Senate Passes Fiscal Cliff Legislation

From jsonline: Hours past a self-imposed deadline for action, the Senate passed legislation early New Year's Day to neutralize a fiscal cliff combination of across-the-board tax increases and spending cuts that kicked in at midnight. The pre-dawn vote was a lopsided 89-8.
Senate passage set the stage for a final showdown in the House, where a vote was expected later Tuesday or perhaps Wednesday on the measure, which also raises tax rates on wealthy Americans.
Even by the recent dysfunctional standards of government-by-gridlock, the activity at both ends of historic Pennsylvania Avenue was remarkable as the administration and lawmakers spent the final hours of 2012 haggling over long-festering differences.
"It shouldn't have taken this long to come to an agreement, and this shouldn't be the model for how we do things around here," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who negotiated the agreement with Vice President Joe Biden.
Under the deal, taxes would remain steady for the middle class and rise at incomes over $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for couples levels higher than President Barack Obama had campaigned for in his successful drive for a second term in office.
Spending cuts totaling $24 billion over two months aimed at the Pentagon and domestic programs would be deferred. That would allow the White House and lawmakers time to regroup before plunging very quickly into a new round of budget brinkmanship certain to revolve around Republican calls to rein in the cost of Medicare and other government benefit programs.
Officials also decided at the last minute to use the measure to prevent a $900 pay raise for lawmakers due to take effect this spring.  http://www.jsonline.com/news/usandworld/national/fiscal-cliff-disputes-remain-as-deadline-nearsecf6004153ef4bb295d30b3dee556984-185252652.html
This is a bad bill and conservatives should vote against it.  It still raises taxes and doesn't cut spending near enough.  Finally, they are pushing any other reforms off, like they usually do.
But I am also sure the liberals really don't like this bill either, as they did not get the $250,000 higher tax limit.

CT AG Says No To Sleazy Lawyer And Greedy Sandy Hook Family

From the Las Vegas Sun:  Connecticut's attorney general says he sympathizes with families affected by the deadly Newtown school shooting but the state isn't liable for the harm inflicted.
Attorney General George Jepson responded Monday to a New Haven attorney's request to the state claims commissioner last week to sue the state for $100 million on behalf of a 6-year-old survivor.
Jepson says people affected "deserve a thoughtful and deliberate examination" of the tragedy and appropriate public policy responses. But he says the claims commissioner's office isn't the appropriate venue.
Attorney Irving Pinksy says his request is about school safety. He says his client sustained "emotional and psychological trauma and injury" on Dec. 14 after a gunman forced his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School and killed 20 children and six adults and then killed himself.  http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2012/dec/31/us-school-shooting-legal-claim/
This is the correct decision by the Connecticut's Attorney General. This sleazy lawyer, looking attention and the family are just despicable and they should be ashamed of themselves. There were some families that truly had losses, both financial and personal and this family and lawyer just mocks the people suffering in Sandy Hook.
The lawyer, Irving Pinksy ought to be disbarred from being a lawyer.

Will Liberals Go After Buffett Like They Did To Romney?

From WTOP: The Manassas News & Messenger is no more. The paper printed its final edition after 143 years of covering the news in Prince William County, Manassas and Manassas Park Sunday.
The paper's parent company, the Warren Buffett-owned World Media Enterprises, decided to close the paper and its website InsideNoVa.com in November, saying the paper was losing money, was in a competitive news market, and "had a tough time finding the sense of community that a community newspaper needs to prosper." World Media Enterprises purchased the paper, as well as several others, from Media General in June. The News & Messenger has been the only paper closed after the purchase so far. All employees lost their jobs, and 72 other jobs have been cut in the company.  http://www.wtop.com/164/3176295/Manassas-News-Messenger-prints-final-edition
The liberals went ape sh*t when Mitt Romney closed some businesses when he worked at Bain capital.
But since Warren Buffett is a good liberal, will the left go after Buffett, condemn him and his company, like the liberals went after Romney.
Somehow, I don't think so.

Pawn Stars Review: December 31, 2012

Happy New Years Eve and I hope everyone stays safe and sound on amateur drinking night. This is a night you might want to avoid going out and driving.
Please take the time to take the polls to the left, including whether Olivia should have been fired for appearing on an R-rated web site.
The first episode was first aired on June 18, 2012: http://lasvegasbadger.blogspot.com/2012/06/pawn-stars-reviw-june-18-2012.html
The second episode was first aired on May 21, 2012: http://lasvegasbadger.blogspot.com/2012/05/pawn-stars-review-may-21-2012.html
An update to this episode, the Mercedes Unimog has not been sold yet.  So, if you are in the market for a Unimog, it is for sale.
Have a great and safe New Years and see you here next year.
And thank you for stopping by this year as 2012 has been the biggest year to date on this blog.

Please tell Me Again Why We Should Not Re-Opn Yucca Mountain?

From the Las Vegas Sun:
A U.S. Department of Energy official says stocks of radioactive uranium could start shipping from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to Nevada in 2013.
However, The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that agency officials will not discuss exact dates of the shipments because of safety and security reasons because of the fissionable material's potential use in nuclear weapons.
DOE's Environmental Manager Mark Whitney said last fall the DOE wanted to start the shipments to the Nevada National Security site in early 2013 pending approvals to ship.
The shipments are part of a program to dispose of a stockpile of old reactor fuel called the Consolidated Edison Uranium Solidification Project that has been housed at Oak Ridge for decades.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2012/dec/31/tn-uranium-shipments/
So, just because Harry Reid and a bunch of ignorant politicians said so, thousands of workers were fired and Yucca Mountain was closed.
And the Nevada National Security site is just down the road from the "dangerous" Yucca Mountain.
But we still are receiving nuclear waste in Nevada.  So, why not re-open Yucca Mountain?

And The NFL Football Firings Begin

Lovie Smith, Andy Reid, Romeo Crennel, Chan Gailey, Pat Shurmur and soon to be fired, Norv Turner all have been fired as NFL coaches today, perhaps a record number of head coaches fired in a day.  Then, throw in all the assistant coaches that were fired with the head coach and you probably have about 60 coaches out of a job today.  Several General Managers were also fired.
And there probably be more coaches fired as well.
The big question is if the replacements of these coaches will be any better than the fired coaches.
I also wonder if these coaches were fired today, New Years Eve so that their severance packages won't be as highly taxed as if they were fired say, tomorrow.
Update: The Arizona Cardinals have also fired Ken Whisenhunt, making the number of coahes fired to 7.

Where To Watch The Strip's Fireworks







There are many areas of the Las Vegas valley to watch the Strip's New Years fireworks display.  Since the Las valley is a valley, surrounded by mountains and their foothills, and the Strip is basically at the bottom of the valley, all you have to do is find an area taller than the Strip to watch the fireworks.
Some of the favorite places of mine are in Henderson.  Horizon Ridge Parkway, from Horizon to about Gibson offer great views, however, home construction by Gibson and Horizon Ridge has taken place and we have lost some areas to watch the fireworks.
Another place is along Lake Mead Parkway, in Henderson, from Burkholder going east towards Lake Mead offers a wide, straight on view of the Strip and fireworks, probably the best view in town.
In other areas of the valley, if you live in eastern Las Vegas, Hollywood Blvd. offers a great view and in Summerlin, Freedom Park, I believe, by Bonner School also offers a nice view.
So, if you are up and want to watch the 8 minute show, just go to a place in the foothills of the mountains and watch the fireworks.  Of course, a few minutes in and the fireworks are difficult to see because of all the smoke.  But it certainly beats going to the Strip and fighting the drunks and the traffic.

Another Democratic Town, Another City With A Huge Murder rate

From the Detroit News: With a homicide rate among the highest in the nation, Detroit residents are more likely to be killed now than nearly 40 years ago when the city was known as the Murder Capital.
Homicides increased about 10 percent in 2012, pushing the murder rate to 53 per 100,000 residents. That's the highest among the nation's top 20 most populous cities and had Detroit neck-and-neck with New Orleans for the worst rate among cities with more than 200,000 residents.
Murders have declined nationwide for years, but by Thanksgiving, Detroit homicides in 2012 had surpassed the 344 tally for 2011. As of Sunday, there were at least 379 — putting the city on pace to have the most homicides since 2008.
With a dwindling population, that's the highest murder rate since the crack cocaine epidemic of the late 1980s, when it was about 60 per 100,000 residents. The rate is worse than 1974, when the city had a record 714 murders or 51 per 100,000 residents.
"This is a problem that just keeps festering," said retired Detroit Police Detective Dave Bashur. "It's a sad thing to see."
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20121231/METRO01/212310325#ixzz2GcaXP5iP
Wow, those Democrats just love killing off their supporters.

