Happy Father’s Day!!

In honor of Father’s Day, ….both “Heads” are taking the day off.

Hope you enjoy the collection we put together last year (…admittedly, the ‘Star Wars’ one is still my favorite). 

Have a great day, gang….

—JTR

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Food Freaks

One of the very first posts we ever did here concerned folks who take their appreciation for cuisine to a level to which I simply can’t relate.

I mention it because I recently was privy to a conversation where two such people were complaining to each other about the lack of locally available Arame (it goes on a salad, I guess?) and then began trading superlatives over the palatability of something called Bottarga (no clue…). When one of them began to discuss how Haggis was literally wrecking their marriage, I left the room.

Hey, I’m a simple guy with simple tastes. If food does it for you, knock yourself out. It’s only when it starts to ruin other people’s lives that I have to draw the line.

Which is what made me think of this post from last April. And so, here it is:

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Let’s get it straight who I’m talking about first. Not “foodies”: Food FREAKS. Cause I’m definitely not referring to your normal, everyday person who just likes food, or really good food, …or even kinda weird food (e.g. my Bottarga aficionados above).

I couldn’t care less if somebody DVR’s the Food Network during the day, or if their kitchen looks like it’s ready to handle tonight’s dinner crowd at the Four Seasons.

NOT my kitchen (…just in case you were wonderin’...)

Man blames KC Chiefs for eventual Death

As a life-long Kansas City Chiefs fan, I TOTALLY understand this. I’ve suffered for decades with Bill Kenney, Mike Livingston, Steve Bono, Elvis Grbac & now Matt Cassel. When you haven’t won a playoff game since 1993 (I still have the Sports Illustrated…), depression becomes a way of life.
I have no doubt that my OWN obituary (hopefully many years in the future) will be quite similar to this one…. God help me.

YOU Didn’t Build That, Uncle Sam

***Every once in a while, someone says what I would have liked to have said, if only it would have occurred to me to say it.

Today is another one of those times.

This post is taken, intact, from our good friend Rick over at Let’s Get Political. Rick’s blog, along with several of our other blogger friends, is listed over in our Blogroll in the right column. We urge you to take a minute and check them each out whenever you have time. 

And now, here’s Rick’s post.

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Let’s look at some of the key parts of President Obama’s speech regarding small businesses and who built them. Let’s examine whether or not small businesses should be beholden to government for their successes. Let’s ask why President Obama doesn’t assume responsibility for all of the small businesses that have failed when surrounded by his creative governmental influence and power.

For the record, nine of every 10 new small businesses fail in the first two years of operation; so, if successful small businesses are the result of government support, government is doing about as poor a job as anyone could imagine. This also speaks poorly of his remark in assessing the economy when he stated that “the private sector is doing fine”.

“If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”

Let’s meet some billionaires who are college or high school drop outs. The following is only a partial listing of 37 of the richest men in the world who dropped out of college:  Wiki List of College Dropout Billionaires

Here’s a list of 10 children who created and built successful business: 10 Kids Who Started Wildly Successful Businesses

Here is a list of famous people who didn’t graduate high school: Famous High School Dropouts

And what is the record of success that public education possesses in today’s environment? Choices Education Group states that for every school day, 7,000 students become high school dropouts and that 26% of students fail to graduate on time each year, and more.

So, while some “great teacher, somewhere” may have helped some people improve their lives, that is not always the case and is becoming less so as time moves on and the public education system demonstrates growing failure rates and gross administrative incompetence, even when paying per pupil rates of approximately $30,000.00 per child.

As to infrastructure, government only began to “invest” in public roads, energy sources and the like when they saw that such involvement would increase tax receipts, allow for individual politicians or political parties to gain advantages over opponents, and other less-than-caring motives. The first interstate highway was built by a small group of private citizens and drew government in as they went along only when government saw possibilities for improved commerce and heard the loud voices of the constituents along the route in support of the project.

