Sheriff Joe Biden - World's Greatest Sport Fan

Sheriff Joe once again showed the enormity of his intellect Wednesday at a Dem fundraiser in San Francisco.

He told the partisan left wing kook crowd that 'the Giants are on their way to the Superbowl.'

OK. San Francisco is playing New York this weekend for the right to go to the Superbowl. New York is, of course, the Giants.

Sheriff Joe obviously mixed up baseball and football (San Francisco Giants).

An easy mistake to make - they both use balls.

(this man is a heartbeat away from the Presidency ... shudder ...)

What Are The Rangers Smoking?

The Texas Rangers announced the signing of Yu Darvish this afternoon. The Japanese pitcher will join the squad in time for spring training.

The contract is said to be 6 years at $60 million. The Rangers paid a $51.7 million fee to the Japanese league and his current team for the right to negotiate and sign him. So, his impact on the Rangers is almost $112 million.

Darvish is a strong performer in Japan. He is 6'5" tall, and only 25 years old. He is said to have good stuff, and is projected as a number 4 or 5 starter (on a starting staff that is not regarded as a strong one). I have seen very little of him, all the sports reports seem to replay video of the same 3 or 4 strikeouts over and over.

The Rangers declined to offer a new contract to their staff ace, CJ Wilson. CJ was not a super strong performer, but could be counted on for 15 wins a year, and to chew up a lot of innings. CJ signed with division rival Anaheim for FAR less than what the Rangers are spending on Darvish.

Japanese pitchers tend to not do so well when they show up in the Big Leagues. I can't remember a single one who has been more than average - with most turning out to be big disappointments. I have not seen anything yet that would indicate Darvish will be any different.

I don't get it - pass on a proven performer and tell us its because of the money, and then sign an unproven gamble for a far larger amount of money? I fear they've just screwed themselves.

TSA - Terminally Stupid A*Holes?

I had the misfortune to go through the Corpus Christi International Airport recently. That's a very long title for an airport whose terminal isn't long enough to hold all of those letters. The entire airport has 6 gates, one of which is not in service.

This small facility has the most stringent, and perhaps most incompetent, TSA workers I have ever run into.

Leaving the city, I put my possessions into the bins for the X-Ray machine, just as I do every other time I go through an airport. I've got two TSA 'officers' standing over my shoulders while I am doing this. Apparently they are bored, because there is no one else in the security line.

"Sir, you have to remove your belt." I point to the tub that already holds my belt.

"Sir you have to completely empty your pockets." I show him that my keys and change are already in the tub.

"No, sir, your pockets have to be empty." I make a big show of removing my wallet and placing it into the tub. I cleverly beat the system by not taking out the handful of paper money still in one pocket. One of the TSA gentlemen standing over me picks up my wallet and starts thumbing through it. "Hey, you don't need to do that", I tell him, probably a little more forcefully than I should have. He puts it back down into the tub.

I am waved through the machine finally. It is not a metal detector, but one of the new MRI type machines that gives them a great picture of your junk. I don't care. Apparently they don't like the picture, and subject me to a more personal than warranted patdown. Pervert!

I endure without comment, and walk around to get my tubs. My laptop is grabbed by one 'officer'. "I have to inspect this". OK, I say. She steps over to the swab station. Another 'officer' picks up my shoes, and gets in line at the swab station.

"Don't touch anything, sir," I am admonished as I reach for my laptop bag.

After 'laptop swabbie' gets done, he hands me the computer, and then starts dissecting my laptop bag. Every pocket is gone through. 'Shoe swabbie' is having problems with the swab machine, from the looks of it - either that, or he's sneaking sniffs of my sneakers.

They pile all my stuff back up on the table. No 'thank you', or 'have a nice day' ... they just go back to waiting for the next victim.

I start to put my gear back in order. "Sir, you can't do that there."

I gather all my stuff, two trips worth, and carry it about 30 feet to a seat, where I am finally able to reassemble myself.

Fortunately, I was not in a hurry to catch the flight.

I had booked this flight 3 weeks in advance. It was not a one way ticket. My destination was a short haul, in state. I do not have a middle eastern name. I don't know whether these people were bored, or just plain power mad. I do know that 8 'officers' overseeing a one lane security checkpoint, with one machine, seems to be a bit of a money waste.

