Rush Limbaugh and Las Vegas's Left Rears It's Ugly Head

From the LVRJ: "Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh was taken to a hospital after suffering chest pains and was resting comfortably Wednesday, his radio program said in a statement.
"Rush was admitted to and is resting comfortably in a Honolulu hospital today after suffering chest pains," the statement said. "Rush appreciates your prayers and well wishes and will keep you updated via rushlimbaugh.com and on his radio program.""
http://www.lvrj.com/news/breaking_news/Rush-Limbaugh-taken-to-Hawaii-hospital-80388087.html?numComments=22
Some Liberal commentators show their ugly side: "Mike D wrote on December 30, 2009 09:08 PM: Yes, I hope the doctor fails and he dies! "
john biggs wrote on December 30, 2009 09:07 PM: Maybe he all the pain pills are catching up to him, no hope with dope.
HAAAA wrote on December 30, 2009 08:22 PM: probably chest pains from illegally acquired pain meds...No loss to the world when he clocks out permanently

You stay classy, liberals.
With Obama in Hawaii, you think Obama will pay him a visit? Somehow, I just don't think so. But may Obama's voodoo doll of Limbaugh probably worked.
Another question: With the 2 largest egos in the world in Hawaii, how can the Hawaiian islands stay afloat?

Update: Firefighter in LOD Identified

From the Fond Du Lac Reporter: "Steve Koeser, 33, of Kiel, died when a Dumpster exploded at Bremer Manufacturing, W2002 County Q. The company is located about one mile west of St. Anna. The scene is not far from Fond du Lac and Sheboygan counties.
Four other firefighters were injured, one seriously.
Koeser, who had 16 years of experience as a firefighter, was pronounced dead at the scene."
http://www.fdlreporter.com/article/20091230/FON0101/91230069/1289&located=WISINFO
It really makes you wonder what was in the dumpster that caused such an explosion.

A Funny Commentary From Maureen Dowd- Well, Kind Of

Maureen Dowd, the non-funny, non-intelligent, very unfunny communist/columnist from the New York Times has actually printed a article that was intelligent. Some comments:
To President Obama: Thank you for saving the Republican Party and for teaching all of us that too much of anything is a bad thing.
To Bill Clinton: You did too much work on Northern Ireland for the Nobel committee. Next time, do nothing.
To Harry and Nancy: “The Twilight Zone” once had an episode where the town got the exact opposite of what it wanted. Farewell, Harry!
To John McCain: Thank you for your chivalry in banning Palin attack dogs — including my sister — from the campaign plane.
To Sarah Palin: Keep up the good work. Anyone who annoys Keith Olbermann that much is a friend to all of us.
To Glenn Beck: Thanks for being the only journalist interested in stories that used to win Pulitzer Prizes.
To Al Franken: So, 250 years of Senate tradition trashed. Stuart Smalley would have done better.
To Desirée Rogers: Get back to the gate. Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson can’t get in.
To the Salahis: Thank you for showing us that shame has no bottom.
To Valerie Jarrett: So much for the Olympic Village in Chicago. Whoops.
To Chris Dodd: The only thing lower than your polls is your mortgage interest rate.
To Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mike Mullen: The military should be more interested in the men and women who serve than in celebrating diversity.
To the Democratic senators: Go last next time; the bribes are much bigger.
To Sheldon Whitehouse: You, senator, are an idiot.
To Dick Cheney: You, sir, are a patriot. Thanks for firing back.
To President Bush: Thank you for your dignity. Did you really start the plague in the 14th century? Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
To Hillary: Who knew how much you would be missed?
To Al Gore: A global warming conference in the middle of a Copenhagen blizzard is not a good visual.
To Max Baucus, Eliot Spitzer and John Edwards: Party on, dudes.
To John Ensign, Mark Sanford and David Vitter: Don’t party on, dudes.
Oh, by the way, the article was written by her conservative brother, Kevin. He makes more sense in one article than she does in the entire year.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/27/opinion/27dowd.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1262171287-5oFuVKaLSNUv3aZDboIGng

New Years Guide To New Years Eve/Day- Las Vegas Style

Here is the New Years guide from the Las Vegas Sun: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/dec/29/new-years-eve-celebration-guide/
From the LVRJ: http://www.reviewjournal.com/entertainment/events/newyearseve/
If you want to see the fireworks that are being shot off the roofs of the different resorts on the Strip but you want to avoid the humanity and drunkenness of the Strip, may I recommend the following areas:
From the North: Las Vegas Blvd, north of the Speedway Also, areas around 215 North- Maybe Pecos, Losee and Aliente Parkway
West: Summerlin, Oxford Park on Anasazi Dr, by Far Hills Dr.
East: Hollywood Blvd, around Bonanza
South: I am not familiar with the south side, so I am not sure.
Henderson: The Catholic Church by Boulder Highway and Lake Mead Dr., by the Subway.
At the M Resort, if you have a room facing the Strip and the 10 floor and beyond.
The fireworks will last about 7 minutes.
Enjoy the celebrations and do it safely.
Just remember, for those who indulge too much, there is a WalGreens, CVS and WhiteCross Drugs on the Strip if you need hangover medication.
Happy New Years!!

Well This Sucks

The school I teach at in the Clark County School District has been named one of the persistently lowest-achieving schools in Nevada. Seven schools were given this honor.
On the plus side, we may be eligible for some funding through a federal funding fund called the ARRA fund, whatever that is.
Not the honor I was hoping for.

Memo To The LVRJ- Don't Insult The Packers

Yesterday, in the print edition of the Las Vegas Review Journal, in the sports section, the LVRJ printed the score of the Minnesota Vikings- Chicago Bear game as this: the emblem of the Bears 36 The emblem of the GREEN BAY PACKERS 30.
The emblem should have been the Minnesota Viqueens.
However, the bottom line is still the same. Da Bears still suck. Don't insult the Packers by making the Packers into the Viqueens.
Stupid LVRJ.

Firefighter Dies In Wisconsin- Several Injured

A firefighter was killed in an explosion in Calumet County, WI., in the town of St. Anna. "An explosion at a foundry in southern Calumet County left one firefighter dead and nine others injured, one seriously, Tuesday night, according to Sheriff Gerald Pagel."...Pagel said one of his officers on patrol saw a fire on the Bremer grounds about 7:20 p.m. and called for the St. Anna Fire Department to respond.
No employees were at the foundry at the time of the fire. Bremer officials could not be reached for comment.
Megan Wilcox, a spokeswoman for Appleton-based ThedaCare, said one firefighter was in critical condition at Theda Clark Medical Center in Neenah after being flown there by ThedaStar helicopter.
She had no information about the victim’s identity or extent of injuries.
The other eight firefighters had nonlife-threatening injuries and were treated at Calumet Medical Center in Chilton. Two were in stable condition and six were treated and released, according to Lisa Cruz, a spokeswoman for Affinity Health System. Their identities were not released." http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20091229/APC0101/91229135/1979&located=WISINFO
Chances are strong that this was a volunteer fireman who died. A person who left home on a winter night to fight a fire at a local business and they will never return home to their family.
Please keep this firefighter who died, their family and the injured firefighters in your prayers.

