To Be Announced...

Easiest Joke of 2007

2007-04-13T12:43:00.000-05:00

This story has made the rounds of the AP as far away as Richmond, Virginia.

No words needed, but it's a nice hanging curve ball for a guy like me...

Stink patrol searches for source of Iowa Capitol odor

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) � Something just doesn't smell right at the Capitol � but what is causing the stink remains a mystery.

Some staffers and lawmakers have complained about a sewage-like odor. In response, a team of private engineers and building maintenance crews is trying to root out the cause of the odor, which was first noticed in January.

What? No blue-ribbon commission? They usually have to go to committee and recommend appointing board members and give them investigative powers.

While it's strongest in the back of the House chamber, some have noticed it elsewhere � such as in a second-floor ladies' room, near the first-floor employee staircase and on the ground floor near the rotunda.

Hmmm. Ladies room. Who knew?

Some speculate the foul odor may have been there all along but was masked by the smell of grilled onions and hamburgers from the Capitol cafeteria.

And the after effects of hamburgers and grilled onions...at least in my experience.

"Yes, it does stink in here. I've complained a lot � to anybody who will listen,'' said Carol Lamb, clerk for House Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, D-Ames, who hasn't been bothered by the smell.

So have most constituents, but that hasn't gotten us anywhere either.

And this being so close to tax filing day...

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Feel Better X 2?

2007-04-12T16:22:00.000-05:00

UPDATED BELOW

Good thing I got out of radio when I did...

CBS Fires Don Imus Over Racial Slur

(CBS/AP) CBS announced Thursday its decision to cease broadcasting the Imus in the Morning radio program, effective immediately, on a permanent basis.

Imus initially was suspended for two weeks for calling the Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos" on the air last week, but outrage continued to grow and advertisers bolted from his programs.

Earlier Thursday, Imus had raised nearly $1 million in the first five hours of his annual radio charity fundraiser.

"This may be our last Radiothon, so we need to raise about $100 million," Imus said at the start of the event, which has raised more than $40 million since 1990.

Imus acknowledged again that his remarks a week ago about the Rutgers women's basketball team had been "really stupid."

"There's a difference between premeditated murder and the gun going off," but the end result is the same, he said: "Somebody's still dead."

Several major advertisers had dropped the show, and pressure from politicians and the public had mounted since the radio host referred to the Rutgers basketball players as "nappy-headed hos" shortly after they lost the NCAA women's national championship game.

He'll go to satellite radio, I'm sure. I never cared much for Imus, but this is really stupid. I suppose those radio stations that play Ludacris should stop soon, right?

Theres hoes in tha room, theres hoes in tha car
theres hoes on stage, theres hoes by tha bar
hos by near, an hos by far Ho! (But can i getta ride?!)
NO! (Cmon, nigga why?!) Cuz youza

And he's scheduled to play in the big Al Gore All-Star Live Earth concerts in July.

Meantime, I guess it's okay to re-print what Don Imus said...just don't speak it on the radio.

Disc Jockey Fired For Having Callers Imitate Imus

(CBS/AP) STROUDSBURG, PA A radio station fired its longtime morning DJ Wednesday after he encouraged listeners to repeat talk-show host Don Imus' racially charged comments in an on-air contest.

Three of the listeners who called were awarded tickets to a NASCAR promotion at a local club.

Station management reviewed a tape of the broadcast of the "Gary in the Morning" show and fired [the host]...

"[he] was fired and not suspended because he uttered the slur in a premeditated manner, "with full knowledge of the reaction to Don Imus' use of the exact same phrase."

Remember what I said about the left-wing Gestapo.

UPDATE

C. Vivian Stringer is making too much of it too. As Jason Witlock of the Kansas City Star points out:

I watched the Rutgers news conference and was ashamed. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke for eight minutes in 1963 at the March on Washington. At the time, black people could be lynched and denied fundamental rights with little thought. With the comments of a talk-show host most of her players had never heard of before last week serving as her excuse, Vivian Stringer rambled on for 30 minutes about the amazing season her team had. Somehow, we�re supposed to believe that the comments of a man with virtually no connection to the sports world ruined Rutgers� wonderful season.

...While we�re fixated on a bad joke cracked by an irrelevant, bad shock jock, I�m sure at least one of the marvelous young women on the Rutgers basketball team is somewhere snapping her fingers to the beat of 50 Cent�s or Snoop Dogg�s or Young Jeezy�s latest ode glorifying nappy-headed pimps and hos.

See the above Ludacris link

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Global Warming Confusion

2007-04-12T13:01:00.000-05:00

I actually grew dizzy last night while reading the local paper. In it, the CR Gazette had me sitting with pencil and paper "cipherin'" the latest global warming claptrap...

Because it's the on-line version, I can only re-post the bit that had me working harder than I usually work at the crossword puzzle trying to figure out:

Earth gets another special day; climate is its focus
By Cindy Hadish
The Gazette, April 11 2007

A new event this month to recognize the environment should not push aside Earth Day and Arbor Day, environmentalists say.

Author Bill McKibben�s call to designate Saturday as National Day of Climate Action was intended to put a spotlight on global warming, said Jon Warnow, one of the organizers of Step It Up, a Vermont-based national campaign to recognize the climate action day.

Okay...so they want to have another day of people standing in parks (littering) listening to amplified (by electricity) speeches urging some kind of action.

Given the news that both Mars (NASA reported also) and Jupiter are warming too, I don't know if they plan any action on those planets. They certainly sound like they're from there, though. Here's where my confusion and dizzy spell began:

(CAUTION! You may need a glass of water to splash on yourself later!)

United Nations� Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change this month detailed potential effects of global warming, if reliance on coal and oil continues its pace.

With 1 degree of warming, the Earth will experience more wildfires, coral bleaching, flooding and storm damage.

EEK! Scary stuff (like any other year).

More than 5 degrees will result in up to 3.2 billion people facing water shortages...

Wait...ummm. With 1-degree we get flooding and storm damage (like any other year). With 5 degrees we get water shortages (like any other year).

20 percent of the global population affected by flooding and more heat waves in some cities, the report predicted.

But I thought you just said we would get water shortages (like any other year)...so flooding too? How can you get flooding AND water shortages (like any other year)? And more heat waves in some cities? Which ones? After the extreme cold so far this spring, I could use a heat wave! Dizzy yet?

The Union of Concerned Scientists and Ecological Society of America spelled out how global warming will affect Iowa. The report states precipitation likely will increase in winter and spring by up to 30 percent and decrease in summer by 10 percent to 35 percent.

So...flooding in the spring (like any other year) and decreases in the summer. With flooding and water shortages. Got that?

Summer rain likely will be intense downpours.

Okay...so back to intense water downpours in the summer (like any other year). With flooding, water shortages, and...waitaminute...I have to scroll back up again...

