Snoop Dogg Now Snoop Lion

From the San Francisco Chronicle: Snoop Dogg wants you to know that he's tired of hip-hop, is Bob Marley reincarnated and is embracing reggae instead of the culture of guns he once rapped about.
Also, he's got a new name: Snoop Lion.
The artist said at a news conference Monday in New York that he was "born again" during a visit to Jamaica in February and is ready to make music that his "kids and grandparents can listen to."
The former gangster rapper is releasing a reggae album called "Reincarnated" in the fall. He said that in Jamaica, he connected with Bob Marley's spirit and is now "Bob Marley reincarnated."...
 "I feel like I've always been Rastafarian," Snoop said of the spiritual Jamaican movement. While there, he said, he visited a temple, was renamed Snoop Lion and was also given the Ethiopian name Berhane, meaning "light of the world."
Snoop didn't explain why he was switching from "Dogg" to "Lion," but it's likely a reference to the Lion of Judah, a religious symbol popular in Rastafarian and Ethiopian culture.
 http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Snoop-Dogg-becomes-Snoop-Lion-readies-reggae-CD-3750125.php
Snoop Lion is a Rastafarian. 
Wow, a dope smoking feline that sleeps 20 hours a day.  What a concept.

U.S, Women (?) Win Team Gold In Gymnastics

The U.S. Women's (Girls) Gymnastics team won gold in a dominating fashion over Russia tonight.
From ESPN: One by one, the Americans thundered down the runway, soared high above the vault and slammed into the mat.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
When the fireworks were over, so was everybody else's chance for the gold medal.
 The Americans lived up to their considerable hype and then some Tuesday night, routing silver medalist Russia and everybody else on their way to their first Olympic title in women's gymnastics since 1996. Their score of 183.596 was a whopping five points better than Russia's, and set off a debate over whether this is the best U.S. team of all time. Romania won the bronze.
"Others might disagree. The '96 team might disagree. But this is the best team," U.S. coach John Geddert said.
The Americans didn't botch a single routine, and all but three of their 12 scores were 15.0 or higher. The Russians, on the other hand, had just one score above 15 in their last two events as they unraveled down the stretch. They sat on the sidelines sniffling and watching glumly as the Americans turned their final event, floor exercise, into a coronation.  http://espn.go.com/olympics/summer/2012/gymnastics/story/_/id/8218548/2012-london-olympics-us-women-win-first-gymnastics-gold-medal-1996
As an old comedian said once: "After the won the gold, they went out to celebrate and ate a corn flake."
These girls/ladies looked fantastic and did things almost physically unimaginable and they won the gold.
These kids have class and are amazing athletes.

Obama Officials Interfer In Black Panther Investigation

This should shock no one.  from the Washington Examiner: A federal court in Washington, DC, held last week that political appointees appointed by President Obama did interfere with the Department of Justice’s prosecution of the New Black Panther Party.
The ruling came as part of a motion by the conservative legal watch dog group Judicial Watch, who had sued the DOJ in federal court to enforce a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for documents pertaining to the the New Black Panthers case. Judicial Watch had secured many previously unavailable documents through their suit against DOJ and were now suing for attorneys’ fees.
Obama’s DOJ had claimed Judicial Watch was not entitled to attorney’s fees since “none of the records produced in this litigation evidenced any political interference whatsoever in” how the DOJ handled the New Black Panther Party case. But United States District Court Judge Reggie Walton disagreed. Citing a “series of emails” between Obama political appointees and career Justice lawyers, Walton writes:
The documents reveal that political appointees within DOJ were conferring about the status and resolution of the New Black Panther Party case in the days preceding the DOJ’s dismissal of claims in that case, which would appear to contradict Assistant Attorney General Perez’s testimony that political leadership was not involved in that decision. Surely the public has an interest in documents that cast doubt on the accuracy of government officials’ representations regarding the possible politicization of agency decision-making.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/federal-court-finds-obama-appointees-interfered-with-new-black-panther-prosecution/article/2503500
President Obama: First Gay President but the Most Corrupt President ever.

Another MLB Star Files For Bankruptcy

From the Las Vegas Sun: Jose Canseco Jr., the 1988 American League MVP slugger for the Oakland A’s who later admitted to steroid use, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection Tuesday in Las Vegas.
Canseco, who has been playing for the minor league Worcester Tornadoes in Massachusetts, listed extensive tax debts and other liabilities in Tuesday’s filing.
His bankruptcy petition, which says he lives in Las Vegas, lists $20,850 in assets against $1.686 million in liabilities. Among the liabilities is some $506,000 owed to the IRS as well as various judgments and accounts in collection.
Canseco ranks 34th on the all-time home run list with 462 HRs.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2012/jul/31/baseballs-jose-canseco-jr-files-bankruptcy-protect/
Canseco made millions both as an athlete and off field in acting and endorsements.
Now, he is broke.
Now, another highly paid athlete throws his finances down the drain.

Steve Sebilus Nails Shelly Berkley In KidneyGate 2012

Steve Sebilus nails Shelly Berkley and her unethical behavior.
From the LVRJ: "Shelley Berkley stood up for everybody in Nevada who was on dialysis," Copeland says in the ad. "When people say Shelley Berkley put money in her own pocket to keep the transplant center open, that's ridiculous. It's all about taking care of people in Nevada, keeping people alive, saving lives."
Copeland is right that Berkley didn't profit. Although Lehrner's medical practice oversees UMC's entire kidney program, the contract he had with the hospital would not have changed even if the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had terminated transplants. (Lehrner's practice doesn't perform transplant operations.)
But this is not just about saving lives. Berkley wrote to and telephoned the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to plead for the program, without disclosing her husband's involvement. That's questionable, even without a pecuniary benefit.
Moreover, Berkley did not need to be personally involved. With fellow Reps. Dean Heller and Jon Porter on board, to say nothing of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the program would have been saved even if Berkley had abstained because of her conflict.
 In a second ad, kidney patient Patrick Clary says he was scared when he heard the transplant center would shut down. Without UMC, patients would have to travel to Arizona or California for surgery.
But wasn't Clary equally concerned about the reasons the federal government had for shutting down the program in the first place? Four people died after undergoing transplants at UMC, deaths the hospital itself acknowledged as failures. The attention brought to the issue by the threatened closure helped turn the program around, but it wasn't as if Medicare officials acted arbitrarily.
A third ad, however, glosses over a salient point: "When cuts were threatened to reduce Medicare coverage, Shelley Berkley fought to stop them. And because her husband's a doctor, now she's being accused of wrongdoing."
No, Berkley's being accused of wrongdoing because she allegedly used her position in Congress to contact fellow elected officials and ask them not to cut Medicare reimbursements for kidney care, which prevented Lehrner from losing money. That's a direct pecuniary benefit to Lehrner, and by extension, Berkley.
http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/morally-right-but-ethically-wrong-it-s-possible-164394166.html
Sebilus is about as liberal as they come int he Las Vegas media.  He is very liberal and for him to go after Berkley says to the casual observer was wrong, very wrong for her behavior in trying to retain funding for the kidney program.
Again, as most lack of ethical behavior goes, it's not the crime that gets you, it's the cover up and Berkley is guilty of covering up her role in KidneyGate 2012.

It's Like They Never Seen Rain Before

Today, in the Las Vegas Valley, we got some rain.  Nothing much, about a quarter inch here and there and the local TV news media thought it was breaking news or earth shattering news.  All 4 local stations led with stories about the rain and they constantly showed 1 intersection that was slightly flooded with water.
It's like all these reporters knew some witches that melt when hit with water and we just had 1000 witches melt because they were rained on.
Hey TV newspeople: It does rain in Las Vegas and it's not that big of deal, unless we get an inch or more in a few hours.  Then maybe that will be newsworthy and a lead story.  But not for 1/4 of an inch of rain.

