Only burn your tires at night

We've really turned into a police state, if all we are worried about is burning a tire.

I thought I'd never say this, but I agree with a Public Defender.

Athens New Story here

Sheriff Pat Kelly hired a felon as an "Environmental Officer".

The need for an "environmental officer" is dubious anyway. That's what the OEPA and Mike Cooper at the Athens County Health Department's job is already.

So, 2 issues:

1. Our top law enforcement officer should not be hiring felons, no matter if it's a law enforcement job or not. There are many law abiding folks that don't have felonies that could use a job.
2. It certainly looks like this fellow was impersonating an officer. When will he be charged with that crime? He's wearing a shirt that says "Deputy Jay Barrett". He signs official paperwork "Deputy Jay Barrett". Yet he is not a police officer. Looks like an open and shut case. That is, if someone chooses to enforce the law.
3. Don't we have more important things to worry about than a private citizen burning a tire on his own private property?

Looks like a position that is funded via some grant. We really get ourselves into dumb positions by agreeing to take grant money.

Our Sheriff needs to worry about real crimes in this county, like theft and robbery, rather than someone using a tire to burn brush with.

Increase instruction days for Ohio's schools without lengthening the school year

Increase instruction days for Ohio's schools without lengthening the school year

Here's how:

1. Cancel spring break.
2. Cancel training time for teachers during the school week which usually reduces instruction time by 2 hours on those days.. They could do their training:

• during the summer.
• before the school day begins.
• after the school day is over.
• on a Saturday.

3. Only take 3 Holidays during the school year. This means days, no 4 day weekends.

• December 25th, IF it is during the week. Don't take Thursday and Friday off if the 25th is on Saturday or Sunday. This also means that you go back to work / school after the 25th. No more week breaks between the 25th and the 1st of January. Yes, go to school on the 1st of January.
  
• Thanksgiving is on a Thursday. Take Thursday off and get back to work on Friday.
• Good Friday, take it off, but as stated above, no "spring break". They'll soon have a summer vacation.

This would add 2.5 - 3 weeks of instruction time without lengthening the school year. One of Strickland's objectives was to go to 200 days of instruction. He could have proposed the above plan, but I suspect that his union thug supporters would not like it.

The joke of a federal worker pay freeze

As this writer points out, our incompetent mistake in chief is proposing a 2 year pay "freeze" for federal employees.

However, it's conveniently after 5 years of massive pay increases!

Link here

Comrade Wilson a sore loser?

The Vindicator seems to think so.

Link here.

My biggest beef with Comrade Wilson was his spending / voting habits. He voted to spend money when he knew we did not have it....causing us to borrow (issue T-bills) against our children's income.

Normal citizens go to jail when they write bad checks, but not Congressmen.

3 points for future posts:

1. Kill the Federal Reserve!!!
2. We need to attach our money to some sort of standard (gold, silver, basket of commodities, etc). This way, the politicians, can't print their way out of debt......causing inflation. Decreasing the value of your money (inflation) while paying off debts with the same currency is stealing.
   
3. We need a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. (this one has to be last, because it would be irrelevant if the Fed can just print more money.)

Comrade Congressman Charlie Wilson's legacy

NRA dumb endorsements

Like I've said in the past, the NRA loses credibility when it does not look at the big picture with it's endorsements.

Just got a post card and my "American Rifleman" magazine from the NRA.

The Rob Portman and Ted Strickland endorsements make sense. However, the Charlie Wilson endorsement does not.

Portman is running against one of the biggest anti-gun democrat ever. Lee Fisher was actually on Handgun Control Inc's board.

Strickland is and has been pro-gun since his first stint in Congress. He has not changed his position. Kasich voted to ban semi-automatic guns. so, this endorsement also makes sense.

The Charlie Wilson endorsement is the one I have an issue with. Yes, Charlie has not voted to restrict our 2nd amendment rights. However, he does vote for and support other democrats that do. For instance, he votes to have Nancy Pelosi as the Speaker of the House. She is an anti-gun freak from San Fransisco. How is that helping the NRA's mission?

Bill Johnson (running against Wilson) is also pro-gun. There should be no endorsement in this race. The policy of supporting and campaigning for pro-gun incumbents, against other pro-gun candidates is a waste of time and is surely a waste of money. Since, in these cases, no matter who wins, the NRA gets a gun friendly congressman.

Gold, Silver and the debasement of our currency

Hate to say it

But I told you so!!!

Things from which revolutions are made

So, California voters overwhelmingly voted to not allow "gay marriages". (A perversion of the English language along being perversion in and of itself) The vote was to amend their Constitution, which was approved by the voters.

Now, an appointed un-elected, judge overthrows the will of the people. A "judge" has decided, on his own, to disregard the view of the majority of the voters of California. He also, more importantly to me, wadded up their Constitution and threw it in the trash. If one section can be overturned by an idiot in a robe the entire document means nothing.

