Pekin Prattles: October 2007

Lance and Ashley!

One of the areas I do not usually get into....and there are FEW folks....is lives of stars. But this is too good, and one of those things that makes me wonder.....

Lance Armstrong....aged 36....is now romantically involved with Ashley???? FOX has details of the late night kiss-a-fest!

First his lovely wife.....he abandoned for whatever (Cheryl Crow....WOW), then another top star Tori, and now he is with one of the lovely twins......

This guy has to have more on board than a pair of really good pedal-pushers!!!!!

Ya Know?

Sometimes my brain gets sick when i think of the parade of connections among the hoi-poli of the entertainment field!

Duke

Yeah! - Where The Hell Are They?

Neal Boortz asks the question.....

"OK .. WHERE THE HELL WERE ALL THE HURRICANES

In 2007, for the second year in a row, the climate "experts" warned us of a deadly hurricane season in the United States. In April of this year the Colorado State University hurricane forecasting team's predictions for the 2007 hurricane season were well reported in the American media. William Gray said that the Atlantic basin would see a "very active hurricane season" this year. More specifically, they forecast 17 named storms of which nine would become hurricanes. Five of those hurricanes were expected to develop into major storms. The reason for these major storms was, of course (all together now) .... GLOBAL WARMING!

Well, how did they do? Just about as well as they did for the 2006 hurricane season. A complete forecasting flop. There have been 14 named tropical storms in the Atlantic. Four of them developed into hurricanes. Only one of them was categorized as major. Very few of the storms ever reached this country. Tropical depression Humberto caused a bit of rain in mid-September. Felix reached category 4, but struck Central America. Tropical depression Erin hit Texas around August 15th with big-time 40 mph winds. In June tropical depression Barry went up the Eastern coast with sustained winds of about 35-40 mph.

That's pretty much it, folks.

So .. for the second year in a row the hurricane forecasting experts missed ... by a long shot. Thus far 2007 has seen the lowest tropical cyclone activity since 1977. For those of you who went to government schools ... that's 30 years. The North Atlantic hurricane season is currently 30% below normal. That's below ... as in "less than."

So .. all you global warming alarmists who were warning us of catastrophe brought on by global warming ... time to change your tune. Maybe global warming can be blamed for the lack of hurricanes? Hell, give it a try! Let us know how that one works out for you.

But then ... we still have a month left in hurricane season .. so anything could happen, I guess."
I just love "experts".....all the computer models are supposedly used....However, me thinks there is a good bit more "agenda" here than there is actual "prognostication!"

Duke

At The Beach

O.K. It is not an RV trip....but our annual two-week Madeira Beach visit is underway and we are enjoying this as much as the first 16 years here!

Just began the adventure of a card for my laptop to keep me in touch.....Much to learn so I can post pictures, etc.

More later folks.
Duke

She Breaks My Heart!!!!

Laura Bush, til this time my fave image of a Presidential Wife.....Hell, my fave image of a lovely lady of intelligence and yet some sublime effort at being both responsible and quiet.....has stepped in the BS pile BIG-TIME!

She finds a justification for the awful subjugative garment of the Muslim women!

You have to read the Little Green Footballs story!

Laura, you hurt me today....not to mention the MILLIONS of Muslim women you condemned to a life of hiding behind the garments of Male-domination!

Duke

BEACH BREAK! - Ellison Weak on F-A-C-T-S!

Sur-Prize!

Ellison is representing everyone in the land (mostly Minnesotans!), and along the way you just HAVE TO salute fallen comrades!

Unfortunately his speech was weak on them pesky ol facts!

AT POWERLINE they know the facts!

This man will never be anything beyond his current position! Hopefully he will be a ONE-TERM fellow!

GOD, I hope that is true!

As a Muslim, Ellison and I practice different views of truth.....OBVIOUSLY!

Duke

Beach Time.....

Oct 06 Picture of our place...I feel relaxed already!
Duchess and I leave for Madeira Beach this afternoon......two blessed weeks in the sun and spa!

I'll post here some (we put in wireless last year at the condo where I serve on the board)......and some pics at my RV blog....I'll let you know when posting.

Later folks!
Duke

"Won't You Take Me To...Chinatown?" - Hillary continues to reap $ from "small folk"

I remember the song and the lovely young females who sang it....(just not their name!) They, of course referred to "Won't You Take me To Funky Town"....how much similar is this?

This is such a great story, and it will likely never grow beyond the BLOGS.

BUT---It is a definition of the Hildabeast in action.....

Michelle, My Gal, Malkin, has details!

If this grows as it has so far....despite the MSM aversion to anything anti-Hillary....it will be H-U-G-E.....

There is much fertile ground yet for the dissemination of info available about this woman....and her many, many involvements in finance which have later been denied....

Let us hope it all comes out and we enjoy the results of truth in Hillary-busting!

Unfortunately, I find so many folks who believe the Clintons have fingers into Executive/Judicial/Legislative branches, that they are impervious to any form of actual prosecution.

How does this happen? & They comment on the "teflon don"....hello....the Clintons have done more criminal stuff than anyone else and they seem impervious to any form of prosecution. Guess they keep tabs on the folks who could hurt them, and have hammers over all their heads!

Duke

Who Got De Votes????

Does anyone else see the possibility here for some extraordinarily convoluted processes in the 2008 primary?

Florida and Michigan have told the DNC to "fxxx-off".....They are tired of a few really, really small states having so much say in the primary process. I believe they are right in this, by the way.

The DNC, in full command of screwing up everything, has told the states which have chosen the earlier primary for their populous states that they are no longer counted in selecting a candidate. This has given the Democrat voters in these two LARGE voter states cause for the pause as they begin to feel ignored and disaffected by the national party.

The DNC has a death wish. They will be "RIGHT" at any cost. They will tell Democrats in LARGE states to take a hike! They will lose a L-O-T of voters to either non-voting, or crossing the line....

Much of this will be determined by how much the GOP does to assuage the voters in those two states. Will the GOP also take the DEM path of slapping down the voters to insure small-state control of the early primaries. If so, then the two parties both share blame and accountability for their ignoring of voters in BIG states!

If, however, the GOP finds a way to go along with maverick states who have decided to vote early, they may well win over LOTS of DEM voters to the idea of feeling important as opposed to impotent in these swing states which often decide elections.

Hello...GOP....Are YOU listening?

Are you capable of stepping outside the rigid format of the national party to reap a harvest from the DEM debacle? OR....will you join it?

Just wondering!

Duke

Hillary Flaunts Law By Selecting Berger!

Sometimes we need to keep clear focus on the movements of candidates for national office. THIS is one of those times.

Ronald A. Cass writes, at Real Clear Politics, on the Hillary inclusion of Sandy Berger, a convicted criminal, in her campaign:

"During Bill Clinton's administration, there was no shortage of indications that perhaps the Clintons, husband and wife, were a bit casual about legal niceties. Although the accusations fixated many and resulted in convictions for more than a few Clinton associates, in the end, though he was disbarred for five years, Bill Clinton got something of a break because he was personally charming and his accusers seemed less so. Public reaction was that you might not want him around your daughter, but you'd be happy to go have a drink with Bill.

Hillary, whose stiff demeanor won't garner the same slack, doesn't just remind us of prior scandals. Sandy Berger didn't lie about sex or do something ordinary that isn't strictly in keeping with law - like speeding on a road where citizens regard the posted limits as advisory rather than mandatory. Sandy Berger committed a serious crime, intentionally, and lied about it, intentionally, and put his nation at risk. Hillary isn't bothered by any of that. Whatever she says about the rule of law - which limits official power to safeguard all of us - she evidently doesn't believe it was intended to place limits on her.

Picking Sandy Berger tells us something important about Hillary's character. We should listen now - while it can do some good."

