Washington, PA: TEA Party Pictures

Tay and I attended the TEA party festivities tonight and were more than happy to see many other folks also upset about our government's runaway spending. The event was hosted by Rose Somma Tennent. The gathering was exremely orderly and peaceful. Just a few hundred people interested in holding their local and national politicians to fiscal responsibility. Enjoy the pictures!

America's T.E.A. Party Today

Today, many "Taxed Enough Already" TEA party protests will happen around the country, and fittingly on tax day. We already pay 50% plus percent of our earning on taxes and with the spectre of more government spending on the horizon, it is time for us to say enough is enough.

It shouldn't matter if you're Republican or Democrat. Any hardworking individual, who has to work almost half the year to reach tax amnesty, should be up in arms.

This "cradle to grave" demand for government care from the deadbeats in our society has to end. Our own federal and state governments are bankrupting our country with outrageous and borderline criminal spending. Our government is really not running in a different path than GM. It's just got another twenty years more of rope to hang itself. We still have time to reverse this.

Wasn't the Federal government formed to serve the people and not the other way around? It's time to hold all of our politicians accountable for using their influence and our tax dollars to serve their own self interests and to make sure they are elected indefinitely.

The American budget on the horizon has the potential to turn many of our states into welfare states. If you don't think folks will be leaving tax oppressive places like California in droves soon, you're kidding yourself. I don't want that to happen to Pennsylvania.

That's why I'll be at the Washington, PA TEA party at the courthouse tonight that runs from 5-7pm.

If we don't stand up to the federal government soon, we will soon be slaves to it. You can argue that we already are... This is one issue that both parties should support!

Citi-Field: The Beginning of An Era!

I remember going to Shea Stadium when I was a kid. I always thought it was a horrible park to watch a baseball game but I had so many pleasant memories there.

Seeing Tom Seaver pitch, Dave Kingman hit and the 1986 Mets in their championship year.

I'm psyched that New York finally replaced Shea, where the upper deck seating should have come with a bungee cord. It seemed that high and far away from the field.

Citi Field seems to have embraced the cavernous design of Shea but achieved intimacy and some gorgeous sightlines. I always loved that Shea was a pitcher's park and despise short bandbox stadiums that have inflated HRs to epic proportions. Bravo to the architects and Lets Go Mets!!!!

US 3.5, Pirates 0.

I was really starting to worry about this country as the Somali pirate crisis wore on. I was glad to see Obama give the "go order" to snuff these criminals out with US Naval snipers. Had the US given these guys a dime, it would have sent a very bad signal. The pirates can talk all they want but I think they'll think twice about trying to board a ship flying a US flag again. Bravo!

Luna's One Kitten Litter?

Our cat, Luna, is defying logic and gave birth to only one kitten last night. 24 hours later and nary an addition to her litter.

At this rate, we should probably call this kitten Uno or Una.

The kitten is healthy, strong and large and tiger striped like Mom, but has nobody to cuddle with when Mom takes a sabbatical.

I'm not complaining since I can definitely handle a one kitten litter but I surmise we'll probably get an addition later tonight...

Aussie's Sweet 16

Aussie had quite a day. Even though a bomb threat at her school wiped out the birthday lunch she was supposed to share with her boyfriend, R-Dizzle, she still managed to pass her Driver's Permit Test, attend her orientation meeting for her new gym membership, and get some driving time in on the local roads.

We all went to the Union Grille for dinner to celebrate. Happy Sweet 16 Aussie! We love you!

Saving The Lazy River!

Tay and I are superheroes...

We spent the past weekend at Splash Lagoon with our four daughters. While Tay and I enjoy the slide rides sometimes, we're getting to the age where the Lazy River is more our speed. Hell, if they served pina coladas in there, it would be perfect. Ok...maybe not.

If you've ever been to a water park, you probably know the biggest problem with the Lazy River setup.

It isn't even remotely Lazy. Hell, Splash Lagoon renamed it the Lazy, Crazy River!

The Lazy River should be the one place where everyone can relax and float around and enjoy a little serenity.

But what you get is a bunch of brats with tubes around them ramming and splashing people in a mad dash to get around the "track" as fast as possible. I saw a mother with a newborn this weekend almost get upended out of the tube by a group of misfits. The kids never looked back as mommy barely caught her baby from spilling into the drink.

Of course, their idiot parents are nowhere to be found. They unleash their little terrors on the general population with little to no regard to what they are up to. Mostly boys...big surprise there and some surprisingly, just "retarded" adults.

Sure, the lifeguard whistled at them but what exactly does that do...? Absolutely nothing!

Enter Tay and Bluey.

...and we had a plan!

