WAS THE NEW YORK BLIZZARD SNAFU DELIBERATE?

According to this article in the New York Post, the debacle that was the weekend New York area snow non-removal was the fault of unions "wanting to teach a lesson" to Mayor Michael "Nanny" Bloomberg for budget cuts, demotions and cutting of non-productive city employees and this entire action was actually ordered by union bosses. If this story is true, then these so-called "public servants" should be prosecuted for malfeasance. In the meantime, in order to prevent further nonsense of this sort, why doesn't the City of New York hire private companies to do the jobs formerly done (mostly well but sometimes poorly) by the public employees and remove their need and ability to screw up the citizens who pay their salaries. Outgoing governor of New York State, David Patterson, is calling for a criminal investigation into the allegations according to this article.

THINGS THAT MAKE ME WANT TO GO - BLEEEEEEEECH!

People who use bad grammar, as in : "I seen her coming down the street." No you didn't you failure of the American school system, you SAW her coming down the street.

Figure skaters competing wearing dirty skates, dark roots and too many sequins on their costumes. The girls need to tone it down as well.

The current President of the United States and his lady wife.

Jesse Jackson.

Al Gore.

Kate Gosselin.

Anyone named Kardashian or Jenner. I like Bruce but the rest of the clan is overrated.

Jon Gosselin.

Kate Gosselin.

Animal abusers.

Public officials who think they know better than I do what I should be eating. It's my body. I pay for my own health insurance. I'll eat what I want, seasoned as I wish it to be seasoned.

People who walk up to you, unsolicited, and tell you how you should be living your life. Jehovah Witnesses are included in this category. And if you knock on my front door at 9 a.m. on a Sunday, you deserve the tongue-lashing you're about to receive! I may even stick to English while doing it. I have a sign on my door that says religious missionaries are not welcome. I don't discuss the Bible with people who cannot read!

The great unwashed who feel they have every right to tell Catholics how their Church should be run and what our belief system should be. Non-Catholics who feel the need to tell us what dogma we should be observing. SHUT THE HELL UP!

All people, of whatever persuasion, who find it necessary to advertise their sexuality in great and irritating detail. I don't care if you are gay or straight or somewhere in between. I don't care if you like to have sex sitting on an ice cube in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. I don't care if you like to have sex 12 times daily or not more than once per week. These are all PRIVATE matters. There is such a thing as too much sharing. Zip it kids. Keep it to yourselves.

Politicians who cannot stop campaigning, even after the election has been held. Politicians who cannot ADMIT they have lost - even when it's clear that they have. Politicians who lose a primary and then insist on running as a write-in candidate. You lost the primary. Get a clue! Senator Murkowski - I'm speaking to you. The seat doesn't BELONG to you by right of inheritance, you fatuous crone. And the Alaskans who gave it back to you via write-in after they took it from you by an honest election - well that's just wrong!

States that deny our military their constitutional right to vote through chicanery and double dealing nonsense or inefficiency.

Politicians who think they need to run their mouths and comment about every shitting little thing that happens, as if we're all waiting for them to explain current events to us! We don't. Shut up.

Old farts like me who think someone is interested in what they have to say.

THE NEW YEAR, FORGIVENESS AND MICHAEL VICK

The President of the United States seems to be of the opinion that Michael Vick deserves our forgetfulness over the myriad and heinous acts of cruelty toward animals that he either directly committed or that were committed on behalf of his despicable dog fighting ring.

I don't care what the President thinks, he should keep those thoughts to himself. There is value in unexpressed opinions. Particularly when it comes to Michael Vick's egregious transgressions.

We are coming up on the New Year and during the past few months, Michael Vick has been having great good fortune on the football field. Meanwhile, many of his victims - those that didn't have to be killed because they were so horrendously damaged - are continuing to try to live a life that has some love, some comfort and some feeling of security, despite the bountiful love being showered upon them.

So dear Lord, forgive me if I find it really hard to forget what Michael Vick has done to damage (almost beyond repair) animals who never did him any harm whatsoever. I look at my sister's pit bull mix, Zeus who is an animal born in safety and raised with devotion and lavish affection, and I must repress the urge to thrash Mr. Vick within an inch of his life, jolt him with massive amounts of electrical current and then hold his head underwater until he understands the terror of near-drowning that the animals in his "care" experienced.

