Old Age No Bed of Roses

                                                                       

I've written stuff about my senior Chi, Ginger, several times.  About how, back in 1999, she eased a bit of sadness at the loss of our son.  Her puppy antics were just enough to pull us out of our mourning for a few minutes.  She's been a remarkable companion for my wife and I throughout her sixteen years.

But life now sucks for a Chi who will celebrate her 112th birthday come the 22nd  of June.  She's endured two cancer operations but is otherwise physically pretty healthy for her age.  Oh, she sleeps a lot more these days, sleeps so deeply now that, when I walk into the room and look down at her in her bed, and see no manifest rising of the chest I fear that she's passed in her sleep.

One of the reasons she sleeps so deeply is because she can't hear much anymore.  If I had to guess I would say she probably retains about 5% of her hearing capacity these days...not well enough to hear me, but able to hear her young Chi sister's high registered yelp when affronted by a bird that lands on the patio.  

Ginger's eyes are now just blue marbled cataracts that have left her essentially blind as well.  She can sometimes detect a bit of motion but can't see through the haze of her old age.  If I toss an occasional bit of popcorn her way it bounces off of her forehead and she's left looking clownish....a cruel thing to do to such a fine, intelligent little doggie.

Perhaps the worst though is her tendency toward a little old age dementia.  Happily it doesn't include any aggressive behavior.  It's just that, often throughout the day she'll wander around in a stupor, not knowing what she got up to do.  She'll just wander around the room, then stop and give one of those thousand mile stares into an emptiness that I can't comprehend.

Perhaps the saddest characteristic of her dotage is when she occasionally rises to stand, only to have all four limbs go out on her and she clumsily flops back down to the floor.   She seems to retain just enough dignity to be embarrassed by it and my heart breaks a little, remembering how spry and active she has been throughout her life.

I guess I should be grateful that we still have Ginger.  In spite of her limitations she's still relatively healthy for a 112 year old.  So, when she goes out in the evening to do her business, and gets lost in a mental fog, so that I have to grab a flashlight and go and fetch her, well that's not too much to do for the old girl.   And though her old, creaky bones have turned her off from enjoying a session in my lap, she still greets me each morning in a half hearted attempt to jump up on my leg and bid me good morning, something that she's done since she was a pup.  And, when she needs a little loving, and a gentle butt massage, she'll rear up on her hind legs and place her forepaws in my lap to let me know she still loves and loves to be loved as well.

Ginger has shown me that old age is not for the weak of heart...that it's no bed of roses.  She's already proven she's tougher than me; when I reach the point where folks are tossing treats off my nose, and when my legs give out when I try to rise, and when I can no longer smell citrus blossoms, or see a lovely sunrise, I suspect I'll have very little reason to live.  Ginger, the fine soul that she is, has risen above that and honored us with her presence for a little while longer.  For that I'm eternally grateful.

"Up In Smoke"

                                                                   

(AP) Dateline 20 June, 2025.  Agents from The U.S. Border Patrol, in coordination with agents from the U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, announced a huge cigarette bust at the port of Nogales, Arizona.  Federal agents reported finding false gas tanks mounted under commercial trucks that were holding more than 10,000 cartons of Marlboro cigarettes.  Authorities report this is the 210th cigarette bust this fiscal year.  The massive inflow of illegal cigarettes harkens back to a time, a decade ago, when marijuana was the product of choice for Mexican smugglers.  However, with the widespread legalization of marijuana in this country, pot is no longer profitable for smugglers.  They have opted instead for cigarettes which are currently taxed at $50 dollars per carton, bringing the price of cigarettes for the American smoker to more than $120 dollars per carton.

Holy Week

                                                                 

Fresh from feeding the multitudes, and resurrecting Lazarus, the crowds in Jerusalem were in a twitter that their "king" was coming to visit. Fully expecting him to ride in on a horse, as conquering kings had rode before Him, Jesus sent his disciples to fetch a donkey...to send a message that his teachings honored the humble...that he claimed no crown for the earthly world. Never the less, the crowds, fickle, but always frantic to find the next "savior", laid palm fronds in his path and waved them about him to cool him on his journey into the city. 

Despite the reverie, Jesus knew his fate before he ever entered the gates...his heart tempered by that knowledge. And, as soon as he began to speak, the religious powers that be, challenged his right to bring a radical new idea; that people are not doomed to an eternity of hell, but can be saved by accepting a doctrine of kindness and forgiveness. Alas, His trials of the week would begin, first in the temple, and then by secular powers. Jesus would denounce the hard cruel messages emanating from the temple, then proclaim to the secular that he had no interest or ambition to be an earthly king. 

By Thursday he would host the last supper with His disciples and prepare for His own death. By Friday some of the same people who had rejoiced in his arrival would now loudly root for his death. And he would be crucified for his efforts. 

I don't know if he was the son of God, and I don't know if he was resurrected. I only know that the man walked the earth for three decades and talked only of love and kindness and forgiveness. And his words have endured for over 2,000 years because they speak for what we know is moral and right. His words alone make him worthy of remembering Him this week.

