Hambone v3.0

Tuesday Florida Driving On The Edge Open Comments

We’ve all done some ill-advised things while driving. I, myself have been known to eat a hot fudge sundae while negotiating a hairpin turn and downshifting in the hills between Santa Rosa and Calistoga California late at night on my way home from seeing a movie. That I managed to survive these poor habits can only be due to Divine Providence.
Our friends in Florida apparently raise bad judgement behind the wheel to an art form.

One morning while driving to work on Sample Road, just east of Coral Ridge Drive, I pulled alongside an SUV. Upon glancing over, I noticed that the woman driver, who was alone in the car, was nursing her very small baby while driving.

Just showing the little nipper how it’s done so he can get an early start.

Talk about a balancing act. Marjorie Moon, of Miami, saw someone “eating a bowl of cereal and applying makeup simultaneously.”

That fails to whelm me. See my comment above.
Even the local fuzz seems to want in on the act.

Posted

in

by

wagonburner

Tags:

Comments

  1. Robert M Avatar
    Robert M

    Well, I guess I’m first. I guess it pays to stay up late.

  2. Robert M Avatar
    Robert M

    Well, I guess I’m first. I guess it pays to stay up late.

  3. Robert M Avatar
    Robert M

    Oh, heck, how about some captions for this picture? Here is my “Top Ten” list of captions for this picture:

    1) Don’t worry, a bang here, some paint there and it will be good as new.

    2) Do you think this will affect my auto insurance rates?

    3) You didn’t tell me there was a deductible that I have to cover, first.

    4) Thank goodness the airbag deployed.

    5) Gosh, all this while driving thru a school zone.

    6) You need to learn to keep your eyes on the road.

    7) And about when did the “tree” dart in front of your car?

    8) You know after this, they are going to put you on the “bike” detail.

    9) This will help to show the kids to not drink and drive.

    10) Your going to have to quit eating those “doughnuts” while your driving.

    There that should do it.

  4. Robert M Avatar
    Robert M

    Oh, heck, how about some captions for this picture? Here is my “Top Ten” list of captions for this picture:
    1) Don’t worry, a bang here, some paint there and it will be good as new.
    2) Do you think this will affect my auto insurance rates?
    3) You didn’t tell me there was a deductible that I have to cover, first.
    4) Thank goodness the airbag deployed.
    5) Gosh, all this while driving thru a school zone.
    6) You need to learn to keep your eyes on the road.
    7) And about when did the “tree” dart in front of your car?
    8) You know after this, they are going to put you on the “bike” detail.
    9) This will help to show the kids to not drink and drive.
    10) Your going to have to quit eating those “doughnuts” while your driving.
    There that should do it.

  5. Super Dave Avatar
    Super Dave

    , I noticed that the woman driver, who was alone in the car, was nursing her very small baby while driving.

    Let’s see here. She was alone in the car…She was nursing a small baby while driving. Oh, I forgot, under the current administration, a late term abortion may be performed even after a live birth, so a nursing infant does not hold standing as a person I guess. How much more of this insanity can we stand?

  6. El Gordo Avatar
    El Gordo

    , I noticed that the woman driver, who was alone in the car, was nursing her very small baby while driving.

    Let’s see here. She was alone in the car…She was nursing a small baby while driving. Oh, I forgot, under the current administration, a late term abortion may be performed even after a live birth, so a nursing infant does not hold standing as a person I guess. How much more of this insanity can we stand?

  7. Super Dave Avatar
    Super Dave

    Photo caption – Look, that car has been parked her for so long that a tree has grown up right through it.

  8. El Gordo Avatar
    El Gordo

    Photo caption – Look, that car has been parked her for so long that a tree has grown up right through it.

  9. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    Homey, the DPS site I use says cards are $6.00 if over 60 and $16.00 if under. And you don’t even want to know the three pieces of ID you need. Luckily one of them can be a voter registration card 😉
    Ya pays ya moneys and you gets to vote
    Just saying …………….

    You’re flat out wrong and you know it. The DPS site clearly says that is the cost for state-issued ID card. Texas Election Certificates are free. You’ve run out of excuses for promoting voter fraud.

  10. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    Homey, the DPS site I use says cards are $6.00 if over 60 and $16.00 if under. And you don’t even want to know the three pieces of ID you need. Luckily one of them can be a voter registration card 😉
    Ya pays ya moneys and you gets to vote
    Just saying …………….

    You’re flat out wrong and you know it. The DPS site clearly says that is the cost for state-issued ID card. Texas Election Certificates are free. You’ve run out of excuses for promoting voter fraud.

  11. Dooood Avatar
    Dooood

    #5 Hamous

    You misunderestimate the determined connivance of Shamaalian malefactors. Voting is just an irritating, antiquated ritual we have to endure to quell the masses before they sieze more power for the state.

    Obfuscation in defense of tyranny is no vice !!!

  12. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    #5 Hamous
    You misunderestimate the determined connivance of Shamaalian malefactors. Voting is just an irritating, antiquated ritual we have to endure to quell the masses before they sieze more power for the state.
    Obfuscation in defense of tyranny is no vice !!!

  13. Dooood Avatar
    Dooood

    Etymology lesson of the day:

    Broke (In the sense of having no money)

    Many banks in post-Renaissance Europe issued small, porcelain “borrower’s tiles” to their creditworthy customers. Like credit cards, these tiles were imprinted with the owner’s name, his credit limit, and the name of the bank. Each time the customer wanted to borrow money, he had to present the tile to the bank teller, who would compare the imprinted credit limit with how much the customer had already borrowed. If the borrower were past the limit, the teller “broke” the tile on the spot.

  14. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    Etymology lesson of the day:

    Broke (In the sense of having no money)
    Many banks in post-Renaissance Europe issued small, porcelain “borrower’s tiles” to their creditworthy customers. Like credit cards, these tiles were imprinted with the owner’s name, his credit limit, and the name of the bank. Each time the customer wanted to borrow money, he had to present the tile to the bank teller, who would compare the imprinted credit limit with how much the customer had already borrowed. If the borrower were past the limit, the teller “broke” the tile on the spot.

  15. Katfish Avatar
    Katfish

    “That’ll buff right out.”

  16. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    “That’ll buff right out.”

  17. Dooood Avatar
    Dooood

    Those damned, white, Texas Democrats have been trying keep minorities out of the voting booth for a long time:

    With the end of the Reconstruction in the 1870s, the nation politically abandoned uniform enforcement of the Civil War amendments. With reduced federal enforcement of the rights protected by the amendments, many southern states enacted Jim Crow laws designed to restrict or prevent African American voter participation. Unlike other states, Texas never legislated two of these tools: literacy test and the grandfather clause. Instead, Texas suppressed black voting using poll taxes and the white primary.

    Poll taxes added a direct out-of-pocket transaction cost to voting by charging money to vote. Texas adopted a poll tax in 1902. It required that otherwise eligible voters pay between $1.50 and $1.75 to register to vote – a lot of money at the time, and a big barrier to the working classes and poor. Poll taxes, which disproportionately affected African Americans and Mexican Americans, were finally abolished for national elections by the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1964. Two years later, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, ruled that poll taxes in state elections were unconstitutional.

    The white primary in Texas treated the Democratic Party as a private club whose membership could be restricted to citizens of Anglo heritage. It originated as a change in Democratic Party practice early in the twentieth century as a way to disenfranchise African Americans, and later in south Texas, Mexican Americans. In 1923 the white primary became state law. After numerous legal challenges to successive versions of the law the Legislature had passed to preserve the practice, the U.S. Supreme Court finally and decisively prohibited the white primary in the 1944 case Smith vs. Allwright.

  18. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    Those damned, white, Texas Democrats have been trying keep minorities out of the voting booth for a long time:

    With the end of the Reconstruction in the 1870s, the nation politically abandoned uniform enforcement of the Civil War amendments. With reduced federal enforcement of the rights protected by the amendments, many southern states enacted Jim Crow laws designed to restrict or prevent African American voter participation. Unlike other states, Texas never legislated two of these tools: literacy test and the grandfather clause. Instead, Texas suppressed black voting using poll taxes and the white primary.
    Poll taxes added a direct out-of-pocket transaction cost to voting by charging money to vote. Texas adopted a poll tax in 1902. It required that otherwise eligible voters pay between $1.50 and $1.75 to register to vote – a lot of money at the time, and a big barrier to the working classes and poor. Poll taxes, which disproportionately affected African Americans and Mexican Americans, were finally abolished for national elections by the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1964. Two years later, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, ruled that poll taxes in state elections were unconstitutional.
    The white primary in Texas treated the Democratic Party as a private club whose membership could be restricted to citizens of Anglo heritage. It originated as a change in Democratic Party practice early in the twentieth century as a way to disenfranchise African Americans, and later in south Texas, Mexican Americans. In 1923 the white primary became state law. After numerous legal challenges to successive versions of the law the Legislature had passed to preserve the practice, the U.S. Supreme Court finally and decisively prohibited the white primary in the 1944 case Smith vs. Allwright.

  19. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    #5 – Heck I’ve voted before without ANY documentation (a side effect of being fully leathered up and I suppose looking “scary”)………..and I was NOT carrying an LEO style nightstick

    (my very own 1 man SEIU / Philly crew ya think?)

    *MEGASNIKKER™* 🙂

  20. Katfish Avatar
    Katfish

    #5 – Heck I’ve voted before without ANY documentation (a side effect of being fully leathered up and I suppose looking “scary”)………..and I was NOT carrying an LEO style nightstick
    (my very own 1 man SEIU / Philly crew ya think?)
    *MEGASNIKKER™* 🙂

  21. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    Caption: See, this is the way you get a new cruiser. That “supervisor” badge on the front fender ain’t there just for show!

  22. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    Caption: See, this is the way you get a new cruiser. That “supervisor” badge on the front fender ain’t there just for show!

  23. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    Men with the golden bum.

    HEADLINE: Men Arrested For Smuggling Gold In Rectums

  24. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    Men with the golden bum.

    HEADLINE: Men Arrested For Smuggling Gold In Rectums

  25. mharper42 Avatar
    mharper42

    What are all those little red flags on the esplanade? Evidence markers? If there was anyone on the passenger side of that cruiser when it wrapped around the tree, don’t think they could have survived. I’m amazed the tree is still standing. Oh — good morning, Hamsterville.

  26. mharper42 Avatar
    mharper42

    What are all those little red flags on the esplanade? Evidence markers? If there was anyone on the passenger side of that cruiser when it wrapped around the tree, don’t think they could have survived. I’m amazed the tree is still standing. Oh — good morning, Hamsterville.

  27. Katfish Avatar
    Katfish

    Trees are remarkably tough. Most trees bigger than about 6″ can get a car to wrap around them.

    Especially when they leap out in front of your car.

    The little flags are markers for where they found the body. 😉

  28. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    Trees are remarkably tough. Most trees bigger than about 6″ can get a car to wrap around them.
    Especially when they leap out in front of your car.
    The little flags are markers for where they found the body. 😉

  29. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    #13 M42:

    If there was anyone on the passenger side of that cruiser when it wrapped around the tree, don’t think they could have survived.

    It is doubtful that the driver survived either. You have to be going really fast to wrap that much of the car around the tree. It ain’t the speed that kills, it is the real sudden stop at the end.

    I’m amazed the tree is still standing.