I can only add "A-Men!" Time to remember the Clinton years....with the tart attitudes of Hillary vs the smiling, fun Bill Clinton!

Here's the complete story by Mr. Cass.

Public perception needs to go beyond the light looks at smiling candidates and poses before audiences.

This woman is a danger! Period!

After the election is too late to discover/notice this.

Duke

Don't "Nanny-State" My Grandkids!

I don't care which liberal-socialist-educator thought this up....

IT IS WRONG!!!!!

I do NOT need any liberal/socialist teacher/councilor to tell me how to raise my child/grandchild!

READ THE STORY...

Then decide....do you want some educator to take YOUR responsibility for controlling your child?

If so.....then the Nazis can help you know what to do.

If not, someone pull in the horns of this educator-gestapo!

Duke

Deborah Kerr Dies......age 86!

My God!

She was one of my early fantasy gals.....The scene on the beach in "From Here to Eternity!" was so wild (for the time!) it rested on lots of young guys minds.....er...
Well, you know what I mean!

My mortality creeps more and more into mind.

Salute to a great lady of movies/theatre who was around for a long time, and left many lasting images for those of us who live the vicarious thrill of stories on-screen!

Duke

PC'd to Death By Thirst?????

Sound drastic to you.....It is R-E-A-L!

If YOU don't know the story read here!

Now we apparently have the feds following one of the idiot laws which protect some form of animal life....even if it could eliminate the water supply for ATLANTA!

Folks, you have heard me blast out on PC stuff before. This one goes way beyond any form of reasonable.

Atlanta has only days of water left, and the Corp of Engineers....you know, the guys who built the levees in New Orleans, is going to follow a law....even if it kills people!

I used to like the corp, but it has become so incestuous about projects and funding that they will do ANYTHING to perpetuate an operation/funding.

Their 1st priority is keeping the money flowing....then, they will address projects. Then, they will address other things like....you know....L-I-F-E!

If the feds don't step in here NOW, then I go along with Neal Boortz' call for the State of Georgia to wrest control from the feds at gun point. Time for the federales to begin to re-learn state's rights....that archaic principle...you know the one...it is in our CONSTITUTION!

Duke

Where's The Beef? (My Social Security Money!)

One of the greatest mysteries of our time, for most of us....myself included....is, "Where is ALL that SS money collected each year from your check and mine (& our employers)?"

One can picture this huge pot of money that has been growing for decades as we worked our way through life. As one on the cusp of the "Baby Boomers" (I'm going to be 65 January 1st....which for some strange reason the government considers as December!) I have thus far chosen to not delve into SS monies. I am retired, but did not need to take the monies, and as I am still on contract to my former employer for some part time work would find myself making more than allowed without some penalty. Instead to this point I have allowed my SS to grow. January 1st I begin taking from the pot....which actually places me alongside the boomers who are opting out at 62!

So, now I began to look beyond the smoke-and-mirrors issued by ALL our politicians to find out how to locate "MY" money!

It is not easy to do. Probably, on purpose.

However, here is a real simplification of what I found....and please fellow-SSers who perhaps better understand, let me know of any errors in this.

It appears to me that as of 1997 (latest figures available) the fund should have had $636 BILLION. That ain't hay folks. It also is not there!

You see, Uncle Sam (DEM & GOP & IND) has utilized OUR money for other government programs while giving us Government Securities which earn interest. As of 1997 The interest earned was $43.8 BILLION. HOWEVER, in 1997 (a typical year?) the Government also took out another $90 BILLION by issuing another set of Government Securities.

NOTHING is being repaid into the fund in terms of the actual funds taken for other programs! Nothing! Only interest on those funds.

Now comes the crunch.

The boomers are arriving and taking their first returns on a lifetime of investing in SS. They are, however, arriving at a rate faster than the existing monies and interest will be able to pay them!

The logical answer to me would appear to be.....Government begins to repay the initial amount taken in Government Securities back to the fund. BUT Whoa! That is H-U-G-E!

Just to STOP taking out the money coming in would short the government's operation by that $90 BILLION they took in 1997 (probably much higher now!). That is $90 BILLION which would have to be compensated by a) cutting programs, or, b) raising taxes.

& That is without even beginning to pay back the monies already used.

To begin to pay back the initial monies taken and used will be a completely separate set of a) cutting programs, or, b) raising taxes.

You will see most politicians commenting that we are "Good" until 2030 to 2070, depending on whose figures you use, before we have a real crunch. Not by what I see. It appears to me that that floating point in time is actually the point of disaster. That seems to be the point where the money is gone....and still flying out the window....while the combination of stopping the siphon & raising taxes a reasonable amount will NOT BE ENOUGH!

The reason the pols want to make SS appear secure to the future point is obvious. No one wants to be responsible for "biting the bullet" and beginning the cure. GWB tried with his personal investment fund. DEMs, ever wanting ALL monies to flow through government coffers, find the idea abhorrent. In addition, most pols now in office will be gone at crunch time, thus "What, Me Worry?" is the theme.

Whatever the choices to be made for the future.....I am sure I'll be settling in for my long nap prior to the demise of the system. I worry for the kids of today. Those in their 20s-30s-40s, etc.
They are paying into a system that will either not be there, or will be taxed at a huge increase, and the returns to them will be cut.

Anyone today in that 20-40 group planning for their retirement had better find a solid 2nd source. SS, which always has been a SUPPLEMENT, not a primary retirement income...may not even be there for them in an amount which means much to retirees.

A sad situation created by the hungry pols in Washington....of both parties. It is tolerated by we voters through use of the smoke-and-mirrors I mentioned earlier. Until the general public has a clear view of this, and is motivated to elect those who will deal with it, the situation continues down a slippery slope.

& Hillary expects us to believe Health Care can be successfully run by Government? Ha!

Duke

ONE of my sources for figures used!

Let Us Suppose! - No Isreal in The Middle East!

OK, this is an exercise in frustration as the possibility of it happening is remote......Remote, hell... non-existent....B-U-T......just for the sake of discussion and consideration!

Isreal has announced a move of the entire Israeli community.....They will be landing on land given them by the fine folks of The Falklands!

After all, these islands are remote, and occupied mostly by sheepherders...

The British are tired of defending the islands from the South American Would-be-owners.

Simple....Israel becomes the Israel of The Falklands!

We move all of the Israeli people there in communities built in a hurry.....they even bring with them the industry base they enjoy in Israel. Airports, industry and communities spring up in a matter of three years!

N-O-W!

What happens back in Palestine.....you know, where the Israeli folk angered/enraged/and made-mad the Palestinians.....

Well, 1st of all, the Israeli departees blow up all the industry/business/homes/condos/et al in their land prior to leaving. Thus, the Palestinians inherit a place of desolation....decrepit of any form of usable buildings.

They also find the supplies of oil/gas/fuels despoiled.

Now what?

What do you think.....the Palestinians take command, and destroy any buildings left by the Israelis as they strip any usable items from the ruins.

Then, they begin a campaign of "Israelis must pay for rebuilding what they decimated!" It is, after all the right of the Palestinians to have all the riches the Israelis built......

Then the squabbles begin. Palestinians divide into their factions and begin to wage war one-against-the-other. Their goal....to prove which is the supreme power of the "conquered lands"!!!!!!!!

The next thing they do is file for massive relief from the U.N. for their despoiled lands and the peoples therein. Of course, the U.N. grants them billions in instant grants for preservation of their country(?)

Then, the U.N. consideres, and passses a resolution that seeks reparations from the Israelis to the Palestinians for their many years of occupation. The Israelis now need to fund the Palestinians for 20-30 years to insure "balance" in their new domain.

Meanwhile the Palestinians wage war one-on-the-other.....They kill hundreds of thousands.

The world watches and does nothing.

Argentina files for removal of the Israelis from the Falklands, "Their native land!"

Duke

Got B-A-D TB? We'll Let You Cross The Border Only 76 Times! OK?