Our animal companions are God's gift to us - and a test of our humanity! I can only think of the much-loved and greatly-lamented Sam the Wonder Cat and the many hang-ups he had due to his very rough start in life. Yes, he had 10 years of love and devotion from me. And yet, as he got older, that really wasn't enough and his suspicion of strangers became almost pathological. Thus he was denied the overwhelming love that many people are able to shower on Rusty and Buddy because they both are willing to accept the affection of other humans. Especially humans who offer treats!

Folks, it's really quite simple. We aren't really here for our own pleasure and our own self-indulgence. We're here to support and respect each other and care for those less fortunate than ourselves, including the cats and dogs we encounter along the way. They cannot speak. They can't say - "Hey, that HURTS!" or "Stop teasing me endlessly!" They can only slink away and hide from us and hope that they encounter kinder humans. Sadly, many of them do not.

In this New Year, I urge you to rescue a cat or a dog. Make room in your life for a creature who will give you far more than you give them. Stroking the soft fur of a cat or a dog is conducive to lower blood pressure. You can tell your cat or dog your deepest secrets, cry in their fur, lament your lot in life and they won't judge. You can have the worst hair day of your life - they won't judge. That alone makes giving a home to a dog or kitty an excellent idea!

CONGRATULATIONS, REBECCA!

You got better and better as the series wore on and you started out not too shabby initially! It took great courage to put yourself out there in public doing something that was hardly your forte. And you displayed grace and courage and style in the process.

You were by far the best skater on the show and you deserved to win, so I'm glad that you did!

SAY NO TO SAME OLD/SAME OLD!

The Republican establishment hasn't yet gotten the message. They are now enchanted by Mike Pence, an obscure Congress critter, and are considering building him up as a presidential contender in 2012! What part of the Tea Party do these idiots not understand? We aren't the slightest bit interested in business as usual! Not now, not ever again!

The current so-called leadership of the Republican Party has devolved into fossilized, brain dead robots, marching blindly ahead with no thoughts, no moral compass and no hope of ever being relevant! Banish them NOW, please.

MERRY CHRISTMAS - PART 2

Sis got a job yesterday. It will definitely be a Merry Christmas! She's been without health insurance for a few months and that's the most important consideration. She starts on Thursday!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I was coming back from picking up my lunch today at noon and a woman with a very somber face was approaching me from the other direction. I smiled at her and said "Merry Christmas". At first she looked a tad startled, then she smiled back at me and said "Merry Christmas" in return.

This is my favorite time of the year, which is why I will seldom blog unless the lame-duck, lame-ass Congress does something egregious. And if each of us were to smile and greet a complete stranger on the streets, something good might happen.

Or we might get locked up on a 72 hour mental health hold! It can go either way.

HELLO TO ALL YOU DRINKERS OF AL GORE'S KOOL AID

This is directed to all the smug, self-righteous morons who actually believed that claptrap Al Gore was selling about climate change and manmade global warming! Apparently, although we cannot prevent hurricanes and tornadoes and really bad thunderstorms, we humans are powerful enough to incinerate our own planet. What horse feathers!

I'm sure there was a lot of weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth when Japan's kokanee salmon appeared to have disappeared in the 1940s. But lo and behold, it's been found again!

TOKYO – A Japanese salmon species thought to be extinct for 70 years is alive and well in a lake near Mount Fuji, a science professor said Wednesday.

The black kokanee, or "kunimasu" in Japanese, was thought to have died out in 1940, when a hydroelectric project made its native lake in northern Akita Prefecture more acidic.

Before then, 100,000 eggs were reportedly transported to Lake Saiko but the species was still thought to have died off.

So instead of scurrying around, making asses of yourselves with your Chicken Little imitations, you might want to take a good look at the horrendously incompetent demigod you've elected to lead this nation and start to have some serious second thoughts about Herr Obama! He is a DISASTER folks!

ELIZABETH EDWARDS, R.I.P.

The woman didn't have the easiest of lives. Yes, there was eventually wealth and a high degree of privilege, but there was also extreme pain and suffering and a life cut short by an evil disease which she fought with the courage of a lion.

I didn't have many political opinions in common with this admirable woman, but I had a great deal of empathy for her struggles in her later years.