Speaking of Stupid Press People

From Fox News: The White House apologized Tuesday to Fox News contributor Charles Krauthammer for lambasting him over saying President Obama removed a bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office – an act that Krauthammer had argued was symbolic of the president’s failure to appreciate the United States' close allies.
White House Communication Director Dan Pfeiffer said in his apology that his comments on the official White House blog – including one dismissing Krauthammer’s claim as “ridiculous” – were the result of “internal confusion” about two Churchill busts.
“I take your criticism seriously and you are correct that you are owed an apology,” Pfeiffer wrote in an email that Krauthammer asked be made public. “There was clearly an internal confusion about the two busts and there was no intention to deceive.”...
 In his post, Pfeiffer wrote that he does not bother dealing with "a rumor that's so patently false" but felt compelled to issue a "fact check" on Krauthammer's charge in the column.
"This is 100% false," Pfeiffer blogged. "The bust still in the White House. In the Residence. Outside the Treaty Room."
The post also included an official White House photo of Obama showing British Prime Minister David Cameron a Churchill bust, which turned out to be the other one.
The British Embassy in Washington then released a statement saying there had been two busts in the White House, prompting Pfeiffer to update his blog post by noting the embassy was correct.
The one Krauthammer had referenced had been loaned to President George W. Bush after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and was in the Oval Office. It was returned after his presidency.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/07/31/bust-gate-mea-culpa-white-house-sorry-for-confusion-over-winston-churchill/#ixzz22GXPNWmA

And from Romney's office of stupidity: A Mitt Romney spokesman reprimanded reporters traveling with the candidate on his six-day foreign trip, telling them to "kiss my a**" after they shouted questions from behind a rope line.

As Romney left the site of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw and walked toward his motorcade parked in Pilsudski Square, reporters began shouting questions from the line where campaign staffers had told them to stay behind, prompting traveling press secretary Rick Gorka to tell a group of reporters to "kiss my a**" and "shove it."  http://news.yahoo.com/mitt-romney-spokesman-tells-reporters-kiss-polish-holy-110442318--abc-news-politics.html?_esi=1

I understand the frustration of dealing with jerk reporters who think their poop don't stink.  Well, it does, but you have to deal with it and the press people for a candidate cannot become the story.

As the press person for a high profile candidate or elected politician, you get to be in the limelight but there are risks and mistakes you just cannot make.  Lying and telling the press to shove it are two of those mistakes.

Glad I Am Not In India

From the Wall Street Journal: India suffered the world's biggest-ever power outage Tuesday as transmission networks serving areas inhabited by 680 million collapsed, putting the nation's ramshackle infrastructure on stark display.
The grid failure, the second massive blackout in as many days, happened around 1 p.m. local time and affected 18 states and two union territories in north and eastern India, grinding trains across large swaths of the country to a halt, forcing thousands of hospitals and factories to operate on generators, temporarily stranding hundreds of coal miners underground and causing losses to businesses estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
The government said power was about 80% restored in north India by late Tuesday evening.
Access to electricity is far from universal in India, and Indians are accustomed to regular power outages in particular neighborhoods or sections of cities. Many businesses and farmers see backup diesel-run generators as an absolute necessity. Still, Tuesday's massive breakdown was unprecedented, impacting a population larger than the U.S., Brazil and Russia combined.  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444405804577560413178678898.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories
Let's hope this cannot happen in the United states.  If it does, it will paralyze us because our reliance on electricity..

The Game Of Gotcha Journalism Contiues

I am no fan of President Obama or his administration, but just as the GOP has become victims of gotcha journalism, so has Obama and his press secretary and it really is getting stupid.
From The Weekly Standard: White House press secretary Jay Carney said he was unaware about defense cuts that will close an Air Force base in Ohio--where President Obama will be landing tomorrow aboard Air Force One. Here's the video, from the White House press briefing:
 REPORTER: Can you talk a little bit about why the president is going back to the same area of Akron, Ohio tomorrow that he has visited before? And in Mansfield the local paper is reporting if President Obama has his way his Air Force One arrival would be one of the final flights into the Mansfield airport, because the president wants to do away with the mission for the 800 guardsmen at the Mansfield.JAY CARNEY: I’ll have to take the question, I’m not aware of that particular issue. In terms of why is he is going to Ohio and Akron--
REPORTER: No, to that area of Ohio, Mansfield and Akron, I mean he was just there on the bus tour.
CARNEY: There is not an inch of Ohio that the president does not love to visit. [laughter] It’s a great state, my wife’s home state.
REPORTER: In terms of Mansfield, can we get you to take that question?
CARNEY: Sure. I’m not aware of even the policy implications or what issue this is.
 http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/carney-unaware-air-force-one-landing-base-be-eliminated_649160.html
The issue was that Obama is flying into an airport where some Air National Guard may close because of Obama's cuts in the military.
The headline and article suggest that Jay Carney was stupid for not knowing the Air Guard was closing there.
I'm sorry, but a press secretary should be pretty smart, but there are things they just don't know  I am sure Carney is up late at night studying which bases are going to be closed down by Obama or the history of Mansfield, Ohio.
This game of gotcha journalism is getting old and boring but it is going to continue because that is what journalists are trained today to do.  Forget the main issues, let's see if we can trip Obama or Romney and their press people.
One hopes that the reporters will actually report on what is important but I doubt it, probably because they just are not smart enough to report the actual news.

So, This Is What Al From Home Improvement Has Been Doing In Retirement

From the LVRJ: Henderson police continued Tuesday to search for a man suspected of robbing three Henderson banks in the past few weeks.
Police said the man, dubbed the "plaid bank robber," robbed a U.S. Bank branch at 12:40 p.m. Thursday at a Vons grocery store at 2667 E. Windmill Parkway, near Pecos Road.
Police said during the robbery, the suspect walked up to a teller and handed her a note demanding money. He never showed a weapon and no one was injured. Police did not disclose how much money was taken in the robbery.
The man is described as white in his late 20s or early 30s. Police said he's about 6 feet tall and weighs about 180 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black New York Yankess baseball hat, a black and white plaid shirt and blue jeans.
http://www.lvrj.com/news/henderson-police-searching-for-plaid-bank-robber-164522666.html
I would think that anybody wearing a full sleeve plaid shirt in the middle of summer in Las Vegas is probably up to no good.  

Las vegas: 300 Feet Between Restraunts Amd Roach Coaches

From the LVRJ: The fight to protect Las Vegas restaurants from mobile food trucks that could poach their customers has divided City Council members who are struggling to agree on the appropriate size of a buffer zone.
On Tuesday members of the City Council's Recommending Committee floated three different proposed distance buffers before voting 2-1 in favor of creating a 300-foot zone between food trucks and existing restaurants.
Mayor Pro Tem Stavros Anthony and Councilman Ricki Barlow voted in favor, Councilman Bob Coffin voted against. Coffin had proposed an 800-foot buffer zone, but Anthony and Barlow voted it down.
The vote advances the proposed buffer zone, and a raft of other regulatory changes, to an Aug. 15 meeting of the full council, which could approve, deny or amend the proposal yet again.
It followed more than an hour of debate at the recommending committee where restaurant owners made impassioned pleas for an 800- or 1,000-foot buffer zone they said would protect their businesses.
Bar + Bistro restaurant owner Wes Isbutt, who also uses the surname Myles, said not only should the distance between food trucks and restaurants be greater, but the buffer zone should apply to special events as well, meaning trucks shouldn't be able to park directly outside an event organized by someone else.
"When the food trucks are allowed to, and I am sorry for using this term, to pillage on or to leech on other events that are going on, it is an unfair playing field," Isbutt said. http://www.lvrj.com/news/city-panel-backs-300-foot-buffer-between-food-trucks-restaurants-164503096.html
100 yards between a restaurant and a roach coach?  I would have liked to see it about 200 yards but I guess 100 yards will have to do.
I have little respect for the roach coaches, err, mobile food trucks.  They park where ever they want and they don't care who they hurt financially.  Even with a 100 yard boundry, these roach coaches will still park in front of other businesses and hurting that business, whether it is a barber shop or a hardware store or an art dealer.  The law should state within 100 yards of an open business.

Another Cop Dies In Car Crash

Lately, there has rash of accidents int he U.S. that have killed police officers while on duty.  the lartest occured today, in Milwaukee, WI>.
From jsonline:  Milwaukee County Sheriff's Deputy Sergio Aleman died of injuries he suffered Tuesday in a two-vehicle crash in the southbound lanes of I-43 near Juneau Blvd., authorities said.
Sheriff's Inspector Edward Bailey said Aleman was taken to Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa, where he was pronounced dead. The crash resulted in no other serious injuries, said Fran McLaughlin, speaking for the department.
"On behalf of the 1,200 men and women of the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office, our thoughts and prayers are with Deputy Sheriff Aleman's family," Bailey said at a news conference.
Aleman was in a sheriff's pickup truck that provides service to disabled motorists, among other things.
The crash occurred at 12:17 p.m. and closed the southbound lanes of I-43 and one northbound lane of the interstate. The closure was expected to continue through rush hour into the evening as the Wisconsin State Patrol investigated the crash.  http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/sb-43-closed-for-a-time-due-to-crash-vn6akmg-164457996.html
In Las Vegas, we have these kind of trucks except they are run as a private business through NDOT.   In the past 6 years, there has not been a serious accident involving these trucks.
On the Officer Memorial Page, there have been 10 line of duty deaths for the month of July, which is way too many.  Some were assaulted while others just crashed their vehicles.
RIP Sheriff Deputy Aleman.