Can I just get some of that intense downpour right now? On my face? I'm feeling dizzy again.

By the way...in case you think I parsed the story too conveniently, here's the entire section of the story that had me so confused...unedited:

United Nations� Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change this month detailed potential effects of global warming, if reliance on coal and oil continues its pace.

With 1 degree of warming, the Earth will experience more wildfires, coral bleaching, flooding and storm damage. More than 5 degrees will result in up to 3.2 billion people facing water shortages, 20 percent of the global population affected by flooding and more heat waves in some cities, the report predicted.

The Union of Concerned Scientists and Ecological Society of America spelled out how global warming will affect Iowa. The report states precipitation likely will increase in winter and spring by up to 30 percent and decrease in summer by 10 percent to 35 percent. Summer rain likely will be intense downpours.

Maybe we can get our local TV weather guys to have the same type of forecasts every day...that way, no matter what happens they'll never be wrong:

Sunshine and clouds today, with rain and snow possible. A high temperature of 10-to-90 degrees. A low tonight of 10-to-90 degrees. Give or take...

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Don't Offend Anti-War Types

2007-04-12T12:02:00.000-05:00

Yes, our own Hollywood has been very slow to create good old-fashioned war hero movies...especially those many stories they could be telling from Iraq. Instead, we get Syrianna, Three Kings, and the more recent Jarhead.

While there have also been some pretty good ones based on the war on terror like United 93 and World Trade Center, I've been surpised that Hollywood hasn't found a new Meg Ryan type hero to make a movie out of like they did with Courage Under Fire (even though that one was still sort of anti-military).

If the problems at the BBC are any indication, I guess we know why...

Hero's tale is 'too positive' for the BBC

Amid the deaths and the grim daily struggle bravely borne by Britain's forces in southern Iraq, one tale of heroism stands out.

Private Johnson Beharry's courage in rescuing an ambushed foot patrol then, in a second act, saving his vehicle's crew despite his own terrible injuries earned him a Victoria Cross.

For the BBC, however, his story is "too positive" about the conflict.

The corporation has cancelled the commission for a 90-minute drama about Britain's youngest surviving Victoria Cross hero because it feared it would alienate members of the audience opposed to the war in Iraq.

Whew. There's a lot to be angry about in that story. Maybe the Brits are as afraid of the left-wing goons as much as they are the Iranians.

Even an insider quoted in the story can't be named for fear of having a flag burned on his lawn, I guess...

"The BBC has behaved in a cowardly fashion by pulling the plug on the project altogether," said a source close to the project. "It began to have second thoughts last year as the war in Iraq deteriorated. It felt it couldn't show anything with a degree of positivity about the conflict.

Left-wingers are slowly becoming the new Gestapo.

Whoops! If I were still in radio, would saying that get me fired these days?

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Satellite Tax Increase

2007-04-12T06:23:00.000-05:00

For those of you that switched to satellite during the Sinclair/Mediacom dustup, I hope you're enjoying the 10-dollar a month rebate. Democrats in the Iowa house, though, want to make things more fair and competitive between cable and satellite.

Which in Orwellian Newspeak, means raising taxes.

Bill would add 5 percent to satellite television bills

Lawmakers are considering a 5 percent "equalization tax" on satellite bills, which would be similar to the 5 percent franchise fee currently added to the bills of many cable customers.

The tax would cost Iowa's estimated 200,000 families that use satellites an extra $2.5 million to $3 million each year, according to information from the Iowa Cable and Telecommunications Association.

Satellite users, such as customers of DirecTV, for years have avoided paying the franchise fee, which has traditionally been viewed as payment to use city-owned rights of way to lay cable lines.

I guess they have to call it an "equalization tax" because nobody in their right minds believes that a small dish on the roof of your house is in any way using "city-owned rights of way"...

There are no poles, lines, streets, cables...or any other possible difficulty posed to cities for putting a dish on your own property and using your own supply of electricity to run it. Hmmm.

Still...raising taxes is usually the fairest thing to do since all those people switched to satellite and are no longer paying the franchise taxes that cities impose on land-based cable companies.

You see, the guvmint wants to "wet their beak" a little.

Des Moines, for example, collected more than $1.7 million from the fees in 2002. Last year, the city collected roughly $400,000 less.

Advocates, however, say the tax would create more fair competition. Franchise fees put cable companies at a disadvantage, they say.

"It is not a new tax," said Tom Graves, a lobbyist for the Iowa Cable and Telecommunications Association, which works closely with Mediacom and other cable providers in the state. "It will bring taxes back that have gone away from cities."

Democrats have a mandate, you see...

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Waiting in Line

2007-04-11T13:48:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the delay. After the Easter holiday (daughter birthday) hoopla...I watched the Masters and did taxes. A roller-coaster of emotions...lemme tell you.

Anyway...short post today. I'm trying to conserve cyberspace and the carbon footprint that my internet usage has in light of all this global warming.

Those of you expecting former UofI coach C. Vivian Stringer to continue with her speech about "Reaching for Your Highest Potential" during the women's conference...don't. There are more important things for her to do instead of trying to inspire women to be better at all they can be...

Stringer cancels Iowa speech after Imus flap

Coralville, Ia. -- Rutgers women's basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer has pulled out of a speaking engagement Friday in Coralville because of the controversy following radio host Don Imus's comments about her team.

Conference coordinators said they learned today that Stringer would not be able to participate in the conference because of the Imus flap.

Starting Monday, Imus will be suspended for two weeks for calling the Rutgers players "nappy-headed hos" a day after the team lost the national championship game to Tennessee on April 3.

Stringer and Rutgers players spoke out Tuesday about the "racist and sexist" remarks, which have caused many people to call for Imus's dismissal. Team members have said they will meet with Imus.

Too busy being offended by a radio host of minimum consequence on a minimum consequence network that doesn't even have an affiliate in Iowa.

Cancelled a speaking engagement for what? What could she possibly be doing instead? If Imus is suspended for 2-weeks, that gives her plenty of time to meet with him AFTER her inspiring speech, doesn't it?

Oh, waitaminnut...KMNS in Sioux City is listed as affiliate but I can't confirm that from their crappy website.

So, if you're still pining for something interesting...

Tickets Still Available For Carter Speech

Tickets are still available for former President Jimmy Carter�s speech at the University of Iowa April 18 in Carver Hawkeye Arena. Seating in the arena is near capacity, but some good seats are still avail-able for students, faculty, staff and the general public.

Carter�s speech, which will focus on his new book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid" and issues in the Middle East, is being presented by the UI Lecture Committee. Doors will open at 5 p.m., with the speech beginning at 7 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required and may be obtained only from the University Box Office in the Iowa Memorial Union between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. seven days a week.

