Fun at Abbey Road

Ringo has a new album, we are starting to hear it on the radio.

The embedded flick is taken from a traffic camera.

It's fun to see how many folks take pictures there.

Machining Is Cool

Since I work as an engineer for a machine shop and on a daily basis see how this can be applied.I think this is realy cool.

Very nerd-like I know.

If you could put a hundred ton part in that holding fixture, my job would be a lot easier.

William Otis

Long time ago, 170 years to the day, another Otis named William did something noteworthy.....

On this day in 1839, William Otis got the first a patent for the steam shovel. Before that time there were cranes and other leverage devices used for lifting but the steam power permitted the application of focused power. Focus of mechanical power creates efficiencies. The use of these mechanized engines are evident all over the world in mammoth public works such as dams, bridges and canals.

William Otis described his invention as "the Crane-dredge for excavation and earth removals".

Ever see the name Otis on an elevator or escalator? We have those at the courtesy of William's cousin Elishu Otis.

Perhaps the new government could develop a parallel to the steam shovel, that for moving wealth to consumption (waste) more efficiently.

The Simpsons Movie

This movie was released in 2007, is rated PG-13, and lasts minutes.

Directed by David Silverman, written by James L. Brooks and Matt Groening.

Homer dumps a silo of pig poop in the Springfield lake causing the town to be sealed off from the rest of the country. The family comes together as Homer saves the day.

This movie gets a score of 8 of 50, not too swift. Do not bother to watch this cartoon.

• Character development 1 of 10. These characters have not changed since the shorts of the late 80's.
• Screenplay 2 of 10. Was not as vulgar as I expected.
• Acting 2 of 10. The voice overs were good.
• Cinematography 1 of 10. This is simply drawn cartoon.
• Concept 2 of 10. An hour and a half episode.

Sea Kittens

Looked for information on PETA's promotional campaign after reading a comment in the National Review. A Google "Sea Kitten" search took me right to PETA's site and headlining is a new thrust aimed at children. The description of the campaign reads....

People don't seem to like fish. They're slithery and slimy, and they have eyes on either side of their pointy little heads—which is weird, to say the least. Plus, the small ones nibble at your feet when you're swimming, and the big ones—well, the big ones will bite your face off if Jaws is anything to go by.

How cute, they nibble at your feet.

Of course, if you look at it another way, what all this really means is that fish need to fire their PR guy—stat. Whoever was in charge of creating a positive image for fish needs to go right back to working on the Britney Spears account and leave our scaly little friends alone. You've done enough damage, buddy. We've got it from here. And we're going to start by retiring the old name for good. When your name can also be used as a verb that means driving a hook through your head, it's time for a serious image makeover. And who could possibly want to put a hook through a sea kitten?

Only a woman could have written this drivel. And don't forget boys and girls, before hooking the fish you have to run that hook through the worm a couple of times too. In a section labelled "Sea Kitten Facts", cute little crappola text streams by.....

Many male sea kittens woo potential partners by singing to them. While this
is not particularly easy to do underwater coherently, female sea kittens don't
generally seem to mind.

The song they are singing is "Fry Me To The Moon", and....

Sea kittens talk to each other through squeaks, squeals, and other low-frequency sounds that humans can only hear through special instruments. Most ichthyologists—scientists who specialize in sea kitten biology—agree that this is just about the cutest thing ever.

It's just about the cutest thing ever, the squeak bluefish make when you smash their head with a club. And.....

Contrary to popular belief, the technical term for sea kitten offspring is "baby sea kitties," not "caviar." Many sea kittens build nests where they can raise their baby sea kitties, and others collect small rocks off the sea floor to make widdle hiding pwaces where they can rest.

We wurk hard to fine dose wittle pwaces wid owr depth finer.

This thing just goes on and on and on. The bullshit is so deep you need a shovel to cut a path through it. The objective is clear enough, emulate the Disney Nemo movie to draw in kids, then teach the children that fishing harms fish. I agree, it does harm fish, got no problem with it. Fish taste good and by our good luck are often nourishing, furthermore fishing is relaxing for the soul.

PETA is drawing on kids to develop their long range objective of animal rights equalling those for people. Have you seen what little kids insist on eating, hot dogs, made from the parts of every living animal known to man, and macaroni and cheese made from milk and milk derivatives. Kids learn to love tasty flesh at an early age.