That is the story....

It is real....FOXNews has it!

We don't need no stinkin fence........

We need a fortress!!!!!!

How much more can we as Americans accept before we stomp our feet and force the Congress/Government to fence off Mexico?????

This is beyond absurd!

Duke

It's A Hsham, I Tell Ya!

AllahPundit gives the story to bring smiles to anti-Hillary folks.

Those 250 folks who "donated to support Hillary" in a bundled effort by Mr. Hsu, are NOT returning their donations as Hillary asked when she mailed them the checks. & They are not doing so in B-I-G numbers!

Hsu on over to HOT AIR for AllahPundit's story!

BUT, it was all donated by dedicated fans???? Har!

I believe this is too funny for mere words, and thus will gleefully roll about the floor for a few minutes in enjoyment.

Duke

Fred Thompson - "Keep The Internet Tax Free!"

Fred Thompson states his feelings on a free internet at Real Clear Politics.

My candidate has the right idea on this one.....I have tried numerous times to read and total the "fees", "Taxes", and "Charges" on my phone bill. Impossible but expensive!

Duchess and I joined son Little Duke in a phone-free home about a year ago. The thing we lost was unsolicited FAX deliveries....I can accept that!

Keep our Internet free!

Duke

Whose OX Was Gored?????

Just go and read and UNDERSTAND the dichotomy!

Liberal bias, I don't see NO Liberal bias......

I YAM a University Pres, and we sees all, knows all, and are un-biased....well, at least for Liberals!

Ahem!

Continue along folks....nothing here for you to see!

Duke

Hillary's Refunds Going "No-Where!"

Literally.......

Suitable Flip tracks the refunds...

Guess what....THEY AIN'T going where they were supposed to.....!!!!!

But the Antique Media will NEVER-NEVER see this one folks.....They are still busy trying to hide the comments blasting the media by General Sanchez!

What a story! In the day of "REAL" media....you know, reporters who could smell a story and attacked as soon as they had info....

It is much harder for the media today.....

They have to ask:

1. Is it something against GWB?

2. Is it something against the Iraq War?

3. Is it something that helps the Liberal cause????

In the case of 1 & 2, they find stories for Page 1!

In the case of 3, it is even bigger & must be repeated for days, often with accompanying editorial comment!

S-A-D!

Duke

Bill Cosby - Al Gore.........Night & Day????

Just read the oped by James Pinkerton....

IT IS REVEALING!

Guess this fits the mold of the General Sanchez comments about media following their "agenda" instead of coverage of actual stories.

How much better-off might the blacks be if they listened to "The Cos?"

Duke

Anonymous E-Mail Received.....

"THE HIGH COST OF A FREE LUNCH

There was a Chemistry professor in a large college that had some Exchange students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab, the professor noticed one young man (exchange student) who kept rubbing his back and stretching as if his back hurt.

The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country's government and install a new communist government.

In the midst of his story he looked at the professor and asked a strange question. He asked, "Do you know how to catch wild pigs?"

The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line. The young man said this was no joke. "You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come everyday to eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence.
They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side. The pigs, who are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat, you slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd."

The student continued, "Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom.
They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back toeating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity."

The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening to America. The government keeps pushing us toward Communism/socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs, etc. While we continually lose our freedoms---just a little at a time.

One should always remember "There is no such thing as a free lunch!"
Also, "You can never hire someone to provide a service for you cheaper than you can do it yourself."

Also, if you see that all of this wonderful government "help" is a problem confronting the future of democracy in America. If you think the free ride is essential to your way of life then you will probably delete this email, but God help you when the gate slams shut!

Wake up America!"

Guess that sez it all....but guess who will not find this real.....Democrats, and those who benefit from "entitlement" programs!

Duke

Surveilance By Me is OKEY DOKEY - By Govt. is B-A-D!

The Hildabeast comes forward with her true feelings of "I am much more equal than you!"

Captain Ed of Captain's Quarters exposes the two-level fraud of Hillary!

This woman knows no bounds in supporting whatever she/Wet Willy wish to do.....BUT, she cannot stand that the US protect itself by checking foreign calls!

I am afraid, very, very afraid......I truly believe the young women of the USA see Hillary as "The Woman" and cannot see the forest for the trees in regard to her actual socialist beliefs, and actions. If that be the case, then we may ALL pay for at least 4 years for her and her spend-spend-spend (entitlement) actions.

Good Bye good times in the economy.....hello higher unemployment, and a diving stock market (which this retiree cannot stomach!)

Mark-My-Words!

Duke

Want National Healthcare? - Buy Some Pliers!

The fact of failure, in almost every aspect, of National Health Care is ignored for the most part by the media. Canada, England, et al. The story is near-universal.

Neal Boortz on English dental care under a national system:

"... IT'S LIKE PULLING TEETH

There is such a lack of government-provided dentists in England that some people have gone so far as to pull their own teeth. Some have used superglue to stick crowns back on. One man did 14 extractions on himself ... with pliers.

For a country that has grown reliant on government, government, government ... now patients are being forced to go to private dentists, which cost money. In fact 78% of people that went to private dentists say that they were there only because they couldn't find a National Health Service dentist. Only 15% were there because they wanted better treatment.

This study showed that 6% of patients resorted to self-treatment, and one out of every five people decided to fore-go dental work because of the cost. One of the study's researchers ran across three people in one morning alone that had pulled out their own teeth.

Here's where government shines. Over one-half of people said that new dentist contracts that the government introduced last year actually made quality of care worse. And 84% said that these changes failed to make it easier to find a dentist and be treated.

Almost half of all dentists say that they no longer take NHS patients.

Well .. that answers a lot of questions Americans have about our friends across the pond .. and it gives us another clear look at what things are going to be like in this country when we get Hillary's precious nationalized health care."

This should be so simple, but the liberals in this country have proven time and again that those who like being under government thumbs, as opposed to taking personal responsibility, will support such a move. Then we'll pay more and get lots less care.

Real shame!

Duke

Use Human Shields - Preferably Young - To Win!

Iraqi/Foreign Terrorists?

NOPE!

U.S. Democrats.....

Anything to try to buffalo the public into buying their SCHIP story!

GWB Vetoed the measure recently.....NO, he was not trying to shut down SCHIP...It is already running. However, he was adamantly opposed to EXPANSION of the program in to the middle class who should have their own insurance.

Democrats trotted out a boy who spoke on his needs (real) but they failed to say the boy was already covered, and would continue to be!

The Democrats used the "human shield" and then yowled when the blogs found the kids' parents own a home, a business with its own building, a $400,000 plus home with a mortgage of about $200,000, and three BIG vehicles!

Now the Dems are practicing the "hit bottom and keep digging" school of idiotic politics. Today they will bring forth an even younger "human shield"...a toddler, to tell their story.

Michelle Malkin has been tracking the story much better than can I!

Oh, and if you didn't catch it.....the new "human shield", toddler-sized....he is also covered by the current SCHIP!

Could someone give the Democrats a call and let them know how completely insane they are on this topic?

Thank you!

Duke

WE AIN'T WARMING!....

Steve Lytte tells the tale, and he KNOWS.....Gore Gets a Cold Shoulder!

No Global Warming in this forecast.....

It makes my heart sing (as an anti-GW person from day ONE!)

Duke

GO BULLS!!!!!

GO BULLS!!!!!

GO BULLS!!!!!

Wow, we have heard Hugh Hewitt go bananas on HIS team, and others in the blogs have done the same......

SO.....

I am allowed!

The Tampa-based University of South Florida (USF) Bulls.....now 6-0 after a romp against the Central Florida boys of 64-12 are now

#2 in the nation behind Ohio State!

Yee Haw is the proper Florida cheer!

GO BULLS!!!!!

Next week, Syracuse!

