Thursday, July 15, 2010

Interesting business model

Recklessly run the country toward socialist oblivion causing conservatives to drink more, chain smoke while plotting our vast right wing conspiracy, and buy guns to bury in the backyard, all to fund the mounting federal debt. Problem is if we got that nervous.....well. Read about it here.

Do it right now

Visit my colleague at the Digital Hairshirt. Abandoning commentary for the summer months Stephanie Richer has taken to posting photos from her amazing collection. Go. Now. Be amazed. And tell her the Dirty Copper sent you.

One of his Brides

When referring to women religious we Catholics often refer to them as Brides of Christ. Our tradition teaches that these dedicated women forgo marriage and submit themselves totally to Jesus. This clip, which I found at the most excellent Orbis Catholicus Secondus, is of Miss Mary Anne Marks speaking at her Harvard commencement. What is amazing is that this brilliant, articulate woman delivers her speech in Latin in a manner that led me to imagine myself standing in ancient Rome listening to a cultured woman give an address. Even more amazing is that despite having the capability to successfully pursue any professional path, she is entering the convent. Even though you may only understand a word or two take a minute to enjoy her speech and appreciate how she chose God above everything else.

Maybe it wasn't John Wilkes Boothe after all

I am simply in love with the latest Geico commercials.  It is nice when advertisers don't assume that we are all stupid.


They said after Abe's death she was never the same again. Maybe it all started a few days earlier than anyone realized.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Looks like we will have to buy a few more sets of Rosetta Stone


TRENTON — Police in New Jersey must explain the state's implied consent law to motorists in a language that they understand, the state Supreme Court ruled on Monday.
In a 4-3 decision, the court overturned a conviction for refusing to take an alcohol breath test because the man, who spoke only Spanish, did not understand the consequences.
The court found that a Plainfield police officer failed to inform German Marquez, who is from El Salvador, in Spanish that he would automatically lose his driver's license for seven months if he refused the test.

Funny, they had no problem reading the phone book to find a lawyer to represent them.  You can read the rest of the story about another fine job by the Supreme Court of the People's Republic of New Jersey here.

And I thought that it was idiots that carried the day

The six-month election recount that turned former "Saturday Night Live" comedian Al Franken into a U.S. senator may have been decided by convicted felons who voted illegally in Minnesota's Twin Cities.  Go figure.  The rest here.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Bigotry and cowardice at the University of Illinois

Anyone who thinks that the Obama administration's attempts at changing the social fabric of this nation is an exercise in tolerance needs to think again.  


URBANA, Ill. -- The University of Illinois has fired an adjunct professor who taught courses on Catholicism after a student accused the instructor of engaging in hate speech by saying he agrees with the church's teaching that homosexual sex is immoral.  The professor, Ken Howell of Champaign, has taught at the university for nine years. He says his firing violates his academic freedom.  


So much for the first amendment.  Now for the interesting twist.


The student had a friend register the complaint and has remained anonymous.  Very simple, just denounce your enemy to the secret police.  Any of this sound a bit familiar?  The rest here.

Monday, July 5, 2010

It's OK.....we left the window cracked

In order to satisfy my family's insatiable need for bulk paper goods I was off for another trip to the local wholesale store the other day when I spied the scene portrayed here.  Initially I was kind of annoyed that they parked Pops out in the parking lot while they went about their business.  Then I realized that my Dad would have opted for the wait in the car approach and in his endless pursuit of thrift would have insisted that we shut off the vehicle to "save gas" while he baked in a lawn chair on the hot asphalt.

Clear the deck for action

As I baked in the ninety degree sun last week while staining the deck I quietly cursed myself for my poor planning and inability to remember the consequences of not completing chores in a more timely manner.  Not the most plesant of experiences.  Now that the thermometer is supposed to peak at around 102 today I take some solace in the fact that some other poor dumb bastard will be suffering just a bit more than I was last week.  Then again, he won't be spending the next two days of vacation writing his research paper. 

By the way.  Cabot stain.....not too shabby.

Chair Sleep

For any of you out there that work a second job or who have worked the night shift you know the value of a quick nap. While my wife would swear that I could sleep on a picket fence my frequent location for a convenient nap is any chair in proximity to a television. The following excerpt was sent to me by my large and gentle Irish friend who sharing in my frustration of being awakened to go to bed has stumbled upon some answers to this dilemma.

Why is it that women universally hate to see a man sleep in a chair?

I first noticed this phenomenon on summer vacation with my grandparents. Gramp worked third shift in a bearing factory so he was coming home just about the time we were waking up. After having breakfast together, (and checking his lunch box to see what might have been left over there - usually a choice piece of fruit or candy bar) he would go settle in his comfortable chair in the living room.

He had an hour or so before going to his second job trimming hedges and mowing greens at a nearby golf course. I learned quickly that he now just wanted to be left alone, so I did. Within minutes he would be sound asleep but this peaceful repose did not last for every time he dropped off, regular as clockwork, my grandmother would come in, wake him up, and tell him that if he was so tired, he should go to bed and get some "real sleep."

Every morning, he would answer that by the time he got undressed and cleaned up for bed, it would be time to get up again. He always added that he was already getting some "real sleep" until she woke him up. Some mornings she would just whisk off at that point, other times it would escalate into a row, but every morning she would come back and duplicate the process as soon as he dropped off again.


The rest is here.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Late in life vocation

As I approach the end of my career in law enforcement I find myself pondering what career I might be suited for.  I think I found the answer.

What a pair

I know I read this, but I still cannot believe it. A guy apparently steals a Paramedic truck, drives it into someone else causing their death, and then sues the police for chasing him.  Talk about a big set of balls.

Newfoundland Monthly?

Sometimes you just have to relax and let it all hang out.


Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Just a well crafted joke

Silly, ironic, and just enough truth to make it believable.  Thanks to Crazy Gail for this chuckle.