    When I look at the base of the tree in the photo, it looks like the tree is slightly uprooted. The tree may not survive.

  30. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    #13 M42:

    If there was anyone on the passenger side of that cruiser when it wrapped around the tree, don’t think they could have survived.

    It is doubtful that the driver survived either. You have to be going really fast to wrap that much of the car around the tree. It ain’t the speed that kills, it is the real sudden stop at the end.

    I’m amazed the tree is still standing.

    When I look at the base of the tree in the photo, it looks like the tree is slightly uprooted. The tree may not survive.

  31. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    oak tree, you’re in my way . . . .

  32. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    oak tree, you’re in my way . . . .

  33. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    I have posted this one before, a long time ago. It is well worth the 5 minutes or so, it moved me to tears the first time I heard it.

  34. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    I have posted this one before, a long time ago. It is well worth the 5 minutes or so, it moved me to tears the first time I heard it.

  35. Katfish Avatar
    Katfish

    It ain’t the speed that kills, it is the real sudden stop at the end.

    Depends on the speed.

  36. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    It ain’t the speed that kills, it is the real sudden stop at the end.

    Depends on the speed.

  37. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    I got through the first of 4 pages of Andrew Sullivan’s crapola and I had to stop reading. He claims incoherence on the right, but is not terribly cogent himself.

  38. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    I got through the first of 4 pages of Andrew Sullivan’s crapola and I had to stop reading. He claims incoherence on the right, but is not terribly cogent himself.

  39. Katfish Avatar
    Katfish

    Anyone who can claim for months that Trig Palin is really Bristol’s son is several McNuggets short of a Happy Meal and is therefore not worthy of the time to listen to.

  40. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    Anyone who can claim for months that Trig Palin is really Bristol’s son is several McNuggets short of a Happy Meal and is therefore not worthy of the time to listen to.

  41. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    #18 Pyro: That is really powerful. The brokenness (spiritual, not necessarily physical) in the faces of the after pictures is gut wrenching.

  42. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    #18 Pyro: That is really powerful. The brokenness (spiritual, not necessarily physical) in the faces of the after pictures is gut wrenching.

  43. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    Here is proof that a crappy start does not doom one to failure.

  44. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    Here is proof that a crappy start does not doom one to failure.

  45. Katfish Avatar
    Katfish

    Have you listened to (read) Simple Simon talk about his daughter? He has been dealing with that for years.

    He needs everyone’s prayers (as does his family, including his daughter).

  46. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    Have you listened to (read) Simple Simon talk about his daughter? He has been dealing with that for years.
    He needs everyone’s prayers (as does his family, including his daughter).

  47. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    #23 Affirmative. If the addict does not want to get better and does not commit to staying clean, there is not a whole lot anyone else can do, in the natural realm.

  48. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    #23 Affirmative. If the addict does not want to get better and does not commit to staying clean, there is not a whole lot anyone else can do, in the natural realm.

  49. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    Speaking of kids who had a rough start, Hey Katfish: How is “Strings” doing?

  50. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    Speaking of kids who had a rough start, Hey Katfish: How is “Strings” doing?

  51. texanadian Avatar
    texanadian

    I like this

    “You know how you can tell that “everyone wants freedom” is baloney?

    Look and see how few people do anything to get freedom. Look at the Middle East, how many centuries would you and your family sit in place as your world turned to desert and one marauding horde after another swept through and ordered you around? Even the Europeans were willing to risk it all to come to the New World, and they had agriculture and effective governments. The Middle Easterners and the Africans stay in place and battle over the crumbs. Where is the Arabic Thomas Jefferson and George Washington? Where is the African Edmund Burke? Why is Africa’s high-tech export t-shirts and Arab’s export what the Europeans pump from the ground?

    “Many many cultures on the earth wouldn’t cross the street to get their freedom so they don’t try for more than buying or stealing something shiny from the successful cultures. Their cultures aren’t accidentally backward or centuries behind The West, they simply haven’t wanted what we have enough to do what is required. You’ll know they are sick and tired of being sick and tired when they stop doing what makes anyone sick and tired. It’s not genetic. It is cultural. Any child from any place can be raised with our ways and succeed. Take any kid from here and raise him as the losers live and he will fail. You can’t do it for them. They know there are different ways to live and they choose to live their own way and maybe buy some of our stuff.” — Scott M commenting on: Side-Lines: “When I see Republicans or establishment conservatives uttering some vapid and dangerous idiocy….”

    Posted by gerardvanderleun at January 16, 2012 1:25 AM

    http://americandigest.org/mt-archives/5minute_arguments/comment_of_the_week_so_fa.php

  52. texanadian Avatar
    texanadian

    I like this

    “You know how you can tell that “everyone wants freedom” is baloney?
    Look and see how few people do anything to get freedom. Look at the Middle East, how many centuries would you and your family sit in place as your world turned to desert and one marauding horde after another swept through and ordered you around? Even the Europeans were willing to risk it all to come to the New World, and they had agriculture and effective governments. The Middle Easterners and the Africans stay in place and battle over the crumbs. Where is the Arabic Thomas Jefferson and George Washington? Where is the African Edmund Burke? Why is Africa’s high-tech export t-shirts and Arab’s export what the Europeans pump from the ground?
    “Many many cultures on the earth wouldn’t cross the street to get their freedom so they don’t try for more than buying or stealing something shiny from the successful cultures. Their cultures aren’t accidentally backward or centuries behind The West, they simply haven’t wanted what we have enough to do what is required. You’ll know they are sick and tired of being sick and tired when they stop doing what makes anyone sick and tired. It’s not genetic. It is cultural. Any child from any place can be raised with our ways and succeed. Take any kid from here and raise him as the losers live and he will fail. You can’t do it for them. They know there are different ways to live and they choose to live their own way and maybe buy some of our stuff.” — Scott M commenting on: Side-Lines: “When I see Republicans or establishment conservatives uttering some vapid and dangerous idiocy….”
    Posted by gerardvanderleun at January 16, 2012 1:25 AM

    http://americandigest.org/mt-archives/5minute_arguments/comment_of_the_week_so_fa.php

  53. mharper42 Avatar
    mharper42

    Can’t Someone Tell Geert Wilders to Stop His Anti-Muslim Diatribes Before Somebody Gets Hurt?

    I love the unintended irony of that sub-head!

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/01/15/geert-wilders-says-there-s-no-such-thing-as-moderate-islam.html?obref=obinsite

  54. mharper42 Avatar
    mharper42

    Can’t Someone Tell Geert Wilders to Stop His Anti-Muslim Diatribes Before Somebody Gets Hurt?

    I love the unintended irony of that sub-head!
    http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/01/15/geert-wilders-says-there-s-no-such-thing-as-moderate-islam.html?obref=obinsite

  55. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    #25 – The family just moved to permanent digs and are all doing well – THANKS!

    I’m eyeballin the radar as this precip moves on thru – just like we like it and hopefully it’ll stay ahead of us all the way to Tallahassee tomorrow and south to Orlando Thursday…………to say I’m struggling to concentrate on my last day of work before this trip is an understatement!

  56. Katfish Avatar
    Katfish

    #25 – The family just moved to permanent digs and are all doing well – THANKS!
    I’m eyeballin the radar as this precip moves on thru – just like we like it and hopefully it’ll stay ahead of us all the way to Tallahassee tomorrow and south to Orlando Thursday…………to say I’m struggling to concentrate on my last day of work before this trip is an understatement!

  57. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    59 Darren says:

    January 16, 2012 at 5:03 pm

    Gingrich on Romney: “Why would you want to nominate the guy who lost to the guy who lost to Obama?”

    Darren on Gingrich: Why would we want to nominate a guy who will lose to the guy who lost to the guy who lost to Obama?

    Well, you can’t nominate the guy who will lose to the guy who lost to the guy who lost to Obama because right now he isn’t the guy who will lose to the guy who lost to the guy who lost to Obama. You’d vote for him in the primary so that he won’t be the guy who will lose to the guy who lost to the guy who lost to Obama, thus making him the guy you nominate instead of nominating the guy who lost to the guy who lost to Obama.

    Try to keep up.

  58. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    59 Darren says:
    January 16, 2012 at 5:03 pm

    Gingrich on Romney: “Why would you want to nominate the guy who lost to the guy who lost to Obama?”

    Darren on Gingrich: Why would we want to nominate a guy who will lose to the guy who lost to the guy who lost to Obama?

    Well, you can’t nominate the guy who will lose to the guy who lost to the guy who lost to Obama because right now he isn’t the guy who will lose to the guy who lost to the guy who lost to Obama. You’d vote for him in the primary so that he won’t be the guy who will lose to the guy who lost to the guy who lost to Obama, thus making him the guy you nominate instead of nominating the guy who lost to the guy who lost to Obama.
    Try to keep up.

  59. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    RE: car in tree

    I will never forget what I saw when my mother picked me up from school one afternoon. There’s a road we had to drive down that had an S curve in it – it was one of two road curves in Pearland nicknamed “Dead Man’s Curve”. (The second one was the intersection of Cullen at FM 518.) There were mostly fields around that area, and at this intersection was a telephone pole, at 30-40 feet from the first curve as you headed south. Mom was driving southbound on this road as she was driving me back home, and we saw two tire tracks in the grass; obviously the driver failed to make the first turn. The tracks weren’t just bent grass, they were dirt, like the car was skidding, not rolling. Those parallel tracks went on….and on…met the telephone pole…and continued on for about 10 feet past the pole. One track on each side. That’s probably why the pole was tilted.

    I’ve never forgotten that sight. I said a silent prayer for the driver of that car. I’ll bet there wasn’t much left of the driver. He or she must have been driving like a bat out of hell when they hit that pole.

    BTW – both of those curves have been straightened and no longer exist. Pearland is now Dead Man-less.

  60. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    RE: car in tree
    I will never forget what I saw when my mother picked me up from school one afternoon. There’s a road we had to drive down that had an S curve in it – it was one of two road curves in Pearland nicknamed “Dead Man’s Curve”. (The second one was the intersection of Cullen at FM 518.) There were mostly fields around that area, and at this intersection was a telephone pole, at 30-40 feet from the first curve as you headed south. Mom was driving southbound on this road as she was driving me back home, and we saw two tire tracks in the grass; obviously the driver failed to make the first turn. The tracks weren’t just bent grass, they were dirt, like the car was skidding, not rolling. Those parallel tracks went on….and on…met the telephone pole…and continued on for about 10 feet past the pole. One track on each side. That’s probably why the pole was tilted.
    I’ve never forgotten that sight. I said a silent prayer for the driver of that car. I’ll bet there wasn’t much left of the driver. He or she must have been driving like a bat out of hell when they hit that pole.
    BTW – both of those curves have been straightened and no longer exist. Pearland is now Dead Man-less.

  61. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    The worst wreck I have ever seen was when I was heading west on the road from Jimmy Walkers in Keemah when I was a senior in High School. A motorcycle with passenger heading east attempted to pass an 18 wheeler and there was patchy fog. Unfortunately, the bike had a head-on with a camaro, with 4 people inside. Front bumper of camaro was pushed to the firewall and they had to cut the passengers out, I do not know their conditions. As for the bikers, the driver was “beside himself” on the pavement as the handlebars separated his legs from his torso just above the hips and his passenger’s helmet was flattened (presumably by the 18 wheeler’s tires) while still attached to his body. The car was still smoking when we arrived. I remember seeing the biker’s hips from the inside. I remember it like it happened yesterday and that was over 30 years ago.