Our plan was to clog up the lazy river, so that the kids had nowhere to go hence frustrating them into leaving the area. Tay and Bluey got a double tube and Kitty and Bebis had singles that helped flank our position. I crouched in my side of the double, so that I could use my feet to position the raft when I wanted. I especially hugged the turns on the inside, forcing the brats to the outside.

I used the turns to turn the Lazy River into a congested freeway, which made the straight aways impossible for the upstarts to navigate. They basically ended up fighting each other to get ahead a few inches. The lifeguards did their part by whistling the kids everytime their tubes rose out of the water into the air.

Most of the time I had my feet up in view of the lifeguards as I "innocently" enjoyed a relaxing ride.

As we rode the turns, Tay would do a "Christmas Story" Santa, going "Ho...Ho...Ho" as she used her feet to gently push the offending kids' tubes at times into the exit ramp as they tried to pass on the outside. They had no idea what was happening. One kid quit in disgust after being forced into the exit pool.

One by one, we'd hear the kids say, "This is really boring, let's go do something else". Tay and I would start chuckling like lunatics as I softly sung songs about "clogging"...

After about an hour of this...something wonderful happened. The Lazy River was "brat-free"! Well, except for me and Tay, that is!

We, then floated for another hour in relative peace. We saved the Lazy River!

Although I think we had much more fun thwarting bratty kids and breaking their spirit! What, does that say about us?

For a few hours, anyway, the Lazy River was actually a lazy river!

When Does It End?

Hey, remember the recent taxpayer's AIG bailout money that had 30+B secretly flow out to Goldman Sachs and foreign banks?

Goldman received about 13B from that AIG payment to be made whole.

Goldman Sachs, now, is theoretically, paying back their TARP bailout now with AIG bailout funds?

Honestly, Is nobody paying attention?

Goldman just robbed the American taxpayer and is getting away with it with blessings from Tim Geithner. Now, Tim Geithner is trying to exercise more power over financial institutions that took bailout money.

I guess the fox (Goldman Sachs) just escaped the coop with a henhouse full of chickens (taxpayer money) with the watchdog's (the Obama administration's) blessing!

Goldman has been made whole on the taxpayer's dime and will probably escape government scrutiny and be exempt from executive pay limitations. How convenient!

If Goldman Returns Aid, Will Others? - General * US * News * Story - CNBC.com
Source: www.cnbc.com
Goldman Sachs is planning to give back its TARP money soon. Very soon, actually — ideally within the next month, according to people involved in the process.

Tay Tay's Brand New Toy: The Honda Big Red!

We've needed a utility vehicle on our 10 acre farm for awhile and Tay Tay's been begging for a John Deere Gator for almost 2 years plus. Everytime we pass a neighbor of ours, she points out the fact that they have TWO freaking John Deere gators!

The first time she did this, I said to her..."What do you need a Gator for?"

"Well, I can drive down and pick up the mail with it."

"Pick up the mail? Are you kidding me? You need an expensive utility vehicle to pick up the mail? Are you nuts? We don't need to spend that much to make sure our mail makes it into the house."

I think that kind of crushed her because she had every opportunity to extol the virtues of having a utility and unfortunately the first thing she blurts out is the 40 yard drive to our mailbox.

At that point, every time she brought it up, I quickly joked about her getting the mail with it. She got to the point where she didn't think that she'd ever get one.

Until today...I surprised her by saying that we should drop by and take a look at a utility vehicle. She suggested the Honda Big Red instead of a Gator. The strange thing about it was that I'd been researching these vehicles for months and came to the same conclusion. Plus, her whole family is a "Honda...til death do us part" type of family.

So, cut to the chase. Tay got the vehicle of her dreams today! She's out with Bebis right now tooling around the farm. God, I think this purchase just turned her into a ten year old kid today. Isn't that awesome? Here are some pics from earlier!

...But In The Process, Tay Busts Her Ass!

Who to better tell this story than Tay herself? Here is Tay's email to her cousin LiLi:

"Read Rich's blog later if you want a good laugh. You'll never believe what he just bought me. I am quite possibly the most spoiled wife. The funny part of the post will be second, I think. I'll give you a heads up...well, you'll know why after reading this

We were at the Honda shop & waiting to fill out paper work, I got tired of walking around so I went to sit on a quad on the showroom floor, I didn't straddle it but just put one foot on the foot pedal & went to sit on it backwards like a bench. I was expecting a big flat seat like our quad so I sat way back, well the seat on those racers are very thin so when I sat down, the seat was like under the bend of my leg & the end of the seat was at like the top of my thigh. It was too late, all my weight was in the sit down mode. I had no balance what so ever & I went rolling ass over tin cup backwards off the quad. It was so fucking funny but I couldn't laugh because the worst part was that on those racer quads, they have big sharp teeth as foot pedals so you dont slip so when I fell down off the other side they cut squarely into my ass. It hurt so fucking bad that I was practically crying but of course also laughing because the showroom was full of people & I knew that everyone saw me. I also cut my middle finger & broke 2 nails. After I got up & got my bearings about me, I went into the bathroom & looked in the mirror & my ass was bleeding, You can see where 3 teeth went in.