Linda Brunette, 23, a resident of San Diego, was visiting her in-laws and while they went to a nearby supermarket to pick up some groceries she waited in the car. Later after returning home, her husband noticed her sitting in her car in the driveway with the windows rolled up and with her eyes closed,with both hands behind the back of her head. He became concerned and walked over to the car. He noticed that Linda's eyes were now open and she looked very strange. He asked her if she was okay, and Linda replied that she had been shot in the back of the head and had been holding her brains in for over an hour.

The husband called the paramedics, who broke into the car because the doors were locked and Linda refused to remove her hands from her head. When they finally got in, they found that Linda had a wad of bread dough on the back of her head. A Pillsbury biscuit canister had exploded from the heat making a loud noise that sounded like a gunshot, and the wad of dough hit her in the back of her head. When she reached back to find out what it was, she felt the dough and thought it was her brains. She initially passed out, but quickly recovered.

Linda is blonde, a Democrat and an Obama supporter, but that could all be a coincidence.

Will the sadness ever end?

Ran across this one buried on the bottom of the page at the Drudgereport. Sad, and a good reminder as you read the news account of the would be Times Square Bomber.  Interestingly, the story was carried on a British New site.  Another good job by the American Main Stream Media.

New York City officials say a renewed search this year of debris in and around the World Trade Center site has recovered 72 human remains. The rest here.

Another song in the soundtrack of my life

Friday, June 18, 2010

Basic Instinct?

I really like NASCAR.  I get really excited when Dale Earnhart Jr. wins and angry and frustrated when Jeff Gordon wins another race.  Despite my passion for this sport I have never had the urge to torch a liquor store.  Can someone explain this to me?

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Just plain stupid

As the Obama Administration bungles the environmental catastophe in the Gulf the plot, as well as the water, thickens.  Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (who will undoubtedly be the first Asian President someday) took matters in to his own hands and ordered barges into the troubles waters to start cleaning up the oil.  What follows is the Obama Administrations answer to pressing issues....the US Coast Guard turned the barges away.

The Coast Guard needed to confirm that there were fire extinguishers and life vests on board, and then it had trouble contacting the people who built the barges.

No, I am not making this up.

Uniform Division Nuns

The many ways in which a woman can manifest her beauty are boundless.But the most amazing type of beauty is rarely related to appearance.  Not too many days ago I was dropping my daughter off at school (perhaps in college she will see what the inside of a school bus looks like) when I saw our young parochial vicar on the front steps of the church after morning Mass.  Since he is due for transfer in the next week and I knew I might not have the chance to say my goodbyes I crossed the street to do just that.  He was talking to three young nuns.  Yes nuns, habits and all.  Surely a rare sight around these parts.  Some of you will say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I was struck by the way these three young women presented themselves.  Young, vibrant, happy, and completely in love with their vocation.  I chatted with them a bit and found they are huge fans of Father Z, enjoyed a laugh as they explained they weren't LPNs (lapel pin Nuns), thanked them for their vocation and went on my way.  Kudos to the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George and to all traditional Sisters who sport the habit and live an amazingly rich life.  No plainclothes under cover Sisters here.

Mood Recalibration

Now that I am a newly minted Monday through Friday type I find myself trying to fit in all kinds of errands in the few scant late afternoon hours I have available before the onset of regular home evening activities.  Having worked nights and weekends for the majority of my adult life it has been quite a period of adjustment.  Perhaps the most challenging aspect has been dealing with run of the mill annoying people who seem to pop up in front of me to thwart my progress in particularly annoying ways.  As bounced like a pinball this afternoon from the local wholesale club to the pet store to acquire vast quantities of food for the gargantuan beast that resides with us I was at the limits of my patience.  Then, as I struggled across the parking lot with a bag of dog food the size of a queen sized mattress I saw an enormously fat guy straddle a Vespa scooter, put on a full face helmet, and whine out his engine as he zipped across the parking lot.  While I will still miss those early morning trips to an empty Home Depot after a night shift, this kind of made up for this afternoons aggravation.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

The people have spoken

Primary Tuesday comes and goes each year without fanfare. Party drones waddle to the polls and endorse the candidate they are expected to support without question. Well, not this year.

From Fox News Alvin Greene is the proverbial enigma wrapped in a riddle surrounded by mystery.

He's also the new Democratic candidate for Senate in South Carolina.

Greene admits he had no campaign headquarters, no party support, no contributions, no job, no computer and no cell phone.

Yet, somehow, he managed to pull off the most unlikely of victories, and -- unless state Democratic Party officials have their way -- will face incumbent Republican Sen. Jim DeMint in November.

Greene's improbable victory over Democratic candidate Vic Rawl, a former state legislator who officials expected would win, has unleashed a flood of questions, including how the unemployed Army veteran managed to pay $10,400 to get on the ballot before running a "low budget" campaign with no ads, website or fundraising.


How great is that?  The fact that it happened to the Dems is even better.

Dear Abby

You have to admire youth. It is great to read a story about a young person who does something fantastic early in their life. Along those lines I have been a periodic visitor to the blog of Abby Sunderland. Abby is sixteen and left California some months ago to make an attempt at becoming the youngest person to ever solo circumnavigate the globe by sail. It has been a great story to follow.

Sadly today's news had a report that Abby's emergency beacon was activated and she has been reported as missing somewhere in the Indian Ocean. Prayers for this brave young lady please. While I would never allow my kids to be this adventurous I do admire her spirit and bravery. I hope that she is found soon.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

As good as new

Just a Photo Funny from my buddy the Cambodian.









Wednesday, June 2, 2010

From the local rag......

This one bears reading.


EDISON — An Edison man charged with resisting arrest, attempting to disarm an officer and other offenses in an alleged domestic assault in May 2008 is suing the township and individual police officers, contending he was severely beaten by police.