Cool, A Wee Bit Too Much

From the Orlando Sentinel: Love may not be all around, but snow is certainly around the Minneapolis house used for exterior shots on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," which is on the market at $2.895 million.
The 9,500-square-foot home, built in 1900 and sitting on one-third acre, represented the exterior of the star's apartment in the classic 1970s sitcom. The Victorian features such period details as a turret, ornate millwork, bayed rooms and leaded-glass transom windows. There are two family rooms, a turret office, an exercise room, seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms and a three-car garage.
The property last sold in 2007 for $2.8 million, public records show.  http://www.orlandosentinel.com/la-fi-mo-mary-tyler-moore-house-20121230,0,4746239.story
Lots of space, but $2,895,000 for the house?  Thanks but no thanks,

Obama/Emmanuels's Chicago: Fewer cops,More Murders

From the Chicago Sun Times: Despite promises of staffing increases, the Chicago Police Department has fewer beat officers in patrol districts across the city than before Mayor Rahm Emanuel took office, a Chicago Sun-Times analysis of city data has found.

Days after he was sworn into office last year, Emanuel announced the start of what he described as a major shift in how the police department assigns officers across the city. He promised to fulfill a campaign pledge by assigning 1,000 more cops to high-crime areas without reducing the police presence in other parts of the city.

“We cannot beat crime without more officers on the beat,” the mayor said then.

That was May 2011.

But, as of Oct. 15, a total of 6,638 rank-and-file officers were assigned to police beats citywide, down from 6,746 beat cops at the start of 2011, according to the data obtained by the Sun-Times.

While nine districts now have more officers than they did, most districts have fewer beat cops than before Emanuel and his police superintendent, Garry McCarthy, reassigned hundreds of officers, the records show.

The reason is simple: For every newly hired officer assigned to a beat during the past two years, six other sworn members of the department have retired.

And because about 1,200 retirements have sharply depleted the payroll, rank-and-file police staffing even in some high-crime areas where new officers were added last year is again declining, the Sun-Times found.

Meanwhile, lower-crime districts that didn’t benefit from Emanuel and McCarthy’s redeployment strategy have seen staffing levels continue to fall steadily due to attrition.

“Since Day 1, they’ve just been playing with the numbers,” said Mike Shields, president of the police officers’ union, which has called for an increase in hiring to offset the historic wave of retirements.

http://www.suntimes.com/17223801-761/rahm-emanuels-police-deployment-shuffle.html

Typical Obamaite promises- promise sometingand then fail to deliver.

Obamaite, Rahm Emmanuel takes after Obama, who promises many things but fails to deliver what he promises.

Something I Didn't Want To Know

From the Detroit Free Press: The Kardashian clan is getting bigger: Kanye West and Kim Kardashian are expecting their first child.
The rapper announced at a concert Sunday night that his girlfriend is pregnant.
He told the crowd of more than 5,000 at the Ovation Hall at the Revel Resort in song form: “Now you having my baby.”
The crowd roared.
Kourtney Kardahsian and Kris Jenner also tweeted about baby news. http://www.freep.com/article/20121231/ENT07/121231002/Kim-Kardashian-pregnant-Kanye-West-announces-concert?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGESo, for the next 9 months in addition for the first few months of the baby's life, the press will go nuts about these two mentally challenged morons.And the brain numbed morons will be more interested in the baby news rather than what's going on in the country.No wonder Obama won.

He Said What?

From the Houston Chronicle:
A Houston man in jail for murder should be served kosher meals, a federal appeals court ruled.
The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans reversed a lower court's judgement, stating that Max Moussazadeh has a sincere religious belief as an Orthodox Jew in keeping a kosher diet and that Texas infringed upon his beliefs by denying him free kosher meals, according to court records filed on Dec. 21.
Moussazadeh, now 35, was convicted in connection with a 1993 murder in Harris County for serving as a lookout while his three co-defendants shot a man to death during a Houston robbery. He is in the Stiles Unit in Beaumont, which does not provide free kosher meals, his attorneys said.
In 2005, Moussazadeh sued after the state denied his request for a kosher meal plan to accommodate his religious beliefs. His case centers around the 2000 Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which forbids the government from restricting religious rights of an institutionalized person.
"I feel that I am going against my beliefs and that I will be punished by God for not practicing my religion correctly," he wrote in the 2005 complaint.  http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Appeals-court-rules-Jewish-inmate-s-rights-4156045.php
Yeah, right, and God won't punish him for the being a look out while a murder was being committed and helping with a robbery.

Strange

From the San Fran Chronicle:

The body of the man who killed 26 people at a Connecticut elementary school has been claimed for burial.

Connecticut Medical Examiner Wayne H. Carver II tells the Hartford Courant (http://cour.at/TrQFyH) that the remains of Adam Lanza were claimed several days ago by someone who wanted to remain anonymous.

A spokeswoman at Carver's office told The Associated Press she could not release details about the status of Lanza's remains.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/Remains-of-Conn-gunman-claimed-for-burial-4156185.php#ixzz2GcPVoHZ6

I wonder who would claim the thugs body and why would they remain anonymous?  Maybe if it is a family member, perhaps, but still....

Couldn't Happen To A Nicer Guy (Sarcasm)

From the Chicago Tribune: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is suffering more complications linked to a respiratory infection that hit him after his fourth cancer operation in Cuba, his vice president said in a somber broadcast on Sunday.
Vice President Nicolas Maduro flew to Cuba to visit Chavez in the hospital as supporters' fears grew for the ailing 58-year-old socialist leader, who has not been seen in public nor heard from in three weeks.
Chavez had already suffered unexpected bleeding caused by the six-hour operation on December 11 for an undisclosed form of cancer in his pelvic area. Officials said doctors then had to fight a respiratory infection.
"Just a few minutes ago we were with President Chavez. He greeted us and he himself talked about these complications," Maduro said in the broadcast, adding that the third set of complications arose because of the respiratory infection.  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-venezuela-chavezbre8bu00k-20121230,0,4190891.story
I always wondered, if the socialist Venezuelan was such a socialist great nation, why is Chavez going to Cuba for medical treatment?

Hillary In Hosptials, Conspiracies Abound

From NBC News: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was admitted to a New York City hospital on Sunday after doctors discovered that a blood clot had formed, the State Department said in a statement.
Philippe Reines, a deputy assistant secretary, said in the statement that the clot stems from a concussion Clinton sustained several weeks ago.
Reines said that Clinton, 65, is being treated with anti-coagulants at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan. She will be monitored there for the next 48 hours, he said.
“Her doctors will continue to assess her condition, including other issues associated with her concussion," he said. "They will determine if any further action is required.”  http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/30/16255487-hillary-clinton-hospitalized-after-doctors-discover-blood-clot?lite
The strange part is they are not mentioning where the clot is.  While NBC people are saying that the clot may be in the legs, I doubt that.  First, if the clots are in her legs and they were caused by her inactivity, that would show some vey bad doctoring and therapy.
My theory, conspiracy theory, says the clot is in the brain area.  And maybe just conveniently, it will affect her memory concerning the problems in Benghazi, Libya.  And because of this, she won't have to appear in front of Congress.
But, whatever is the case, it is very strange that she is getting all this medical care and she still gets a clot in some part of her body.

Pipe Dreams

Somebody has been smoking crack or worse.
From the San Fran Chronicle:

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi appears to command more votes in the "fiscal cliff" negotiations than the speaker of the House, Republican John Boehner of Ohio.

That's because the San Francisco Democrat leads a unified caucus whose votes will be needed to pass any deal to avert more than $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts come Jan. 1.
Boehner's Republicans, by contrast, are rebellious and fractured, having abandoned their leader.
"She's got to be sitting back and smiling at all of this right now," said Jim Manley, formerly a top aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "She's got some pretty good cards to play."
Pelosi and other top congressional leaders met with President Obama on Friday. Reid and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell promised to try to come up with a deal by Sunday.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Rep-Nancy-Pelosi-back-in-driver-s-seat-4154861.php#ixzz2GazJMPnx
If anybody thinks that a Republican will stop and listen and vote with Pelosi, they are a bunch of crackheads.
No GOP member would sink that low.  They might not agree with Boehner but they certainly are not going to listen to Pelosi.

So Close But...

Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings came very, very close to breaking the record for most rushing yards in an NFL season.
FromESPN: Adrian Peterson ran right past everyone this season. Past all those running backs before him who couldn't make it to 2,000 yards in a season. Past every doubter who dared to think he wouldn't make it back from a devastating knee injury.
Past everyone except Eric Dickerson.
Peterson became the seventh player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season, plowing through the Green Bay Packers for a 20-yard gain that put him over the top in the third quarter Sunday. He finished with 199 yards and a touchdown in the 37-34 victory, leaving him nine yards shy of breaking Dickerson's single-season record.
"Ultimately we got the `W," Peterson said after carrying the ball a career-high 34 times. "We said during the week, if it happens, it happens. Don't focus on it."
Peterson needed 208 yards when the day began to break Dickerson's record of 2,105 yards set in 1984. His 26-yard run late in the fourth quarter set up Blair Walsh's winning field goal, a kick that clinched a playoff berth for the Vikings. He'll have to settle for the second-best total -- 2,097 yards -- and a trip to Lambeau Field for a playoff rematch next Saturday night. http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8794141/adrian-peterson-minnesota-vikings-just-misses-nfl-single-season-record-becomes-seventh-player-nfl-history-rush-2000-yards
Sorry, but O.J Simpson, Buffalo Bill rusher turned murderer, 1973 season was more impressive because he did it in only 14 games and they didn't have a week off.

Bus From Las Vegas Crashes, 9 Killed, 20 Hurt

From Reuters: Nine people were killed and at least 20 others injured on Sunday when a charter bus headed to Canada from Las Vegas skidded off an icy highway and crashed down an embankment in northeastern Oregon.
The Oregon State Police said a preliminary investigation showed the charter bus, carrying about 40 people en route to Vancouver, British Columbia, "lost control on the snow/ice covered westbound lanes of Interstate 84" near Pendleton.
The bus crashed through a guardrail and went down an embankment of around 200 feet. People trained in rope rescue were needed to bring victims back up to the highway, police said.
State Police spokesman Lt. Gregg Hastings said nine people had been confirmed killed in the crash.
"We are continuing to try and confirm the total number of passengers and number of injured persons transported to area hospital or secondary locations due to severity of injuries." the state police said in a written statement....
Authorities did not immediately release the name of the charter company but said the bus was returning to Vancouver, British Columbia, as part of a round-trip to Las Vegas, Nevada.
Police said the names of the dead and wounded would not be released until next of kin were notified, which could take several days because many were believed to be from out of the country.  http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/31/us-usa-buscrash-oregon-idUSBRE8BT0AV20121231
Sucks that you come to Las Vegas to have a good time, maybe win a few dollars and then travel home on a bus, which is usually a safe way to travel and then you end up in a bad crash where 9 people die and many others are hurt.
Prayers to the people and their families.

10,000 Show Up To Gun Show

From the Las Vegas Sun: A sense of urgency pervaded the Crossroads of the West Gun Show on Saturday at the Cashman Center.
People swarmed hundreds of vendor booths, stocking up on ammunition and guns like it was a Mayan apocalypse. Cases holding ammunition were emptied and vendors such as Andrew Prosser of Big Gun Enterprises wondered if they’d have enough goods to sell on Sunday.
A line of people waiting to exercise their Second Amendment rights wrapped around the outside of the Cashman Center. Show owner Bob Templeton estimated that 10,000 people attended the event on Saturday, easily surpassing their usual one-day total.
“We were expecting busy, but this may be our biggest show in 35 years,” Templeton said. “People are coming out in response to the concerns about firearms and ammunition (restrictions).”
Range Toys vendor A.J. Macantangay said demand for equipment had been “through the roof.” Most people bought magazines and equipment for assault rifles and AK-47s out of fear that they wouldn’t be available in the future.
“This is the busiest first day I’ve ever seen,” Macatangay said. “I’ve never seen a line wrap around (the Cashman Center).”
David Harcourt clutched a dictionary-sized box of 9-mm bullets and a receipt close to his chest as he searched for a “John Wayne-style” pump rifle. Harcourt loves gun shows for the camaraderie they provide, not to mention the special deals that are offered.
He waited 30 minutes in line to enter the event and searched nine different vendors for the ammunition. He’s had a concealed weapons permit for seven years and is concerned about the potential for gun restrictions.
“I use it to protect my family,” Harcourt said of his gun. “What am I supposed to do, hit (an attacker) with a lawnmower? I got to have something.”  http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2012/dec/30/gun-show-organizer-estimates-10000-people-attended/
I don't think it can be argued otherwise, but President Obama and the other anti-gun nuts have helped the gun industry be very, very profitable. 
Maybe it's just a conspiracy and in reality, Obama and others have purchased gun industry stock, and stands to profit?

Like Hitler, Now He Goes After Guns

Adolph Hitler and many other dictators, soon after they get power, go after the citizen's guns and now it seems like Obama is set to do the same thing.
From myway: Recalling the shooting of 20 first graders as the worst day of his presidency, President Barack Obama on Sunday pledged to put his "full weight" behind a legislative package next year aimed at containing gun violence.
In an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press," Obama voiced skepticism about proposals to place armed guards at schools in the aftermath of the Dec. 14 deadly assault at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. In his boldest terms yet, he vowed to rally the American people around an agenda to limit gun violence and said he still supports increased background checks and bans on assault weapons and high capacity bullet magazines. "It is not enough for us to say, 'This is too hard so we're not going to try,'" Obama said. "So what I intend to do is I will call all the stakeholders together. I will meet with Republicans. I will meet with Democrats. I will talk to anybody. "I think there are a vast majority of responsible gun owners out there who recognize that we can't have a situation in which somebody with severe psychological problems is able to get the kind of high capacity weapons that this individual in Newtown obtained and gun down our kids. And, yes, it's going to be hard."....
Obama said he intended to press the issue with the public. "Will there be resistance? Absolutely there will be resistance," he said. "The question then becomes whether we are actually shook up enough by what happened here that it does not just become another one of these routine episodes where it gets a lot of attention for a couple of weeks and then it drifts away. It certainly won't feel like that to me. This is something that - you know, that was the worst day of my presidency. And it's not something that I want to see repeated.".
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20121230/DA3G50V00.html
The mother of the shooter purchased the guns legally and she allowed her son to use the guns.  Assuming her was legally mentally ill and that has not been established and most people with Asperger's are not mentally ill, at least not criminally.  So, how does Obama propose stopping a mother taking her child to a shooting range? 
And a handgun was used in the killings- is he going to ban handguns that are used for protection of house, business and person?
And what exactly would have Obama done to prevent, with 100% certainty, that would have prevented the killings at Newtown or Columbine or on the street corner?
I don't own a gun and probably will never and only fired a gun in the Air Force, so any law will not affect me personally.  But I do recognize when personal liberties are taken away by people who think they are doing good but in reality, have an agenda and will come after other law abiding citizens.
No wonder the federal government bought and stockpiled so many rounds of ammunition in the past couple of years.

Senile Harry Reid Blows It Again

From Real Clear Politics: SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KENTUCKY): My office submitted our latest offer to the Majority Leader last night at 7:10 p.m. and offered to work through the night to find common ground. The Majority Leader's staff informed us they would be getting back to us this morning at 10:00 a.m., despite the obvious time crunch we all have. It's now 2:00 p.m., and we have yet to receive a response to our good-faith offer.
Now, I'm concerned about the lack of urgency here. I think we all know we're running out of time. This is far too much at stake for political gamesmanship. We need to protect the American families and businesses from this looming tax hike. Everyone agrees that that action is necessary. In order to get things moving, I have just spoken with the Majority Leader. I also placed a call to the vice president to see if he could help jump-start the negotiations on his side.
The vice president and I have worked together on solutions before, and I believe we can again. I want my colleagues to know that we'll keep everyone updated. The consequences of this are too high for the American people to be engaged in a political messaging campaign. I'm interested in getting a result here.  http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/12/30/sen_reid_to_gop_at_this_stage_were_not_able_to_make_a_counteroffer.html
Reid is an embarrassment to us here in Nevada and the United states and he needs to resign now.  He's done enough damage to Nevada and the United States.