  62. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    The worst wreck I have ever seen was when I was heading west on the road from Jimmy Walkers in Keemah when I was a senior in High School. A motorcycle with passenger heading east attempted to pass an 18 wheeler and there was patchy fog. Unfortunately, the bike had a head-on with a camaro, with 4 people inside. Front bumper of camaro was pushed to the firewall and they had to cut the passengers out, I do not know their conditions. As for the bikers, the driver was “beside himself” on the pavement as the handlebars separated his legs from his torso just above the hips and his passenger’s helmet was flattened (presumably by the 18 wheeler’s tires) while still attached to his body. The car was still smoking when we arrived. I remember seeing the biker’s hips from the inside. I remember it like it happened yesterday and that was over 30 years ago.

  63. texanadian Avatar
    texanadian

    What the heck?
    http://www.popehat.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/RegulationProtectsUs.jpg

  64. texanadian Avatar
    texanadian

    What the heck?
    http://www.popehat.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/RegulationProtectsUs.jpg

  65. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    #32 TEXPAT: Government lunacy on full display. I wonder how much of a “fee” (actually a BS tax) is required to get that notice?

  66. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    #32 TEXPAT: Government lunacy on full display. I wonder how much of a “fee” (actually a BS tax) is required to get that notice?

  67. mharper42 Avatar
    mharper42

    #33 Bones

    Uh oh on the attribution. 😳

    The sign and its message are stunning. Pay a fee to operate a vending machine, or else. And a bribe/reward for snitches.

  68. mharper42 Avatar
    mharper42

    #33 Bones
    Uh oh on the attribution. 😳
    The sign and its message are stunning. Pay a fee to operate a vending machine, or else. And a bribe/reward for snitches.

  69. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    Even the goat-raping Iranians are giving JugEars the middle finger salute.

    HEADLINE: U.S. drone that crashed in Iran goes miniature
    /snip
    An Iranian firm, seeking to capitalize on the frenzy that followed the crash of the drone — and American calls to have it returned — is now producing miniaturized toy versions of the craft. Most of the toys, which come in several colors and are made of Iranian plastic, have already been snapped up by Iranian government organizations, according to the group that manufactures them.

    At least one model — a pink one — has been reserved for President Obama.

    “He said he wanted it back, and we will send him one,” said Reza Kioumarsi, the head of cultural production at the Ayeh Art group.

  70. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    Even the goat-raping Iranians are giving JugEars the middle finger salute.

    HEADLINE: U.S. drone that crashed in Iran goes miniature
    /snip
    An Iranian firm, seeking to capitalize on the frenzy that followed the crash of the drone — and American calls to have it returned — is now producing miniaturized toy versions of the craft. Most of the toys, which come in several colors and are made of Iranian plastic, have already been snapped up by Iranian government organizations, according to the group that manufactures them.
    At least one model — a pink one — has been reserved for President Obama.
    “He said he wanted it back, and we will send him one,” said Reza Kioumarsi, the head of cultural production at the Ayeh Art group.

  71. Adee Avatar
    Adee

    Dear Al Gore,

    In case you missed it this winter, it’s cold up north. Really, really cold! There has also been a ton of precipitation a.k.a snow that has inundated some parts of our great country. I know you will put on your best MMGW face and you will tell me that it is still my fault for driving V8 equipped vehicles and setting my thermostat at 77°F in the summer time. Perhaps you next great business venture could be Snow Harvesting where by you harvest the excess snow from Alaska and send it down to Texas to help with our drought… just say’in.

    Signed,

    TexMo

  72. TexMo Avatar
    TexMo

    Dear Al Gore,
    In case you missed it this winter, it’s cold up north. Really, really cold! There has also been a ton of precipitation a.k.a snow that has inundated some parts of our great country. I know you will put on your best MMGW face and you will tell me that it is still my fault for driving V8 equipped vehicles and setting my thermostat at 77°F in the summer time. Perhaps you next great business venture could be Snow Harvesting where by you harvest the excess snow from Alaska and send it down to Texas to help with our drought… just say’in.
    Signed,
    TexMo

  73. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    #32 Sorry about that Texakanukian. Mea Culpa; translation: I goofed.

  74. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    #32 Sorry about that Texakanukian. Mea Culpa; translation: I goofed.

  75. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    Cyberwars in the sandbox.

    HEADLINE: Israeli hackers bring down Arab monetary sites
    By YAAKOV LAPPIN
    01/17/2012 17:50

    ‘Israel Defenders’ hackers post in forum that attacks are response to “lame” Saudi attack on Israelis.

    So let’s get this real clear, an A-rab initiated cyber-attack against Israel happened this week and some Israelis have chosen to respond in like fashion.

    The Israeli hackers said in a forum message that their actions came “because lame hackers from Saudi Arabia decided to launch an attack against Israeli sites,” noting the denial of service attacks against TASE and El Al, as well as three Israeli banks on Monday.

    The hackers warned that “this is only the beginning,” adding that “there may be disruption to the [Saudi] government’s stock exchange site” as well.

    “If the lame attacks from Saudi Arabia will continue, we will move to the next level, which will disable these sites longer term,” they said, adding that the damage could last “weeks or even months.” The hackers signed their message “IDF Team.”

    I wonder if the A-rabs are going to push their luck? It might be amusing to see the Saudi stock exchange shut down for several weeks. I really believe that this is a case of extreme mismatch, kind of like a 120 lb 12 year old yellow belt going up against Mike Tyson in his prime. Ifn the A-rabs keep it up they will get their heads handed to them.

  76. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    Cyberwars in the sandbox.

    HEADLINE: Israeli hackers bring down Arab monetary sites
    By YAAKOV LAPPIN
    01/17/2012 17:50
    ‘Israel Defenders’ hackers post in forum that attacks are response to “lame” Saudi attack on Israelis.

    So let’s get this real clear, an A-rab initiated cyber-attack against Israel happened this week and some Israelis have chosen to respond in like fashion.

    The Israeli hackers said in a forum message that their actions came “because lame hackers from Saudi Arabia decided to launch an attack against Israeli sites,” noting the denial of service attacks against TASE and El Al, as well as three Israeli banks on Monday.
    The hackers warned that “this is only the beginning,” adding that “there may be disruption to the [Saudi] government’s stock exchange site” as well.
    “If the lame attacks from Saudi Arabia will continue, we will move to the next level, which will disable these sites longer term,” they said, adding that the damage could last “weeks or even months.” The hackers signed their message “IDF Team.”

    I wonder if the A-rabs are going to push their luck? It might be amusing to see the Saudi stock exchange shut down for several weeks. I really believe that this is a case of extreme mismatch, kind of like a 120 lb 12 year old yellow belt going up against Mike Tyson in his prime. Ifn the A-rabs keep it up they will get their heads handed to them.

  77. Adee Avatar
    Adee

    RE #32

    I imagine this is a round about way to cut down on sales tax evasion. Anyone can open a Sam’s Club account and start stocking a machine. Going that route you will pay sales tax on the wholesale price and not the required sales tax due from the retail sale through the vending machine. Most items are marked up 100% on average so the state would lose half the sales tax due.

    This really seems like small fries to me because the person engaging in this activity is a small time operator. It could even be something like your local mechanic or Jiffy Lube owner that stocks his own machines. Once you get into the $100k/yr gross revenues, you are utilizing Sam’s Click n Pull or utilizing one of the other wholesaler’s pick systems. This saves both time and muscle power. Of course when you get really big, you will have all the goods delivered on pallets and you can use pallet jacks and fork trucks. In other words the medium and big time operators that are remitting $10,000 – $100,000 a year in sales tax are not gaming/cheating the system.

  78. TexMo Avatar
    TexMo

    RE #32
    I imagine this is a round about way to cut down on sales tax evasion. Anyone can open a Sam’s Club account and start stocking a machine. Going that route you will pay sales tax on the wholesale price and not the required sales tax due from the retail sale through the vending machine. Most items are marked up 100% on average so the state would lose half the sales tax due.
    This really seems like small fries to me because the person engaging in this activity is a small time operator. It could even be something like your local mechanic or Jiffy Lube owner that stocks his own machines. Once you get into the $100k/yr gross revenues, you are utilizing Sam’s Click n Pull or utilizing one of the other wholesaler’s pick systems. This saves both time and muscle power. Of course when you get really big, you will have all the goods delivered on pallets and you can use pallet jacks and fork trucks. In other words the medium and big time operators that are remitting $10,000 – $100,000 a year in sales tax are not gaming/cheating the system.

  79. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    #39 Texmo: The only way they could ever even attempt to keep track of how many sodas were sold is for the machine to have a “tamper resistant” transaction counter built into it. Then the blood suckers would have to periodically audit the machine against the receipts. That almost seems like stepping on dollars to pick up nickels.

  80. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    #39 Texmo: The only way they could ever even attempt to keep track of how many sodas were sold is for the machine to have a “tamper resistant” transaction counter built into it. Then the blood suckers would have to periodically audit the machine against the receipts. That almost seems like stepping on dollars to pick up nickels.

  81. Adee Avatar
    Adee

    #40
    Many of the larger accounts want a commission as part of them allowing someone to operate on their premises. Those machines do have a system similar to what you describe. In this case it is utilized to keep the operator honest with the location.

  82. TexMo Avatar
    TexMo

    #40
    Many of the larger accounts want a commission as part of them allowing someone to operate on their premises. Those machines do have a system similar to what you describe. In this case it is utilized to keep the operator honest with the location.

  83. mharper42 Avatar
    mharper42

    42!!!

  84. mharper42 Avatar
    mharper42

    42!!!

  85. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    #42 M42 (but I repeat myself) Thanks for catching my error.

  86. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    #42 M42 (but I repeat myself) Thanks for catching my error.

  87. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    When are we all gonna meet again, on a Sunday, in real life? I vote for Bear Creek Park again this Sunday afternoon say around 2pm.

  88. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    When are we all gonna meet again, on a Sunday, in real life? I vote for Bear Creek Park again this Sunday afternoon say around 2pm.

  89. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    JugEars to travel to a really serious place for foreign policy discussions.

    WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will visit Walt Disney World on Thursday to “unveil a strategy that will significantly help boost tourism and travel,” a White House aide said today.

    I guess he is really getting serious now, what more needs to be said.

  90. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    JugEars to travel to a really serious place for foreign policy discussions.

    WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will visit Walt Disney World on Thursday to “unveil a strategy that will significantly help boost tourism and travel,” a White House aide said today.

    I guess he is really getting serious now, what more needs to be said.

  91. mharper42 Avatar
    mharper42

    #42 M42 42!!! (but I repeat myself) Thanks for catching my error.

    Eh, I proofread in my sleep. 🙂

  92. mharper42 Avatar
    mharper42

    #42 M42 42!!! (but I repeat myself) Thanks for catching my error.