Muslim Terrorists; Cowardice and Ineptitude

                                                                   

Talking about the Middle East messes is like talking about a single tree in the forest...where the hell do you start?  Well, we began the week by learning that the American base in Aden, Yemen, has been taken over by terrorists and the last government head was on a boat in the Gulf of Yemen, heading who knows where.  

Biblical Prophecy

                                                             

Hmmm....Jews migrating back to Israel to escape violence and persecution, the entire Middle East now an armageddon powder keg, Christians being slaughtered because of their faith, government and corporate and medical organizations pushing for a micro-chip to be embedded beneath the skin to identify you as "one who tows the line" (666 maybe?), a world wide decline in morality so severe that the old world has been turned upside down; right is wrong, wrong is right, productivity is punished and sloth rewarded. 

Viva Las Vegas?

                                                                 

How many of you folks go to Las Vegas?  I haven't been for a decade.  I suppose if you didn't see what Vegas use to be you might not think it's too bad now.  But I'm handicapped by knowing what it was like 45 years ago.  

The New Walmart

                                                               

As you all know, in January Walmart announced some pretty impressive pay raises for all their workers.  Well, I waited until this week, for the raises to kick in, to visit my local Walmart store.  First, I needed a few things, and secondly, I wanted to see how great the service was from the better paid employees.

Alas, I had to use two chem-wipes to get all the rug rat residue off the shopping cart, then toss the ice cream wrappers that rested in the bottom of the cart before I could do any serious shopping.  My first encounter was with the door greeter.  He didn't seem any happier so I wheeled right, into the drug and personal care section.  They did not have my preferred mouthwash so I moved over into the small appliance section to pick up a few boxes of my Bunn coffee filters.  None were in stock.  But I felt sure as I moved about the store some happy blue vested employee would ask if I needed help.  As I worked my way through the narrower aisles I found no one who gave a shit about my mouthwash or coffee filters.

Not one to give up, I remembered I needed to replace my ten year old wallet.  So I wheeled over to the wallets, only to find a display that was three quarters empty; the only remaining wallets depicting deer hunters and the face of that reality show bounty hunter....so again I moved on.

Giving up on dry goods, I moved over to the grocery section.  Let me first note that, if I follow the local grocery store ads, I can always beat Walmart grocery prices.  I've never understood why so many folks don't shop around and stop blindly buying their weekly grocery needs in a Walmart store.  But, Walmart does carry my favorite brand of apple pie.  It's called Pippin Apple Pie and the company that makes them and vends them to Walmart make a great pie, their pie factory situated right in their own apple orchards.  The crust is flaky, the pies packed with fresh, not overly sweetened apple pie filling.  They are priced at $3.98 which is at least two bucks cheaper than the junk Mrs. Smith and Sara Lee offer.

                                                       

So, when I get to the freezer section I see no Pippin Apple Pies in stock.  I finally "go rogue" and demand from a stocker why no Pippin Apple Pies.  The guy promises to find out and works his way up to the front of the store.  So there I am, waiting in the Hispanic food aisle, my eyes staring in amazement at five gallon cans of Mexican Menudo.....and I'm wondering how one eats five gallons of stomach tripe before the stuff goes bad on you.  Finally, the stocker comes back and it's clear he's focusing on not being distracted from reciting from rote what the manager said about the Pippin Apple Pie drought.  He says "Mr., the manager says Walmart stopped stocking those apple pies because they couldn't negotiate an attractive deal that would have allowed Walmart to make their desired profit margins."  "Huh?, I said.  "How can that be when you're selling Mrs Smith for $6 bucks and Pippin Pies for $3.98?"  "Are you telling me you couldn't find a profit margin with that $2 dollar price differential?"  The stocker looked flummoxed and asked if I wanted him to go back and ask the manager about that.  Well, I let the poor guy off the hook, left my pristine shopping cart next to the menudo display and walked out of Walmart; 0 for 4 on the items I was shopping for.  Enough menudo to feed a gang of Mexican bandits but nothing I needed or wanted.

Well, normally I would have gone to Target.  But since they care so little about my credit card security on the only day I visited the store in 2013 I've boycotted them.  My credit card company had to issue me a new credit card because mine was apparently hacked and rustlers tried to use it.  And just this week Target settled a class action suit for some 70 million Target shoppers for $10 million dollars, nothing more than a "rounding error" on Target's multi-billion dollar balance sheet.   Some one ran the numbers on the settlement and the average Joe could get about .15 cents for his trouble if he filled out a written complaint, in triplicate.  So no Target for me either.

I would have gone to a mom and pop store, if they still had any.  But Target and Walmart have put most of them out of business.  

Note:  I will issue all of you a warning; Target has just announced that they too will be giving their employees pay raises, marching in lock step to Walmart's move.  If the service is anything like Walmart you may want to start shopping at Amazon more....I hear that soon you might be having drones deliver your goods.  And, to be frank, at this point I think I'd prefer the company of a drone to the folks that now people Walmart.