Germe's attorney, Lennox Hinds of Franklin, could not be reached.

Perhaps Mr. Hinds was traveling.  If memory serves he was the lawyer who represented Joanne Chesimard, the murderer of NJ State Trooper Werner Forester.  She has been on the run in Cuba for decades.  In my view, not hard to measure the credibility of this complaint.

Just plain stupid

I'm about as law and order as you can get.  In my almost 25 years in police work, this is one of the most stupid things I have ever seen.  And I have seen alot of stupid.


COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio's highest court has ruled that a person may be convicted of speeding purely if it looked to a police officer that the motorist was going too fast.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that an officer's visual estimation of speed is enough to support a conviction if the officer is trained, certified by a training academy, and experienced in watching for speeders. The court's 5-1 decision says independent verification of a driver's speed is not necessary.

More here.

Ford kills the Mercury


Anyone out there really shocked??

They say that justice delayed is justice denied.  But maybe the Holloway family will take some solace in the recent news that the prime suspect in the disappearance of their daughter five years ago in Aruba is now a wanted man for the stabbing death of a 25 year old Peruvian girl.  Perhaps after he is finally caught and put in to a Peruvian prison (which I dare imagine is a bit less pleasant than doing time in Aruba) they will find some peace.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Ebbs and flows

Since my promotion there has been a period of adjustment in my personal life that has been a series of ups and downs.  On the major plus side of the balance sheet is way more time with my family and time to reacquaint myself with many of our friends.  It is nice to eliminate the "sorry, I have to go to work that night" phrase from the vocabulary.  No doubt about it, monday through friday with weekends off does have it's perks.

On the other side of the  balance sheet there are some notable losses.  Now instead of going to Wal Mart or the grocery store in the late morning on a weekday when there is no one else there, I am banished to join the rest of the world on long lines and in packed parking lots on the weekends.  With that very thought in mind I set out this morning quietly cursing to myself about how I would be waiting on a very long line at the town dump as with the exception of two weekday mornings (I can't go to the dump in a jacket and tie) the only time you can get rid of that extra trash that won't fit in the garbage can is early Saturday mornings.  Well, as it turns out, it is not every Saturday but only the first and third of each month.  The good news......no line this Saturday.  The bad news....today is the fourth Saturday.

Welcome to the real world.  Sigh.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Hey Conservative Episcopalians!!!

Nice day for a swim, and the Tiber is not really that wide.

The Rev. Canon Mary Glasspool, of Baltimore, will be ordained and consecrated on Saturday, making her the second openly gay bishop in church history and one of the first two female bishops in the Diocese of Los Angeles' 114-year historyThe rest here.

I really love dogs

But really, where do we draw the line for goodness sake?  Dog needs live saving Viagra?

More on Sarah Palin

A few posts back I was critical of Sarah Palin for being a bit too folksy. While I still believe that I want to reiterate that she has a place in American Conservative politics. Find out why here.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Governor Christie versus Reporter

Enjoy!

Support Education

This is really starting to piss me off.  For those of you from outside of the Garden State, we elected a fiscally conservative governor this past November.  For the first time in my nearly half century living in NJ we have an elected official that has pledged and is following through on changing the way government is run.  While he is getting substantial resistance from both the Senate and Assembly and is being bashed by the Teacher's Union, change is in the wind.  Instead of the State artificially supporting local schools, costs are being shifted back to the town where VOTERS can decide what the financial priorities of the School Boards should be.

Now, this is not without pain.  Cuts are being made, and teachers (who I truly adore) are being laid off.  Not because they have to be but because bloated, swine like school board bureaucrats refuse to trim fat and spend money only on salaries for teachers who actually have contact with students.  While painful. if we allow this plan to run its course the Boards will ultimately have to bend to the will of the people and spend money on education and not on junkets to Atlantic City.  Then.....................


Despite President Obama's pledge for honest budgeting and billions of dollars in stimulus money spent to save teachers' jobs, the Education Department is asking for off-the-books emergency funding to keep local districts from laying off school teachers next school year.  Education Secretary Arne Duncan sent Democratic lawmakers a request Thursday to pass a $26 billion emergency supplemental to fund up to 300,000 teachers' jobs that he says will otherwise be lost in the fall.

This guy will just not abandon his quest for a socialist state.  If we follow Governor Christie's plan, education will survive.  It is time for President Obama to butt out.  The rest here.

Too folksy?

I really like Sarah Palin.  I don't think that she should be President but I like her style and think she was a bang up Governor.  Also, I think that she could be a defining force in conservative politics if she would just rely on her intellect instead of trying to continue to remind us how folksy she is.  Just saying.

Cooling my heels

I started this post yesterday and had to interrupt my flow to attend to some pressing business.  I found myself yesterday morning stuffed in a windowless conference room in the county courthouse waiting to testify at a homicide trial.  Here in our little corner of suburbia we luckily don't have that much violent crime.  Due to an error in jury instructions at the original trial the first guilty verdict was overturned and we had to go through the entire trial again.

Without getting in to the sordid details of the crime let me just say that because of the bad choices of one young teenage male, another was killed.  Sad really.  Two lives with nothing but potential and both ended poorly.  One dead and the other consigned to about twenty seven square feet of cage for the next sixty or so years.  While I was waiting in the conference room I was joined by a Mom and her two teenage children.  They too were there for a retrial.  The difference was that these two wonderful kids had been sexually assaulted when they were in what we in the trade call "the tender years". 

You can almost understand the stupidity of youth when you consider the circumstances of the homicide.  I am not trying to excuse anyone's behavior, but face it.  None of us were Rhodes scholars at eighteen and absent some capable parenting anyone of us could have conceivably wound up in the same situation.  But to rob the innocence of children who can't fight back.  There must be a special Bunsen Burner in a corner of hell for those people.