    Eh, I proofread in my sleep. 🙂

  93. Shannon Avatar
    Shannon

    44
    And get a free professional consultation? 😉

  94. Shannon Avatar
    Shannon

    44
    And get a free professional consultation? 😉

  95. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    I just noticed that we received a fax yesterday from a confidant of the Gadhafi family. He is offering me 30% of “$52M” dollars currently being held in a Luxembourg bank. It seems that the family has no idea the money is in Luxembourg, and the sender of the fax has no intention to return to Libya, as his life is in jeapordy. He swears up and down that there will be no cost to me, I only have to present the account in my name and he’ll transfer the money into it.

    It seems so totally legit, and this guy obviously is in dire need of help. Abu says this procedure is 100% risk free. Should I do it? 30% of 52 million bucks is a lot of money!

    Ooops, my bad. I was supposed to keep this completely confidential. He probably won’t trust me now…

  96. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    I just noticed that we received a fax yesterday from a confidant of the Gadhafi family. He is offering me 30% of “$52M” dollars currently being held in a Luxembourg bank. It seems that the family has no idea the money is in Luxembourg, and the sender of the fax has no intention to return to Libya, as his life is in jeapordy. He swears up and down that there will be no cost to me, I only have to present the account in my name and he’ll transfer the money into it.
    It seems so totally legit, and this guy obviously is in dire need of help. Abu says this procedure is 100% risk free. Should I do it? 30% of 52 million bucks is a lot of money!
    Ooops, my bad. I was supposed to keep this completely confidential. He probably won’t trust me now…

  97. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    Why is the federal government getting involved in tourism?

    Oh, I forget who we’re talking about.

  98. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    Why is the federal government getting involved in tourism?
    Oh, I forget who we’re talking about.

  99. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    #47 Shannon:

    And get a free professional consultation?

    For you I could give the initial consultation and give you a 2nd opinion right now. . . . . . . . .:>)

  100. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    #47 Shannon:

    And get a free professional consultation?

    For you I could give the initial consultation and give you a 2nd opinion right now. . . . . . . . .:>)

  101. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    A son of the room temperature Kim Jon Dead says the NORKS are in for some serious trouble.

    SEOUL — The eldest half brother of North Korea’s new leader says Kim Jong-un is unprepared for command, the totalitarian regime will collapse and the military has become too strong for the impoverished nation to support.

    Kim Jong-nam, who lives in apparent exile in China, issues those opinions in a new book about his life as the son of longtime North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il, who died in December.

  102. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    A son of the room temperature Kim Jon Dead says the NORKS are in for some serious trouble.

    SEOUL — The eldest half brother of North Korea’s new leader says Kim Jong-un is unprepared for command, the totalitarian regime will collapse and the military has become too strong for the impoverished nation to support.
    Kim Jong-nam, who lives in apparent exile in China, issues those opinions in a new book about his life as the son of longtime North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il, who died in December.

  103. Shannon Avatar
    Shannon

    50
    I’ll just bring my last MRI report.
    We can weep together.

  104. Shannon Avatar
    Shannon

    50
    I’ll just bring my last MRI report.
    We can weep together.

  105. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    WHOA – insane R/C flying skills!

    http://www.youtube.com/embed/DU8o3djhvSU

  106. Katfish Avatar
    Katfish

    WHOA – insane R/C flying skills!
    http://www.youtube.com/embed/DU8o3djhvSU

  107. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    #53 Katfish: I have a hard time believing that any aircraft can do the things that helicopter did. Can you imagine the puke all over the inside of that ifn it were a full scale chopper and there was a human inside??

  108. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    #53 Katfish: I have a hard time believing that any aircraft can do the things that helicopter did. Can you imagine the puke all over the inside of that ifn it were a full scale chopper and there was a human inside??

  109. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    #52 Shannon:

    I’ll just bring my last MRI report.
    We can weep together.

    I would love to read the report and look at the film/pics. With that info in hand and mentally digested, we (that means you and me) can come up with a plan to make your life better for the long haul.

  110. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    #52 Shannon:

    I’ll just bring my last MRI report.
    We can weep together.

    I would love to read the report and look at the film/pics. With that info in hand and mentally digested, we (that means you and me) can come up with a plan to make your life better for the long haul.

  111. Katfish Avatar
    Katfish

    I would love to read the report and look at the film/pics

    Me too.

    I could use a good chuckle.

  112. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    I would love to read the report and look at the film/pics

    Me too.
    I could use a good chuckle.

  113. Dooood Avatar
    Dooood

    When Democrats aren’t concentrating on perfecting vote fraud and preventing minorities from voting , they’re devising different ways to disarm the public in violation of their Second Amendment rights.

    The When, Who and How of Gun Control in New York City

    The father of New York gun control was Democratic city pol “Big Tim “Sullivan — a state senator and Tammany Hall crook, a criminal overseer of the gangs of New York.

    In 1911 — in the wake of a notorious Gramercy Park blueblood murder-suicide — Sullivan sponsored the Sullivan Act, which mandated police-issued licenses for handguns and made it a felony to carry an unlicensed concealed weapon.

    This was the heyday of the pre-Prohibition gangs, roving bands of violent toughs who terrorized ethnic neighborhoods and often fought pitched battles with police. In 1903, the Battle of Rivington Street pitted a Jewish gang, the Eastmans, against the Italian Five Pointers. When the cops showed up, the two underworld armies joined forces and blasted away, resulting in three deaths and scores of injuries. The public was clamoring for action against the gangs.

  114. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    When Democrats aren’t concentrating on perfecting vote fraud and preventing minorities from voting , they’re devising different ways to disarm the public in violation of their Second Amendment rights.
    The When, Who and How of Gun Control in New York City

    The father of New York gun control was Democratic city pol “Big Tim “Sullivan — a state senator and Tammany Hall crook, a criminal overseer of the gangs of New York.
    In 1911 — in the wake of a notorious Gramercy Park blueblood murder-suicide — Sullivan sponsored the Sullivan Act, which mandated police-issued licenses for handguns and made it a felony to carry an unlicensed concealed weapon.
    This was the heyday of the pre-Prohibition gangs, roving bands of violent toughs who terrorized ethnic neighborhoods and often fought pitched battles with police. In 1903, the Battle of Rivington Street pitted a Jewish gang, the Eastmans, against the Italian Five Pointers. When the cops showed up, the two underworld armies joined forces and blasted away, resulting in three deaths and scores of injuries. The public was clamoring for action against the gangs.

  115. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    #57 Texpat: Clinton tried the same thing and it was either Limbaugh or Wayne LaPierre who called him on it. The inJustice dept was making a huge stink about all the gun crime and still not keeping those who committed the crimes in jail. They framed Randy Weaver (Ruby Ridge), murdered his wide and son, and then fire bombed the Branch Davidiots in Waco. They made a huge big deal about the evils of guns in the hands of criminals hoping that the citizenry would beg for more gun control. It did not work. JugEars/Holder tried the same thing with the Fast and Furious (among others) scandal. They were hoping that there would be so much gun crime that we would ask for more gun control laws; what happened is that more people than ever bought guns and ammo, then learned how to shoot. Their plan failed again. Disarming the citizenry is a huge plank in the Demo-Nazi platform and it will not ever go away; we must always be mindful of that.

  116. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    #57 Texpat: Clinton tried the same thing and it was either Limbaugh or Wayne LaPierre who called him on it. The inJustice dept was making a huge stink about all the gun crime and still not keeping those who committed the crimes in jail. They framed Randy Weaver (Ruby Ridge), murdered his wide and son, and then fire bombed the Branch Davidiots in Waco. They made a huge big deal about the evils of guns in the hands of criminals hoping that the citizenry would beg for more gun control. It did not work. JugEars/Holder tried the same thing with the Fast and Furious (among others) scandal. They were hoping that there would be so much gun crime that we would ask for more gun control laws; what happened is that more people than ever bought guns and ammo, then learned how to shoot. Their plan failed again. Disarming the citizenry is a huge plank in the Demo-Nazi platform and it will not ever go away; we must always be mindful of that.

  117. Shannon Avatar
    Shannon

    This is a great piece. It is lengthy, give yourself time to read it.

    What The Republican “Establishment” Really Means

  118. Shannon Avatar
    Shannon

    This is a great piece. It is lengthy, give yourself time to read it.
    What The Republican “Establishment” Really Means

  119. gtotracker Avatar
    gtotracker

    Last time I saw a car like that was two years ago and a yellow sheet was on the ground next to the it. The cross now on Hwy 6 says her name was Lauren. I checked the Aggie muster roll and she was a junior on her way back to school. She went to a high school near here. The weather was clear and dry, it was about 9 AM, and the police report said her cell phone was not in use at the time. I can’t not think about that every time gameboy heads off to Waco.

  120. gtotracker Avatar
    gtotracker

    Last time I saw a car like that was two years ago and a yellow sheet was on the ground next to the it. The cross now on Hwy 6 says her name was Lauren. I checked the Aggie muster roll and she was a junior on her way back to school. She went to a high school near here. The weather was clear and dry, it was about 9 AM, and the police report said her cell phone was not in use at the time. I can’t not think about that every time gameboy heads off to Waco.

  121. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    #6;

    Obfuscation in defense of tyranny is no vice !!!

    Heh! 🙂 One quote from the old Barry altered to apply to the current Barry.

  122. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    #6;

    Obfuscation in defense of tyranny is no vice !!!

    Heh! 🙂 One quote from the old Barry altered to apply to the current Barry.

  123. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Sarge #29;

    I know, I was being facetious though I speak that which is to come.

    Try to keep up. 😉

  124. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Sarge #29;
    I know, I was being facetious though I speak that which is to come.
    Try to keep up. 😉

  125. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Bonecrusher #44;

    When are we all gonna meet again, on a Sunday, in real life? I vote for Bear Creek Park again this Sunday afternoon say around 2pm.

    I would love to have a meet together with fellow Hamseters but Snday won’t do. It’s the day of rest and so I tend to avoid celebratory get togethers. Would you feel the same if it was on a Saturday?

  126. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Bonecrusher #44;

    When are we all gonna meet again, on a Sunday, in real life? I vote for Bear Creek Park again this Sunday afternoon say around 2pm.

    I would love to have a meet together with fellow Hamseters but Snday won’t do. It’s the day of rest and so I tend to avoid celebratory get togethers. Would you feel the same if it was on a Saturday?

  127. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    New Obama OMB director a Bain alum

    Quaint.

  128. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    New Obama OMB director a Bain alum
    Quaint.

  129. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    wagonburner #23;

    Have you listened to (read) Simple Simon talk about his daughter? He has been dealing with that for years.

    He needs everyone’s prayers (as does his family, including his daughter).

    Amen to that.

  130. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    wagonburner #23;

    Have you listened to (read) Simple Simon talk about his daughter? He has been dealing with that for years.
    He needs everyone’s prayers (as does his family, including his daughter).

    Amen to that.

  131. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Three beheadings in two different states and they happened here in the United States, not Mexico.

    Former DEA supervisor Phil Jordan says all three beheadings have cartel written all over them. They happened in Arizona and Oklahoma in the past year.

    A murder mystery is now unraveling on a stretch of North Reservation Road in Tucson, Ariz. County workers found a headless man lying on the side of the road Jan. 6. The man’s hands and feet were reportedly missing, too.

    Expert Says Beheadings in U.S. Look Like Work of Cartels

    Just a little something on the need to keep or borders secure.