Abandoning MSNBC In Droves

                                                           

On the first Tuesday in December, 2012, Barack Obama hosted an afternoon soiree at the White House.  His guests?  The entire news staff of MSNBC and The Huffington Post.  Like so many times in his Presidency, Obama believed he was getting a raw deal from the press and was sinking in the polls.  So he called in his "unofficial Pravda", The Huffington crowd and the "tingle down my leg" crowd at MSNBC.  Rachel Maddow was in attendance, as was "tingling Chris Matthews", Ed (Erectile Dysfunction) Schultz, Al Sharpton and the rest of Obama's slobbering adorers.  

(http://patdollard.com/2012/12/obama-has-private-white-house-meeting-with-msnbc-primetime-lineup/)

The meeting was intended to be clandestine but Ed Schultz, so delighted to be in the presence of the anointed one, began tweeting about the meeting as soon as he exited the White House gates.  Obama's Press Secretary was forced to confirm this unscheduled visit at a press conference the next day.

During the meeting Obama opined that he wasn't getting all the admiration he thought he deserved and asked the many liberal foot soldiers to step up their efforts to praise his many achievements.  Apparently it worked!  MSNBC began a fury of 24 hour programming touting the grand accomplishments of "fearless leader", the spittle flying full force.  "Terrible Tara Reid" and Al Sharpton broke out their "oppose Obama, you're racist" strategy and Chris Matthews leg was virtually trembling as he praised Barry to the heavens.

And the MSNBC masters figured that, if half a dozen Obamanites are good, how much better to make it a baker's dozen.  So they brought in Ronan Farrow and Chris Hayes and Melissa Perry to praise Obama 24 hours a day!

Fast forward to February, 2015.  MSNBC had tanked so badly in the ratings they were trailing Fox and CNN and CNN HL and, go forbid, even Telemundo was beating them in the ratings.  Sinatra bastard child Ronan Farrow's ratings were so low that, of 350 million potential viewers, he was drawing less than a hundred thousand committed liberal dead-heads.  Hermaphrodite Chris Hayes, brought on to battle Bill O'Reilly and Anderson Cooper in the prime time slot, was crushed in the ratings.  

America had simply had enough of the liberal Pravda.  Even Democrats turned away as MSNBC had evolved into a political "cartoon network" where news was scarce but liberal opinion was abundant.

Finally, last month MSNBC had had enough.  While it's perfectly fine to adore Obama, when it comes down to the almighty advertising dollar, well, money will win out every time.  So NBC Universal fired the MSNBC news director, diluted Melissa Perry's racist invective by integrating her into the Today program,  sent Tara Reid and Ronan Farrow to cover "lost dog" stories and are considering limiting Al Sharpton and Ed (Erectile Disfunction) Schultz to weekends only.

No one knows how Obama is taking this.  It can't make him too happy.  But then he's still got the New York Times and Washington Post and the Huffington Post and the other mainstream media outlets....he just doesn't have his "Pravda" that he delighted in for six plus years.

What surely bothered Obama this week was a nonpartisan media poll that tabbed Fox News as America's most trusted news source.  The Anointed One falters.

"Bill and Killary and Barry..Oh My!"

                                                                 

I know at least some of you have been wondering, in light of my hundred other blogs on Hillary Clinton, why I have not written about her most recent woes.  Well, frankly, for two reasons; 1) I'd be preaching to the choir here and 2) It's too easy...like shooting fish in a barrel.  

Could I Have Done More?

                                                               

When there is a death in the family there is inevitably a hefty conglomerate of emotions that accompany the loss.  The first wave is disbelief, then frantic and desperate efforts to comprehend the depth of your sorrow.  And there is denial and anger and, finally, acceptance.  I've reached an age where my list of losses has become long and sorrowful, the most difficult being the loss of a son, something that no parent should ever experience, and for which no answers are ever sufficient.  But, as I said, there exists a solidity to your grief when a love one is lost.

Far more ephemeral are the deaths of those who are merely "life pedestrians"; folks you meet in passing, or perhaps a little more substantial if it's someone you've worked rather closely with for a time.

So, this afternoon, my mind wondered, as it often does, to times in my life when people died whom I knew only casually.  One of them especially sticks in my craw even today....puts an itch somewhere in my soul where one questions what they might have done to alter events.  

When I was on my second tour of Korea we had a young man who clerked for the 1st Sergeant.  He was about thirty years old, a mid-level career Technical Sergeant, mild of manner, quiet and polite at all times.  Since I shared a community coffee pot with the 1st Shirt's people I was in and out of the clerk's office all day.  And during those visits I might offer up a comment about a sports score, or the weather, or complain about slow mail delivery.  The young clerk had sufficient social skills to interact with anyone he met but, somehow, we never got around to talking about anything personal.  

So one morning I report to work and the office is in grievous turmoil.  The young clerk had gone back to his barracks the previous afternoon and promptly killed himself.  That was in 1983 and, to this day, I still think about what I might have done to steer him to a happier place in his life.  Why didn't I share something personal with him, thus encouraging him to open up a bit more and perhaps help him find an outlet for whatever was tormenting him?  Was my life so busy, was I so important that I could not have taken a few minutes each day and given this young man just a bit more of myself?  It still haunts me to this day and probably will for the rest of my life.  I've lost a few of my comrades while they were still in the full bloom of youth, and many more who passed far too early, but the senseless loss of that young man bothers me just a bit more because I will always wonder if an ounce of extra kindness might have prevented it.

