a bus stop where two American men are waiting. “Entschuldigung, koennen Sie Deutsch sprechen?” he says. The two Englishmen just stare at him. “Excusez-moi, parlez vous Francais?” The two continue to stare. “Parlare Italiano?” No response, “Hablan ustedes Espanol?” Still nothing. The Swiss guy drives off, extremely disgusted. The first American turns to the second and says, “Y’know, maybe we should learn a foreign language…. ” “Why?” says the other, “That man knew four languages, and it didn’t do him any good.
Not to be passed up appropriate follow on…
There is a story about a monastery in Europe perched high on a cliff several hundred feet in the air. The only way to reach the monastery was to be suspended in a basket which was pulled to the top by several monks who pulled and tugged with all their strength. Obviously, the ride up the steep cliff in that basket was terrifying. One tourist got exceedingly nervous about half-way up as he noticed that the rope by which he was suspended was old and frayed. With a trembling voice he asked the monk who was riding with him in the basket how often they changed the rope. The monk thought for a moment and answered brusquely, “Whenever it breaks.”
A study says that breast feeding may lower a woman’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease. Especially compared to women who find themselves holding a bottle and wonder if they found the bottle or lost a baby?
Beer: “So much more than just a breakfast drink”
A blonde is in the bathroom and her husband shouts: “Did you find the shampoo?” She answers, “Yes, but I’m not sure what to do… it’s for dry hair, and I’ve just wet mine.”
A blonde goes to the vet with her goldfish. “I think it’s got epilepsy,” she tells the vet. The vet takes a look and says, “It seems calm enough to me”. The blonde says, “Wait, I haven’t taken it out of the bowl yet.”
A blonde spies a letter lying on his doormat. It says on the envelope “DO NOT BEND “. He spends the next 2 hours trying to figure out how to pick it up.
I want to expound on something that my dad sent me, that I don’t think many of us have discussed much, if at all.
I have not read of a single dollar reduction in foreign aid as a result of sequestering.
All items cut were for the express purpose of hurting the American taxpayer/working people the most!
Well?
DEMOCRATS and Republicans?
(‘different’ ONLY in name)
Someone please tell me what the Hell’s wrong with
All the people that run this country!
Both Democrats and Republicans
Say,
“We’re broke”
And can’t help our own
Seniors,
Veterans,
Orphans,
Homeless,
Etc.?
And must TAKE money from
our own hard working Department of Defense workers?
But, over the last several years THEY
have provided direct cash aid to…
Hamas – $351 M,
Libya $1.45 B,
Egypt – $397 M,
Mexico – $622 M,
Russia – $380 M,
Haiti – $1.4 B,
Jordan – $463 M,
Kenya – $816 M,
Sudan – $870 M,
Nigeria – $456 M,
Uganda – $451 M,
Congo – $359 M,
Ethiopia – $981 M,
Pakistan – $2 B,
South Africa – $566 M,
Senegal – $698 M,
Mozambique – $404 M,
Zambia – $331 M,
Kazakhstan – $304 M,
Iraq – $1.08 B,
Tanzania – $554 M,
…with literally Billions of Dollars
and they still hate us!!!!
But on the other hand,
Our retired seniors,
Living on a ‘fixed income,’
Receive NO aid!
Nor do they get any breaks, while our government
And religious organizations will pour
Hundreds of Billions Of $$$$$$’s
and Tons of Food to Foreign Countries!
Someone needs to explain to them that
Charity begins AT HOME!
And another atrocity….
We have Hundreds of adoptable
American Children who are shoved aside
To make room for the adoption of Foreign orphans.
Where even if families wanted to adopt American babies,
it’s so difficult, that people who want babies and don’t have
hundreds of thousands of dollars, will choose to go overseas!
AMERICA: A country where we have
Countless Homeless without shelter,
Children going to bed hungry,
Elderly going without needed medication
and the Mentally ill without treatment – …
YET…
They will have a ‘Benefit’ Show
For the people of Haiti , on 12 TV Stations;
Ships and planes lining up with food, water, tents
clothes, bedding, doctors and medical supplies.
Now Just Imagine if
Our own GOVERNMENT
Gave ‘US’ the same support they give to foreign countries.
Sad, isn’t it?
Campers, this isn’t going to change until we change it. This cowardly, dishonest, lack of integrity that our government is showing us has to stop. It’s up to us to do it.
WHAT?! So I’m cleaning out the cheesy files too!