In an interview with Newsweek, Carter said he wants �to provoke discussion, which is very rarely heard in this country.�

At the same time, Carter thinks that he is being silenced by shadowy forces. He makes this bizarre claim: �My most troubling experience has been the rejection of my offers to speak, for free, about the book on university campuses with high Jewish enrollment.�

Does Carter keep track of which schools have lots of Jews? And who does he think is keeping him from speaking at them?

Typical for him lately. He blames the Jews for forcing those Hamas and Hezbollah folks to blow themselves up near crowds, too.

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Bits and Pieces

2007-04-07T06:39:00.000-05:00

There was no edition of the newsletter this week, it's my daughter's 4-th birthday and Easter weekend.

In the meantime, I rounded up some interesting Easter Egg stories for you:

The Detroit News has an editorial today titled: Are they !#$!ing idiots?

This alone should make you weep...

Facing a budget deficit that has passed the $1 billion mark, [Michigan] House Democrats Thursday offered a spending plan that would buy a MP3 player or iPod for every school child in Michigan.

What's in your Easter basket?

And The American Thinker lives up to its name. You know those compact flourescent bulbs everyone is encouraging you to buy to "save" energy? Did you know that not a single one of them is made in the US?

Also,

CFLs contain mercury. You didn't know that? Just a drop you say? How about up to 5 milligrams per lightbulb. If all 4 billion incandescent sockets were filled with CFLs we'd have 20 billion milligrams of mercury spread around every single US household. By the way, 20 billion milligrams is nearly 50,000 pounds.

That 50,000 pounds of mercury amongst 300 million people, if indiscriminately thrown away, will eventually find its way to your favorite landfill and public drinking water supply. Knock over a table lamp and shatter a CFL in your house, and you have a toxic waste situation on your hands right in the living room, bedroom or dining room.

See the entire article: Ban the Bulb?

Have a happy Easter.

John 3:16

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Today's Current Temp: 24 degrees

2007-04-06T11:28:00.000-05:00

A bunch of global warming stuff today in the news with USA Today and our own Des Moines Register leading the charge with an editorial and a guest opinion piece.

The Register editorial today: National plan needed on climate change

As a new installment of a United Nations report on global warming is released, sentiment for U.S. action moved to a new level this week following a U.S. Supreme Court decision on greenhouse-gas regulations.

The question no longer is whether government and industry will act, but what form the regulations will take and where they will be written. For now, the states are taking the lead, but eventually the president and Congress must step up to the plate with a national global-warming strategy that is part of a global solution.

As that new installment is being prepared, it doesn't seem like the "consensus" on global warming is going well according to the USA Today story:

USA Today: Scientists, governments clash as report reveals dangers of climate change

BRUSSELS � After a marathon session that saw angry exchanges between diplomats and scientists, an international global warming conference approved a major report on climate change Friday.

"We have an approved accord. It has been a complex exercise," conference chairman Rajendra Pachauri told reporters after an all-night meeting.

Several scientists objected to the editing of the final draft by government negotiators, the Associated Press reported, but in the end agreed to compromises. However, some scientists on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change vowed never to take part in the process again, the AP reported.

By the way, I love the chart included in the story. Take a look...

Looked at only briefly (like most things in the newspaper), the chart seems fairly dramatic.

"Holy moly! Look at how hot it's getting!"

Unlike a lot of people, I looked at the numbers along the bottom and left hand side of the chart. It only shows an increase of 1.2 degrees�over the last 150 years.

A chart of my income over the last 20-years would probably show the same kind of dramatic spikes and dips.

And �accurate measurements began� in 1860? Really? They could accurately measure the temperature around the globe in 1860?

We can barely do that today...so pardon my unscientific skepticism that we had super accurate thermometers placed in key areas around the world that could measure within a tenth of a degree.

And then there is the opinion piece by current Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie...a well-noted global climate engineer.

Action needed today to cut global-warming impacts

By 2100, Iowa's summer climate would generally be more like that of current northwest Mississippi. Seasonal precipitation would increase in winter and spring by as much as 30 percent and decrease in summer by 10 percent to 35 percent. The number of days in Iowa above 90 degrees is projected to at least double, and heat waves could occur 15 to 25 times a year by the end of this century.

Good...that would mean a longer time and better conditions in which to grow more ethanol-producing corn, right?

Ironically, Mayor Cownie co-authors the piece with a member of the Union of Concerned Scientists who are on record as opposing anything other than "organic" farming methods - which in my unscientific opinion, could lead to mass starvation and lower yields. Formed as a protest of the VietNam war (another highly scientific pursuit), they are currently leading the charge against bio-engineered farming techniques.

Read more about the UCS at ActivistCash.com.

Meanwhile, bundle up. That global warming is cold today.

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Do It Yourself Quickfind

2007-04-06T08:43:00.000-05:00

Call me suspicious and skeptical, but this looks more like a music video audition than a search for a missing student. I could be wrong...and I hope I am...nevertheless, here's the link:

Parents Turn To YouTube In Search For Son

CHICAGO -- The parents of Paul Shuman-Moore, 19, who disappeared from Grinnell College in central Iowa on Sept. 15, 2006, announced Friday they will try and locate their son via YouTube videos.

After Paul's disappearance - which included a suicide note - numerous state and local agencies and volunteers spent several days looking for Paul's body by airplanes, dogs, horses and all terrain vehicles. Unofficial searches continued throughout the fall of 2006 by farmers clearing their fields and hunters walking through difficult terrain, but no body was ever found, according to a family release.

In hopes of finding Paul, the family placed a video on YouTube Friday that focuses on Paul's musical interests. The video contains an interview with members of Paul's band, footage of a concert the band performed at Northside Prep High School in 2005 and pictures of Paul, the release said.

Here's the video:

Anyone with information about call should call Grinnell police at 641-236-2650, Belmont Area Special Victims Unit at 312-744-8266 or his parents at 312-607-5025.

Here's hoping Good Friday lives up to it's name...

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A Media First...sort of

2007-04-05T12:32:00.000-05:00

A while back, I mentioned the undies-in-a-bunch crowd boo-hooing the latest news for Iowa's census figures. See Post: Senseless Census

In it, I explained the reason for the "loss" of population in the state and the implications it has on our Congressional representation.

Quick Civics 101 - Each state's US representation in Congress is made up of two Senators and a number of Representatives calculated by dividing the population of the state and it's "priority value" as determined by Congress. It's very confusing, but there's a mathematical formula they use...see US Census info here.

Anyway...this is a big deal because each state gets one electoral vote per member of Congress. Iowa gets 7 electoral college votes that determine the Presidency, 5 Representatives and 2 Senators. IF, as expected, Iowa loses a member of Congress because we're not keeping up with other states in population growth - well...I think you know where I'm going with this.

To date, this is the first mention in the mainstream media that I have found that mentions the fact the US Census INCLUDES ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS in the population count every ten years. The year 2000 was the first census to do so.

