Joe Biden Is .....

...actually getting crazier. Today, he claimed every important invention or achievement in the last 200 years was due to government incentive. Here are a few where I think Vice President Biden is wrong [I know - it's very hard to remember when he wrong before!]:

• Hair plugs
• Dental veneers.
• Monday Night Football
• Lite beer
• Snowboards
• Radio
• Air conditioning
• Blogs

"We Are Gonna Need A Bigger Boat" ..........

......is the classic line from the movie Jaws. It was uttered by the town's sheriff when he spotted the size of the shark.

Well, over at Althouse today, they were yakking about the FDA banning some cancer drug and of course, the comments evolved into death panels, etc. Well I was amazed at the number of fed agencies we have and at how much power they have.

Since we must tear down all these govt agencies, I think we will need even more pitchforks and torches.

Happy Independence Day!

I am a servant of my readers. When they ask for something, I deliver! You know like the media once did.

Memorial Day 2010

At home on Memorial Day in 2010.

Exile on Main Street Reissue...

....I highly recommend this album to anyone. Even the Pope would be tapping his foot to its beats. Here is a sample at the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1HTMx-bK7g

BUTLER DID IT!...

....almost not quite. Damn what a shame- I think the whole country was rooting for them.

Daniellle's New Easter Animal...

.......yikes! My film making skills [or lack of] make this duck look a bit scary. Happy 2nd Easter to Danielle! and to Finn Rocco who was just born this morning!

Hannity.........

......wasin Exton, PA with his book tour called the Conservative Victory Tour. I drove over and took some pics. Damn it was packed - I never saw so many people at a Barnes & Noble bookstore. There were 500 people in line to get their Hannity book autographed.

I bought some baseball magazines to see how the Phils will do this year. Roy Halladay was on the cover of Sports Illustrated!

Hannity looked a little older in person than he did on TV. I was able to take these pics without waiting in line forever.

Picking a career is….

.....is so much easier today.

I tell kids that life is now much easier since President Obama took office. Before he became president, kids would have to decide which industry in which they should build a career. Those industries included:

• Auto
  
• Banking
  
• Construction
  
• Health care
  
• Insurance
  
• Medicine
  
• Real estate
  
• Wall Street
  

Now that Obama and the Dems have pointed out that these industries are evil and for-profit, kids can more easily pick a career choice from one of these areas:

• Government job
  

This makes life so much simpler so thank you President Obama. Don't you agree?

Joe Biden has been a poster boy for term limits ...Vote For Some New Faces!

DON'T VOTE FOR THESE SPENDTHRIFTS!

WE NEED SOME NEW BLOOD IN WASHINGTON!

ELECT PEOPLE WHO WON'T SPEND US INTO THE POORHOUSE!

This man sat in the U.S. Senate for 36 years while the federal government spent the country into near bankruptcy.

Joe Biden joined the senate in 1973 when the social security tax rate was 9.7% and the maximum tax was $1,048 per year. When Biden left the Senate 36 years laters, the tax rate was 12.4% and the maximum tax was $13,243! During Biden's stay in the Senate, this government program's income grew exponentially yet the program is nearly broke. What does this tell you about people like Joe Biden? That no matter how much they increase taxes, it is never enough to cover their exorbitant spending!

Politicians like Joe Biden are incapable of fixing the county's fiscal problems. They caused the problems. And then they kicked the can down the road.

Don't trust Joe Biden to fix our country's finances. Don't let him enact new taxes to cover up his sins! And don't trust his boss, Barack Obama, to fix these spending problems either! Vote for the new guys! The American people need some new blood in Washington!

Note: Biden was not alone in screwing up the government checkbook. There are many, many other longtime members of Congress who are as guilty as Biden. They include John McCain, Arlen Specter and Frank Lautenberg to name just a few.

32 Weeks ......

...til ejection day. When I expect many, many Congress critters will be ejected from their jobs by the voters. But what do I know.

Far Side ....