  132. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Three beheadings in two different states and they happened here in the United States, not Mexico.
    Former DEA supervisor Phil Jordan says all three beheadings have cartel written all over them. They happened in Arizona and Oklahoma in the past year.
    A murder mystery is now unraveling on a stretch of North Reservation Road in Tucson, Ariz. County workers found a headless man lying on the side of the road Jan. 6. The man’s hands and feet were reportedly missing, too.

    Expert Says Beheadings in U.S. Look Like Work of Cartels
    Just a little something on the need to keep or borders secure.

  133. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    This is a great piece. It is lengthy, give yourself time to read it.

    What The Republican “Establishment” Really Means

    Well, disussing it this way certainly has merits that ridicule and marginalization does not. Always seemed counter-intuitive to me to aruge against usage of a term that was so commonly agreed upon and generally, if nor specifically understood.

    The small but determined Outsider faction in the Senate, led by men like Jim DeMint and Ron Johnson, will need reinforcements, and all the moreso if – as discussed below – we end up with Mitt Romney as the GOP nominee and possibly the next President. This is why I have stressed, here and here, the importance of continuing to build a counterweight within Congressional GOP to whatever emerges from the presidential race, in particular unbeholden to Romney, and with particular focus on wresting control of the Senate GOP from its current accomodationist leadership. The results thus far have been mixed, although Jim DeMint’s refusal to endorse a candidate before the South Carolina primary is at least a start.

    Just what does it say when the best counsel one can recieve about the candidate of one’s party to be President is to insure that you elect enough Conservatives in Congress to make sure he stays in line? One of the more logical conclusions one can make from that is that we need those Conservatives in Congress,because the candidate is likely to find common cause with the other side.

  134. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    This is a great piece. It is lengthy, give yourself time to read it.
    What The Republican “Establishment” Really Means

    Well, disussing it this way certainly has merits that ridicule and marginalization does not. Always seemed counter-intuitive to me to aruge against usage of a term that was so commonly agreed upon and generally, if nor specifically understood.

    The small but determined Outsider faction in the Senate, led by men like Jim DeMint and Ron Johnson, will need reinforcements, and all the moreso if – as discussed below – we end up with Mitt Romney as the GOP nominee and possibly the next President. This is why I have stressed, here and here, the importance of continuing to build a counterweight within Congressional GOP to whatever emerges from the presidential race, in particular unbeholden to Romney, and with particular focus on wresting control of the Senate GOP from its current accomodationist leadership. The results thus far have been mixed, although Jim DeMint’s refusal to endorse a candidate before the South Carolina primary is at least a start.

    Just what does it say when the best counsel one can recieve about the candidate of one’s party to be President is to insure that you elect enough Conservatives in Congress to make sure he stays in line? One of the more logical conclusions one can make from that is that we need those Conservatives in Congress,because the candidate is likely to find common cause with the other side.

  135. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    Just got back from taking Barf Kitty to the vet. She’s been very scarce lately, not using her big kitty eyes and gentle begging touch on the elbow to worm her way into my lap. I’ve been working so hard and so late that I hadn’t realized she was MIA. She will every now and then skip eating a day or so, but late this afternoon I realized that she hadn’t eaten in at least 2 days. I found her cuddled under a cover on Lovely’s bed, and her ears were yelll-llow. I was able to catch her pee, and it was a dark reddish brown color. She looked very unhappy. I rushed her to the vet, and there’s something in her blood work that shows a liver disfunction, but we don’t know if the liver problem is from not eating, or the not eating is from the liver problem. The wacko numbers could also be caused by her dehydration. They rehydrated her, gave her a steroid, and gave her back to me, complete with an antibiotic in case it’s an infection, and some suggestions for using baby food to try to get her eating again. Lovely and I were very upset at the prospect that she might not be with us much longer.

    We stopped at the store, where I got some garlic bread (for us) and baby food (for kitty). She ate half a small jar of chicken baby food, and I mixed her antibiotics into it. It wasn’t much, but it’s a start. She’s tucked herself back into her warm spot. We’ll see what tomorrow brings, but for now Lovely and I are happy that she’s home.

  136. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    Just got back from taking Barf Kitty to the vet. She’s been very scarce lately, not using her big kitty eyes and gentle begging touch on the elbow to worm her way into my lap. I’ve been working so hard and so late that I hadn’t realized she was MIA. She will every now and then skip eating a day or so, but late this afternoon I realized that she hadn’t eaten in at least 2 days. I found her cuddled under a cover on Lovely’s bed, and her ears were yelll-llow. I was able to catch her pee, and it was a dark reddish brown color. She looked very unhappy. I rushed her to the vet, and there’s something in her blood work that shows a liver disfunction, but we don’t know if the liver problem is from not eating, or the not eating is from the liver problem. The wacko numbers could also be caused by her dehydration. They rehydrated her, gave her a steroid, and gave her back to me, complete with an antibiotic in case it’s an infection, and some suggestions for using baby food to try to get her eating again. Lovely and I were very upset at the prospect that she might not be with us much longer.
    We stopped at the store, where I got some garlic bread (for us) and baby food (for kitty). She ate half a small jar of chicken baby food, and I mixed her antibiotics into it. It wasn’t much, but it’s a start. She’s tucked herself back into her warm spot. We’ll see what tomorrow brings, but for now Lovely and I are happy that she’s home.

  137. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    Bbbb….but that’s my stock in trade! Lighten up, Francis.

  138. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    Bbbb….but that’s my stock in trade! Lighten up, Francis.

  139. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    The next debate in South Carolina is sponsored by Personhood USA, a pro-life group, and is being touted as a Pro-Life Forum.

    One candidate has not yet agreed to appear.

    Perhaps he figures he might have problems with a few of the questions.

  140. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    The next debate in South Carolina is sponsored by Personhood USA, a pro-life group, and is being touted as a Pro-Life Forum.
    One candidate has not yet agreed to appear.
    Perhaps he figures he might have problems with a few of the questions.

  141. phil Avatar
    phil

    Dang racists are everywhere. The gall of this reporter asking about Hugo Obumma’s college transcripts.

    Jesse and Al will be marching in the streets tomorrow.

    This is an outrage.

    http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/01/17/carney_dodges_question_about_obamas_college_transcripts_i_would_refer_you_to_the_campaign.html

  142. phil Avatar
    phil

    Dang racists are everywhere. The gall of this reporter asking about Hugo Obumma’s college transcripts.
    Jesse and Al will be marching in the streets tomorrow.
    This is an outrage.
    http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/01/17/carney_dodges_question_about_obamas_college_transcripts_i_would_refer_you_to_the_campaign.html

  143. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Lighten up, Francis.

    You ridicule and marginalze your way. I’ll ridicule and mariginalize my way.

  144. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Lighten up, Francis.

    You ridicule and marginalze your way. I’ll ridicule and mariginalize my way.

  145. phil Avatar
    phil

    And Newt Gingrich is a racist too for daring to slap down race baiter Juan Williams last night.

    The nerve of him! He’s out of control too–I may just have to join Jesse and Al in that future march.

  146. phil Avatar
    phil

    And Newt Gingrich is a racist too for daring to slap down race baiter Juan Williams last night.
    The nerve of him! He’s out of control too–I may just have to join Jesse and Al in that future march.

  147. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    23 WB,

    Thank you sir! Help in all forms accepted without question, but nothing will happen
    until my daughter personally chooses not to be an addict.

    My wife and I are raising our daughter’s special needs child, but we are getting old and for us green bananas are a long term investment. My biggest worry is we will not be there when she needs us the most. I have lost hope that my daughter will step up.

    I have kept my mouth shut on the Presidential race because I could not find sufficent compelling reasons to choose any of the candidates. I have come around to Rick Santorum for one reason and one reason alone.

    He and his wife choose to keep and raise their last child, who was special needs. Mrs
    Santorum is (was) a Neo-Natal ICU nurse. It takes real strength of character to go into the Neo-Natal wing of any hospital. Heartbreak and miracles happen there every day. I know because Ms Simple and I spent 6 months as our grand daughter fought day to day for her place in the world. The nurses I saw provided the only human comfort some of those children had as the parents deserted them early on.

    I probably disagree with Senator Santorum on many issues, but I trust that his character is sufficent that he will make the best decision and this is especially true with Medicaid. Deep cuts are looming and it will not matter who is elected; the cuts will happen. I just believe he will lead the Congress to make the best choices available.

    Pretty bad logic, but I believe that character trumps platforms and campaign slogans every time. I think that
    I would vote for him if he were a Democrat.

    Simple

    p.s. Just so you know…I have an uncanny ability to pick candidates that lose.

  148. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    23 WB,
    Thank you sir! Help in all forms accepted without question, but nothing will happen
    until my daughter personally chooses not to be an addict.
    My wife and I are raising our daughter’s special needs child, but we are getting old and for us green bananas are a long term investment. My biggest worry is we will not be there when she needs us the most. I have lost hope that my daughter will step up.
    I have kept my mouth shut on the Presidential race because I could not find sufficent compelling reasons to choose any of the candidates. I have come around to Rick Santorum for one reason and one reason alone.
    He and his wife choose to keep and raise their last child, who was special needs. Mrs
    Santorum is (was) a Neo-Natal ICU nurse. It takes real strength of character to go into the Neo-Natal wing of any hospital. Heartbreak and miracles happen there every day. I know because Ms Simple and I spent 6 months as our grand daughter fought day to day for her place in the world. The nurses I saw provided the only human comfort some of those children had as the parents deserted them early on.
    I probably disagree with Senator Santorum on many issues, but I trust that his character is sufficent that he will make the best decision and this is especially true with Medicaid. Deep cuts are looming and it will not matter who is elected; the cuts will happen. I just believe he will lead the Congress to make the best choices available.
    Pretty bad logic, but I believe that character trumps platforms and campaign slogans every time. I think that
    I would vote for him if he were a Democrat.
    Simple
    p.s. Just so you know…I have an uncanny ability to pick candidates that lose.

  149. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    Whatever, Sarge.

  150. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    Whatever, Sarge.

  151. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    Pretty bad logic, but I believe that character trumps platforms and campaign slogans every time.

    Nothing bad about that logic, sir.

  152. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    Pretty bad logic, but I believe that character trumps platforms and campaign slogans every time.

    Nothing bad about that logic, sir.

  153. Dooood Avatar
    Dooood

    McLaughlin’s opening sentence (quoted below) is precisely what I have been saying about the nature of what people have been calling the “Establishment”. Both major political parties today have diminished in power and internally fracture along dramatically different factional lines depending upon the issue at hand. The composition of the “Establishment” can change according to whose ox is being gored. There are geographical power centers and clusters of interest varying by industry, social issues, economic/financial positions and these often overlap.

    There’s been a lot of talk, maybe too much talk, about the struggle between the GOP “Establishment” and “Outsiders,” sometimes – but sometimes not – meaning the Tea Party, however defined. There are many fault lines, wheels within wheels, that divide different groups on the Right, but it’s time to clarify the core issue that has people of perfectly conservative temperament and ideology scratching their heads at their own constituents.

    This paragraph is the money quote for his essay. It elucidates the central question.