Being friends with a woman who lost a son way too soon, I could admire the tenacity and courage with which Elizabeth Edwards continued to live her life. Having a co-worker who is in a daily and never-ending struggle with the horrendous disease that took Mrs. Edwards' life, I have a very small understanding of the strength that struggle requires. And I even understand why she did not drop kick that sorry sack of excrement to whom she was married for 30 years to the curb. They were married most of their adult lives and had shared the early poverty and the long, uphill climb. The fact that they celebrated their wedding anniversary at Wendy's every year because that's where they had their first date, tells me a lot.

I said a few prayers yesterday for Mrs. Edwards when I learned of her demise. I prayed for her younger two children as well. I hope they will always understand that their mother was an admirable and courageous fighter! Please continue to pray for Mrs. Edwards' children.

UPDATE: The moronic twits of Westboro Baptist Church are planning to continue their despicable activities by picketing the funeral services tomorrow that are planned for Elizabeth Edwards. These aren't really human beings, they are Satan's imps wearing human disguises! Shame on every one of you for your appalling and horrid behavior. I hope the Supreme Court justices who are considering your case take note of your antics and shut you down!

FCC ASSAULT PLANNED ON 1st AMENDMENT

FCC Commissioner Michael Copps seems to be contemplating subjecting broadcasters to a new "public values test" every four years. This is, it seems to me, a clear violation of the U.S. Constitution and once again, proof that the Obama Administration is seeking to achieve via regulation what they cannot achieve in the legitimate venue of laws passed by the U.S. Congress, whose job it is to make our laws and make them observing the supreme law of the land, the Constitution.

He said outlets should be mandated to do the following: prove they have made a meaningful commitment to public affairs and news programming, prove they are committed to diversity programming (for instance, by showing that they depict women and minorities), report more to the government about which shows they plan to air, require greater disclosure about who funds political ads and devote 25 percent of their prime-time coverage to local news.

The regulations would apply to all new outlets operating on public airwaves. I would suspect that this means that the FCC cannot touch their real target - Fox News Channel - because it doesn't operate on public airwaves per se but rather on cable.

Mr. Copp, what you propose is un-American at best. You are not an elected official and you are not someone we have chosen to make our laws. You are a bureaucratic functionary and, as such, you have no damned business trying to make public policy. So knock it off you horse's derriere!

WIKILEAKER?

Wikileaks, that seemingly untouchable affront to governmental confidentiality apparently received the most recent batch that was unveiled Sunday from an Army intelligence analyst who copied tens of thousands of sensitive documents onto CDs labeled "Lady Gaga."

The young man's name? Bradley Manning. He is pictured above next to that infamous cretin Julian Assange who apparently is wanted in Sweden for a host of unsavory sexual offenses! Harumph!

Mr. Mannning was apparently in a funk because he was having romantic issues with his significant other! Oh okay, right then - that's a good reason to betray your country you traitorous yahoo!

UPDATE: The following is a portion of an interview on Fox News back in July as reported by NewsBusters' Jeff Poor:

"STUDIO B" HOST SHEPARD SMITH: You just interviewed Julian Assange. Now Julian Assange is the man who is the founder of WikiLeaks - released these, or on his site was released the 92,000 pages of documents that lead to all this discussion about our complete failures in Afghanistan and thoughts that we need to get out of Afghanistan. He told you something that I considered to be a blockbuster bit of news.

[Judge Andrew] NAPOLITANO: And that is that WikiLeaks presented the documents - there were over 100,000 pages of them, to the White House.

SMITH: When?

NAPOLITANO: Weeks before they were released. He wouldn't give me an exact date.

Smith speculated the White House was offered first glance at these documents prior to other media outlets. Napolitano said Assange got no response from the White House during that time. Meanwhile, Kevin over at HillBuzz, often the most provocative site of the day, wants to know if Assange could dump the Prez's birth certificate and school records!

HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

Since I wasn't cooking for the holiday, I gave myself permission to sleep in on Thanksgiving - and indeed I did sleep late - until 11:30 a.m.! I haven't done that in a long, long, long time! Woke up feeling feisty and peppy. I wasn't out of the sack more than about 5 minutes when certain feline companions of mine started upping my giggle factor by a LOT!

Buddy and Rusty first amused me by campaigning for brunch with a show of aerobic hijinks that reduced me to tear inducing giggles! Then they spent an inordinate amount of time jockeying for position on my lap while I tried to drink my coffee!