How many times did we listen to our parents saying "you're going to fall & bust your ass"? I finally just went & did it myself. Yes, I busted my ass! How's that for a visual??"

Isn't Child Labor Wonderful?

Three of my daughters had CCD this past Sunday. With 10 minutes before we had to be there, I told them that I was going to the car and if they didn't come out in a minute, that I'd leave them home. My youngest daughter, Kitty, was out a minute later. Loni and Bebis were no-shows. Ten minutes later I pulled out of the driveway to drop off Kitty. Loni and Bebis thought they were going to get off scot free.

When I got home about 15 minutes later, I told Loni and Bebis to get their wood carrying clothes on and I proceeded to cut dead logs for the next hour plus. Their job was to pick up everything I cut and stack it in and behind the house, transporting the wood by wagon with the quad. They we're not exactly thrilled.

The job took approximately three hours. What do you think the chances they'll be late the next time are? I'm guessing slim to none.

Government Asleep At The Wheel!

While Barney Frank is obsessing over AIG's 160M bonus payouts to executives, the rest of the Obama team, who promised strict regulation on bailout money, let 90 BILLION walk out the door, with 32 BILLION going to foreign banks!

In essence, the US taxpayer just paid 32 Billion to foreign banks! Add another 13B to Obama's government advisor buddies at Goldman Sachs and instead of an AIG bailout, we got a covert bailout of other institutions, who were probably made whole on our dime.

The biggest recipients of the AIG money were Goldman Sachs at $12.9 billion, and three European banks -- France's Societe Generale at $11.9 billion, Germany's Deutsche Bank at $11.8 billion, and Britain's Barclays PLC at $8.5 billion.

Fucking heads better roll on this one and I hope Barney Frank pulls his head out of his ass long enough to realize which travesty should take immediate priority!

Of course, the media will probably focus on Frank's rattling over the 160M payout to executives instead of the real issue here. No surprise, you have to go to a foreign source to get a decent account.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/2266582/Goldman-milks-AIG-bailout

Update: Finally, a day later! The US media jumps into the fray! It's about time!

The NHL On The Brink Of Losing This Fan

I am about an eyelash away from washing my hands of the NHL. As the ball-less Hockey News pundits have been hammering away at just about any physical contact in the sport, thereby turning the NHL into a glorified ice capades, the NHL GMs are now in favor of eliminating any sort of "staged" hockey fight. This is their first step to eliminating fighting in the sport altogether. Once that happens, the NHL will become dead to me. I will forfeit my season tickets and find something else to spend my money on.

In another "unrelated" story, some "geniuses" released this story about youth hockey injuries. Uh...I hope they didn't waste too much money on that one. Pretty soon they'll determine that leg injuries from baseball are mostly caused by running the bases and eliminate running them altogether or figure out that tackling is the number one reason for concussions in football and start handing out waist flags.

Honestly...in the age of pussy'fication of sports, is it any wonder that folks flock to something I have utter disdain for? Ultimate fighting...

Sports figures make an incredible amount of money these days and are more unwilling to shed an ounce of blood for it as time goes by. Modern day gladiators they are not. Winning becomes less important than achieving individual glory. Less seasoned fans who don't know any better justify that the focus of sports should be on keeping the stars healthy rather than keep the competitiveness of the sport intact. Legislating injuries away now seems to be the norm. Stars in the sports play the game without any fear of contact. Guys in the NHL actually skate through the neutral zone with their heads down or with their backs to the play in front of the boards with no fear of getting lit up...it sickens me.

Who ever said that playing sports was safe?

Our sports are slowly being deteriorated by "bitches" who never scraped a knee on concrete, let alone put on a set of pads. If you are offended by this comment...I was talking about Gary Bettman, but you probably qualify as well.

I once dove face first into a metal chain link fence in centerfield to catch a fly ball in little league. I was ugly for a few weeks and I'm pretty sure I got a concussion. I did it because I wanted to win at all costs. That's what sports should be about...sacrificing the body if need be, to win.

Well, those days seem to be long gone and I really thought I'd be writing this type of crotchety article when I was 60, not 43. I guess with the new brand of player out there, my favorite past-times will have to change.

But, this edict will kill hockey anyway. The pseudo fans will be there, but the heart and soul will be gone.

Women's Field Hockey anyone? Now there's a sport I can get behind!

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Benedum

Tay, the girls and I grabbed a quick dinner at TGI Fridays and went to see the musical version of the children's classic movie last night. It was very good and the music was impeccably performed with such classics as "You Two", "Truly Scrumptious", "Toot Sweet", "Hushabye Mountain", Chu Chi Face", "Doll On A Musicbox" and many others.