RIP Jerome Whitehead

I remember watching him play for the Marquette Warriors and heped win them the NCAA Mens basketball championship..
From jsonline: Jerome Whitehead is best known at Marquette University for keeping the 1977 national championship on track with a buzzer-beating, game-winning layup against North Carolina-Charlotte in the NCAA semifinals.
The 6-foot-10 forward remembered as part one of the greatest teams in MU history died more than a week ago at age 56. He was found dead in a San Diego suburb, according to California authorities.
"I had always wondered what it felt like to score the winning basket in an important game like that, ever since my cousin Rufus Woods (former North Chicago star) scored the winning basket against Waukegan in 1966," Whitehead told The News-Sun newspaper of Illinois 35 years ago. "I had thought about it for a long time and finally it came true."
Marquette will observe a moment of silence for Whitehead before its Big East opener Tuesday night against Connecticut.
"We are deeply saddened by the passing of Jerome Whitehead," said Michael Broeker, Marquette's deputy athletics director. "Jerome's game-winning layup in the 1977 national semifinal victory over UNC-Charlotte will forever be celebrated as one of the great plays in our program's history. He will be missed. Jerome's family and all of those who knew and loved him are in our thoughts and prayers."  http://www.jsonline.com/sports/goldeneagles/former-marquette-basketball-player-whitehead-dies-at-56-ks86sej-185179612.html  RIP Jerome Whitehead.

Video Of Russian Plane Crash

RIP to the victims:

Yep, Sounds About Right

h/t InfoWars

Who Gives More Money To Charity In Nevada?

From Fox Reno: Nevadans with a net worth of more than $1 million make up only 0.2 percent of the state’s population but account for more than 27 percent of its reported charitable contributions, according to a report from The Private Bank by Nevada State Bank.
The third in the bank’s series of monthly reports prepared in conjunction with local market research firm Applied Analysis focused on charitable giving by Nevadans with a household net worth of at least $1 million.
Russell Price, executive vice president of The Private Bank by Nevada State Bank, said the issue is not only important around the holidays.
“Philanthropy is a value shared by The Private Bank and its customers year round,” Price said. “That being the case, we’re keeping a particularly close eye on how Washington lawmakers deal with the fiscal cliff. Limiting or even eliminating tax deductions could have significant impacts on households with a high net worth, which contribute an average of nearly $140,000 each year to charities. These dollars fund some of the most critical social services in the state. Preserving the ability for wealthy families to support causes they are passionate about is critical to our state’s future.”
Applied Analysis’ Jeremy Aguero was the lead analyst on the research effort. He found that wealthy Nevadans tend to be more charitable than their counterparts across the country, though most of their contributions leave the state. Of the $3.4 billion in large donations Nevadans donated to all charities last year, Aguero said about $900 million of that total went to organizations within the state.
“Oftentimes, people suggest that Nevadans are less generous when it comes to charitable giving, but this certainly cannot be said about the high net worth segment of the population,” he said. “Nevada’s high net worth households actually contribute more than their counterparts in other states.”  http://www.foxreno.com/news/news/state-regional/private-bank-nevada-state-bank-releases-research-c/nThB3/
But the Democrats, led by President Obama and Nevada's own Crybaby/Coward/Senile Harry Reid are intent to lessen charitable contributions by the rich by raising their taxes and reducing their deductions.
Hooray for Democrats for hurting the poor.  Why do liberals hate the poor so much?

Clark County Murders Down Again

While Chicago's murder numbers are skyrocketing and Clark County/Las Vegas's are declining.
From the LVRJ: How do you prevent a murder before it happens?
Barring any achievements in science fiction's thought-crime technology, there doesn't seem to be a blanket answer.
But in the past two years, the Metropolitan Police Department has seen a large drop in homicides. It attributes the decline to a new emphasis on intelligence-led policing, which is based on determining risk and identifying potential victims before they're killed.
Through Thursday, the department investigated 82 homicides, the last being the kidnapping and killing of 10-year-old Jade Morris.
That's down from 86 homicides last year, and a huge drop from the first decade of the new millennium. From 2001 to 2010, the department never had fewer than 100 homicides and averaged 137 per year.
"Last year was what we thought would be a historic low," said Capt. Chris Jones, who took over the Robbery/Homicide Bureau this year. "We're looking to push it down even further."
The 168 homicides in the past 24 months were 11 fewer than the 157 homicides in 2006, a record year for the agency http://www.lvrj.com/news/homicides-on-decline-in-clark-county-185144691.html
While Clark County is run by Democrats, they tend to be conservative Democrats who deal with problems as opposed to Chicago, who just whine and complain.
And the gun laws in Clark County are the exact opposite of Chicago, where gun ownership is not discouraged, unlike Chicago.
(Metro has the City of Las Vegas and unincorporated areas of Clark County along with some smaller cities like Laughlin, Moapa, Overton etc.  It doesn't include the Cities of North Las Vegas and Henderson and maybe Mesquite.  Even if you include the murders of the other cities, you probably around 95 total murders in Clark County, if not fewer)

Animal Rights Clown To Pay Ringling Brothers Circus

From The Denver Post: An animal rights group will pay Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus $9.3 million to settle a lawsuit the circus filed after courts found that activists paid a former circus worker for his help in claiming the circus abused elephants.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said Friday it was not admitting any wrongdoing in settling the lawsuit. The New York-based animal rights group was one of several involved in a lawsuit filed in 2000 against the circus' owner, Feld Entertainment Inc., claiming elephants were abused. Courts later found that the animal rights activists had paid a former Ringling barn helper involved in the lawsuit at least $190,000, making him "essentially a paid plaintiff" who lacked credibility. Two courts agreed the former barn helper, Tom Rider, wasn't credible and didn't have a right to sue. As a result, they didn't address claims the circus violated the federal Endangered Species Act by allegedly chaining the elephants for long periods and allowing trainers to use sharp tools called bullhooks. The Vienna, Va.-based Feld Entertainment Inc. sued the animal rights groups and Rider in 2007, accusing them of conspiring to harm the company's business and other illegal acts. The lawsuit claims the groups were working together with the goal of permanently banning Asian elephants from circuses. Friday's settlement covers only the ASPCA. Twelve other defendants including The Humane Society of the United States, the Animal Welfare Institute and The Fund for Animals are still involved in the lawsuit.
Read more: Animal rights group settles lawsuit with Ringling - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_22273969/animal-rights-group-settles-lawsuit-ringling#ixzz2GTOwIC6P
I remember taking a mentally handicapped child to the circus once in Madison, WI. and we were harassed by some animal rights idiots for going to the circus.  So, seeing the SPCA, which do some good work here in Vegas, pay a huge settlement to Ringling Brothers, puts a small smile on my face.  Hopefully, the other animal rights groups have to pay similar settlements as well.

Now, This Is A Good Name For An Attorney

From the Rapid City Argus Leader:
South Dakota Judge Kathleen Trandahl has apparently ruled for South Dakota Secretary of State Jason Gant and state Rep. Brian Gosch in a lawsuit over Gosch’s spot on the ballot.
Gosch, the presumptive next Speaker of the South Dakota House of Representatives, won a Republican primary and the November general election from District 32, in Rapid City.
But Stephanie Strong, a Rapid City businesswoman and activist, sued to try to force Gant to remove Gosch from the ballot.
There’s been no official release from the court, but Gosch’s attorney Sara Frankenstein said today that Trandahl ruled today in favor of Gosch and Gant in all counts.  http://www.argusleader.com/article/20121228/UPDATES/121228015/Judge-rules-Jason-Gant-Brian-Gosch-ballot-lawsuit-?nclick_check=1
Other than inventor, what other occupation could a person with the name of Frankenstein have.
Reminds me of this scene from Young Frankenstein:

Security Chicken Saves Family From Fire

From the San Bernardino Sun: A Wisconsin couple says clucks, not fire trucks, helped them escape a blaze at their home.
Dennis Murawska, 59, said a pet chicken named Cluck Cluck woke his wife Susan Cotey, 52, with loud clucking from its cage in the basement two floors below about 6:15 a.m. Thursday. The couple's two cats also were running around the main floor. Murawska said he had been half awake but didn't know about the fire because the smoke alarms hadn't gone off. He realized something was wrong when his wife got up. "The chicken gets quite vocal when she gets excited," he said. Cluck Cluck came from a nearby farm in Alma Center, about 135 miles east of Minneapolis, Murawska said. When the chicken began wandering over to his house, his neighbor said he could kill it because it wasn't producing any eggs. But Murawska felt sorry for Cluck Cluck because she had a mutated foot and decided to keep her. He fed the bird and built a coop, and then his wife let Cluck Cluck into the basement on cold nights. "I spent way more money than I ever should've," Murawska said by telephone. "I guess it paid off." The couple escaped, and firefighters found the chicken in its cage and one of the cats alive in the basement. Another cat hasn't been found and is presumed dead, Murawska said. The couple and their surviving cat checked into a Black River Falls hotel, while Cluck Cluck is staying with the neighbor who used to own her.
Read more: http://www.sbsun.com/breakingnews/ci_22274217/wis-couple-says-pet-chicken-alerted-them-blaze#ixzz2GQsboxoH
We used to have a pet chicken when we lived in Wisconsin Rapids, WI., so I can see how the chicken can get excited and alert the family to a fire.
Funniest I ever saw when I was married to my ex-wife: She was outside trying to play with "Chickie", the chicken, when instead of her chasing the chicken, the chicken began chasing her all over the yard and the ex was screaming for help, until she ran inside.  Damn, it was funny, even now.