I was going to do a post about the problems with the Las Vegas firefighters union and the overtime problem, but this kind of puts things in perspective.
Update: Apparently this fire was in a dumpster and something exploded.
http://www.firehouse.com/topics/line-of-duty-deaths/dumpster-explosion-claims-wis-ff-five-others-injured

Very Strange Sky In Las Vegas Today

Cathy and I were returning home this afternoon around 4:00 and we were by the Speedway on the far northeast side of Las Vegas.
We noticed the most unusual red sky to the west, by the mountains, so unusual, that we wanted to take pictures for the blog. The redness went north to south, the entire length of the valley.
We turned around to take the picture, about 15 seconds and the entire redness in the sky was gone. 15 seconds. Gone.
I have never seen anything like this before. Very strange and eerie.

Small Venue Equals Great Fun-Larry G. Jones Review

Up until yestrerday, and even though I have lived in Las Vegas over 3 1/2 years, I have never heard of the Royal Resort, which is located on Convention Center Dr., just north of the Encore. I also never heard of Larry G.Jones who is an impressionist. After tonight, there is no way I could ever forget the two, as Larry and Red Skelton impersonator, Brian Hoffman put on a great show. It proves, you don't have go to a big venue on the Strip to see a fun show.

When we first arrived, it was pretty cool to have Red Skelton selling tickets to the show. Red (Brian) was very personable and was starting to get into character when selling the tickets. Classy.

When the show started, Hoffman came on stage and impersonated Skelton. If you are a fan of Skelton, you know Hoffman nailed Skelton's mannerisms and on-stage persona. While many of the jokes were corny, that was the beauty of Red Skelton. Skelton was easy going on stage with the silly grin and laugh. It also showed you don't need to cuss to be funny. It was a very good opening for Jones.

After about 15 minutes of Red Skelton, Jones came on. There was no break- it flowed from Skelton to the 50's music.

Jones is a very energetic singer and entertainer. His show, about 1 hour and 15 minutes was continual energy. There were no breaks and Jones connected to the audience.

To see how a performer is doing with the audience, look around, as I did. The audience was of all ages, from kids to people in their 80's and everyone in between. A young lady sitting in front of us was a soldier in the Army stationed at West Point and she had the greatest time. The audience was concentrating on the performance, with a lot of smiles and interaction with the performer. The standing ovation at the end of show proved that Jones connected with the audience.

Back to the show, Jones performed many impersonations- male and female, from the 50's to the 90's. He also did some presidential impersonations which were cute. Can't wait to see him do Obama in the near future.

The Rat Pack imitation was top notch. I did wish he would have done Michael Jackson and Elvis, but he may do that in other shows.

While Jones didn't nail every voice perfectly, some were right on. I loved his Gordon Lightfoot and Neil Diamond. After the show, he posed for pictures, talked to the audience and signed free autographed pictures, which was classy.

So, if in Vegas, take the time to join about 75 other people and go to the show at the Royal Resort. The cost is about $45-50 dollars. Jones and Hoffman prove that you don't need show girls, a 10 piece band and loud music to put on a very good show.

Jones web site: http://www.larrygjones.com/

Brian Hoffman's web site: http://redskeltoncomedyshow.com/

A Visit To The Pawn Shop- It Ain't A Quiet Shop Anymore

My great wife Cathy and myself went to the A-Z Pawn Shop today to see how it looked compared to our last visit and we were just dumbfounded at what we saw.

When we got there, there were about 100 people inside and outside the small store. People were taking pictures and milling around. I thought they were filming a segment because so many people were there.

Well, we went in and it was very crowded. The very large security guard was moving people in and out. Apparently, the capacity in the shop is 60 people and they were very close or over that amount. Every other time we were there, there were no more than 10 people in the store at any given time.

Most of the people were just looking and not buying. The Old Man was there, acting as the banker- handing out and receiving money. No need for cash registers because the Old Man took care of it. Apparently he came out for a few minutes every few hours to sign autographs and have pictures taken of him. The other main characters- Corey, Rick and Chumlee were on vacation. I really don't think the Old Man likes all the publicity while others do.

The Old Man also had his office changed. In the show and the other times I have visited, he was in back of the cash registers. Now he is an office, off the sales floor and mostly hidden from view.

Even though there are 4 main characters in the show, the store has many employees, at least 10 were working today, including the Old Man.

We saw some things that have been featured on the shows. First was the barber chair that was on a few weeks ago. That has not been sold and to be honest, it looked ugly. It is smaller than most true barber chairs I have seen and it was white. No wonder no one has bought it.

I saw the perputual motion clock that was on the show yesterday. It really wasn't on display- just sitting in the corner on a shelf out of the way from everyone.

They also turned the southeast corner of the store into a sales area for souviners. Kind of takes away from the store, but hey, maybe they make some money from the looky loos who come into the store and gawk.

As for us, we saw some videos we wanted to buy. It was tough to find a sales person and when we finally found one, we got out movies and then he told me he would take it up front and left us.

It took me 10 minutes to find the CD's and check out.

When we were there, I saw 1 other person buy an item, a shot glass. I saw someone pawn some jewelery and another person get a $200 loan. It looked like she was a regular.

So, what was once a quite pawn shop, is now a very crowded shop in which the security guard and employees want to move people along, whether they buy something or not.

When you get famous, there are advantages- more traffic flow. But also it has it's disadvantages- poor customer service, crowded conditions and a store that makes you feel uncomfortable to shop in. I can easily see their regular local customers not coming to this store anymore as the tourists take over.

Oh, one more thing, don't park on the North side of the building. They have little parking signs saying that you have to be a city employee to park there or you will get a $20 parking ticket. We found out the hard way. The parking monitors constantly go in the parking area and ticket cars- like shooting fish in a barrel.

Boise Idaho: Hotbed Of Terrorism?

From the ABC Special report today regarding President Obama's take on the Christmas Day attempted bombing of Northwest flight 253 came this little tidbit:
According to the reporter, several air marshals, the ones who ride on the planes and are supposed to protect us against terrorist attacks, have come to the media and reported that air marshals were pulled out off the overseas flights and put on domestic flights. Like a flight that went from Chicago to Boise.
So, some mid level bureaucrat decided that there was more of a risk of a flight to Boise than a flight originating from Nigeria and going on to Detroit.
My guess is that there was an air marshal that lived in Boise and the air marshal bureaucrat wanted the marshal to get home for Christmas Day to be with their family instead of looking out for the country's security. Brilliant.

Surprising Mug Shots From 2009 From The Smoking Gun

I was looking at some mug shots on the Smoking Gun web site and some them were clearly surprising: Charles Manson (Kind of looks like Sean Connery in movie "The Rock", sans Swastika

Plaxico Burres Vince (Sham Wow) Shmoli Phil Spector

Bernie Madoff(who by the way, has gotten into 2 prison fights since he has been in prison) And Nevada's Most Famous Prisoner: O.J. Simpson

Hope they are enjoying their time in prison and with any luck, we won't be hearing from them in the years to come.