BTW - When I got home, I found that my bag had been tossed by TSA as well. Nothing was missing, but every bag, every zipper, every compartment had been opened and the contents gone through. I truly hope they enjoyed three days worth of dirty socks ...

In the interest of full disclosure, the above photo was not taken by me in Corpus. I can only imagine what that crew would have done if I had pulled out a camera!

Update - TSA, but not related to Corpus Christi. Somehow, a 65 year old woman passed through a TSA checkpoint in Terminal D at DFW airport, with a handgun in her carryon bag. From news reports, her bag went through the XRay machine, she passed through, retrieved the bag, and went on her way. Sometime later, someone saw the gun displayed on the machine's monitor. TSA personnel finally were able to locate her 90 minutes later. She had already boarded a plane, and the plane had backed away from the gate. They pulled her off the plane and had her go back through the screening process, where the gun was found. She was taken into custody. The incident started at 6:30am.

The woman is an attorney, and had an expired CHL. Her explanation, made public through her attorney, was that she forgot the gun was in the bag. The fact that she had a CHL and went through that training tells me she should have known better. How in the heck do you forget you have a .38 caliber pistol in your computer bag?

I've been through DFW checkpoints so many times I can't even to begin to guess how many. They are just as 'overmanned' as the ones in Corpus. How in the world did this woman take her bag through the checkpoint with a pistol in it without being stopped?

I saw an item during news coverage on this. TSA reported to Congress that they stop an average of 4 handguns PER DAY at security checkpoints in the US. Very few of those are intentional attempts at smuggling a weapon onto an airplane, which leads to the inescapable fact that a lot of people are just plain stupid.

More NAACP Race Baiting

The city of Irving, Texas is having a difficult time with its school district. It has nothing to do with the kids or teachers.

It's about race.

Irving's racial makeup has changed over the years. The majority of folks who live there now (legally or illegally) are Hispanic. Whites follow, with blacks in third.

Irving's School Board has seven positions. They are elected district wide - all voters select all school board positions (called an 'at-large' system). This has become a point of contention. It is a fact that a higher percentage of Whites vote in down ballot elections (such as school boards) than Hispanics or Blacks, and so the school board members have almost universally been White.

Hispanics and Blacks have been in an uproar over this, stating that the racial makeup of the school board should reflect the racial makeup of the student population. (They seem to fail to realize that this is a product of the members of their 'races' not showing up at the polls in numbers that represent that racial makeup.) Hispanics and Blacks are pushing for the adoption of single member districts, where voters would only be able to vote on a single school board member. These districts would be drawn to pretty much guarantee a specific number of Hispanics and Blacks be seated on the school board.

Now, I am not going to voice an opinion on that. There are positives and negatives to both sides of that argument.

What I am thoroughly disgusted with is the race baiting that has been building over this.

The latest component - NAACP Irving leader Anthony Bond (for some unexplained reason) has weighed in with his totally logical, thoughtful solution to the issue.

He has called for students to be instructed to disrupt classrooms in protest of the situation.

"We've got to demonstrate to these kids that we're not going to let a bunch of white people dictate to the majority." - Anthony Bond, media interview regarding Irving, 1/13/12

Wow. So, according to a leader of the NAACP, a minority cannot exert pressure on a majority. That kind of throws the whole Civil Rights movement into the garbage can, doesn't it? Or, does that only apply when the people he thinks he represents are the majority? (Funny that the NAACP does not represent the race in the majority in Irving - Hispanics).

Can you imagine the furor that would result if a White person in a position of authority had said "We've got to demonstrate to these kids that we're not going to let a bunch of black people dictate to the majority"? Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton would be fighting each other trying to get here first to lead the marches and riots in protest. Why is it OK for a black person in a position of authority to say it?

More Pasty Faced Teenage Boy Silliness Coming

So, if your wives and daughters haven't had enough Vampire-gasms, or swooned to enough teenage boys pretending to be werewolves, be warned - more is coming.

Warm Bodies is due out on August 10th.

Nicholas Hoult, teen hearthrob, will play the character 'R'.

'R' is a zombie.

