endless summer of discontent

i was sitting in the shade out front yesterday, trying to read as the kids rode their bikes. i was continuing to feel under the weather because of one of my quarterly sinus infections, which was keeping us from the pool, the children's first choice in diversion.

we had just come outdoors after the markets closed, down 513 points, eliminating the rest of the gains for the year. my income is not tied to the roller coaster the market has become, since the democrats took over congress and obama smooth talked his way into the oval office, but a good portion of my retirement is. i could retire next year, (then go get another job), or stay10 more to reach "full retirement". i know in my heart 10 means 12 or 13, based on the age of the youngest.

i wonder how much luck i have left at work, which has been described as 95% boredom-5% sheer terror. as the economy erodes, we see more and more action. those who are out of work would call it job security.

my buddy called the day before and said he would not be able to attend an event that he normally does for the second year running. not because of lack of time or a too busy work schedule, but because of his hours being cut and the rise of energy prices.

think about what has happened to AMERICA in just 2 1/2 short years. we were ready to revolt (at the ballot box), over speculators pushing gas prices to $4 a gallon, and yet now sit idly by paying $3.50. look at twitter and facebook. people in kansas are reporting nearly quadruple jumps in their utility cost between june and july. 1 woman's bill went from $128 to $560.
this comes on the heels of a july 7 rule change by the EPA which amounts to the government fining utility providers beginning january1, 2012 if they can not meet newer stricter standards
for pollution reduction. those cost will of course be borne by the consumers.

speaking of the rise in prices, have you gone to the grocery store recently? nearly every item we buy is a dollar or more higher than it was 8 months ago. while on vacation, i spoke to a canadian couple at the grocery store. they were putting milk and chicken into coolers in the trunk of their car. looking about i noticed several cars with canadian tags on them. i asked why they were buying these items to take home. they informed me that they buy their milk by the liter in canada, still. the cost is over $8 canadian, which for a gallon, you would pay $8.16 AMERICAN. what is your current cost-$3.25-$3.75? what will it be as we continue down our current track? they also had 4 or 5 packages of chicken, looked to be wings mostly, which are cheap. they told me the entire cost of the yard bird was under $20 our money but would be over $40 across the river. they told me they do most of their shopping on our side of the bridge.
makes you wonder how many other canadians are doing this, and what border states economies would look like if the flow of money stopped, from the true north.

did anyone else notice mr. obama whining about the taxes that were not coming into the sweaty hands of the government this week from the airline companies? these taxes were enacted to help subsidize air service to smaller airports, all of which came out of the carter(obama1) administration. it is figured the government lost $200 million dollars, in the first week of the tax not being collected, which is the cost of the entire subsidy program. what does the government do with the rest of the money? only GOD knows.

did you also pay attention to how he bemoaned the furloughing of 4,000 airport workers due to this? did anyone hear him squawk about the 10,000 good paying NASA jobs he just shit canned?

speaking of jobs going away how about HSBC selling 195 branches under a restructuring move to first niagara, which, due to federal regulations and overlap, intends to close about 100 of those branches. this is fall out from the subprime lending scandal orchastrtaed by chris dodd and barney frank. on top of that, fannie mae is now asking the government to take from me and you an additional $2.8 to $5.1 billion dollars to cover their losses. where the fuck we supposed to get that mr. president????

so as not to panic investors anymore than they already have, i'm sure the administration asked standard and poor's to hold off on announcing the down grade of U.S. debt, FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, until after 5p.m. pacific time.

and then we get to deal with the "greater civility" democrats calling us hostage takers and terrorists. self fulfilling prophecy mr. biden, kerry , pelosi, et.al., just like your 90% guns in mexico come from the states? also, what happened to the fairness doctrine mr. kerry?

you certainly are a historic president, mr. obama. an ATF lying and giving guns to criminals, home foreclosures at record highs, spending like there is literally no tomorrow, 9.2% unemployment, and an all out attack on the middle class, by devaluing the dollar and confiscation through government regulation.



enjoy it asshole, you're only 50 once.

bend over and grab 'em

most of the country is currently locked in the grips of a heat wave. thankfully we are an advanced nation and most have access to air conditioners, even if many are window units. still, according to AL-REUTERS, 22 deaths have already occurred nationwide this summer due to high temperatures. 25 persons were treated for heat related illness in wichita, while 16 have been seen in des monies.

and on the heels of this comes some really good news from the EPA as reported by dion lefler for the WICHITA EAGLE;


Westar Energy’s top air-quality official says it will be impossible for the state’s dominant electric company to comply with new federal pollution regulations taking effect at the beginning of next year.

