An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
Archive for 10 October 2007
Another Quiz
I got a link to another ‘candidate quiz’ in an email today. Seems I have two candidates, Fred Thompson and Duncan Hunter, who both got a score of 60.
Bottom on my list? Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards, scored 5. Oooo….big shocker there. 
Thanks Connie.
Visitor
I had a rather interesting visitor this afternoon. I saw this old red pick up truck pulling up my drive with an obviously elderly man at the wheel. Since I don’t know many people around here, I was puzzled. He honked, evidently expecting me to come out to him. Well, I thought it odd, but what the heck.
He asked me if I was the person having problems with his goats. Ok, yes, I am. He asked me why I didn’t just come tell him about the problem. I politely told him I wasn’t really sure who they belonged to, and it wasn’t so much the goats that were the problem, it was peacocks. Then, the man finally introduced himself and said he had received a letter from a lawyer. He wasn’t too happy. Gee, so sorry. I’m none too happy about battling with his stupid critters on a regular basis. I was polite though, and told him that I have lost all but one of my potted plants, my newly planted trees had been stripped, and two are obviously dead. I am constantly cleaning up peacock poop from both my front porch and back deck, and honestly, I’m not physically able to chase them off for hours at a time.
Then the man said something that nearly made my jaw drop. He said, “Well, I can’t bring myself to shoot them, but you can. Don’t you have a shotgun?” 
Holy crap! It’s obvious that this character doesn’t really give a care about his animals. He also said, “I can sell the goats if need be, but not the peacocks.” Um….why the hell not? He said he has a pen he keeps them in, but they get out. Well, yeah, I’ve seen his pens. I’m not too sure those things would keep a buffalo corralled. After he left, it occurred to me, I should have asked him why he didn’t just put a ‘lid’ on the peacocks pen? You know, like an aviary. Or how ’bout clipping their wings so they couldn’t fly. Nope, after thoughts are great, but kind of useless.
I was also informed, after pointing out all the feathers I had collected, that I could sell them at the flea market, for a buck a piece. Terrific. I’m going to take my stash of feathers, pay a buck for a booth, sit out in the heat, and wait for someone to come along and buy a feather? Yep….big picture of THAT happening.
He told me he’d repair the fence so the goats shouldn’t be a problem in the future. Fence? What fence? There is no fence, and no evidence of a fence ever being there in the first place.
One important thing. I do have 3 witnesses to his statement about shooting the spawn of satan, so if they become a bad smell in the woods, or a good one as they roast, I am clear. 
Brilliant!
Most folks who support Fred Thompson aren’t too happy with his flip flop on ethanol. One person has come up with an absolutely brilliant way of letting Sen. Thompson just how displeased he is.
The Cost of Ethanol (for Fred Thompson)
H/T: PeteRepublicÂ
The Election Process
When I was MUCH younger, the process for picking the presidential candidates was a big deal. Families would sit around their black and white idjit boxes for hours as those hoping to gain the nomination made speeches and promises (most which were never fulfilled….hmmm…..that part hasn’t changed much). There were these things called conventions that actually was paramount in selecting the candidate from each party. Now days, though, it seems the states are pushing their ‘primary dates’ earlier and earlier, long before what is passing for a ‘convention’.
Now, I’m so confused, I’m not sure who is really deciding the candidates….the people, or the media.  Or maybe it’s a few folks, in smoke filled back rooms? I just don’t know anymore.
Some Things Just HAVE To Be Swiped!
This is one of ‘em!
I remember those days……..vaguely.
Huh?
Official: Wisconsin Gunman Shot Himself 3 Times in Head
CRANDON, Wis. — As authorities released a chilling timeline of the weekend’s shooting spree, students returned to classes Wednesday in a northern Wisconsin city shaken by a rampage that left seven dead.
Tyler Peterson, an off-duty sheriff’s deputy, burst into a pizza party at his ex-girlfriend’s home early Sunday and opened fire with an AR-15 assault rifle. Six people, including the ex-girlfriend, were killed, and a seventh was wounded.
Hours later, officers closed in on Peterson near a friend’s home. He was shot four times, the last a fatal, self-inflicted wound to the head, state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said Tuesday.
At a news conference Tuesday, Van Hollen said Peterson was shot once in the left bicep, from a distance, and apparently shot himself in the head three times with a pistol.
Two shots struck under his chin, while the third hit him in the right side of the head, the attorney general said.
