Bertha Rieder 1919-2009

A great lady, a beloved mother, grandmother, great grandmother and friend.

May God lead to you your eternal home and keep you in his care. Watch over those who care for you and keep them safe.

You will be forever remembered for touching lives, even in the smallest of ways.

I'm So Ronery...

Well, it seems Kim Jong Il may need a visit from Team America:World Police, but I have a feeling they have been cut under President Obama.

Seems like the North Koreans are in no mood to join the community of Hope and Change(TM).

North Korea threatened a military response to South Korean participation in a U.S.-led program to seize weapons of mass destruction, and said it will no longer abide by the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War.

Obama Names Sonia Sotomayor for SCOTUS

Well, President Obama made his first selection for the SCOTUS. He's named Judge Sonia Sotomayor for his choice to replace Justice David Souter...

Among many pearls of wisdom espoused by Judge Sotomayor, is this, “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life,”

How post racial of her...

Naive? Stupid? Deadly...

Via Breitbart

President Barack Obama's intelligence chief confirmed Thursday that some Guantanamo inmates may be released on US soil and receive assistance to return
to society. "If we are to release them in the United States, we need some sort of assistance for them to start a new life," said National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair at his first press conference. "You can't just put them on the street," he added. "All that is work in progress."

It's like having a big 'KICK ME' sign on our backs... A big thank you to those who felt John McCain wasn't conservative enough and stayed home...

Too much makey nice, too little kick ass...

OUTRAGE! Obama to Force Vets to Pay For Care?

One of the items tucked neatly inside the president's $1 Trillion FY 2010 budget is an initiative to make US Military Veterans pay for their own medical care and treatment... The goal as stated by the President is to save approximately $540 Million in costs for the VA...

Here is what the American Legion has to say on this issue...

It's just another sign of the utter contempt the president has for our men and women in uniform.

Shocker...

The 9-12 Project

Talk radio host and Fox News Host Glenn Beck has started a movement to rekindle the American values system that seemingly has vanished from the scene. It started with 9 core principles:
1. America is good.
2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.

And 12 values:
1. Honesty
2. Reverence
3. Hope
4. Thrift
5. Humility
6. Charity
7. Sincerity
8. Moderation
9. Hard Work
10. Courage
11. Personal Responsibility
12. Gratitude

His project is to help bring America back to the place it was on 9-12 and the question is simple:
Do you live in a 9-10 world? Head in the sand, unwilling to admit the problems in front of us...
Do you live in a 9-11 world? A World based on fear and surprise...
Do you live in a 9-12 world? A world where there is no hyperpartisanism. One where neighbor helped neighbor. We were united.

The goal is that we surround them. We have the future of the country in OUR hands, not the hands of few who are in power.

Check it out at http://the912project.com

No Iranian Nukes, No Missile Shield

There is a report this morning that President Obama sent a letter to Russian President Medvedev basically saying that if Russia could entice the Iranians to drop their nuclear weapons program, the US in turn would stop its Missile Shield program in Eastern Europe.

Russia has been against the US Missile Defense program since it was first announced that Eastern European countries were going to be staging areas.

Of course, this type of appeasement is not surprising coming from this administration. This type of deal is bad for America and worse for our allies in Eastern Europe.

Monday Morning STORMWATCH '09

OK, so the hype is really ridiculous... But still, we managed to get some real snowfall overnight...

A big shout out to my neighbors for not doing anything this morning...

Tax Me More Please

At some point, the people will revolt...

I repeat that this is EXACTLY what I thought would happen... Now I am certain... These guys have no clue that this type of tax increase will paralyze the economy...

From ABC's Sr. WH Correspondent Jake Tapper...

President Obama's budget proposes $989 billion in new taxes over the course
of the next 10 years, starting fiscal year 2011, most of which are tax increases
on individuals.
1) On people making more than $250,000.
$338 billion - Bush tax cuts expire
$179 billion - eliminate itemized deduction
$118 billion - capital gains tax hike

Total: $636 billion/10 years

2) Businesses:
$17 billion - Reinstate Superfund taxes
$24 billion - tax carried-interest as income
$5 billion - codify "economic substance doctrine"
$61 billion - repeal LIFO
$210 billion - international enforcement, reform deferral, other tax
reform
$4 billion - information reporting for rental payments
$5.3 billion - excise tax on Gulf of Mexico oil and gas
$3.4 billion - repeal expensing of tangible drilling costs
$62 million - repeal deduction for tertiary injectants
$49 million - repeal passive loss exception for working interests in oil and natural gas properties
$13 billion - repeal manufacturing tax deduction for oil and natural gas companies
$1 billion - increase to 7 years geological and geophysical amortization period for independent producers
$882 million - eliminate advanced earned income tax credit

Total: $353 billion/10 years

Congress Loading Up the Pork Again?