The only salvation I can find from this experience is that, hopefully, I've become a little more sensitive to the human condition, a bit more empathetic to those who are really hurting.  Since that incident I've had occasion to help some people "steady the boat" and resume the art of living.   And I like to think that sometimes I've served as a conduit to those who just needed to talk.  I guess you can't ever tell if any kindness you offered up did any good but, at least you try.  

The poet Rod McCuen had a beautiful line in one of his poems; "I stand at the door and hear footsteps, and even if they do pass my door, at least they came my way."  Maybe that'a all it takes, maybe not.  

God and G.E. and Sunday Morning Musings

                                                                   

Do you remember when we were in our 20's, and we would gather with friends and sit up and talk all night about one thing and another?  Remember when we would spend hours (believing ourselves "deep thinkers") and argue about the existence of God?  I'm sure that debate goes on today, in college classrooms and military barracks and college dorms and living rooms across America.  

Liberal Dreams

                                                               

I knew something was different as soon as I awakened this morning.  My mind was fuzzy and I had an intense hankering for Greek yogurt, Meuslix and Perrier water.  Images of Charlie Crist kept flashing across my consciousness and, when pulling up Yahoo News I became enamored of a picture of President Obama making a speech down in Selma.  I then went over to U-Tube and played the entire 3 minutes and 26 seconds of that lovely young lady singing "I love Obama."  Then I found a pic of President Obama posing rather handsomely in the Rose Garden and converted it into my screensaver.

Attention: Honkies Young And Old

                                                                 

Attention Honkies: You are not among the pampered and protected class. You are not allowed to free speech; you are limited to politically correct speech and that is all. The sooner you understand this the better chance you will have to prevent your "politically correct" masters from destroying your right to a job, to an education, and to the pursuit of happiness. 

This edict applies to Oklahoma University students to old honkies in rest homes....so beware! Only Blacks have the right to use the word "nigger" in the public domain. Only Blacks have the right to spew hatred and practice racial discrimination. Only Blacks have the right to produce music rife with "nigger, ho (see whore), bitch, kill a cop, kill Whitey, kill da man, rape the bitch, fuck the bitch, kill da niggah, beat the ho, as well as a thousand other terms of the most vile, bestial violence. 

So, you honky kids that just love the rap and hip-hop; that be okay but you damn sure bettah not be using any of the terms we Blacks use cause ONLY WE are entitled to skirt the rules and laws of civility....cause our grand, grand, grand, grand pappies was slaves...and you be owing us for dat! Now don't you wish your great great great grand pappies were slaves? Damn right you do! Dat why we earn that welfare check and priority quotas for education and employment and da freedom to say any damn thing we want to say no matter how racist and nasty! Got it?

"We Deserve A Break Today"

                                                           

In the last two years McDonald's sales have dropped over ten percent, and they're still bleeding.  So last month they fired the CEO.  So alarmed about plunging sales, McDonald's is trying everything to win customers back.  On Super Bowl weekend they introduced a new line of commercials touting love and world brotherhood.  And they're getting ready to trim their menu cause folks are burning a gallon of gas in the McDonald's Drive-Thru, so slow is their service, reportedly slowest in their industry.  (And, yes, there are statisticians that compute average fast food drive thru wait times.)  All of these corporate efforts are expected to cost McDonald's some $10 billion dollars in the first year alone and they've warned their shareholders of this straight out.

As I've often said before, I can save McDonald's that $10 billion dollars.  Simply go back to basics...quit steaming your beef patties in this clam shell warmers and serve them hot off the grill, just as In N Out Burger does, and just as it was done when founder Ray Kroc was running things.

Secondly, start exerting some corporate control over franchises.  When Ray Kroc was running McDonald's part of the franchise contract stipulated that, if he walked in to a franchise, and found it dirty, or if they were serving cold burgers and fries, he had the right to shut them down and re-sell it to another.  While it only cost $100,000 back then (as opposed to $2.3 million now..and franchisers have to pay 40% of that upfront), the corporation enjoyed huge profits because they collected 2.4% of gross sales.  And, because a single McDonald's franchise, if run well, can generate $2.5 million a year in sales, everyone was happy.

Sadly, today McDonald's has seemed to be satisfied with collecting franchise fees and letting the franchisers do what the hell they want.  So sales are on a continual decline as customers abandon McDonald's in droves, preferring the taste of a good burger at Five Guys or In N Out.

Ray Kroc was no genius...he was just a good businessman willing to give the customers what they wanted.  A former Dixie cup salesman, who then went into hawking milkshake machines, Kroc wandered into the McDonald's brothers hamburger joint down in San Bernardino, California in 1954.  What he found were two guys operating an assembly line burger system and turning out .15 cent burgers, .5 cent coffee, .10 cent fries .20 cent milkshakes and dime cokes...and raking in the dough!

Kroc first partnered with the brothers to open franchises, then bought the brothers out for $2.4 million in the late 50's.  