“As far as we’re concerned, there’s no way we can comply with this rule on Jan. 1,” said Bill Eastman, director of air programs for Westar. “It’s too soon and it’s too quick. . . It literally appears right now impossible.”

Eastman and other Westar officials reached that conclusion after analyzing the impact of the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule announced July 7 by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Complying with emission rules is already going to cost Westar customers $1.5æbillion. The rule changes could add to that if Westar has to buy pollution credits or pay fines.

The new rules, more than 1,300 pages in length, cover power plants in 27 states in the eastern half of the country.

They are designed to reduce pollution that drifts across state borders and makes it difficult to impossible for downwind cities to meet air quality standards.

Westar will have to reduce emissions of two smog- and soot-producing pollutants by more than 10,000 tons a year.

The company already has a sweeping plan for emission reduction.

“We believe that in 2015, we can meet the requirements,” Eastman said.

From 2012 until the plants are in compliance, Westar could have to purchase pollution “credits” from other power plants or pay millions of dollars in fines to the EPA.

The exact effect on customers’ bills is not yet known, but it is expected to be substantial.

Ordinarily, the company can’t pass fines through to customers, said David Springe, chief consumer counsel for the Citizens’ Utility Ratepayer Board.

But state regulators might allow that if Westar could prove it was impossible to avoid the penalty, he said.

EPA: Health at risk

The regulations cover two major pollutants, sulfur dioxide, which is abbreviated SO2, and nitrogen oxide, or NOX.

SO2 and NOX both contribute to formation of particulate soot in the atmosphere, while NOX also contributes to ozone smog.

The EPA estimates that the new rules will prevent as many as 34,000 premature deaths, along with substantially reducing heart attacks, acute bronchitis, aggravated asthma and other breathing problems.

Agency officials who could explain why utilities are given only six months to comply with the new rules — which can involve hundreds of millions of dollars in power plant refitting — were not available for comment Tuesday.

David Bryan, a spokesman for the EPA’s Region 7 office in Kansas City, Kan., said the agency’s position is “that all the sources (of pollution) will be able to meet deadlines.”

“The final rule does give each source the flexibility to choose how they will comply,” he said. “They can run existing (emission) controls or those expected to come on line in the future. They can make changes in the way electricity is distributed across their facility. They can buy allowances, among other things.”

Reductions mandatory

Under the new rules, Kansas power plants are given a pollution allowance of 40,697 tons of SO2. In 2010, they produced 45,251 tons.

The state produced 48,938 tons of NOX last year.

The new rules will require a reduction to 30,100 tons of NOX next year and to 25,049 tons by 2014, said Tom Gross, chief of monitoring and planning for the Bureau of Air at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

The EPA considers Kansas a “contributor state” for pollution, and its modeling maps show emissions from here contributing to air quality problems as far away as Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Kansas isn’t listed as a “receptor state” for pollution, although air-quality monitoring clearly shows that the state does receive pollution from Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana.

Gross said Kansas doesn’t qualify as a receptor because it had no areas out of compliance with federal air quality standards when the rules were initially drafted.

He said he expects that to change in the future as the rules are updated to reflect more recent — and tougher — clean-air standards.

Clean air, big money

Kansas utilities have already reduced emissions substantially.

In the past five years, they’ve cut SO2 emissions by more than 91,000 tons a year and NOX by nearly 40,000 tons, according to federal records.

The biggest reduction came from pollution control measures at Westar’s biggest coal-fired power plant, the Jeffrey Energy Center near St. Mary’s.

That plant reduced emissions from 69,000 tons of SO2 in 2005 to 1,200 tons in 2010; and NOX emissions from about 32,000 tons to 18,000.

The current estimated cost for reducing emissions at the company’s three coal plants is:

„ $650æmillion for Westar’s share of the LaCygne Energy Center, which the company shares with Kansas City Power and Light.

„ $450æmillion for the Jeffrey Energy Center.

„ $380æmillion for the Lawrence Energy Center.

According to company records, Westar now produces 19,045 tons of SO2 and 30,802 tons of NOX a year.

Its new limit will be 18,932 tons of SO2 and 20,549 tons of NOX by 2012.

By 2014, the company will have to further reduce its NOX emissions to 17,105 tons a year.