Today's New York Post details some of the more outrageous pork included in the Omnibus Spending Bill (which is meant to help us get through FY 2009)... President Obama contends that there are no earmarks in it.

Oh really? What about these? Complete idiocy...

Polynesian Voyaging Society of Honolulu, which got a $238,000 "earmark" in the bill. The group organizes sea voyages in ancient-style sailing canoes like the ones that first brought settlers to Hawaii.

New York got its share of earmarks, among them $475,000 to "improve and expand" the Italian American Museum in Little Italy. $4.5 million for new park development in Manhattan. $950,000 to convert a railroad bridge over the Hudson River into a walkway in Poughkeepsie.

The bill, which critics slammed as larded with pork, has big bucks to combat putrid stenches in the heartland, with $1.7 million for "Swine Odor and Manure Management Research."

Another earmark, by Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) provides $200,000 for a
"tattoo-removal violence-outreach program" in Los Angeles.

Obama's Non-State of the Union Address

Last night, in a Joint Sessions of Congress, President Obama gave a non State of the Union Address.

Of course, he did his usual, talking down the economy, saying the things that might be popular, like Wall Street CEO's are greedy fat cats, etc... But all in all, his style over substance continues...

However, of the substantial items he discussed, some are highly controversial:

He called for a “market-based” cap on carbon emissions, which he said would lower U.S. production of greenhouse gases. He pledged to spend $15 billion a year to develop wind and solar power, biofuels, clean coal technology, and research into fuel-efficient vehicles.

This 'cap' is dangerous as it would essentially paralyze business and production in this country. It's a tax... It will reduce our industrial output and be very, very bad.

We do need to look into alternative fuels but we also need to look at Domestic oil and gas production as well as Nuclear Power. If nuke power is good enough for Europe, why isn't it good enough for us.


The President discussed the importance of passing Universal Socialized Healthcare.

We have, for all its flaws, the greatest healthcare system in the World. There is no need to move toward a Canadian-UK-Swedish model, where the most fragile in society are considered liabilities to treatment.


Overall, the President's plans once again come back to the following:

We need to spend our way out of the economic crisis... We will get some money to do it by taxing the 'rich' as printing more money.

Dangerous, dangerous stuff...

Socialism sucks.

Fat Tuesday

Mardi Gras wraps up tonight... It's Fat Tuesday...

Tuesday Morning Update

Back from a quick weekend in the Great Midwest for President's Day. Back at work now with an update on a continuing story...

Recall just last Thursday, we updated you on the construction barrier... Well, breaking news for a Tuesday morning.

Where did the Orange construction barrier go? Sure, we now have a cone here as well as a barrel, but could it really be?

Of course not... It's simply now just around the corner... Still there though...

Thursday Morning Progress?

It's Thursday morning. Here's a fun little slide show on progress or lack thereof, courtesy of the New York City Department of Transportation.

This photo, taken around January 26, shows a barricade in its new position, on the ground, abandoned...

Then, a miracle happened. February 9, the hazard barrier is upright!!! Amazing!

However, this morning, February 12, the barrier is back down. We will continue to follow this gripping story as it continues to develop.

Only In New York!

Wowie wowie! This is astounding, especially considering the condition of the roads...

NEW YORK (AP) - Police say a person was hit by a car, then swept under a van and dragged nearly 17 miles through New York City before that driver realized it.

The badly damaged body has not been identified. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly says investigators are tracing the route searching for body parts. The first driver notified police after hitting the person around 6 a.m. Wednesday. In the meantime, the second driver went over the victim. It's not clear if the person was alive at that point.

The van drove on drove on three New York City highways from Queens to Brooklyn before stopping to check the vehicle. But he didn't see the body until a pedestrian pointed it out. Police say no criminality is suspected.

DRILL, BABY, DRILL - OOPS - NOT ANYMORE

From the Washington Times.

But times change, and on Tuesday, the Obama administration - with gas prices roughly half what they were and many Democrats' having been swept into office - blocked offshore drilling plans put in place at the last minute by the Bush administration, including plans to open the national outer continental shelf for drilling.

Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar also announced last week that his agency would block drilling on public lands in Utah, criticizing the Bush administration for releasing its offshore drilling plan just days before leaving office.

"It was a headlong rush of the worst kind"

I find it funny that it was a headlong rush of the worst kind but the stimulus is all right.

Back to the Future

Michael Calderon's blog on Politico has news of Senator Tom Harkin's (D-IA) appearance on The Bill Press Show (on somewhere in the country??) Not good... Here we go... BTW, Bill Press, no one is interested in hearing 'Progressive' radio. It's a failed enterprise.

Step 1: Catastrophe if we don't spend, spend, spend.
Step 2: Talk down to the 'chattering class'.
Step 3: Shut down dissent.

The following is Sen. Harkin's words, when discussing talk radio...

SENATOR TOM HARKIN (D-IA): Well, anytime – just let me know Bill. I love being with you, and thanks again for all you do to get the truth and the facts out there. By the way, I read your Op-Ed in the Washington Post the other day. I ripped it out, I took it into my office and said 'there you go, we gotta get the Fairness Doctrine back in law again.'

BILL PRESS: Alright, well good for you. You know, we gotta work on that, because they are just shutting down progressive talk from one city after another. All we want is, you know, some balance on the airwaves, that's all. You know, we're not going to take any of the conservative voices off the airwaves, but just make sure that there are a few progressives and liberals out there, right?

SENATOR TOM HARKIN (D-IA): Exactly, and that's why we need the fair -- that's why we need the Fairness Doctrine back.

Wednesday Morning Around the Neighborhood

Here are some loverly pics from across the neighborhood for a Wednesday morning...

A crow sits atop the cross at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church.

This trash has been at the corner of Fresh Pond Road and Bleecker Street for days.

The ol' gas station clean-up site at the intersection of Metropolitan Avenue and Fresh Pond Road. This site is presently owned by the Long Island Rail Road. An environmental remediation project was performed last summer and the site has been idle since... It's a HUGE eyesore.

This Is Insane... AAAAHHHHHHH She Was OFFERED A House...

UPDATE: Henrietta Hughes was offered a home by Chene Thompson, wife of State Representative Nick Thompson, who heard the homeless woman’s pleas for help to President Obama before a local and national crowd.

ORIGINAL STORY:
So, today, President O-Fraud had another campaign event in Fort Myers, FL... There, he ran into some more interesting O-Bots... And the statements and questions were bizarre and unsettling...

Take for example Henrietta Hughes who said she was unemployed and homeless, and living with her family in a very small vehicle.

"The Housing Authority has two years waiting list. We need something more than a vehicle and parks to go to. We need our own kitchen and our own bathroom." She pleaded, "Please help." President Obama walked over to her, and said, "We're going to do everything we can to help you. I'll have my staff talk to you after the town hall."

Lovely... Some people before the election said that they would not have to worry about paying for gas or paying their mortgages because Obama was going to wipe all of it away...

Now, I am not completely heartless but seriously, this man is far from a deity... This victimization mentality is why we are going down the tubes, quickly...

Pork-a-palooza Passes Senate UPDATED With No votes

The final vote tally was 61-37... The 'No' voters will be posted when available...

The bill only passed because 3 'Republicans' changed sides... Arlen Specter (PA), Susan Collins (ME) and Olympia Snowe (ME).

Once again, a thanks who voted for O-Fraud and those Conservatives who stayed home to teach the GOP a lesson in nominating their candidate.

The 'No' Votes...

NAYs ---37
Alexander (R-TN) Barrasso (R-WY) Bennett (R-UT) Bond (R-MO) Brownback (R-KS) Bunning (R-KY) Burr (R-NC) Chambliss (R-GA) Coburn (R-OK) Cochran (R-MS) Corker (R-TN) Cornyn (R-TX) Crapo (R-ID) DeMint (R-SC) Ensign (R-NV) Enzi (R-WY) Graham (R-SC) Grassley (R-IA) Hatch (R-UT) Hutchison (R-TX) Inhofe (R-OK) Isakson (R-GA) Johanns (R-NE) Kyl (R-AZ) Lugar (R-IN) Martinez (R-FL) McCain (R-AZ) McConnell (R-KY) Murkowski (R-AK) Risch (R-ID) Roberts (R-KS) Sessions (R-AL) Shelby (R-AL) Thune (R-SD) Vitter (R-LA) Voinovich (R-OH) Wicker (R-MS