Census Bureau: Big Metro Areas Would Shrink Without Immigration

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Without immigrants pouring into the nation's big metro areas, places such as New York, Los Angeles and Boston would be shrinking as native-born Americans move farther out.

Many smaller areas, including Battle Creek, Mich., Ames, Iowa, and Corvallis, Ore., would shrink as well, according to population estimates to be released Thursday by the Census Bureau.

"Immigrants are filling the void as domestic migrants are seeking opportunities in other places," said Mark Mather, a demographer at the Population Reference Bureau, a private research organization.

In the newspeak of the day, "immigrants" of course truly means "illegal immigrants"...about a third of these numbers are illegal...maybe more. But still...

The New York metro area, which includes the suburbs, added 1 million immigrants from 2000 to 2006. Without those immigrants, the region would have lost nearly 600,000 people.

Minus 9 after that fire a while ago...

Without immigration, the Los Angeles metro area would have lost more than 200,000, the San Francisco area would have lost 188,000 and the Boston area would have lost 101,000.

By the way, this is bad news according to the tone of the story. Without illegal immigrants, those cities would have less population - that's the angle on the story they're taking.

There are about 36 million immigrants in the U.S. About one-third are in the country illegally. The Census Bureau, however, does not distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants.

The White House floated a plan last month that would grant work visas to illegal immigrants, but they would have to return home and pay hefty fines to become legal U.S. residents.

As I said earlier...the census counts the number of "residents"...not citizens. Without counting illegal immigrants, California would have 5 fewer members of Congress...therefore, 5 fewer electoral college votes. And Iowa...might have six Representatives instead of 5.

Certainly, the state of Wyoming would have more than just the ONE they have now.

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Letters from South Africa

2007-04-04T23:59:00.000-05:00

I'm attempting to have a little fun at a scammer's expense. Here is the latest email exchange:

(Read previous here)

Dearest one,

Thank you very much for your response to my proposal.

I am the President/CEO of Yard Scraper, Inc. South Africa. All I want you to do for my company is to stand as a foreign representative just to help my company receive payment from our customers overseas. The payment will be sent to you on cheque, cash it then take 10% of the total amount for your assistance and pay the rest to my company's account that I will give
to you.

As soon as you agree to assist my company I will discuss with my company lawyer to draft a binding agreement that will protect both parties (ME&YOU).

The main reason for this is because I realize that its quite too expensive and stressful for me to be coming to the overseas to receive such payment twice or more in a month. This is the main and sincere reason why I needed your assistance.

kindly forward to us the following information bellow:

Full Names
Company Name
Telephone & Fax Numbers
Full contact addresses
Sex
Age

As soon as I get those infromations Above. I will talk with my lawyer to draft the agreement which I will send to you niether by email attachment or by fax. Then after this I will instruct my customers overseas to be making all my company's payment to you.

If you are interested, kindly forward to me those infromation.

Thanks in Advance
Kelvin Powell
President/CEO of Yard Scraper, Inc.

Despite the obvious misspellings, I don't make mention of it...yet. Here is my response:

I have sent the information by post to the address provided in your earlier note. I am wondering now how many names you would like? You only requested one name in our previous correspondence. I have many names, but I also have a horse with no name so I'm not sure you will be wanting that.

I cannot provide you with sex, though...but I understand the stress of coming to the overseas. My secretary Nancy Pelosi has been in Syria to conduct some business and a meeting could be arranged for you to relieve some stress if you know what I mean.

I think I should like to see a draft of the draft agreement before we agree so that I may suggest changes that could benefit us both. Don't you agree?

I am looking forward to making a lot more money. 10-percent is a little small of a percentage...is there any way we could make it more?

The attempt here is to waste a lot of his time with a bunch of baloney...but we'll see how long he takes the bait. I'm positive the Nancy Pelosi reference will tip him off, but given the language barrier, it may not. Stay tuned...

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Scamming Fun

2007-04-04T13:43:00.000-05:00

With not much better to do today, I've decided to have a little fun with a recent email scam I received. I wonder how many people write back and/or respond to these things. They must work because they keep sending them.

Here's the original email (among the hundreds you probably get as well):

YARD SCRAPER, INC. SOUTH AFRICA
Head Office: 131 Braamfontein,
Midran-Johannesburg
2050 South Africa
Tel: (xxxxxxxx - removed)
Fax: (xxxxxxxx - removed)

Dearest one,

I am Mr. Kelvin Powell, President/CEO of Yard Scraper, Inc. South Africa (a company based in the South Africa). A Company that is specialized in import and export of industrial and domestic machinery & equipment, communication accessories and household appliances.

We also deal on mechanical equipment, hardware and minerals, electrical products,medical & chemicals, light industrial products and office equipment, and export into America, Asia and Europe, therefore being a General Mercantile Company.

We currently run our business from America, Asia and Europe but I will be communicating with you from our South Africa Office where I am currently located for now. We are searching for representatives who can help us establish a medium of getting to our customers in America, Asia and Europe as well as making payments through you to us. Please if you are interested in transacting business with us we will be most glad to be your partners.

My company is willing to offer you 10% of every payment that comes in through you to us.

If you are interested, kindly forward to us the following information through my private email:(xxxxx@xxxxx.xxx - removed):

Full Names
Company Name
Telephone & Fax Numbers
Full contact addresses

Please note that your area of specialization or occupation is of no relevance to resolve to assist us.

Thanks in advance.

Sincerely.
Kelvin Powell
President/CEO of Yard Scraper, Inc.

I like the "Dearest One" beginning. What the hell is that?

So, like I said...I wrote back and I'll have a little fun with him. My reply:

I have received your information request, but am having trouble understanding your proposal. Please kindly forward me more information.

I currently run a number of businesses that are extremely profitable and I cannot release many names as there are tax consequences for revealing all of the information you request.

I am very busy, so be as complete as you can.

President CEO

As some subscribers to the GregSays Newsletter may already know...there are a lot of people who do the same thing I am going to do. Waste as much time of theirs as possible. I'll let you know if he responds and include further updates on the blog here.

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Bring Back the CR Helicopter!

2007-04-04T06:06:00.000-05:00

Al Gore inspired lunacy coming this grilling season to a global warming concerned community near you:

Belgium to impose tax on barbequing to fight global warming

BRUSSELS, April 3 (RIA Novosti) - The government of Belgium's French-speaking region of Wallonia, which has a population of about 4 million, has approved a tax on barbequing, local media reported.
Experts said that between 50 and 100 grams of CO2, a so-called greenhouse gas, is emitted during barbequing. Beginning June 2007, residents of Wallonia will have to pay 20 euros for a grilling session.

The local authorities plan to monitor compliance with the new tax legislation from helicopters, whose thermal sensors will detect burning grills.

Scientists believe CO2 emissions are a major cause of global warming.

Go ahead...some of you thought this was certainly possible and plausible, didn't you?