Religious Leaders Blast Rahm Emmanuel, Chicago Leaders

From Fox News:Days after the big city boss blasted the chicken chain over its president's stance on same-sex marriage, an influential Baptist minister and Cardinal Francis George of the Archdiocese of Chicago struck back. The religious leaders, who support the traditional view of marriage, were incensed at Emanuel's claim that "Chick-fil-A's values are not Chicago's values."
"Do not disrespect us...We, too, are Chicago," the Rev. Charles Lyons of the Armitage Baptist Church thundered from the pulpit Sunday.

Cardinal Francis George also criticized Emanuel's stance, asking in the Catholic Chicago Blog if everyone who did not agree with Emanuel faced a similar fate.
"Must those whose personal values do not conform to those of the government of the day move from the city," George wondered. "Is the City Council going to set up a 'Council Committee on Un-Chicagoan Activities' and call those of us who are suspect to appear before it?"
The controversy began when a Chicago Alderman Proco Joe Moreno said he would block the restaurant from opening a location in his ward, citing recent comments by Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy. When asked about the company's values, Cathy was quoted saying he was "guilty as charged" for being "supportive of the family -- the biblical definition of the family unit."
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/07/31/chicago-religious-leaders-back-chick-fil/?test=latestnews#ixzz22FPincbq

Clearly, Emmanuel and his ilk are fascists and this is the road we are now heading down, from Obama on down.  If you don't agree with them, then you need to be re-educated.

Sadly though, those speaking today, will still vote for Obama for only two reasons.  Because Obama is black and because Obama is a Democrat.

MA Lottery Rigged

From Boston.com: Massachusetts State Lottery officials knew for years that a small group of gambling syndicates had virtually taken over a game called Cash WinFall — winning most of the prizes during high payoff periods — but did nothing about it until the Globe began investigating, according to state Inspector General Gregory W. Sullivan.
Sullivan’s report details the way a handful of math and science wizards, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology undergraduates looking for an interesting school project, turned Cash WinFall into a nearly fulltime business, spending $40 million on tickets over a seven-year period and winning an estimated $48 million.

And lottery officials were happy about the huge sales to these sophisticated gamblers, bending and breaking lottery rules to allow them to buy hundreds of thousands of the $2 tickets, Sullivan found. If anything, lottery officials were envious, with one supervisor asking in an e-mail: “How do I become part of the club when I retire?”

State Treasurer Steven Grossman, who oversees the lottery, finally stopped the game this year. On Monday, Grossman said the agency should have taken action sooner.

“I feel it is important to essentially apologize to the public because a game was created that allowed syndicates to gain special opportunities that others did not have — using machines themselves, partnership with lottery agents, using them after hours. We’re sorry some gained unfair advantage,” said Grossman, who had requested Sullivan’s investigation.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2012/07/31/inspector_general_says_lottery_allowed_gambling_syndicates_to_take_over_winfall_game/
With on-line slot and poker coming on board soon from Las Vegas casinos, one wonders if these games will be honest and free from influence from the mob and MIT.

Mark Steyn On Chick Fill A Hypocrisy

Mark Styn, a columnist, points out the hypocrisy on the left regarding the Chick Fill A controversy:
The city's mayor, Rahm Emanuel, agrees with the Alderman: Chick-fil-A does not represent "Chicago values" – which is true if by "Chicago values" you mean machine politics, AIDS-conspiracy-peddling pastors and industrial-scale black youth homicide rates. But, before he was mayor, Rahm Emanuel was President Obama's chief of staff. Until the president's recent "evolution," the Obama administration held the same position on gay marriage as Chick-fil-A. Would Alderman Moreno have denied Barack Obama the right to open a chicken restaurant in the First Ward? Did Rahm Emanuel quit the Obama administration on principle? Don't be ridiculous. Mayor Emanuel is a former ballet dancer, and when it's politically necessary he can twirl on a dime.....
Mayor Menino subsequently backed down and claimed the severed rooster's head left in Mr. Cathy's bed was all just a misunderstanding. Yet, when it comes to fighting homophobia on Boston's Freedom Trail, His Honor is highly selective. As the Boston Herald's Michael Graham pointed out, Menino is happy to hand out municipal licenses to groups whose most prominent figures call for gays to be put to death. The mayor couldn't have been more accommodating (including giving them $1.8 million of municipal land) of the new mosque of the Islamic Society of Boston, whose IRS returns listed as one of their seven trustees Yusuf al-Qaradawi. Like President Obama, Imam Qaradawi's position on gays is in a state of "evolution": He can't decide whether to burn them or toss 'em off a cliff. "Some say we should throw them from a high place," he told Al-Jazeera. "Some say we should burn them, and so on. There is disagreement ... . The important thing is to treat this act as a crime." Unlike the deplorable Mr. Cathy, Imam Qaradawi is admirably open-minded: There are so many ways to kill homosexuals, why restrict yourself to just one? In Mayor Menino's Boston, if you take the same view of marriage as President Obama did from 2009 to 2012, he'll run your homophobic ass out of town. But, if you want to toss those godless sodomites off the John Hancock Tower, he'll officiate at your ribbon-cutting ceremony.
 As an exercise in sheer political muscle, it's impressive. But, if you're a feminist or a gay or any of the other house pets in the Democratic menagerie, you might want to look at Rahm Emanuel's pirouette, and Menino's coziness with Islamic homophobia. These guys are about power, and right now your cause happens to coincide with their political advantage. But political winds shift. Once upon a time, Massachusetts burned witches. Now it grills chicken-sandwich homophobes. One day it'll be something else. Already in Europe, in previously gay-friendly cities like Amsterdam, demographically surging Muslim populations have muted Leftie politicians' commitment to gay rights, feminism and much else. It's easy to cheer on the thugs when they're thuggish in your name. What happens when Emanuel's political needs change?
Americans talk more about liberty than citizens of other Western nations, but, underneath the rhetorical swagger, liberty bleeds. When Mayor Menino and Alderman Moreno openly threaten to deny business licenses because of ideological apostasy, they're declaring their unfitness for public office. It's not about marriage, it's not about gays, it's about a basic understanding that a free society requires a decent respect for a wide range of opinion without penalty by the state. In Menino's Boston, the Freedom Trail is heavy on the Trail, way too light on the Freedom. http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/mayor-365812-menino-gay.html
Steyn is right and I might add, when these bozo's in Chicago, Boston and other places said they would harass Chic Fill A, they just opened themselves up to lawsuits, if Chic Fill A was a greedy company, which they are not.
But it also shows that politicians will do anything to take off the spot lite off their failed policies i their cities.  Chicago is becoming the new Juarez, Mexico with all their murders and shootings going on and an education system that the mayor is in charge of , is in horrible shape, while in Boston, they have their crime problems and problems with the Boston Red Sox.
Just more stupid politicians doing stupid things.

Another Case For Concealed Carry

From the Orange County Register: A 33-year-old man is in critical condition Monday after being shot in the head by a jewelry store owner during a robbery attempt at the Asian Garden Mall, officials said. A second man was arrested and police seek a third man who escaped in a late-model Honda Accord, said Sgt. Cameron Knauerhaze of the Westminster Police Department. The wounded suspect, who police have identified as Harold Eugene Walker of Gardena, is in critical but stable condition at UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange.
 The second suspect, identified as Earnie Jerome Robinson, 57, of Gardena, was taken to Fountain Valley Regional Hospital because of a pre-existing medical condition, officials said.
The shooting was reported about 1:15 p.m. in the 9200 block of Bolsa Avenue near Moran Street, police said.
Walker and Robinson entered Tick Tock Watches jewelry store, one using a wheelchair that later turned out to be a ruse, Knauerhaze said. The pair ordered the customers onto the ground, as Walker wielded a gun and Robinson a sledgehammer, he said.
Hearing the noise from the back of the store, a shop owner armed himself with his own gun and confronted Walker, warning him to drop the weapon, Knauerhaze said.
When Walker did not comply, the shop owner fired once, striking him in the head, Knauerhaze said. The two men fled on foot, and officers apprehended Walker as he tried to climb a wall in the parking lot, while a witness and a security guard apprehended Robinson, police said.  http://www.ocregister.com/news/person-366211-police-suffering.html
Another concealed carry success story.  But there are some stupid people out there who say concealed carry is dangerous.  Yes it is, to criminals.