    In short, the real “Establishment” and “Outsider,” “anti-Establishment” or “Tea Party” factions are not about who is conservative or moderate, or who is inside or outside the Beltway or public office, or who has fancy degrees or a large readership/listenership or attends the right cocktail parties or churches, or even necessarily who has or has not supported various candidates. The term “Establishment” is used and abused in those contexts, but invariably describes only a division of passing significance. The real battle between the Establishment and the Outsiders is between those who urge significant changes in our spending patterns as a necessity to preserve the America we have known, and those who are unwilling to take that step. It is, in short, between those who are, and those who are not, willing to take action in the belief that the currently established structure of how public money is spent is unsustainable and must be fixed while it still can if we are not to lose by encroachments the all the other things Republicans and conservatives stand for.

    Good catch, Shannon.

    McLaughlin is a New York City lawyer and you would think that alone would be enough of a burden, but he didn’t stop there – he’s a New York Mets fan.

    Good Grief.

  154. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    McLaughlin’s opening sentence (quoted below) is precisely what I have been saying about the nature of what people have been calling the “Establishment”. Both major political parties today have diminished in power and internally fracture along dramatically different factional lines depending upon the issue at hand. The composition of the “Establishment” can change according to whose ox is being gored. There are geographical power centers and clusters of interest varying by industry, social issues, economic/financial positions and these often overlap.

    There’s been a lot of talk, maybe too much talk, about the struggle between the GOP “Establishment” and “Outsiders,” sometimes – but sometimes not – meaning the Tea Party, however defined. There are many fault lines, wheels within wheels, that divide different groups on the Right, but it’s time to clarify the core issue that has people of perfectly conservative temperament and ideology scratching their heads at their own constituents.

    This paragraph is the money quote for his essay. It elucidates the central question.

    In short, the real “Establishment” and “Outsider,” “anti-Establishment” or “Tea Party” factions are not about who is conservative or moderate, or who is inside or outside the Beltway or public office, or who has fancy degrees or a large readership/listenership or attends the right cocktail parties or churches, or even necessarily who has or has not supported various candidates. The term “Establishment” is used and abused in those contexts, but invariably describes only a division of passing significance. The real battle between the Establishment and the Outsiders is between those who urge significant changes in our spending patterns as a necessity to preserve the America we have known, and those who are unwilling to take that step. It is, in short, between those who are, and those who are not, willing to take action in the belief that the currently established structure of how public money is spent is unsustainable and must be fixed while it still can if we are not to lose by encroachments the all the other things Republicans and conservatives stand for.

    Good catch, Shannon.
    McLaughlin is a New York City lawyer and you would think that alone would be enough of a burden, but he didn’t stop there – he’s a New York Mets fan.
    Good Grief.

  155. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    The composition of the “Establishment” can change according to whose ox is being gored.

    Which pretty much shoots down the theory that there is one “Establishment”, one group of old white guys meeting in smoke-filled rooms, playing king maker. We’ve had at least three candidates during this primary season purported here to be the “Establishment” candidate. They can’t all be.

  156. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    The composition of the “Establishment” can change according to whose ox is being gored.

    Which pretty much shoots down the theory that there is one “Establishment”, one group of old white guys meeting in smoke-filled rooms, playing king maker. We’ve had at least three candidates during this primary season purported here to be the “Establishment” candidate. They can’t all be.

  157. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Sarge #70;

    All candidates were invited, but Former Governor Mitt Romney did not respond to invitations to participate in the Presidential Prolife Forum. Former Governor Romney is now the only Republican Presidential Candidate who is not participating in the Presidential Prolife Forum, and the only candidate who has not signed Personhood USA’s Prolife Presidential Pledge.

    (Bold mine)

    That’s probably why he didn’t commit. Or, perhaps, he’s just letting the loosers debate away. 😉

    http://news.yahoo.com/personhood-usa-live-presidential-prolife-forum-nearly-sold-231708418.html

    Personhood USA said the pledge was an opportunity for candidates to clarify their positions on fetal personhood, which would ban abortions even in cases of rape, incest and where the health of the mother is at stake.

    I wouldn’t sign it either.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/14/newt-gingrich-personhood-pledge_n_1149615.html

  158. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Sarge #70;

    All candidates were invited, but Former Governor Mitt Romney did not respond to invitations to participate in the Presidential Prolife Forum. Former Governor Romney is now the only Republican Presidential Candidate who is not participating in the Presidential Prolife Forum, and the only candidate who has not signed Personhood USA’s Prolife Presidential Pledge.

    (Bold mine)
    That’s probably why he didn’t commit. Or, perhaps, he’s just letting the loosers debate away. 😉
    http://news.yahoo.com/personhood-usa-live-presidential-prolife-forum-nearly-sold-231708418.html

    Personhood USA said the pledge was an opportunity for candidates to clarify their positions on fetal personhood, which would ban abortions even in cases of rape, incest and where the health of the mother is at stake.

    I wouldn’t sign it either.
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/14/newt-gingrich-personhood-pledge_n_1149615.html

  159. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    #63 Darren:

    It’s the day of rest and so I tend to avoid celebratory get togethers. Would you feel the same if it was on a Saturday?

    You are correct in that I would not attend on a Saturday as it is the Sabbath.
    Constantine chose to change the day of rest from the Sabbath (sundown Friday through sundown Saturday). When Messiah died and rose it was a fulfillment of the first 3 of 7 Scriptural feasts. The Scriptural feasts are determined by month and phase of the moon only, the day of the week is irrelevant in determining when the Scriptural feast take place. The weekly Sabbath is always a separate and distinct event from the Scriptural feasts. If and only if the Scriptural feast falls on the weekly Sabbath does anything change, and in that case the Scriptural feast prevails. Messiah rose on the Scriptural feast called First Fruits, it is not a high Sabbath, it is a work day. The fact that it happened to be on a Sunday is irrelevant. It is from that day that one starts counting 7 weeks plus 1 day to get to Shavuot, also known as the Feast of Weeks, and once again the day of the week is irrelevant in determining when this Feast occurs.
    The first 3 feasts occur 14,15 and 16th days of the lunar month, AKA the brightness of the moon, the 4th happens in the mid point between full and dark. Rosh Hoshanna occurs at the new moon (dark of the moon), Yom Kippur happens on the 10th and the last Sukkot or feast of tabernacles, starts on the 15th, once again at the full moon. All of this information is readily available in the source book, AKA THE TORAH.

  160. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    #63 Darren:

    It’s the day of rest and so I tend to avoid celebratory get togethers. Would you feel the same if it was on a Saturday?

    You are correct in that I would not attend on a Saturday as it is the Sabbath.
    Constantine chose to change the day of rest from the Sabbath (sundown Friday through sundown Saturday). When Messiah died and rose it was a fulfillment of the first 3 of 7 Scriptural feasts. The Scriptural feasts are determined by month and phase of the moon only, the day of the week is irrelevant in determining when the Scriptural feast take place. The weekly Sabbath is always a separate and distinct event from the Scriptural feasts. If and only if the Scriptural feast falls on the weekly Sabbath does anything change, and in that case the Scriptural feast prevails. Messiah rose on the Scriptural feast called First Fruits, it is not a high Sabbath, it is a work day. The fact that it happened to be on a Sunday is irrelevant. It is from that day that one starts counting 7 weeks plus 1 day to get to Shavuot, also known as the Feast of Weeks, and once again the day of the week is irrelevant in determining when this Feast occurs.
    The first 3 feasts occur 14,15 and 16th days of the lunar month, AKA the brightness of the moon, the 4th happens in the mid point between full and dark. Rosh Hoshanna occurs at the new moon (dark of the moon), Yom Kippur happens on the 10th and the last Sukkot or feast of tabernacles, starts on the 15th, once again at the full moon. All of this information is readily available in the source book, AKA THE TORAH.

  161. shamaal Avatar
    shamaal

    Kinda lends new meeting to the product known as a “Happy Meal”

  162. shamaal Avatar
    shamaal

    Kinda lends new meeting to the product known as a “Happy Meal”

  163. mharper42 Avatar
    mharper42

    #68 TT
    Hope your (and L.D.’s) B.K. gets better. Medicine and TLC should help. How old is she?

  164. mharper42 Avatar
    mharper42

    #68 TT
    Hope your (and L.D.’s) B.K. gets better. Medicine and TLC should help. How old is she?

  165. shamaal Avatar
    shamaal

    You are correct in that I would not attend on a Saturday as it is the Sabbath.

    I thought Saturday was a day to honor the God Saturn ……..

    I’ll never keep track of all these new fangled religions

  166. shamaal Avatar
    shamaal

    You are correct in that I would not attend on a Saturday as it is the Sabbath.

    I thought Saturday was a day to honor the God Saturn ……..
    I’ll never keep track of all these new fangled religions

  167. shamaal Avatar
    shamaal

    First they came for the pythons ………….

  168. shamaal Avatar
    shamaal

    First they came for the pythons ………….

  169. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    simple;

    My wife and I are raising our daughter’s special needs child, but we are getting old and for us green bananas are a long term investment. My biggest worry is we will not be there when she needs us the most. I have lost hope that my daughter will step up.

    Is there a backup plan? Extended family?

  170. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    simple;

    My wife and I are raising our daughter’s special needs child, but we are getting old and for us green bananas are a long term investment. My biggest worry is we will not be there when she needs us the most. I have lost hope that my daughter will step up.

    Is there a backup plan? Extended family?

  171. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Bonecrusher;

    You are correct in that I would not attend on a Saturday as it is the Sabbath.

    That’s what I figured. I feel the same way you do about living the Sabbath. So, whatever weekend day is chosen someone’s staying home. Either way I hope that those who attend do enjoy themselves.

  172. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Bonecrusher;

    You are correct in that I would not attend on a Saturday as it is the Sabbath.

    That’s what I figured. I feel the same way you do about living the Sabbath. So, whatever weekend day is chosen someone’s staying home. Either way I hope that those who attend do enjoy themselves.

  173. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Sarge;

    Just what does it say when the best counsel one can recieve about the candidate of one’s party to be President is to insure that you elect enough Conservatives in Congress to make sure he stays in line?

    Wise advice?

    The exact same could be said if Gingrich or Santorum won the presidency. Now if Paul wins, he’s the “only true conservative”. 😉

    Ron Paul 2012!!!

  174. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Sarge;

    Just what does it say when the best counsel one can recieve about the candidate of one’s party to be President is to insure that you elect enough Conservatives in Congress to make sure he stays in line?

    Wise advice?
    The exact same could be said if Gingrich or Santorum won the presidency. Now if Paul wins, he’s the “only true conservative”. 😉
    Ron Paul 2012!!!

  175. mharper42 Avatar
    mharper42

    #79 Darren

    which would ban abortions even in cases of rape, incest and where the health of the mother is at stake.

    Thanks for posting this detail, the last clause of which is a little shocking. While one can admire Pam Tebow for the decision she made, I don’t want the gubmint deciding between a mother who needs cancer treatment and her unborn child. Any more than I want the gubmint paying for abortions. Agonizing personal decisions are no place for ham-handed gubmint intervention.

  176. mharper42 Avatar
    mharper42

    #79 Darren

    which would ban abortions even in cases of rape, incest and where the health of the mother is at stake.

    Thanks for posting this detail, the last clause of which is a little shocking. While one can admire Pam Tebow for the decision she made, I don’t want the gubmint deciding between a mother who needs cancer treatment and her unborn child. Any more than I want the gubmint paying for abortions. Agonizing personal decisions are no place for ham-handed gubmint intervention.