Great show for the kids! We were dancing in our seats and when Chitty came to life and started driving across the stage and flying, it was incredibly magical!

Let's Roast Some Porky Senators!

How about we build a big bonfire and roast 20 senators for their woefully piggy earmarks added to the most recent spending bills?

I mean, honestly...we really need to weed out these jokers, both Democrats and Republicans. I'm tired of having to pay for their frigging nonsense pet projects.

Here's a breakdown of the top 20 earmarking senators and the value of their solo earmarks:

1) Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va. -- $122,804,900
2) Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala. -- $114,484,250
3) Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo. -- $85,691,491
4) Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. -- $76,899,425
5) Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss. -- $75,908,475
6) Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska -- $74,000,750
7) Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa -- $66,860,000
8) Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla. -- $53,133,500
9) Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. -- $51,186,000
10) Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii -- $46,380,205
11) Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. -- $39,228,250
12) Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. -- $36,547,100
13) Sen. Pat Leahy, D-Vt. -- $36,161,125
14) Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. -- $35,577,250
15) Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa. -- $27,169,750
16) Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. -- $26,628,613
17) Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa. -- $25,320,000
18) Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis. -- $23,832,000
19) Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. -- $21,952,250
20) Former Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M. -- $19,588,625

A New Class of Travelers: Carry-On Retards

They walk up to the airport gate with their suitcase and a backpack that looks like it has a human being stuffed inside. They don't give a fuck how much airplane overhead space they'll take up. They struggle to put an eighty pound 44" suitcase into an overhead compartment. They squash everything already in the compartments, including laptops, in an attempt to fit a suitcase that frankly, SHOULD HAVE FUCKING BEEN CHECKED IN at the check-in counter.

Of course, many of these folks have been doing this for years in an effort to skip the trip to baggage pickup but many have been created by the stupid airlines' new bag charge policies.

Here's a novel thought. Charge the bag fees for the retards who stuff the plane full of their luggage instead of penalizing the rest of us who put our luggage in the proper place on the plane, the fucking cargo hold!

Now, in addtion to squeezing my body into a seat for five hours, my legroom disappears because I had the audacity to carry-on a laptop computer. I'd put it in overhead storage but the folks in the first 10 rows of a 30 row plane used every fucking inch of overhead space! So legs, let me introduce you to my laptop for five fucking hours!

One stupid bitch almost killed an elderly lady by nearly dropping her huge bag on her head because it weighed too much to lift or remove from above.

How difficult is it to check in your bags? Quit being such cheap ass bastards and show a little courtesy to those around you, you fucking inconsiderate jackasses!

You got to love a security system that makes some girl remove her flip flops for a bomb but allows so much luggage to be allowed in the overhead areas. Does that make any sense whatsoever? Not to me.

I'd rather the airlines forced folks to check in EVERYTHING, than continue this nonsense system.

Hey fuckers...if you can't part with your luggage, do the rest of us a favor and drive there yourselves.

We Ko Pa GC: La Cholla

All I can say is wow!

The La Cholla course was very challenging and visually stunning.

Shot a 63 on the front nine and a 57 on the back nine.

Talk about target golfing...

Each hole had lots of sand and the out of bounds was desert.

Awesome, awesome course!

Radisson Fort McDowell Resort

Oh baby...this is the life!

Bluey definitely likes Arizona...

...in the wintertime at least!

Another gorgeous day. I wouldn't feel too bad as a NY Ranger fan sending Nigel Dawes, Peter Prucha and Dmitri Kalinen here in a trade. I think you did those guys a favor!

Of course I haven't run into a hockey fan from Phoenix yet but does that really surprise anyone?

For the record, I haven't run into a Cardinals fan yet either...

Cactus Says F-U: Bluey And Tay Go West!

Tay and I arrived in Arizona earlier this afternoon. It is quite gorgeous and the weather is a temperate 70 degrees with a nice breeze.

Tay has a Maidpro convention and I'm just being a bum. I'm planning on a massage tomorrow and a round of golf at the We-Ko-Pa Cholla course on Saturday.

Unfortunately, it turned out Tay's schedule is booked and the Grand Canyon is 4+ hours away, so we won't have an opportunity to see it this time.

Our resort is surrounded on three sides by an Indian reservation. It is absolutely pristine here only about 15 miles outside of Phoenix.

It doensn't get any better than this. I needed a vacation as I've been getting way too bitter lately.

Now I gotta go find myself a scorpion to scare Tay Tay with. See ya!

NY Rangers Need John Tortorella!

Don't get me wrong, Tom Renney was a fantastic coach for the past five years and if anybody needed to be fired during that period of time and beyond... it was Glen Sather.