Some Common Sense In Trayvon Martin Case

It seems like, after some time, there is some common sense coming from Sanford Florida, where the Trayvon Martin shooting took place.
From the Orlando Sentinel: Rather than having a memorial solely dedicated to Trayvon Martin, Sanford should have one recognizing everyone who has been killed in the city, several residents said in a community meeting on Monday organized by city officials.
"What makes Trayvon's life any more significant than all the others who have died?" Sanford resident Sherri Wilkie said. "Why not make a memorial universal for all people?"
Sanford officials said they wanted to hold the meeting to give residents an opportunity to "share their thoughts on what would be appropriate ways to express sympathy and condolences for the loss of Trayvon Martin's life and others who have been killed in our city."
The idea for the meeting came after city officials this month removed flowers, stuffed animals, crosses and cards that were left at a curbside memorial outside the Retreat at Twin Lakes, the gated community where the unarmed teenager was shot by George Zimmerman. The city moved the items to the Sanford Museum.
Even though the meeting topic might have been one on the minds of many in the community, city leaders made it clear there are currently no plans to build a memorial for Martin or others. http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-07-30/news/os-trayvon-martin-memorial-meeting-20120730_1_trayvon-martin-city-manager-norton-bonaparte-sanford-resident
There should be no memorial for Martin unless the Martin family or supporter wants to have one on their property, especially since we have not had a trial yet.
Let the facts come out and see what happens in court and then if the City wants to have a memorial, then do it for all those who have been killed by violence.

Crybaby Reid Wants To Raise Our Electrcity Rates

When you live in the Ritz Carlton in Washington D.C., you lose touch with the people back home in Nevada, and that is what happened to Crybaby/Coward Harry Reid.
From the LVRJ: Sen. Harry Reid on Monday applied pressure to Nevada's chief electricity provider to get behind a $5 billion solar project that a Chinese company wants to build near Laughlin.
Reid said the ambitious complex envisioned by ENN Mojave Energy "would start tomorrow if NV Energy would purchase the power," but the company "has not been willing to work on this and that's such a shame."
The Senate majority leader's remarks were the linkage of the Nevada utility and the clean energy project. Previously, the project was aimed at serving utilities in California, where state officials now say they have no interest in importing power from other states.  http://www.lvrj.com/news/reid-pressures-nv-energy-to-back-laughlin-solar-project-164344566.html
Thankfully and showing that Crybaby Reid is losing his clout in Las Vegas and Nevada, NV Energy is not listening to the Crybaby.
Also from the LVRJ: Responding to Reid, an NV Energy spokeswoman said the utility is not in the market for more renewable energy at this time, having exceeded the state's requirement that 15 percent of its portfolio originate from clean sources.
The company does not plan to issue new requests for power until 2014 and 2015, and will do so through competitive bidding, said Jennifer Schuricht.
"NV Energy would certainly welcome a bid from ENN when we issue the next RFP (request for proposals), and their success, like all other projects, would be dependent on the benefits, especially price, that they can demonstrate for the customers of NV Energy," Schuricht said in a statement.
That might be too late for ENN. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, the company's land deal with Clark County would be voided if it can't find a power customer by next June.
ENN wants to buy 5,400 acres for a photovoltaic power plant and solar-panel factory that advocates say could employ 2,000 people and trigger an economic boon in the southern tip of the state. 
Good for NV Energy.
And then this:  Reid also has a personal stake in the matter. He has played a key role in introducing Nevada to ENN, a Chinese conglomerate looking to invest $8 billion in U.S. clean energy over the coming decade. Reid has toured ENN facilities in China, and its chairman, Wang Yusuo, spoke last summer at Reid's annual clean energy summit in Las Vegas.
Yep, and watch Reid become a lobbyist for the Chinese after he resigns when he loses the majority post in January.
Anyways, this project by Laughlin is nothing but a taxpayer boondoggle that has little support and little chance of succeeding without massive government bailouts.  This project would make Solyndra look like the change in my car's coin tray.

New Airport Terminal Opens, McCarren Parking Tips

From the Las Vegas Sun: Let the confusion begin at McCarran International Airport.
One month after opening the airport’s new Terminal 3, the second round of airline move-ins begins Tuesday — a shuffle that will reduce airport congestion but is bound to confuse passengers who have always gone to Terminal 1.
Five airlines — Alaska, Frontier, JetBlue, Sun Country and Virgin America — are moving their ticket counters, check-in and baggage claim facilities to the new $2.4 billion terminal building east of the main concourse.
The five airlines will join 16 international carriers at Terminal 3 and use Gates E8 through E15.
Terminal 3 is a 14-gate, standalone terminal that has its own parking garage, ticketing lobby, baggage claim, security checkpoints and 16 stores and restaurants. It opened June 27.
The five busiest airlines at McCarran — Southwest, Delta, American, United and Allegiant — are staying put for now, and customers will continue to park and check in where they always have.  http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2012/jul/30/do-mccarran-shuffle-5-airlines-move-new-terminal/
And for those who don't want to park their cars at McCarran's parking lots, here is a tip some locals use.
Park at some casino's parking lots and then take a cheap taxi ride or airport shuttle to McCarran.  The casino mostly commonly used is the MGM.  You save the parking fees and your car is relatively safe there.  You probably can do this at other casino's as well.
So, starting tomorrow, beware of the McCarran shuffle and at the same time, save some money.

Here Story For Our Media In Las Vegas

From the Detroit Free Press:
We've all seen it.
A driver zips into a handicap parking space, bounces out of the car and runs inside the store, mall or theater.
Disabled? Yeah, right.
People mutter about it, maybe even offer a few choice words to the seemingly fine driver who's taking a parking space that a disabled person might desperately need.
There are some parking outlaws who do that. But there also are some situations that are not as they seem.
That's what the Free Press learned over several weeks of catching drivers parking in handicap spots. 
Reporters and a videographer set out across metro Detroit, visiting shopping malls, grocery stores, pharmacy parking lots and government buildings. The Free Press team waited for apparently able-bodied drivers to park in handicap spaces and then approached, with camera rolling. You can see our video report today at freep.com.
In addition, the Free Press tracked down chronic violators, people with multiple tickets for parking in spots reserved for disabled people.
The results of our surveillance might surprise you.
Yes, we easily found able-bodied drivers parking in handicap spots. In front of Detroit city hall and juvenile court, we watched drivers park in spaces sectioned off with blue curbs and blue signs, then move their vehicles when we asked questions. http://www.freep.com/article/20120730/NEWS01/307300111/In-the-parking-lot-people-have-plenty-of-excuses-and-hidden-disabilities?odyssey=mod|mostview
This would be a good story in Las Vegas as I have seen this happen many times in the Valley.
And if the media did this, they may even catch a politician or two, like what happened to Steven Horsford, who is running for Congress:
http://lasvegasbadger.blogspot.com/2009/11/nv-majority-leader-caught-breaking-law.html

Got A Few bucks Sitting Around...

Here is an apartment for you.  From the New York Daily News:
The most-expensive apartment in the country — a triplex, wrap-around penthouse on W. 56th Street — can now be yours for just $100 million.
Raphael De Niro, the son of actor Robert De Niro, has the exclusive listing on the 73rd through 76th floor aerie atop CitySpire — the deluxe apartment in the sky owned by Long Island real estate developer Steven Klar.

The 8,000-square-foot octagon-shaped unit is a "one-of-a-kind gem [that] ranks amongst the most elite homes in America," according to the Prudential Douglas Elliman listing.
The apartment isn’t for everyone — and not because of the nine-figure pricetag.

Architect Juan Pablo Moyneux took the original raw space and created an aristocratic interior with inlaid marble floors, stately columns, gold draperies and candeliers.
Other features include:
-- a private, three-story elevator.
-- A wrap-around terrace on all three floors that offers 360-degree views of the city. It’s believed to be the highest outdoor space in any city residence.

A dining room that can seat 20. -- A silver closet.
-- A wine room that can hold more than 1,000 bottles
Klar bought the property in 1993 for $4.5 million and then spent about as much to renovate it to his tastes. He made his riches building thousands of homes on Long Island.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/real-estate/100-million-expensive-apartment-country-hits-market-article-1.1125184#ixzz22AsGgdO9

$100,000,000 for this?  It's still an apartment..