'R' falls in love with a human girl after he eats the brain of her boyfriend. The movie is said to depict the couple as they move towards each other, and learn to bridge the forbidden love of Zombie/Human. 'R' even re-learns how to speak.

No word on whether 'R' learns how to brush his teeth prior to snuggling up to his hottie. (Can you imagine his breath, walking aorund eating dead people without regard to oral hygiene?)

Seriously?

Marco Rubio - Republican Hero

I hope this man ends up in the White House someday (first Hispanic President?) ...

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) sent a letter to President Obama, detailing in pretty harsh terms what he thinks of The Dear Leader's ability to run this nation. Worth a read.

Vice President Rubio in November?

http://www.humanevents.com/downloads-pdfs/1.6.12%20-%20Obama%20Debt%20Ceiling%20Letter%20-%20FINAL.pdf

Jobless Number Shell Game - Well Underway

As I (and whole lot of folks who are smarter than me) predicted last year, the unemployment rate is going down. Figures just released show it at 8.5%. Expect it to be lower than 8.0% percent in the September time frame.

Obama has begun crowing about it, stating that it is great progress, we have turned the corner, we're headed in the right direction.

Just as predicted.

Does this mean the economy is getting better, and jobs are being created? Not exactly. What it does mean is that Obama and his cronies are massaging the numbers to make them fit what they need for re-election.

New jobless claims for LAST WEEK dropped to about 350,000. They have been hovering around 400,000 per week for many months. (This was touted by the Obama Administration and mainstream news as HUGE progress). What this means is that between 700,000 and 800,000 people are filing new claims for unemployment each month - meaning they lost their jobs.

Obama's bunch reports that about 200,000 new jobs were added last month, and that this is responsible for the dip in umployment. What the hell kind of math is that?

700,000 minus 200,000 is a net loss of 500,000 jobs for the month. How can the unemployment rate go down with a half million more people out of work?

Here's how ... Obama's bunch has been changing the definition of what being unemployed means. If you can't change the numbers, you change what numbers are counted.

People who have exhausted their unemployment benefits are no longer counted as unemployed. They are simply dropped out of the equation. Likewise, folks who find temporary employment when looking for a permanent position are not counted. Long term unemployed , those who have given up trying to find a job, aren't counted. Those on welfare aren't counted. Obama has dropped millions of people who are unemployed out of the equation, to make himself look better.

If all classes of people who were counted in the unemployment figures when Obama took office in 2009 were counted today, the unemployment rate that would be reported would be above 11 percent.

If everyone who wanted work and couldn't find it were counted, the true, actual unemployment rate for the US would be above 17 percent.

Unemployment rates for African-Americans, even using Obama techniques, is above 16 percent. Why is this man still a hero to the Black community?

(BTW - that 200,000 figure for added jobs last month included 50,000 temporary Holiday seasonal positions, positions eliminated this month.)

If this is confusing to you, ask yourself this basic question: HOW CAN THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE GO DOWN IF THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO LOSE THEIR JOBS IN A MONTH OUTNUMBER THOSE WHO FIND WORK, BY A MARGIN OF FOUR OR FIVE TO ONE?

Update - The figures for NEW unemployment benefit applications for last week have been announced - 399,000. That'a almost 400 thousand newly unemployed folks. No word from the Obama Administration on how this affects their magic 8.5 percent number ...

Coward-in-Chief Strikes Again

Obama is singlehandedly castrating our military. What our enemies worldwide have been unable to do by force, he has chosen to do by pen. Unilateral disarmament. The ultimate goal of every left wing kook - a country without the means to defend itself and its allies.

Obama has, by himself, decided to redefine what our military is, and what it does.

This kind of morphing process happens occasionally as the shape of the world changes. It has been done after each of our wars. Usually, the cuts have been vicious, far too deep, and have left us in vulnerable positions. This time, though, Obama and his close circle of left wing kooks have made the decisions themselves, and the devastation that will result will dwarf all previous cutbacks.

Watch for the F-35 to be cancelled. Watch for the V-22 program to be halted. Watch for missile defense to be scrapped. Watch for work on new generation aircraft carriers to be halted. Watch for health and other benefits for retirees to be slashed. Watch for the number of people in uniform to be slashed even further than has been previously reported. Watch for incredible number of existing weapons systems to be prematurely retired, with no replacement. Watch for huge numbers of operational units and facilites to be done away with.