Duke

FOX News "Comes Clean" about Report of General!

Well, it ain't something of which to be proud....B-U-T!!!!!

FOX does the news as it should have been.....

TRUTH is Sometimes difficult!

The other MSM seem too distracted to notice!

Guess they are "isolated, and immune!"

"We cannot be wrong" is in full force presentation by the media.
"If we don't report it, then it does not exist!"

God, what "Gods" they picture themselves!

We are all just HUMAN folks.....but the MSM seem to defy that fact!

Duke

Israeli Strikes Stopped Syrian Nuke Site!

Yes, it is something even the "MSM".....You know, the Main Stream Media, have admitted.....The Israeli folks bombed a site which is WITHOUT QUESTION!!!!

Read, digest, and identify with the folks who bring you terrorism D-A-I-L-Y!!!!!

Duke

A Different Perspective on Gore's GW Approach!

Bjorn Lomborg writes this OPED for the Boston Globe comparing Al Gore's statements and methods regarding Global Warming, as compared to his U.N. Peace Prize counterparts.

"An Inconvenient Peace Prize!"

Gore's loose use of "facts" and his hysteria have given rise to much speculation in the entire world. The much-more-measured response by the U.N. folks provides solid information sans the screaming and yelling.

I like measured responses, but i guess a measured delivery would not have gotten Gore his Oscar!

Duke

Main Stream Media Dissed By Retired General...

What did the MSM report about the dissing????

"Ex-General: Iraq A Nightmare For US!" (AP)

If you ever want to see agenda-driven media in full denial just read today's newspapers and the AP article headlined above. THEN.....Check out 'Ace of Spades' blog for truth. Equally strong in telling the truth is PowerLine blog.

Our Antique media....still serving as attack dogs for the liberal side, and glad to distort any story to fit the agenda...."News" has deteriorated to nothing more than editorials written as news.

"Ethics???? I don't see no Ethics!....What do they look like anyway? I remember something about journalism ethics....I think it was in a dusty old book in J school.....I Don't believe I read that part!"

As a former broadcast journalist (35 years ago), I am sickened by the media of today and welcome the blogs as a refreshing breath of fresh....honest air, even with all our warts! Better in my mind to see written materials perhaps less-polished than when delivered by the MSM, but certainly looking at both sides of an issue. & I am NOT saying bloggers are poor writers.....there are certainly many excellent writers in our midst.

Duke

Democrats Find NEW Way to Help Lose Iraq?

They seem to be single-minded.....anything, and everything to help cause a LOSS in Iraq.....

Democrat incompetence comes forefront as they diss Turkey, our helpful-friend!

GO-READ-TRY DESPERATELY TO UNDERSTAND THE DEMOCRAT IGNORANCE!

Oh, wait.....Barbara Boxer's district in California has a HUGE citizenry of Armenians!

DUHHHHH!

Simple Minds do Simple Things!!!!

Go Dems, find a way to help us lose Iraq! Whatever the price, they are ready and able to help the enemy!

My GOD, what Asses!

Duke

This Tie Should Have Been Obvious!

FOXNews reports on atheists-in-Liberal Land of Air America!

The Franken-jerks are busy being what they are.......irrelevant!

Duke

JENA-6 - This One STINKS!

The usual selection of Black-Traveling-Drumbeaters had their day in the sun over the Jena 6.

Now, as usual....and obviously, not to be reported in any depth by the Main Stream (Antique) Media....the fellow who was central to the beating of the white youth is back in jail.....cause (drum roll..........) he is also a criminal by earlier events, and now facing loss of his freedom due revocation of probation.

Ah the innocence of "YOUTH".....

Come on Sharpton; yo...Jackson.....what you got to say about this?

NOTHING!

Duke

"THE OWLGORE" To Win Nobel Peace (at ANY COST) Prize!

Joining the ranks of such peace-producers as Yassir Arafat & "Jimmah" Carter....OwlGore will be anointed the "God, Ain't I Wonderful" chief for the coming year....

How neat to be joining the class of "I sold the Idiots on it".....

This means another long step down the path of complete irrelevance for the Nobel. What a sad, sad descent into oblivion for what could truly be a magnificent award for PEACE to deserving people!

The news, just this week, produced English statements that the ploy to show the film to ALL English school kids would instead involve an attachment telling those kids there were 9 MAJOR errors in the film....as to truth and accuracy in the content.

Is the world going mad, or just the Liberal elitists like Gore?

Duke

Jimmah Carter: One Helicopter Away From Greatness?

Yeppers, folks......that is what the man claims.....& if you think that sounds like a bad joke.....Read it:

JUST ONE MORE COPTER!

WOW! I guess I never knew how thinly Carter missed greatness....not to mention re-election!

Unbelievable!

Duke

Islamic Food Fight!!!

The Islamic students of a Canadian university fought to have "halal" food for themselves, and when they got it.....they demanded the end of other foods offered.....

JUST READ THIS and then see if you believe these Islamic idiots are EVER going to be appeased!

Of course not......they want it all, and the liberal appeasers will give it to them...

One

Step

At

A

Time!

UNLESS>>>>>>>> We put our foot down and end Political Correctness!

Duke

Smoking More - S-CHIPing Less?????

The S-CHIP debate, following GWB's veto, has gotten to be a hot item.....mostly because the Democrat Party is hanging a lot on this attempt to expand child-care into the middle-class....at OUR expense!

Michelle Malkin has details of the fiasco perpetrated by the DEMS....& IT AIN'T PRETTY!

This idiocy has to stop before we have English/Canadian/Australian medical care programs run by the state while we D-I-E waiting for care!

Wake up people to the truth about any form of GOVERNMENT-RUN health care! It WILL NOT WORK!

Duke

Muslin Leaders Ignore Facts, Call for Peace!

There it is folks......the "Religion of Peace"....or, at least it's religious leaders call for peace and wonderfulness between Islam and Christianity........

Guess they have not been hearing the calls from their political leaders for annihilation of Christians.

Oh well, Here is the joke/ er Story!

When these idiots get with their militaristic brothers and they all sing from a single song sheet, then we'll talk. Otherwise this message is simply subterfuge!

Nuff Said!

Duke

READ.....Then Think!!!!!

"Calling an illegal alien an 'undocumented immigrant' is like calling a drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist"

Amen!

Duke

A Brit Court Finds Al Gore Film Out-of-line!

Given their hard left lean on all things Islamic, I am surprised by this one.....

A British court has found AlGore's film full of unsupported propaganda!

DETAILS in THIS FOXNews piece!

Time someone began to call this one what it is......

Forcing children to view the film without balancing comment is indoctrination to a belief.

Duke

"Connect America?"

The Hildabeast has another, another, another, another......oops SORRY! That should be...another entitlement program which she has now unveiled.

You'll think it a joke, but NOOOOOOO.....it is real. She wishes to have THE GOVERNMENT provide internet for everyone in the USA!

Sounds good, right?

JUST READ Breitbart....

Government control of the internet.....yeah, that's the ticket! Then they, of course, will BE FORCED to set standards.....what we can and cannot say/publish. What is Politically Incorrect, what is racist.....etc.

How do you spell GOVERNMENT CONTROL????? I believe it is H-u-g-o C-h-a-v-e-z!

Duke

SURPRISE!!!! - There is No GOD in This Place!

From FOX News.....

Just read it and feel the power....the power of those who would KILL the USA!

Duke

"Bush Derangement Syndrome!"

NOPE! - I am not referring to the multitude of folks who rush to condemn everything GWB does. Instead, I am referring to the completely deranged thought patterns of POTUS with regard to Mexican (and other) Illegal Immigrants.....

The story in brief: Illegal in USA kills two lovely teen girls. He admits it. He is sentenced to death. Mexico objects. Bush joins legal-beagles in effort to get sentenced illegal a NEW hearing!

FOX has the complete story HERE!