After all, the Supreme Court has declared carbon dioxide a pollutant under the federal Clean Air Act (CAA). That's right, the very stuff that you are exhaling right now is a "waste product that renders the air harmful or generally unusable," as Google defines pollutant.

During his testimony before Congress, Al Gore has called "on the United States to immediately freeze its greenhouse gas emissions."

Ergo - stop breathing, cooking, driving, working, burning, and all other human activity.

Alas...the tax on BBQ was an April Fool after all...

Belgium local authorities deny barbequing tax reports

But it might not be in a few years.

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Edjakayshun Today: Terrorist Training

2007-04-04T05:54:00.000-05:00

It's probably a good idea for schools to prepare for this sort of thing. After all, we are in a war on terror...

From New Jersey:

Hostage drill prepares school for crisis

BURLINGTON TOWNSHIP � The scenario has played out in real life across America: Gunfire echoes through a school and students are held hostage.
But police, faculty and staff lived out their own make-believe version yesterday of just such a tragedy at Burlington Township High School, complete with Kevlar-clad officers, armed suspects and students portraying the wounded and dead.

The purpose of the drill was to test the reactions of police, faculty and administration.

All well and good. And just like most Hollywood versions of terrorist-inspired movies:

The mock terror attack involved two irate men armed with handguns who invaded the high school through the front door. They pretended to shoot several students in the hallway and then barricaded themselves in the media center with 10 student hostages.

Two Burlington Township police detectives portrayed the gunmen. Investigators described them as members of a right-wing fundamentalist group called the �New Crusaders� who don't believe in separation of church and state. The mock gunmen went to the school seeking justice because the daughter of one had been expelled for praying before class.

I'm glad they made it as realistic as possible without offending anyone who actually does this sort of stuff.

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9/11 Conspiracy Idiots

2007-04-03T06:29:00.000-05:00

--UPDATED BELOW--

It's amazing to me that someone like Rosie O'Donnell has such a high-paying gig hosting a national television program when she is clearly a moron...

Just as they did to the other 9/11 conspiracy idiots, Popular Mechanics has responded to her charges that clearly demonstrate she's a moron.

To say, "it is the first time in history that fire melted steel" is complete lunacy. How is steel made? Hmmm....

Besides, it wasn't "melted"...it was weakened.

Very simply put, as I did with the whole 9/11 conspiracy...

The fact there are no leaks, no missing persons, no "whistleblowers"...for 5-years leads me to believe that it's no conspiracy. When we can't even keep phone taps of international terrorists out of the newspaper, how in the world do you explain the lack of leaks on a conspiracy to blow up the World Trade Centers?

UPDATE:

While my response to the lunatics who believe 9/11 was an inside job was based on facts and logic, perhaps Stephen Spruiell did me one better in responding to some of the nuts by writing the following:

It seems I'm not telling you anything you don't already know when I say
that my editors and I � indeed, the entire Right � are afraid of the
truth about 9/11 for one simple reason: We helped Bush and Cheney plan
the attacks. A full, non-partisan study, as opposed to the sham 9/11
Commission report, would implicate me and a long list of other
conservative pundits (Goldberg, Will, even little Ben Shapiro) in the
controlled demolition that brought down the twin towers and the
Oscar-Meyer Weinermobile filled with explosives (that's right � look
closer) that we paid some homeless guy to ram into the side of the
Pentagon.

Why did we do it? Oil. Cheney promised us a cut of Halliburton's profits
from its no-bid contracts in Iraq, so we all worked together on 9/11 to
give Bush an excuse to start the war he was planning all along.
Naturally, the American sheeple took the bait, and now I can afford the
things I've always wanted, like a Hummer made of solid gold and trips to
outer space with N'Sync's Lance Bass.

Why am I telling you all this? Simple. By sending me this e-mail, I'm
afraid you signed your own ticket to Guantanamo Bay. Thanks to the
Patriot Act, a secret 9/11 Cover-Up Team deep within the bowels of the
FBI automatically receives a high-priority alert anytime someone sends
an e-mail containing the words "AFRAID", "NON-PARTISAN" and "LIED" in
all caps; it's a clear sign that the sender has learned the truth about
9/11.

So you see, I can tell you all about my involvement in 9/11 because by
the time you get this e-mail, the 9/11 Cover-Up Team (911-CUT) will
already be knocking on your door.

Pity. I thought someone as clever as you would have figured out the
FBI's keyword algorithm a long time ago.

Stephen

P.S. If God is all-knowing and all-powerful, and if you have the utmost
faith that He is opposed to Bush and Cheney and their path of deceit and
destruction, then why didn't He prevent them from gaining power in the
first place?

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Easter Fatwa?

2007-03-31T06:13:00.000-05:00

Complete with photos and everything...

Display of Controversial 'Chocolate Jesus' Sculpture Cancelled

NEW YORK � An angry choir of outraged Catholics, including Cardinal Edward Egan, forced the cancellation Friday of a planned Holy Week exhibition featuring a nude, anatomically correct chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ.

Dubbed "My Sweet Lord"...many news outlets went all gooey for the story.

MSNBC: Chocolate Jesus exhibit canceled after uproar

ABC: "My Sweet Lord" Cancelled

CNN: Chocolate Jesus stirs bitter controversy

Just Google "Chocolate Jesus" and see what I mean...

Virtually every story had a little "snicker" to it...bitter controversy...chocolate Jesus meltdown...

And every one of them included various photos.

Had it been a "Chocolate Mohammed" during Ramadan, I wonder...Syria, Rice face off over prophet cartoon

"CNN has chosen to not show the cartoons in respect for Islam."

"CNN is not showing the negative caricatures of the likeness of Prophet Mohammed because the network believes its role is to cover the events surrounding the publication of the cartoons while not unnecessarily adding fuel to the controversy itself."

Remember this? US, British media tread carefully in cartoon furor

"They wouldn't meet our standards for what we publish in the paper," said Leonard Downie, Jr., executive editor of The Washington Post, which ran a front-page story on the issue Friday, but has not published the cartoons. "We have standards about language, religious sensitivity, racial sensitivity and general good taste." ...

At USA Today, deputy foreign editor Jim Michaels offered a similar explanation. "At this point, I'm not sure there would be a point to it," he said about publishing the cartoons. "We have described them, but I am not sure running it would advance the story." Although he acknowledged that the cartoons have news value, he said the offensive nature overshadows that.

The Boston Globe, while acknowledging the right of newspapers to print material that may offend, argues that "newspapers ought to refrain from publishing offensive caricatures of Mohammed in the name of the ultimate Enlightenment value: tolerance."

So far, no beheadings...

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Edjakayshun Today

2007-03-28T06:25:00.000-05:00

It ain't in Iowa...yet. But if after we spend a boatload more money for salaries, etc we don't see improvement, well then...

We must see what's working in other states.