We’ve been under Extreme Heat Indices since Sunday night, the first one lasting until Tuesday (48 hour warning). This means the feels like temp with the addition of the humidity to the actual temperature feels in excess of 105. Judging by the forecast as I am writing this, we might not see any relief until Thursday and then only for a day.
Exactly how hot is it in terms you can relate to? My coffee pot is starting at 5 AM and then it contents being allowed to cool off so that when I get up it only requires 1 iced cube and some cold milk. It also means its too hot to be sitting here raising a sweat by type jawing with you.
My Latest Entrepreneurial Venture
We go the extra mile to bring you the freshest and most dangerous cuts of meats on the planet. Did we use a virgin to lure the dragon out of hiding or a team of knights to slay it? Sorry, trade secret. But we guarantee there is love in every chunky bite; love from your friends at DL/LL Electronic Media Enterprises.
Impish uncharacteristically has refused to invest or benefit from my latest venture. It’s not like him to miss an opportunity for me to do all the hard work while he rides the biscuit wheeled gravy train. I’m a bit confused as to his rational since he’s the one constantly asking me to dispose of these bodies.
FOR THOSE WHO LOVE THE PHILOSOPHY OF AMBIGUITY, AS WELL AS THE IDIOSYNCRASIES OF ENGLISH:
1. ONE TEQUILA, TWO TEQUILA, THREE TEQUILA…… FLOOR.
2. ATHEISM IS A NON-PROPHET ORGANIZATION.
3. IF MAN EVOLVED FROM MONKEYS AND APES,
WHY DO WE STILL HAVE MONKEYS AND APES?
4. I WENT TO A BOOKSTORE AND ASKED THE SALESWOMAN, “WHERE’S THE SELF- HELP SECTION?” SHE SAID IF SHE TOLD ME, IT WOULD DEFEAT THE PURPOSE.
5. WHAT IF THERE WERE NO HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS?
6. IS THERE ANOTHER WORD FOR SYNONYM?
7. WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU SEE AN ENDANGERED ANIMAL EATING AN ENDANGERED PLANT?
8. WOULD A FLY WITHOUT WINGS BE CALLED A WALK?
9. IF THE POLICE ARREST A MUTE, DO THEY TELL HIM HE HAS THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT?
10. WHY DO THEY PUT BRAILLE ON THE DRIVE-THROUGH BANK MACHINES?
11. HOW DO THEY GET DEER TO CROSS THE ROAD ONLY AT THOSE YELLOW ROAD SIGNS?
12. WHAT WAS THE BEST THING BEFORE SLICED BREAD?
13. ONE NICE THING ABOUT EGOTISTS: THEY DON’T TALK ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE.
14. DO INFANTS ENJOY INFANCY AS MUCH AS ADULTS ENJOY ADULTERY?
15. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE A CIVIL WAR?
16. IF ONE SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMER DROWNS, DO THE REST DROWN TOO?
17. IF YOU ATE BOTH PASTA AND ANTIPASTO, WOULD YOU STILL BE HUNGRY?
18. IF YOU TRY TO FAIL, AND SUCCEED, WHICH HAVE YOU DONE?
19. WHOSE CRUEL IDEA WAS IT FOR THE WORD ‘LISP’ TO HAVE ‘S’ IN IT?
20. WHY ARE HEMORRHOIDS CALLED “HEMORRHOIDS” INSTEAD OF “ASSTEROIDS”?
21. WHY IS THERE AN EXPIRATION DATE ON SOUR CREAM?
22. IF YOU SPIN AN ORIENTAL MAN IN A CIRCLE THREE TIMES, DOES HE BECOME DISORIENTED?
23. CAN AN ATHEIST GET INSURANCE AGAINST ACTS OF GOD?
24. WHY DO SHOPS HAVE SIGNS, ‘GUIDE DOGS ONLY’, THE DOGS CAN’T READ AND THEIR OWNERS ARE BLIND?
10. Introduce yourself to an elementary school class.
9. Refer to disciplining your child as “spanking my little
Weiner.”
8. Agree to be John Boehner’s running mate.
7. Become a partner in a law firm with Small, Johnson and Wang.
6> Use your name in vein.
5. Perform magic at your high school talent show as “The Amazing,
Astounding, Magnificent Weiner.”
4. Open a tattoo/piercing or massage/waxing business named after
yourself.
3. Co-sponsor meat-industry regulation bills with Barney Frank.
2. “This is America. If Disney can have a theme park, I can have
a theme park.”