“We’re very concerned about the rule, and extremely concerned about the timeline,” Eastman said.

Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/07/20/1940253/westar-no-way-can-we-meet-pollution.html#ixzz1Si68xNG5


isn't that fucking great!! at a time when gas prices, health care and staples, bread and milk, not little pieces of bent metal, continue to climb, the dollar continues to fall or remain flat, and unemployment continues to hover around 9.5 percent, the government is going to fine the companies that allow you to stay inside out of the heat, and out of big brothers grasp.

heat kills old people according to the news. maybe SARAH PALIN was right about death panels. the EPA is going to force elders and others to turn the thermostat up even further, cooking them in the ovens their homes will become.




be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.

my thoughts on the bin laden death photo

“We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.”
George Orwell

that says it all. we paid for it and the SEALS delivered. stop worrying about radical muslims feelings and show the damn thing.




PROST!

obama's rent -a-mob

last night as the wife and i put the kids to bed and waited for our show to come on hbo at 10:00, i was flipping through the channels and turned on fox. geraldo was talking about some big national security announcement. he and his guests were throwing around possibilities....gadhafi, all manner of things.

the wife correctly guessed that bin laden was dead BEFORE geraldo did (she is such a genius. that is one of the many reasons i love her). obama was supposed to speak between 9:30 and 9:45 our time. that turned into 10:00 and us watching game of thrones instead. i periodically checked back to see if he had shown up on the tube yet, and he didn't show until around 10:15.

i wondered what could take him such a long time to address the nation. what was the hold-up? after the press conference was over, all became clear. he had to wait for his rent-a-mob to show up in front of the white house, complete with obama/biden campaign signs. i'm sure the call went out over twitter and facebook to all the hippie dippies that follow him on the social network sites. that is why we saw all the people that would normally be at a war protest rally. it was mostly young, white college students with their GW t-shirts on.

am i sad that bin laden is dead? no. am i smart enough to know this isn't anywhere near the end of our fight against radical islam? yes. what bothers me about the whole thing is that the guy who is turning our country into a third world economy is now also turning us into a third world society. he won't speak unless the hordes are there to praise him.

and you thought you had problems.

from the detroit free press staff writer tammy stables battaglia.

april 25, 2011

A patient who apparently ingested rodent poison and is emitting potentially harmful gasses has created a hazardous material situation at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor.

The man is isolated in his room in the medical intensive care unit on the hospital’s sixth floor, 5301 McAuley at East Huron River Drive, hospital spokeswoman Lauren Jones said this afternoon.

“The hospital is open and the situation is isolated,” she said, adding that she was unable to discuss the man’s condition or other specifics due to patient privacy laws. Traffic in that area is restricted to staff involved in direct patient care and Washtenaw County Hazardous Material Team workers, according to the hospital.

Joyce Williams, public affairs manager for Huron Valley Ambulance, said rescuers transported the man to the hospital either late Saturday night or early Sunday. But the hazmat team was called between 10:30 and 11 a.m. today when the man’s body began creating suspicious emissions, she said.

“They were doing air purity testing,” she said, adding that no further information was available.

The hospital issued a statement at about 2:30 p.m. today, dispelling rumors that the gas was potentially flammable.

“Hazmat teams … here are monitoring the levels of gas in the room; the levels are not at explosive or flammable levels,” Jones sent out in an e-mail. “The air has been tested and confirmed for low levels. Hazmat teams are continuing to monitor the levels to ensure maintaining a safe environment; the level of gas in the room is only expected to improve.”

question. why don't we have a hazmat team following obama everywhere and isolating him, as every time he opens his mouth, he spouts bullshit and flammable rhetoric.

are you ready part 4

so previously we talked about food, water, shelter and heat. the ready.gov site talks about special items, like medicine and legal documents, but totally omits something to help you keep all your shit all yours......a gun.

there was a story out of japan and the recent catastrophe there, of a guy who walked into a store and was going to buy the last 10 bottles of water on the shelf. realizing if he did that there would be no more for anyone else, he put 8 back. that shit would not happen in LA, NYC, DETROIT or a whole lot of other places here. look at NEW ORLEANS and katrina and the looting associated with that.



that is a lot of heineken or becks, we even have one in the back pocket. should have stolen some chest waders to keep the feet dry while out liberating the high end brews, or at least some foot powder to keep the dogs from chaffing.