Look to the state of Washington, for example:

State lawmakers appear on the verge of dumping the math and science sections of the 10th-grade Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL), and replacing them with a very different kind of test. The idea is to do something about the fact that so few students pass the math and science sections.

And logic would tell you to get rid of what isn't working, right?

...it would be the second time the state has dropped part of the exam. A "listening" section, designed to measure communication skills, was removed without controversy three years ago.

Two bills under consideration � one passed by the House, a similar version by the Senate � would phase out math and science on the 10th-grade WASL.

Ta-da!

That was easy. Now...when is our next NEA convention?

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ZZzzzing!

2007-03-28T06:17:00.000-05:00

Before you click the link to listen...try and guess who said the following:

"...This is what the news business has become. First of all, to be lectured about news by Keith Olbermann is like being called ugly by a frog. And the idea that this guy, doing the crap he does on MSNBC, would sit there and pretend to be some kind of moral or journalistic authority about anything... he couldn't cover a two-alarm fire..."

Hint: by now, he's even more a part of the "vast right-wing conspiracy"

Here You Go...listen to the full 7-minute version.

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Garage Sale Treasure

2007-03-27T05:06:00.000-05:00

Caution...totally personal story in this post.

The weather over the past few days has been fantastic. Once I got my kids out of the house on Sunday, we walked around the block and I nearly tripped over $2000 at a tag sale. It's probably more than that, but we'll see.

About halfway down the block, there were a bunch of cars parked around a semi-trashy home that was having a tag sale. Never one to pass up an opportunity to shop, the wife "encouraged" us to look over a few things. The garage was filled with...nothing. Dirt floor, a few garden tools we didn't need, and not much else. Inside the house was a different story.

Once inside, it looked like someone had abandoned the house and left everything sitting out and someone came along and put prices on everything. While my wife looked over the useless kitchen items (which sorely needed a cleaning), I checked out the books.

My interest in eBay (for those of you subscribers to the newsletter you know what I'm talking about) had me spotting things I could maybe re-sell on the worlds largest marketplace. At first, I found a couple of items that I thought could generate some interest:

A Pope John Paul, II Papal Visit Program from 1979. Just like the bulletin and program you get when you walk in the door of your church, it was a full-color nearly pristine program from his visit to Living History Farms in 1979. I have no idea how much it might be worth, but I grabbed it and continued looking.

A pulp-fiction magazine from 1954 called, "IF Magazine: The World Of Tomorrow". If there were more than just one, I would have found a nice bundling package I could have sold. I didn't, so I purchased it because I'm always curious about how the world of tomorrow is supposed to be. After flipping through a few pages, I see we're supposed to be living in air-homes and flying around in jet cars. It was only a quarter, so what the heck.

Aside: I'm supposed to remind myself the next time I encounter a similar situation..."go with your instincts"

When I reached the hardcover bookshelf, I looked through a few of them. I saw, "Rosemary's Baby" and a few other recognizable authors and novels. Interesting, but I've never been one to collect "current" novels. Once I've read them or seen the movie, I either sell them or put them in a box. Another bookshelf downstairs had a bunch of dusty old textbooks on them. I grabbed one in particular because of my recent viewing of the movie "300"...the Greek mythology story. I also love the "Rome" series on HBO. The book was obviously old...the inside copyright was from 1905. Since I only had a couple of dollars on me, I purchased them and we moved on.

I only live a block away, so when we got home, I fired up the computer and went to eBay to see if any of the three things I got were worth anything.

I couldn't find another person listing a Papal visit program from an Iowa visit in 1979. That may be a good thing, bad thing - it might be rare - or nobody cares. I haven't listed it on eBay yet but I will.
There were tons of pulp-fiction books, and most of them were being sold in multiples. No big loss.
Finally, someone else was selling the exact same copy of the 1905 book. Good news. It was priced at $150. Not bad. But the seller had a "Buy It Now" feature on his listing which always makes me curious.

So, I went to Abebooks (Where over 80 million new, used, rare, out-of-print books are just a click away)..a well-known website featuring books only. After my search, I called my wife (who was still at the sale) immediately and told her to buy some of the others that I was looking at...

Here's the actual listing from Abebooks:

"The Golden Fleece: More Old Greek Stories" - Eclectic Readers, 1905 James Baldwin
Current price: $675.00

I doubted my luck at first, and I checked the book description in the listing. Book condition was good, no jacket, all of the pages were there, but they were yellowed...and there wasn't any writing on it except for the price I paid for it and the original owners name. The one listed was surely much better off, right?

Lightly soiled, chipped and torn pages, yellowing, corners damaged, and someone had scribbled all over the illustrations. All for $675 dollars.

I have since contacted a distant rare book dealer and have been told that it's genuinely worth a lot of money. I have it listed on eBay, by the way...starting at $100 dollars. I'll let you know how it goes. If I don't sell it there, I already have an offer of $500 dollars from the book dealer for it.

And the other books? All first editions...all in pretty good shape. At least in as good a shape as was listed on a combination of eBay, Amazon, and Abebooks.com. I ran those past the book dealer as well.

The Thorn Birds (First Edition, First Printing 1977) - Colleen McCullough...value? $125
Rosemary's Baby (First Edition, First Printing 1967) - Ira Levin...value? $400
Elephants Can Remember (First Edition, First Printing 1972) - Agatha Christie...value? $125
In Cold Blood (First Edition, First Printing 1965) - Truman Capote...value? $300

By the time I went back to buy more, the other Truman Capote books were gone...and so were the Mario Puzo's. I didn't buy them at first because I don't like Capote...and I've already read Puzo's books. Oh well.

And the Golden Fleece wasn't even the most expensive book I found. Here's the listing from Abebooks on the best one of them all:

Dr Atkins Diet Revolution (hardcover, First Edition, First Printing 1972)...value? You wouldn't believe me. I didn't. $1650 dollars.

Not bad for a short walk and about $20 bucks, eh? Minus the kitchen gear the wife found valuable.

I love garage sale season.

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Senseless Census

2007-03-26T11:20:00.000-05:00

There's some discussion over at the Des Moines Register regarding the status of Iowa's latest US Census figures. So far, the only person hitting an original point is me after I left another comment on the story over the weekend.

Most people are far off track when they degenerate into discussion about why Iowa is losing numbers and population and how we keep young people in the state. It ain't the weather...it isn't so much economics-related...it isn't even all those fun things to do.

We're not losing population. We're just not growing as fast as others...

Norman: Iowa expected to lose House seat after census

The announcement by the census last week that Maricopa County, Arizona, gained an astonishing 696,000 residents in just six years was a wake-up call that congressional redistricting will bring some big changes for Iowa just a few years from now.

The new county-by-county census numbers that were released Thursday show states in the South and the West continuing to grow rapidly. Given this increase in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, it's not hard to see why Arizona became the nation's fastest-growing state between 2005 and 2006.

