Thursday, May 31, 2012

And The Hits Just Keep On Coming

To all of you who follow this site regularly (I've yet to figure out why), and to those of you who may be dropping by for the first time... 


Location...Location...Location

It's probably just me but, the venue seems a little weird considering the dialogue.  Sorta like having a nudist convention at the North Pole...


Inspired by "The Cable" and Josh Rogin

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Awake And Asleep

"Let China sleep.  For when he wakes, he will move mountains".
- Napoleon Bonaparte


Guess what folks?  HE'S AWAKE.  And if America doesn't wake up soon, we're going to get buried by the mountains being moved. 





Freedom

A bird never searches for a cage...unless it lives in a house with a cat.



Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Today Is Jack's Birthday

"A revolution is coming - a revolution which will be peaceful if we are wise enough; compassionate if we care enough; successful if we are fortunate enough - but a revolution which is coming whether we will it or not.  


We can affect its character; we cannot alter its inevitability."
- John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Notes

Whenever I hear President Obama speak, I write what he says on a piece of paper.  But I don't file it 'til I have to.



It's Summer Time

Humor me.  I was a teenager in the 60's and I'm still a teenager...


Sunday, May 27, 2012

Neighbors

I own a nice piece of property.  It's a quaint place with a lot of old traditions.  The problem is my next door neighbors.  They formed an association a few years ago and are now on the verge of bankruptcy.  I could see it coming, and here's why.  


This association isn't your normal homeowners association.  The members are condo renters who collectively own their own multi-unit condos.  These owners-renters were collecting huge amounts of rent money and spending it like it was going out of style.  It got to the point that most of these owners-renters were having such a great time they didn't care how precarious their economic situation was getting.  As a matter of fact, they were borrowing huge amounts of money and spending far more than they were collecting in rent.  Now they're trying to avoid bankruptcy.


Consequently, it's affecting the value of my property and I'm afraid I might have to file for bankruptcy as well.  And if that happens the folks living on the other side of me will probably end up in the same situation as me and the association.


Just to clarify the situation, here are three property maps.  The first is the association, then my property, and then there's the neighbor that lives on the other side...











Saturday, May 26, 2012

Stop And Go Memorial

On this Memorial Day, stop and remember someone who didn't come home and then go shake the hand of someone who did.

Friday, May 25, 2012

"Big" Headlines - Small Potatoes

I try once a day to click over to the Huff-n-Puff Post just for giggles and snorts.  Well, today was no exception.  They were on a "BIG" kick with their headlines.  Here are three examples...


BIG Headline #1:  "Big Decision Made In Romney, Ryan Scandal".  "GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, will not face prosecution from an Election Day event" because there was no "election bribery".


Whoa!  I apologize folks, but I missed the BIG election day "scandal" involving Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan trying to bribe voters.  But, according to the "Waukesha Patch", "Waukesha County District Attorney Brad Schimel concluded a six week investigation and released on Friday his decision to Melissa Bauldauff, the research director of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin (plaintiff).  District Attorney Schimel concluded there was no 'election bribery" involved.


What was the BIG scandal?  What was the BIG bribe.  As Paul Harvey used to say, click here for "the rest of the story".  Want a hint?  The picture. 


P.S.  I think the real reason the complaint was denied was because the subs weren't "BIG" enough.





BIG Headline #2:  "Christie Makes Brazen (BIG) Move To Defy Federal Ban".  According to Huff-n-Puff, "New Jersey will defy a federal ban and let people bet on outcomes of football, basketball and other games this fall, Gov. Christie said Thursday".


Pretty brazen of the Governor to defy the federal government.  Especially when the people of New Jersey voted 2-1 last fall in a nonbinding referendum that they want the ability to bet on sporting events.  Giggle-Snort-Giggle-Snort.  And another thing, any kind of move Mr. Christie makes is "brazen" and BIG.  Just look at him.  BIG Giggle...BIG Snort.






BIG Headline #3:  "John Boehner Group Fails With Less-Than-Generous (BIG) Move".  Seems as though Speaker of the House John Beohner and an entourage of Secret Service agents were eating a California restaurant the other day. According to Huff-n-Puff calculations based on a report received from the wait staff at Sam's Chowder House in Half Moon Bay, the tip left was on the small side (opposite of BIG).  It was also reported that a Secret Service agent returned a couple days later and had the restaurant add another $30 to the bill.  Odd thing with this BIG story is that good old Huff-n-Puff failed to report how small (less than BIG) a tip Mr. Beohner left for the wait staff to begin with.