Sather routinely saddled Renney with crappy overpaid and unmotivated players. But, I like this 2009 Rangers team. It needs a little tweaking, sure, but the core is very talented.

The problem is that Renney is "too nice of a guy" to be coaching in the NHL. His brand of patience is best served at the AHL level. Tortorella will bring some fire and accountability.

I just hope that the franchise follows suit and gives Sather his walking papers in the off season to complete what must be done. Let's hire a GM who isn't in love with older costly players.

How Fucking Stupid Can You Be?

Apparently, Dianne Feinstein - D, California is reaching new heights.

Pakistan seems to have been secretly helping us fight Al-Qaeda and the Taliban for the past few years even though publicly decrying attacks, allowing the US to use Pakistani air bases to launch Predator strikes.

Well, until big mouth dumbass bitch decides to drop that knowledge in a public venue. Now, British journalists, using a Google earth photo platform believes that it has found evidence of that assertion, which, rightly so has been refuted by the military. Thank God the pictures are from earlier in the deacade.

Is this bitch trying to actively prevent us from fighting terrorists or does she just want to foster civil war in Pakistan? How fucking stupid can she be?

For god's sake, she is the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Unbelievable!

Tradition!

Tay, the girls (sans Aussie) and I went to see Fiddler On The Roof last night at the Benedum theatre in Pittsburgh.

I have to say I was shocked that Topol from the 1971 movie was performing in the headline role as Tevye. I mean, the guy has to be in his seventies, right?

He was awesome and the production was every bit as good as the movie and Topol was very funny in his oft played signature role. It was a real treat for my girls to see the original Teyve cutting up the stage in song and dance. We all loved it!

It is being billed as his "farewell tour" but I have read differently elsewhere. I would absolutely recommend this production which is only playing here in Pittsburgh until this coming Sunday.

I've enclosed a review from one of the previous shows. This February 12th review pretty much says it all. The set designs were seamless and absolutely marvelous and the singing performances were top rate!

Incredible show...

Our Colorful Egg Collection

Barbie, our last non-laying hen, laid her first egg on Valentine's Day, a robin's egg blue shelled treasure at 27 weeks old. Barbie, one of our two Easter Eggers and Slagathor, who lays olive green eggs now provide us with a nice spectrum of egg shell colors to go with the rest of our daily collection of dark/light browns and pinkish brown.

The difference between these eggs and store bought eggs are night and day. Store bought eggs have runny whites and pale yellow yolks. Our eggs have a distinctly thick white and rich golden orange yolks.

I'll never eat a store bought egg again if I don't have to. Yummy!

Wow...Intelligent Thoughts From The Media!

Jack Cafferty wrote a pretty good description of the nonsense that is surrounding the stimulus bill. I really don't know his political affiliation but I remember him being pretty critical of GW Bush, so I'm assuming he leans left somewhat.


His CNN article

Other than right wing Fox News, I find it unbelievable that no one else seems to want to explore the exactitudes of what this bill really contains nor it's expected effect on the economy.

It's sad really...

...and another great followup story concerning this nonsense stimulus package.

Tay Saves The Day!

I sent this raccoon to Jesus today as he was trying desperately to get into the chicken coop in broad daylight this morning.




Tay woke me at 7:25am after she spotted Sir Snacks Alot trying to have chicken for breakfast. He was clawing at both coops and actually broke the handle of a rubber mallet that locks the smaller coop.



A couple of .22 rounds later and Mr. Raccoon is playing the harp!



Props to Tay Tay for saving the day! She's the best!

Our chickens we're so dumb that they basically stood in the bottom of the coop while the raccoon was trying to break in. If not for the fine mesh hardware cloth (instead of chicken wire), this day might have had a tragic ending.

Raccoon for breakfast anyone?

Another Dope!

Nancy Pelosi has really outdone herself this time trying to push the horrible pork filled stimulus package crafted by the House and Senate.

Now she's warning that each month the stimulus package is not passed, we will lose 500 million jobs!

Uh...somebody has got to let her know that the US population is only 300M and change.

What an embarrassing excuse for Speaker of the House. She is argumentative and divisive without any concept of how things work.

Is it really a wonder that the State of California will soon be bankrupt?

Happy 15th Birthday, Loni!

Sending a Happy 15th shoutout to our daughter, Loni!

Where exactly did fifteen years go? We'll be celebrating with a nice sushi dinner tomorrow night and a Pens game to follow later in the month.

Loni, you rock! Enjoy your day!

Michael Phelps: What A Dope!

Let's say that I am the best in the world at something, but there is absolutely no market to make money doing it. But, because I excelled on the world stage, folks started throwing money at me because I was such a wholesome inspiration and role model.

Well, I can tell you one thing. You wouldn't find me in strip clubs with Pacman Jones, picking up Hugh Grant type skanky whores or cockfighting pitbulls to the death. Hell, at least Michael Vick has a chance of coming out on the other side and doing okay.