1. Behave like one.
[ Copyright 2011 by Chris White/TopFive.com ]
Because we already have enough dickheads in government!
Police in Detroit announced the discovery of an arms cache of 200 semi-automatic rifles with 25,000 rounds of ammunition, 200 pounds of heroin, 5 million in forged US banknotes and 25 trafficked Latino prostitutes — all in a semi-detached house behind the Public Library on Woodward Ave.
Local residents were stunned, and a community spokesman said:
“We’re all shocked; we never knew we had a library.”
In a potentially controversial move, the Pentagon will announce
The formation of a new all-gay, all male company named the
“Fighting 69th Sodomites.”
Sources credit the creation of the 69th to House member
Barney Frank, who has reportedly been working
“very, very closely” with gay Pentagon officials.
Good thing I have a hard and fast rule about not drinking and then using heavy equipment!
This simple skillet dish is the perfect solution when you’re wondering what to do with all that end of summer garden zucchini…but this dish is so good, you’ll want to make it year-round.
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Condensed Tomato Soup (
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves, crushed
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
4 medium zucchini, sliced (about 6 cups)
1 small green pepper, cut into 2-inch strips (about 1 cup)
1 large onion, sliced (about 1 cup)
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Heat the soup, lemon juice, basil, garlic powder, zucchini, pepper and onion in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat to a boil.
Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender-crisp, stirring occasionally. Stir in the cheese.
This next one was sent in by a reader and while neither Impish or I have yet have the opportunity to test it, it’s right up there on our kitchen To-do lists
Banana Bread with Honey & Applesauce
Banana Bread with honey and applesauce instead of sugar & oil. Delicious & Healthy.
Ingredients
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar free applesauce
3/4 cup honey
2 eggs, beaten
3 mashed overripe bananas
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together applesauce and honey. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.
By Ramit Plushnick-Masti, Associated Press
STOP ROLLING YOUR EYES! Count yourselves thankful the feature isn’t on the Funeral Museum that’s less than 5 miles away from me!!
A visitor leaves the back entrance to the beer can house, a Houston landmark, Wednesday, July 10, 2013. Former owner John Milkovisch covered the outside on the house with siding made of cut and flatten beer cans and garlands made from the lids. The Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, a local nonprofit that preserves art installations in the city, bought the property about 10 years ago, restored the house and it opened it to the public. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)
HOUSTON — A child of the Great Depression, John Milkovisch didn’t throw anything away — not even the empty cans of beer he enjoyed each afternoon with his wife
So, in the early 1970s when aluminum siding on houses was all the rage, he lugged the cans he had stored in his attic for years downstairs, painstakingly cut open and flattened each one and began to wallpaper his home.
“The funny thing is that it wasn’t … to attract attention,” said Ruben Guevara, head of restoration and preservation of the Beer Can House in Houston’s Memorial Park area. “He said himself that if there was a house similar to this a block away, he wouldn’t take the time to go look at it. He had no idea what was the fascination about what he was doing.”
Milkovisch passed away in the mid-1980s, but his wife, Mary, still lived there. Her sons would do work from time to time, replacing rusty steel cans with new ones and restoring a hurricane-destroyed beer wall. And when they feared for her safety because of the gawkers, they put up a privacy fence, embedding beer cans in that as well.
Beer bottles and different parts of beer cans line a fence in the yard of the beer can house, a Houston landmark, Wednesday, July 10, 2013. Former owner John Milkovisch covered the outside on the house with siding made of cut and flatten beer cans and garlands made from the lids. The Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, a local nonprofit that preserves art installations in the city, bought the property about 10 years ago, restored the house and it opened it to the public. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)
The neighborhood has rapidly transformed since Mary Milkovisch’s death in the mid-1990s, going from a working middle-class area to the condo- and loft-lined upper-class sector it is today. But the home remains a well-known entity.
Determined to preserve this accidental piece of folk art, local nonprofit Orange Show Center for Visionary Art bought the property about 10 years ago, began a careful restoration of the house and opened it to the public.
“It shows the human nature of the individual is supreme. You can take the simplest thing, and it can actually affect a lot of other people,” said Houston resident Patrick Louque, who lived in the area when it was John Milkovisch’s pet project. “It’s totally grabbed me, and it’s probably totally grabbed the imagination of more people than I could possibly imagine.”
Milkovisch began redecorating the home’s exterior in earnest in 1968, when he purchased a metal canopy for his backyard so he and his wife could have some shade while drinking their afternoon beers. Fed up with lawn-mowing, he began installing concrete blocks throughout the yard, embedding them with marbles he had collected as a boy.