From then on Kroc was on his way.  He was the "burger baron", selling franchises, collecting a percentage of gross sales, and exercising iron clad control over food and service quality.  It took smarter people than Kroc to dream up the Filet of Fish and Big Mac, both of which Kroc opposed, and was proven wrong!  But one thing old Ray always got right; give the customer what he wants...in this case fresh hot burgers off the grill, and the best fries in town...any town.

So, Mickey D's...here's my advice.  Quit trying to coddle the greenies and health food fanatics..they ain't coming!  Lose the wraps and chicken salads, and side salads, and oatmeal, and egg white McMuffins.  Go back to the basics....give us a burger hot off the grill, with steaming hot french fries, keep your damn bathrooms clean, and tell the Al Gore and Nancy Pelosi crowd to go on down the road to Chipotle!  

Free advice.....and you save yourself $10 billion dollars in the process....we deserve a break today.

Apple, The Golden Calf

                                                               

Well, if Jesus returns today, he's just gonna have to wait! His children are either up in Cupertino, California or glued to the internet or TV to find out where they can camp overnight to buy an Apple I-Watch. 

"Buddy, Could You Spare $100,000?"

                                                           

If you've ever wondered what happened to "good ole what his/her name that you elected to Congress not long ago:  "K" Street in Washington D.C. houses some 12,000 lobbyists.  Some of them specialize with Obama and some with the Congress.  And many, many of those lobbyists are former Congressmen/Congresswomen and Senators.  

They are paid billions because they know who to go to and what to say to get a tax break or have legislation passed that is favorable to whoever they're working for.  These lobbyists represent the entire political spectrum, from liberal to conservative, corporate, union labor leaders, foreign countries, and anyone that needs a little favor, or a little pork from Uncle Sam.  

According to Open Secrets.Org here's a small list of your former Congress and Executive branch leaders who are on a lobbyists payroll.  Don't be afraid to scan down; you're likely to see someone who once promised to represent the will of the people....but no longer do.  This short list is just from the 111th and 112th Congress (four years):  

Abraham, Spencer (R)

Allard, Wayne (R)

Allen, George (R)

Ashcroft, John (R)

Bayh, Evan (D)

Bennett, Robert F (R)

Bond, Christopher Kit (R)

Boschwitz, Rudy E (R)

Breaux, John (D)

Brown, Scott (R)

Bryan, Richard H (D)

Bumpers, Dale (D)

Burns, Conrad (R)

Burris, Roland (D)

Campbell, Ben Nighthorse (R)

Cleland, Max (D)

Cohen, William S (R)

Coleman, Norm (R)

Conrad, Kent (D)

Corzine, Jon S (D)

Craig, Larry (R)

D'Amato, Alfonse M (R)

Daschle, Tom (D)

Deconcini, Dennis (D)

DeMint, Jim (R)

Dixon, Alan J (D)

Dodd, Chris (D)

Dole, Bob (R)

Dorgan, Byron L (D)

Durenberger, Dave (R)

Faircloth, Lauch (R)

Ford, Wendell H (D)

Gorton, Slade (R)

Gramm, Phil (R)

Grams, Rod (R)

Gregg, Judd (R)

Hagel, Chuck (R)

Hutchinson, Tim (R)

Hutchison, Kay Bailey (R)

Johnston, J Bennett (D)

Kasten, Robert W Jr (R)

Kaufman, Ted (D)

Kempthorne, Dirk (R)

Kerrey, Bob (D)

Kirk, Paul (D)

Kyl, Jon (R)

Lieberman, Joe (I)

Lincoln, Blanche (D)

Lott, Trent (R)

Mack, Connie III (R)

Martinez, Mel (R)

Mathews, Harlan (D)

McClure, James A (R)

Miller, Zell (D)

Mitchell, George J (D)

Nelson, Ben (D)

Nickles, Don (R)

Packwood, Bob (R)

Pressler, Larry (R)

Riegle, Donald W Jr (D)

Rudman, Warren B (R)

Salazar, Ken (D)

Santorum, Rick (R)

Simpson, Alan K (R)

Smith, Gordon H (R)

Snowe, Olympia (R)

Sununu, John E (R)

Symms, Steven D (R)

Talent, James M (R)

Thompson, Fred (R)

Torricelli, Robert G (D)

Warner, John W (R)

Wilson, Pete (R)

Wirth, Timothy E (D)

Wofford, Harris (D)

Former Representatives

Adler, John H (D)

Akin, Todd (R)

Alexander, William Vollie Jr (D)

Allen, Tom H (D)

Altmire, Jason (D)

Anderson, John B (I)

Andrews, Mark (R)

Andrews, Michael Allen (D)

Andrews, Robert E (D)

Anthony, Beryl F Jr (D)

Archer, Bill (R)

Arcuri, Mike (D)

Armey, Dick (R)

Atkins, Chester (D)

Bacchus, James L (D)

Bafalis, L A (Skip) (R)

Baird, Brian (D)

Baker, Richard (R)

Barcia, Jim (D)

Barnes, Michael D (D)

Barr, Bob (R)

Barrett, J Gresham (R)

Bass, Charles (R)

Bayh, Birch E (D)

Bell, Chris (D)

Bentley, Helen Delich (R)

Bentsen, Ken (D)

Bereuter, Doug (R)

Berman, Howard L (D)