Census officials said that among the 20 fastest-growing counties from 2000 to 2006, 13 were in the South, four in the West and three in the Midwest. Among the 20 counties with the largest numeric gains in the past six years, 19 were in the South or West.

When I hear that, I think a little outside the box. Granted, people may be moving for the weather and general economic conditions - but those states have something else in common. Most of them are nearer to the border than we are. And if you keep track of such things, they also are more lenient (if that's possible) toward illegal immigrants than we are.

This is why Iowa is still expected to lose a congressional seat after the 2010 census, even though Iowa's population grew by 1.9 percent between 2000 and 2006 and the state added 55,000 people. When one county explodes by 696,000 people in the same period, there's just no way Iowa can keep up.

The loss of a seat would mean that Iowa would go from five House members to four.

Yep. I've mentioned this so many times and no matter how hard I try, most people either just consider it briefly and/or ignore it.

Beginning in the 2000 Census, we counted (for the first time) ILLEGAL ALIENS and included them in census figures!!

The US Census counts "residents" of the nation, not citizens. That number includes many people who aren't citizens, including those with a work visa or a "green card," and also those who entered the United States illegally.

By excluding those from the count, some estimate there would be a 16-seat change among the states' 2000 apportionment. California alone would lose 5 members of Congress. Big deal, right?

The loss of a seat also means that Iowa loses a vote in the electoral college that determines presidential results. Will the downsizing to four seats make Iowa become more blue or more red?

So, where is Iowa's lost congressional seat going?

The University of Virginia Center for Politics recently predicted that Florida will gain nine new House seats by 2030, while Texas will get eight and Arizona, five. Other gainers were predicted to be California, Nevada, North Carolina, Georgia, Oregon, Utah, Virginia and Washington.

Now you know why both Dems and Reps want to make a deal on illegal immigration and some states don't want to get too tough on border enforcement.

The more "population" you have, the more federal money gets funneled to your state and the more power you have in determining the electoral college.

Get it?

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Neo-Libs

2007-03-23T10:21:00.000-05:00

Cool...that looks good in print. I wonder if I'm the first person to coin the term, "neolibs" in response to the tired out "neocons" thing the lefties always throw around to hide their anti-Semitism...

My friends over at National Review Online sent along a copy of the memo distributed by Democrat leaders to their members as they ready a vote today on the Iraq supplemental spending bill...

Expectations are high, it seems today...(emphasis added by yours truly)

Friday, March 23, 2007

9:00 a.m. for Legislative Business
Five "One-Minutes" Per Side
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

ATTENDANCE IS CRITICAL TODAY
Any anticipated Member absences for votes this week should be reported to
the Office of the Majority Whip at 226-3210.

Floor Schedule and Procedure

***Members are advised that recorded votes will occur as early as 9:10am.***

H.R. 1591, the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health, and Iraq Accountability Act of 2007 (Rep. Obey-Appropriations):

This morning the House will complete consideration of H.R. 1591. The remaining time for debate on the bill will be managed by Appropriations Committee Chair David Obey, or his designee, and consideration will proceed in the following order:

Complete debate on the bill.

Debate and vote on a Republican motion to recommit the bill. Democrats are expected to VOTE NO on the Republican Motion to Recommit regardless of its content. Vote on final passage of the bill. Democrats are urged to vote YES on final passage.

H.R. 1591, the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health, and Iraq Accountability Act of 2007. This bill will support our troops and veterans, hold the Bush Administration and Iraqi government accountable and bring our soldiers home by August 2008 or sooner. In addition, the bill would address urgent unmet domestic needs that the Republican 109th Congress neglected.

Nice. I guess that's why they call them "Whips" in Congress.

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Alivestock

2007-03-23T08:05:00.000-05:00

Some of the more interesting news from Iowa is from outside the state. I haven't seen any reports from any of the major Iowa press outlets on this case. And considering the Kevin Kelly situation, it does seem rather ironic...

Iowa livestock become targets of threats

IOWA CITY, Iowa- A dozen of one farmer's cows have been gunned down since August. Another lost a 370-head hog nursery in a January fire investigators believe was intentionally set.

Reports of vandalism to farm equipment, buildings and at livestock construction sites have been turning up across rural Iowa. Some farmers also say they've received threatening telephone calls and letters from people condemning the bigger-is-better approach to raising cattle and pigs.

The question facing law enforcement officials is whether the incidents are random acts or deliberate, orchestrated attacks by those with personal, political or social agendas.

I'm reminded of the environmental terrorism that happened a while ago at a mink farm near Waverly. My guess is, that it's either urban transplants who suddenly discover that "living in the country" carries with it some new aromatic experiences...or nutcase animal rights activists and general left-wing goofballs...

When Lawrinenko started building a new barn to expand his operation last fall, threats and violence followed, including a suspicious, late-night fire ignited in a garbage can that damaged a corner of his home. Nobody was hurt in the blaze, which Lawrinenko said he doused with a garden hose.

"You can really go to almost any state and you're going to find these incredible levels of anger of these kinds of large-scale operations," Partridge said.

Yet cases of violence and intimidation such as those reported in Iowa are rare in other states, according to industry officials.

Last year in South Dakota, four county commissioners who voted in favor of a dairy farm permit had nails scattered across their driveways. An Indiana farmer reported last year that his locked well was poisoned while he pursued an expansion to his dairy operation.

So far, no arrests have been made.

Now...consider the case of Kevin Kelly, protecting his tree growing business...something environmental activists must toss in their sleep about.

Goofy Left-Wing Radical Environmental Activist: "Save the deer...save the trees...but the trees are part of capitalism so don't save them...plant more trees, but don't cut them down..."

Farmer convicted of killing deer out of season

A Cedar County farmer was convicted Wednesday of illegally shooting a deer he said was causing damage to his Christmas tree farm near Clarence.

A jury of four women and two men found Kevin Kelly, 55, guilty of the charges of shooting a female deer out of hunting season and killing a white-tailed deer with a rifle. The verdict came about 4:30 p.m. after three days of testimony and less than an hour of deliberations.

District Judge Bobbi Alpers imposed a fine of $100 on each charge and assessed a $1,500 civil penalty to replace the deer Kelly killed.

Replace the deer? Is he supposed to artificially inseminate one or something? I guess while we consider contraception for controlling the deer population, we could have the DNR inseminate one while they're at it...

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Don't You Dare

2007-03-22T14:13:00.000-05:00

I know a lot of people are taking the Elizabeth Edwards disclosure that her cancer returns as an opportunity to wax political on her husband John Edwards...

Asked by a reporter whether recurrence of the cancer would cause him to suspend any campaign activities, such as fundraising or travel, Mr. Edwards said no.

I ask you not to.

Whatever feelings or thoughts you have toward John Edwards as a politician should be set aside from the discussion over whether or not he should continue the race.

I believe he should...and I attach no political observation about that whatsoever.