  177. Dooood Avatar
    Dooood

    But the proposal has drawn political flak as well, with reptile breeders and collectors, backed by Republican lawmakers, disputing that the tropical snakes pose much of a risk beyond South Florida and arguing the restrictions amount to “job-killing’’ red tape that will harm a $100-million-a-year industry.

    What ? $100 million, for snakes and Republicans are defending snake dealers – sheesh.

  178. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    But the proposal has drawn political flak as well, with reptile breeders and collectors, backed by Republican lawmakers, disputing that the tropical snakes pose much of a risk beyond South Florida and arguing the restrictions amount to “job-killing’’ red tape that will harm a $100-million-a-year industry.

    What ? $100 million, for snakes and Republicans are defending snake dealers – sheesh.

  179. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    This is good though I admit unexpected with Santorum in the race.

    In Iowa, Romney won 10 of the 25 most Catholic counties in the state. In New Hampshire, the Catholic vote which represents 35% of the state broke in favor of Romney over Ron Paul (the 2nd place finish) by a margin of 45% to 17%. And most recently, Romney has received the endorsement of five former ambassadors to the Holy See.

    And the importance of this?

    The Catholic vote has been the largest swing vote since the last half of the 20th century to the present. While there is a divide amongst Hispanic Catholics and the descendants of European Catholics, the vote overall total has been fairly split over recent elections. According to media exit polls, Obama won the Catholic vote 54%-45% and won the White House 53%-46%. George W. Bush won the Catholic vote in 2004, 52%-47% and won the Presidency 51%-48%. These models hold true going back to 1972, when Richard Nixon won the Catholic vote 54%-44% and won the popular vote 61%-38% nationally.

    Catholics make up is 72 million strong: 59% European American, 32% Hispanic, 4% Black, and 5% other. Catholics voters make up a large portion in several swing states including Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Florida, and New Mexico.

    The Catholic swing voters going to Romney could be what it takes to carry Romney over the top.

    Catholics Shifting to Romney?

  180. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    This is good though I admit unexpected with Santorum in the race.

    In Iowa, Romney won 10 of the 25 most Catholic counties in the state. In New Hampshire, the Catholic vote which represents 35% of the state broke in favor of Romney over Ron Paul (the 2nd place finish) by a margin of 45% to 17%. And most recently, Romney has received the endorsement of five former ambassadors to the Holy See.

    And the importance of this?

    The Catholic vote has been the largest swing vote since the last half of the 20th century to the present. While there is a divide amongst Hispanic Catholics and the descendants of European Catholics, the vote overall total has been fairly split over recent elections. According to media exit polls, Obama won the Catholic vote 54%-45% and won the White House 53%-46%. George W. Bush won the Catholic vote in 2004, 52%-47% and won the Presidency 51%-48%. These models hold true going back to 1972, when Richard Nixon won the Catholic vote 54%-44% and won the popular vote 61%-38% nationally.
    Catholics make up is 72 million strong: 59% European American, 32% Hispanic, 4% Black, and 5% other. Catholics voters make up a large portion in several swing states including Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Florida, and New Mexico.

    The Catholic swing voters going to Romney could be what it takes to carry Romney over the top.
    Catholics Shifting to Romney?

  181. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    mharper #88;

    Agonizing personal decisions are no place for ham-handed gubmint intervention.

    I completely agree. Be it known that I would rather live in an absolute aborton ban society than what we live in now but overall I think the best form of society is one which bans abortion but makes allowances for rape, incest, and life endangerment to the mother. Also, in such agonizing cases I vehemently advocate for the individuals involved to get the best advice from doctors, their clergy, and to pray fervently to God as to the best decision to be made. I have no doubt whatsoever that according to God’s plan of salvation, souls who are deprived of life for whatever reason are blessed way beyond human comprehension: that their happiness is completely infinite and eternal; even being one with God the Father through Christ the LORD. Advocating life is paramount to God’s plan of salvation and this includes the child bearer.

  182. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    mharper #88;

    Agonizing personal decisions are no place for ham-handed gubmint intervention.

    I completely agree. Be it known that I would rather live in an absolute aborton ban society than what we live in now but overall I think the best form of society is one which bans abortion but makes allowances for rape, incest, and life endangerment to the mother. Also, in such agonizing cases I vehemently advocate for the individuals involved to get the best advice from doctors, their clergy, and to pray fervently to God as to the best decision to be made. I have no doubt whatsoever that according to God’s plan of salvation, souls who are deprived of life for whatever reason are blessed way beyond human comprehension: that their happiness is completely infinite and eternal; even being one with God the Father through Christ the LORD. Advocating life is paramount to God’s plan of salvation and this includes the child bearer.

  183. shamaal Avatar
    shamaal

    Apparently Rick Perry last night said something dumb about the elected government of Turkey, whatever

    Hunter over at Daily Kos imagines the following exchange at the State Department:

    First they have to explain to the Turkish ambassador that Rick Perry is really, really stupid, and was probably mistaking their country for some other place. That leads to a whole conversation in which the ambassador wonders aloud at how someone so stupid can even be considered to be a potential leader of a country the size and strength of the United States, and the State Department guy just has to shrug, and say yeah, that’s the system all right. But aren’t you worried that if this jackass actually got elected, he’d go around bombing the wrong countries just because all those furriners looked the same and he couldn’t keep track of them, the ambassador would ask? Dude, you saw our last president, the State Department guy says: Been there, done that. We spent most of the last decade hiding The Button from everyone in the White House, and we finally just swapped it out for a suitcase with a Jolly Rancher taped to the inside. George Bush would sleep with it at night. Consider yourself lucky your country has a name that these people can at least halfway pronounce, because that’s half the battle right there.

    IMO, that line about the Jolly Rancher is comedic gold. Why can’t conservative writers be that funny? Anne Coulter gets a couple good ones occasionally, but there’s a lot of stuff to wade through. Of course if you like Rick Perry because you thought George Bush was too cerebral, we’ll just have to differ. 😉

    Bob Hope and Will Rogers used to zing both parties mercilessly and still remain funny.

  184. shamaal Avatar
    shamaal

    Apparently Rick Perry last night said something dumb about the elected government of Turkey, whatever
    Hunter over at Daily Kos imagines the following exchange at the State Department:

    First they have to explain to the Turkish ambassador that Rick Perry is really, really stupid, and was probably mistaking their country for some other place. That leads to a whole conversation in which the ambassador wonders aloud at how someone so stupid can even be considered to be a potential leader of a country the size and strength of the United States, and the State Department guy just has to shrug, and say yeah, that’s the system all right. But aren’t you worried that if this jackass actually got elected, he’d go around bombing the wrong countries just because all those furriners looked the same and he couldn’t keep track of them, the ambassador would ask? Dude, you saw our last president, the State Department guy says: Been there, done that. We spent most of the last decade hiding The Button from everyone in the White House, and we finally just swapped it out for a suitcase with a Jolly Rancher taped to the inside. George Bush would sleep with it at night. Consider yourself lucky your country has a name that these people can at least halfway pronounce, because that’s half the battle right there.

    IMO, that line about the Jolly Rancher is comedic gold. Why can’t conservative writers be that funny? Anne Coulter gets a couple good ones occasionally, but there’s a lot of stuff to wade through. Of course if you like Rick Perry because you thought George Bush was too cerebral, we’ll just have to differ. 😉
    Bob Hope and Will Rogers used to zing both parties mercilessly and still remain funny.

  185. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    I just heard this from Mark Levin’s fill in.

    WASHINGTON — Though they may spar across the political aisle, Vice President Dick Cheney is close enough to Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama to call him “cousin.”

    Eighth cousin, that is.

    Lynne Cheney, the vice president’s wife, revealed this tantalizing bit of political trivia during a television interview Tuesday.

    She said she uncovered the long-ago ties between the two while researching her ancestry for her latest book, “Blue Skies, No Fences,” a memoir about growing up in Wyoming.

    “This is such an amazing American story that one ancestor … could be responsible down the family lines for lives that have taken such different and varied paths as Dick’s and Barack Obama,” Lynne Cheney told MSNBC.

    According to her spokeswoman, Sen. Obama, D-Ill., is a descendent of Mareen Duvall. This French Huguenot’s son married the granddaughter of a Richard Cheney, who arrived in Maryland in the late 1650s from England, said Ginny Justice, a spokeswoman for Lynne Cheney.

    Don’t ya just love the family tree?

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21340764/ns/politics/t/lynne-cheney-vp-obama-are-eighth-cousins/

  186. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    I just heard this from Mark Levin’s fill in.

    WASHINGTON — Though they may spar across the political aisle, Vice President Dick Cheney is close enough to Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama to call him “cousin.”
    Eighth cousin, that is.
    Lynne Cheney, the vice president’s wife, revealed this tantalizing bit of political trivia during a television interview Tuesday.
    She said she uncovered the long-ago ties between the two while researching her ancestry for her latest book, “Blue Skies, No Fences,” a memoir about growing up in Wyoming.
    “This is such an amazing American story that one ancestor … could be responsible down the family lines for lives that have taken such different and varied paths as Dick’s and Barack Obama,” Lynne Cheney told MSNBC.
    According to her spokeswoman, Sen. Obama, D-Ill., is a descendent of Mareen Duvall. This French Huguenot’s son married the granddaughter of a Richard Cheney, who arrived in Maryland in the late 1650s from England, said Ginny Justice, a spokeswoman for Lynne Cheney.

    Don’t ya just love the family tree?
    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21340764/ns/politics/t/lynne-cheney-vp-obama-are-eighth-cousins/

  187. shamaal Avatar
    shamaal

    Speaking of George Bush, the Chronicle had a picture of 41 the other day in a wheelchair watching a footrace of some sort. The runners were stopping to say hello. Anyone know how ill he is?

    I recall him being in a wheelchair when President Obama presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but I would have thought he’d gotten over that by now. Google doesn’t say much about his curren condition.

  188. shamaal Avatar
    shamaal

    Speaking of George Bush, the Chronicle had a picture of 41 the other day in a wheelchair watching a footrace of some sort. The runners were stopping to say hello. Anyone know how ill he is?
    I recall him being in a wheelchair when President Obama presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but I would have thought he’d gotten over that by now. Google doesn’t say much about his curren condition.

  189. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    #88 M42:

    which would ban abortions even in cases of rape, incest and where the health of the mother is at stake.

    I believe that even in the Catholic faith, rape and incest are legitimate grounds for abortion and in the case where the mothers life is in imminent danger. There had better be a police report on file for the first 2. Where the Ds get all wrapped around the axle is on the last part, the health of the mother. Health is a real vague term that includes depression, as such if the mother gets depressed she can claim a health issue and get an abortion -actually murder her unborn child. The issue really needs to be clearly defined as life of the mother in jeopardy, in which case she needs to be in a hospital and not an abortionary.
    The Ds get all twisted to make sure that all the scenarios they talk about is the three mentioned above. I would suggest that those 3 represent less than 0.05% of all the abortions that take place in this country. The ds want to make a huge issue about the ‘almost never happens’ while conveniently ignoring the fact that the overwhelming majority of abortions are nothing more than human sacrifice on the altar of convenience to the false goddess feminism.

    nytol

  190. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    #88 M42:

    which would ban abortions even in cases of rape, incest and where the health of the mother is at stake.