Bethune, Ed (R)

Blanchard, Jim (D)

Bliley, Thomas J Jr (R)

Boehlert, Sherwood (R)

Bonilla, Henry (R)

Bonior, David E (D)

Bonker, Don (D)

Bonner, Jo ()

Bono Mack, Mary (R)

Boren, Dan (D)

Borski, Bob (D)

Boucher, Rick (D)

Boulter, Beau (R)

Boyd, Allen (D)

Brewster, Bill (D)

Brock, William E III (R)

Bryant, Ed (R)

Buechner, Jack (R)

Burns, Max (R)

Burton, Dan (R)

Buyer, Steve (R)

Callahan, Sonny (R)

Canseco, Francisco (R)

Cardoza, Dennis (D)

Carnahan, Russ (D)

Carney, William (R)

Carr, Bob (D)

Carson, Brad Rogers ()

Castle, Michael N (R)

Chandler, Rod (R)

Chapman, Jim (D)

Chocola, Chris (R)

Christensen, Jon (R)

Clay, William L (D)

Clement, Bob (D)

Cobey, Bill (R)

Coelho, Tony (D)

Coleman, E Thomas (R)

Coleman, Ronald D (D)

Combest, Larry (R)

Comstock, Barbara ()

Corcoran, Tom (R)

Costello, Jerry F (D)

Coyne, James K (R)

Cramer, Bud (D)

Critz, Mark (D)

Culver, John (D)

D'Amours, Norman E (D)

Danford, Patrick J (3)

Darden, Buddy (D)

Daub, Hal (R)

Davis, Artur (R)

Davis, Geoff (R)

Davis, Jim (D)

Davis, Tom M (R)

Delahunt, Bill (D)

Delay, Tom (R)

Dellums, Ronald V (D)

Derrick, Butler C Jr (D)

Dickey, Jay (R)

Dickinson, William Louis (R)

Dicks, Norm (D)

Dooley, Cal (D)

Doolittle, John T (R)

Downey, Thomas J (D)

Dreier, David (R)

Du Pont, Pete (R)

Eckart, Dennis E (D)

Edwards, Jack (R)

Ehrlich, Robert (R)

Emanuel, Rahm (D)

Emerson, Jo Ann (R)

English, Glenn Lee Jr (D)

English, Phil (R)

Erdahl, Arlen (R)

Erdreich, Ben (D)

Evans, Billy Lee (D)

Evans, Thomas Jr (R)

Ewing, Thomas W (R)

Fawell, Harris W (R)

Fazio, Vic (D)

Ferraro, Geraldine A (D)

Fields, Jack M Jr (R)

Flanagan, Michael Patrick (R)

Flippo, Ronnie G (D)

Florio, James J (D)

Forbes, Michael P (D)

Ford, Harold E Jr (D)

Ford, Harold E Sr (D)

Fossella, Vito (R)

Frost, Martin (D)

Funderburk, David (R)

Garcia, Robert (D)

Garn, Jake (R)

Gephardt, Richard A (D)

Gibbons, Sam (D)

Giffords, Gabrielle (D)

Gilman, Benjamin A (R)

Gingrich, Newt (R)

Glickman, Daniel Robert (D)

Gonzalez, Charlie A (D)

Goodling, Bill (R)

Gordon, Bart (D)

Grandy, Fred (R)

Grant, James William (R)

Gray, William H III (D)

Green, Mark (R)

Greenwood, James C (R)

Gunderson, Steve (R)

Hance, Kent (D)

Hanrahan, Robert (R)

Hansen, James V (R)

Harman, Jane (D)

Harris, Herbert (D)

Hart, Melissa (R)

Hastert, Dennis (R)

Hayes, Jimmy (R)

Herseth Sandlin, Stephanie (D)

Hertel, Dennis M (D)

Hill, Baron (D)

Hilleary, Van (R)

Hoagland, Peter (D)

Hobson, Dave (R)

Hochbrueckner, George J (D)

Hochul, Kathleen (D)

Hodes, Paul W (D)

Hoekstra, Peter (R)

Holtzman, Elizabeth (D)

Hopkins, Larry J (R)

Huddleston, Walter D (D)

Hulshof, Kenny (R)

Hutchinson, Asa (R)

Ireland, Andy (R)

Jackson, Jesse Jr (D)

Jenkins, Edgar L (D)

John, Chris (D)

Johnson, Don (D)

Johnson, Nancy L (R)

Jones, James R (D)

Karnes, David (R)

Kennedy, Mark (R)

Kennelly, Barbara B (D)

Kildee, Dale (D)

Klein, Herbert C (D)

Klein, Ron (D)

Klink, Ron (D)

Klug, Scott L (R)

Kogovsek, Ray (D)

Kopetski, Mike (D)

Kostmayer, Peter H (D)

Kucinich, Dennis (D)

Kuykendall, Steven T (R)

Kyros, Peter N (D)

LaFalce, John J (D)

Lahood, Ray (R)

Largent, Steve (R)

LaRocco, Larry (D)

LaTourette, Steve (R)

Latta, Delbert L (R)

Laughlin, Greg (R)

Laxalt, Paul (R)

Lazio, Rick A (R)