The back wall of the canopied area became a cacophony of colors — sunlight playing tricks as it shone through the colorful beer bottles and marbles.
Then he moved on to the side and the front, using long-collected materials and gathering discarded items from the railroad track nearby, where he worked as an upholsterer refurbishing rail cars. Lugging home the things he wanted in a satchel or a wheelbarrow he inherited from his father, Milkovisch would spend a few hours each day outside, where his wife — who barred him from doing too much to the interior — had given him free rein.
“He used cans, bottles, marbles, redwood,” Guevara said. “He drank a lot of beer, him and Mary, and he collected all the beer cans that he would drink. He stored them because he knew he was going to use them, but he didn’t know for what.”
A lot of beer it was, too. The art center estimates Milkovisch had 50,000 beer cans that piled up by drinking a six-pack daily over the span of 20 years. For 17 months, working from bottom to top, Milkovisch coated the home with cans of Budweiser, Texas Pride, Shiner — really, whatever brand was on sale. He created long, decorative garlands from beer can tops and hung them along the eaves at the front and sides of his home.
“The front of the house, when that went up, that’s when all the buzz began,” Guevara said, referring to the garlands that nearly hide the entire front porch and door.
People would drive by, slow down, stare and honk. Often, they would stop and ask questions.
So, Milkovisch would do what came most naturally to him.
Invite them in for a beer.
BeerChime A wind chime made from strips cut from old beer cans hangs outside the beer can house, a Houston landmark, Wednesday, July 10, 2013. Former owner John Milkovisch covered the outside on the house with siding made of cut and flatten beer cans and garlands made from the lids. The Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, a local nonprofit that preserves art installations in the city, bought the property about 10 years ago, restored the house and it opened it to the public. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)
Read more/see other images at the following:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_Can_House
http://orangeshow.org/beer-can-house-history/
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2225
You know it occurs to me that it’s a shame coffee cans aren’t made of metal anymore. I could do the same thing and with a lot less of them too!
Sorry couldn’t help it- it’s the perfect lead in to this next section!
If you can get arrested for hunting or fishing without a license, but not for being in the country illegally, you live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If you have to get your parents’ permission to go on a field trip or take an aspirin in school, but not to get an abortion, you live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If you have to show identification to board an airplane, cash a check, buy liquor or check out a library book, but not to vote who runs the government, you live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If an 80-year-old woman can be stripped searched by the TSA but a woman in a hijab is only subject to having her neck and head searched, you live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If your government believes that the best way to eradicate trillions of dollars of debt is to spend trillions more, you live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If a seven-year-old boy can be thrown out of school for saying his teacher’s“cute,” but hosting a sexual exploration or diversity class in grade school is perfectly acceptable, you live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If children are forcibly removed from parents who discipline them with spankings while children of addicts are left in filth and drug-infested“homes” you live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If hard work and success are met with higher taxes and more government intrusion, while not working is rewarded with EBT cards, WIC checks, Medicaid, subsidized housing and free cell phones, you live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If the government’s plan for getting people back to work is to incentivize NOT working with 99 weeks of unemployment checks and no requirement to prove they applied but can’t find work, you live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If being stripped of the ability to defend yourself makes you more “safe”according to the government, you live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If the government pays a special contractor to identify people on Medicare who could be moved to even more costly Government disability programs simply to shift unfavorable statistics, you live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If you are offended by this article, you may have voted for the idiots who are running and ruining our great country.
The California Supreme Court reached a decision in People v. Diaz that police may lawfully search mobile phones on arrested individuals, without first obtaining a search warrant. So with this ruling, should we just call privacy dead or are there still tricks to keep your personal information safe? Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Ryan Radia explains.
I don’t want to hear about it! I said I was spending the summer cleaning out my hard drive that includes the political stuff too!
After the Boston bombing the news media has spent days and weeks trying to determine why these men did what they did. They want to know what America did to make these brothers so angry with us. They want to know why these men were not arrested before they did something so terrible. The media is in a tizzy about this new era of home grown radicals, and about why they could live among us and still hate us.
A friend of mine here Texas explained it all to me:
“Here in west Texas I have rattlesnakes on my place, living among us. I have killed a rattlesnake on the front porch. I have killed a rattlesnake on the back porch. I have killed rattlesnakes in the barn, in the shop and on the driveway. In fact, I kill every rattlesnake I encounter.
I kill rattlesnakes because I know a rattlesnake will bite me and inject me with poison. I don’t stop to wonder why a rattlesnake will bite me; I know: It will bite me because it’s a rattlesnake and that’s what rattlesnakes do. I don’t try to reason with a rattlesnake…I just kill it. I don’t try to get to know the rattlesnake better so I can find a way to live with the rattlesnakes and convince them not to bite me…I just kill them. I don’t quiz a rattlesnake to see it I can find out where the other snakes are, because (a) it won’t tell me, and (b) I already know they live on my place. So, I just kill the rattlesnake and move on to the next one.
I don’t look for ways I might be able to change the rattlesnake to a non-poisonous rat snake…I just kill it. Oh, and on occasion, I accidentally kill a rat snake because I thought it was a rattlesnake at the time. Also, I know, for every rattlesnake I kill, two more are lurking out there in the brush. In my lifetime I will never be able to rid my place of rattlesnakes. Do I fear them? No!
Do I respect what they can do to me? Yes! And because of that respect I give them the fair justice they deserve…I kill them….”
Maybe as a country we should start giving more thought to the fact that these jihadists’ are just like rattlesnakes, and act accordingly!
http://www.wnd.com/2013/07/newspaper-to-obama-shove-it-mr-president-2/
A newspaper editorial today greeted Barack Obama in an entirely new way as he traveled to Chattanooga, Tenn., to visit an Amazon.com business center and lobby for his newest strategy to try to create jobs for Americans.
“Take your jobs plan and shove it, Mr. President: Your policies have harmed Chattanooga enough,” said a commentary in the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
“Forgive us if you are not greeted with the same level of Southern hospitality that our area usually bestows on its distinguished guests. You see, we understand you are in town to share your umpteenth different job creation plan during your time in office. If it works as well as your other job creation programs, then thanks, but no thanks. We’d prefer you keep it to yourself,” the newspaper said.
“That’s because your jobs creation plans so far have included a ridiculous government spending spree and punitive tax increase on job creators that were passed, as well as a minimum wage increase that, thankfully, was not. Economists – and regular folks with a basic understanding of math – understand that these are three of the most damaging policies imaginable when a country is mired in unemployment and starving for job growth.”
At Amazon’s Chattanooga fulfillment center, Obama praised the operation for being “kind of like the North Pole of the south right here. … Got a bunch of good-looking elves here.”
He boasted of creating “7.2 million new jobs over the last 40 months” because of the “grit and resilience of the American people.”
“But as I said last week, and as any middle-class family will tell you, we’re not there yet,” Obama said. “Even before the financial crisis hit, we were going through a decade where a few at the top were doing better and better, but most families were working harder and harder just to get by. And reversing that trend should be Washington’s highest priority.”
He said he wanted to lay out his ideas for creating good jobs but lamented that the Republicans in Congress wouldn’t give him everything he asked for.
Obama cited a strategy to offer incentives for manufacturers to keep jobs in the U.S. or bring them back from overseas, spending billions to catch up on “deferred maintenance” in the U.S., creating jobs in wind, solar, and natural gas industries, and exporting more.
He also said he wants corporations to hire more people.
“We’re not lacking for ideas, we’re just lacking action, especially out of Washington,” Obama said.
The newspaper noted “64 percent of Chattanooga respondents said they would rather you hadn’t chosen to visit our fair city,” but the editorial said it actually was good that Obama visited.
“It will give you an opportunity to see the failure of your most comprehensive jobs plan to date, the disastrous stimulus scheme, up close and personal,” the newspaper said.
The commentary cited the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009′s funding of the “Gig to Nowhere.”
That’s a $552 million “socialist-style experiment in government-owned Internet, cable and phone services orchestrated by EPB – Chattanooga’s government-owned electric monopoly.”
“The Gig to Nowhere is a Smart Grid, a high tech local electricity infrastructure intended to improve energy efficiency and reduce power outages. After lobbying for, and receiving, $111.6 million in stimulus money from your administration, EPB decided to build a souped-up version of the Smart Grid with fiber optics rather than more cost-effective wireless technology. This decision was supposed to allow EPB to provide the fastest Internet service in the Western Hemisphere, a gigabit-per-second Internet speed that would send tech companies and web entrepreneurs stampeding to Chattanooga in droves.”
The reality, however, is that the project is “an absolute bust.”
“While the Smart Grid will cost taxpayers and local electric customers well over a half-billion dollars when all is said and done, there has been little improvement in the quality of EPB’s electric service. Worse, despite being heavily subsidized, EPB’s government-owned Internet, cable and telephone outfit that competes head-to-head against private companies like AT&T and Comcast is barely staying afloat, often relying on loans from electric service reserve funds to afford its business expenses,” the newspaper pointed out.