FDR opted to usurp and punish private utilities magnates for their successes in order to take over these industries for the benefit of the poor and to ensure equitable pricing for services. He saw private ownership of these industries as harmful to the nation, just as he saw reducing wages during the depression as criminal and terrorized legitimate business owners who dared to oppose his fiat decision-making.

The fact is that highways and other infrastructure have been built by a combination of federal, state and private money. To claim that “all of us” paid for those roads, bridges, the development of the internet, the defense of our country, etc. is absolutely false. How can it be true when half of the citizens in this country pay absolutely no federal income taxes?

How are the rich failing to pay “their fair share,” when only the upper half of the income earners in the nation are paying all of the bills so that the other 50% can live here without raising a finger to help the nation, let alone helping themselves?

So, while there may be some merit in the President’s comments that “someone helped you do that” [build a business], we can exclude at least 50% of the population whose lack of participation actually makes building businesses harder and more expensive as business taxes, like personal income taxes, go to support those non-contributors or marginally employable wage earners.

It is not the upper half of the economic class who is failing to do its fair share. It is the parasites who are content to ride on the sweat, risk and efforts of those whose taxes go to write the government payments the lower-income group in America gets to cash in every month.

So, let’s try to get real, Mr. President and discuss the issues of the economy, jobs, tax reform and national security, and move away from the Distract, Divert and Divide-people-into-groups strategies that spew bile ,and hate-generating remarks like suggesting that Republicans are planning to put African-Americans back in chains or that candidate Romney doesn’t care about cancer patients when his wife is a cancer survivor. Let’s try to direct your team to act a bit more presidential on your behalf and a lot less like some intemperate group of barbarians.

Time to Laugh

It’s the weekend, and we’re just tryin’ to relax.

…Emphasis on “try“, of course…

So today we have two routines from one of my favorites, Bob Newhart. I don’t recall either of these, so we must not have owned this particular album as kids. Too bad: they made my boys laugh, so it’s a good bet we’d have liked them at that age, too.

Have a great day, gang,

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ICE Agent facing punishment for …arresting Illegal Immigrant

This came to light over the weekend, and I saw it on Fox News. I like to have at least two sources for an article, in order to compare the reports. Unfortunately, ….I’m still waiting for someone else to cover it.

So, here’s the story:

FOX NEWS — Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., is demanding answers after a report surfaced that a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent is facing punishment for arresting an illegal immigrant. 

The unidentified agent could face a three-day suspension after he arrested a 35-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico who had as many as 10 traffic violations. He was nabbed in Newark, Del.

The agent was ordered by supervisors to release the individual because he was not a “priority target.” When the officer balked, he was threatened with a three-day suspension and the illegal alien was let go. 

“The actions that it appears were taken by your agency send a message to agents in the field that they will be punished for doing their duty and enforcing the law,” Sessions wrote in an letter to ICE Director John Morton and obtained exclusively by Fox News. 

A spokesperson for the Newark Police Dept. told Fox News that had an American citizen been stopped under the same circumstances – they would have been jailed. Sessions said that is a troubling revelation.

“Federal law enforcement should certainly not be giving illegal aliens more preferential treatment that is afforded American citizens,” Sessions wrote. “Your agency’s apparent treatment of the criminal alien sends the troubling message that the demands of public safety are trumped by the desire for reduced deportations of those deemed ‘not presidential priorities.’”

Sessions is demanding that ICE provide a detailed account of the events involving the agent along with an explanation of why the illegal alien was released and allowed to pose a threat to public safety.

Word of the agent’s pending punishment for simply doing his job has outraged ICE agents.

“They’re punishing law enforcement officers who are just trying to uphold U.S. law,” said Chris Crane, president of the National ICE Council. Crane is a union representative acting on the unidentified officer’s behalf.

The officer under fire is an 18-year law enforcement and military veteran.

“They’re willing to take away their retirement, their job, their ability to support their families in favor of someone who is here illegally and violating our laws,” Crane told Fox News. “Right now (the Obama administration) is standing in the way of us enforcing the law by either taking a disciplinary action, threats of disciplinary action, or refusing to sign off on charging documents to put an illegal alien into immigration proceedings so a judge can sort it out.”