Excuse me! GWB....What the hell is your Mexican-affliction? Why is the former Texas Governor who sent so many to the death sentence now pandering once again, for the 1,000th time, to the Mexicans and illegals.

Mr. President: Do you expect this fellow to ever be available again for picking crops? Do you plan on receiving a free villa-for-life in the Mexican Riviera from Mr. Fox? Do the Mexicans have pictures of you tied to a bed on which there are several hot chicks?

Somebody help me out here in seeing on what GWB may be hanging his hat in this situation...other than his bed post!

Duke

I Have An Idea!....

Let's spend a TRILLION dollars (in the 1st 10 years!) on a cure for Global Warming; one that a) does next-to-nothing to cure anything, and; b) impacts our entire economic system with massive negatives!

This is NOT a joke folks.....At FOXNews, in a commentary, Steven Milloy tells the tale of this legislative fiasco-in-the-making!

Remember one thing when considering Global Warming....The biggest product of GW is the industry/research/legislation produced in answer to this supposed-man-made weather change.

Milloy is funded by big business. I give you that.....However, keep in mind that those rabid scientists/politicians, etc. who support the "man-is-bad-causes-GW" theory are funded by grants. No GW, no grants! There is a balance in this folks.....

We truly need to discount the folks such as AlGore running about shouting "The sky is falling!" even as they refuse to debate the issue of what is really going on. Their version of this is; we said it, it is true, therefore no debate needed.....just do as we say!

Any problem addressed in such a single-sided, and single-minded approach is NOT going to be solved....if it is even REALLY a problem!

I'll believe we need action when special-interest groups like politicians and grant-receiving "scientists" all sit down with those who feel we have not proven our involvement in the changes, and actually work toward a definitive look at the situation!

Duke

"Ivory Tower Decay"...Or How Higher Education Has Swung WAY Left!

Michael Barone has a clear look at THE LEFT TURN & ITS RESULTS!

This is a long-term and destructive slant by our treasured educators. It is documented, and it is dangerous for our future as a nation!

Duke

S-CHIP TV Ad Boy Has It Rough!

You had to have seen the 12 year old boy talking about his need for the S-CHIP program so he could have health care.

This joke is too rich for my blood......The kid, it turns out attends a PRIVATE School @ $20,000 per year with his sister (another $20,000 per year)......while they live in a house valued at just under $500,000 and his dad owns his own company which is housed in a $160,000 building dad also owns!

He has no healthcare coverage cause daddy is too cheap to buy it!

Catch the entire story over at Captain's Quarters!

Another Democratic fiasco.....selling a health coverage bill using a kid living the good life! WAY TOO FUNNY!

I am not sure how you feel about this, but I do not need to spend a chunk of my retirement income on health care for a rich kid!

Just you wait til Hildabeast gets in your pocket for her version of socialized medicine....It is coming folks, and then you can queue up as do the English and Canadians to wait for meager health care.

Duke

UPDATE: Yes, the family faced some serious injuries to family members over an accident. Does this mean they cannot afford insurance...even as they upgrade their home and operate their business....? Not in my book. They are following the Democrat-approved plan of "take as much free stuff as you can from government." After all....it is "FREE!"

TAX THE RICH!!!!! - Democrats

Yeah, and YOU already DO!!!!!!

The Dems would have us believe the BIG income folks don't pay their way....

B. fuckxxg S.!

Here are the F-A-C-T-S!!!!

Just read them and find the Democrat theme is really, really B.S.!

But then, all we non-government-educated folks knew that!

Duke

Hillary Knows No Shame!

The Hildabeast has once again proven she has not a shred of angst over anything she or "her people" do!

The announcement has been made that her campaign....thus her, as the campaign folk would never make such a decision alone....has taken on Sandy "Pants" Berger as an unpaid adviser.

Pants was caught with SECRET DOCUMENTS stuffed in his pants and socks. He admitted this and even was punished....albeit quite lightly, for a federal crime of this nature. He is a convicted felon.

Why, oh why would Hillary slap the public in the face like this? Cause she can. The media, except for the blogs and FOX, will not be providing any effort on this story.

I guess to figure why she'd do this one only need look at for whom the thefts by "Pants" were committed.......R-I-G-H-T!!!!! The Clintons to save their bacon on who-knew-what-when about possible terrorist attacks on the USA!

One question I still pose, and no one....not the Dems, for sure; not the DOJ; not the GOP; certainly not the Main Stream (read old guard) Media; are asking.....

Why has no one enforced the agreement by "Pants" on his adjudication to take a lie detector test? HUMMMMMM! Complicity?

Guess we'll never know since the DOJ is without interest in any Clinton escapade.

Damn!

Duke

Update: From Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan....."

"Sandy Berger had a high position within our national security apparatus once before. He abused that position. He took top secret materials. He took them home, and we still have not really discovered or know what was in the documents or why they were so important for him to take them," Hoekstra said.

"It's clearly an indication that Sandy Berger is on the way back. That even though he abused the office that he held before and the privilege that he had before that there's a way for him to get back in and become a part of the national policy-making within the United States of America," he added.

Hoekstra also said there is an apparent imbalance in the way I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's case was handled and that of Berger's. Hoekstra said Libby — who was convicted of perjury after he lied about the investigation into the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity — was treated much more harshly than Berger."

UPDATE #2:
Bill Sammon at Examiner.com has more strong sentiments on the criminal being hired/borrowed/used!

The Hildabeast has NO shame!

Democrat "Rush" To Condemn is Idiocy!

The loud braying by the various parts of "The Donkey" are attempts to provide cover from the "Gen. Betray Us" dumb, dumb, dumb ad! They wish they could make a case against Rush.... they even wished upon a star several nights in a row.....

but...

It ain't happening. Instead they have probably given Rush good PR while further marginalizing their efforts as the "Democrat Congress".

Daffyd at Big Lizards exposes the "phony soldiers" about which EVERYONE but the Democrat leadership know Rush was speaking!

How pathetic can the Democrat leadership become? On that topic, just why is it the GOP is so very, very slow/lax in taking advantage of the Democrat lunacy? The GOP is given every opportunity to charge in and make point, after point, after point....but, they fail to do so. If they continue thusly they will lose even more seats in the 2008 Congressional election!

Is there a sane politician left in the Congress? Why are we NOT electing non-incumbents in every case? Probably lack of public interest as we watch good candidate

Duke

We're Killing US! - Political Correctness Is The Tool!

This is one piece you need to read completely....then go back and read it again.

Then, for God's sakes...think about what you read!

From Neal Boortz today:

"About 159 years ago someone named Karl Marx sat down to put his dream to words; his dream of a communist state that was to become a worker's paradise. Somehow it didn't work out all that well, but it certainly wasn't for a lack of effort. Tens of millions of people died in Russia, China and elsewhere to show what an incredibly bad idea Marx had.

It's ironic to me that the countries who suffered under the rule of Marx' worker's paradise have largely rejected so many of the tenants set forth in his Communist Manifesto, while the one country that held communism at bay for over 70 years and eventually destroyed it still embraces many of those ideas.

We've gone through this before, but once again (hey, there might be new Nuze readers!) let me tell you of just two of the essential elements of a communist society as set forth in Marx's work:

1. A progressive graduated income tax.

2. Government education of the children.

Countries across Europe, especially former communist countries, are moving from a progressive income tax to either consumption taxes or a flat tax. Ever heard of the Irish Miracle? And across Europe more and more people are being allowed the freedom to choose where their children shall be educated. They choose the school, the tax money follows. And yes, more and more this is including private schools."

Then Neal gets to this from C. S. Lewis....written decades ago...but still today true.