“Further, there has been no credible evidence to suggest that EPB can even provide a gig of service consistently and reliably. Any companies hoping to utilize the Gig to Nowhere are quoted monthly billing costs that make the service unfeasible. As a result, Chattanooga has remained a relative ghost town for technological innovation. Almost no economic development whatsoever has resulted from the gig,” the newspaper said.
The newspaper said what the government program has achieved is a “shocking price tag.”
“Because of your unwillingness to balance the budget, Mr. President, the $111.6 million federal handout to subsidize the Gig to Nowhere will actually cost federal taxpayers $158.2 million, due to interest. Once EPB received the stimulus infusion to fund the pork project, the electric monopoly took out a $219.8 bond that will balloon to $391.3 million by the time Chattanoogans are done paying it off.
“The bond’s first payment comes due this fall and there remain significant questions about how EPB can manage to pay the debt without hiking electric rates on EPB customers,” the newspaper said. “Building a Smart Grid to get into a telecom sector already well-served by private companies was a bad idea from the start. But getting government involved in places it doesn’t belong is a hallmark of your administration.”
Obama’s explained his newest strategy is a plan that “simplifies the tax code for our businesses and creates good jobs with good wages.”
He said he would be willing to tax code reform – but only if it allows the government “to use money from transitioning to a simpler tax system for a significant investment in creating middle-class jobs.”
Seems as though even the liberal lame stream media is growing disenchanted with Obama’s Hype & Crap. When you couple that with Congress’s all time record low approval rating of about 17%,
[ http://realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/congressional_job_approval-903.html ] (wouldn’t want you liberal loons lurking the the shadows crying I made the figure up! ) it seems pretty clear to me that we ARE in fact headed for a change come mid-term elections.
What is scary to me however is, given the demonstrated sheer idiocy of the American voter in the last election, the fact that the change could be for the even worse yet! See there are people on the state and local level being approached by the DNC & RNC as potential Congressional Candidates for districts where they have no potential candidates for the next election who are well thought of by their current constituents. The thing is these people are turning down the chance to run for higher office because they see a Congressional term as a waste of their time based on the current epically & criminally irresponsible level of Partisan gridlock bullshit that has dominated this session of Congress!
This means we’ll get another Congressional term of more of the same nothing gets done and governmental workers suffer the newest level of Sequestration effects (unemployment) while Congress and the President continue to rake in full salaries and the country picks up more speed in its hand basket to hell!
Good Morning Campers!
Okay, not buying it huh?
So I’m about 16 hours late with this issue.
Sorry. It was beyond my control.
I have a lot of pull around here, but Mom Nature just isn’t one of them that’s in my sphere of influence. So, sorry. I’ll try to be a bit further ahead next week and then if something similar happens, I can post the issue and have it ready to automatically post.
Again, my apologies. Now…
Oh, by the way…this issue is going to be a bit more American Freedom leaning then most. No, I’m not against the democrats, nor am I for the Republicans.
I AM AN AMERICAN!
AND THAT’S A MUCH MORE IMPORTANT DISTINCTION!
This is the best mousetrap I have ever used, 5 gal bucket with a gal of RV antifreeze dumped in the bottom, plastic bottle with a coat hanger thru it and some peanut butter on the middle of the bottle.
Lean a board up against the side and it works all year without checking it and no smell.
I love rednecks, they are the most ingenious group of people I have ever seen.
Redneck Mouse Trap
Time for a moment of political commentary that makes sense and is logical. I’ m sure, therefore, that some government oversight committee will take it down soon. So, why not click on the video and check it out? “What video?” you ask. Okay, so you have to go to our website first, so click here: http://dragonlaffs.com and then read this blog there and you’ll be able to see the video. And while you’re there, how about clicking on the donation link in the right hand column and drop us a buck or two? And thanks to the StrikeOwl for pointing out this video. I love ya bro!
And yeah! Just for the point of it, I’m NOT too much of a “man” to say I love you to my brother in public! Think of how much nicer the world would be if more people did.
COSTELLO: I want to talk about the unemployment rate in America .
ABBOTT: Good Subject. Terrible Times. It’s 7.8%.
COSTELLO: That many people are out of work?
ABBOTT: No, that’s 14.7%.
COSTELLO: You just said 7.8%.
ABBOTT: 7.8% Unemployed.