Went to Joyce's for the day and her future (?) son-in-law was deep frying anything that came within his reach! I came prepared with a fresh turkey breast that immediately found its way into the vat of screaming hot peanut oil! When it was done it looked amazing and it tasted even more amazing. Thanks Conrad! After spending a few hours enjoying the revelry, the good food, the companionship and the antics of Joyce's grandkids, I headed home to enjoy a leisurely chat with friend Pam. I miss her.

The balance of the weekend I spent puttering, resting, playing with the boys and just enjoying my home. I have a long-standing policy of staying within my own 4 walls and off the roads during the holiday weekends!

Made a new discovery, however, because I felt compelled to watch "The Wizard of Oz" at least once. Turns out Rusty is enamored of the munchkins (or at least their voices). He planted his lovely self directly in front of the TV and proceeded to give the screen his undivided attention. Weird little fellow is Rusty! Buddy finds the TV completely without interest and took the opportunity of Rusty's distraction to climb on the back of the recliner and launder my hair! Long acquaintance with catdom has taught me that this is a sign of affection. I have no doubt that there is a great deal of affection between the 3 of us.

BET YOU THOUGHT YOU'D MISS IT!

My annual rant about the figure skating competitions.

First, lots of dark roots to be seen. If you are going to go blonde, then keep it up! How difficult is that concept?

Second, lots of filthy skates and dirty skate laces to be seen. No. No. No. You must respect yourself and your appearance as a part of respecting your sport. Put in clean, fresh laces before a competition (thereby, as a bonus, possibly preventing a broken lace during the actual event) and make sure that you have polished your boots and in other ways refreshed the appearance of the soles and heels of the skate boot. It's simple cleanliness and should be considered as part of the overall presentation mark.

Third, costuming does not have to contain every sequin available in the known world! Tone it down some. Aside from the tacky factor involved in over-sequining your costume, there's the danger to other skaters. Those puppies cause falls and it is irresponsible to make the ice unsafe for others! Check your skirt length so that your partner doesn't end up tripping on an overly lengthy, overly flowing skirt! It has happened to one pair twice already in the same competition. That is avoidable error folks!

If you have only a 50% chance of landing a jump, don't include it in your program. The sight of your butt hitting the ice isn't one to which I look forward! The best competitions are the ones in which everyone skates cleanly and to the best of their abilities. Then the BEST man wins - not the last man standing!

IS IT JUST ME?

Or are other people really, really, really annoyed by the hyperactive female in the Target commercials? She is frenetic beyond belief. And not in a good way.

ISN'T THAT JUST LIKE A DEM!

A newly-elected Florida congresswoman, a Democrat, wants the soon-to-be Speaker of the House to change the rules governing the wearing of hats - for her benefit!

Isn't that just like a Dem - wanting the rules to apply to everyone but herself!

Like other freshman lawmakers, newly elected Florida Rep. Frederica Wilson ran for Congress on a vow to change Washington. But her first order of business has nothing to do with health care, education or the usual mix of issues that come up in the early days of a new Congress.

Instead, Wilson's first goal is to overturn a rule that blocks her from wearing a hat on the House floor. The freshman Democrat is pressing incoming House Speaker John Boehner to overturn the rule, which dates back to the 1800s, or at least to make an exception for her. But it's unclear whether Boehner -- who, in any event, will likely have plenty of priorities ahead of a rule-change request from a member of the opposition party -- could do anything, shy of a full floor vote, to overturn the House's hat ban.

Madam Congress Critter - you do what you want when you aren't on the people's dime; you were elected to Congress to govern, not subject us to a fashion show!

DANCING WITH THE STARS - FINALE

I watched it last night and frankly, I voted for Bristol Palin because she did a very credible job once again. Jennifer Grey came into this competition with an unfair advantage and no small amount of dshonesty. All this "Oh I loved Patrick Swayze so much" crap is just that - crap. It is well known that they despised one another when they were making "Dirty Dancing" and nothing I've ever read or heard tells me anything to the contrary. So cut the self-serving rewriting of history lady!

Furthermore, I became fed up throughout the period that the show was on with her whining and complaining about being in pain for one reason or another. EVERYONE on the show was in pain; that's part of the deal with DWTS you entitled bitch!

So no, I do not want Jennifer Grey to win - even though it's probably preordained that she does! Everyone is so enchanted with her. Why? She's a nasty piece of work so far as I can tell.