Like I said, nothing but small (opposite of BIG) potatoes.  




Thursday, May 24, 2012

Wait For It...Wait for It...Wait For It...Wait For It

Imagine the length of this video is the current session of Congress and the slinky is all the members of Congress working on the federal deficit...



Inspired by "The Troglopundit"

I'm An Engineer And Proud Of It

I read recently that because of the prolonged high unemployment in this country, about the only college education that might guarantee you a job is engineering.  So I told my eight grand children, "Get a degree in engineering".  Then I read this and told them, "Don't spend money you don't have on an education you don't need"... 

And just to let you know, I'm a graduate of Red Green University.  Here's a video of Professor Green, with help from one of his 'grad students', illustrating some of the many uses of...


Inspired by "Maggie's Farm" and educated by "Red Green".

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Generational Communication

I bought my grand daughter her first cell phone a couple months ago.  She came over this evening and told me she'd lost it.  I told her the first phone I ever had didn't get lost.


Never could figure out how to get the darn thing off the wall and stuffed into my pocket. 

Speed Thinker


Saturday, May 19, 2012

No Way Hussein

I never had the chance to choose my middle name. But if I could, I really like "Dubya".  But, no way "Hussein".






Thursday, May 17, 2012

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

513 - 0

Let's imagine you and your friend starting separate businesses at the same time selling the same thing.  You're both selling cell phones and after a few weeks he's sold 513 phones and you've sold not a single one.  Wouldn't you start thinking maybe you're in the wrong business?


Or, how about you and your friend are playing a game of one-on-one basketball and after a few minutes you're getting beat 513 to nothing.  Wouldn't you start thinking maybe one-on-one basketball just isn't your game.


Well, back in March the U.S. House of Representatives voted on President Obama's budget proposal and the vote was 414-0.  Today, the U.S. Senate voted on his budget proposal and the vote was 99-0.


Maybe the president should start thinking about a different line of work.  


Then again, maybe he already has. 

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Lots Of Oil

Half the oil in the world is right under here...


This past week an auditor for the General Accounting Office in Washington, DC appeared before the House Science Subcommittee on Energy and Environment and spoke on energy and in particular The Green River Formation-an assemblage of rock that lies beneath parts of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.  Anu K. Mittel, the GAO's director of natural resources, stated that this area contained the world's largest deposit of oil shale.  She stated that the US Geological Survey has estimated that this area contains three trillion barrels of oil, half of which is recoverable.  This is an amount equal to the entire world's proven oil reserves.


Wow.  The amount of oil in the whole world just doubled this past week and half of it is right here in the United States.  But wait, there's more good news.  Most of this oil is located underneath land owned by the federal government.  Double wow.  We all know how efficient and fast acting the federal government is, so it's not going to be long and all of our energy problems will be solved.


But wait,  I seem to recall something a famous economist by the name of Milton Friedman once said..."If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five years there'd be a shortage of sand".


Oops.  

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Humpty Dumpty

I don't feel the least bit sorry for him.  He shouldn't have been fooling around up there in the first place.



Saturday, May 5, 2012

I Ain't No Dummy

Let's see...The overall health of Americans has been improving over the years.  And, with the advent of automation and high tech robotics, fewer and fewer jobs require a great deal of physical exertion.  But, since mid-2010, precisely the time millions of US citizens used up all of their 99 weeks of unemployment insurance, disability claims have risen by 2.2 million.  


Now...I'm quite sure there are people out there receiving SSI disability checks that are really disabled.  But, I'm just as sure there's a whole lot of people out there also getting benefits and their only disability is between the ears (which you can't see because their butts are hiding their heads).




P.S.  All those people on disability (legit or otherwise) are not counted in the workforce and are not considered unemployed.


I may look like a dummy, act like a dummy and quack like a dummy, but I ain't.

Thank you "Mish" and James.

Genius


Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Sofa On Wheels

I gotta have one of these to go with my ePad, large pizza and six pack of Coke...  


Toyota thinks this might be the future of transport.  It looks like an electric wheelchair crossed with a recliner, it's controlled by two joysticks at either side and has a top speed of 20mph.  This is Toyota's iReal electric vehicle and was one of the more exotic concept cars shown at the Beijing Auto Show this week.

Learning