PawnStars Review: 12-28-2009

Well, I was surprised that Pawn Stars was on tonight.
Well, I was pleasantly surprised that an item I blogged about was on the show. http://lasvegasbadger.blogspot.com/2009/09/pawn-stars-update.html
The Halberd Axe was on the show. Originally, it appeared Rick was going to the bargaining, but maybe since the items weren't that real, they let Chumlee and Corey do the interview. Sucks to be the buyer in this case after it was determined the axes were much more valuable than thought.
The ball and chain was pretty cool. Nice to tie the kids down when they misbehave- just kidding.
And when Chumlee broke the glass case, I think Rick wanted to put the ball and chain, after wrapping it around his head.
The end of the potty chair segment, when it fell out of the truck seemed staged to me. But I can see why he didn't want to go to North Las Vegas. Many areas of North Las Vegas are ghetto. It also has some very high class areas as well. It's a tale of two cities.
With the fake playbill, Rick mentioned that the Secret Service didn't advertise the fact about that Lincoln would be attending the play at Ford's theater. But the Secret Service didn't start guarding the president until 1901.
Too bad about the clock. Buying it broken was not a smart thing by Rick, but when you gamble in Vegas, sometimes you get burned.
In the first episode, the Harley segment was pretty cool. It brought back memories of my father working for Harley, helping write a newsletter, back in the early to mid 60's in Wisconsin.
A note to Corey. When he rode out of the refurbishing place, he wasn't wearing a helmet, but Nevada is a mandatory helmet state. Anything bigger than a scooter and you need a helmet.
The spyglass and knives were interesting. I am not into weapons, so I wouldn't be interested in the knives. I know the spyglass would be interesting to my son as he likes looking at the stars and moon.
I was surprised that the payoff on the loan on the shop was at 80% and the default rate was 20% I honestly thought that the rates be the opposite.
So, another week of Pawn stars. Tomorrow, we plan on visiting the store and see if there is anything to buy. No need to pawn anything. Yet.

Ok, I Admit I Was Wrong About The Packers

Today, the Packers beat up the Seattle Seahawks, 48-10 to clinch a wild card playoff spot.
In the beginning of the season, i thought the Packers were a 8-8 team at best. Today they won their 10th game.
I also thought Aaron Rogers was an average quarterback, but he turned out to be quite good, in the upper 1/3 of the league as far as quarterbacks go. He will be considered to be Brett Favre's backup for a long time but if he continues to improve he will come out of Favre's shadow.
When Al Harris went out, I thought the defense of the Packers would get better and it did.
So, one more week and then the playoffs. It will be interesting to see if they play the Vikings and Brett Favre for a third time.
So, the fun is just beginning and I am glad I was wrong.
(p.s. to a certain liberal blogger in Milwaukee, see, it is easy to admit it when you wrong)

Pawn Stars: Almost Closed On Christmas

The A-Z Pawn shop featured on Pawn Stars had their showroom closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I was kind of surprised at that as other stores were opened and this is Las Vegas. However their night time window was still open, in case you did want to pawn something or pay a bill.
Oh well, they will be opened on Saturday.

Review: Dirk Arthur Extreme Magic

We went to the Tropicana Casino today to see Dirk Arthur's Extreme Magic. Arthur's claim to fame is the use of tigers and panthers in his act of illusions.
Dirk had a very rough audience today. There were about 700-800 members in the audience and probably 60-70% did not speak English. Most of the audience members were of Asian descent, mostly Chinese. In our section, it was almost 100% non-English people.
The music was very loud, so it really was tough to judge the audience's reaction to the illusions and it seemed Arthur had a rough time connecting to the audience.
In the animal's first illusion, Arthur switched two tigers in a cage. One small problem. We sat in farthest left hand seats from the stage and I saw 6 tiger legs. That is quite a feat, unless something went wrong.
The other illusions went off without a hitch. He had some girls in the show who both performed the illusions and danced. The dancing was just filler time, though. The room was hot and about halfway through the show, it kind of got boring, seeing the same version of the same trick.
The last illusion of the night was the most spectacular and well worth seeing.
After the show, Arthur made himself available for autographs, especially those who bought his posters. He really didn't talk to the audience, unlike Nathan Burton.
The other down point is the bar and snack area is cash only. So, if you want to buy something, bring cash. We didn't, so we didn't contribute any money to the bars, which was OK.
Cost of the show starts at $42.50 and the show lasted 1 hour and 15 minutes.
For more information: http://www.troplv.com/ent_dirkarthur.asp

Country's Largest Country Christmas Tree

We went to the M-Resort to see the country's largest living Christmas tree. The tree stands 109 and is dug 12 feet into the ground. the ornaments are hung by 109 foot ribbons, hanging from the top of the tree. You can see the tree at from at least 5 miles away. If you had a straight visual shot, you probably see it from 10 miles away.

Thanks for the M for making Las Vegas number 1 for something other than foreclosures.

Las Vegas Review Journal Getting Ideas From Me?

While going through todays online newspaper for the LVRJ, I came across this article by Mike Weatherford: http://www.lvrj.com/neon/nathan-burton-80104312.html
Well, I did a review of Nathan Burton on December 15th of this year.
While Weatherford's article is more wordy, it is essentially the same.
Hmmm.

Christmas Eve At Wal-Mart- Unlike Do Many Other Days

What do Christmas Eve and New Years Eve have in common? Answer: Both are amateur days. If New Years Eve is amateur night for drinkers, then Christmas Eve is amateur day for shoppers.
Our store was packed the entire day. So many shoppers were in a daze. And those not in a daze were on a cell phone or texting. I must have been hit by at least 10 shopping carts being pushed by shoppers who weren't paying attention. I am 6'2 and 270, so I am pretty sure I am quite visible, but still I managed to get hit.
At times, the lines at check out were short, but most of the time, the lines were long. We ran out of shopping carts several times.
And of course, the shoplifters came and brought their Christmas cheer. Metro police could have set up a substation here because they were so often. The worst case was when a young woman was busted for stealing. She was with her kids, an 8 year old and 5 year old and an infant. When she was busted, she started fighting in front of everyone. She probably thought if she brought her kids along we wouldn't have stopped her- wrong. She also had a warrant so she went to jail and the kids went with CPS to Child Haven. Probably the best thing that ever happened to those kids.
We had so many workers there busting their butts and we also had some guys treat like a party. Met a friend worked there. He was fired the day before for missing too much work and he was fired on his birthday. Cold.
Then at 7:30, we closed the doors and posted our big beef guys from security and other large looking people in front of the doors to keep the people out. We turned away at least 200-300 people in about a half hour. Many people were shocked that Wal-Mart was closed. There was some confusion because the sign said that the store closes at 8:00, so people thought they can come in at 7:55 and do all their shopping were turned away. Only 1 lady became belligerent. She was yelling and screaming until she was introduced to the Metro officers who were there on another call.
A lot of the store was cleaned out, so there won't be too many after Christmas sales on Saturday. I think our store did about $600,000- $700,000 in business yesterday.
On the way home and then on the way to take the hound to the dog park, we noticed that K-Mart and several large grocery stores were still open.
So, I survived another Christmas Eve at Wal-Mart, which will probably be my last one at Wal-Mart. Now, to enjoy Christmas day by going to a show (look for a review later) and out to eat.
Merry Christmas, everyone.

Pope Attacked At Mass

Pope Benedict was attacked by a woman just as the Christmas Eve Mass was beginning.
For the video: http://www.breitbart.tv/cell-phone-video-shows-moment-woman-topples-pope/
The Pope is ok.