Uh, no offense J.B., but is that really possible? Granted, I don’t know much about the ‘art’ of self inflicted wounds, but just what type of gun doesn’t work the first time when it’s point blank? I might buy into the idea of twice, but three times? Is this the same gun he used when he killed six people?
WI Budget Woes
Why are the Sentinel’s headlines always a day behind? Very annoying!
Governor to revise budget
Doyle to call special session next week if legislators still at impasse
Gov. Jim Doyle said Tuesday that he would introduce a revised budget next week to try to spur stalled negotiations, as legislative leaders blamed the governor and each other for failing to pass a budget that is now 101 days overdue.
So, what’s Dopey Doyle been doing since July? I’m really curious.
The new bickering signaled that the state government – which Doyle said is limping along at pre-July 1 spending levels – won’t have a budget for weeks.
They say this like it’s a bad thing. I see nothing wrong with not spending more. As a matter of fact, I’d say it was a good idea to NOT increase spending. But that’s just me.
Doyle said Republicans were unwilling to make a deal and accused them of backpedaling on increasing the cigarette tax by $1.25 a pack. So, he said, he will call the Legislature into special session Monday to consider a pared-down spending bill that would not include transportation funding, which would be dealt with separately.
Perhaps if Dopey hadn’t raided the transportation fund, there wouldn’t be a major issue.
“Whenever both sides are close to an agreement, extreme voices in the Republican caucus let out a howl and the leaders shy away,” Doyle said. “It’s time for a new approach.”
LMAO Howling against raising taxes on an already over taxed population? Wow. Now THAT’S extreme, eh? My best advice for ‘a new approach”……stop raising the flipping taxes, learn how to live within your ‘means’. Although that doesn’t seem possible for a tax and spend type. Sad.
But Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch (R-West Salem) said it was Democrats who were holding up the budget with their insistence on new taxes.
“It is my hope that it will not be the liberal Democrat wing of that party who will rule the day and somehow say we simply need to tax and spend more,” Huebsch said.
Maybe if they stopped drinking Madison water?
In what amounted to a call for Assembly Republicans to dump their leaders, the governor called on political moderates to pass his new budget next week.
By ‘moderates’, does he mean RINOs? Folks who can be easily manipulated by the over bearing Dems?
It seems to me, if it moves, Doyle wants to tax it. If it doesn’t move, Doyle wants to tax it. If it’s consumed, Doyle wants to tax it. And on and on and on. I’m waiting to read/hear he wants to tax the urine output of hospital patients.
Why is it that the Democrats answer to everything is RAISE TAXES? Doesn’t seem to matter what the question is, that’s always the answer.
“Hill”
Morning Coffee 10/10/07
State has extra $1.5 billion left over from last year
When Texas accountants closed the books on the 2007 budget period, the state had an unexpected $1.5 billion in unspent money, Comptroller Susan Combs told lawmakers Tuesday.
Odds are, the state of Texas won’t even consider giving that money back to those they ‘stole’ it from. sigh…
Youth STD cases going unreported
New cases of sexually transmitted diseases among young people in California are occurring at 10 times the reported rate, according to a new analysis by the Public Health Institute, an Oakland health care think tank.
I don’t suppose it has occurred to the yahoos in California that STD’s are caused by…..SEX! Unprotected sex. Abstinence works real well to prevent all kinds of things, yet the left coast types don’t think it’s a good idea to push it. Go figure.
Private security guards from an Australian-run firm opened fire on a white sedan in downtown Baghdad on Tuesday afternoon, killing two Iraqi Christian women who were driving home from work.
Why is all this type of news starting to sound like a ‘set up’? Was the fact the women were Christian relevant? Are they pointing out that the private security companies are ‘targeting’ everyone? Hmmm….
Cheney, Rice divided over Israeli intel
US Vice President Dick Cheney and other conservatives in the administration are portraying the Israeli intelligence as credible and argue that it should cause the US to reconsider its diplomatic overtures to Syria and North Korea.
By contrast, the Times reports, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her allies in the White House said they do not believe that the intelligence presented so far merits any change in the American diplomatic approach.
(…)
Cheney and National Security Advisor Stephen J. Hadley also attended the meeting but expressed unease at the decision last week by Bush and Rice to proceed with an agreement to supply the North Koreans with economic aid in return for disabling its nuclear reactor. They argued that the Israeli intelligence demonstrates that North Korea cannot be trusted. They also argue that the US should be prepared to scuttle the agreement unless North Korea admits to its dealing with the Syrians.