I've had cancer...twice. Once with regular chemotherapy treatment, another time with a Bone Marrow Transplant. I've now passed the 11-year mark of recovery. That's still not the point.

When I had my first diagnosis and throughout 9-months of treatment every other week, I continued working at my job as a Sports Director at KWBG in Boone. I even convinced my doctor at the time to allow me to go on RAGBRAI that year. It was important to me to maintain as normal a work/play life as I could. I took a few days off here and there, but overall sandwiched much of my work between the puking and other side effects.

That was me personally. I didn't have a wife and children to consider. If the same were to happen today, my reaction may or may not be different. In addition, I had to maintain a job to pay the medical bills as I had no health insurance at the time.

I have no idea what the personal situation is with the Edwards family...but the fact the issue has turned immediately to the political among the talking heads and outsiders says a lot more about America than it does about Edwards.

I wish nothing but the best for her and her family.

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Documented Undocuments

2007-03-22T10:11:00.000-05:00

The NY Times has a story linked to day at Land & Landscape (don't ask) involving an update on the Swift raid of a few months ago. Not much new information, but a few observations.

As you know, many of the illegal aliens were immediately deported...others (148 of them) are being charged with identity theft. Someone found the real person attached to the phoney documents these "undocumented immigrants" used to get jobs. It's a very long piece and you should read the whole thing, but here are some highlights:

Illegal Worker, Troubled Citizen and Stolen Name

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa � The two women named Violeta Blanco have never met. But for a long time they shared not only a name, but the same birth date and the same Social Security number.

One is an illegal immigrant from Mexico (Eloisa Nunez Galeana) who went to work slicing pork in a meat-packing plant here after her husband left her with three children. The other is a single American mother in California (Violeta Blanco) who has never held a job, struggles with drug addiction and is fighting to keep the state from taking her children.

...the Mexican worker admitted that she had used the California woman's identity to get her job. Now she is in jail on felony charges of identity theft, her trial set to begin in Des Moines on March 26.

Interviewed in jail in Des Moines, Nu�ez said she used Ms. Blanco's documents � which she had purchased from a woman she did not know � in 2003 to apply for her job at Swift, but that she never used them again.

She had hoped to work at the plant for many years, she said, perhaps long enough to see her children, who range in age from 2 to 15, graduate from high school (two were born in Iowa and are American citizens).

That alone says everything you need to know about the lack of immigration enforcement in the United States. An illegal alien almost expects to work illegally in the United States long enough for her children to graduate.

"What's the harm," I hear illegal immigrant advocates say. They didn't use the illegal documents to raid bank accounts, apply for credit cards or anything. All they did was pay taxes and never file...

Still, Matthew C. Allen, the senior investigations official at Immigration and Custom Enforcement, said that 326 Americans had reported financial complications and tax liabilities from having their identities used at Swift. "The victims have suffered very real consequences," Allen said.

148 charged with identity theft from the Swift raid...but 326 Americans affected. I'm assuming there were duplicates of duplicate Social Security numbers.

Complications in this case, like being on disability and having the Social Security Administration cut off your aid because the records show the person attached to the SS number is making payments through a job. And the IRS showing income, but nobody filing for taxes. Anyone want to say that illegal aliens are still harmless?

Nu�ez said she was reluctant to use identity documents that did not belong to her, but she said she did not know that she could be committing a federal offense, since buying documents was routine among illegal immigrants here.

Routine. She apparently didn't think entering the country illegally would be a problem either. That's become fairly routine too.

At the mention of her children during an interview in Des Moines, Nu�ez, hunched in a gray-and-white striped jail uniform, began to cry.

"I risked everything so they could grow up in the United States," she said. "I'm only asking for permission to do honest work."

Try doing honest work honestly. You never asked permission to begin with. Sorry...but I don't feel a bit sorry for you or your children.

Nu�ez and several other immigrant women detained in the Iowa raid who have children who are American citizens say they have resolved to fight the charges against them rather than make a deal with prosecutors that would lead to their deportation with no chance of legal return.

"She's a mother who cut my pork chops and gave Social Security a lot of money," said Michael H. Said, a lawyer representing Nu�ez. "She deserves a medal, not an indictment."

Yeah. A medal for screwing up someone elses life? Sadly, the article doesn't say in the actual American victim of this sad affair has a lawyer helping her clean up the mess created by Nunez...

Waving a file of wrinkled papers that she keeps in a cellophane bag, she said thatNu�ez's employment under her name was only a small part of problems she attributed to identity theft.

She said she had difficulty renewing her driver's license because someone else using her identity had taken out a license in Arkansas. A bank where she tried to open an account told her that it already had one in her name in another state � not Iowa.

"I know that when I get ready, I'm going to get everything all filed up, and I'm going to try to take care of it," Blanco said. "I don't know how, but I'm going to try."

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WKRP in Cincinnati: The Complete First Season (3 Discs)

More Payback for Unions?

2007-03-21T14:15:00.000-05:00

Since they couldn't get "fair share" passed in the form they promised...or at all, it seems...Democrats gotta do something. In some ways, I actually think this might be a good idea. I'll explain:

'Prevailing wage' bill sets off controversy

A proposal in the Iowa House to require schools, cities and counties to pay "prevailing wages" for contract labor would cost taxpayers millions of dollars more a year, opponents of the bill say.

Advocates, however, say the plan would protect workers and the general public from shoddy work, bring about fairer competition among contractors and maintain "community-established compensation standards."

House File 810 would require that contractors and subcontractors pay employees who work on public projects the same hourly wage and benefits as those paid in private projects.

I could support something like that IF...and ONLY IF...it would show an improvement in reducing the number of contractors who sneak in low bids based on illegal laborers and crappy materials...like illegal immigrants.

Don't worry, I'm skeptical also due to the fact that unions these days seem to support more illegal immigration and even allow them as members in some cases. The construction industry is a little weird, though. There are those that do it right...and those that do everything they can to get the bid.

Being in the construction business now, I can tell you chilly stories about how we have to keep re-doing jobs all the time because the competition for construction is no longer about quality...it's about speed and limited cost.

Here in Cedar Rapids, Xavier High School had to have their roof re-done after only 6-years because they hired a contractor for the lowest bid and he used a bunch of Texas illegal immigrants to do the job. That was a $130,000 dollar mistake.

So, if it limits that kind of crap, go for it.

Tom Bredeweg, executive director of the Iowa League of Cities, said small towns and rural areas would be forced to pay the same wages as many of the largest urban areas in the state. That, he said, would drive up costs and tax rates and potentially slow or halt public improvement projects across the state.

"We are opposed and will vigorously resist it," Bredeweg said.

One of the primary problems with "government work" is the requirement for soliciting low bids.

As with most anything...you get what you pay for...

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WKRP in Cincinnati: The Complete First Season (3 Discs)