Lack of knowing what the laws / rules are lead to anarchy.

Disregarding the expressed will of the people and overturning written law has led to revolutions in the past. If the government can't abide by the rules, maybe it's time for some Jeffersonian revolution again.

Just how dumb are we?

Why is it that Chevy, Dodge or Ford have to have a tough guy sell their tucks? They always have someone with a very deep voice talking about "guy" stuff. (whatever happened to the word "men" btw?, "guy" seems rather French to me).

Why can't they just say, this is how much this truck will pull or haul, this is the tire sizes available and here are the different engine options?

They have to show a picture of a crane dropping a load into the back of a truck fro 20 feet up. Like this is what we do in the real world.

Or we have Craftsman trying to sell us tools. Do they really think we are gullible enough to put up with some male model (who is prettier than most women) turning a bolt or nut the wrong way in a commercial and think that this will make us want to buy a tool from them?

Now we have soap commercials for men. Unbelievable. We now have our own special soap. I still can't get over men who wear cologne. Apparently some advertising campaign in the past got some men past the normal revulsion of wearing perfume like a woman.

My point is, these advertisements must work.........even if the do offend those that mostly use these products. Disregard the male perfume for this last sentence.

This brings me to my main point. Comrade Charlie Wilson.

The deficit spending, debt increasing 6th District mistake of a Congressman.

He just sent out an email to subscribers telling us that he is worried about our national debt. The debt that he voted into existence, no less.

I'm afraid we'll fall for this deception for two reasons.

1. We've proven that we will fall for anything, as described above
2. No one pays attention to the actions of politicians. We listen to their slick words. They are usually divergent.

Here's his words on the deficit that he has saddled us and our children with:




"Dear Friend,

I share the concerns that many Americans have about our country’s financial future. With escalating spending and a growing national debt, there is a legitimate concern about how we begin to correct our economic course. I take tackling our debt very seriously, and I know you do too. I want to hear what you think we should do to reign in our national deficit. Where do you think we need to save and where should we spend? I hope you'll take a moment to complete this three question survey."

Here's what you can do Charlie. Resign now. You created this debt and now you want to pretend to fix it to help your re-election chances.

Voter, here is what you can do to get rid of people like Comrade Charlie:

Attend Bill Johnson's fund raiser. He is running for the 6th district seat.

August 10th

625 Warren Chapel Rd.

Marietta, OH

7-9pm, $100

RSVP by Aug 5th to Erika Robaugh @ 724-322-2917

Or, if you can't attend, send a donation any way to:

The Bill Johnson For Congress Committee

3755 Hunters Hill

Poland, OH 44514

Just back from West Virginia

Took the girls and boy for a week long trip to West Virginia this week. Some thoughts from our 65 deg low humidity vacation.

1. West Virginia is truly almost heaven. The weather, the temperature, the scenery, etc.
2. Surprise (not really): Joe Manchin (the current democrat Governor) is going to run for the US Senate. He appointed an assistant to Sen Rockerfeller to Byrd's seat. Then Manchin announced 12 days later that he will run for this seat this fall. Still seems more unseemly to do this than for Manchin to just appoint himself to the seat and get it over with. I'd have a hard time not voting for Manchin, even if his is a democrat. He will definitely fight for coal. Byrd was caving on this issue. Actually, he was getting a little out there on many issues.
3. Cass railroad is just as cool now as it's always been. I'm still not sure how they keep the old steam engines from overpressuring and blowing up without relief valves.
4. Seems like every bridge, road and building is named after Robert C. Byrd. There are still a few still named after A James Manchin and Jennings Randolph. but they are getting fewer as the reality of the "what have you done for me lately" politics takes hold more firmly in our mob rule democracy. It's as if Byrd personally paid for all these projects out of his own pocket. Of course, if you named a bridge "Taxpayer's bridge" how does that help you get reelected?
5. Dolly Sods is the best place in the entire state. Don't, however, travel this with just passenger car tires. One should have puncture resistant tires (or at least 6 ply tires) as the gravel is sharp. We punctured a left front tire. And, of course, the spare had very low air pressure. So for the 5-7 mile trip down the mountain we drove no faster than 5mph. With the low tire on the front we where dragging in the middle when we went over large boulders. I was really concerned with puncturing the oil pan and losing the oil out of the engine and then was worried about how we were going to travel on a real road with very low air pressure in the left front and having no spare. The girls were loving it. Got to the bottom of the mountain and stopped at the first house. They were sitting on the front porch (you see a lot of that in WV) and told us to use their air compressor to add air to the spare. They then directed us to a service station 3 miles down the road. I told them that it was 6:30 in the evening and that it would be closed. They told me that the owner lives there and will open for me. They were right. The owner plugged the punctured tire and we were able to put it on the car. He tried to charge me $3 and argued when I told him to keep the change from the $5 bill I gave him. This is why I love WV.
6. Absurdity of the Federal Government: While we were at the service station, my son asked the owner's wife if the station had a restroom. She told him no. but when she over heard the little girls need to go "potty" she showed them where to go. The absurdity part of this story is: the federal government (thanks to George HW Bush) requires businesses, if they have a restroom to conform to the "Americans with Disabilities Act" by making all restrooms wheel chair accessible. However, if they don't have a public restroom, they don't have to comply with this law............because they don't have a public restroom. So, if you ask if you can use a restroom, you'll be told no....even though they have one.......but it's not a "public" restroom. This is something only our Federal Government or the East German Stasi could think up!
7. Why is it that a 1987 Buick Century with a 4 cylinder engine has plenty of power for the mountains of WV and still gets 31mpg on the highway...........yet we now have (in 2010) car manufacturers bragging about their new cars getting (get this) 31 mpg on the highway. If they could do this 23 years ago............is the American buying public so stupid they can fall for this non improvement in gas mileage.........and have the manufactures tell you it's a selling point?
8. All of West Virginia has about 1.8 million residents, about the same as the Columbus metro area. If you don't like to be around people, this is the place.......along with North Dakota.
9. Paula Dilley's Cottage was a great place to stay. Close to Cass and within reasonable driving distance of Spruce Knob, Canaan valley, Blackwater falls, Dolly Sods wilderness area and great trout fishing areas. Durbin (where her Cottage is located) is a nice little town in itself. Here's her website.
   