A Gun Saves Another Life

From the Houston Chronicle:
A clerk shot a suspected robber during a holdup at a northeast Houston convenience store on Friday, police said.
At least one person staged a robbery about 3:15 p.m. inside the store on Homestead near Tidwell. A clerk grabbed a gun and opened fire, striking the suspect, Houston police said.
The man who was shot was taken by ambulance to an area hospital. His condition is unknown at this time.
The holdup and the shooting were still under investigation later Friday.  http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Store-worker-shoots-suspected-robber-police-say-4152941.php
I am not a gun nut and don't own one, but I do recognize that guns are needed for protection and they do save lives.  Unfortunately, there are some liberals out there that believe you should not be able to protect yourself when your life is in danger.

Now Come The Newtown Lawsuits

From the San Fran Chronicle:
A New Haven attorney is seeking permission from the state to sue on behalf of a 6-year-old girl who he said was traumatized by what she heard over the loudspeakers at Sandy Hook Elementary School the morning of the mass shootings.
The request, the first apparent litigation effort filed in the shootings, comes just two weeks after the death of 20 children and six educators.
Attorney Irving Pinsky sent a notice of claim and request for permission to sue the state to Claims Commissioner J. Paul Vance Jr. on Thursday on behalf of "Jill Doe, a minor child of six years of age and resident of Newtown, Connecticut."
He is asking for $100 million on the child's behalf and brings the claim through the child's parents, cited as "John and Jane Doe."
Read more: http://www.newstimes.com/local/article/First-intent-to-sue-made-in-Sandy-Hook-shootings-4153157.php#ixzz2GQWT2bzU
I'm sorry, but this lawsuit is a joke.  $100,000,000 for a kid who heard something that they heard on the loud speaker?
In fact, this lawsuit is a travesty and an insult to the kids and adults who died in the shooting by suing for that amount and blaming the State for the kid hearing something over the loud speaker.
Too bad Adam Lanza didn't visit the scum lawyer before he went to Sandy Hook school.

Obama's Chicago: 500 Murders In 2012

Chicago: America's deadliest city for murders?
From the Chicago Tribune:
On the surface, Nathaniel Jackson fit the profile of the vast majority of Chicago's homicide victims in 2012 — he had a lengthy arrest record and alleged gang ties.
But when Jackson was shot and killed Thursday night, just months after getting out of prison, he also earned the unfortunate distinction of being the 500th homicide victim in Chicago this year, a grim milestone the city reached for the first time in four years.
While Chicago had almost twice as many slayings 20 years ago as it did this year, the number 500 is a largely symbolic threshold, a reminder of the year's escalated violence and a numerical bar the city had not reached since 513 were killed in 2008.
By mid-November the city already had tallied the most homicides in four years. As of Friday, Chicago had an estimated 17 percent increase in homicides over 2011, and an 11 percent increase in shootings, according to police.
The city's rising homicide tally has been a thorny issue for Mayor Rahm Emanuel and police Superintendent Garry McCarthy for much of the year.
"It was a milestone on those days when we had zero murders and zero shootings. Those are milestones. This is a negative one, something that we never wanted," McCarthy told the Tribune Thursday afternoon, hours before Jackson, 40, was killed. "But in perspective, there's no such thing as an acceptable murder number. Even if we cut it down to 300 next year, it's still … unacceptable."  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-chicago-500th-homicide-20121229,0,3765416.story
So, let's see what happened in 2012: Rahm Emmanuel took over as mayor of Chicago.  Rahm Emmanuel is an Obamaite, in a city where President Obama lays claim to, unless, it is Hawaii, where he likes to vacation.
Obama, through his community organizing and Rahm Emmanuel helped shaped Chicago to become a 500 murder city.  It is a city that is run by liberal Democrats and this is the city that Obama and Emmanuel would like other big cities to become. It also has some so the strictest gun control laws in the country.
Congratulations to Obama, Emmanuel and the liberal Democrats for reaching the 500 murder mark.  I bet your are proud.

University of Nevada Football Coach Retires After 28 Years

From the Las Vegas Sun: Chris Ault raised Nevada football. After 28 years as coach, he felt he had taken the Wolf Pack as far as he could.
Ault announced Friday he was stepping down, leaving as the winningest coach in school history, already a Hall of Famer, and having changed the way teams play offense nationwide.
Under Ault, the Wolf Pack went from Division II to I-AA to I-A, winning at every level with some of the most prolific and innovative offenses in the country.
The 66-year-old won 10 conference championships and took the Wolf Pack to the postseason 16 times, including 10 bowl games in 12 FBS seasons. He finished with a record of 233-109-1.
"It's with great humility and mixed emotions I've decided it's time for me to step down and move on," a tearful Ault said at a news conference. "Wolf Pack football firmly established a blueprint for success that can be sustained."
Perhaps his most famous contribution came late in his career, when he invented the Pistol offense in 2005, a scheme now employed by hundreds of teams at every level of football.  http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2012/dec/28/unr-football-coach-chris-ault-retiring/
Most people outside of Nevada probably never heard of Chris Ault, unless you were a true college football fanatic.  To be honest, I never heard of him until I moved to Nevada from Wisconsin, but once I got to know who he is, I was truly impressed. 
Ault will be truly missed, not only in Nevada but in all of college football.  He went out on top of his game and left on his own terms.  How many football coaches can say that?

New Poll Questions Are Up- Shoul;d Olivia Been Fired?

I have put up 3 new poll questions up for your enjoyment and input:
Olivia, the former night shift worker on Pawn Stars was fired just before Christmas so do you think she should have been fired or not or is this just going to be a story line in future episodes?
Will the Notre Dame Fighting Irish go undefeated this season in college football and be the number football team
And, do you make New Years resolutions?
Let us know what you think and thanks for taking the poll.

Coward Harry Reid Lies Up To His Name

Will Coward/Senile/Crybaby Harry Reid come out for gun control or won't he, in light of the tragedy in Newtown, CT?
From the Las Vegas Sun:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is a gun man, always has been.
And although the Nevada native has welcomed the call by President Barack Obama to respond to the Newtown, Conn., massacre with action, Reid has yet to endorse — or even utter the phrase — “gun control.”
Obama expects Reid to get the gun control legislation he’ll announce in January through Congress. Polls show a majority of Americans want Congress to act to regulate firearms after the Dec. 14 killings of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
But before Reid can whip up votes on measures to scale back access to guns, he has to wrestle with the issue himself.
“He’s a gun guy,” one of Reid’s closest confidants said. “But I think he recognizes that times have changed.”.....
Reid also staunchly supports Obama’s call to move toward a comprehensive response to recent mass shootings in Newtown; Portland, Ore.; Aurora, Colo.; and Oak Creek, Wis., that includes gun control, but he has resisted invitations to express his opinion on any changes in firearm regulation.
His office turned down a request to interview Reid for this article and did not respond to questions about Reid’s stance or current relationship to guns — not even to clarify how many he owns, whether he keeps any in D.C. and how often he shoots.  http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2012/dec/28/harry-reid-may-have-change-his-tone-gun-control/
That's some leadership, Coward Reid.  Why don't you just resign and live in your luxury condo in the Washington D.C. Ritz Carlton, where you intend to live after you leave the Senate.

How Did My 2012 Predictions Do?