I’d like to know where the logic is in providing NK with ANY kind of aid. I’m sorry the chia DICtator is starving his people while he lives in the lap of luxury, but wouldn’t having him ‘gone’ a much better idea? Just wondering. I’m also wondering if perhaps we have the wrong ‘cowboy’ in the top slot.
Craig’s ‘wide stance’ enters lexicon
Among the most famous excuses ever given for questionable behavior, “I have a wide stance” must fall somewhere between the schoolchild’s favorite “the dog ate my homework” and President Clinton’s “I didn’t inhale.”
Criminy.
John Ford fails to block secret recordings
Former state senator John Ford lost a round Tuesday in Nashville where he’s fighting federal corruption charges.
A judge rejected Ford’s motion to suppress wiretap evidence, giving a green light to prosecutors to use secret recordings of the Memphis Democrat’s phone calls at his trial next month.
Guess some just don’t want the folks to know how much a of scuzzball they really are. 
Italy: Northern city ignores outcry and lifts burqa ban
An Italian politician has provoked a national controversy by permitting women to wear the Islamic burqa in public despite laws opposing it.
The prefect of Treviso, Vittorio Capocelli, who represents the interior ministry in the city, says women should be allowed to wear the garment for religious motives as long as they can be identified if requested, reported the Italian daily, Corriere della Sera.
Since it’s not a ‘religious’ thing, but a rule put in place by a male dominated society, for the purpose of control, the prefect of said town is kowtowing to the ‘culture’ of oppression. Interesting.
From Washington to war in Waziristan
A dramatic sequence of events in Pakistan has grabbed global attention, but few have so far connected the dots between the hurried issuance of a National Reconciliation Ordinance on October 5 and the savage fighting that is currently raging in the North Waziristan tribal area.
The National Reconciliation Ordinance, issued by President-elect General Pervez Musharraf, grants immunity to current and former lawmakers who have been accused of corruption. It paves the way for a political settlement between Musharraf and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, which is expected to result in a civilian-based consensus government after parliamentary elections in about three months’ time.
With corruption so wide spread in the area, who can tell the difference?
Test for teachers uses thumbprint to deter cheaters
Last year, five teachers sent substitutes to take the tests for them, under their names, said Heidi Guarino, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Education. The ringers aroused suspicion when they provided identification with blurry photographs.
The state has caught 15 people in the last four years who cheated by having someone take the test for them. The total is a tiny fraction of the 35,000 people each year who take the tests. But the state has grown more concerned about the authenticity of identification amid anonymous calls tipping state officials off to possible cheaters, Guarino said. Thumbprints, she said, have become necessary for test security.
I can understand the teachers point of view, it does seem like an invasion. On the other hand, if there hadn’t been teachers cheating, then there wouldn’t be a problem. They need to look to themselves before getting on a high horse.
Supreme Leader predicts bright future for universities
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said here Tuesday that continued, logical and wise pursuance of students requests and demands would guarantee a bright future for universities.
Addressing a large group of elites and noble students as well as those students who have obtained the highest scores in the university entrance exams, the Supreme Leader said if the committed and responsible students had not played active roles in the society over the past years, a justice-seeking government would not have been established in the Islamic Republic.
I wonder if the future will be so bright for the students who protest the oppression of the “Islamic Revolution”?
Vehicle carrying Michelle Obama in Iowa crash
The wife of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama escaped injury Tuesday when the vehicle that was carrying her to a campaign event in north-central Iowa collided with a motorcyclist.
The motorcyclist was injured and taken to the hospital, said Katie McCormick Lelyveld, a spokeswoman for Michelle Obama.
None of the campaign staff in the vehicle with Mrs. Obama were hurt.
Hope the ‘cycle person will be ok. Glad no one else was hurt.
I Knew There Was a Debate
I just didn’t know when, what channel, etc. Guess I missed it. Especially since it was on PMSNBC. Does anyone actually watch that station? Oh well. I can always rely on the blogosphere to let me know what’s what!
Fred File has an obviously biased account. Well, naturally! It is called Fred File, ya know.
Hot Air has a priceless video. Chris Mathews seems quite desperate to prove he is a flaming idiot!
American and Proud has a few insights to share.
Some observations from Tammy Bruce.
Power Line has a couple of posts, here and here.
And, I suppose if you really feel the need, you can head over to MSNBC to watch the whole thing yourself.