The U.S. Comes Closer To Socialism- Amish May Go To Jail

The U.S. senate, led by Nevada's Harry Reid (Dumbass-NV) passed it's version of the health care bill today, 60-39.
Clearly, parts of the bill are unconstitutional, especially the requirement that you have to purchase health insurance. This is the first time government has required people to purchase something, something they may not even need or believe in.
But Dan, people have said, the government requires you to buy car insurance. Well, yes, if you own a car. But you don't have to purchase insurance if you don't drive. If you take the bus, walk, swim or whatever, you don't need car insurance.
But hey, they counter you have to pay taxes. Well, you don't have to pay income tax if you choose not to work. You don't pay sales tax if you grow your own food.
And take the case of the Amish, they don't believe in insurance because it is against their religion. No exceptions were made in this bill for them. So, it looks like the jails in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and other states where the Amish live may be full of Amish citizens.
So, clearly, this part of the bill is unconstitutional despite what the Democrats say.
As far the debate today, the stupidist comment was this: "The occasion was moving for Sen. Paul Kirk, D-Mass., appointed to fill (Ted) Kennedy's seat after his death in August.
"He's having a merry Christmas in heaven," Kirk told reporters after the tally"
This is probably the first time Ted Kennedy and Heaven were used in the same sentence.
So, America has moved closer to socialism today. It is a sad day in history of the United States.

Great News: The North I-15 Is Almost Done!!!!

NDOT announced today that the northern part of the I-15 construction is almost done and the lanes will be opened on Christmas Eve. (What is it with Christmas Eve? Health care vote + the I-15 is fully opened. One horrible and one great news)
The construction finished almost 10 months AHEAD of schedule.
From the Las Vegas Sun: Consider it a Christmas gift — major construction on Interstate 15 north of the Spaghetti Bowl will be finished and all lanes and ramps will be open on Christmas Eve.
When ramps to and from Lake Mead Boulevard open Thursday, construction on the freeway will essentially be completed, and 10 months ahead of schedule, the Nevada Department of Transportation and project contractors announced on Tuesday.
The $240 million project to widen I-15 from the Spaghetti Bowl to Craig Road began Sept. 7, 2007, and wasn’t scheduled for completion until next fall.
The early completion is a result of the project being the first design-build project in the state, said Joseph Schroeder, the project manager for North Corridor Con
structors, a joint venture of contractors Las Vegas Paving and CH2M Hill.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/dec/23/i-15-construction-coming-close-early/

Gov. Jim Gibbons, love him or hate him, deserves credit for this project ending early as this was a State project.
Some work still needs to be done, which will happen when the weather warms up.
Now, if NDOT will turn on the metered traffic lights on the Cheyenne southbound on ramp, this will go a long way of eliminating traffic jams in the area.
Again, congratulations to NDOT, the construction workers and Gov. Jim Gibbons for getting this job done 10 months early. One question, did it save any money by finishing early. The article didn't say anything about this. Hopefully, all construction projects in Nevada will be like this.

More Evil Wal-Mart News

I realize I may get fired for this, but what the hell.

At the Wal-Mart store I work at in Las Vegas, they have let go all of the seasonal help they hired in October and November, just before Christmas. Why, I am not sure. This is comes to about 40-50 employees. I over heard a personnel employee telling a new hire that they probably had a job for about 3-4 months, but that did not turn out to be true.

I do think, part of it has to do with what is going on nationally, with the health care bill and the possibility of increase in taxes.

Normally, associates hired for the holiday season work until the beginning of February, but not this year. When I was hired a little over 2 years ago, I was hired as a seasonal employee. Back then, if you did a good job, you were kept on and became either part time or full time employee.

Now, even if the the seasonal workers did a good job, they are let go.

Again, I think part of this has to do with the uncertainty of the health care bill. Wal-Mart and probably other companies want to get workers off the payrolls before the bill passes.

I might be completely wrong on this, but then, prove me wrong.

And if I am fired, oh well.

Give Blood- See Penn and Teller

For those who live in Las Vegas or plan on visiting Vegas in the next couple of days, you can donate blood at any United Blood Sevices center and get two free tickets to the Penn and Teller show. http://www.unitedbloodservices.org/herostatepage.asp?state=nv

MAACO Bowl 2009

The MAACO bowl was played today in Las Vegas between BYU and Oregon State. BYU won the game in the very cold and windy night in Vegas(ok, cold for Vegas)
The game wasn't quite a sell out but about 40,000 fans saw the kick off. By half time, crowds started to leave the stadium in droves. I know because I saw the traffic jam at Boulder Hwy and Russell. BYU won the game in a blow out.
Glad to have all the visitors come to Las Vegas and hope they have a warmer day tomorrow. And thanks to MACCO for sponsoring the game.

Maybe There Is Something About This Global Warming Hype

Last night, at the Wal-Mart store I work at, we got our first shipment of swimming suits and beach towels.
Maybe Wal-Mart believes in global warming and that it will be a warmer Spring and Summer and it will come earlier than usual.

Pawn Stars Review 12-21-2009

The first episode in Pawn Stars was just a repeat of their favorite segments. I loved the scene at the end where they drive off in the Old Man's Lincoln. It kind of looked like late summer or early fall.
In the 2nd episode, the currency was very cool. The store doesn't have those kind of currencies in their store, at least on display, but they do have a good supply of old coins and dollar bills. The story behind the Ben Franklin note was very interesting. I guess that is why the show is on the History Channel.
Note to Rick on the battle axe- India is in Asia. Maybe he meant oriental. But you could see the greed in the ladies face. I would have paid that amount of money for the axe.
Chumlee certainly looks like a big elf in his costume. Shrink Chumlee a few hundred pounds and he looks like the elves in the classic Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. Love that sweater that Grandma made for Corey. You could actually see the redness in Corey's cheeks as he put it on. Believe it or not, I've seen worse.
For those who have not been in the shop, it really isn't that big, especially compared to other pawn stores in Las Vegas. The actual selling area consists of a L figure. A straight line going in and a little aisle going left once you enter the shop. Maybe total aisle space is only about 60 feet and that is being generous.
I enjoyed seeing the Old Man talking about the the U.S.S. Wisconsin. Being from Wisconsin, it was interesting to see such an old camera. And the old Man is quite the negotiator- he seems quite sincere and honest when dealing with the customers. And I am sure he is. If you look closely at the Old Man, you tell he looks a little different, but I will let the readers guess what that is.
In the third episode, I loved the Big Rig. If I wasn't a teacher, I'd be a truck driver and this rig would be a dream to drive. I hope the guy paid off his loan, though it would be difficult, as he needs to be paid off. Makes me wonder if this truck was already paid for. Seems like if there is already a loan out for it, the shop can't make a 2nd loan on the truck. If the truck already was paid for, why would the trucker go to the pawn shop for a loan? It also makes me wonder where they stored the truck. If they kept it at their shop, not the best neighborhood in Vegas, it probably would have been tagged or worse within a couple of days. You can look up a crime report for any area within the Metro jurisdiction at: http://www.lvmpd.com/crimeviewcommunity/wizard.asp
As far as the wine maker, would you trust Chumlee to make the wine?
Pretty cool they made a $80,000 profit on the Rolex. No wonder they make the purchases they can make.
People will criticize pawn brokers for being greedy against people in their time of need. There maybe some truth to this, but they have have make a profit so they can continue making loans and buying things. Pawn stores are a valuable business, especially in Las Vegas.
Next week, hopefully, other pawn shops in Las Vegas.