Here are my 2012 predictions, first posted on January 2, 2012:
1. The Wisconsin Badgers will not win the 2012 Rose Bowl and not cover the spread. True- Badgers lost and didn't cover the spread.
2. The Badgers will finish in the top 4 in the 2012 Big 10 (12) season and not win the Big 10 title. (Football) 1/2 point, they were in the top 4 but luckily won the Big 10 Title in the Championship game.
3. The Green Bay Packers will not win the Super Bowl. (maybe I can be a jinx) True
4. Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers will get the 50 game suspension. False- he won his appeal
5. Prince Fielder will resign with the Brewers False- he signed with the Detroit Tigers
6. The Miami Heat will win the NBA championship: True- They won the NBA Championship
7. Tiger Woods will win one tournament in 2012 but not a major. 1/2 point- he did win 3 tournaments but did not win a major
8. Eric Holder will no longer be the Attorney General by October. Unfortunately, not true
9. Danny Tarkanian, Joe Heck and Mark Amodei will be elected to the House of Representatives for Nevada. 1/2 point- Heck and Amodei won, Tark did not
10. Dina Titus will win election to the House.  True, unfortunately
12. Dean Heller beats Shelly Berkley in the Senate race in Nevada.  True
13. The GOP candidate carries Nevada. False
14. Mitt Romney wins the GOP nomination.  True
15. President Romney.  False
16. The Senate is taken over by the GOP.  Sadly, false
17. The GOP retains the House.  True
18. Gov. Scott Walker will be governor of Wisconsin in June, as the recall effort fails.  True
19. The unemployment rate in Nevada will be around 10% in December.  True, its about 10.1%
20. The GOP will take over the Nevada Senate but will lose the Assembly.  Close but no cigar
21. The Clark County teachers union will lose it's arbitration with the District. False, the teachers won
22. Despite a lot of threats, there will be no teacher layoffs this year.  True- no layoffs and in fact they hired
23. The outcry between Judge Steve Jones and an assistant DA and the supposed affair will go nowhere.  True, until a few weeks ago when he was charged by the Nevada Commission on Judges for the affair
24. The over/under for the high temp. in Las Vegas will be 114 and I go with the over.  True- the temp hit 114 on July 14.
25. There will be a major forest fire in the Mount Charleston area this year.  False, thankfully
26. The number of police shootings will be down significantly in 2012.  True, though we had a few
27. Gitmo, the prison for terrorists in Cuba, will still be open at the end of the 2012.  Still true
28. UNLV basketball will make the NCAA's and go out in the 2nd or 3rd round.  Pretty much true- they made the tourney and went out in the 1st round
29. UNLV football will win 5 games in 2012.  sadly, false- only 2 wins
30. The Occupy Movement will be done with by July.  True- hardly a peep out of them
31. Indy car racing will come back to Las Vegas in 2o12 despite the denials.  false- idiot Indy Car people
So, out of 31 predictions, I got 16 1/2 right, right at just over 50%.  Not bad considering I was making predictions out 11 months in some cases.  Still beats most of the so-called professionals who make a living on the different talk shows.

Newspaper Prints Names Of Gun Owners, Outs Battered/Stalked Women

From the LA Times:
In the annals of the gun debate, both the act and the outrage that followed are familiar: On Saturday, the Journal News of White Plains, N.Y., published an interactive map showing the names and addresses of thousands of handgun permit holders in Westchester and Rockland counties.
Click on a dot and zoom in: You'll get a name and an address of everybody who owns a handgun permit, which the paper obtained through a public records request.
The story soon dominated the Internet. Through Wednesday, it was still drawing outrage from online commentators as well as from conservative political interests such as Breitbart.com, which saw a media outlet targeting law-abiding gun owners' privacy -- and safety -- after a polarizing tragedy in Newtown, Conn.
“I am outraged by this as you have put me, my family, friends and others at risk," wrote Keisha Sutton on the newspaper's Facebook page. "My family and friends consist of law enforcement officers and 'licensed' handgun owners.”
Others argued that publishing such personal information would drive gun owners to the black market.
CynDee Royle, the newspaper's editor and vice president/news, was not surprised at the reaction.
"We knew publication of the database would be controversial," she said, "but we felt sharing as much information as we could about gun ownership in our area was important in the aftermath of the Newtown shootings.”  http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-newspaper-gun-owners-20121226,0,2883615.story
From Newsfeed: Understandably, gun owners and privacy-rights activists are rather upset. The article, posted Saturday, has since received nearly 2,000 comments, most of them criticizing the newspaper. “This is the type of thing you do for sex offenders, not law-abiding gun owners,” wrote commenter Curtis Maenza. Others pointed out that the map could in fact help promote additional crimes, by highlighting homes that do not have guns, providing “a list of homes to avoid, now knowing that the other homes in the neighborhood are not armed and thus easier to invade,” wrote commenter Joseph Conklin.
Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/12/26/outrage-after-new-york-paper-posts-map-of-gun-owners-names-and-addresses/#ixzz2GK4JUDIa
When this idiot "newspaper" printed the names of the people who had legally purchased and licensed a firearm, the newspaper outed women who had bought a firearm for protection from stalkers, pissed off boyfriends/husbands that beat them and also outed former police officers who now have to worry that criminals they put in jail will now come after them.
But a blogger decided that turnabout is fair play and outed the newspaper employees by printing and mapping their addresses:
The map indicates the addresses of all Journal News Employees in the New York Tri-State area. Each dot represents an individual Journal News employee -- a reporter, editor or staffer. The data does not include freelancers — reporters or photographers — which can be hired without being an employee. Being included in this map does not mean the individual at a specific location is a responsible reporter or editor, just that they are a reporter or editor.
Data for all categories is included, but certain information is not available on an individual basis. http://www.newrochelletalk.com/content/map-where-are-journal-news-employees-your-neighborhood
So, take a look at the map where the newspaper people and maybe send them a nice letter thanking them for outing battered and stalked women along with former cops who now have to think about the criminals who may be after them.

Obama's Chicago: Almost 500 Murders In 2012

From the Chicago Tribune: Hours after he was fatally shot, a small, shallow collection of blood stained the ground in the Southwest Side alley where Federico Martinez was killed.
As his neighbors and friends gathered around a small memorial commemorating the Gage Park man’s life, they struggled to make sense of his death.
“He was just telling me he was trying to straighten his life out,” said Alexis Nieto Davilla, 24, who said she knew Martinez from the neighborhood. “He wanted to become a good father for his kids. But he got gunned down.”
The murder of Martinez, 32, brought the city closer to 500 homicides this year, statistics show. This year is the first time the city has had this many slayings since 2008.
While the city of Chicago has more working police officers per capita among the five major cities, it has the second-highest homicide rate. In terms of raw numbers, the city will finish 2012 with the highest number of murders in the country, statistics show.  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-chicago-violence-homicide-violence-december-26-december-27-20121226,0,629542.story
This is Obama's Chicago.  This is Obamaite, Rahm Emmanuel's Chicago.  This is what Obama wants America to look like.
And almost 500 murders with one of the toughest gun laws in the country, how can that be?  These people must be getting killed by knives, sling shots, beatings, baseball bats etc.
Chicago: Welcome to Obama Land.

Good: Bird Head Hunters Charged

From the Las Vegas Sun: Two University of California-Berkeley law students have been charged for their alleged roles in an October incident that resulted in the decapitation of an exotic bird at the Flamingo’s Wildlife Habitat.
Clark County District Attorney Steven Wolfson announced the filing of criminal charges Thursday morning against Justin Teixeira, 24, and Eric Cuellar, 24.
A witness told security she saw two men, later identified as Cuellar and Teixeira, walk out of bushes in the habitat with the dead bird, a 14-year-old helmeted guinea fowl named Turk, on the morning of Oct. 12, according to a Metro Police arrest report. Teixeira, who was holding the bird, allegedly threw it toward Cuellar and said, "I (expletive) killed wildlife," the report states.
“This was a cruel and malicious act,” Wolfson said. “It is important to hold people accountable for their actions.”
Teixeira is charged with killing another person’s animal (felony), torturing, overdriving, injuring or abandoning animals (felony), conspiracy to torture, harass or abandon animals (gross misdemeanor), and instigating, engaging in or furthering an act of cruelty to an animal (misdemeanor). If convicted on all counts, Teixeira could be sentenced to time in prison, county jail time, probation, Wolfson’s office said.
Cuellar is charged with instigating, engaging in or furthering an act of cruelty to an animal (misdemeanor). If convicted, Cuellar could face a sentence of two days to six months in jail, 48 to 120 hours of community service, and a $200 to $1,000 fine, prosecutors said.
Surveillance video captured a third person with Teixeira and Cuellar following the bird, and Wolfson said an ongoing investigation could result in criminal charges against one or more additional individuals.  http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2012/dec/27/cal-law-students-charged-decapitation-exotic-bird-/
My only question is why it took so long for the charges to be brought.
Being a drunk college student is no excuse for what these two idiots did. You can kiss their law careers good bye, thankfully.

I Think That's A Good Excuse!