looks like these guys went to the car dealer first, beer store second. got a new lincoln, but had to settle for the miller lite as the first guy got all the heinies.



can't blame them here. the power is out so it's hard to wash clothes. we'll just steal clean stuff.


right idea, wrong execution. if i put up any sign it would read something like NOTHING HERE IS WORTH YOUR LIFE. that way if order is restored, and someone dies of lead poisoning while trying to relocate my shit, the prosecutor will have a harder time saying what i did was premeditated.

of course i could have it all wrong about our big cities. looks like water and food will be safe, beer and threads are up for grabs.

i still think you will need a means of holding onto your shit, which means a threat of force, and the WILLINGNESS TO CARRY IT OUT. ball bats and golf clubs are contact weapons, and decisively lose to guns on a regular basis.

what kind of gun should i get? if i had a dollar for every time someone asked me that i could retire. the answer is what do you want to do with it, and how much experience do you have with firearms? just home protection, probably a shotgun. personal protection, probably a handgun. i think for our little scenario here a revolver in .357 as well as a lever action carbine in the same caliber would be ideal. that's if you have no guns currently. a .22 semi auto rifle and a 9mm will serve you fine if that is what you presently have.

some will say why a revolver and lever action carbine? because they are simple to use and maintain and use the same ammunition. additionally, you can use .38 special ammo in both. the carbine will take down deer at less than 100 yards, which means fresh meat in a true survival situation.

assuming you have to take to the hills, you will need a good pack, good boots, a knife or 2 (they don't have to be huge), some canteens, tent or other shelter items, blankets or poncho liners, light and batts, food and ammo, a way to make fire, plus a compass and map, and a hatchet and camp saw. a length of good rope (not clothes line) will come in handy, also.

sounds like a lot, but you can carry it all given the right pack and motivation. get a holster for the handgun and sling for the carbine. use wool socks and blankets as they continue to insulate even when wet. look for items that can perform more than 1 function like a hatchet (split-cut wood/drive nails). a leatherman tool is a great bit of kit and can go in a pocket or on the belt.

there are lots of great sights to browse for gear ideas and reviews, and you can always go camping to try out your new acquisitions. sound paranoid? well consider this. the mormon church is again gearing up their disaster preparedness plans. if you could ask the folks in japan if they wished they had put away some stuff to get them through, i bet all would say yes.

have you made plans yourself? feel free to share your ideas here.

afghanis idea of a fireside chat

i watched with some amusement this week as these practitioners of the religion of pieces held fireside chats to discuss their feelings over a quran burning in florida this past march 20th.




that is supposed to be the vacationer in chief they are burning in effigy. looks more like papa smurf to me, but what the fuck, i wasn't that great at art either.

yeah, terry jones went ahead and burned a quran. if you remember back in september, he was going to do the same thing and got talked out of it by the prez, the countess of cankles-hillary, some religious leaders, and sec def bobby gates. seems at that time the gainesville city attorney was soooo upset that he started implementation of a process which would have made it illegal to burn the quran outside. so jones burned it indoors on the 20th, and sent the very reasonable and intellectual denizens of jalalabad, kandahar and mazar-i-sharif into a frenzy of peace and love, resulting in the death of 2 afghan cops and 7 U.N. workers.

the taliban has issued a statement saying, "that the U.S. and other Western countries had wrongly excused the burning of the Quran as freedom of speech and that Afghans cannot accept this un-Islamic act." now who fucking knew the taliban had a PR department?

if you ever wondered why folks act like they are tiptoeing around a mine field when dealing with these highly religious and totally peaceful clowns, it's due to shit like this. here in the states, you can; A) burn the flag, B) spit on veterans, C) call them baby killers (think murtha, kerry kennedy), D) get money from the national endowment for the arts to paint pictures of jesus in shit or throw a crucifix in piss, E) make movies about killing presidents you disagree with, and that's all okay.

so terry jones' probably well intentioned but poorly executed message is getting vilified in the lame stream media. how come no one ever criticizes the actions of the islamic faithful? why do we in the west excuse the "honor killings" that happen when a muslims sister or wife gets raped? why do we ignore the sexual mutilation of muslim girls? turn a blind eye to be-headings of westerners captured by al qaeda and their associates?

because they, the media, are pussies. and by extension so are we, because we allow them to form our opinions for us. it's time to stop and think for ourselves and stop letting our leaders, and their paid mouth pieces, cater to bullies. face it, jones is right. islam, as practiced by these assholes, is evil.