FDNY EMT's Put Bagels Before Dying Woman

In a vewry sickening case, two FDNY medics, on a break, ignored pleas for help from bystanders to help a woman who was having a seizure. The lady, who was pregnant, later died.
From firehouse.com: furious Mayor Bloomberg yesterday blasted two EMTs who allegedly refused to help a dying, pregnant mom because they were on break at a Brooklyn coffee shop.
"It was unconscionable, [an] outrage, pick some adjectives and stick it in," the fuming mayor said at a news conference a day after The Post broke the scandal involving tragic mom Eutisha Revee Rennix, 25.
"The Fire Department, including EMS, is responsible for life-saving, and their first responsibility is to do that," the mayor said. "But even if they weren't part of the Fire Department sworn to protect all of us, just normal human beings, drop your coffee and go help somebody if they're dying. C'mon."
The two EMTs were buying bagels in the Au Bon Pain at the Metrotech Center in Downtown Brooklyn on Dec. 9 when Rennix collapsed there -- and they allegedly ignored her.
Her toddler son has been crying, "Where's Mommy?" since her death, said her stunned and grieving family. Rennix's mother, Cynthia, angrily added that the FDNY hasn't offered one word of explanation -- or sympathy -- for the fiasco....Witnesses have said the two EMTs -- trained medics working as dispatchers at FDNY headquarters at Metrotech -- were more interested in getting to their breakfast than helping the dying woman amid the panicked screams of her fellow workers.
Their cold advice: "Call 911," the witnesses said.
They then allegedly left the cafe before help arrived. http://www.firehouse.com/topics/top-headlines/fdny-emts-allegedly-ignored-dying-woman
I can bring forth arguments about government run health care or union employees, but what it really comes down is you have two lazy assed EMT's who couldn't care less about another human being. I hope they are fired and sued and never be allowed to work with people ever again. As a former EMT, I find their response to be inhuman and uncaring. Hell, when the union won't even back you, you know they did something terribly wrong.
Now, they have 2 dead people on their souls.

Winter Break For CCSD

Just in time for a snowstorm tonight and tomorrow, The Clark County School District has officially started it's Christmas vacation.
Time to sleep in and get ready for the next third of the school year.
(PS to the folks in the Midwest, our storm will soon be your storm- watch out!)

A Very Sick Person In Minnesota

From Fox News: Maybe it was nine lives, but one feline is lucky to be alive after he was found with his paws glued to a Minnesota interstate, KSFY.com reported.
A couple saw the cat on the side of the road and thought it had been injured by a car, the KSFY.com reported. But the cat was stuck, though its paw pads were ripped off by the glue when the couple removed him from the road, the site reported.
Now, I am not a fan of cats as I am allergic to them, but to glue a cat to the highway is very sick. The fear and the pain the cat had to go through is unbelievable. I hope they catch the the bastard(s) who did this and glue them to the highway and then have a steam roller with bad brakes and Paris Hilton at the wheel come at them.

Senate Passes Cloture VoTe On Health care: It's A Done Deal

So, Harry Reid (Dumb Ass-Nevada) got his 60 votes by bribing certain senators to pass the Senate health care bill. (rumors have it the 60 senators, after the vote, bowed before a statue of Obama and chanted Obama's name, followed by licking the butt of the Obama statue)
So, now, the bill will go to reconciliation with the House version where the bill will become very liberal. Then the vote will come before both houses where several Democrat Senators and House members will vote no as a matter principal and the bill will still pass. Obama will sign the bill and in 2010, the Dem's will voted out of office.
When the Dem's are voted office, the GOP will attempt to reverse the damage the Dem's did, but it won't help as Obama will have the veto pen. Plus, knowing the GOP, they will screw it up, anyways.
Therefore, unless something happens in 2012, the country is screwed, our taxes will be much higher, we will have worse health care than we have now, all thanks to Obama, Reid, Pelosi and the the Democrats.
I'd say, may they rest in hell, but something tells me they are running Hell and will enjoy Hell very much.

Fillaseat.com

For those who live in Nevada and in particular, Las Vegas, I urge you to check out this web site: Fillaseat.com
You can get tickets for some shows on the Strip and elsewhere for a nominal cost.
I've used them and it is really worth the cost. Check it out.

And They Are From Wisconsin?

U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Jeremiah Koehler from Dells, Wisconsin of the 2nd Marine Exhibitionary Brigade, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines Echo Company shakes hands with people during a patrol this summer in Delaram, Afghanistan. The Marines were part of a stepped up effort by American troops fighting Taliban fighters in Southern Afghanistan.

From Jsonline

Maybe the writer and editors didn't know that there is a city named in Wisconsin Dells. It's nice tourist trap just north of Madison. Not that the Dells are famous or anything like that.

But there is no city named Dells in Wisconsin.

MPS Pick For School Superintendent: Is That The Best They Could Get?

The Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) just announced their finalists for the job. When you look at their resumes on jsonline, the only thing that I could think of was, was that the best candidates they could get? http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/79697927.html I'm surprised that MPS education blog, Folkbum hasn't said anything about the candidates. (for that matter, neither has anybody else) But hey, it appears he is only interested posting in fantasy world with global warming and the health care bill. Not that his future boss is important to him or his students or taxpayers or anybody else living in Milwaukee.
You have 2 assistant superintendents and a superintendent of a school district of only 7,800 students as finalists. You mean they couldn't find a superintendents of a school district over 10,00 students to become a candidate of a school district of about 90,000 students. But the candidates are all minorities, so I guess that is important.
MPS is one of the largest school districts in the country but I am sorry, while the three gentlemen are fine people and would make great superintendents in small to medium school districts, they lack the experience to run a large Midwest school district with a lot of severe problems.
So, again, is MPS is in such bad shape that they can only draw 3rd or 4th tier candidates for superintendent?
So, why isn't there any analysis by local lefty Milwaukee blogs? Why does a blog from Las Vegas, who used to be a MPS teacher, have to point out the problems with the canidates?

Coming To A Town Near You: The Stripper Mobile

The stripper mobile, which was on the road for a couple of days in Vegas, is going nationwide and will be filming for a possible TV show on cable TV.
From the Las Vegas Sun: The strippermobile is no longer trolling the Strip for customers, but in a few weeks it will be going up and down Main Street, USA.
In early January, it will become a Vegas-born — and banned — business that took its show on the road.
“We’re going to have them swinging from coast to coast,” says Larry Beard, marketing guru for Déjà Vu.
The last and only time the vehicle rolled was November in Las Vegas, when bikini-clad strippers inside the truck’s Plexiglas-enclosed cargo area swung around a brass pole affixed to the middle of the truck bed.
Strippermobile Winter Tour 2010 will be filmed, and Beard hopes to have it broadcast on cable television. It might need to be on adult on-demand channels though, because the itinerary includes Portland, Ore. Beard says the decency laws there are lax, so the dancers will be nude during that stretch of the trip.
So, look for the Stripper mobile in a town near you. And if you live in Portland, you get a free sex show.

Health Care Bill Debate Question:

Ok, if the is health care bill the Democrats are about to pass, why do the Dem's have to bribe their own members to pass the bill? Senators like Ben Nelson and Mary Landreiu have been bought off with bribes. Why?
And I am willing to bet after reconciliation, those promises will be left out making those senators look like suckers.
And for the senators from the Democrat party who didn't get anything for their state, say like Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold- Suckers!!!
So, the Dem's are bought and paid for for a bill they really don't believe in. Pathetic.