"What I want to fix your attention on is the vast overall movement towards the discrediting, and finally the elimination, of every kind of human excellence -- moral, cultural, social or intellectual. And is it not pretty to notice how 'democracy' (in the incantatory sense) is now doing for us the work that was once done by the most ancient dictatorships, and by the same methods? The basic proposal of the new education is to be that dunces and idlers must not be made to feel inferior to intelligent and industrious pupils. That would be 'undemocratic.' Children who are fit to proceed may be artificially kept back, because the others would get a trauma by being left behind. The bright pupil thus remains democratically fettered to his own age group throughout his school career, and a boy who would be capable of tackling Aeschylus or Dante sits listening to his coeval's [of the same age] attempts to spell out A CAT SAT ON A MAT. We may reasonably hope for the virtual abolition of education when 'I'm as good as you' has fully had its way. All incentives to learn and all penalties for not learning will vanish. The few who might want to learn will be prevented; who are they to overtop their fellows? And anyway, the teachers -- or should I say nurses? -- will be far too busy reassuring the dunces and patting them on the back to waste any time on real teaching. We shall no longer have to plan and toil to spread imperturbable conceit and incurable ignorance among men." C. S. Lewis

Neal sums up the sickness of today's education this way....

"This country is in trouble. No, I'm not talking about the threat from outside – the biggest element of which would be Islamic radicalism. I'm talking about the threat from inside. The men who marched in bare feet wrapped in rags over frozen ground in 1776 – leaving a trail of blood for the British to follow – would scarcely recognize us. They put their lives on the line for independence, far too many of us strive for dependence. They embraced freedom. We embrace security. The men of 1776 were extraordinary. We reject the extraordinary for the mundane.

Our schools are turning out perfect little government subjects who have been taught that, somehow, it is bad to excel, but virtuous to simply fit in.

Do you think the men and women of just two generations ago could ever imagine a school system where children aren't allowed to play tag because it involves chasing and unwanted touching? Of course you don't want to be touched! That makes you "it!"

How about a school system that won't honor a valedictorian because other students might feel slighted or left out? Read again that sentence from C.S. Lewis where he says that the "nurses" are "far too busy reassuring the dunces and patting them on the back to waste any time on real teaching."

We have schools now that grade with shapes instead of letters. "What did you get on your math test today dear?" "I got a square, mom!" In some schools teachers won't use a red pen to grade papers because red denotes errors or a bad grade, and they don't want the precious little students to get upset.

All you have to do is look around you to see what a miserable failure our government schools are. A huge percentage of entering freshmen at state colleges and universities have to enroll in remedial courses in order to bring them up to college speed. In Georgia we have students who, thanks to rampant grade inflation, graduate from their high schools with better than a B average who can't handle freshman-level courses in college without first going through a remedial program.

Our kids are being taught by the worst of the worst in their government schools. Check out the education school at most major universities. The freshmen who chose to pursue a degree in education come from the lowest level of the entering class; and those who go on to pursue a graduate degree in education come from the lowest ranks of their undergraduate class. This is how you get teachers sending home report cards that read "Johnny are learning to spell good."

If we don't do something to break the grip of these government schools, and the teacher's unions that run them, we are going to lose this entire country to mediocrity. We are going to continue to churn out generations of mind-numbed government subjects who can readily identify the faces of the current pop culture, but who couldn't tell the vice-president from the speaker of the house if their iPods depended on it.

The answer is competition. We need school choice. If you want to continue with taxing the stuffing out of the people to pay for education, fine. Just let the money follow the children, as they do in much of Europe. Let the parent investigate the choices and then make a decision as to where their child will go to school, public or private. Then send the money chasing after the child. Only competition will drive these schools to strive for excellence. The security of government mandated attendance will only foster laziness and complacency.

Several weeks ago Hillary the Hideous loudly proclaimed that "privatization isn't the answer to anything." As I said at the time, this means that Hillary Rodham must think that government is the answer to everything ... including education.

The teacher's unions heard her loud and clear. Last week the American Federation of Teachers endorsed Hillary. No surprise. Look for the National Education Association to fall in line.

If we are to save our Republic we must create a generation or two of independent-thinking young adults who value freedom over security and who know the truth of what it was that made this country great. We will never get this from our government schools. Putting it bluntly, government schools and the teacher's unions that control them, and our politicians, are killing this country."

I spend this much space and time on the topic because I, for one, feel it is time to stop the BS of political correctness...time to stop the teachers unions and politicians who wish to use school to create millions of little robots trained to all perform at the same level.

They are destroying the strength of this country....independence! Remember? We fought a "War of Independence" not a war for dependence!

Wake up America.

Duke

Brit Muslim Med Students Refuse to Study Some Diseases!

THIS IS TOOOOOOO RICH......

but TRUE!

A sad, vary sad presentation of the reach of insertion of sharia law into the Brits world....accepted, or tolerated by them..........

GOOD BYE BRITAIN! - You go to a death more sure than taxes........

WOW!

READ & UNDERSTAND THE BRITISH DEATH-BY-SHARIA.......It is real and pathetic.....

By the time the uber-liberal Brits find out what they have wrought.....England will be D-E-A-D and a Muslim adjunct!

Duke

Waffle - Waffle, Here's Why We Don't Report GOOD Iraq News!

This is beyond the pale.......

A Media explanation of why they do not need to report GOOD NEWS in Iraq!.....

Howard Kurtz reports and.......The media oblige by telling why they possibly should not report.

Kurtz tells why this is a COMPLETE FRAUD! Based, of course, on other topics reported by the media.

LIES! Media propaganda! and Self-Deception, perhaps?????

Don't you just love the HUGE waffle irons the MSM possess?

Duke

NOVAK: Wilson Not Concerned About Wife's Exposure!

Years after Joe Wilson tried so very hard to project a White House effort to "out" his wife, the original writer sez Wilson was NOT worried about that.....

Read Novak's story!

Wilson was a spy allright......not his wife.....Wilson was a spy for the liberal establishment and the entrenched CIA operation opposed to GWB.....his wife simply provided him the playing field for his attempt to shoot down GWB! Aided and abetted by the "Old Guard" media!

You'll not see much of this in media other than FOX! It does not fit their "story line!"

How sick is our MSM (Main Stream Media)? REAL SICK and extremely biased......

Duke

Scary Stuff at the Duke & Duchess' Home!!!!

I have missed a day of my new series on retirement.

I have a valid reason!

Duchess and I experienced (actually I did, as she does not remember it AT ALL) a really strange event Thursday evening.

It is a bit long, but I have to offer the story as it was by far the scariest time of my life!

Let me preface this by saying I believe she is fine.....

I had been to the Elks Lodge; she to her water volleyball match.

She returned 1st, and I called in when leaving the Lodge so she had time to prepare dinner....I had a 20 minute drive.

She told me she was having a martini.....and said it was hitting her a bit.

When I got home, the dinner was ready and she was at the table with a half-filled martini glass in front of her.

She seemed a bit glassy eyed, but we ate quietly....unusually quietly for her, and we took our night meds. She then got VERY quiet, and was motionless. I talked her out of the rest of the martini.

After a few minutes she began to get quite agitated.....she began a keening sound, and waved her arms about wildly, eventually screaming a one-note-high-pitched-scream time after time.....

She seemed not to notice me, even when I tried to comfort her.

I got so worried I called 911.

They kept me on the phone, hearing her screaming and my obvious upset until 5 EMTs showed up at our home.

They checked her, and she calmed down a bit....though completely glassy eyed, and she did not speak! Her blood sugar was normal....same for blood pressure and heart. They asked if she wanted to go to the hospital, and she looked at them as if intoxicated.....then shook her head slowly NO.

Leaving them nothing to do, they departed.

After a short while she began the cries again, but when I talked to her this time she slowly subsided and I helped her walk to bed (she could not walk without me holding her upright).

When I laid her on the bed she fell asleep almost immediately.

At 3am I walked her to the bathroom as she still could not walk, and did not communicate with me.