These folks probably rode to school on the short bus.

For My Connecticut Relatives

Today's Wall Street Journal offers this article about of the Attorney General of Connecticut's evasion of responsibility with respect to Senator Chris Dodd. The article is titled "Friend of Chris"........

If you think Senator Chris Dodd was friendly with former Countrywide Financial CEO Angelo Mozilo, check out the bond the Connecticut lawmaker enjoys with Richard Blumenthal, the state's attorney general. While Mr. Dodd refuses to make public the details of his sweetheart loans from Countrywide, the state's chief lawyer not only won't investigate; he has taken to the airwaves to proclaim Mr. Dodd's innocence and even predict his re-election in 2010.
Inappropriate doesn't begin to describe Mr. Blumenthal's appearance this week on Hartford's WFSB-TV. The AG compared Mr. Dodd, who was due to receive an estimated savings of $75,000 over the life of his two VIP mortgage loans, to borrowers allegedly duped by unscrupulous lenders. Mr. Blumenthal claimed that "there's no evidence of wrongdoing on [Mr. Dodd's] part any more than victims who were misled or deceived by Countrywide."
Portraying Mr. Dodd as a victim for receiving two below-market loans appeared to be too much for WFSB anchor Dennis House. He asked Mr. Blumenthal if he would accept Countrywide telling him that he could see some documents for a short time but not make any copies, as Mr. Dodd recently did with selected reporters. Mr. Blumenthal replied that he subpoenas documents from companies like Countrywide, instead of accepting their representations.
It's interesting that the state's top lawyer can pronounce that there's no evidence of wrongdoing by Mr. Dodd, especially since Mr. Blumenthal told us this week that he has never investigated Dodd's Countrywide deals. According to Mr. Blumenthal, the case is out of his jurisdiction because Mr. Dodd holds a federal office and any possible offenses would be federal. Mr. Blumenthal prosecutes civil matters while Connecticut's Chief State's Attorney, Kevin Kane, oversees criminal prosecutions. Mr. Kane's office also tells us that Connecticut's senior Senator is out of its jurisdiction.
Mr. Blumenthal's decision to stay out of the way of federal law enforcers contrasts with his approach when Republican Governor John Rowland and others were successfully prosecuted on federal corruption charges. In that case, Mr. Blumenthal was so zealous that in 2004 a state court judge temporarily blocked his civil suit after federal prosecutors claimed he was making it more difficult to prosecute the federal case.
Federal prosecutors aren't commenting on any probe, if there is one. We can confirm that the Senate's Ethics Committee investigation continues at whatever pace can be described as less than plodding.

Let's not kid ourselves, nothing is going to happen, this man is guilty, guilty, guilty, and he is protected, protected, protected. Sure hope that I am wrong about that. The hypocrisy of Chris Dodd is astounding, this man, after fighting revisions to relevant regulations, even after being exposed as a recipient of favorable loans, continued to ride President Bush for allowing the banking collapse to happen. That the citizen's of Connecticut continue to reelect this man, coupled with the over-whelming voting bias for the new President, is hard to understand.

Look at the Eyes

Shamelessly copied from JWR, another fantastic Michael Ramirez cartoon. Democrats are reinforcing their narcissistic ways. Giving makes them feel that they've accomplished their goal, and viola, the giving does not help, so another opportunity for giving is created.

No Divided Allegiance Accepted

In search for a quotation about immigrant integration, found this quotation....

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American .

There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag .

We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language, and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

I have no truck with legal immigration, population growth is an important factor in productivity inertia. There are very large groups of Hispanic immigrants that have no intention of integration and in fact purposefully avoid integration for the purpose of avoiding taxation.
This tax evasion is tacitly accepted by the ruling class.

Ass Wipe Advertisment

For the previous post I was doing a little bit of research. In that I found a curious ad on the Mother Jones site. In the middle of the article about the Obama 9-February press conference there was a ad from a cell phone company, it asked if you thought Bush should be prosecuted for war crimes, of course I answered no, to which there was an immediate response that there were not interested in selling their shit to me, the last screen ended up looking as follows.

I tried to bring the question and response set back, but with cookies and temp file deletions I was only able to bring up a different set of equally offensive advertisement pictures.