Lee, Christopher J (R)

Lehman, Richard H (D)

Lent, Norman F Jr (R)

Levine, Mel (D)

Levitas, Elliott H (D)

Lightfoot, Jim (R)

Lipinski, Bill (D)

Livingston, Robert L (R)

Lloyd, Marilyn L (D)

Loeffler, Tom (R)

Lowery, William D (R)

Lujan, Manuel Jr (R)

Lungren, Dan (R)

Luther, Bill (D)

Mack, Connie IV (R)

Mahoney, Tim (D)

Manzullo, Don (R)

Martin, David O'Brien (R)

Martin, James G (R)

Mathis, Dawson (D)

Mattingly, Mack (R)

McCloskey, Pete (R)

McCollum, Bill (R)

McCrery, Jim (R)

McCurdy, Dave (D)

McDade, Joseph M (R)

McDonald, Jack H (R)

McEwen, Bob (R)

McGrath, Raymond J (R)

McHale, Paul (D)

McInnis, Scott (R)

McIntosh, David M (R)

McKernan, John R Jr (R)

McMahon, Michael E (D)

McMillan, J Alex (R)

Meek, Carrie (D)

Melancon, Charles (D)

Melcher, John (D)

Mfume, Kweisi (D)

Mica, Daniel A (D)

Michel, Robert H (R)

Miller, Brad (D)

Mineta, Norman Y (D)

Minnick, Walt (D)

Moffett, Toby (D)

Molinari, Guy V (R)

Molinari, Susan (R)

Mollohan, Alan (D)

Moore, W Henson (R)

Morrison, Bruce A (D)

Mrazek, Robert J (D)

Murphy, Patrick J (D)

Myers, John T (R)

Myrick, Sue (R)

Napier, John (R)

Nethercutt, George R Jr (R)

Northup, Anne M (R)

Nussle, Jim (R)

Obey, David R (D)

Orton, Bill (D)

Oxley, Michael G (R)

Packard, Ron (R)

Panetta, Leon Edward (D)

Parker, Mike (R)

Parris, Stan (R)

Patterson, Jerry M (D)

Paxon, Bill (R)

Payne, LF Jr (D)

Pease, Ed (R)

Perriello, Tom (D)

Pickering, Charles (Chip) Jr (R)

Pollock, Howard (R)

Pombo, Richard (R)

Pomeroy, Earl (D)

Porter, John Edward (R)

Porter, Jon (R)

Poshard, Glenn (D)

Pryce, Deborah (R)

Quayle, Ben (R)

Quinn, Jack (R)

Ratchford, William R (D)

Regula, Ralph (3)

Rehberg, Denny (R)

Reynolds, Tom (R)

Rhodes, John Jacob III (R)

Richardson, Bill (D)

Richardson, Laura (D)

Riggs, Frank D (R)

Ritter, Don (R)

Roemer, Tim (D)

Rogan, James E (R)

Rooney, Fred B (D)

Rose, Charlie (D)

Ross, Mike (D)

Roth, Toby (R)

Rothman, Steven R (D)

Russo, Martin A (D)

Sandlin, Max (D)

Santini, Jim (D)

Sarpalius, William Clarence (D)

Saxton, Jim (R)

Schroeder, Patricia (D)

Schulze, Dick (R)

Shadegg, John (R)

Sharp, Philip R (D)

Shows, Ronnie (D)

Shuler, Heath (D)

Shuster, Bud (R)

Sikorski, Gerry (D)

Skaggs, David E (D)

Skelton, Ike (D)

Slattery, Jim (D)

Smith, Larry J (D)

Snowbarger, Vince (R)

Space, Zack (D)

Stanton, James V (D)

Staton, David Michael (R)

Stearns, Cliff (R)

Stenholm, Charles W (D)

Stokes, Louis (D)

Stupak, Bart (D)

Sundquist, Donald Kenneth (R)

Sutton, Betty Sue (D)

Sweeney, John E (R)

Swett, Dick (D)

Swift, Al (D)

Symington, James W (D)

Tallon, Robin (D)

Tanner, John (D)

Tate, Randy (R)

Tauke, Tom (R)

Tauzin, Billy (R)

Thomas, Bill (R)

Thurman, Karen L (D)

Turner, Jim (D)

Tydings, Joseph Davies (D)

Vander Jagt, Guy A (R)

Walgren, Doug (D)

Walker, Robert S (R)

Walsh, James T (R)

Walsh, Joe (R)

Watkins, Wes (R)

Watts, J C Jr (R)

Weber, Vin (R)

Weiner, Anthony D (D)

Weldon, Curt (R)

Weller, Jerry (R)

West, Allen (R)

Wheat, Alan (D)

Whittaker, Bob (R)

Wilson, Charles (D)

Wortley, George C (R)

Wynn, Albert R (D)

Zeliff, Bill (R)

Zimmer, Dick (R)

Zion, Roger H (R)

Post Script:  If you go to OpenSecrets.org you can see who these people work for as well as additional info.

"Okie Pride"

                                                                     

There will always be people who aren't happy until they have assigned you to a "category"....putting you in a little box that best fits THEIR perception of reality.