At 8am, she awoke and was fine!

I slept about an hour all night, jumping awake fully every time she moved or made a noise....

To this moment she remembers nothing from the phone call I made to her on leaving the Lodge. She does not remember cooking, eating, the screaming, EMTs, or even the 3am bath visit.

After a day of calling our hospital folks.....including a state-of-the-art poison center.....there is no consensus. They do feel options include a martini-drug connection. We'll see her doctor (who has been changing some of her meds) on Wednesday. She continues to be fine and normal.

I am still really concerned, but at least no longer panicky! She is doing without martinis!

Duke

From The Scary Stuff Department!

Instapundit, Glenn Reynolds reports on a variation of the Mike Nifong situation.....except it has been going on for 20 YEARS!

& It may involve hundreds of cases, reaching all the way to death row!

This stuff is really scary......I am sure there will be lots more coming about this one.

Duke

Feeling Comfortable About Our Intelligence???

Fogettaboudit.......

Our government from a semi-blind and inchoherent CIA to an overly-cautious President and a less-than adequate Sec. of State almost blew it on the Syrian Nukes deal!

Meryl Yourish gives description to the keystone cops effort by that team that blew it on 9/11 and on WMD.

Our CIA is a world-wide laughing stock. Our President, the man who will do what is right, whimped out. Condi played conservative wait-and-see cat and mouse.

Isreal took the bit in the teeth and did what needed to be done.

Yeah, I'm real confident about national security and our government's ability to act. I am feeling a good bit like the government from Bush to Condi to CIA just pulled a Jimmy Carter on us!

Duke

P. C. Schools Have Done What??????

This, my friends, is too close to truth!

Received via email.......

Years of Math 1957 - 2007

Last week I purchased a burger at Burger King for $1.58. The counter girl took my $2 and I was digging for my change when I pulled 8 cents from my pocket and gave it to her. She stood there, holding the nickel and 3 pennies, while looking at the screen on her register. I sensed her discomfort and tried to tell her to just give me two quarters, but she hailed the manager for help. While he tried to explain the transaction to her, she stood there and cried. Why do I tell you this?

Because of the evolution in teaching math since the 1950s:

1. Teaching Math In 1950s

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?

2. Teaching Math In 1960s

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100 His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?

3. Teaching Math In 1970s

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80. Did he make a profit?

4. Teaching Math In 1980s

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

5. Teaching Math In 1990s

A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. He does this so he can make a profit of $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes? (There are no wrong answers, and if you feel like crying, it's ok. )

6. Teaching Math In 2007

Un hachero vende una carretada de maderapara $100. El costo de la producciones es $80. Cuanto dinero ha hecho?

Yeppers folks, it is true. I read what my grandkids bring home from school. This is a liberal PC destruction of our educational system.

Do we wonder why the Chinese and Japanese and lots of other countries are producing more engineers, etc. than do we?

We should be wondering........

Duke

Gen. Wesley Clark: Stop Free Speech!

O.K., I overstate....but read the lines folks.......this former General wants to muzzle talk show folks and interfere with free speech.......

LISTEN to the sound of desire for censorship! These are real folks.....

Liberals wish to silence ANY form of disagreement with their line.....

Watch out or BIG BROTHER will be reality!

Duke

Re-Tire-Ment! - SS, Medicare, Parts A,B,D, et al

W-O-W!

Duchess and I are nearing the end of the process of retirement. Perhaps "process" is much too kind a word.....I believe I like "project" much better!

Duchess retired from our employer, a major hospital, at the end of April 2006. I stayed on (to gain one more year in retirement money) until the end of August 2006.

Yesterday we began the final act of this project as I officially applied for Social Security & Medicare....both to begin January 1, 2008. On that day I turn 65. My delay in seeking earlier Social Security relates to my continuation as a "contractor" for the hospital following my retirement.

Between her retirement date and yesterday we have each experienced many confusing, complex, and depressing moments. They involved things for which we felt prepared, but found we were not.

RETIREMENT MONEY.....

For the uninitiated, we had presumed that finalizing our retirement funds from our employer would be a fairly cut-and-dried process. NOPE.

You receive no word from the employer for 30 days AFTER YOUR LAST CHECK! That means the process does not begin until then. If you have vacation pay, etc. the process can drag on for 60 or more days. Also, your immediate superior has to submit paper work to the hospital to make your retirement official.

Once word has been sent, and pay has stopped, you will receive an application for retirement funds. This has to be completed and mailed back. Once another 30 days or so has expired, you will receive another letter from the retirement group. Now you have to choose among several options for your money. Take a monthly payment as long as you live; take a lessor amount each month with a survivor payment to your spouse if she/he outlives you; take your money in a cash payout (they will deduct 20% off-the-top for taxes); take your money as a rollover into an IRA investment fund.

We chose the last option as it is our feeling that we'd prefer to invest our own money, and upon our death have the funds left for children/grandchildren. We are fortunate enough to not have to use the money immediately, so we can plant it and let it grow!

Duchess finally got the rollover into our IRA investment at the end of September! FIVE full months after she retired. By the way, in Florida the employer has a full six months to get through this process....they use most all of it! Our thought was of those folks who might retire without a nest egg on which to live for those months. My money took about the same time, and I jumped through the same hoops as had she. Obviously the process is not impacted by longevity in the job as Duchess had 33 years while I ended with completion of my 14th year at the facility.

One of our surprises was the fact that the employer provides no real planning device for the completion of your retirement conversion. In fact, they either will not, or cannot provide for you the exact amount of money you will receive until you are nearing the end of the process. That leaves one also unsettled as to what you will actually have. Not a pleasant process to be sure.

Next up.....

INSURANCE.....

I'll address that tomorrow!

Duke

Risking Cries of "Racist!", I Plow Ahead!

O.K., here it is kiddies.......

The media are full of cries, screams and votes on the Hildabeast's proposal for a $5,000 check to each new babe in the Hew-Ness-of-Ay!

She said it once.....before a Black audience!

She has not touched it since!

Humm.....could Hil-a-Rod be pandering to a black vote she already owns? The mere fact she said it once will reverberate for months along the halls of the blogosphere, and in other more main-stream media!

Guess her figure draws such attention as to make the one-time tid-bit a staple of media talk for so long as to gain her goal.....publicity. She need never again speak of this thing, and it will still be rolling about the halls when the 2008 election occurs. By then the folks who find the idea preposterous will have moved on as she fails to expand/repeat the idea.....However, the audience she addressed will still be tucking this into their "wish-list" and awaiting enactment as soon as "Queen" Hill-Not-Bill is elected....

Humm

Duke

"Dems Open Pandora's Box of Anti-War Hate!"

WOW! I have seen some hoof-in-mouth disasters committed by politicians, but this FOXNews expose, via Gateway Pundit, TELLS A WOEFUL DEMOCRAT TALE!

Thank You Democrats......the gift that keeps on giving!

Duke

The "Strib" has a Story I Like!!!!

The Star-Tribune of Minneapolis has finally found a story I like......

It is, of course, About Traffic Fines.......

What can i say. They got this one right.....

These cameras are a definite YUCK!

Duke

Hillary Gets The B-U-C-K-S!!!!!!

President Bush is right........there is no stopping the Hildabeast Express to the nomination for the Democrat Party!

The problem is, the Hildabeast is not ELECTABLE for the general populace!

Now, you can watch as the Hillary ("We are the President") gets her act into the full monty!

The act will be....."I am the answer to anyone, anywhere, anytime and in charge of making ALL things possible under my Presidency!"

This broad will cut us a new one if elected.....she wants to gut our economic engine....She wants all business to pay for anything and everything she proposes.... including $5,000 for each and every child born in the USA! That is something both un-fundable, and without any form of merit....(the Mexicans wish it so, and they would produce babies often and regularly!!!!!!)

Get a grip Hildabeast!