I wonder what the commission would be for a $100,000,000 sale? 

Personally, I just cannot picture myself living in an apartment building like this.  I watch these TV shows that have apartments for sale in Manhattan and they are going for $1,000,000 for a tiny apartment, the size of a broom closet,   Then they have to pay monthly fees on top of that?  Not for me, thank you.

Pawn Stars Review: July 30, 2012

Ever wonder what is the best products to pawn/sell at the Gold and Silver Shop?  From The Wall Street Chat Sheet: Rick Harrison from the hit television show Pawn Stars appeared on CNBC. He discussed his pawn shop business and how it performs in the current economy, but his view on profits were very interesting in regards to gold. When asked about what kind of margin he tries to receive, Rick explains, “It just depends on what the items are. If you bring me a piece of art that might sit on the wall for two or three years, I’m going to give you maybe 50 percent of what I think I can get out of it. If you bring me a gold coin in the store that I can sell immediately right on the market, I’ll make one percent, I have no problem with that.”  http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/gold-and-silver-lessons-from-pawn-stars.html/
Same goes for silver.

Rerun VanPelt

Tonight's episodes are reruns from the past.  the first episode was first aired on January 24, 2012: http://lasvegasbadger.blogspot.com/2012/01/pawn-stars-review-january-24-2012.html
The second episode was first aired on February 6, 2012: http://lasvegasbadger.blogspot.com/2012/02/pawn-stars-review-february-6-2012.html
Hope everyone has a nice week and hope you come back tomorrow.

They Are Not "Handlers"!

I understand that people who write or talk about the disabled and all the different terms that described people with mental disabilities or those who work with them.
In describing mental retardation, I have used or heard the following different terms describing those with mental disabilities: Mental retardation(retarded) retard, intellectual disabilities, cognitive disabilities, retarded, people with mental disabilities, mentally handicapped, mentally disabled and more.  The State of Nevada still uses the term "mental retardation" in their licensing of special education teachers.
As far as names of jobs in special education, I have heard the following for: teachers and aides: special education teacher, aide,  teachers aide, CNA, Special Education aide, assistants, health care aides and others.
One term I have never heard to describe a teacher or aide is the word "handlers".
From the LVRJ: His hand always shot up in the air in an emphatic "Yes!" when his parents asked if he wanted to go to Opportunity Village.
Nearly every weekday for 11 years, he went to Project Pride, a program within the community-based, nonprofit organization that serves people with severe disabilities.
There, his smile won his handlers over, older brother Jonathan Schaus said. When Nathaniel Schaus was sick at home for a year, staff members and some of his friends from Opportunity Village regularly came to visit.
Loralie Schaus thanked Opportunity Village for its role in her son's life. http://www.lvrj.com/news/las-vegas-family-recalls-son-34-who-dreamed-big-164235246.html
A handler is someone who trains police dogs, a boxing trainer, someone who loads airplanes with luggage or an agent.
But those of us who work with the disabled are not handlers.

This Is Pretty Extreme....

I wonder if they need a hunting permit: From the South Lake Tahoe Tribune:

Authorities hunt hiker missing in Sierra Nevada

  http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/article/20120730/NEWS/120739992/1068&ParentProfile=1056

That's An Expensive Car, Even For Mercedes Benz

From NBC News:Madison.com: Mercedes Benz has paid the $618,000 the Wisconsin Supreme Court says it owed in a lemon law case after the victorious attorney sought garnishment of earnings from six Mercedes Benz dealers in the state.

Attorney Vince Megna says the payment from Mercedes Benz was hand-delivered on Monday. That was 11 days after Megna filed the garnishment action in court because the car company had not yet paid the court-ordered judgment in May.
The ruling grew out of a 2005 case involving a Waukesha businessman who bought a defective $56,000 Mercedes-Benz, but the company argued it wasn't liable because the owner didn't provide information needed to grant a refund.
The Supreme Court disagreed and ordered the payment.
Megna says additional unpaid attorneys' fees will likely eclipse $235,000.

Read more: http://host.madison.com/wsj/business/article_1b8fa498-da87-11e1-964d-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz228tjhUIN

The reason for the lawsuit: The Wisconsin Supreme Court told Mercedes-Benz Thursday morning to pay almost a half-million-dollars to a Waukesha man who bought a defective car. Businessman Marco Marquez won a $482,000 judgment under Wisconsin’s “Lemon Law.”
The case has been shuffled among various courts since 2005. That was after Marquez bought a Mercedes E-320 from a Milwaukee dealership for $56,000. He said the car would never start – and after several efforts to fix it, Marquez demanded a refund for the faulty vehicle. And the company failed to provide a refund within the 30 days allowed under the Lemon Law.
Mercedes-Benz claimed that Marquez did not provide the company with enough information about the loan on his vehicle within the 30 day time limit. But the Supreme Court rejected that argument, and the justices said Mercedes also had to pay Marquez’s legal fees.
http://wtaq.com/news/articles/2012/may/24/wi-supreme-court-awards-man-482k-for-merecedes-benz-lemon
As usual, the lawyers get most of the money but I would think that Mercedes Benz would have thrown in the towel much earlier, as they will now have to pay out for about 15 new cars.

So, Who Is The Best Female Driver In NASCAR Nationwide?

Mary Louise Miller, Owner, with Johanna Long

Danica Patrick

Currently, there are two female drivers in the Nationwide NASCAR  circuit: Danica Patrick and Johanna Long.
Long is a 20 year old rookie that drives the number 70 car in Nationwide and has driven n 13 races this season.  Her car is owned by ML Motorsports, a team that fields only 1 car- Longs car.  The 70 car is an underfunded team with minimal sponsorships.  The team is owned by 87 year old Mary Louise Miller: http://www.mlracing.com/
Long is ranked 26 in driver points.
The other driver, is of course, Danica Patrick, who is a former Indy car driver and now drives in the Nationwide full time and 10 Sprint Cup races.  Patrick has the best equipment and sponsor (Go Daddy) She has a more experienced crew and crew chief, Tony Eury Jr. Her car is owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr..  Currently, she is ranked 10th in points in Nationwide.  JR Motorsports has 3 cars in their stable, 2 of which run full time.  http://www.jrmotorsports.com/
So, who is the better driver between Long and Patrick?
Danica gets an average of 23 points per race while Long, in her 13 appearances gets an average of 21 points per race.
In head to head competition, Long has won 5 times while Patrick defeated Long 8 times.
Per ESPN, the yellow flag has flown 10 times for incidents involving Danica.
Danica's lowest finish is 38th place at the first Daytona race and 35 at Indy and her highest finish is 8 at Texas.  For Long, her lowest  was 37 at Talladega and 30 at Indy.  Her highest finish was 12 at the Summer Daytona race and 16 at Michigan.
In head to head competition, Danica barely beats Long with a difference of only 13 total points.
So, who is the better driver?
Clearly, Patrick has the superior car, sponsor, crew, resources and experience.  Long has no advantage on Patrick.
I think if Long had half of the advantages over Patrick, I don't think it would be close- Long is the better driver.
If Long ran a full schedule and had a reliable sponsor, it would be no contest- Long would be doing better than Patrick.
On the other hand, Patrick is facing more pressure than Long.  It was anticipated that Patrick would run up with the leaders of Nationwide and for the most part, she has not done that, with only 1 top ten finish.  However, she is 10th in driver points but is ahead of only about 4 drivers that are not start and parkers and have run in all 19 races.
Patrick is also probably distracted by all of her appearances she makes o be
 So, if I was starting a team, had the sponsors and decent car and crew, I would take Johanna Long over Danica Patrick because she seems like she has a good head on shoulders and her different body parts are not involved in advertising.
With all things being equal, Johanna Long would get my vote as the better driver.

Can I Go To Sleep For The Next 100 Days?

There are only 100 days left of campaigning until the November elections and 102 days until the next camping begins.
I wish I was Rumpelstiltskin and just sleep through until the day after the elections.
Good luck to everyone in getting through the next 100 days.