"Follow The Money"

                                                         

The following is from a scientific journal that questions the validity of human activity's impact on climate change.  What is really scary (and should scare everyone, regardless of your opinion on climate change) is how our monstrous big government is now persecuting those who refuse to fall in line with the government's thinking.  This is scary and you should be concerned.  This is why I can't stand government interference into literally every facet of our lives...and why I'll never trust them.   Footnote:  I read that many, many scientific organizations promote the concept of human caused climate change because literally hundreds of billions of dollars are being funneled to them.  Money talks, folks!  It also corrupts!  There are as many scientists who don't believe as those that do.  As you can see the "non-believers" are being persecuted and threatened!

A little over four hundred years after the Salem witch trials, witch-hunts are still used as a tactic of social persecution and a vehicle to censure those who do not conform to a special interest agenda.   From Salem to McCarthy to today's attacks on so called "climate skeptics," witch-hunts tear the fabric of a free society.   

In the past week, Greenpeace initiated an attack on Dr. Willie Soon, a scientist at Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, because of his research on climate change and now several members of Congress have sent letters to 100 organizations that either raise questions and doubts that human activities using fossil energy are causing catastrophic climate change and/or might have provided funds to scientists who are labeled "skeptics."  Letters also have been sent to at least seven universities where some "skeptic" scientists are affiliated.  These letters request a lot of funding information.  

The misguided assumption, behind what appears to be a politically orchestrated attack on the credibility of those who question the climate orthodoxy, is that their findings and science-based beliefs are insincere and for sale to the highest bidder.  The problem with this assumption is that it implies that scientists and researchers who rely primarily on public funding for their climate work are not motivated to tailor their research to the beliefs and policy views of their funding sources.     

In 1994, Nightline anchor, Ted Koppel ended a program dealing with climate skepticism this way, "... issues have to be debated and settled on scientific grounds, not politics.  There is nothing new about major institutions seeking to influence science to their own ends.  The church did it, ruling families have done it, the communists did it, and so have others, in the name of anti communism.  But it has always been a corrupting influence, and it always will be.

The measure of good science is neither the politics of the scientist nor the people with whom the scientist associates.  It is the immersion of hypotheses into the acid of truth.  That's the hard way to do it, but it's the only way that works." 

"Big Brother Just Got Bigger"

                                                           

We got some terrible news last week; the "Big C"...no, not cancer, more government "Control."  Last week the FCC voted in a 317 page plan to take control over the internet.  And, like the Obamacare legislation, no one has been allowed to read it.  That should tell you something right there.

Keep in mind that this was the same FCC proposal that the current FCC opposed just last year.  However, after watching how quickly Obama replaces DOD Chiefs who don't agree with him, the chairman of the FCC fell in line and swallowed Obama's massive proposal to take over the internet whole.

For those who don't remember, it was not Al Gore who invented the internet, his second major lie, after Global Warming.  The internet, an method for computers to talk to each other, was invented by some smart folks back in the fifties, offered it to AT&T, and Ma Bell turned it down, saying "why would we want that when we have the telephone?"  So the internet remained a play thing of a few university professors who swapped scientific research notes and scholarly works.  Then, the military adapted the internet to enhance communications between the various military headquarters and their far flung bases around the world.  (When I worked at Headquarters, Pacific Air Forces, I would trudge down to the basement in the lower bowels of the building and receive unit combat readiness reports from our bases in the Pacific.)

Then, in the late eighties, early nineties, the wild and wooly internet began.  It spawned AOL and Google and Yahoo and dozens of others interested in capitalizing on this new form of communications media.  It's supreme success came from the fact that it was unregulated.  So the internet spawned social media, digital newspapers, chat rooms and any other crazy idea that innovation could muster.

And now Obama, like he does with everything he touches, is set to kill the internet dead.  There are two primary reasons for why Barry wants government control over the internet.  The biggest one is so he can tax it.  Please take a moment, stop reading this, and go look at your cell phone bill.  Go down to the bottom of charges and look at that $7 to $12 dollars in government fees and excise taxes.  If you've been paying attention those fees and taxes have been going up year after year.  They fund some two thousand government employees, enable Barry to pass out free cell phones for his voting block, and let you know nothing is ever free.  Get ready for more of that as Obama has already said he wants to provide free internet for the masses.  And, yes, you're gonna get the bill.

The other reason Obama wants control over the internet is so that he can regulate what is written and said on it.  He hates those right wing radical blogs that tend to point out his failures.  Don't believe me?  Well, perhaps you missed the legislation that the Dems passed in 2009 which lifts legal protections for blog writers on the internet.  They say 1st amendment protections should not be granted to just any tom, dick and harry who chooses to write a blog....wants to open up the slander laws to curb blogger enthusiasm.  Expect more of that now that the internet is in the clutches of big daddy government.

So, folks...sorry but little guys like me will soon disappear.  We'll either be licensed to death, or censored out of existence.  In our place will be the wise sages at the Washington Post and the New York Times and The Huffington Post, all willing mouthpieces for the Obama regime.  And get ready to open your wallet a bit wider....them folks up in Detroit and Harlem gots to have their free internet, right?

Sad.  Damned Sad.