Obama can't do this just by himself. Congress controls the purse strings. Even though Obama can propose the cuts in a budget he submits, Congress does not have to accept it. He knows this, and will portray Congress' objections as more Republican obstructionism.

In a couple of related Democrat 'We Surrender' outrages:

Obama Administration officials have confirmed that they have offered to the Taliban in Afghanistan to release all Taliban connected prisoners currently held in Gitmo. This in return for the the Taliban opening an office in Qatar. No matter what the crimes were these terrorists have committed, they will be set free to kill again, just so Obama can claim to the world that he is pursuing peace.

The Washington Times reports that Obama told certain members of Congress last week that he is preparing to share classified US Missile Defense Technology with the Soviets. (Yes - I said Soviets. The two clowns running Russia are committed to resurrecting the Soviet Union.) For what purpose? What is this supposed to do for us?

What it will do is hand all the info needed to defeat our missile defense, a critical technology we have spent billions and billions of dollars on, to our enemies and potential enemies. The Russians are not our allies - we are just coexisting at this point in time. Russian allies ARE China, Iran, North Korea, the Taliban, radical elements in Pakistan. etc. How long will it take them to copy all that info and dispurse it to those countries and more?

Folks, there is no way to define this insanity other than TREASON.

Fiscal Insanity

Our national debt is now over 15 trillion dollars. That means that every man, woman, and child in this country (either legally or illegally) is in debt to the tune of 48,000 dollars.

In spite of all the lip service Obama and Congress gives this incredible situation, spending by the Federal Government continues to increase unchecked. Remember all the grand statements about the debt ceiling deal last summer, how Obama and the Dems said that if we just go ahead and raise the limit to 15 trillion, give or take a couple hundred billion, that real debt reform and spending cuts would be enacted. He got the higher ceiling. No reform has happened.

Obama is about to formally ask Congress to once again raise the debt ceiling by another trillion or so - because we've already reached the ceiling increase agreed to last summer. Imagine that - Washington managed to put us further in debt by well over a trillion dollars in 6 months!

Current projections have us adding a trillion to the national debt EVERY YEAR from this point forward. No plan or proposal currently under evaluation will stop this.

Remember those automatic cuts that fell into place when the Super Committee failed? Over a trillion in automatic cuts, half of which come out of the Pentagon? Obama has plans for that money. He has already stated that money will be available for spending elsewhere - on his pet social programs. Those aren't cuts, they aren't payments to draw down the debt - he's just stealing it to buy more votes.

The nation's debt has exceeded its GNP. As a country, we owe more than we produce. If the country was an individual, it would meet the definition of bankrupt.

This is not sustainable. It cannot continue. There is no magic RESET button that some future President can push to make it all go away. This is a very real, serious problem, and the majority of politicians from both parties are hell bent on ignoring it. Pushing the can down the road for future generations to deal with. They don't want to address it because they are know that every cut will piss off a voting block. The few politicians who try to sound the alarm are branded right wing extremists, racists, obstructionists, Tea Party members ...

Update - Obama officially asked Congress to raise the debt ceiling by another 1.2 Trillion dollars. If Congress votes against the request, Obama has said he would veto and push it through anyway. I'm not sure how the President can veto legislation that is voted down and not sent to him for signature, but apparently He thinks His power is all encompassing ...

Scandal!!! Outrage!!! Oh, the Horror ...

Whataburger, for those of you not fortunate enough to be in the right portion of the country, is home to one of the best hamburgers made by a large chain outlet.

One of the best aspects of a trip to Whataburger was a crisp order of fries, accompanied by their patented formula of ketchup. As close to Heaven as a french fry can get ...

As a trial, Whataburger has rolled out a new ketchup formula, Spicy. My understanding is it will be offered as an option, if public response is strong enough.

I hereby activate the Occupy Whataburger movement. All Whataburger ketchup lovers are hereby instructed to camp out at local Whataburgers, and demand confirmation that the original Whataburger ketchup will continue to be available! Stop a potential catastrophe before it occurs!