Another Reason Why The U.S. Deficit Is So Large

From Philly.com: What's a tiny volunteer fire company in Bensalem doing with a $1 million taxpayer-funded fireboat tricked out to troll the Delaware River for blazes, bodies, terrorists, and IEDs?
Nothing, besides preening for festival crowds and crashing into objects seen and unseen.
The tale of how the dysfunctional Union Fire Company won a wad of Homeland Security money to buy a state-of-the-art terror-taming boat screams post-9/11 planning at its nuttiest.
The volunteers' bold play to dabble in regional law enforcement has soured relations with Bensalem's paid police department. Two Union chiefs have resigned as a result of boat acrimony and embarrassing accidents. And just maintaining the vessel is draining the fire company's meager resources.
Bensalem locals talk endlessly about the imposing 40-foot, 25,000-pound "Bear on the Delaware" that has been prowling all year but has yet to fight a fire or sniff out a bomb. But no one who had a hand in the grant seems upset that volunteers own a dream machine that may be the death of the company.
Union members insist they "aren't yahoos," but rather, everyday heroes risking their lives for free. Yet even the chief admits they look like showboaters on the big-boy toy.
With fewer than 30 active members - only a handful of whom even live in Bensalem - Union already "scratches," or fails to respond to, nearly a third of its emergency calls. When they make rare marine runs, it's usually to recover bodies. Until this year, the firefighters took off in a modest motorboat to guffaws at a nearby yacht club.
"They're horrible. It's like a comedy of errors when they launch," says Bill Burke, the club's former commodore. "I've seen them put a boat in without the plug in."  http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/monica_yant_kinney/20120729_Fire_volunteers__dream_boat_is_a_major_drain.html?page=1&c=y
I am a former volunteer firefighter and some of the departments I was on had lakes and rivers in the district and i just cannot fathom a volunteer fire department operating such a complex
But it also shows how FEMA and others threw money around after 9/11. Write a good grant and you could have almost anything and the same holds true today, for the most part.  The fed's will fund almost any police or fire department request, as long as the grant is written properly and there is a possibility the equipment will be used.  The fed's have bought turnout gear, gloves, air tanks, fire trucks, helmets, fire boats, hire firefighters full time and much more.  Never mind that many pieces of equipment, like this fire boats are never used or communities can not support when they are required to pay their salaries 2 years after the awards are given.  And it is stupid that the Union can not sell their boat to another fire or police department that may actually use the fire boat.
So, here we have another $1,000,000 down the drain, but hey, it's only taxpayer money and that doesn't count.

Well, It's Too Late Know, Idiot

From the Oklahoman: Hours after authorities began investigating the shooting deaths of three people in a central Pennsylvania home, the man later charged in the case admitted to state police that he'd "messed up."

The suspect, Kevin Cleeves of Waynesboro, said that in retrospect he never should have gone to the home of his estranged wife's boyfriend Friday night, even if he was concerned about the welfare of his 4-year-old daughter.
Because there, authorities alleged, he quarreled with his wife and her boyfriend in front of the girl and was told to leave but instead opened fire, shooting to death the two adults as well as the man's mother. He then fled with the girl 250 miles to neighboring Ohio, where he was arrested and his daughter was recovered safely.

Read more: http://newsok.com/police-man-charged-in-3-slayings-says-he-erred/article/feed/410843#ixzz225GztKeC

Oh sure, now he regrets killing them.  Somehow, I don't think that excuse will play very good in court.

Cool: Sky High Tornado

From the Denver Post: Meteorologists are investigating a tornado reported Saturday on Mount Evans that could be the second highest ever recorded in the country.
"It's not unheard of," said Bob Glancy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. "But, we do get far more tornadoes on the plains so this is unusual. What makes it so interesting is that it's so high. Our preliminary looks tell us it's the second highest recorded."
Meteorologists said they believe the tornado touched down at about 11,900 feet above sea level, just before 3 p.m. Saturday.
The highest reported tornado, Glancy said, appears to be a 2004 tornado that touched down on California's Sequoia National Park over Rockwell Pass at more than 12,000 feet.
In 1987 another documented mountain tornado in Wyoming crossed the Continental Divide and has been estimated to have been near 10,000 feet.

Read more: Mount Evans tornado could be second highest recorded - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_21187400/mount-evans-tornado-could-be-second-highest-recorded#ixzz2256ff9t3
 Watch out, Mount Charleston, you just never know.

Alabama Church Still Thinks It's the 1920's

From the New York Daily News: Charles and Te'Andrea Wilson were set to marry at a Mississippi church when they got shocking news from the pastor just a day before the ceremony.
The predominantly white congregation at the First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs “had decided no black could be married at that church,” Charles told WLBT-TV.
Dr. Stan Weatherford, the pastor, told him that his parishioners had vowed to vote him out if he went ahead with the wedding.
"He had people in the sanctuary that were pitching a fit about us being a black couple," Te'Andrea said.
It was a small but vocal minority that objected to the wedding, according to Weatherford.
He performed the Wilsons’ wedding at another church in the area, forcing them to abandon months of planning.
"I didn't want to have a controversy within the church, and I didn't want a controversy to affect the wedding of Charles and Te' Andrea,” he explained. “I wanted to make sure their wedding day was a special day."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/love-thy-neighbor-mississippi-church-blocks-black-couple-wedding-article-1.1124437#ixzz22535FlNv

I think the pastor ought to rethink his priorities: Church or bigotry.  I'm pretty much sure that Jesus would not have refused to marry a black couple just because some people objected.  My guess Jesus would have kicked the objectors out of the Church and gave the marriage a ceremony the couple would never forget.

New York Version Of The Circle Of Life

Arrest, sentence, parole and then go back stealing is one thugs version of the circle of life in New York.
From the New York Daily News:
This guy certainly could be called Harlem’s Man of Steal.
Career thief Darryl Smalls is a serial New York City Housing Authority burglar who’s spent a lifetime taking mops, broomsticks and plastic garbage-can liners, among other common household supplies and appliances, mostly from public housing properties uptown.
He has more than 35 arrests dating back to the 1980s.
He was collared most recently for breaking into a basement at the Drew-Hamilton Houses tower on April 10, and brazenly carting away a stolen stove on a dolly.
Smalls, 46, initially pleaded guilty to the burglary in May, in exchange for 3 1/2 years in prison, but the deal was nixed and he withdrew his plea because prosecutors learned one of his past convictions is classified as violent.
His case has been adjourned until Aug. 14 and he could do a minimum of five years in prison, prosecutors say. Until then, he remains at Manhattan Detention Complex.
Never straying far from Harlem, Smalls has been a known NYCHA nuisance on housing cops' radar for years.
His cousin, Chicarl Smalls, 36, said Darryl has been compulsively stealing since his childhood.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/uptown/darryl-smalls-housing-authority-man-steal-busted-theft-35-times-1980s-article-1.1097272#ixzz224zr7gBK

Why in the hell was this guy still on the streets?  When does it sink in that this thug is terrorizing the neighborhood and that it will never stop?

Obviously, this guy enjoys prison, so why not accommodate him and sentence him to the maximum and then not parole him.

But the morons will keep arresting him, keep paroling him and he will just laugh and keep on stealing- the New York version of the circle of life.

The Picture NBC Did Not Want You To See At Olympics

 

On Friday, at the Opening Ceremonies in London, NBC showed all the teams marching into the stadium and for the most part, they showed all the team members, except 1, the Saudi Arabia Olympic team.  NBC refused to show the  female team of Saudi Arabia.
The women were marching in back of the men and several paces back.  As you can also see, they were dressed up in black Muslim garb.
Saudi Arabia ought to be ashamed  in the way they treated the women and NBC ought to be ashamed for not showing the women and illustrate that Saudi Arabia still is still in the 10 century when it comes to women.  Hell, the Hutterite women in the Colonies look like strippers compared to these women.

Maybe Romeny Was Right

Last week,Mitt Romney mildly criticized the London Olympics saying that there may be some problems with security and some other small problems.
Well, it looks like Romney was right.  Only half of the the private security force that was requested were hired and now this: A mysterious woman in red has caused an international incident at the London Olympics.
Indian officials are mystified — and miffed — after an unknown young woman managed to march with the country's athletes and officials during the opening ceremony Friday night.
Games organizers on Sunday downplayed security concerns around the unscripted moment, saying the interloper was a ceremony cast member and had been screened before entering the Olympic Park.....
Images from Friday's ceremony showed a young woman in turquoise jeans and a red jacket marching alongside Indian flag bearer Sushil Kumar at the head of the delegation of 40 athletes in bright yellow and navy blue.
"We are totally dazed," Indian press atttache Harpal Singh Bedi said. "How can a person without any accreditation walk past?"  http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/India-s-Olympic-team-abuzz-about-mystery-woman-3744279.php
The you take into account all the empty seats, traffic problems and protests, it's quite possible Romney knew what he was talking about.

And The Gold Medal for Stupidity Goes to....