From the Las Vegas Sun: The Nevada Supreme Court has overturned the first-degree murder conviction of a Las Vegas man because a woman, whom prosecutors objected to because she was a Democrat, was improperly excluded from the jury.
A three-judge panel said “discriminatory jury selection” merited reversal of the verdict reached at the trial of Jermaine Brass, who was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
In a concurring opinion, Justice Mark Gibbons said the prosecution’s reason for seeking the woman’s dismissal was that she was a registered Democrat and had “Democratic” views on law enforcement.
“Political affiliation is not a proper component as a basis for asserting a challenge to a juror,” Gibbons wrote.
Brass and his brother Ronnie Brass were convicted of the murder of Ernest Mitchell, who was shot 10 times outside his home in January 2009 over an argument about whether the brothers had stolen tire rims from the victim.
Ronnie Brass was stabbed to death while serving his sentence at the Ely State Prison.  http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2012/dec/27/justice-woman-wrongly-kept-jury-being-democrat/
This is a very bad ruling, not because of the Democrat issue, but they should have decided if the the thug was guilty or not.
But if I were a prosecutor, I would try and knock off every Democrat/liberal I could find- most tend to be sympathetic to thugs and well, they tend not be as smart as a...well, I won't go there because there are a couple of smart Democrats out there in the world.  I haven't met one yet but I am sure there is an intelligent one out there, somewhere.

Crybaby/Senile/Coward Harry Reid Gives Up On Fiscal Cliff

From the LVRJ: With less than five days remaining until the turn of the year, Sen. Harry Reid said Thursday the nation likely is headed over the fiscal cliff.
With no deal in sight, "I have to be very honest, I don't know timewise how (a fix) can happen now," Reid said.
On New Year's Eve, when the ball drops on Times Square, "it's not going to be a good drop," he said. "Come the first of the year, Americans will have less income than they have today."  http://www.lvrj.com/news/reid-says-brace-for-the-cliff-184959381.html
Hey, that's the spirit, you coward, Harry Reid, just give up and refuse to compromise.  Fact is, it is yours and the moron Obama's fault.  They are willing to throw the country in a recession just to tax millionaires, which will not do one bit of good to the economy or the deficit.
The Senate needs new leadership because Crybaby/Coward/Senile Harry Reid is not a leader.  Instead is he is a brown nose butt kisser of Obama.
Reid is not happy ruining the economy of Nevada and now he wants to ruin the economy of the United States.  Way to swing for the fences, Crybaby/Coward, Senile Harry Reid.

Update: 10 Year Old Girl Found Dead

From the LVRJ: The missing girl was found, but now the mourning begins.
Authorities found a body Thursday they believe is Jade Morris, a 10-year-old girl missing for almost a week.
Her body was discovered in an unfinished development in a North Las Vegas neighborhood near Deer Springs Way and North 5th Street.
Brenda Stokes, 50, the fiancee of Jade's father, was last seen with the girl about 5 p.m. Friday but has not cooperated with police. She has not yet been charged with the death, as detectives continued to collect and analyze evidence.
Capt. Chris Jones, who oversees the Las Vegas police homicide section, said the girl was discovered about 12:30 p.m. by a person walking a dog.
Police will defer to the Clark County coroner's office to officially identify the girl, but Jade's family had been notified of their discovery.
"I can tell you the likelihood is, this is our victim," Jones said at a press conference.
Sources told the Review-Journal that police treated the investigation into Jade's disappearance as a likely homicide since Friday night, when Stokes was arrested at the Bellagio casino after she slashed the face of a blackjack dealer.  http://www.lvrj.com/news/police-find-body-believed-to-be-missing-10-year-old-girl-in-desert-184980791.html
How sad that a pathetic thug woman kills an innocent girl and over what?  Jealousy?  Bring on the death penalty, or let the thug Stokes be allowed into the general population of the jail or prison and let the prisoners take care of this bitch thug.

RIP General Norman Schwarzkoph

A true American hero died today as General Norman Schwarzkopph has died.
From Fox News: Truth is, retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf didn't care much for his popular "Stormin' Norman" nickname.
The seemingly no-nonsense Desert Storm commander's reputed temper with aides and subordinates supposedly earned him that rough-and-ready moniker. But others around the general, who died Thursday in Tampa, Fla., at age 78 from complications from pneumonia, knew him as a friendly, talkative and even jovial figure who preferred the somewhat milder sobriquet given by his troops: "The Bear."
That one perhaps suited him better later in his life, when he supported various national causes and children's charities while eschewing the spotlight and resisting efforts to draft him to run for political office.
He lived out a quiet retirement in Tampa, where he'd served his last military assignment and where an elementary school bearing his name is testament to his standing in the community.
Schwarzkopf capped an illustrious military career by commanding the U.S.-led international coalition that drove Saddam Hussein's forces out of Kuwait in 1991 -- but he'd managed to keep a low profile in the public debate over the second Gulf War against Iraq, saying at one point that he doubted victory would be as easy as the White House and the Pentagon predicted.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/12/27/gen-norman-schwarzkopf-who-led-coalition-forces-in-persian-gulf-war-dies/#ixzz2GJNO0foX 
2012 has been a horrible year for celebrity deaths.

Update: Husband Charged Killing On-Duty Police Officer

I wonder when the last time this has happened:
From jsonline:
Benjamin Sebena, a wounded Iraqi war veteran who told investigators he had been stalking his wife for days, was charged Thursday with the Christmas Eve shooting death of his wife, Wauwatosa Police Officer Jennifer L. Sebena.
According to a criminal complaint, Benjamin Sebena told police he shot his wife early Monday after lying in wait for her for hours.
When she emerged from a break at the Wauwatosa Fire Department station on Underwood Ave., he said, he shot her in the back of her head with his own handgun and then shot her several times in the face with her service weapon, according to the complaint.
A decorated Marine, Benjamin Sebena, 30, had been part of the invasion force at the start of the Iraq War in 2003. He returned in the fall of 2004 and was sent to Ramadi.
"We were trained to kill," he says in a YouTube video made for a 2010 Christian men's conference.
"We were trained death is OK. Wasn't trained to deal with death, but we're definitely trained to kill."
In the video, Sebena claims to have killed a child in self-defense and to have watched 50 friends die in combat. He displays ropes of scar tissue that mar his knees, chest and shoulder - wounds he suffered during a mortar attack that killed a friend in February 2005. http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/husband-of-slain-tosa-officer-to-be-charged-officials-say-ek8614b-184926151.html
When this was first reported, something just seemed strange about this case.  The cop never mentioned she was out on a call and a rest place for the cops is the fire station, close to where she was found.
Clearly, this man is troubled but that is no reason why he killed his wife.
RIP to the officer and prayers to the family and officers of the Wauwatosa Police Dept.

If The GOP Were Smart....

They would let the U.S. go over the Fiscal Cliff and allow the budget cuts go through and then turn around and demand the Bush era tax cuts go through, maybe with a little higher rate for those making a million or more a year and see what Obama does.  Does Obama want to be known for the president who has raised the income tax rates on the poor and the middle class?  I doubt it.
Then, if the Democrats want to restore some of the budget cuts, make them come up with a budget, something they haven't done for many years.
But then the GOP isn't that smart.

Is It A Coinsidence....

That the Green Bay Packers have gone 8-1 since Charles Woodson was hurt and 3-3 when he was playing?
Woodson has cost the Green Bay Packers several games with his penalties and stupid plays.  Keep him on the side line, Coach McCarthy.

Something Oscar Goodman Would Be Proud Of

 

From the Oregonian: The many, many Portlanders who've missed the holiday tradition of a 32-foot-tall martini glass shining on a Southwest Hills home can rest assured: The giant glass and its oversize olive are safe and will be relighted next holiday season and well into the future.  http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2012/12/cheers_portlands_32-foot_marti.html

Meanwhile, former Las Vegas mayor, Oscar Goodman was seen climbing into the martini glass but was found crying after he found out it was empty.



They're Treating Him With What?

George H.W. Bush (The Older) is in the hospital and ICU for treatment of breathing problems and fever.  He has been in the hospital for over a month now and some media outlets are starting to write his obituary. 
This from the San Fran Chronicle: The 41st president has been at Methodist Hospital for more than a month now.

Jim McGrath, Bush's spokesman in Houston, said the 88-year-old's fever rose on Wednesday, but doctors at Methodist Hospital report he is doing better than the day before. He was admitted to the ICU on Sunday.

"He is considered in guarded condition," McGrath said. "He has suffered a series of setbacks."
The fever is being treated with Tylenol, but it's not responding to the treatment.
McGrath was not sure what caused the fever.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Former-President-Bush-41-in-guarded-condition-in-4147280.php#ixzz2GEGWFuF2
While Tylenol is a good treatment for the average run of the mill fever that we get at home, I sure hope they are treating him with something besides Tylenol.
I hope he gets better but some liberals from the San Fran Chronicle are not so kind:
sfsmurf

10:16 PM on December 26, 2012

All Bushes are evil. Karma time, baby

And to sfsmurf, karma will get you.