COSTELLO: Right 7.8% out of work.
ABBOTT: No, that’s 14.7%.
COSTELLO: Okay, so it’s 14.7% unemployed.
ABBOTT: No, that’s 7.8%.
COSTELLO: WAIT A MINUTE. Is it 7.8% or 14.7%?
ABBOTT: 7.8% are unemployed. 14.7% are out of work.
COSTELLO: If you are out of work you are unemployed.
ABBOTT: No, Congress said you can’t count the “Out of Work” as the unemployed. You have to look for work to be unemployed.
COSTELLO: BUT THEY ARE OUT OF WORK!!!
ABBOTT: No, you miss his point.
COSTELLO: What point?
ABBOTT: Someone who doesn’t look for work can’t be counted with those who look for work. It wouldn’t be fair.
COSTELLO: To whom?
ABBOTT: The unemployed.
COSTELLO: But ALL of them are out of work.
ABBOTT: No, the unemployed are actively looking for work. Those who are out of work gave up looking and if you give up, you are no longer in the ranks of the unemployed.
COSTELLO: So if you’re off the unemployment roles that would count as less unemployment?
ABBOTT: Unemployment would go down. Absolutely!
COSTELLO: The unemployment just goes down because you don’t look for work?
ABBOTT: Absolutely it goes down. That’s how it gets to 7.8%. Otherwise it would be 14.7%.
COSTELLO: Wait, I got a question for you. That means there are two ways to bring down the unemployment number?
ABBOTT: Two ways is correct.
COSTELLO: Unemployment can go down if someone gets a job?
ABBOTT: Correct.
COSTELLO: And unemployment can also go down if you stop looking for a job?
ABBOTT: Bingo.
COSTELLO: So there are two ways to bring unemployment down, and the easier of the two is to have people stop looking for work.
ABBOTT: Now you’re thinking like an Economist.
COSTELLO: I don’t even know what the hell I just said!
ABBOTT: Now you’re thinking like Congress.
I was sitting at home the other night and got a text message from Lethal Leprechaun.
Molly loves me. I got home late last night after
a full day of golfing and drinking with the boys
– the wife left a message in the kitchen.
See, Molly is telling me to eat more fruit . . .
President Obama walks into a local bank in Chicago to cash a check. He is surrounded by Secret Service agents. As he approaches the cashier he says, “Good morning Ma’am, could you please cash this check for me?”
Cashier: “It would be my pleasure sir. Could you please show me your ID?”
Obama: “Truthfully, I did not bring my ID with me as I didn’t think there was any need to. I am President Barack Obama, the President of the United States of AMERICA !!!!”
Cashier: “Yes sir, I know who you are, but with all the regulations and monitoring of the banks because of 9/11, impostors, forgers, money laundering, and bad mortgage underwriting not to mention requirements of the Dodd/Frank legislation, etc., I must insist on seeing ID.”
Obama: “Just ask anyone here at the bank who I am and they will tell you. Everybody knows who I am.”
Cashier: “I am sorry Mr. President but these are the bank rules and I must follow them.”
Obama: “I am urging you, please, to cash this check. I need to buy a gift for Michelle for Valentine’s Day”
Cashier: “Look Mr. President, here is an example of what we can do. One day, Tiger Woods came into one of our bank branches without ID. To prove he was Tiger Woods he pulled out his putter and made a beautiful shot across the bank into a coffee cup. With that shot we knew him to be Tiger Woods and cashed his check.
Another time, Andre Agassi came into the same place without ID. He pulled out his tennis racquet and made a fabulous shot whereas the tennis ball landed in a coffee cup. With that shot we cashed his check.
So, Mr. President, what can you do to prove that it is you, and only you, as the President of the United States?”
Obama: Obama stands there thinking, and thinking, and finally says, “Honestly, my mind is a total blank…there is nothing that comes to my mind. I can’t think of a single thing. I have absolutely no idea what to do and I don’t have a clue.
Cashier: Will that be large or small bills, Mr. President?
And continuing on the same trail….let’s get a few things straight…
No kidding. They got elected and now they want to be kings and dukes and earls and what not. THE ONLY REASON FOR GOVERNMENT IS INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL SECURITY! If one state wants to attack another state, then the government is there to make them come to a table and work out their differences judiciously. If another country wants to come in and take what’s ours, then our government’s job is to kick their asses!
THAT’S IT! That is supposed to be their ONLY purpose!
They have taxed us into almost non-existence.