    I believe that even in the Catholic faith, rape and incest are legitimate grounds for abortion and in the case where the mothers life is in imminent danger. There had better be a police report on file for the first 2. Where the Ds get all wrapped around the axle is on the last part, the health of the mother. Health is a real vague term that includes depression, as such if the mother gets depressed she can claim a health issue and get an abortion -actually murder her unborn child. The issue really needs to be clearly defined as life of the mother in jeopardy, in which case she needs to be in a hospital and not an abortionary.
    The Ds get all twisted to make sure that all the scenarios they talk about is the three mentioned above. I would suggest that those 3 represent less than 0.05% of all the abortions that take place in this country. The ds want to make a huge issue about the ‘almost never happens’ while conveniently ignoring the fact that the overwhelming majority of abortions are nothing more than human sacrifice on the altar of convenience to the false goddess feminism.
    nytol

  191. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    What ? $100 million, for snakes and Republicans are defending snake dealers – sheesh.

    The Miami Herald neglected to mention that Gov. Rick Scott supports the ban. I’m sure there are other Florida Republicans that support it. It makes for better press to portray Republicans as injurious to the native flora and fauna.

  192. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    What ? $100 million, for snakes and Republicans are defending snake dealers – sheesh.

    The Miami Herald neglected to mention that Gov. Rick Scott supports the ban. I’m sure there are other Florida Republicans that support it. It makes for better press to portray Republicans as injurious to the native flora and fauna.

  193. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Hamous says:

    January 17, 2012 at 8:30 pm

    The composition of the “Establishment” can change according to whose ox is being gored.

    Which pretty much shoots down the theory that there is one “Establishment”, one group of old white guys meeting in smoke-filled rooms, playing king maker. We’ve had at least three candidates during this primary season purported here to be the “Establishment” candidate. They can’t all be.

    The problem is that the only people who are claiming that the Establishment so widely referred to in the media and common conversation are a bunch of old white guys meeting in smoke filled rooms are the folks who want to define it that way so as gto say that there is no such a thing as an Establishment.

    “Establishment Republicans” refers to a mode of group think more than anything else, especially those who say that “Tea Party” and Social Conservatives are more of an embarrasment to the Party and exist only to vote when told and shut up the rest of the time. Should they endeavor to open their mouths to note that the Emperor is nekkid as a jay bird, they serve as targets of derision and chjildish finger pointing.

  194. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Hamous says:
    January 17, 2012 at 8:30 pm

    The composition of the “Establishment” can change according to whose ox is being gored.

    Which pretty much shoots down the theory that there is one “Establishment”, one group of old white guys meeting in smoke-filled rooms, playing king maker. We’ve had at least three candidates during this primary season purported here to be the “Establishment” candidate. They can’t all be.

    The problem is that the only people who are claiming that the Establishment so widely referred to in the media and common conversation are a bunch of old white guys meeting in smoke filled rooms are the folks who want to define it that way so as gto say that there is no such a thing as an Establishment.
    “Establishment Republicans” refers to a mode of group think more than anything else, especially those who say that “Tea Party” and Social Conservatives are more of an embarrasment to the Party and exist only to vote when told and shut up the rest of the time. Should they endeavor to open their mouths to note that the Emperor is nekkid as a jay bird, they serve as targets of derision and chjildish finger pointing.

  195. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    #82 Mharper

    Miss Salem (aka “Barf Kitty”) is about twelve years old. We’ve had her since she was a baby kitty.

  196. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    #82 Mharper
    Miss Salem (aka “Barf Kitty”) is about twelve years old. We’ve had her since she was a baby kitty.

  197. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    in which case she needs to be in a hospital and not an abortionary

    Nicely said.

  198. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    in which case she needs to be in a hospital and not an abortionary

    Nicely said.

  199. Dooood Avatar
    Dooood

    IMO, that line about the Jolly Rancher is comedic gold. Why can’t conservative writers be that funny?

    You’re kidding, right ?

    Depending on what day of the week or hour of the day it might be, the current leadership of Turkey can do excellent impersonations of Islamic terrorists. Perry might not be completely right, but he is certainly not completely wrong.

    The problem is it was a very dumb thing for a presidential candidate to say regardless of the accuracy of the comment. One more reason he won’t ever be President of the USA.

  200. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    IMO, that line about the Jolly Rancher is comedic gold. Why can’t conservative writers be that funny?

    You’re kidding, right ?
    Depending on what day of the week or hour of the day it might be, the current leadership of Turkey can do excellent impersonations of Islamic terrorists. Perry might not be completely right, but he is certainly not completely wrong.
    The problem is it was a very dumb thing for a presidential candidate to say regardless of the accuracy of the comment. One more reason he won’t ever be President of the USA.

  201. Dooood Avatar
    Dooood

    #96 Hamous

    I figured as much.

    Speaking of shamaal’s odd sense of humor though, I am surprised he missed the chance to make the “Republicans are just a bunch of hillbilly snake-handlers anyway” retort.

    Oh, those missed opportunities…

  202. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    #96 Hamous
    I figured as much.
    Speaking of shamaal’s odd sense of humor though, I am surprised he missed the chance to make the “Republicans are just a bunch of hillbilly snake-handlers anyway” retort.
    Oh, those missed opportunities…

  203. shamaal Avatar
    shamaal

    Interesting document showed up on the internet lately, John McCain’s opposition research book on Mitt Romney.

    Not many people are aware that politicians pay companies to dig up dirt on their opponents or possible opponents. Unfortunately they fall into the wrong [hands] post election and are used in ways never intended. Folks may remember many of the things about Sarah Palin came from opposition research paid for by Republicans when she was running in the Alaskan primaries.

    It’s rumoured that the Obama kerfuffle about his birth certificate was uncovered by Hillary Clinton’s op research that she opted not to use.

    At any rate, here it is. Remember that when you hear it later from the Democrats, you read it here first.

  204. shamaal Avatar
    shamaal

    Interesting document showed up on the internet lately, John McCain’s opposition research book on Mitt Romney.
    Not many people are aware that politicians pay companies to dig up dirt on their opponents or possible opponents. Unfortunately they fall into the wrong [hands] post election and are used in ways never intended. Folks may remember many of the things about Sarah Palin came from opposition research paid for by Republicans when she was running in the Alaskan primaries.
    It’s rumoured that the Obama kerfuffle about his birth certificate was uncovered by Hillary Clinton’s op research that she opted not to use.
    At any rate, here it is. Remember that when you hear it later from the Democrats, you read it here first.

  205. Katfish Avatar
    Katfish

    I believe that even in the Catholic faith, rape and incest are legitimate grounds for abortion and in the case where the mothers life is in imminent danger

    Absolutely not for the first two. And you will want to talk to a priest about the third and make sure you’re talking about mortal danger.

  206. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    I believe that even in the Catholic faith, rape and incest are legitimate grounds for abortion and in the case where the mothers life is in imminent danger

    Absolutely not for the first two. And you will want to talk to a priest about the third and make sure you’re talking about mortal danger.

  207. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Apparently, Sarah Palin likes losers.

    Sarah Palin on Hannity just stated that if she were in South Carolina she would vote for Newt to keep the election from being declared over if Romney wins.

    She emphasized that we need answers to questions, and can’t risk October surprises.

    That seems to be a comment regarding Romney’s reluctance to release his Tax Returns until after the coronation.

  208. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Apparently, Sarah Palin likes losers.

    Sarah Palin on Hannity just stated that if she were in South Carolina she would vote for Newt to keep the election from being declared over if Romney wins.
    She emphasized that we need answers to questions, and can’t risk October surprises.

    That seems to be a comment regarding Romney’s reluctance to release his Tax Returns until after the coronation.

  209. Dooood Avatar
    Dooood

    #102 shamaal

    Sharp, astute candidates hire people to do oppo research on themselves to anticipate what opponents might discover.

  210. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    #102 shamaal
    Sharp, astute candidates hire people to do oppo research on themselves to anticipate what opponents might discover.

  211. shamaal Avatar
    shamaal

    #101 texpat and #96 Hamous

    It’s pretty common knowledge that Governor Crist signed a python ban last year. And that was in desperation because Congressman Nelson was unable to get his ban bill through Congress. That it has taken 5 years to get this far is not because of a biased Florida press. PIJAC has a pretty strong lobby.

  212. shamaal Avatar
    shamaal

    #101 texpat and #96 Hamous
    It’s pretty common knowledge that Governor Crist signed a python ban last year. And that was in desperation because Congressman Nelson was unable to get his ban bill through Congress. That it has taken 5 years to get this far is not because of a biased Florida press. PIJAC has a pretty strong lobby.

  213. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    That it has taken 5 years to get this far is not because of a biased Florida press.

    Who said it was? As I suspected would be the case, you’re still, as Texpat put it, well-versed in obfuscation. If your arguments can’t stand on their own merits please refrain from muddling up mine.

  214. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    That it has taken 5 years to get this far is not because of a biased Florida press.

    Who said it was? As I suspected would be the case, you’re still, as Texpat put it, well-versed in obfuscation. If your arguments can’t stand on their own merits please refrain from muddling up mine.

  215. shamaal Avatar
    shamaal

    That it has taken 5 years to get this far is not because of a biased Florida press.

    Who said it was?

    The Miami Herald neglected to mention that Gov. Rick Scott supports the ban. I’m sure there are other Florida Republicans that support it. It makes for better press to portray Republicans as injurious to the native flora and fauna.

    I figured as much.

    risible

  216. shamaal Avatar
    shamaal

    That it has taken 5 years to get this far is not because of a biased Florida press.

    Who said it was?

    The Miami Herald neglected to mention that Gov. Rick Scott supports the ban. I’m sure there are other Florida Republicans that support it. It makes for better press to portray Republicans as injurious to the native flora and fauna.

    I figured as much.

    risible

  217. Southern Tragedy Avatar
    Southern Tragedy

    Whoever claimed there was one cabal “Establishment” group? Good freaking grief. The article nails it, thanks Shannon.

  218. GJT Avatar
    GJT

    Whoever claimed there was one cabal “Establishment” group? Good freaking grief. The article nails it, thanks Shannon.

  219. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    #104;

    Apparently, Sarah Palin likes losers.

    Hey, I was going to post an article about that and say “it’s gloatingtime for Sarge” but you beat me to it. 😉

    http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2012/01/palin-id-vote-for-newt-in-sc-111238.html

  220. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    #104;

    Apparently, Sarah Palin likes losers.

    Hey, I was going to post an article about that and say “it’s gloatingtime for Sarge” but you beat me to it. 😉
    http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2012/01/palin-id-vote-for-newt-in-sc-111238.html

  221. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    Well “Tom Bodett left the light on” in Tallahassee as advertised……………….what a gorgeous (if chilly before dawn) day to ride 770 miles!

    Now an easy relaxed 275 into Orlando tomorrow……………..

  222. Katfish Avatar
    Katfish

    Well “Tom Bodett left the light on” in Tallahassee as advertised……………….what a gorgeous (if chilly before dawn) day to ride 770 miles!
    Now an easy relaxed 275 into Orlando tomorrow……………..

  223. phil Avatar
    phil

    Too bad there wasn’t a snake ban put in place before Hugo Hussein Obumma and his phony birth certificate were imported to the USA.

  224. phil Avatar
    phil

    Too bad there wasn’t a snake ban put in place before Hugo Hussein Obumma and his phony birth certificate were imported to the USA.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.