Actually, the Spicy ketchup has a hint of jalapeno in it, and it's pretty darned good)

Another Edict From His Lord Highness Obama

President Obama is once again bypassing the will of the people (as represented by our elected officials in Congress) in order to further his far left wing kook agenda.

Meet Richard Cordray. Get to know him, for he will have a large impact on your life.

Richard Cordray will be a 'recess appointment' by Obama to become his 'Consumer Watchdog'. By using the political mechanism of the recess appointment, Obama bypasses the normal confirmation process that is undertaken by the Senate. So, Congress isn't going to get to ask this man any questions. He will not have to explain what his positions are, what his background is, what his plans for this newly created position will be.

Obama is appointing one of his buddies to a position created by a Democrat controlled Congress (Frank/Dodd Consumer Financial Protection Board) with a huge amount of power, without anyone else, including Congress, having any say in the matter. Obama is establishing Cordray's objectives, his reach, his powers, and no one else has any say in the matter.

Senate Republicans voted in December, every single one of them, to block the nomination due to the radical nature of Cordray and the far reaching powers he will receive. Quite a few Senate Democrats likewise have expressed reservations about the man and the position. There is no way he would have been confirmed for the position by the Senate.

Knowing this, Obama pulls an end run around Congress. This sounds like the behavior of a dictator, not a President. It really is no surprise.

Introducing Cordray as his appointee at a press rally in Ohio, Obama said "I refuse to take No for an answer ... I have an obligation as President to do what I can without them (Congress)". Thumbing his nose at Congress in an unprecedented power grab, Obama actually brags about what he has done, and in essence says that he will do whatever he wants, no matter what Congress has to say about it.

I'm sorry Obama, but you were elected President, not Dictator.

Later in the day, Obama's henchmen announced he would use the same tactic to appoint three union lackies to the National Labor Relations Board, bypassing Congress on this move as well. All three of these folks would never have passed Senate confirmation.

Cordray was the Attorney General for Ohio for 2 years (2009-2011), before being voted out of office. Before that, he held lower political positions in the state of Ohio. He is a lawyer by trade, and successful enough to have argued 6 cases before the Supreme Court, most of which were against business. His bio has no inidication of any experience in finance, or banking, or business.

This man is supposed to be the watchdog over all financial institutions in the United States. I don't see anything in his background that even remotely qualifies him to hold that position.

(In the interest of full disclosure, Bill Clinton and George Bush made use of recess appointments, in fact both of them made quite a few more than Obama has so far. However, I don't remember any of them being controversial, and they certainly weren't done as an open challenge to Congress.)

Update - The Federal Government is seeking a new employee for Cordray/Obama's new Consumer Financial Protection Commission. This employee will be the 'Invitation Coordinator'. The only task this person will have is to review the appearance invitations coming IN for members of the Commission. They are anticipating an overwhelming public demand for people on this commission to appear at events across the country. I don't know what the requirements are for the position, but it pays $103,000, plus full insurance and retirement benefits and 5 weeks of paid vacation per year. Wow - can I get a job sitting at a desk opening envelopes for six figures?

Un-f**king believable ...

What do you want to bet that it is filled by some Democrat bigwig's relative, or a campaign contributor's wife?

Update - Obama's DoJ issued a 23 page legal opinion paper to the public, affirming that Obama's appointments were legal. No surprise there, anyone who expected differently is smoking stuff stronger than what His Highness himself uses. The opinion changes nothing - those who support Obama continue to support him, and those who don't, don't.

Just another outrageous example of how the United States Department of Justice is just acting as a political arm of Obama's White House.

Good Old Fashioned Hockey

So, for my first post of the New Year, how about some good, wholesome, family fun?

A compilation courtesy of our friends at Hockeyfights.com.

A couple of observations - you see a lot of Boston Bruins in this, a pretty accurate portrayal of them as the dirtiest team in the NHL.

Aaron Downey has the only lights out punch in the bunch. That's pretty much the highlight of his 3 minute Dallas Stars career.

I find it ironic that the NHL, like the NFL, is trying to cut down on hits to the head and the resulting concussions - and yet they still allow fighting to go on unchecked. Sure, the combatants get 5 for fighting, but you don't see any further punishment for being one of the two legitimate participants in a stand up fight.