The Bionic Nurse

Good news is always welcome and today is no exception.  Our good friend Nurse Terry returned home today to the Silzer Street Command Bunker sporting two brandy new artificial knees.  Apparently the physical demands of emergency room nursing compounded by the endless upkeep needed by her difficult geriatric husband took their toll resulting in the need for some factory certified replacement parts at a much younger age than anticipated.

So I am happy to report that she made her glorious return today and while I don't feel comfortable sharing it on the web I was privy to some video footage of her ambulating better than I with the two knees God gave me.  Deo Gratis for good friends and their good fortune.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Loaves and fishes

Hey!  That is one catchy title.  EWTN, are you listening?  Not that I have a huge readership, but I try to be responsible when posting links.  Particularly if they are to another blog site.  Perhaps my most favorite and clearly the most informative blog I visit several times a day is What does the Prayer really say? by Father Z.  Now, I am a self admitted church weenie and am a fellow with very conservative leanings.  But even if super orthodox Catholicism is not your bag you have to appreciate the multi dimensional Priest that writes about so many diverse topics.  He has been on a cooking binge lately and his efforts deserve a visit from you.  Stop on over.  Maybe you will be his trillionth visitor.  (yes, I have blog envy)

Role Model?


Congress at work

The country is in a shambles, debt is out of control, economies are collapsing, and what important issue are our elected representatives debating?  America's most important issue.

The latest reason why I want to hit the lottery

There are many ways to pay off campaign debts — cajoling phone calls, begging letters — but Bill Clinton believes that he has come up with a better method to wipe out the financial obligations outstanding from his wife’s failed presidential bid. He is raffling himself. In an e-mail sent to millions of people who supported Hillary Clinton’s White House campaign, the former President asks: “How would you like the chance to come up to New York and spend the day with me?” For those who would like the One-Day-With-Bill prize, an online donation of as little as $5 (£3) will buy them the chance.

So the former President is raffling himself off.  If I hit the Powerball I would buy all of the tickets and make him stand in front of the US Capitol and read this out loud via a bullhorn.

Copper's Return

Greetings faithful readers, long time, no see.  Sorry for the extended absence from this space but it has been very busy around here the last two weeks or so.  A promotion at work which exposes me to natural sunlight for extended periods for the first time in over 22 years, a new boss, and a pot full of new responsibilities.  Not that I am complaining mind you.  It is a great opportunity and one that I set my sights on at the onset of my police career many years ago.

On top of all of that there was finals for Grad school, a daughter figuring out what Dad is doing home so often at night, and one very large and confused Newfoundland who is acting like a big furry suppository.  But it is great to be back at the key board and while I have not had the chance to news surf in a while there is a lot of great material out there.  So, thanks for sticking around and checking me out during my absence and stay tuned.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Ho, ho, ho?

While it is a bit chilly this morning it is Spring. Birds are chirping, Sun is shining, and tulips are sprouting up all over the yard. So can anyone explain to me why I am getting email messages about advanced ticket sales for the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Extravaganza?

Monday, April 26, 2010

Getting ready

Saturday, April 24, 2010

God's handiwork

If you can look at this picture from the Hubble space telescope and tell me there is no God you are fooling yourself.
Hubble Captures View of
Source: Hubblesite.org

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Song of the south

For those of you thinking that relocating south of the Mason Dixon line in your golden years might night be an area that will satisfy your more "cosmopolitan" needs, I give you.....the Turtleman.



Thanks to the Hilltop Piper for this one.

Harmony

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Paranoia may destroy ya

The Tea Party movement is clearly making the libs nervous.  Here is a sampling of new stories from the last day or two highlighting their paranoia.  They are applying every spin they can to this offensive type of democracy.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Former President Bill Clinton warned of a slippery slope from angry anti-government rhetoric to violence like the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, saying "the words we use really do matter."

NBC Reporter To Black Man At Tea Party: "Have You Ever Felt Uncomfortable?"

 

City of brotherly love?

Police arrested a New Jersey man after he was accused of intentionally vomiting on a young girl at the Phillies game Wednesday evening.

Anyone surprised about his black eye?  If it was my daughter he would likely be breathing through a tube.  Animal.

Lead us not into temptation

No matter how hard I try to resist, every year about this time I get the urge to start my Saturday morning off with a trip to the flea market.  Such was the case early this morning as I headed out to the Grand Daddy of New Jersey out door shopping destinations, the Englishtown Auction.  Though I try to keep up on the local lore I have no idea why the oldest and largest regular flea market has the word auction in its title.  I can tell you however, that if it cannot be found on the cheap at Englishtown, well, it can't be found.

Like similar establishments, Englishtown has three distinct segments and associated with them three stratas of socio economic position.  For the elitist shoppers there are the six or so buildings divided in small cubicles with roll down steel doors.  If you are one of the "rich" folk that patronize the market with any regularity this is where you will find the more established store like kiosks hawking everything from incense to samurai swords.  Dank and dust, it is generally loaded with some favorably priced items.  Next in this multilayered economy are those vendors who are there every week and have earned themselves a spot in the paved areas surrounding the buildings.  This is where you will find the bulk of the stolen and knock off designer goods as well as substantial bargains on everything from socks to leather belts.  Finally there is the dust bowl.  Most of this area is populated by rank amateurs trying their luck on a ten dollar table off the dirty paths attempting to unload garages full of various and sundry crapola.

While I did pick a few items up today (some kitchen implements and the world's most sour dill pickles) the best part of the visit was people watching.  Sadly, I did not bring the camera and had to rely on my phone for this safari but every size and shape of humanity was there trolling for a bargain.  Just another nice way for an indigenous New Jersey Polack to spend a few hours on a reasonably nice Saturday.
Why I decided to forgo my usual sausage sandwich.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Randomly firing musical neuron

A new treat

An intrepid colleague of mine from the medic job decided to treat the morning and night crews with a concoction she calls monkey bread.  Truly the best baked good I have ever eaten.  Hats off to the Dutchess of Decibel.