A New Scrooge: Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart stores, a store that respects their employees is making their employees work until 8:00 on Christmas Eve.
Normally, Wal-Mart normally closes at 6:00 on Christmas Eve and many employees have counted on that and I know I did. Many have family coming in, other have parties to go to. Others have church services to get ready for.
This tells me that Wal-Mart is hurting this Christmas season, so they are hoping to make a few extra dollars, which they probably won't do. I have worked the previous 2 years on Christmas Eve. Usually, I get off by 6:30 and now, on Thursday, I will be lucky to get out by 8:30. Yes, if they stayed open, they can make some more money, so why close at all? And I think that is going to be the next step in a few years.
So, to the person at Wal Mart who ordered the stores to stay open a couple of hours longer, bah hum bug and I hope Santa puts coal in your stocking.

Breaking News And Las Vegas Exclusive: CCSD Assistant Superintendent Finalist For MPS Job

In a Las Vegas exclusive, in blogs and the media, an area superintendent for CCSD is a finalist for the superintendents job in Milwaukee, WI.
From jsonline: The Milwaukee School Board has narrowed its list of candidates for Milwaukee Public Schools' next superintendent to three, the school district announced in a news release Thursday night.
The three finalists are:
• Robert Alfaro, area superintendent of the Clark County School District, Las Vegas, Nev.
• Stacy Scott, associate superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville, Md.
• Gregory Thornton, superintendent, Chester Upland Public Schools, Chester, Pa. http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/79586482.html
Even though I am a teacher in CCSD, I do not know Robert Alaro. I do know he is the Area 2 superintendent for CCSD. For the Area 2 web site: http://ccsd.net/areas/2/
MPS is having severe financial difficulties and Mr. Alaro would be a great person to deal with the financial problems as CCSD has been under financial distress for the past couple of years. In fact, MPS probably spends twice the amount of money per student as CCSD. The high schools in the area are not that tough like, say Vincent, in Milwaukee, however, they do have, for the most part, have a high minority student population.
So, good luck to Mr. Alaro in getting the job. But if he gets the job, he will face many major problems in MPS, a school system that is basically a cesspool, a school board that is incompetent and a State and local government that is also very incompetent.

City Center Now Open

City Center, an $8 billion project by MGM and others finally completed it's openings last night with the opening of Aria. City Center is the largest private construction in the world's history.
City Center currently employs around 12,000 people, but that number will surely go down as most resorts hire high and then lay off people when business goes down.
City Center is a very high end resort. It literally is a city within a city. It has condos, 1 casino, hotels, shopping, restaurants and even it's own fire station.
For locals, it represents a lot of jobs and a larger tax base.
However, the resort, for the most part, does not cater to most locals. The shops are very high end, the hotel rooms are some of the most expensive in Las Vegas and it is difficult to get to, as opposed to other resorts. The biggest plus for locals is that is will lower prices at other resorts and casinos.
Don't think we will be seeing Tiger Woods there, anytime soon, though. This is (was) his kind of resort.
So, good luck to City Center and hope it succeeds.

If Liberals Are Pissed. Conservatives Are Pissed, Why Pass The Health Bill?

After reading a couple of liberal blogs and of course, conservative blogs, it seems no one is happy with the health care bill. So, why are the Dem's going down this suicide road? Why do they want to piss off their base or basically taking them for granted and continue to piss off the moderates and conservatives?
Why, then are they paying so much homage to Obama, because that really is what it is. They are bowing down before Obama and hope that he will lead them to the promise land, but in reality, he is leading them like lemmings off a cliff.
So, from the Las Vegas Gleaner: http://www.lasvegasgleaner.com/las_vegas_gleaner/2009/12/reids-mastery-on-display.html#comments
And Folkbum: http://folkbum.blogspot.com/
The very unhappy liberals.

Pervert Or Travesty Of Justice?

Update; Mr. Hoffman has been totally exonerated and is back in the classroom.

My hunch was right that this was a bogus accusation and that the LVMPD and District wanted a teacher trophy to put on their mantel.

There are plenty of Pervert teachers in CVSD, I know of 1 personally, but Mr. Hoffman is not one of them.

From the Las Vegas Sun: Metro Police said today that detectives have been investigating a Las Vegas teacher since May 2009 for alleged sexual misconduct with a female student. Ronny Scott Hoffman, 38, a French teacher at the Las Vegas Academy, was arrested Dec. 9. Hoffman faces charges of coercion with force, a felony, and three counts of open and gross lewdness, which are gross misdemeanor charges, police said. At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Metro Lt. John Bradshaw said a female student told police in May that Hoffman sexually assaulted her on school grounds at the Las Vegas Academy. http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/dec/15/vegas-teacher-accused-sexual-misconduct-student/ Ok, this sounds pretty bad. My first reaction was, here we go again, another school pervert. (as an aside, I am a teacher in the CCSD) But, the Las Vegas Sun, unlike the LVRJ, made an update to this story. There are several troubling aspects of this story. First, why is Metro making the arrest? Why not the CCSD police? Maybe the CCSD police didn't think there was a case? 2nd. The time frame. The date. The alleged date of the attack occurred between October 1 and Nov. 30th. During this time frame, from the end of October until Nov. 30th, there are 3 vacations in CCSD- Nevada Day, Veterans Day and Thanksgiving. You would think, by using the holidays as a guide, the date could have been narrowed down. 3rd. According to Metro, while the "victim" was being attacked, another girl walked in and pretty much stopped the attack by her presence. The cops interviewed 105 girls and no one saw anything. Another part of the complaint says that the teacher thought the girl's bathroom was a unisex bathroom after the men's bathroom was closed. First, I have never seen, in my 12 years of teaching, a teacher using the student's bathroom. Second, either this teacher is extremely stupid or the student. There are no unisex bathrooms in CCSD, that I know of. He hugged a student. Well, I am not a hugger, but I know teachers who are. They take a risk, but sometimes a student will go up and hug the teacher. If a female student gives me a hug, well, her breasts will probably touch my body, but, that is physics. Nothing I can do. Another issue was that he got close to her in the classroom. If you have seen foreign language classes in high school in CCSD, there are a lot of kids and not a lot of classroom space. I am not trying to make excuses for the teacher. If he did it, shame on him and send to prison for a very long time. But this case seems mighty strange and based on the comments of students and former students, he has a lot of supporters. We will see.