...... was such a good comic strip. I rarely re-read books but I am re-reading Gary Larson's "The PreHistory of THE FAR SIDE". Larson explains how everything about the Far Side came to be. Hilarious. I highly recommend it. Here is a link to Amazon to buy it.

http://www.amazon.com/PreHistory-Far-Side-Anniversary-Exhibit/dp/0836218515/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269191595&sr=8-1

I'll Be Surpised....

.....if the health reform bill does not pass.

But with all this late-night work by the generally aged Congress critters, I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of them dropped dead from a heart attack before the vote is even held. Wouldn't that throw a monkey wrench into the vote count? Of course, the Dems would just wheel in the corpse and let the dead vote! It would not be the first time.

Buzz Williams......

......the basketball coach at Marquette is who they should get to play Curly Howard in the Three Stooges movie. Check out his dance moves at the link below. He is a very good coach but I think he would have made a very good Curly!

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Marquette-s-Buzz-Williams-shows-off-his-dance-mo?urn=ncaab,226155

Random Internet Comment I Saw Today......

.......from a Mister Garrison on philly.com

"Let me get this straight. We're going to be gifted with a health care plan written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn't understand it, passed by a Congress that hasn't read it but exempts themselves from it, to be signed by a president who also hasn't read it and who smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes, to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a country that's broke. What could possibly go wrong? "

Happy St.Patrick's Day

NAACP ......

.....championship??? Hahaha. For some odd reason, I have CNN on the TV and their chief news-reader, Wolf Blitzer, just said "stay tuned to hear who President Obama is picking in the NAACP championships".

I swear I do not make this stuff up. Here is a link to Wolf's error -will he blame it on his teleprompter? Perhaps he will just berate a CNN intern?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSOhtHi7jtw

High School Graduation Rates.....

...which of these is correct? According to a US Census report, in 2004, it was 85% while a report today from the Associated Press claimed it is just 70%.

Here are the two disparate claims:

From a U.S. Census Bureau press release dated June 29, 2004:
"Last year, 85 percent of adults age 25 and older had completed at least high school, an all-time high, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today. Also in 2003, 27 percent of adults age 25 and over had a college degree." Here is the link to the Census Bureau press release:
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/001863.html

From the Associated Press news story dated March 1, 2010:

"By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Associated Press Writer Darlene Superville, Associated Press Writer – Mon Mar 1, 11:00 am ET
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama took aim Monday at the nation's school dropout epidemic, proposing $900 million to states and education districts that agree to drastically change or even shutter their worst performing schools. Obama's move comes as many schools continue to struggle to get children to graduation, a profound problem in a rich, powerful nation. Only about 70 percent of entering high school freshmen go on to graduate. The problem affects blacks and Latinos at particularly high rates. " Here is the link to the Associated Press news story today: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100301/ap_on_bi_ge/us_obama_education

I can't explain the big variance between the Census department's 85% in 2004 vs. the Obama administration's 70% today. Perhaps the two reports are not apples to apples. However, I do believe inconsistent [perhaps unreliable] data prevents us from making smart, informed decisions and from properly allocating scarce resources.

Obama's Fall ......

...in popularity is truly incredible. And now, we learn that more and more Dem Congress critters are deciding to retire. For this, Obama should blame his own arrogance and inexperience. It caused the rapid descent of the Hope & Change president in just 13 months.

The American people are fair- they would have acepted slow, steady progress after the Great Recession. But no, Obama was so stubborn and arrogant, he decided he had to re-model the house while it was on fire!

How Tequila Works....

......true dat!

I am so powerful..........

.....even nature bows to me.

Antarctica......

....north. That is what this looks like here.

Snowstorm of the century...

.....actually this is the 2nd snowstorm of the century we have had in a week!So, here are some pics from Bryn Mawr and Villanova, PA. These pics show [in reverse order] my trip home from the office around 1PM today.

Separated at Birth............

Saints coach, Sean Payton, and Malcolm in the Middle sitcom actor [I forget his name].

Bob Herbert....

....a big-time, big government liberal attends a Brookings Institute meeting with a bunch of fellow liberals and is surprised "at the lack of grousing and finger-pointing"!

Are you trying to be funny Bob? Did it not occur to him that was because the attendees were all liberals and agreed with the liberal solutions [i.e tax & spend even more] discussed at the meeting.