The first screen asks if I believe in gay marriage. I do believe that people are sometimes born homosexual and are natural in their existence. I have family members that are gay and have my respect, support and love. On marriage we may disagree. Marriage is cultural, not natural, and is, by definition, a set of rules. Consistency is needed for culture to survive.

The reponse I made is pretty clear....

The smart assed answer is, I have to admit, true. I would never buy a phone from these people for their being so unaccepting of an opinion outside their boundaries.

It was similar for the war crimes issue, very real displays of the liberal rigidity and exclusion.

Give The Families Privacy

Reading the New York Times this weekend caused me some irritation by way of an editorial blessing the Obama's decision to review the policy of prohibiting pictures being taken of returned deceased servicemen. The editorial lauded the anticipated change in access, and criticised the policy first put in place by Bush 41. The praise was based mostly on the premise of the nation needing to see the images of the result of war and the bereavement of the families affected.
In the February 9 press conference the President was questioned and said.....

Q Thank you, Mr. President. You promised to send more troops to Afghanistan. And since you've been very clear about a timetable to withdraw all combat troops from Iraq within 16 months, I wonder what's your timetable to withdraw troops eventually from Afghanistan?

And related to that, there's a Pentagon policy that bans media coverage of the flag-draped coffins from coming in to Dover Air Force Base. And back in 2004, then-Senator Joe Biden said that it was shameful for dead soldiers to be "snuck back into the country under the cover of night." You've promised unprecedented transparency, openness in your government. Will you overturn that policy so the American people can see the full human cost of war?

OBAMA: Your question is timely. We got reports that four American service members have been killed in Iraq today, and obviously our thoughts and prayers go out to the families. I've said before that -- you know, people have asked me when did it hit you that you are now President? And what I told them was the most sobering moment is signing letters to the families of our fallen heroes. It reminds you of the responsibilities that you carry in this office and the consequences of decisions that you make.

Now, with respect to the policy of opening up media to loved ones being brought back home, we are in the process of reviewing those policies in conversations with the Department of Defense, so I don't want to give you an answer now before I've evaluated that review and understand all the implications involved.

The questioner's phrase "full human cost of war" masks the intent, that being to undermine public support for the war. That in itself fits the personality of the news media for, to them, more access is always better. While I have huge issues with this attitude from a political viewpoint, people are allowed their own opinions (there is an argument that reporters are not). There is a point of view that the reporters and the New York Times are not giving fair value.
The families of the deceased right to privacy that supersedes the wishes of the press. If the families in turn elect to contact the press in this matter that is their right.
What's more, the wishes of the deceased are not being respected in this proposed policy shift. Being volunteers who willingly chose to enlist and serve, their commitment to the principle of national security should not be ignored.
Not be ignored so some snivelling reporter can give his opinion rather than report the facts.
Secretary Gates is reported to be considering the shift. How do you think this will be received by the men who really count, those risking their lives?
Give the families privacy in their last moments with their brave loved ones.
Let them decide when to include or exclude the press.

Tombstone

This was in an email forwarded to me by the Ledyard Farm Girl.

Professor Joseph Olson of Hemline University School of Law, St. Paul , Minnesota , points out some interesting facts concerning the Presidential election:

Number of States won by: Democrats: 19 Republicans: 29 Square miles of land won by: Democrats: 580,000 Republicans: 2,427,000 Population of counties won by: Democrats: 127 million Republicans: 143 million Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Democrats: 13.2 Republicans: 2.1

Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Republicans won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of the country. Democrat territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government welfare..."

Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the "complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.

If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegals and they vote, then we can say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years.

If you are in favor of this, then by all means, delete this message. If you are not, then pass this along to help everyone realize just how much is at stake, knowing that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom.

In the course of a little web searching, have found that there is such a man at that school who specializes in studies the voting patterns with focus on geographics and demographics. El Rushbo spoke on the matter, quoting the professor ....

In aggregate, the map of the territory Republican won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens. Democrat territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in rented or government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government welfare...

People of the blue persuasion would point out that they got the votes.
More fodder for repealing the 16th and 17th amendments.