Review: Nathan Burton Comedy Show

We went to our first true Vegas show this evening and the first show we saw was the Nathan Burton Comedy Show at the Flamingo.
If you are looking for swearing, acid rock music, bad customer service and an entertainer going through the motions, then this show is not for you.
We joined about 150 people at the show at 4:00. Everyone was close to the stage. They took pictures of all the audience before they entered the show and they put those pictures a huge screen TV just before the show, which was kind of neat.
Nathan came on and talked to the audience, not at them and he went on to perform his acts. Many of the acts involved 2 pretty girls showing up in different props. There was another actor who also involved in the act, also reappearing. For about 15 minutes, a comedian/juggler named Michael Holly performed. Holly had a good banter with the audience while he juggled things from bowling balls, w&w's (M&M's), a hatchet and a few other things. He is quite good, but nothing dangerous and he didn't juggle more than 3 items, but he really didn't need to.
Burton came back on and invited a 13 year old kid on stage to do mind reading. The kid was totally innocent as he was offered to go on a fake date with a cute girl assistant. The kid was from Australia and he was quite shy. When asked what he would do if he got a chance to marry the girl, he said he would bail. Anyways, Burton "guessed" what the kid would say.
The finale was very good and all I can say, if you are from where snow flies and you have snowmobiles, you will be very, very impressed.
I spent a lot of time thinking how did he do that. Sometimes, I think I got the answer, other times, I had no idea.
Burton's show lasts one hour and after the show, he gives out free autographs and talks with the audience. Somehow, I have my doubts most other Vegas headliners do that. That is very classy.
The cost is $20 for the show and well worth it. Everyone involved in the show was very nice- ushers, waitress, ticket takers etc and the the production is a Burton family affair.
So, have some fun when you are in Vegas and see the show. You won't be disappointed.

Welcome To The Neighborhood

A brand new IHOP moved into neighborhood this week, opening yesterday. We went there tonight, and other than a few minor rookie mistakes, they did a nice job. Very good service with typical IHOP food.
Hopefully, they will make it, as our neighborhood has not had good luck with businesses lately.

New Airplane/Drone At Creech AFB

From the LVRJ: Its nickname is the “Beast of Kandahar,” but the Air Force has officially dubbed it the RQ-170 Sentinel.
Whatever it is called in aviation or military circles, the Pentagon in a brief statement has confirmed the existence this month of what expert observers are calling the latest addition to the Air Force’s expanding fleet of remotely piloted spy planes. Like the much-publicized Predator and Reaper unmanned aerial systems, the Sentinel is home-based in Nevada, and was probably tested at classified locations on the Nellis range, including Area 51, one private defense information expert said.
An Air Force spokesman said the Sentinel is being developed by Creech Air Force Base, specifically the base’s 30th Reconnaissance Squadron at the Tonopah Test Range, about 150 miles northwest of Las Vegas. He said the squadron is part of the 432nd Wing at Creech, hub for the nation’s remotely piloted military aircraft.

So, if driving around Indian Springs, about 45 miles north of Las Vegas on Hwy 95, you may see this airplane/drone taking off or landing.

Pawn Stars Review- October 14th, 2009

The first show was pretty decent. The Les Paul guitar was interesting. The seller, Rod, says he was a musician and one of the bands he mention was Toto. I looked on Wikepedia and saw there was no musician named Rod. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toto_(band) Maybe he was using an alias.
The hot air balloon was a joke. No way should the guy given the money back to the shop. However, the thing about giving rides to customers probably was bogus. There are three places you can get a hot air balloon ride. There was a piece on Las Vegas Advisor http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/index.cfm?&CFID=26067535&CFTOKEN=82316992 . (there is no link to the article) There are 3 places where you can get a hot air balloon ride in Vegas. One guy does it full time, one part time and a hot air balloon ride across from the Mandaly Bay that goes up about 500 feet. They do it day and night and it is pretty cool to see at night. None of the above are from the pawn shop. So, if going to the pawn shop, don't count on going on a hot air balloon ride.
In the 2nd show, I have to admit I was a bit grumpy because when I went to get a beer, I stepped in some pee the hound laid down on the carpet and missed a little bit of the show.
I didn't know who was Monty Montana either, so I learned something. Corey really didn't do much negotiating with the owner. Go from $2000 to $3000 in a second? But, hey, he came in 2nd in the competition.
Pretty cool that the Old Man was a Navy man.
The guy selling the motorcycle says he can't find a place to store the bike. Well, there are a lot of places to store things, if he wanted to payout the money. And no, I never saw the bike ever, on the floor of the store. The seller mentioned the Las Vegas Motorspeed Way. It's just down the street from where I live and it is a huge facility. It has a full size track, drag strip, (both have huge national events like NASCAR and NHRA races), a short track and a road course and I also think, a dirt track. During NASCAR (Sprint) they have their own airport for helicopters. They have a control tower and landing area for people who want to travel from the Strip to the track and avoid the traffic. Actually, traffic on race day isn't bad as we got home in less than 45 minutes from the race ended, walking to the car and getting out of the parking lot. Not bad when you have about 100,000 people at the race. At the Speedway, the motorcycles race on the drag strip and road course.
Funny that the Old Man won the competition, but I have seen him work when I was in the shop, and as I have said before, he is a nice guy but firm when I got to talk to him.

Buffet Review: More At Luxor

I have been to many buffets in Las Vegas and there are some good ones like the Wynn and Bellagio, some excellent ones like the M and some that totally suck- mostly because of customer service- like Sam's Town.
Well, add another buffet to the suck list. We went to the More at the Luxor. The cost is $19.99 per person, plus tax.
We got there, there was no one in line and a basically restaurant. The cashier got us out in a very short time and then we waited and waited. We waited about 5 minutes, which was absurd.
Then we went to get our food. The main course items were luke warm or cool. The twice baked potato was so cool that I couldn't get a pad of butter to melt even a little bit. Nothing was hot. It sucks to eat a cool baby back rib. The waitress did her job ok, though she did get an order wrong on a drink, but it did work out in the end.
The desserts were decent to good and the best part of the buffet.
So, when in Vegas, there are plenty of buffets to choose from, but the Luxor's More shouldn't be one of them, especially for the cost.

Obama Gives Himself A B+ But More People Disagree

President Obama, on 60 Minutes last night, gave himself a B+ for his grade in his first year.
Meanwhile, according to Drudge, Rasmussen says that Obama's approval rating is now down to 44%. Apparently, now, 56% of Americans have a different opinion.
But a narrissict, as Obama is, never sees reality.

Obama, Reid, Pelosi and Democrats give Seniors and The Private The Sector The Finger

Congress, led by the Democrats, are sending a $1.1 trillion spending bill to President, who will sign the bill very happily. Thank you, Obama, Reid, Pelosi, and the RINO's. Very disgusting people. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CONGRESS_SPENDING?SITE=NVLAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Included in the bill is a 2% pay increase for federal employees. While seniors and the disabled who are on social security are not getting a plug nickel increase this next year because the COLA is $0.
The private sector is laying off by the thousands while the federal government is hiring by the 10's of thousands. Private sector jobs are getting their pay cut and/or their hours cut. Same with many local government and state governments as well.
In the land of the lard, Washington D.C., the government has lost touch with people outside the beltway. I have always dismissed any revolution talk as just talk and nonsense, but something has to happen. And no, I really don't think the current group of GOP politicians are much better than the Dem's. Something has to happen, revolution, maybe not that extreme, but it can't remain the same.