So simple...

Even a child understands. Twirl of the nightstick to the Cambodian for this pic.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Ever wonder what a dumbass sounds like?

We assume (and often rightly so) that there are members of the United States Congress who aren't very bright.  Obamacare leaps to mind.  But this is so deliciouisly stupid you MUST watch it.  The incredible stupidity begins at 1:20 but the entire clip merits your viewing inasmuch as it is testament to the professionalism of the Admiral giving testimony.  I would have walked across the chamber and smacked the shit out of him.  A twirl of the nightstick to Spicoli for tipping me to this one.

A picture worth a thousand words

A sentiment shared by Emergency Medical Professionals everywhere (aka the I should have taken the Fire Department test syndrome).  Twirl of the nightstick to my friend Joe for this one.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

How can you not love this guy?

PHOENIX -- Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is implementing a new inmate program at Tent City Jail called “Pedal Vision.”

The program uses inmate-powered cycles to generate electricity for televisions.

Reports say Arpaio’s recent visit to Tent City inspired the idea, when he saw that many of the inmates were overweight.

The stationary bikes are customized so that as an inmate pedals, a connected television is powered once the cycle generates 12 volts of electricity.


The rest here.

Who says romance is dead?

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Random silliness

When I do my daily web surf I am sometimes convinced that I have reached the end of the internet.  It seems that no matter how hard I search it is more and more difficult to find something interesting, or at least funny.  But from time to time one of my capable friends will forward a URL to me that is worth a look.  So for an Easter Morning chuckle might I suggest Pets who want to kill themselves compliments of El Loco Cubano.  Here is a small sample of their collection.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

A Joyous Easter to you all

May the blessings of the Risen Christ be with you and yours for all time.  Alleluia!

Makes me wish I had a kidney stone

A Florida doctor who opposes the new health care law posted a sign on his office door telling patients who voted for President Obama to get care "elsewhere," the Orlando Sentinel reported.


The sign on Dr. Jack Cassell's door reads, "Changes to your health care begin right now. Not in four years," the Sentinel said.

Barack blows it again

Remember when we had a President that was not afraid.  Not afraid of terror.  Not afraid of world opinion.  Not afraid of doing what was right regardless of consequences.  Sigh.  Alas, that was then and this is now.

President Barack Obama's Easter address calls on people of all faiths, as well as nonbelievers, to embrace their common aspirations and "shared spirit of humanity."

"On this Easter weekend," he said, "let us hold fast to those aspirations we hold in common as brothers and sisters, as members of the same family — the family of man."

"And while we worship in different ways, we also remember the shared spirit of humanity that inhabits us all – Jews and Christians, Muslims and Hindus, believers and nonbelievers alike," the president says.


Mr. President, it is not about common aspirations and it is certainly not about your continued program of secular humanism that threatens to dilute our important differences in to your vision of a more homogenized society.  Our differences are what make us unique and what makes our interactions fruitful.  Pushing our countrymen toward some zombie like existence to accomodate your view of how we should believe is the furthest from the point.

It is Easter, the celebration of the Risen Christ who died for our sins.  All of our sins.  Would it kill you to wish the Christian citizens of this nation a happy and joyous Easter much in the way that we wish our Jewish friends a holy Passover?

The rest of this nonsense can be found here.

Secular Style Easter greetings

This one popped in to my cranium late last night at work after too many caffeinated beverages.  Just a short side trip back to my fabulous childhood where we ran with scissors, ate a bit of paste now and again and watched wonderfully violent cartoons.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Why Fox?

Some misguided friends of mine often choose to bash Fox News as a mouthpiece for the right.  In response I say, yes they are.  I don't know if Rupert Murdoch encourages the conservative slant of his media empire because it makes him more money or if he is truly a conservative.  It does not matter, he owns it and can do what he likes.  What is truly important is that Fox provides a counterpoint to all of the other media outlets who are clearly left in their editorial leanings.  Again, that is there business.  But what seperates Fox from the rest of the pack is the patriotic manner in which they conduct themselves.  They are proud flag wavers and make no apologies for it.  Unlike the libtards at MSNBC and CNN, when the rubber meets the road, they step up to make a difference.

I don't know if any of you have been following the recent court decision regarding the morons of the Westboro Baptist Church.  If you are not aware of the name you are surely familiar with their infamously bad behavior in picketing the funerals of service men and women who have been killed in combat.  The father of a Marine killed in action sued the church.  A judicial simpleton ordered him to pay there court costs.  Read the rest of the amazing story here and make sure you continue to watch Bill O'reilly.  Patriot, and mans man. 

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Credit where credit is due

I am not as dilligent as I should be at checking some of my favorite blogs.  Life is just busy sometimes.  I tired to catch up a bit today and as you can see from some of the posts I have been "lifting" a thing here or there to post in my space.  To me, it is a form of flattery.  There are a lot of folks out there writing who are way smarter than I and have a great deal to contribute.  With that in mind here is one from the blog of a great patriot, The Bloviating Zepplin

Healthcare reality check

The link will take you to a post over at Demure Thoughts.  It will help those of you who have been blessed with good health understand what dealing with the medical establishment is like when you have good insurance and your wits about you (and a cool Mexican Mom who prescribes beer).  After reading this post take a minute and think of what things will be like now that instead of an incompetent local doctor managing your care, you have Nancy Pelosi.  You can find the story of the Boob Saga here.  God help us all, and I am glad Jen is ok.  I would be lost without her rants.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Thought provocation

A post worthy of your consideration over at Random Acts of Patriotism: In the Wake of the Recent Legislation

Entitlement

All glory, laud and honor

We are in the home stretch of Lent and Holy Week is upon us.  Stolen from Whispers in the Loggia I offer you this musical interlude.  For all you old time church types out there you should really enjoy this one.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Obama Care Explained

Call the butcher

They should have tied a pork chop around his neck.

Fairness?

Divorce is just not a nice thing.  Even the smallest dispute is magnified a thousand time when this type of warfare is being waged.  What is disturbing however is the disparate way men fare in the courts.  A divorced father is usually found suitable to pay support, attorney fees and just about every other bill that comes his way.  Yet in terms of guiding their child's upbringing they are often found less than suitable by the judiciary.

A judge ruled an Illinois father involved in a bitter divorce is not allowed to take his 3-year-old daughter to church on Easter because of a dispute over the girl's religious upbringing, according to MyFoxChicago.com.


Joseph Reyes and the child's mother had agreed to raise their daughter in the Jewish faith, but Reyes later had her baptized in the Catholic Church.

You can read the rest here.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

How about a deep cleansing sigh?

Admittedly, I have not been too diligent in getting to church on Sunday the last few months.  Despite some really great "worldly" excuses, in the scope of things I really don't have a great reason for not getting there.  Worse yet, this lapse has happened during Lent.  Well, like I said, its something I have to address with the "Boss".  But since there are no atheists in foxholes, no matter how bad the night shift is tonight I will be in the pew at 7:30am praying with new vigor in the hope that the Dems will fail in their attempt to give taxpayers a bullet behind the ear by passing their health care reform bill. 
I guess the common idea here is that no matter what happens it is king of our own fault.  I missed a good deal of my Sunday obligations because I was too tired or had too much to do.  Kind of the same way when we know a liberal is running for office in our district.  We should go campaign for the conservative that best represents our values but have just too many things to keep us from performing some really important work.  Time is going to pass.  It is in our best interests to make the best use of it.

So, if in the morning I am struck by a bus and find myself simmering in Purgatory with a mouthful of excrement, or if Pelosi and her fellow travelers are successful in financially destroying our country, the blame should be laid right at our feet.  After all, ultimately we are responsible for our own shortcomings.  Unless we are Democrats.  In which case someone else will pay the bill or serve the purgatorial sentence for them.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Countdown

So the counting continues as the Socialists attempt to bankrupt our nation with what is still being euphamistically called health care reform.  Candidly, economic disaster would be a more appropriate monicker if they were concerned with truth.

According to FoxNews the Dems have 216 votes locked up and need ten more to guarantee passage of the bill.  This will enable them to pass the law in a manner consistent with that troubling document known to the rest of us as the Constitution.  Please join me in hoping the remainder of the House of Representatives cherishes their collective political futures enough to say no to Obama, no to Pelosi, and no to socialized medicine.  The story is here.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

In the holiday spirit

Into a Belfast pub comes Paddy Murphy, looking like he'd just been run over by a train.  His arm is in a sling, his nose is broken, his face is cut and bruised and he is walking with a limp.

What happened to you? asks Sean the bartender.

Jamie O'Conner and me had a fight, says Paddy

That little shit, O'Conner, says Sean, He couldn't do that to you, he must have had something in his hand.

That he did, says Paddy, a shovel is what he had, and a terrible lickin' he gave me with it.

Well, says Sean, you should have defended yourself, didn't you have something in your hand?

That I did, said Paddy.  Mrs. O'Conner's breast, and a thing of beauty it was, but useless in a fight.

Bashing Benedict

Since the main stream media can't seem to bring themselves to call the Congress and our esteemed President on their continued trip toward the poorhouse they were without a worthy target.  It seems they have settled on the Pope for now.  If you would believe the thinly veiled accounts of an emerging abuse scandal in Germany it would seem that they intend to lay the blame right at the tips of the shoes of the Fisherman.  How do these bastards sleep at night?  I will not be including a link.  You should have no trouble finding the product of their smear without looking too hard.

Manilla John

It seems like just yesterday I overcame the procrastination inherent in my being and canceled HBO.  Not that I have anything against the cable giant.  It was just that after subscribing for many years and enjoying much of their programming, they had slid in to the repetitive abyss of other cable providers and kept repeating the same tired repertoire of movies.  So after a suitable period of mourning for Rome, and having found other places to watch repeats of the Sopranos and Six Feet Under I finally called and canceled the account.  The budget here was fifteen bucks to the good a month and I limited my TV viewing to other channels that provided crappy programming as part of my basic subscription.  Then.....they screwed me.

Tonight at 9pm EDT I will be glued to the flat screen and the DVR will be whirring as I drink in what should be an epic, The Pacific.  Like many of you I grew up on a steady diet of black and white war films starring greats like Robert Mitchum and John Wayne.  As I got a bit older and understood the necessary horrors of war I found myself drawn to more contmporary films about war.  But thanks to the Hollywood left most of it amounted to America bashing under the guise of art.  The genre took a great turn after Private Ryan and Band of Brothers.  And now, a special treat.  The story of Marines as they slogged through hell in the Pacific Theater.  It promises to be a great bit of TV.

But even more intriguing for me is the inclusion of a local New Jersey hero as one of the main characters.  John Basilone was from Raritan, New Jersey.  Raritan was and stills is largely a town populated by Italian families many of whom were stone masons that were brought here from Italy to work on the construction of the expansive Duke estate (think Duke University tobacco fortune money).  John Basilone won the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions on Guadalcanal.  After receiving the awarded he was shipped back to the states to help sell war bonds.  A true leatherneck he could not stay here in the states while his comrades were in peril and his country needed him.  He returned to combat and was killed in action on Iwo Jima.

So while I enjoy the heroic exploits of the United States Marines over the next ten weeks I will also be thinking about "Manila John" and the price he and so many neighbors have paid over the decades to keep our country safe.

The Big Blow

So, this is what it is like to have a bit of time to catch up on blogging.  About time.  As they say, life happens and it has been incredibly busy here at the command bunker so in the spirit of tirage, those things you would rather be doing fall to the back in deference to those things you just have to get done.

I hope that all of my north east neighbors fared well during yesterday's storm.  As for me I wish I could report that we emerged unscathed.  Sadly, I now have a nice collection of roof shingles in my backyard that looked much nicer when they were affixed to my roof.  In the scope of things though, I am thankful.  An early visit from my friend Bob the Builder and his talented cohort should remedy the problem in short order.  Succinctly, no injuries here.  All pluses.

After a frustrating day trying to finish and upload a grad school final with intermittent power and internet access (that should really dash my hopes for a high honors GPA) I wound up going in to work the night shift on the medic truck.  Thankfully, not too much misfortune around the area but there was a great deal of flooding and we found ourselves having to execute a twenty mile detour just to return to our station from a trip to the trauma center.  You forget how dark it really gets at night until there is absolutely no power.  I would like to say that there were elements of our local populace that illuminated the area with their good judgment.  Not hardly.  C'mon honey, there is a seventy mile an hour wind a'blowin and street signs are flying around like pivoting guillotines.  Let's pack the kids and grandma in the car and go for a ride.  Sigh.  Freaking Darwin.  So, so wrong.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Is it just me?

Sunday, February 28, 2010

More apocalyptic Democratic hijinks

Fresh off the Fox News site Robert Kennedy's grandson has decided not to run for the US Congress.  Could it be that the Kennedy political apparatus has determined his chances of success are as good as Uncle Ted explaining how Catholics can be pro choice whilst standing outside the Pearly Gates?
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Up next in the batting order, Charlie Rangel.  Stay tuned for the continued unravelling.

Al Gore still drinking Kool Aid

From the Sunday NY Times OpEd page, ladies and gentlemen.....the shameless Al Gore.

From the standpoint of governance, what is at stake is our ability to use the rule of law as an instrument of human redemption. After all has been said and so little done, the truth about the climate crisis — inconvenient as ever — must still be faced.

The science has been proven false.  Apparently in the face of being marginalized in the history books Al is now going to lecture us about using law for human redemption.  If he is even slightly serious about this new pursuit, how about coming out against Roe v. Wade?  You can read the NY Times article here without giving them any money to support their shamelessly slanted newspaper.

Pelosi is donning her suicide vest

Honestly, after the drubbing conservatives took at the polls in the last national election I was in a very dark place.  It seemed clear to me that the political tides were solidly against almost everything I look for in my government.  While soccer moms and liberals everywhere were celebrating hope, politically, I saw none.

Who would have thought just a year ago that I would be able to gleefully read the headlines almost daily and see the Democratic machine slowly consume itself.  One would think that having control of both houses and the Presidency, the Dems would have been able to cause more damage to our Republic than all enemies, both foreign and domestic could have imagined over the last two hundred years.  Yet despite having every political advantage, it looks as though they are about to experience their most monumental failure.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged her colleagues to back a major overhaul of U.S. health care even if it threatens their political careers, a call to arms that underscores the issue's massive role in this election year.
Lawmakers sometimes must enact policies that, even if unpopular at the moment, will help the public, Pelosi said in an interview being broadcast Sunday the ABC News program "This Week."
"We're not here just to self-perpetuate our service in Congress," she said. "We're here to do the job for the American people."


Basically, Nancy Pelosi is hoping that the representatives of her party will ignore the will of the public in order to enact her socialist agenda.  In essence she is asking them to strap on their political suicide vests in the hopes of receiving their promised 72 socialist virgins at a later date.

It's unclear whether Pelosi's remarks will embolden or chill dozens of moderate House Democrats who face withering criticisms of the health care proposal in visits with constituents and in national polls.

Is it really that unclear?  It does not take a PHD in Political Science to rightly assume that 2010 will be a political blood bath for liberals in this country.  Yet Pelosi and Reid continue to resist the will of the people.  Apparently she and Harry really believe they are smarter than the rest of us.

It took courage for Congress to pass Social Security and Medicare, which eventually became highly popular, she said, "and many of the same forces that were at work decades ago are at work again against this bill."

No Nancy.  Things are different.  The American voter is smarter.  They realize that sometime in the future the bill will come due for your view of Utopia.  And we are not willing to mortgage the future of our children and grandchildren to finance your pipe dream.  You lost Ted Kennedy's seat.  How much more convincing do you need?

Read the entire article here at Fox News.

Smelling the coffee

One of the things that I try to do while reading the various blogs that I visit is to learn.  It is easy to fall in to a trap of just wanting to be entertained all of the time.  There is a very fine blog written by a very orthodox Priest that I like to read.  Father Know It All has a very nice explanation of the need for reform of the reform from a personal perspective.


And so I repented for my sin of the sixties. We thought we were better than those who had gone before. We were not. We, like they, were sinners in need of grace. That arrogant spirit still infects the society and the Church. It is the belief that I know better, that I am part of a generation that is smarter, more technically advanced, and more powerful than all that’s gone before. Because of our superiority, God and the Church should accommodate themselves to us.  Above all, the Sacrifice of the Mass should accommodate itself to our more enlightened tastes. I have come to think differently. Those, who so radically changed the liturgy, among whom I count myself, succeeded only in emptying the churches. They made what was mysterious and unique into something commonplace. They replaced incense with air conditioning and silk with polyester. They replaced Calvary with a stage performance. They did all this in defiance of the Second Vatican Council, and while they did it, they prattled endlessly on about “the spirit of Vatican II.” We were lied to and in consequence we lied to you. We have replaced the truth with what we wanted to be true.

You should stop by and read this entire post.


Unhappy with the Priest at your church?  Father Z has an interesting suggestion about how to stimulate change here.

Flattery to justify thievery

One of the blogs I try to visit often is John Sonnen's Orbis Catholicus Secundus, a tremendous repository of Catholic Rome.  More specifically Traditional Catholic Rome.  John always manages to post tremendous photos of historically significant structures and traditions that might otherwise be lost to those of us living more pedestrian existences.  As a graduate student in Rome, and while conducting tours to finance his education, John takes time to share his growing knowledge of our common heritage with all of us.  Visit his blog and enjoy the picture I shamelessly stole from it this morning.  You never know who will pop up in an old photo.

Request for funny

I have really been neglecting this space.  It seems that when the news is teeming with inspiration, I have no time to write.  And when I have time to write, no inspiration.  On top of all of that I was informed by one of my faithful readers that I haven't posted anything funny in a while.  Courtesy of the Admiral I will now attempt to rectify the absence of humor.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Hot Dog Johnny's

The nice thing about getting out and about in New Jersey is the opportunity to stop at some old style roadside eateries.  On the way back the other day from a quick overnight to the Pocono Mountains I was inspired to stop at a little place I had not been to in over thirty years, Hot Dog Johnny's.  This roadside icon is on the roadside of Route 46 in Buttzville (no I am not making that name up) just a short trip from the Delaware Water Gap.  Founded in the early forties by a man who worked in the mines in and around Dover it has been a standard stop for travellers in this rural part of the state who were coming from or going to hunting trips, rafting adventures, or in my case Boy Scout Camp.


Johnny's is a typical drive in but its claim to fame is a fried hot dog served with diced onions, mustard, and a sliver of dill pickle.  For purists, Johnny's still serves chilled buttermilk, though I don't imaging the demand for something that tastes like a sour cream milkshake is what it once was.  It was nice to take a brief trip back in time and introduce my youngest to a blast from my past. (Sorry about the dark picture, it was overcast and my phone does not have a flash)

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Trooper Philip Lamonaco

Today I packed up the family and headed to the Great Wolf Lodge in the Pocono Mountains. Its nice to be able to enjoy 84 degree pool water while there is still a pile of snow on the ground. While travelling on I 80 near milepost 8 on the way out of New Jersey I told my wife I needed to make a short stop on the shoulder. It was the spot where back in the early days of my career that Trooper Lamonaco lost his life in a roadside gun battle with two scumbags. Thousands of people drive by this sign every week. It is important to remember those who gave up weekends like this with their families and so much more. Eternal life grant unto him O Lord. Let us never forget his sacrifice.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

A I O U

If you are looking for the missing E it is at Robert Wood Johnson.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

How far we have gone

Today a co-worker was cleaning out his locker in preparation for his retirement next week. It is somewhat like an archeological dig when you rifle through 25 years of police gear. While this may appear to be a kit for artificially inseminating dairy cows it was actually my departments response to the AIDS epidemic circa 1987. I wish I was kidding. Extraordinary, isn't it?

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Screaching tweens

What Dad's do for their daughters. I may never hear properly again.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Asian Phonetics

Happy Chinese New Year

Especially to my daughter, born Long Xi Hua, in the year of the dragon.  This year is the year of the Tiger.  To deduce the relevance of the following clip you can forward to the 59 second mark.  gōng xǐ fā cái

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

PU

It would seem that the high regard I have felt for Ivy League Universities might be for naught.  After all, this is what one of their Princeton University graduates offers to us from her intellectual prowess.

(CNSNews.com) – At a ceremony at the White House on Tuesday, First Lady Michelle Obama announced the launch of the ‘Let’s Move’ campaign to end childhood obesity in the United States, an epidemic she said is costly and a threat to national security.

“A recent study put the health care cost of obesity-related diseases at $147 billion a year,” Mrs. Obama said. “This epidemic also impacts the nation’s security, as obesity is now one of the most common disqualifiers for military service.”

I wish I was making it up.  Is she that out of touch or is this just her cerebral attempt at some Sarah Palin like folksy charm?  Maybe we should let the people who matriculated at the Sally Struthers School of locksmithing take a crack at things.  The rest here.

Live fast, die young

 
I don't get to watch a great deal of television.  But one of my guilty pleasures over the last five years or so has been stealing an hour a week to live vicariously through others while watching the Deadliest Catch.  Sadly Captain Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie died of what was reported to be a massive stroke, he was only 53.  Not surprising.  Last season he was almost taken out by a massive pulmonary embolism and did little or nothing to alter the bad habits that brought him to an early end.  Captain Phil was unique and alas one of a dying breed.  The last of the true American adventurers. May he rest in peace.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

It's only just begun

A seemingly grassroots organization that's mounted an online campaign to counter the tea party movement is actually the front end of an elaborate scheme that funnels funds -- including sizable labor union contributions -- through the offices of a prominent Democratic party lawyer.

A Web site popped up in January dedicated to preventing the tea party's "radical" and "dangerous" ideas from "gaining legislative traction," targeting GOP candidates in Illinois for the firing squad.

You can almost taste the fear.  The panic is bubbling over.  The people that feared the loss of McCain-Feingold the most are certainly jumping in with both feet.  You can read the story here.  And might I propose this as our theme song of the month?

Twitter post of the week

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) on Tuesday used the D.C. snowstorm to make a political jab, saying that it provides evidence for global warming skeptics.

Apparently he twittered "it will continue to snow until Al Gore cries Uncle."  Priceless.  The story here.

I can do without the visual

Recent reports regarding the new body scan x ray machines being used to counter terrorism indicate that certain celebrity images have been saved and circulated publicly instead of deleted.  I mean really, who needs a near naked image of John Goodman?

More false scientific data

If it were only true.


LONDON (Reuters) - Intelligence comes second only to smoking as a predictor of heart disease, scientists said on Wednesday, suggesting public health campaigns may need to be designed for people with lower IQs if they are to work.

Research by Britain's Medical Research Council (MRC) found that lower intelligence quotient (IQ) scores were associated with higher rates of heart disease and death, and were more important indicators than any other risk factors except smoking.

Liberals would have gone the way of the dinosaur.  The rest of the article here.