Thanks to the great folks at Make Use Of (www.makeuseof.com) who pointed out this Way Cool Web Site To Visit! If you have any geek or nerd in you at all, you’ll let these great pictures bring you back in time and visit upon you some really good memories.
http://corankizerstone.deviantart.com/gallery/
Okay, and here’s another cool one to visit. This one is from my Dad, and it’s an age calculator. A little peek at the future…
Watch your age in the upper right corner!
Kinda fun to watch your age go up and down as you answer the questions.
Now this is interesting, give it a try….
How long will you live? This is a calculator that estimates your life expectancy.
It was developed by Northwestern Mutual Life. It’s interesting that there are only 13 questions.
Yet, they can predict how long you’re likely to live.
http://media.nmfn.com/tnetwork/lifespan
Ain’t that the truth!!!! Can I hear a HUGE AMEN from all my military brothers?
Hey there Neil, you ain’t doin’ it right!
Hmm, speaking of not doin’ it right…
Yeah, I’ve had that problem before..
That is such a GREAT idea! If only we could have a chance to try that out!!!
Not sure ironic is exactly the word you’re looking for.
That is an excellent question.
Does anyone else have any questions?
So, on with the truth in blogging. We mentioned earlier about how the only responsibility the federal government is supposed to have is the defense of our country. Well, what about states rights and responsibilities and local governments? Well, happily, the courts have realized in this case the stupidity and down-right illegality of this next attempt to take our rights away from us.
NEW YORK — New York City’s crackdown on big, sugary sodas is staying on ice.
An appeals court ruled Tuesday that New York City’s Board of Health exceeded its legal authority and acted unconstitutionally when it tried to put a size limit on soft drinks served in city restaurants.
The state Supreme Court Appellate Division panel upheld a lower court decision that had delayed the measure before it took effect in March.
The rule would stop many eateries from selling non-diet soda and other sugar-laden beverages in containers bigger than 16 ounces.
The beverage industry and other opponents say the measure is riddled with exceptions, unfair and ineffective.
The city’s law department has promised an appeal.
By studying the trends of the West over the last one hundred plus years, a person can quickly see that free enterprise has morphed into Corporatism, Fascism, and Statism – systems of state and corporate controls over consumers. This transfers power from the consumers to the hands of a few government and business bureaucrats, who, through a lack of character, exploit consumers for their personal benefit. Any economic system that denies the consumer his right to choose promotes someone else to be the final arbiter of his wishes, mocking the free-enterprise system. When a person comprehends this, it doesn’t take long to connect the dots, understanding why exploiters passionately dislike free enterprise. For if every business remained free from government special deals, exploiters would be forced to compete against other companies by serving costumers rather than by coercing them.
Governments provide the largest fields for exploitation since they have no competitors because they own the monopoly of force in society. For this reason, it is crucial to keep government involvement in the economy to a bare minimum. Free enterprise, by making the customer king, ensures that all businesses are created to serve customers, not customers created to serve businesses. ~ Orrin Woodward in the book Resolved.
Yup! Exactly my point! Too damn stupid to be in office!
Any governing official who doesn’t understand that they are there to SERVE the people, not have the people serve them, doesn’t need to be a governing official. I want someone in office who understands that they serve at the pleasure of the American People!
“Socialism is a philosophy of failure,
the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy,
its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.”
— Winston Churchill
“The greatest crisis in America is a crisis of leadership, and the greatest crisis of leadership is a crisis of character.”
“At what price does he switch from being a producer to being an exploiter? This is the price at which one sells out his character.”
“Leaders of character must be developed to stem the advancing tide of exploitation flowing across the Western World.”
~Orrin Woodward in Resolved
And why are 680,000 AMERICAN Department of Defense Civilians having 20% of their pay taken from them?
Really? Does this look like leadership to you that has integrity and character?
Does this look like a Federal Government who are doing nothing more than looking out for the defense of our country?
Does this look like the Government that YOU want to have?
Have any of you ever read about the fall of the Roman Empire? Well, if you haven’t, don’t worry about it. It’s happening right here in our country right now and you’ve got a front row seat!
Wake up my brothers and sisters! It’s time we do something about it!
[Anyone interested in getting a copy of Resolved: 13 Resolutions for LIFE by New York Times bestselling author Orrin Woodward, let me know and I can tell you how you can purchase your own copy.]
Due to a storm and power outage last evening and the fact that I have to work today, Dragon Laffs will be delayed by 24 hours.
I’m sorry for your inconvenience.
Impish Dragon
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