At the very least I wouldn't be doing bong hits where I could be filmed doing it.

In my mind, the moron basically has thrown away a huge wad of cash and seriously affected his future earnings opportunities. Unless he does brain surgery in his spare time between puffing the chiba, there's a good chance he won't be earning tomorrow no where near what he could have been earning yesterday.

Of course, we live in a very forgiving society, where paying taxes seems optional for even the most heralded positions in our government. Michael apologized and I'm sure America will forgive him.

Unfortunately, America doesn't sign his paychecks.

Way to go dude! Hope the ganja was killer and worth what it's going to cost you...idiot.

Teacher's Unions: Do You Want A Receipt For Your Souls?

Obama's economic stimulus package was voted on by the House yesterday. Every Republican voted against it. Eleven Democrats did too.

Here's why...


Obama is proposing to spend more than the entire Iraq war with one fell swoop of the pen, under the guise of a bailout.

Bailout??? This isn't strictly a bailout. Included in this bill is one big massive vote buyout payment to the teachers unions and the welfare throng, Obama's biggest supporters.

Let's look at the fine print on a $819 billion dollar package. (from the Wall Street Journal)

"In the education realm, the stimulus aims more than $125 billion at bolstering public education, an unusual federal intervention in a sphere usually left to state and local governments. It calls for spending $20 billion on school and college renovations. There's another $79 billion proposed for aid to the states to help them avoid education-related layoffs. In addition, more than $2 billion would go to the Head Start program, $13 billion to supplemental funding for high-poverty areas, and another $13 billion for special-education programs."


125 billion dollars of a STIMULUS PACKAGE to education???

How the hell in God's name does sending 125B to the education system, and a lion's share of that to preserve salaries ($79B), help stimulate the economy? This is a fucking outrage!

15% of the "Stimulus Package" is going to education (125B/819B). Throw in 50 million to the National Endowment to the Arts to add insult to injury (no I am not making that up, check the article yourself).

The stimulus package is basically a welfare package payout to many of those who were elemental to Obama's run for the presidency. Unfortunately, very little of it will actually go to stimulating the economy.

Congratulations, teachers unions...spend your dollars wisely.

Karma dictates that what comes around, goes around. School vouchers, shared home-schooling and privatization are in the future. It'll be the greatest thing for students but then finally, teachers will get paid what they are worth...not what the teachers unions can sponge taxpayers for. If I was a teacher, I'd be apt to try to gain control of the union that represents me, because eventually the union will spell the demise of the current education system in favor of privatization.

The fact that 11 democrats broke ranks gives me some hope for this country. Next time, Obama wants to give his buddies free money, I wish he would just call it what it is...a payout of free money or voter welfare and not hide it under a guise of a stimulus package.

Now, I'm sure all the teachers that are my friends will be pissed off by this post and I really don't give a rat's ass about that. I think that this could possibly be one of the most outwardly corrupt cash grabs I've ever seen in my life. Maybe some of them will finally see the greed, corruption and power of the national entities that spoon feed them their "facts"..., but probably not.

Unions and Thain and Pray For Rain...

This fucker, former CEO of Merrill Lynch, John Thain, was unceremoniously dumped by Bank of America today.

Was it his 1.22M office? Was it the 3-4B in bonuses he okay'd right before Bank of America was to take ownership and "supposedly" before he knew that Merrill Lynch's numbers were going to be bad in the previous quarter? Was it the fact, that in the middle of the banking turmoil and while facing possible bankrupcy, that he insisted on himself getting a 10M bonus for "putting together" the Merrill Lynch/BAC deal? As if he had a choice not to go forward.

Honestly, the corporate culture and the unions are killing this country and we are choosing to bail these fuckers out.

I say nationalize the banks for the time being and allow the auto industry to go through bankruptcies. It's the only way to clean the scum out from their lofty perches...

Stop taking sides in class warfare and realize that both sides are hosing the fuck out of us!!!

Then the banks can be slowly re-privatized in time as buyers come back without the government (us) purchasing their fucktard toxic debt and we can renegotiate what a autoworker is really worth and not what some fatcat union boss demands that he/she is worth.

I'm so sick and tired of taking it up the ass by Corporate America and Unions. Enough already!

Hope Fades, Reality Sets In

Barrack Obama is a smart guy. With a throng of hero-worshipping liberals, the Hollyweird elite and the leftist media whipped into a frenzy, he chose an overall message of personal responsibility to center his inauguration speech around.

That gives me some hope. Hope that President Obama is more centered and has a firmer grip on reality than many of his most avid supporters, who think he's going to waive a magic wand and cure all of our individual and collective woes. These are the same people who will likely be the first to turn on him when he doesn't support their pet projects with equal fervor.