Having said all that, it's always good to get back to southeastern Ohio.....with it's Ohio river driven 98% humidity and 95 deg days.

Strickland officially completely out of touch with Ohio

I've always thought this guy was a little loony, but this proves it.

Dispatch story here.

He thinks it's wrong for people to keep their own money? He actually wants to make a campaign issue of this? How dumb are his advisors?

Ohio is the 47th highest taxes state in the nation. 1 being good. 50 being bad (unless your a democrat).

Mr. Strickland thinks your only a good Ohioan if you give him your money. So he, in turn, can give your money to more government leeches....

Didn't we fight (and win) a war over high taxes? (lower, BTW, than they are today).

Yet Strickland thinks it makes good political sense to bash those that don't want to pay taxes on death to the state and would rather give it to their children?

He thinks this is a winning issue? This guy is crazy!

Here's the winning quote: "Strickland said he found that comment revealing and disturbing, noting that Ohioans who grow up in the state and start successful businesses here benefit from the state's advantages."

So, because of this we have to pay up, just like the Mafioso? The state has many benefits in spite of the government, not because of it.

We need a governor that understands that people will move to locales that steal less of their money than Ohio does. Ohio has to compete with the Florida's and Texas' of this union or we'll keep losing good people to those states. This is not rocket science.

Mr. Strickland does not get it.

OFB's cave to the "humane society"

Isn't it a shame to see the Ohio Farm Bureau cave into the "Humane Society". Especially after winning last fall's ballot initiative to create an "Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board".

I thought that board was going to take care of all our upcoming issues? Especially since the board has the "humane society" on the board.

So, the OFB and others supported last fall's ballot initiative to create this board. The thought process was, that by creating this board, the issues would be handled by the board.

However, the initiative did not stop anyone from taking issues directly to the voters. So, what is the point of the board?

Then when the so called "humane society" threatens again to take livestock "care" issues to the voters, the OFB caves.

What is the old saying?..."with friends like these, who needs enemies?"

Makes one wonder if the Ohio Farmer's Bureau went ahead and put the "humane society" on their board. They are acting like it.

Mr. Strickland is trying to play both sides here. But just because he has his picture taken with OFB's vice president, in no way makes him a friend of farmers.

Manchin and mob rule democracy

Why is it that Governors are afraid to follow the intent of the founders when they have a chance. Gov. Manchin had every right to appoint a replacement for Robert Byrd. That appointment would have been good to 2012.

What's wrong with that? He could have appointed himself. He'd be a great Senator.

The States governments should have more representation in Washington. The 17th amendment (which allowed direct election of US Senators) was and is nothing but a step towards mob rule.

When people can vote for whoever promises more goodies....this is how we got into the position we are now.

This is what kept Robert Byrd in office so long.

The 17th amendment needs repealed. The State Governments should appoint US Senators. We would not be in the mess we are now if we had somebody looking out for state's rights.

On another note, Joe Manchin vs. Shelley Moore Capito....not sure how I'd vote if I lived in WV. Joe Manchin is not your typical limp wristed democrat.

Charlie Wilson votes to continue deficit spending without a budget

Going along with his apparent belief that he knows better than the voters: Comrade Charlie Wilson votes to keep up his rate of spending this country out of existence. This time by voting to keep up the massive spending without even voting on a budget.

Rather than making the tough choices (which he's incapable of) of cutting spending, he votes to "deem a bill passed". This lets him keep spending without a vote on the actual budget.

This guy needs to go.