It Don't Make No Cents At All

50 years ago today, on February 12, 1959, the penny design changed from the back side having two ears of wheat, to having an image of the Lincoln Memorial. Insignificant, I guess, have always had a thing about saving the one cent coins.
As kid I managed with a paper route, sometimes paid in pennies , I collected wheat leaves. By the time I went away to college, had collected more than $20.00 worth, all gathered in an Almeden wine bottle.
It took me a few years to notice that they were gone. One of my brothers cashed the coin in, I presume to purchase some dope. Pissed me off pretty good.

Also on this day, just ten years ago, the US Senate voted to acquit President Bill Clinton.
Pissed me off even more...
To watch those gloating assholes on the White House lawn, proud of saving their Philanderer in Chief.

Green Cards We Don't Need No Stinkin Cards

Last night our ass sucking Congress, for the purpose of pleasing a growing demographic, perpetuated treason by stripping protections for US workers from the stimulus package. Businesses will be permitted to hire illegal aliens at the same levels set during the Bush administration.
So the estimated $250,000 cost per job created in the package will be extended to our little friends.
Senor, can I take that money in cash?
If the little bastards could they would be sending the money home by Western Union on Friday night.
Have you ever been in a Georgia Kroger on Friday night, just look at the help desk, there is always a line. A line of people that don't even shop at that store, they always shop at the nasty grocery store down the street that does not have maney order system.

GW Bush was wrong on this.
The Republican led Congress was wrong on this.
The Democrat led Congress is wrong on this.
Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, two retards looking for a taco stand.
You can be sure as shit our new President is perfectly willing have the United States be the bread basket for everybody but Americans.
More of this traitorous f...ng group of politicians and we should go the route of Atlas Shrugged.....

Advertisement For or Against?

Not doubt that the honchos at NBC were looking to avoid playing an advertisement that connected the new President to a position he is against, and even without a position is divisive.

Can you see how right to life supporters beliefs may become conflicted?

Think it through.

I Knew It

Newsmax likes to use catchy titles to get your attention. This one I could have used back in my high-school days as a fumbling fool.
The story reads....

Rather than damaging a man’s sexual performance, a good, stiff drink actually improves a man’s sexual prowess in the bedroom. Australian researchers found that men who drink report as many as 30 percent fewer problems than those who didn’t drink at all.

Perhaps Austrailians need good stiff drink just to get wood when wanting to bugger a koala bear.

Dr. Kew-Kim Chew, of Western Australia’s Keogh Institute for Medical Research told London’s Sunday Telegraph that men who drank within safe, moderate guidelines seemed to have the best erectile function. In Chew’s study of 1,580 Australian men, even binge drinkers functioned better sexually than those who never drank.

Worked with a man named Keogh once, a Scotsman, isn't that sort of like an Australian? He couldn't do anything without a drink. Maybe that's it, Australians are such rummies that when they haven't had a drink they've got the DT's.

“We found that, compared to those who have never touched alcohol, many people do benefit from some alcohol, including some people who drink outside the guidelines,” Chew said.
The study found that low risk drinkers — those who consumed up to twenty drinks a week spread over five days — had the fewest sexual problems. Those who drank on weekends only and those who were binge drinkers suffered lower rates of erectile dysfunction than those who drank only one day a week or drank none at all. Men who performed the poorest were heavy drinkers who had stopped drinking and those who smoked or had heart disease.

I am willing to try.

Human Rights Nightmare

Was searching for some proof that n email I received was accurate. In its steads I found this impassioned tirade against the UN's Commission on Human Rights inverted approach on is objectives of ending torture, persecution and violence against women.

Patience, it's only four and a half minutes long. The last minute or so is telling, the response from the panels chairman makes clear that doesn't appreciate being told he sucks.

To bad, bud, y'all do suck, probably because you have got some Sheik's money hidden in your freezer. Don't say it isn't possible. Remember oil for food, family members of most UN leadership were on the Iraqi dole by means of trading in oil credits.

The speech that I was looking for follows, its fun to think that it happened, but I can't find any proof of that....

An ingenious example of speech and politics occurred recently at the UN, and made the world community smile.

A representative from Israel began:

"Before beginning my talk I want to tell you something about Moses. When he struck the rock and it brought forth water, he thought, 'What a good opportunity to have a bath!' He removed his clothes, put them aside on the rock and entered the water. “When he got out and wanted to dress, his clothes had vanished. A Palestinian had stolen them."

The Palestinian representative jumped up furiously and shouted:

"What are you talking about? The Palestinians weren't there then."