I'm hoping that Obama is successful as a President and helps bring our two parties together, as partisanship is slowly killing this nation. Of course, I'm very skeptical but I have to believe that he didn't honestly think he was going to be able to live up to all of his campaign promises, many of which would face vigorous opposition from conservatives.

He has a Democratic House and Senate to help him push his agenda. The only thing left to wonder is whether he will use them to push the country to the far left or whether he is willing to truly be a consensus builder as he promised.

My biggest hope though is that he keeps us safe and defends our great nation with vigilance equal to that of President Bush. I'm not convinced that he can, but I hope that he does.

Good luck Mr. President!

My Final Pre-Inaugural Purchase

Since the Dems are coming tomorrow with full control of the House, Senate and Oval Office, I figured I couldn't afford not to make one last firearms purchase before guns "start coming under fire (pun intended)".

While I think Obama has a lot more on his plate to worry about, I'd be shocked if we don't see huge tax increases for guns/ammo in the immediate future.

This Remington 870 Express 12 ga shotgun should pretty much fill my arsenal. I'm looking forward to hunting turkey with it next year.

I may have also "jumped the gun (pun intended)" on my "NRA member by 45" prediction. I've already filled out the paperwork!

Pittsburgh Penguins Give Bebis Final Birthday Present!

Bebis and I attended our annual Pens-Rangers game this afternoon for her birthday. As usual, the Pens sent her home happy with a 3-0 victory. I swear she is a Ranger jinx as she roots for her hometown Pens! That coupled with the Steelers win over the Ravens really made her day!

And while she was away, her sisters made some interesting snow art. That post will follow.

Family Feud 2: Electric Bugaloo

Well, Tay has done it again.

Just to summarize, Tay and I play a game while we watch Family Feud. We both try to guess the number 1 answers for the first four rounds. One point is given for the number 1 answer, ties get 1/2 point and if neither of us gets the number 1, a 1/2 point is given to the highest ranked answer between us.

Many of you enjoyed my last story of a miracle victory, here is the latest incantation.

I go up quickly 1-0 as I nail the first answer. Tay takes a half point in Round 2. In Round 3, we both give the same #1 answer, so the score stands at Bluey 1.5, Tay 1 with one last round coming up.

I start to tease her.

"You know all I have to do now is to wait for you to start saying something and just say the same thing and take the win..."

"That's what you ALWAYS do!"

"Now, who's being a sore loser? I'm just kidding...it's on like Donkey Kong!"

"We'll see..."

So, the last question is "Name a language that many people must learn for business purposes"

Tay yells out "Spanish!"

I was a little slow on the draw and also yell out Spanish...

It's the #1 answer.

I immediately go on the offensive.

"Well, that's a tie...you lose!"

"I did not you big cheater! I said it first!"

"No you didn't!"

"Did too! You lost fair and square...admit it, admit it!"

I sheepishly concur...I'm a beaten man...

Other answers are given on the show, Chinese and English also were up there #2 and #3 leaving one more answer. I'd pretty much accepted defeat until Tay blurts out...

"I'll give you the win if you get the last answer..."

I immediately answer "French".

Tay says, "That answer has already been given"

"No, it hasn't"

Tay goes into full panic mode judging by her eyes...

The #4 answer turns out to be, you guessed it..."French".

"WooHoooooooooo!!! I win!!!! Yes!!!!"

"That doesn't count", counters Tay, "I was only joking".

"What? You were not!"

"I thought that they already gave French, so it doesn't count!"

"No. I admitted that I lost and didn't even beg for a last chance deal. I had accepted the loss until you made the offer and I answered. I won fair and square. You got a little too big for yer britches!"

"Damn!"

So, once again, Bluey snatches victory out of the jaws of defeat!

Will Tay ever learn?

Jersey Boys

We celebrated Bebis' birthday tonight and saw Jersey Boys at the Benedum. All I can say is, wow, what a show!

I never realized that the Four Seasons cranked out so many hits. The girls absolutely loved the high energy of the show and actually knew all the songs (I guess by cultural osmosis). Tay loved it as well.

I would highly recommend this musical. Oh, what a night! (ok, I know, that was pretty bad)

Nobody Goes Full Retard...

I watched Tropic Thunder last night. It was weird but extremely hilarious in spots. It will definitely be one of those cult classics that everyone quotes lines from for years.

The movie is about a bunch of actors making a war movie. Ben Stiller's character, Tugg Speedman, talks about his best role (Simple Jack), that all the awards shows snubbed. He explains how he puts his whole effort into the role, actually feeling retarded after leaving the set most nights. But the movie flops anyway. In comes Robert Downey's character, an Austrailian actor, Kirk Lazarus, with many Academy Award wins who has pigmentation surgery to play an African-American platoon sargeant in the film, to offer his sage advice for playing "slow" individuals on film.