Here is the link:http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/06/opinion/06herbert.html?ref=todayspaper

Snow Report....

....at 5PM EST. It's stopped for a few hours now. Got the cars out- went to WAWA and got milk and newspapers. I think the final tally hear was 18-20 inches. Here are some more pics.

Snow Report.....

........at 9AM on Saturday, Feb. 6th. Accumulation here west of Philly is 14-16 inches so far. Shoveled the back walk and expect plow to do the driveway by noon.

Colts Will .....

....win the Super Bowl on Sunday by 28 points assuming Dwight Freeney plays like he normally does [he has an injured ankle].

Renaissance Man Is.....

....what you can call me. Yesterday, the mailbox had two solicitations in it. One was from NRA Chicks Who Go Topless and the other was from, WRTI, the local jazz/ classical music station.

I think that means I am a Renaissance Man! Can you guess which mailer I will send back?

Tom Brookshier.....

....was a heck of guy. For someone with fame and fortune, he was a normal, down to earth person. I remember meeting him one time in the mid -1980's. I was working for an insurance company and he stopped into our department to complete an insurance purchase. Everyone remembered him as an ex-Eagle player and a high-profile TV analyst for NFL games.He had played at the University of Colorado, played for the Eagles for 7-8 years then settled down to make his life in the Philly area.

Anyway, Brookie came into our department, sat down in the cube of someone who was at lunch and pulled out a checkbook just like an average person. The difference [between him and Joe Average] was he stroked a check for something like $300,000 to purchase a single premium deferred annuity [according to my memory]. Bloggers' note - for point of reference, not long before that I purchased a nice, twin home in Philly with three bedrooms and 2 and 1/2 baths for $52,500! Is this a great country or what?

But back to my main point : May God bless & keep Tom Brookshier and my condolences to his family and friends.

Conference Title Game Predictions.......

......the Colts will eke out a win vs. a tough Jets defense [Ryan family bloodline is incredible]. But I see rookie QB, Mark Sanchez, making enough mistakes and Peyton Manning and the Colts will outscore the Jets in a low-scoring game.

......something about the Saints is fraudulent to me. Who'd they beat this year? So I am picking the Vikings to beat the Aints with the Minnesota defense getting a few big turnovers to help Favre and his offense win the game.

• New Orleans played four playoff teams in the regular season. They beat three [Philly, Jets and Patriots] and lost to one[Dallas].
• Minnesota played five games in the regular season vs. playoff teams. They won four [two vs.Green Bay, one each vs. Bengals and Ravens]. They lost one to Arizona.
  
  Super Bowl will be Vikings vs. Colts.

Grant Desme Retires From Baseball....

.......to play in the really big leagues. Neat story about a pretty good and maybe promising minor league baseball player who decided to quit baseball to enter the seminary and become a priest.

If you read the story, it mentions another baseball player, Al Travers, who also went on to be a priest [FYI - Aloysius "Buzzy" Travers was my religion teacher in 1967-68 when I was a sophmore in high schoo].

At one time, Buzzy Travers held the all-time record for most runs given up by a pitcher in one game. He gave up about 26 runs [I am going from memory here ] in his only major league appearaance in like 1918. It was complicated- Father Travers was one of a group of college players who were paid to play in a major league game in Philadelphia vs. The A's. They were replacement players for the Detroit Tigers who had gone on strike to protest the suspension of their teammate, Ty Cobb.

I do not make this stuff up! [Click on the post title above to read the ESPN story].

Did 21 Million People Leave the Work force ....

......or did the Associated Press simply make an error in its report this week. That report claimed the folllowing figure for the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed. I calculated the total work force using the AP numbers:

• In January 2009, unemployment rate was 7.7% and there were 13, 000,000 unemployed. That equates to a total workforce pool of 168 million [13 million / 7.7% x 100% = 168 million].
  
• In December 2009, the unemployment rate was 10.0% and there were 14,700,000 unemployed. That equates to a total workforce of 147 million [14.7 million / 10% x 100% = 147 million].
  
• Note the difference in total workforce is 168 million vs. 147 million. Did we lose 21 million people? Or did the AP simply mis-report the numbers?