The Israeli representative smiled and said:

"And now that we have made that clear, I will begin my speech."

Millard Fuller

A man that I went to see speak at a church with Newt Gingrich years ago, died yesterday in an ambulance, en route to Americus, his home town.
A man of vision, at age 29 he gave up a successful career in business, to serve the poor and his family.
In 1976 Millard Fuller started Habitat for Humanity, an organization that has built and refurbished over 300,00 homes for the needy.
The basic concepts of Habitat for Humanity include:

• Volunteer labor, provided by groups such as churches , schools. business and social associations.
• Donated funds by the same groups as above.
• Donated materials, not wholly but as much as possible, often from local businesses such as Lowes and Home Depot.
• Sweat equity, whereby the recipients of the homes are expected to work on the building of their own home and on other.
• Home economics training, new homeowners are required to complete training in home care and hierarchy of needs applicable to financial obligation.
• Pay it forward, homes are owned in full by HoH and mortgaged to the recipients for the an affordable price. Payments by the recipients are applied to expenses and more importantly future building and land.

Conceptually this organization has achieved a state of grace, helping thousands in need by creating affordable home ownership for people looking to build home and family.

My mother and bride, besides myself have been well involved in these matters over the last 15 years. Nearly always, the satisfaction derived far outweighs the effort applied.

Mr. Fuller was a great man for putting mankind before himself.

“What will little Genesis become?” he asked at the time. “What will little Serenity become? We don’t know, but we know one thing: if we give them a good place to live, they’ve got a better chance.”

The Day The Music Died

Fifty years ago today, a plane crash took the lives of three popular rock and roll musicians. February 3, 1959, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. Richardson's (aka "The Big Bopper") chartered Beechcraft went down in an Iowa farm's field.

The plane had been arranged for Buddy Holly and his band the Crickets, but some last minute seat swapping put Valens and Richardson on the plane, saving most notably Crickets band member Waylon Jennings.

Buddy Holly, a young Texan just 22 years old, and his band were arguably the hottest act in rock and roll, having recorded hits such as, "That'll Be the Day", "Peggy Sue", "Maybe Baby" and "Oh Boy". His death was lamented in popular song and film. Don McLean 1972 No. 1 hit "American
Pie" and George Lucas's classic "American Graffiti" of 1973. Prominent artists such as Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney give Holly credit for being a major musical influence.

The "The Big Bopper", 28 years old, was converted disk jockey that had written songs during a hitch in the army. He wrote "Running Bear," a song recorded by Johnny Preston. Richardson wrote his own most famous rockabilly song "Chantilly Lace" which scored a Top 10 chart rating.

Ritchie Valens, (aka Richard Valenzuela), was a young 17 years old atthe time of his death. He had already musically impacted the charts with "Donna" which reached No. 2 on the charts and "La Bamba" that reached No. 22. A movie about his life, "La Bamba" was released in 1987 starring Lou Diamond Phillips, this included a Los Lobos cover of the title song that reached No. 1 on the charts.

Madonna covered "American Pie" in 2000, a version that makes me want to puke.

In "American Graffiti", Paul LeMat's character, John Milner, says it best with the indelible line:

"I don't like that surfin' shit. Rock and roll's been going down hill ever since Buddy Holly died."

Sorry it happened guys, your futures were so bright.

Skynyrd Crash Survivor, Billy Powell Passes

This past Wednesday, 28-January-09, Billy Powell, the keyboardist that played the rolling introduction to Freebird. died of a presumed heart attack.

Billy Powell started a a roadie for the band forming in the sixties. In 1972 he joined the band as a playing member. The band's first album “Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd” was released in 1973.

The band was riding the popular wave of southern rock music when on 20-October-77 their charter plane crashed in a swamp near McComb Mississippi (see Jerry Clower). Three members of the band died in the crash, including lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and Steve's sister vocalist Cassie Gaines. Three more died in the crash; an assistant road manager, the pilot and the co-pilot.

Billy Powell survived the crash and in 1979 joined the survivors in a group named Rossington-Collins Band, that I saw play in Piedmont Park that same year. Later in 1991 Lynyrd Skynyrd reformed with Garry Rossington, Allen Collins, Leon Wilkeson from the original band joined by Johnny Van Zant, Ronnie's younger brother.