I also watched "Skating with the Stars" and my verdict - the show is just plain lame - but in an entertaining way! I'm rooting for Rebecca Budig to win. I was under the impression that you could vote online, but this morning I discovered that apparently you cannot.

By the way - WHY are they filming both shows at CBS studios in L.A. when the shows are ABC products?

Why?

JAY ROCKEFELLER - HORSE'S HINDQUARTERS!

Anyone who saw the video of Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) opining that the FCC should shut down BOTH Fox News and MSNBC (never mind that they are both CABLE networks and thus out of the FCC's reach) saw the staffer standing behind him rolling her eyes. Clearly the Senator's remarks were NOT in the script!

Senator Rockefeller - here's a little piece of information for your ignorant self - in this country we have a little something called the First Amendment to the Constitution which guarantees the freedom of the press and freedom of speech.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Nowhere in the First Amendment does it say that a grandstanding cretin has the right to shut down an entire news network because he isn't happy with what they are broadcasting. And no, Senator Rockefeller, they aren't there for YOU to like, they are there and Fox News at least is successful because it's the only place to find unvarnished, balanced reportage, something that cannot be found on NPR. By the way Senator, isn't your WIFE the president of a PBS station - WETA? Can you say "Conflict of Interest" Senator?

GEORGE SOROS FINALLY ADMITS THE TRUTH

That he selected Obama and is using his billions to subvert the U.S. and its Constitution. In an article appearing in the Huffington Post, we find the following:

WASHINGTON -- At a private meeting on Tuesday afternoon, George Soros, a longtime supporter of progressive causes, voiced blunt criticism of the Obama administration, going so far as to suggest that Democratic donors direct their support somewhere other than the president.

###

"We have just lost this election, we need to draw a line," he said, according to several Democratic sources. "And if this president can't do what we need, it is time to start looking somewhere else."

Mr. Soros, a word of instruction since clearly you do not understand how this country works. A majority of the American people has rejected you and your flap-eared puppet and they will continue to do so no matter how much money you throw at the project. And that's just the way it is supposed to work. Our nation is set up in such a way as to prevent rich lunatics like you from subverting the will of the American people. I know you thought you were buying America but it turns out, America is smart enough to remain unbought!

Final bit of advice - return from whence you came! Do it now. The next Administration might be willing to mount a serious investigation of your despicable ass and you might find yourself stripped of your American citizenship and deported so that you can never foment mischief here again! Come to think of it, George old fellow, that might be why the huge amount of effort and enthusiasm has gone into the attacks on Sarah Palin. Hungarian men are generally terrified by and thoroughly cowed by women in general, and Hungarian women specifically.

Best way to get rid of you would then be to elect Sarah Palin as our next president to replace The Lightbringer!

CHARLIE RANGEL - CONVICTED

Were it thee or me, we'd be heading "up the river" to a nice peaceful stay in prison. Since it's a member of Congress, maybe he'll be censured! Big whoop!

Meanwhile, what is happening with Maxine Waters? So far as I can tell - absolutely nothing. Darrell Issa - where are you when we need you?

The behavior of these people who stay and stay and stay AND STAY in office into their dotage is proof positive that we need term limits and we need them now. Of course, the Lightbringer won't sign such legislation so we'll have to wait 2 more years - by which time I'm very much afraid that the current incumbents, elected with so much hope, will have become part of the problem, rather than part of the solution! Feeding at the public trough just plain sucks the ethics out of Congress critters!

DANCING WITH THE STARS

Darned straight I voted for Bristol Palin. She is the only TRUE amateur left in the competition. Jennifer Grey and her crocodile tears about how she misses Patrick Swayze (they hated each others' guts by all accounts - so that's pretty phony in my view) and her pain and her physical limitations - it's all currying favor with the viewers in order to make it appear justified that she wins - which seems to have been the program all along.

Of course the people who wanted Brandy and that spoiled rotten, poor loser, snotty, temper-tantrum throwing Max to remain on until next week are crying "foul" but bottom line - I voted my five votes for Bristol and a lot of other people did too. She is refreshing and delightful.

Don't retreat, Bristol - just reload! I intend to keep on voting for you. AND watching "Sarah Palin's Alaska" on TLC. The left is just terrified that Sarah Palin is going to recover quite handily from the non-stop character assassination being directed her way. The American people are a lot smarter than they give us credit for being - we're on to your nonsense Leftwing losers.