“If a law enforcement officer can’t perform routine enforcement functions, what do we have a law enforcement agency for?,” Crane wondered.

So, our immigration agents aren’t supposed to arrest illegals? This is so head-shakingly bizarre, even I’m stunned.

Then, I read the account from the arresting ICE officer, and ended up even more blown away. Also from Fox News:

The individual was not their criminal alien target. However, he was a 35-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico who had ten previous traffic violations – including driving without a license.

“The officer made the determination using prosecutorial discretion that he would charge (the suspect) as being in the United States illegally and let the judge sort it out,” Crane said.

“That’s our place in the universe,” he said. “We’re supposed to make arrests and let the judges and the legal system sort through the details.”

Instead, two supervising officers, including the acting field director, intervened and ordered the officer to release the illegal immigrant. The acting field director sat down with the illegal and explained that he was going to be let go because he was not a “presidential priority,” Crane said.

In essence, the supervising officers took on the role of a public defender.

Over and over, we’ve seen Obama and his band of stooges flout the law, ignore court orders (unless they are favorable) and/or doing through executive orders what they can’t get done through normal channels. This has become the new normal.

In the case of illegal immigration, we now have a de facto new rule: illegal immigrants have MORE rights than legal citizens, since they seemingly can’t be arrested for being here illegally or for violations which occurred after they “arrived” here. Wonderful news, eh? Basically, we have given them diplomatic immunity. As Yakov Smirnoff might say, “What a country…”

There is a storm brewing, folks. I feel in my bones there will be a huge referendum against this Administration’s band of thugs in November. There’s an interesting post which articulates exactly why I believe that will be the case (which I’ll cover later this week), but rest assured: if we do everything in our power to oust these cretins from their positions of power, it’ll happen.

Believe it.

Spectacular music performed by these Guys….

I must have been living under a rock for the past year.

Prior to yesterday, I had never seen or heard of a group calling themselves ‘ThePianoGuys‘. A collection of entertaining AND proficient musicians, they play piano, cello, …and probably a bunch of other stuff, too.

Many thanks to a longtime friend of the family, Dewey Roth, for bringing them to our attention.

We’re including two of their YouTube videos. The first one is new, is the most impressive (in my humble opinion) and is many times better than the original pop version which they’re covering. The other is from last year, but is just as laudable.

Happy weekend, everyone.

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The most unusual headline I’ve seen in ages….

Usually, there is either a political or religious story that catches our eye. Today, however, one headline stood out among the rest. Easily.

In fact, I had to look twice to make sure it wasn’t a joke headline from The Onion.

From Canada’s National Post:

***MYSTERIOUS ‘GOAT MAN’ SPOTTED IN UTAH MOUNTAINS***

Now admit it: you’d read that story. Heck, with that headline, you pretty much HAVE to.

I’m not a hunter, so I’ll ask the hunters out there: Is this normal? I mean, do you guys rent bear costumes or deer costumes, too?

I’m just askin’…

OGDEN, Utah — State wildfire officials have identified a man who has been spotted dressed in a goat suit among a herd of wild goats in the mountains of northern Utah.

Phil Douglass of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources said Monday the mystery man is a 57-year-old hunter from Southern California.

Douglass told the Standard-Examiner that the hunter called officials and provided enough information to put their curiosity to rest. Douglass says he didn’t ask for a name.

The man told Douglass he was preparing for an archery hunt of mountain goats next year and testing a goat suit. Douglass says the hunter came to Utah because he heard it was easier to get near goats for training.

The man described his suit as a hooded painter’s uniform and a fleece.

Last week, officials said they were worried the “goat man” was putting himself in danger, either from the animals themselves, or by being mistaken for a goat by another hunter.

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UPDATE:

After literally minutes of research, we believe we’ve figured out where this guy got the idea: