LEATHERNECKM31

"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain."

Last night's money quote from the McCain-Messiah session came when Rick Warren asked asked Obama "when does a baby get human rights in your view?"

"Well, I think that whether you are looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade."

He's actually been acting like president since before he clinched the nomination; someone should tell him that there is no higher pay grade than the one for which he campaigns.

In great contrast, McCain later answered the same question in five words: "At the moment of conception."

But The Big O wasn't finished obfuscating.

"But point number two, I am pro-choice. I believe in Roe v. Wade and come to that conclusion not because I’m pro abortion, but because ultimately I don’t think women make these decisions casually.

Huh?

These are the sort of answers scrawled in millions of blue books by unprepared high school students during mid-terms.... many words, no content.

This is where the democrat party's national charade begins to fall apart. All that was required was exposure to a surprisingly direct and cogent interrogator, the absence of a script and a TelePrompTer.

What a difference four years make.

Michael Phelps' historic performance in the Olympics may well remain unmatched... period. Just as important, perhaps moreso, for his personal development as a role model for young Americans.

Gone with the cockiness of his teen behavior in Athens, his immature, flippant attitude when asked about Mark Spitz' seven-gold medal record. Bob Costas' joint interview with the two legends (via remote with Spitz) was appropriately respectful all the way around.

But where was Spitz last night? Presumably, at home.

Uninvited by the IOC, and even Speedo, which he single-handedly made a house-old name and millions of dollars, Spitz was further and ungraciously snubbed by the man of the hour, Phelps.

The Packers have never forgotten Kramer, Starr and old Max McGee, rest his soul. Even Jackie Robinson's widow is a fixture at MLB events and ceremonies; MLB and Mark McGwire made damn sure that Roger Maris' entire family was present when his broke the Yankee great's hallowed "61", and Michael Jordan and Julius Erving are never overlook by their formers teams or any significant NBA event.

I guess Olympic swimming must be like soccer... short term memory loss.

No one with any self respect or social grace goes where they're not invited, and under last night's circumstances, especially someone of Spitz's world fame and achievement; he was after all, Phelps, before Phelps.

With more maturity, Phelps would have been able to simply pick up the phone and tell the IOC, the The US Swimming Federation and the US Olympic Committee that he wanted Spitz and his wife to be in the stands for not just Phelps', but America's triumph.

On the very remote chance his request was turned down, Phelps could simply have written a check; he already made $5 million this year (plus a $1 mil bonus from Speedo for last night alone); and that's just the beginning. Unlike Spitz, young Phelps, who has never worked in the traditional sense, will never have to.

And besides, without his relay teammates' great efforts, Phelps would be tied with Spitz, perhaps forever.

Nobody gets to the top alone.

"Have you seen the little piggies, in their starched white shirts....?

I knew it.

Most thinking people knew it... and waited for the other shoe to drop.

TV commercial: Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens gazing into the camera essentially parroting the lefty dem line... "we can't drill ourselves out of this mess" as the windmills twist slowly, slowly in the wind behind him.

The trail one must follow in this curious campaign, as it always is in politics, especially "green politics", is a money trail.

Now all is revealed by #dontgogovernment.com via MichelleMalkin.com

Nancy Pelosi says that she is trying to save the planet and prevent global warming, but the reality is that, according to disclosure statements, in May 2007 she invested in T. Boone Picken’s clean energy fuels corp., CLNE, which is the sole sponsor of a proposal in California to funnel $5 billion in state funds and $5 billion in Federal funs to this corporation which will indirectly help them create a giant wind farm in the Texas panhandle.

And he's helped out by the favorite tool of the connected and rich ... theft of land by use of eminent domain.

Jackasses.

Is it a coincidence that Boone's ads appeared about the time the public's attitude began to shift toward more domestic oil and gas drilling?

Is it a coincidence that Speaker Pelosi was the most deeply committed, single politician in Washington to stonewalling offshore and Anwar drilling?    

Would Pickens and Pelosi benefit greatly from Congress tying America's oil and gas right arm behind its back?

This business opportunity was clearly based on the Algore similar eco-business strategy: wrap yourself in the green flag and propaganda of global warming and make millions as a direct result. 

Late last year Gore and some of his fellow scam artists founded the $1 billion investment firm, Generation Investment Management; of course Gore doesn't have the brains to run such a firm, he's just the front man. David Blood, who previously managed $325 billion in assets out of Goldman Sachs' London office is Mr. Big.

Essentially, Gore hopped on the eco-whacko, global warming, sky-is-falling bandwagon and then quietly constructed a huge business operation that will suck up billions in government and private funds promising to help solve a problem that does not exist. 

Lastly, the preposterous Ponzi scheme of purchasing "carbon offsets" while continue using as much energy as you want figures greatly in GIM's profitability.

It's such an important eco-warrior way to live that Algore buys a lot of carbon credits to offset the utilities costs of his home which runs as much in one month as a normal family spends in a year. 

And he buys the credits... from GIM--his own company. Details here.

Tradition

I like Cindy McCain for what she doesn't say... which, thankfully, is most of the time.

Since probably the tag-team of Jimmah and ROSEalynn Carta, there's been an annoying trend for the First lady to have delusions of grandeur. Rosalynn was annoying in her belief that the nation gave a damn about what the First lady had to say beyond the Easter Egg Hunt and the lighting of the national Christmas tree.

The First Lady is the national wife and mother... some embrace the responsibility exactly as that-- Barbara Bush comes to mind; while others offend the national sensibilities by generously offering a "two-for-one presidency"--Bill and Hillary comes to mind.  

Now, like an even worse remake of the movie Species (as if that were possible), the Clinton constitutional overreach has spawned The Amazon, Mrs. Obama, who is even more overbearing that her metro-sexual husband (as if that were possible).

What hasn't she commented on?

The first rule of the First Ladies Club is that you don't talk outside the First Ladies Club; this admonition of course doesn't hold back present day democrat-Firstees.

All Firstees must adhere to a physician-like oath... to "first, do no harm."

(Note to Michelle: must... keep...trap...shut. Oh, and BTW, saying you've never been proud of your country??? Not so good.) 

Nothing good can come from the first wife who ignores the oath. We don't want the spectacle of the first lady having to defend her husband or shielding him with her skirts. If she thinks it her job, she must think it necessary, and if it's necessary and the president allows it, I don't want him as president.

What's he gonna do with al-Qaeda if he requires back-up from the little woman when a mean-spirited opponent or reporter challenges POTUS?

What would such a powder puff president do with bin Laden and his henchmen?

Since Carter, feminists have tried to coax more "relevance" from the democrat First Ladies/and candidates' wives; in other words they were looking for another American tradition to ridicule and smash.

The role of the First Lady is quite frankly, reflective of the role of the Queen whose husband rules the the realm; after all, as a brand new kind of country and government, the European queen was the only role model available to the Founding Fathers and their families. 

We should all have learned that Washington declined when offered the position of "king" in favor of being First Citizen; the First Lady is therefore uniquely and traditionally American.           

In short, the first lady has a crucial and traditional role... much like that of the military wife, especially those married to officers.

The military spouse can have a critical impact on an officer's career, which is most decidedly not rendered by commenting on strategy, tactics, promotions, assignments or performance evaluations.   

There is no question that many a military career has been sunk by a loud, overbearing, alcoholic, unintelligent or uncouth spouse. That's just the way it is.

At the highest level, the political wife has the same "beyond Caesar's wife" burden.

From four decades' perspective it's perhaps easy to roll eyes at Jackie Kennedy's demure, elegant but brief time in the White House. To do so is not to understand this country or those times.      

While many disliked or mistrusted the young president, Jackie was largely adored and was  Jack Kennedy's greatest single political asset. She could charm the most partisan crowd, and in several different languages.

The fact which prompted a bemused President during an important state visit to say: "I am the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris -- and I have enjoyed it."

Bill Clinton never said that, and neither would a President Obama.

"Ich bein ein Beginner....."

What Bizarro World-Karl Rove political geniuses in the Obama campaign determined that their boy should run for president in Germany?

As far as I know, this is unprecedented for an American politician.

We're Americans, and by our very blood and Revolutionary DNA we do not look to Europe for much of anything. History shows that particular turnstile operates the other way. 

Fresh off his attempt to undermine his country by trying to negotiate an end to the Iraq War in an afternoon (also a first), The One again shows he's not only pathetically naive, but woefully underestimates America's stomach the arrogance shown by the following:

“It is not going to be a political speech,” said an Obama senior foreign policy adviser, who spoke to reporters on background. “When the president of the United States goes and gives a speech, it is not a political speech or a political rally.

“But he is not president of the United States,” a reporter reminded the him.

You'll recall his rework of the Presidential Seal in his favorite U.N. helmet-blue that went over like John Murtha at a Marine Corps Birthday celebration.

Maintaining our "Americanism" when overseas, our flag, the trappings of our highest office, standing at attention with hand over heart during the National Anthem... all symbolic and very important to the vast majority of us, if not Barack Hussein Obama.  

Merci beaucoup?

Since LM31 is your main source of 411 on hip hop culture (sic)... we bring you this:

Something called Nas (left) is outraged at Fox News for its “pattern of racist attacks against black Americans,” among them  Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.

He joined ColorOfChange.org and MoveOn.org to deliver more than 620,000 petition signatures demanding Fox executive and broadcast staff immediately stop being racists.

... and beating their wives.

And you can't make this up:

William Leonard Roberts under the nom de stupid, Rick Ross - Trilla MC, is a rapper who found success 2006 because his lyrics reflected his background as a "cartel kingpin."

He shot to international attention with his first album which was based on events that he’d lived through.

But now because his career hangs in the balance because of widely-circulating rumors (which he denies) that in his past he worked as a..... prison guard!

Reports that Ross’ has fabricated his ‘cartel kingpin’ past could be devastating for his credibility and in turn, the longevity of his career.

Apparently this threat to his "street cred" could be career-ending, so he's denying the whole thing despite the fact there are pictures of him in law enforcement uniform, an 18-month job history, and details of his salary paperwork complete with his security social security number.

Damn, just another case of The Man keepin' the brotha down.

Such an absurdity points out seemingly irreparable damage done to black and Hispanic youth by the so-called "gangsta" music and lifestyle.

Reality has been turned on its head when black kids believe the way to make it in life is first, become a criminal... then write down occasionally rhyming words and speak them.

Musical, singing or writing talent is not necessary; talk, look, and act like a thug and you can have fame and fortune.

The number two option for millions of black kids' view of success is simply become an NBA star.

Uh-huh.... there are 450 players in the NBA. There are far fewer "rap stars" (thankfully) even making a living, and therefore the chance of success is even more remote.

The drop-out rate in Los Angeles California-a hotbed of rap entertainment-shows that 42 percent of black students and 30 percent of Latinos quit high school last year- far more than the state average.

Now that's cred.

Calling a spade a spade....

Whiners...? Of course we are; Phil Gramm is right in the 10-ring.

He had the temerity to observe: "We have sort of become a nation of whiners, you just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline."

I hear what Gramm hears; increasing numbers of whiners looking for more and more government handouts, and whining that would embarrass their parents and grandparents.

Gramm, an economist, also reminded people that they should give up the Chicken Little act, take a reality check.

Fact: we still have not suffered a "recession" which is defined as "a decline in the gross domestic product (GDP)  for two or more consecutive quarters."

Not hard to understand... easily proven; therefore, "mental recession."

Yet "Maverick", the "conservative" candidate, oh so quick to march across the aisle, couldn't toss Gramm under the bus quickly enough. "Phil Gramm doesn't speak for me; I speak for myself."

Unfortunately.

The problem is two-fold: McCain immediately showed (again) that he "can't handle the truth", and worse, he missed the opportunity to place the blame where it really belongs... the main stream media.

The media's concerted effort to undermine "the Bush economy" began as soon as GW took the oath, despite the fact the economy was in fact doing quite well for most of his seven years.

McCain should have simply pointed out that after years of negative and intentionally misleading news coverage on the economy, a sizable segment of the public chooses to believe the leftists lies instead their own bank accounts.

Garbage in... garbage out.

They sit in their air conditioned, $250,000 homes watching their 50" satellite HDTV while reading e-mails from their spoiled brat kids up at High Tuition U., and complain the economy is going to hell. They have three cars and nice vacations.

So, here John... this one's for you; no charge:

"First left me say that Phil Gramm is a fine economist, businessman and gifted professor, and he will continue to advise me as he has for the last year.

"And while I might have phrased it differently, Dr. Gramm was trying to simply say is that a number of Americans seem to have have lost confidence in our nation and its economy.

"That's a mistake. One that our founding fathers did not make with their fortunes and their very lives. Nor did the Greatest Generation loose confidence even during the worst days of the Depression and World War II.

"President Kennedy challenged us and starting from scratch, we put a man on the moon before his 10-year deadline; we didn't loose confidence in our country and the free market during he dark years of the Carter administration when the prime rate was 20-percent and we waited in line for rationed gasoline, so we could drive 55.

"Sometimes, we Americans have very short memories.

"The government hasn't made us a great nation; hard-working Americans and a free market have made it the best country in history.  We are, and continue to be the last best hope... real hope... of Earth.

"Our confidence in American and Americans is the life blood of our economy, the fabric of our nation, we can not only do great things and have... we can do anything when we work together.

"The time in which we uncritically trust our traditional news media to report objectively is long past; I urge you to read and listen to the many available sources of news and opinion... not just what comes on TV before dinner for a half hour or in major newspapers... which, by the way, all seem to have a real economic problems.

"A news media which 'makes' news by constantly drum-beating doom and gloom... in our economy... in the war in Iraq which we have won despite years of reporting that the magnificent effort by our great military was a failure.

"Somehow we've come to believe the nay-sayers, more than we believe in ourselves.

"We are not above improvement... and I think that's what my good friend Dr. Gramm was trying to express... he was frustrated that some of cannot see the forest for the trees."

"He knows what we are capable of, even in times of great crisis and concern; I have seen the best of America and Americans when hope, real hope, was all we had.

"Now, let's get to work... that's what we do best.

"No questions.

"Thank you and good night."

judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character....

Things you haven't heard from Iowans:

"Why hasn't the feds come and pick me up?

"Bush hates black people and wants them to die."

"Where my damned debit card?"

"Des Moines cops are looting the Wal-Mart."

"Our National Guard should be here helping, but they're all in Iraq."

"Bush had the CIA dynamite the levees in our black neighborhoods."

"I can't drive no bus."

"Trailer? I pacifically axed for a suite on a cruise ship."

 And speaking of frauds:

His Sharpness has finally been targeted (again) by the IRS.

Brew giant Anheuser-Busch, confirmed yesterday that it received a federal subpoena in connection to its charitable giving to Al Sharpton's National Action Network.

The corporation is cooperating.

Sharpton called this a "fishing expedition"; uh-huh... Anheuser-Busch donated between $100,000-$500,000 to NAN in 2007 alone.  A knowledgeable source said several other corporate donors received or would soon receive subpoenas.

Sharpton, director of one of the most successful crime syndicates since Capone still owes millions in back taxes (see here) but that doesn't stop O'Reilly and Sean Vannity from giving him national air time... anytime.

They be homies...

It appears BCINOs (black conservatives in name only) are flushing like a covey of quail:

Former Congressman J.C. Watts has turned out just to be another run of the mill black. An alleged conservative, Watts seemed like rarest of all things--a conservative black who doesn't function based on race.

Well, forget that:

Watts, the soft-spoken Oklahoman who once was part of the GOP House leadership, said he's thinking of voting for Obama. Watts said he's still a Republican, but he criticizes his party for neglecting the black community. Black Republicans, he said, have to concede that while they might not agree with Democrats on issues, at least that party reaches out to them.

And, Watts is not alone....

Conservative talk show host Armstrong Williams, who has never voted for a democrat presidential candidate:  "And Obama highlights that even more," Watts said, adding that he expects Obama to take on issues such as poverty and urban policy. "Republicans often seem indifferent to those things."

The GOP "indifferent" to blacks?... 365,000 dead Union soldiers argue otherwise, so does Lincoln; and Republicans got the '64 Civil Rights act through, over the virulent racism of the Dixie-crats... look it up, numb-skull.

"I don't necessarily like (Obama's) policies; I don't like much that he advocates, but for the first time in my life, history thrusts me to really seriously think about it," Williams said. "I can honestly say I have no idea who I'm going to pull that lever for in November. And to me, that's incredible."

Gen. Colin Powell, who became the country's first black secretary of state under REPUBLICAN President George W. Bush, said both candidates are qualified and that he will not necessarily vote for the Republican.

This is why blacks will remain an underclass for the foreseeable future: they will always throw in with racists... democrats.

Serves 'em right.

Komrades! Hear the voice of the people

The Socialist Progressive agenda opens a Second Front in the war on your money.

You're paying for gezzers' medications, you're paying for "free lunches" for half the students in the nation, you pay more for give-away "entitlement" programs than you pay for our national defense, you pay for a large part of Ted Kennedy's liquor bill, you work five months a year so the bureaucrats make more money and do less, and now....

"Christopher Dodd, the Senate banking committee chairman, has proposed a new $10-$20 billion fund that would buy outstanding mortgages at steep discounts to help distressed homeowners.

"Laying out what he called a “very ambitious agenda” for the committee this year, the Connecticut Democrat suggested that any package should also include $10 billion to allow local governments to buy foreclosed homes and resell them to homeowners."

Just so you know that's just the camel's nose... he said a short-term stimulus package was “important” but would not be enough. “It’s almost like a pebble in Lake Michigan; we need to be talking about much more in the short, mid and long term.”

DasVedanya!, komrades... drink, for tomorrow we may die.

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I've watched the rapid deconstruction and decompisition of Detroit and the entire state of Michigan over the last several months, and was going to post a major piece a couple of weeks ago, but now there's breaking news and I'll divide the post into separate parts...

                                      Motor City, Mo-Town, Dee-troit ....

  .... nope, more like the post-apocalyptic environs in Mad Max.

A little bit about Detroit's mayor... Kwame M. Kilpatrick. Do I need to mention his party?

Now in the third year of his second term, Kilpatrick, the nation's first self-proclaimed "Hip Hop Mayor" faces political suicide after admitting he lied under oath about a long-term sexual affair with his Christine Beatty, right, his chief of staff. Beatty also perjured herself close to a dozen times.

Perjury charges could come from a September 2007 lawsuit alleging misbehavior by the mayor as well as his bodyguards. A jury awarded the two whistle-blower Detroit cops some $8 million, including interest. In a separate but related case, a third ex-cop was awarded $400,000.

Some positives...

Homicides are down by 17%, and non-fatal shootings have dropped by 9% in the last year. Kilpatrick sliced the city government’s job rolls from about 21,000 to 13,800. He cut property taxes partly to retain what remains of the city’s middle class.

... but not enough:

In the same week that Time Magazine named him one of the nation's three worst big-city mayors, Harvard University honored him as the country's most innovative. (This is not confusing for lefties.)

Kilpatrick has a well-earned reputation for living a so-called hip-hop lifestyle, including wild parties, lavish spending and a posse of wayward security guards, has left him struggling to keep his job. His is the largest security detail of any mayor in America

• There have been accusations that strippers were invited to the mayor's official residence, and that his bodyguards were drink-driving and failing to report accidents they were involved in. And then there was the "bling thing".
• He used city funds to lease a Lincoln Navigator at an exorbitant rate (about $30,000 per year) for his family and lived large while traveling on city business with his mayoral credit card--which he eventually repaid.

Kilpatrick doesn't want you to know about some things:

• The spa visits. The hotel room for his family babysitter. The posh suite at the  Luxor casino he and his family shared in Las Vegas. The $850 steakhouse dinner.
• The $836 charged to the city's credit card for his sister's stay in New Orleans.
• The $3,837 he spent on chauffeured sedans over four days.
• The $11,644 he dropped on Super Bowl hotel rooms.
• Kilpatrick charged more than $210,000 to his city MasterCard during his first 33 months in office. He justified pricey meals at upscale restaurants and other charges as the cost of luring business and federal dollars to his cash-strapped city.

Dodge City

In November 2007, the City of Detroit was again named the most dangerous city in the country by the Morgan Quitno report published by CQ Press, a private group whose report is denounced by the American Society of Criminology as an "irresponsible misuse" of crime data.

At the end of 2006, the homicide count was 418 for the year; Police reported 396 murders in 2007. That's 47.3 murders per every 100,000 residents. Detroit also ranked high for violent crime (No. 2), robbery (No. 4) and forcible rape (No. 12).

Detroit's murder rate is more than 8% higher than the country's second most murderous city, Baltimore, and eight times that of the least murderous metro. More people were murdered in Detroit than in San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas and San Jose combined--and each one of those cities has a bigger population than Detroit.

America's biggest metro, New York City, is also one of its safest; with a murder rate of 7.3 per 100,000 people, it comes in at No. 50 on a list of the 72 American cities with a population over 250,000

In 2007 the city's violent crimes fell nearly 12 percent to 9,314 last year, a drop equal to nearly seven fewer violent crimes a day. This drop is often credited to the billions of dollars of redevelopment in the city.

Doom...:

Motor City, which has lost half its population over the last 50 years, was the industrial hub of the nation three decades ago.

Now, most of the city has abandoned and burned out shells of buildings.

Detroit has long been one of the largest majority black cities in America. It has been on a steady decline for decades. Now pheasants, turkey, and foxes roam the streets while vegetation grows on high-rises.

The city has seen gradually increased funding to demolish abandoned properties and the homes that have been used for the production, sale, and use of illicit drugs, with drug gangs such as "Young Boys Inc."

The city had faced many arsons in abandoned homes each year on Devil's Night, the evening before Halloween.

Although "Renaissance" has been the city's phrase for development since the 1970's, very few credited Dem Mayor Coleman Young with a polarizing style that accelerated the "white flight".

Yeah... that's the problem, the honkies don't want to be stabbed and shot while their property values head for oblivion like their mayor.

This says it all:

"I voted for him and I'd vote for him again," says Courtney Atkins. "I know he may have done some crazy stuff but I think the reason his SUV and spending is a problem is because young black men aren't supposed to have stuff like that. I mean aren't mayors supposed to have good cars?"

Cars, planes... coyotes

News items: WASHINGTON — Thirty-five people, including several small children, were injured yesterday when a woman intentionally plowed her car through a crowded street festival Saturday night. Two police officers who drove their motor scooters into her path attempting to stop her to no avail.

Tonya Bell is now under arrest and being tested for drug use. She is charged with using the car as a deadly weapon.

Tens of thousands of Americans are killed and injured by cars ever year, not to mention the billions of dollars in property damage. Apparently Bell was able to obtain her vehicle by merely purchasing and registering it.

Virtually anyone between 15 1/2 and dead can get a car and drive it anywhere... even onto school and day care center property, and to hospitals, bars and restaurants.

This outrage must be stopped. It is time for reasonable laws restricting the possession and operation of a motor vehicle. At a minimum there must be a two-week waiting period while an extensive background check is conducted by the federal government.

Owning a car is mentioned nowhere in the Constitution.

Contact your congressional representative and demand an end to the senseless slaughter.

It's for the children.

The foiled terrorist plot by IslamoNazi ragheads (pardon the redundancy) to attack the tank farm near JFK airport, while exaggerated by the electronic news media and some of the feds, is indeed noteworthy on the yardstick of potential attacks against the U.S homeland.

It matters not that it was infiltrated and stopped in time, the sobering fact is all the conspirators were native to this hemisphere, including one American, Russell (Mohammed) Defreitas , a retired cargo handler at JFK. Another suspect is Abdul Kadir, a former mayor of a Guyanese town and a former member of the Guyanese Parliament.

Meanwhile George Bush has cut the Republic Party in half, if not thirds, and now fatally, immigration. In true fashion favored by the elite, he has now turned on those who demand tight border security and no amnesty for Mexican and "OTM" (Other Than Mexicans) criminals.

He said "they"--the core of the party that got him elected twice, "don't want to do what's right for America."

Immediately result: Small donor contributions to the party fell 40-percent immediately, and the RNC has been forced to lay off 65 of its telephone solicitors.

It's time for the band to strike up "Nearer My God, To Thee".

Peggy Noonan has drawn and quartered the President in her last column:

"Bush the younger came forward, presented himself as a conservative, garnered all the frustrated hopes of his party, turned them into victory, and not nine months later was handed a historical trauma that left his country rallied around him, lifting him, and his party bonded to him. He was disciplined and often daring, but in time he sundered the party that rallied to him, and broke his coalition into pieces. He threw away his inheritance. I do not understand such squandering."

Saddle up....

... WE'RE BURNIN' DAYLIGHT. Just getting underway......... I've joined the blogosphere so that I don't bother my friends and associates with my near-daily outpouring of rants, outrages and unsolicited commentary.... I suspect responses will dip alarmingly.