So Much For Resigning In The Obama Administrations

Will anyone in the Obama administration take responsibility for anything?
From the New York Post: The four officials supposedly out of jobs because of their blunders in the run-up to the deadly Benghazi terror attack remain on the State Department payroll — and will all be back to work soon, The Post has learned.
The highest-ranking official caught up in the scandal, Assistant Secretary of State Eric Boswell, has not “resigned” from government service, as officials said last week. He is just switching desks. And the other three are simply on administrative leave and are expected back.
The four were made out to be sacrificial lambs in the wake of a scathing report issued last week that found that the US compound in Benghazi, Libya, was left vulnerable to attack because of “grossly inadequate” security.
State Department leaders “didn’t come clean about Benghazi and now they’re not coming clean about these staff changes,” a source close to the situation told The Post., adding, the “public would be outraged over this.”
US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the Sept. 11 attack, originally blamed on a spontaneous demonstration against a US-made anti-Islam video that got out of hand. http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/benghazi_penalties_are_bogus_ncP7RZx5uTIgDPbTp5WtoN?utm_medium=rss&utm_content=International
The last 4 years of the Obama administration have been a joke and we are in for 4 more years from this clown we call a president.
It's really to the point where not only do I not respect this clown but am starting not to respect the office as well.
Truly the worst president in the history of the United States.  Ever.

Can't Wait Till This Comes To The U.S.

From the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune:
An Australian court has ruled that a woman who was injured while having sex in her hotel room during a business trip is eligible for workers' compensation, The Australian reports.
The unidentified woman, who was in her late 30s, claimed facial and psychological injuries after a glass light fitting fell from the wall above the bed in her hotel room while she was having sex with a male friend.
The fixture hit her in the face, injuring her nose and mouth, the Associated Press reported. The woman, who was on a businesstrip to Nowra, 100 miles south of her hometown of Sydney, later suffered depression and was unable to continue working for the government.
The male friend said in a statement at the time that they were "going hard" and that he did not know if they bumped the light or it just fell down during the tryst in 2007.
The woman's initial compensation claim was initially accepted by Comcare, the federal government's insurer, but was later revoked after an administrative tribunal ruled that sex was "not an ordinary incident of an overnight stay" such as showering, sleeping and eating, the AP reported.
After three appeals, however, the Full Bench of the Federal Court ruled last week that in the absence of misconduct or any intentionally self-inflicted injury, the injuries should be considered as sustained during "the course of her employment."  http://www.wisconsinrapidstribune.com/usatoday/article/1774297?odyssey=obinsite
I am sure there are a lawyer or thousand that are going to try this theory and with many liberals in the courts, this probably will be the next thing that brings America down another notch.

Why, Yes, It Does Snow In Las Vegas

From the Las Vegas Sun:
Snow flurries were reported across the Las Vegas Valley this morning, the National Weather Service said.
The west side of the valley saw the most flurries, though the snow did not stick to the ground, said Ryan Metzger, a meteorologist with the weather service.
The snow flurries are expected to change into scattered showers after about 9 a.m., he said. Clouds are expected to remain most of the day, he said.
Today’s high temperature is expected to reach 50 degrees, Metzger said.  http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2012/dec/26/snow-flurries-reported-across-las-vegas-valley/
I heard the Strip and downtown got some snow flurries today, but alas, we didn't get any in Henderson.
Since moving from Wisconsin, I have become such a wimp when it comes to cold weather.  When I first moved here, I used to wear a t-shirt when it was 40 degrees out.  Now, I wear an undershirt, shirt and sweatshirt in 40 degree weather.  I am also able to tolerate 100 degree weather better.  Maybe we could get a little global warming around this time of year.

Shouldn't They Have stopped At 20?

From the Las Vegas Sun: The Nevada Supreme Court says it will no longer accept appeals from a prison inmate deemed a “vexatious litigant” unless he pays the associated court fees.
Percy Lavae Bacon, an inmate at the Southern Desert Correctional Center, has submitted 108 appeals with the court, officials said.
In February, the court said its “limited resources are not well spent in reviewing and deciding frivolous petitions and appeals.”
The court said it cannot impose a fine against Bacon, serving an 18-year burglary sentence, because he has no money to pay.  http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2012/dec/26/court-says-no-more-inmate-who-has-filed-108-appeal/
It's crazy that the court had to read through 108 appeals and it should have stopped a long time ago.  Maybe it's time the State legislators come up with a bill and set a limit of the number of appeals at about 20 per conviction.

It's Not All Fun And Games Working For A Las vegas Star

Sometimes, the work at a Las Vegas show is dangerous and sometimes people get hurt badly.
From the LVRJ: Matthew Moore sits in his Pahrump home, his arm in a cast and his neck in a brace.
The 35-year-old stagehand remembers nothing about how he ended up in this position.
He just knows it has something to do with that day working on the set of "Still the One," the Shania Twain show at Caesars Palace.
"Everybody was being pretty safe. I was getting comfortable with the crew," he said, "and then one day I woke up in a hospital bed."
Moore, 35, is one of two stagehands who have fallen into the stage's two-story loading pit in the past 14 months, prompting investigations and fines from state regulators, and raising questions about workplace safety....
AEG Live said that "all safety mechanisms were in place" when Moore, a stagehand hired by a subcontractor to handle wireless microphones, fell into the pit Nov. 19.
What Moore does remember is that during his few days on the set, he sensed safety was emphasized. He noticed the bullhorn was used when the pit was lowered.
"They don't normally do that on a stage," said Moore, who has worked on stages in Pahrump, Las Vegas and around the world since he was 16.
But he said he did notice that the rope stanchion - similar to the ones you see in lines for movie theaters and airport security gates - was sometimes used and sometimes not.
He doesn't know what was being used the day he fell. He just remembers waking up in a bed at University Medical Center with a broken arm, herniated discs in his neck and swelling in his brain. He can barely see out of his right eye.
He was so confused when he woke up that he believed he had been in a plane crash. Friends told him he fell 30 feet into the pit.  http://www.lvrj.com/news/working-back-from-injury-184793501.html
I've been to many shows on the Strip and most performances are safe, but then some of the acrobatic shows can be dangerous to both the performer and sometimes the audience. 
I just wonder, the author of the story did not give a response from Shania Twain- I wonder if she even knew if someone was badly hurt on her show.

Las Vegas's Guy Fieri's Beat Down

It's must be tough to open a restaurant in New York City as the dining critics are just down right mean.
From the New York Times and their dining critic, Pete Wells: GUY FIERI, have you eaten at your new restaurant in Times Square? Have you pulled up one of the 500 seats at Guy’s American Kitchen & Bar and ordered a meal? Did you eat the food? Did it live up to your expectations? ...
Did you notice that the menu was an unreliable predictor of what actually came to the table? Were the “bourbon butter crunch chips” missing from your Almond Joy cocktail, too? Was your deep-fried “boulder” of ice cream the size of a standard scoop?

What exactly about a small salad with four or five miniature croutons makes Guy’s Famous Big Bite Caesar (a) big (b) famous or (c) Guy’s, in any meaningful sense? ...

If a customer shows up with a reservation at one of your two Tex Wasabi’s outlets, and the rest of the party has already been seated, does the host say, “Why don’t you have a look around and see if you can find them?” and point in the general direction of about 200 seats? ....

How did Louisiana’s blackened, Cajun-spiced treatment turn into the ghostly nubs of unblackened, unspiced white meat in your Cajun Chicken Alfredo?

How did nachos, one of the hardest dishes in the American canon to mess up, turn out so deeply unlovable? Why augment tortilla chips with fried lasagna noodles that taste like nothing except oil? Why not bury those chips under a properly hot and filling layer of melted cheese and jalapeños instead of dribbling them with thin needles of pepperoni and cold gray clots of ground turkey? ...

Somewhere within the yawning, three-level interior of Guy’s American Kitchen & Bar, is there a long refrigerated tunnel that servers have to pass through to make sure that the French fries, already limp and oil-sogged, are also served cold? http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/dining/reviews/restaurant-review-guys-american-kitchen-bar-in-times-square.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2 

And it gets worse.

I don't know if the food critic views are accurate or not- everything is subjective.  I earlier wrote a bad report about the Terrible Casino's buffet but there may be some people who actually like the buffet.  But this guy, Wells, sure can put in some nasty words that cut through the heart of the owner of the restaurant. 

h/t Althouse