President Obama for giving a toast to Queen Elizabeth in 2011 while the United Kingdom's national anthem was playing.
From ABC News: The president and the orchestra at Buckingham Palace this evening were a bit out of synch.
When the president toasted the Queen the orchestra misunderstood a pause and what seemed to be a cue from the president for “God Save the Queen” to begin playing.
“Ladies and gentlemen please stand with me and raise your glasses as I propose a toast,” the president said, putting down his note cards and grabbing his glass. “To her majesty the Queen.”
The president paused, the guests stood, and the orchestra prepared to play.
But the president wasn’t done speaking.
“The vitality –“ the president said before the orchestra began.
Then the familiar tune – you might know it better as “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” – started up.
The president kept going: “ — of the special relationship between our peoples and for the words of Shakespeare to this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England,” the president said as the awkward moment played out.
The Queen looked ahead as the UK anthem played.
“To the Queen,” the president finally said.
He lifted his glass to her, she smiled a bit uncomfortably.
But because the song was playing, no one drank from his or her glass, including the president, who put his glass down on the table.  http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/05/awkward-moment-during-obama-toast-to-queen/

Who Are The Best Conditioned Athletes In The Olympics?

There are numerous well conditioned athletes in the 2012 and then there are some athletes who are tough and have to be in excellent shape.  The track and field athletes who compete in the decathlon are in great shape, but they don't have anyone jumping on their backs when they compete.  Same with swimmers.  The wrestlers are in good shape and they have people climbing on their backs.  Bu they only compete for 9 minutes or less in each match.  Marathoners have to be mentally and physically fit to run 26 miles and 385 yards but no one is attacking them as they run.
So, who do I think are the best athletes in the Olympic games?  It's the water polo athletes.  Water polo is played in a swimming pool that is deep enough so you cannot stand on the bottom- you either swim or tread water. and the pool area is about 40 yards long or so.  During the game, the players will dunk, push, hit, scratch and other things to the opposing player.  They also have to swim fast to get to the ball, which is the approximate size of a volleyball.  They then throw the ball into a goal that is defended by a goalie.  The only equipment the players have are helmets/swimming caps and skimpy swimming suits.  In the old days, the opponents used to try and strip the players of their swim suits to get give them an advantage.
Unlike real polo, they don't have water ponies.to ride.They have to tread water and get few breaks.  Each quarter is 6 minutes long and there are 4 quarters in a game.
So, that is my nomination for the best overall athletes in the 2012 Summer Olympic games.  Who do you nominate?

Shelly Berkley: Another Disgusting Nevadan Politician

 

In, Nevada, we have our share of dirty politicians in Nevada: Jim Gibbons, Harry Reid, John Ensign and all the local politicians who have ended up in jail (too numerous to mention).
Well, Add Shelly Berkley (NV-Dumbass) to the list.  She has served in in the House since 1999 and has been pretty much doing nothing except sitting on her butt collecting a paycheck.  She has not authored any major bills and is a pure 100% liberal.
Lately, she has been caught with her hand in the cookie jar when she lobbied and voted for additional funding for the kidney program that also directly benefited her husband and her pocketbook.  In an unanimous, bi-partisan vote, the House Ethics Committee voted to investigate her and the Ethics Committee rarely do this.  From Roll Call:  The House Ethics Committee said today it will investigate whether Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) broke any ethics rules or laws when she intervened to save a kidney transplant program at a hospital where her physician husband had a lucrative contract.
In a statement, Ethics Chairman Jo Bonner (R-Ala.) and ranking member Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.) said the committee voted unanimously on June 29 to establish an investigative subcommittee to determine whether Berkley violated “any law, rule, regulation, or other applicable standard of conduct ... with respect to alleged communications and activities with or on behalf of entities in which Representative Berkley’s husband had a financial interest.”...
 The committee noted in its announcement that it was already looking into allegations that Berkley’s effort to save the kidney transplant program at Las Vegas’ University Medical Center was a conflict of interest when it received a referral from the independent Office of Congressional Ethics. In September, the Nevada Republican Party asked the nonpartisan fact-finding body to review the matter and refer its findings to the committee, which has the ability to determine whether a violation has occurred and to take disciplinary action.
The New York Times, just days before the request was made, had published a story about how Berkley, over the past five years, had promoted legislation and urged regulators to act in ways that benefited both the transplant program and dialysis centers in the state. Berkley’s husband, Dr. Larry Lehrner, is a nephrologist who has a more than $700,000-a-year contract with University Medical Center and a medical practice that owns dialysis centers.  http://www.rollcall.com/news/house_ethics_will_probe_shelley_berkleys_role_in_saving_transplant_program-215972-1.html
At the time, i wrote something to the effect that she was wrong to vote on the issues but it was ok lobby for the funding and help save the funding.
However, since the Ethics Committee spoke out, Berkley has now turned into one of those disgusting politicians like a John Ensign or Jim Gibbons.  Instead of saying something to the effect like, "I'm sorry" or "I take responsibility for my mistake", she has done the opposite.
In her campaign commercials, she now is taking full credit for saving the funding of the kidney programs.  Instead of giving credit to those who helped by saying like "With Shelly Berkley's help,. we are were able to save the kidney programs".  But nope, she gives herself full credit and disregards the others.  It should be noted that it was a bi-partisan effort to save the kidney funding, not just Berkley.
One thing I cannot stand is when people who steal credit for the work that others do.
And that is why Shelly Berkley is just another in a long line of disgusting Nevada politicians. 
And for this act of sheer

Just Another Week In Las Vegas

Las Vegas hosts numerous conventions this week and here is a sampling of some conventions that are going to be held this week in sin City.
From the LVRJ:
Conventions scheduled for the Las Vegas area this week:
Location Dates Attendance
California Mortgage Bankers Assn. Loan Servicing Encore July 29-31 800
Deafnation World Expo Mandalay Bay July 30-Aug. 1 23,000
World Market Center Summer Las Vegas Market World Market Center July 30-Aug. 3 50,000
Unity Convention Mandalay Bay Aug. 1-4 8,000
World Cube Association Rubik's Cube Championships Riviera Aug. 3-5 500
Natl. Society of Accountants for Cooperatives Paris Las Vegas Aug. 4-8 250
HBW Business Development Conference Planet Hollywood Resort Aug. 5- 7 800
ENKWSA Spring The Venetian Aug. 6-8 6,000
General Dynamics Info. Tech. NanoTechnology Red Rock Resort Aug. 6-10 400
Chain Restaurant Total Rewards Assoc. Meeting Harrah's Aug. 6-8 75
APA Courses/Seminars: Payroll 101 Meet Las Vegas Aug. 6-10 50Dance Teacher Web Conference & Expo Red Rock Resort Aug. 6-9 400Assoc. For Unmanned Vehicle Systems International Mandalay Bay Resort Aug. 7-11 3,000
Shaklee Corporation Global Conference MGM Grand Aug. 8-12 7,000
http://www.lvrj.com/business/upcoming-las-vegas-conventions-164174656.html
Most cities would love to have just 1of these conventions, but this is an average week for Las Vegas.  And these conventions are being held when we have temperatures around 106 for the highs.
So, thanks to all the companies that decide to have their convention here and thanks to those who work hard to bring the conventions here.

This Is Pretty Accurate

Surprisingly, it came from the Las Vegas Sun:, which is a very liberal, Obama loving "newspaper".
http://www.lasvegassun.com/photos/2012/jul/28/436133/

Shades Of Fast And Furious: DEA Helps Kill Man Near Houston

From the Houston Chronicle: The phone rang before sunrise. It woke Craig Patty, owner of a tiny North Texas trucking company, to vexing news about Truck 793 - a big red semi supposedly getting repairs in Houston.
"Your driver was shot in your truck," said the caller, a business colleague. "Your truck was loaded with marijuana. He was shot eight times while sitting in the cab. Do you know anything about your driver hauling marijuana?"
"What did you say?" Patty recalled asking. "Could you please repeat that?"
The truck, it turned out, had been everywhere but in the repair shop.
Commandeered by one of his drivers, who was secretly working with federal agents, the truck had been hauling marijuana from the border as part of an undercover operation. And without Patty's knowledge, the Drug Enforcement Administration was paying his driver, Lawrence Chapa, to use the truck to bust traffickers.
At least 17 hours before that early morning phone call, Chapa was shot dead in front of more than a dozen law enforcement officers - all of them taken by surprise by hijackers trying to steal the red Kenworth T600 truck and its load of pot.
In the confusion of the attack in northwest Harris County, compounded by officers in the operation not all knowing each other, a Houston policeman shot and wounded a Harris County sheriff's deputy.
But eight months later, Patty still can't get recompense from the U.S. government's decision to use his truck and employee without his permission.
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Truck-owner-wants-DEA-to-pay-up-after-botched-3743683.php
 So, without the knowledge of the owner of the truck the Feds, the Fed's steal his truck and driver and do some drug running.
More crap from the Obama administration.  First they kill a Border Patrol officer and now they kill a drug informant.
Just pathetic.