Kirk Lazarus: Everybody knows you never go full retard.



Tugg Speedman: What do you mean?



Kirk Lazarus: Check it out. Dustin Hoffman, 'Rain Man,' look retarded, act retarded, not retarded. Counted toothpicks, cheated cards. Autistic, sho'. Not retarded. You know Tom Hanks, 'Forrest Gump.' Slow, yes. Retarded, maybe. Braces on his legs. But he charmed the pants off Nixon and won a ping-pong competition. That ain't retarded. Peter Sellers, "Being There." Infantile, yes. Retarded, no. You went full retard, man. Never go full retard. You don't buy that? Ask Sean Penn, 2001, "I Am Sam." Remember? Went full retard, went home empty handed...



The scene from Tropic Thunder just about had me pissing myself (although you need to see the "Simple Jack" trailer in the movie to have a real appreciation for it). This is what got most people upset over the movie for and of course, I find it absolutely hilarious...go figure!

Tay and I finished watching the movie and we were goofing around before going to bed.

I pop a couple of my meds and go to swallow them down and Tay Tay says, "You went Full Retard...You never go Full Retard..."

I started to choke and spit the ice tea in my mouth across the room and my pills all over the floor. I started to laugh so hard it actually hurt my throat.

I'm pretty sure we'll be saying that for awhile around here.

I would recommend the movie for twisted individuals like myself. Tom Cruise nearly stole the movie. He was hilarious, especially dancing to Flo Rida's "Low". I almost pissed myself at that scene too!

Florida Buys Trophy Case For Their Award!

I'm proud to say, I watched not one minute of college football this year and will continue to boycott the sport until a few things happen. I see no point in investing 3 seconds of my time in such a nonsensical and arbitrary contest each year.

Until the NCAA wrestles the scheduling of games away from universities and gives everyone a fair and balanced schedule with an equal number of home and away games, really, what is the point of watching?

Most teams have no chance of winning the BCS title no matter how they perform. College football doesn't have to have a playoff system necessarily (although, it would be great), but it does need to provide each team with a comparable SOS (strength of schedule) to allow each team a legitimate chance and not just pay lip service to their perceived "2nd tier" teams.

They'd be better off cleaving off a whole bunch of these Division I teams, rather then giving them false hope of ever winning a title. And for God's sake, let's maximize natural rivals as much as possible and create some cross continental regular season rivalries as well.

Let's face it, Penn State and Pitt should be playing each other, not Appalachian State or Temple.

So, NCAA...take on the role of schedulemaker already and lose the shitty programs already. Have a Division II league where the top 10 programs in a given year replace the bottom 10 Division I programs to at least mix it up or give a chance to up and coming programs.

Until that happens...I could give a shit.

Happy 14th Birthday, Bebis!

Just want to give my daughter, Bebis a quick shout out.

She turns 14 today. Fourteen...god where do the years go? Her and her buddy Izzy are doing some mad celebrating today.

Another Gem From The Onion!

I almost pissed myself watching this video.

A Major Award!

As part of the spoils of the Bluey's Hail Mary championship, I have donated a travelling trophy to the league to be enjoyed by all future WashPA FFL champions.

Thanks to all for one hell of a season. With five teams vying for the final playoff spot on the last regular season weekend, I think we all gained a real appreciation for just how competitive this league is. This trophy is my tribute to all of you guys.

Engraved on the first 4 detail plates are champions from 2005 (Flavorfools), 2006 (Justice League Now), 2007 (Bird) and 2008 (Hail Mary).

Of course, I am going to enjoy showing it off until draft day, when I will bring the trophy and surrender it to the commissioner.

Then, it'll be on like Donkey Kong!

If you think I'm going to surrender this trophy easily, you obviously don't know me very well.

Bluey's First "Timber!!!"

After relenting and getting me a Stihl Farm Boss for Christmas, Tay has been watching me like a hawk because she knew I wanted to take down a big dead tree now that I had a chainsaw.

She'd tell me, "you don't have a clue what you're doing".

I'd tease her and say, "I watched the lumberjacks on ESPN and a bunch of Axemen episodes. I know how to do it".

Of course, the first tree I wanted to take down was about 10 feet from our garage, which raised Tay's anxiety level even higher. So, as the days passed since Christmas she's been sleeping with one eye and one ear open.

Until today.

I paid the 4 junior peteys $5 each to create a diversion in the house.

While Tay was occupied, I bustled outside, fired up the chainsaw and went to work on the tree. She became wise to the ruse but was too late to stop me.

She grabbed the camera because she was sure I was going to drop the dead tree on the garage and wanted to get evidence for posterity and future bribery.

And the results...Sweet Success!!!

Tay was truly amazed! Although a Downey woodpecker seemed to be giving me the evil eye...