We, the electorate will NOT allow you into office as we cannot AFFORD YOU!

Duke

O. J. - Not just a "Juice" Anymore!

O.J. is no longer immune to the facts of life......

FOX has details as the master of "If I Did It!" gets caught up in reality!

Nuff to say he is going the way of all good criminals.....it took WAY to long for this one to begin to take effect!

Duke

Rush sez....."Bring It On!" to Reid and Others!

This is just too rich......

Harry Reid tried a sleight-of-hand about a Rush comment, and thus wished to divert public attention away from the failed Democrat effort on the Iraq War (it is being won, by the way!).

Rush Will not go softly into the night!

He has issued the challenge......I'd probably give about 50-1 odds Reid demures in some fashion from the invitation!

He'd look like a "chimps' behind" against Rush!

Thanks Reid, you once again prove the complete inability of the Democrats to govern!

Duke

Why, Oh Why Are The Media Hiding On The Rush Story?

Hummmmmm.....

The explanations are many....and all amount to bias/protection of Hillary, etc.

Newsbusters covers it more-than-adequately!

The media....a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Democrat (Clinton) Party!

They are so far bent as to begin to pull folks back to the GOP! That is a plus. No really open thinker can possibly perceive that the Media are balanced....with the possible exception of FOX News.... which of course drives the rest of the media wild....

Who has the ratings, my friends????

F-O-X!

Duke

Hillary Knows NO Dirty Money!

Nicholas Von Hoffman has details.

This woman, and her philandering hubby, have gone thru more money and connections than Sherman passed homesteads in his march to the sea!

They do not know any BAD money. When confronted with Norman Hsu's illegality her campaign returned all the bundled money.....along with a letter asking the folks who got the money back (hint: it was never theirs anyway) to deposit the check and then write a new one back to Hillary! Clean money????? NOPE!

The chips will fall, but the Clintons count on the fact the wheels of justice turn slowly, and they have perfected the art of hiding their own efforts behind others so they are never exposed.

They, as a couple, are the perfect con!

How to take money without really trying, and making it someone else's fault!

Shame on them and our public which allows such.

Duke

Pay No Attention To The Lies Behind The Curtain!

This is just R-I-C-H! Tom Harkin, confirmed liar about military experiences decides he is an authority....

That reaches beyond the pale!

Duke

Try FRED Instead!

Fred Thompson is given a big boost by J. Peter Mulhern at The American Thinker!

I have, for the time I have espoused Thompson, said he is the candidate who can pull the Reagan numbers....and there is not a Clinton alive able to compete against Ronnie. Not Bill....and most certainly not Hillary.

Hillary is her own worst enemy. She carries so much baggage about lifestyle; business deals; bad temperament; foul mouth; and "playing-to-the-crowd" to ever give her better than 40% of the populace. Last I knew that would not elect a President! Bill, her hubby/vote-getter, etc. is also her worst enemy. To recreate the words of another politician......Hillary is NO Bill Clinton!

Go Fred!

Duke

"Theatre of The Absurd!" - Democrats Are Selling Tickets!

Sometimes I am astounded by the audacity of the Democrats in Congress. Today is one of those times....

Rep. David Obey (D-Another Planet!), has now said, "This war is draining the treasury dry. ... There is a huge opportunity cost that is being paid by the same younger generation that is going to be asked to pay the bill because the president is paying for this war on the cuff," Obey said. "If you don't like the cost, then shut down the war."

His proposal.....The annual cost for the war — $145 billion — could be paid by a tax that would range from 2 percent for low/middle income folks to 12-15 percent for higher income households. (Don't the Dems love to offer MORE taxes from the only segment paying 90% of the taxes already?)

My question back would be, "Rep. Obey....how much annually do you and the rest of the Congress spend on "P-O-R-K!"???????"

Bet it tops the $145 billion for the war!

Democrat arguments are all ways, all the time about Iraq.......despite our winning ways and things advancing....this incredible party has a one-track mind and a single one-note song.....do not confuse them with facts...their mind is made up! Even Hildabeast has bailed this ship!

They cannot seem to find another thing about which they can propose any action. Real creative guys & gals!

Duke

Illegals....Here To Work???? READ THIS!

From Neal Boortz:

"COST OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

LA County has released figures which outline the actual cost of illegal immigrants. Remember that these figures are just for Los Angeles County and they are just for one month.

In the month of July, illegal immigrants and their families collected over $35 million in welfare and food stamps. $20 million in welfare and $15 million in food stamps.

The estimated annual cost of illegal immigrants in LA County -- $440 million.

But wait, that doesn't include the additional $220 million for public safety and $400 million for healthcare. Where are we at now? The taxpayers of LA County are paying more than $1 billion per year because of illegal aliens.

One more thing ... that figure does not include the soaring cost of government education.

Then again .. remember that Mexican Magazine which ran a story with the headline "Los Angeles is Ours!" Fine ... let Mexico pay the bills.

..... and the invasion rolls on."

Ya gotta love the Democrat Party for their full support of the invasion, and the GOP "joiners" who work with them.....you know, like Sen. Mel martinez of FLORIDA!

Our Florida tax dollars at work. Wonder what the illegal costs are for us in areas of Florida such as Metro Miami, Tampa, Orlando, and the crops lands across the state? What a neat country.....illegals come, get jobs, get paid, and get more benefits than our LEGAL citizens!

Remember this next election day, folks, and check each candidate's voting record and statements on illegals!

It is way past time for us to Take Back America!

Duke

Dems...Condemn Some....Not Others

Let me get this straight? FOXNews has details of the Democrats, led by Horrible Harry, attacking Rush for negative comments about anti-war soldiers?

Are these the same Democrats who spoke so brazenly about Gen. Petraeus?

Are these the same Democrats who would not join in the condemnation vote on an ad by their attack-dog-wing MoveOn.Org against the same General?

Me thinks they speak out of two sides of their mouth! There seems to be a distinction between a soldier speaking out in negative fashion....particularly most of those who have spoken and then been proven lying in their stories....and a General already vested as the best possible by the ENTIRE Senate, just months earlier.

Not to the Democrat losers. They cannot let the Iraq theme they clung to, apparently until death do them part, just go away. They have lost every vote on the issue.

NOTE: for those who have not yet read the report.....deaths in Iraq are D-O-W-N! Way down! Last month was almost quiet.

Duke

Education (Higher???) - If Youse Liberal, You O.K., If Not You No Speeka Dee Lan-guage!

Yeppers folks, that is the story.......

From the National Journal a GREAT look at the USA Higher-Education bias to the L-E-F-T.....By a MILE!!!!!

A Nugget from the piece, by Stuart Taylor, Jr., for you?????

"These episodes, and enough others to fill volumes, expose the double standard that many academics and journalists apply to free-speech controversies. Such people passionately champion the freedoms of liberals such as Chemerinsky and "dialogue" with America-haters such as Ahmadinejad. But they downplay, ignore, and in some cases support censorship of conservative and even centrist speakers.

Universities across America have thinly veiled speech codes, misleadingly called anti-"harassment" policies. These make it dangerous for students to say anything that might offend minorities, women, and gays."

We are sending our kids to these places????

WHY?????

Duke

Obama Uses Bill's Words Against Hillary!

Good on Ya Mate!

Bill is the most-famous of the "say-what-you-need-to-when-you-need-to" crowd, and has NEVER been held responsible for any comments by a willing and malleable Main Stream Media.

This "Teflon Bill" is able to manipulate news magazine's reports, avoid publishing of certain documents, and even capable of finding solace in Sandy "Pants" Berger, his infamous hack who stole documents which are presumed to have been a BAD reflection upon the Billster himself.

Obama caught one of those HERE at Breitbart.

If only the media were fair and covered both sides of the political coin.

Dream On!

Duke

Pekin Prattles

Wednesday, October 31, 2007