Here is the link to the AP story. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2010808897_apusobamasyearbythenumbers.html

Pundits Tend To.....

......get it backwards. Today, liberal pundit Eugene Robinson claimed Republicans are winning because they are better at framing the issues to the voters. In his mind, the pols [and pundits of course] have all the good ideas aka winning issues and the two parties compete with each other to see who can best "frame the issues" to attract voters and get the most votes.

IMO, Robinson has it exactly backwards. The times are changing. Today, it is the little people aka voters who have the big bold ideas.And lately the Republicans have "borrowed" the little people's ideas and used them to run winning campaigns.

In actuality, it was that CNBC reporter, Rick Santelli, who started all this Tea Party / small government stuff and he should get way more credit for it!

Playoff Predictions

• Cardinals beat New Orleans.
• Minnesota beats Dallas.
• San Diego squeaks by the NY Jets.
• Indy beats Baltimore.

Agricola.....

......That’s Latin for farmer according to my [then] eighty-five year old father. So what you say?

Well, is it important to fill your life with good memories? Especially the childhood variety. Here’s the story. My 15 year-old nephew [he is now 22 year-old college senior] is cramming for a Latin exam and he is stumped by a few of the 100 words assigned by his teacher for an upcoming quiz. I am able, with the help of an enormous dictionary, to help him out with all but one and that is the word agricola. I guess it has something to do with agriculture (am I a genius or what?). I next suggest he call Pop-Pop who is a retired math and science teacher, lifelong voracious reader, and trivia whiz. Instead, I make the call. It goes like this. What’s agricola mean in Latin? The unhesitating response is farmer. I tell him to call his grandson with that information. He does.

Fast forward a couple days and I ask the nephew how the quiz went. He says the quiz had 20 words and one was agricola. And he was the only one in the class who got that right. I suggest he will never forget the meaning for agricola and who he got it from.

Is this a first.......

........when an NFL team could not get to its game so a high school team plays in its place? Because the New York Football Petunias aka Giants obviously did not show up to play against the Vikings today. The score so far is Vikes 44 and the Petunias zero! Heh. Maybe the Giants' plan is to go for a higher slot in this year's college draft. If so, that plan is working!

Body of Lies......

.........watched this 2008 movie last night. It was about a CIA agent stationed in the Middle East including Iraq, Jordan, Syria.

Even though the movie, in many ways, tried to blame "the evil Americans" for the Mideast strife [big surprise there from Hollywood liberals] but I came away with this thought.

Al Quaeda and its terrorists are like cockroaches or rats who have already infested many places in Europe and are desperate to do the same in America. There is only one answer and that is is to change our immigration and visa policies to keep Muslims out with damn, few exceptions. At least until the murderous members of Al Quaeda have been wiped off the face of the earth.

Blue Jays Are Easier ........

......to catch on film when it's freezing outside? I had been trying to get a good picture of the Blue Jay in the back yard for a while. This morning, it landed on a bush just outside the kitchen window. Go figure?

One Last......

......Christmas picture.

Separated at Birth......

......James Gandolfini and a drugged up drunk driver, Jesse Maiden,who killed two people in a crash New Years morning on I-95 in Philly.

New Traditions Are Rare........

.....don't you agree? But the NHL Winter Classic is a gem. I am not a hockey fan but I watched the whole game today when the Flyers played the Boston Bruins in an OUTDOOR game at Fenway Park. And I watched the whole game last year and the year before.

Here is what hockey great Bobby Orr had to say about an outdoor game........."You'd leave home in the morning and your parents would say, 'Be home before dark,' and we'd come home if we were cold or hungry," said Orr, who skated to centre ice before Friday's game with [Bobby]Clarke as honorary captains. "That's how we learned to play the game. We had lots of fun, just our friends. We might go to the school rink or any place that we could put a puck down or any [surface] that was cleaned off, we would play."

How many other celebratory, lasting traditions have humans created in the last 10 or 20 years? Not many IMHO. Most of our traditions are over 100 years old.It's nice to see a new tradition begin! Just think, it will only be about 95 years old in the year 2100.