:Pin Heads Say Las Vegas Worst In Education

From the Las Vegas Sun: Despite some gains in student achievement, Las Vegas has been named the worst city in the nation for education, according to two rankings released this week.
Parenting Magazine came out with a list of the top 10 worst cities for education in America in 2012. Topping that list is Las Vegas, which was dinged for its schools’ high pupil-to-teacher ratio and a lower-than-average per-pupil funding.
The magazine, which has a circulation of more than 2 million readers, cited the recession as a cause for Las Vegas’ low education ranking. The Clark County School District was recently downgraded by two Wall Street credit-rating agencies, complicating the district’s plans to address $5.3 billion in school maintenance needs, the magazine said.....
According to the foundation, Nevada ranks 50th in the nation in education despite improving in several key indicators.
Joining Nevada in the bottom five states for education are Arizona, West Virginia, Mississippi and New Mexico. The top states for education are Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont, New Hampshire and Connecticut.
Three-quarters of Nevada’s fourth-graders are not proficient in reading, and 71 percent of eighth-graders are not proficient in math, according to Kids Count. Furthermore, 44 percent of Nevada’s high school students don’t graduate on time, the report found.  http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2012/jul/28/two-reports-find-las-vegas-worst-city-nation-educa/
First, this article mixes up Las Vegas and Nevada constantly, so the Sun makes tha article confusing.
Here is the reason for the low marks:  When tough economic times hit a city, the school districts feel the pain. Thanks to Las Vegas' declining tax revenue and state aid, the school district was recently downgraded by both Standard & Poor's and Moody's, thereby thwarting plans for $5.3 billion in school maintenance needed over the next decade. Meanwhile, the school district was at the bottom of our list for pupil/teacher ratio and was in the bottom third for per-pupil spending. http://www.parenting.com/gallery/worst-cities-education-in-america-2012
But, all the pointy headed academics say is we don't spend enough on academics.  What a bunch of fools.  They don't even talk about education, just money. 
If you use your money wisely and utilize space properly, you are going to get the same results as some other districts who spend twice as much as you do.
But to show how stupid this article pin head group is, they named New York City as one of the top 10 districts in the country.  Same with Madison, WI., even though the teachers shut down their district for a week when the teachers were out protesting instead of being in the classroom.
Finally, these pin heads don't even know the name of our school district.  We are called the Clark County School District.
This report is just more of the same: spend money, spend money and spend more money.

I Blame Obama

From the LVRJ: An airport official says a small plane carrying U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and his wife made an emergency landing in Albuquerque.
Albuquerque Aviation Police Chief Marshall Katz says no one was injured when the plane landed Saturday afternoon at Albuquerque International Sunport. Airport spokesman Daniel Jiron says the Cessna Citation 10 had been bound for Des Moines, Iowa, after departing from Las Vegas.  http://www.lvrj.com/news/rubio-s-plane-from-las-vegas-makes-emergency-landing-in-new-mexico-164158396.html
Now, everything that is wrong in this country is Bush's and conservatives fault, according to Obama and liberals.
I just wanted to see what it was like to behave like a liberal.  It's not that much fun, to be honest with you.

update: This is the second plane Rubio went through today.: 
The senator had to miss the Des Moines rally, according to his Twitter feed, and he told his followers that the plane from Las Vegas was the second that had problems Saturday.
“Not one, but two planes I was on today had malfunctions,” Rubio Tweeted. “Second one forced to make emergency landing in New Mexico. I know how to take a hint!”  http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2012/07/28/abqnewsseeker/breaking-sen-marco-rubios-plane-makes-emergency-landing-at-sunport.html
Somebody must be really out to get him.

NASCAR Officials Imitate Nevada Boxing Judges

Elliott Sadler was screwed, ripped off, stole from, jacked and pretty much cheated out of a victory in the Nationwide race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway today.  The NASCAR officials looked liked the boxing judges who judged the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley fight while blind.
From ESPN: Brad Keselowski took the lead when Elliott Sadler was penalized for jumping a late restart, then held on to win Saturday in a controversial finish to the first NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Sadler passed Keselowski on a restart with 18 laps to go, but officials ruled Sadler went too early and black-flagged him. Sadler stayed on the track for several laps, apparently hoping officials would reconsider the penalty, before finally coming in with 12 laps to go and giving up the lead to Keselowski.
http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/nationwide/story/_/id/8209958/elliott-sadler-speeding-penalty-gives-brad-keselowski-win-indy
The yellow was brought out by a spin by Kyle Busch with Keslowski in the lead followed by Sadler.
When they lined up, Keslowski chose the inside lane and Sadler was on the outside.
When the green flag fell, Keslowski spun his tires, which put him behind Sadler by a couple of feet or so and then Sadler was pushed from behind by Austin Dillon in the #3 car. ( It may have been the other Dillon- not positive) and that push made Sadler go past Keslowski before the start/finish line.  Because of this, Sadler was shown the black flag for passing the leader before the start/finish line.
Sadler's crew argued with the NASCAR officials but to no avail.  The replays confirmed that Keslowski spun his tires and that Sadler was pushed.  For some reason, NASCAR obviously did not look at the replays and got pig headed refused to change their penalty.
What this decision even worse was at the beginning of the race, Kyle Busch passed Kasey Kahne well before the start/finish line and no penalty was called.
Finally, shame on ESPN after the race.  ESPN/ABC handles all of the Nationwide races and after the race, not only did they not interview Elliot Sadler, they did not ask Keslowski about the incident during the victory celebration in victory lane.  Basic Journalism 101 questions.
The ramifications of NASCAR's screw up are big.  It cost Sadler a win, the points for winning the race, money for winning the race, lost his lead in the standings, $100,000 for the dash for cash and the pride in saying you won at Indy, probably Nationwide's second biggest race of the season.
It's a shame that the NASCAR officials threw the black flag and race on Sadler just as it was a shame that the Nevada boxing judges screwed up in the Pacquiao-Bradley fight.  Maybe the NASCAR officials were playing on the Internet in the booth instead of watching the race, just as the boxing judges were in another world/galaxy.

Every Now And Then A Blind Squirrel Gets A Nut

From Newsmax:  Chicago and Boston might want to keep Chick-fil-A out of their cities but that doesn’t mean they have the right to do so, according to the ACLU.
Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy’s recent comments supporting the “biblical definition” of marriage as between a man and a woman has led to calls by gay rights advocates to boycott the chain. The mayors of Boston and Chicago have recently promised to stop further expansion of the restaurants in their cities. Emanuel weighed in after Chicago Alderman Proco Joe Moreno said he intends to block the chain from opening its second Chicago location because of Cathy’s remarks.
Legal experts said the cities’ push to stop Chick-fil-A doesn’t stand a chance because barring Chick-fil-A over the personal views of its owner is an “open and shut” discrimination case, Fox News reported.
 “The government can regulate discrimination in employment or against customers, but what the government cannot do is to punish someone for their words,” Adam Schwartz, senior attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, told Fox News. “When an alderman refuses to allow a business to open because its owner has expressed a viewpoint the government disagrees with, the government is practicing viewpoint discrimination.”
The ACLU “strongly supports” same-sex marriage, Schwartz told Fox, but said that if a government can exclude a business for being against same-sex marriage, it can also exclude a business for being in support of same-sex marriage.
“But we also support the First Amendment,” he said. “We don’ think the government should exclude Chick-fil-A because of the anti-LGBT message. We believe this is clear cut.”

Read more on Newsmax.com: ACLU Backs Chick-fil-A Against Rahm Emanuel's Threatened Ban

I'll disagree with the ACLU about 95% of the time but this time they get it right.

The Chick Fill A issue is not about gay marriage but it is about free speech.  Sure, politicians can say they disagree with a person's view, but they cannot discriminate against them for their spoken word.  If Chicago, Boston and other cities deny Chick Fill A based on the owners view, they better be prepared to write a big check to the owner for violating his and his companies rights.  How is that for karma. 

Seems like the blind ACLU just got their nut.