Somebody Got's Some Explaining To Do

From Channel 13, Las Vegas: A young man died in an apartment complex Tuesday morning and new questions are being raised about whether his death could have been prevented.
The coroner has listed carbon monoxide poisoning as the official cause of death for 26 year-old Ian Noel, who firefighters say fell asleep after leaving a pot boiling on the stove in his apartment near Pecos and Hacienda.
Neighbor Jeannine Rinaldi actually called 911 four hours before Ian was found dead, after she smelt smoke in her apartment unit.
Firefighters from station 25 responded. ...The Clark County Fire Department says their firefighters left after a thorough check of the building showed no signs of smoke and no flames. A thermal imager didn't find anything out of the ordinary....The fire department says they go on smoke investigations all the time and most turn out to be nothing. They don't do door knocks at odd hours unless they have good reason. http://www.ktnv.com/global/story.asp?s=11651059
If the firefighters did smell smoke, as the resident did, maybe they should have knocked on a few doors. Some times, you can take things for granted after going on so many calls, that you may have overlooked the small stuff.
Bet next time, they may knock on a few more doors.

To Jay, at Folkbum

This sign is located just down the street from where I live in Vegas. It is nice to see the folks at Freedom from Religion is helping the Las Vegas economy, but I suspect most people driving by don't get the sign, anyways.
So, Jay, Reason's Greetings!

Want To See The Nation's Tallest Christmas Tree?

If you want to see the nation's tallest Christmas tree, you need to come to Vegas and go the M Resort, south of the Strip and see the tree, starting on Saturday. The 109 foot tree is located in the pool area of the resort. Since no one is using the pool anyways, might as well dig a 12 foot hole in the ground and put the tree there. The tree lighting ceremony is on Saturday evening.
Another large Christmas tree is on Fremont Street and as usual, the Bellagio has a great winter scene. Of course, Ethel M's has a great lighted cactus display with a little free chocolate. If you want to pay to see Christmas lights, you can always go to Sunset Park or Opportunities Village and enjoy the sights and sounds of Christmas.

Obama Doesn't Just Pisses Off Americans

With Obama polling favorably with less than 47% with Amercians, Obama has decided to piss off another nation- Norway.
Barack Obama's trip to Oslo to pick up his Nobel peace award is in danger of being overshadowed by a row over the cancellation of a series of events normally attended by the prizewinner.
Norwegians are incensed over what they view as his shabby response to the prize by cutting short his visit.
The White House has cancelled many of the events peace prize laureates traditionally submit to, including a dinner with the Norwegian Nobel committee, a press conference, a television interview, appearances at a children's event promoting peace and a music concert, as well as a visit to an exhibition in his honour at the Nobel peace centre.
He has also turned down a lunch invitation from the King of Norway.
According to a poll published by the daily tabloid VG, 44% of Norwegians believe it was rude of Obama to cancel his scheduled lunch with King Harald, with only 34% saying they believe it was acceptable. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/09/obama-nobel-peace-prize-snub
This again shows the inexperience or the stupidity of the Obama administration. And they said George Bush was stupid. Nope, Obama is showing that he is really mentally deficient in the ways of governing, leading and just about everything else. Pathetic.

Interesting And Spooky

From Fox News:
A mysterious giant spiral of light that dominated the sky over Norway on Wednesday has stunned experts — raising the possibility of an entirely new astral phenomenon.
Thousands of awe-struck Norwegians bombarded the Meteorological Institute to ask what the incredible light — which could be seen in the pre-dawn sky for hundreds of miles — could possibly be.
Theories have ranged from a misfired Russian missile, meteor fireball, never-before-seen type of northern light, black hole and even alien activity.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,579868,00.html

Video:

UPDATE: Hmm, seems Obama was on his way to Norway to get his fraudulent Nobel Peace prize. Could it be related? The star of Obama? Nah, can't be, can it?

One Reason Why I Don't Miss Wisconsin

"Authorities urge residents: Please stay home!" http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/article_2d12c1fe-e4b8-11de-a27e-001cc4c03286.html
I like snow, but living in Las Vegas, I can go to the mountains for snow and I don't have shovel anymore. Good luck for those living in the blizzard's path and stay warm and dry.

When Will President Obama Grow Up?

On Tuesday, President held a news conference about the economy and the unemployment problem. Instead of manning up and admit that some of the problems in the economy were caused by Obama and the Democrats, he continues to blame the GOP for the problems. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/08/obama-takes-joblessness/?test=latestnews The GOP hasn't had any power for almost 11 months now. When will Obama grow up and start taking responsibility? He is like a little child that when caught breaking something, he blames someone else, like his brother or sister or saying I dunno. When will Obama grow up and stop acting like a 5 year old?

Pawn Stars Review: 12-7-2009

Was watching Pawn Stars tonight. First episode was really nothing special. The car for the Old Man was very cool. The treasure chest was ok, but kind of the excitement was like Geraldo opening up Al Capone's safe and finding nothing there.
Keep in mind, however, if you do go to the shop, don't expect find the stuff that is on TV. They probably sell the stuff before they even put it on the store floor.
As far as the barbers chair. Shoot, I go to a barbershop in town, Freds, on Craig and Lamont, close to Nellis AFB, and they have the same chairs. Not really a big deal and you can find the same chairs in most cities, small and large. But you have to go to real barber shop, not a beauty salon to find them. When he got the chair back, to me it looked ugly to me and nothing I have ever seen in a real barber shop. But if he keeps it, then who cares.
Ok, I learned something about the South Pole. ATM machines and bars?
The lady who works as the handwriting expert runs her business out of her house, as she lives in an area that has no businesses, just houses.
So, this weeks episodes were ok, nothing special. I plan on going to the shop very soon and get some pictures, especially the outside of the shop, which looks nothing like on TV. Actually, I don't think they ever show the front of the store.

Pawn Stars Question:

I have a question for the many Pawn Stars visitors: Do you think Rick and other employees are really that smart about different items to be pawned or sold or do you think they read up on the item before they shoot the episode?

Nevada State Government Shuts Down For This?

Nevada State government shut down on orders of Governor Jim Gibbons for a snowstorm that produced 6-12 inches of snow. http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/dec/07/northern-nevada-snow-prompts-closure-state-offices/
Come on, 6-12 inches shuts down the government in Northern Nevada? They are used to that kind of weather in the winter. It's not like this was down in Alabama.
Sounds like Gibbons is going for the state employees vote in the upcoming election by giving them a 3 day weekend. Gibbons just keeps embarrassing himself..

Poor, Poor Harry- Delusional At Such A Young Age

From Fox News and Harry Reid: "Instead of joining us on the right side of history, all the Republicans can come up with is, 'slow down, stop everything, let's start over.' If you think you've heard these same excuses before, you're right," Reid said Monday. "When this country belatedly recognized the wrongs of slavery, there were those who dug in their heels and said 'slow down, it's too early, things aren't bad enough.'"
He continued: "When women spoke up for the right to speak up, they wanted to vote, some insisted they simply, slow down, there will be a better day to do that, today isn't quite right.
"When this body was on the verge of guaranteeing equal civil rights to everyone regardless of the color of their skin, some senators resorted to the same filibuster threats that we hear today."
Poor, poor Harry. He must be either getting delusional in his old age or he is cracking under the stress of what is going on in the Senate. To compare the redoing of health care system in the U.S. to slavery- he has to be crazy. There is no comparison. No one is being forced to work without wages and no one is forced to go without health care. Some health care may not be high quality, but you can still get health care. You may have to pay a lot or have super high deductibles, but you can still can get health insurance. You may have to on government health care if you are poor, have a disability or are elderly, but that is not too bad. So, how does that compare to slavery, suffrage or whatever.
So, poor, poor Harry. Maybe he needs to check in to the mental health ward at Walter Reed for a nice long rest.