Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said Thursday that President Obama would not be president if it weren't for the 1986 amnesty bill that Ronald Reagan signed into law.  King argued that the 1986 immigration bill that Reagan signed into law is estimated to have brought amnesty to three million illegal immigrants. 

He said conservative estimates show that, on average, each of these people brought in five others, leading to 15 million more people in the country, most of whom voted for Obama.  "[I]t's clear to anybody that can do any kind of statistical analysis that Barack Obama wouldn't be President of the United States without Ronald Reagan's 1986 amnesty act."

King added that the immigration reform plans being worked on in both the House and Senate would provide amnesty for millions more illegal immigrants and suggested that a majority of them would also vote Democratic.  (TheHill.com)

Rep. King is smoking too much Iowa corn.  Voting is a citizenship right and can only be done by registering, which requires being a citizen or permanent resident.  Even if there was enough voter fraud to sway the election such as King represents, it would be clearly exposed.  King is once again using minorities and immigrants to appeal to prejudices and for that he is a butthead.  Just one day more...

WHAT IS RIGHT WITH PUBLIC EDUCATION

After 30 years, today is the last day of teaching in public schools for my wife .  This has been her career and in recent years she has taught children of parents she taught.  Over my working years I have had several “careers”, all the while my wife has been a teacher.  I admire her consistency.  

It has not always been easy and there have been a number of changes that made her job demanding.  Teachers are spending more time doing required paperwork and less time actually teaching.  My wife has dealt with this by putting in more time outside of school.  She was at school by 7:00 AM and seldom home before 5 PM.  Most of her evenings were spent doing “homework.”  In many cases she was at school on Saturdays. 

Public schools are also mandated by law to take all students.  Consequently, students with discipline problems, extremely handicapped, emotionally disturbed and children from troubled homes who are rejected by private and parochial schools are sent to public schools.  There have been school years where one or two disruptive students have taken much of the time in my wife’s classroom.  This past school year I worked part time for the public school.  I drove a student who had behavioral disorder to a special public school 60 miles round trip daily, so I know first hand the requirements placed on public schools.

Public education is usually demonized in political campaigns.  It is an easy target and politicians take advantage of that. Instead of expanding on what is right with public education, they demagogue public schools.   

My wife has never concerned herself with the politics of public schools and education.  She never had time for that.  She was always focused on what was important - her students.  Numerous parents were grateful and thanked her with comments and cards.  One of the things right with public education is teachers like my wife.  I know she will miss teaching, but she has earned her retirement.  Just one day more...

OFFICIALLY A SENIOR

Social Security

This past week has been a bit of forced reality.  I received the “official” letter that my first social security check will start in October.  It doesn’t seem that long ago when social security was the furthest thing on my mind.  At one point there was political discussion about privatizing social security or creating some type of system where individuals would “invest” on their own.  As I read over the letter from the Social Security Administration it was obvious that I would have spent the contributions I and employers made on other things and not “invested” under privatization.  When I was in my twenties and thirties there were other priorities and I didn’t think much about social security.  It’s a good thing someone else did. 

Health Insurance

My wife and I also attended a seminar on continuing our health insurance coverage with the company that currently provides it to her employer.  It was another dose of forced reality and a huge disappointment.  If we want to continue with the current policy we would have to pick up the entire monthly premiums.  Unfortunately, they only offer three plans, with the least expensive at $1100 / month.  That is simply not a number we can handle and since our governor has refused to implement the national health insurance exchange we will be in a lurch until the feds implement it in 2014.  We will have to search the open market to find coverage until that time.  Even then, it is a huge unknown if the health insurance exchange will offer realistic rates.  We are not as desperate as some, but over $1000 out of our monthly budget for health insurance is absurd.  The only other option is a plan that would cover only catastrophic  hospitalization with a high copay.  Those who argue against national health care (and the Affordable Health Care Act is far from it) should be in this position of trying to make a retirement budget work with those numbers.

So much for the doses of reality.  I guess it comes with being “officially a senior.”  Just one day more...

Ted Nugent recently wrote a plan for immigration reform that would treat undocumented immigrants like "indentured servants." 

Nugent wrote: "The Nuge Immigration Plan (NIP) takes five years for even illegal immigrants to become Americans. Until then, they should be treated like indentured servants, meaning that they have to earn their citizenship."

According to Nugent "all illegal men in America should be required to work on building the fence, to be completed in one year. We would pay them minimum wage, provide food and shelter, and provide them English and American history classes at night."

Nugent also said that illegal immigrants "must be fluent in the English language at the end of my five-year plan and pass a U.S. Constitution and history exam, including what a scoundrel Santa Anna was. Illegal Mexicans in America on the NIP pathway to citizenship should be proud of their Mexican heritage. They should be more proud to be an American and teach their children that Mexico is the old country they wanted out of.“  (source: WND.com)

Ted is whacked out again.  He is a racist, pure and simple.  He is also a butthead.

Just one day more...

HOPE IT WORKS

A couple of years ago I cut down an old apple tree here on the farm.  Rather than haul it to the tree dump I decided to cut it up and save it, thinking maybe some day I might use it to smoke meat.  Seems like the older I get the more of the “some day” stuff I have laying around.  Well, yesterday I decided to get going on this “some day” project.

Thanks to the ax my son gave me for Christmas this year I started to cut up the apple wood into smaller pieces.  The wood is sufficiently dry now after sitting around for a couple of years, so with a sharp ax it was short work.  I cut up just enough pieces to try it before going about cutting more. 

About 20 years ago we bought a concrete grill / fireplace at Menard’s.  I haven’t seen them available since.  Probably because it is such a heavy bugger.  If I can figure out how to make some type of door to close off the front, I think it would make an ideal smoker.  At least that is the plan for now.  I sure hope it works.   Just one day more...

WHAT A WASTE

The Brainard man who fired multiple times at Nebraska State Patrol vehicles before he was shot and killed Friday evening following a police pursuit had served time in prison for assaulting an officer in 2010.

Nathan Brokaw, 28, died after exchanging gunfire with State Patrol troopers following a police pursuit that ended north of Bee in Seward County, patrol spokeswoman Deb Collins said.

No officers were injured. Nebraska law requires a grand jury be convened anytime someone dies while in custody or in the process of apprehension.

The pursuit began at about 7 p.m. Friday in an alley behind a residence in the 300 block of East Seventh Street in Stromsburg. State Patrol investigators were conducting surveillance on Brokaw and another man, 31-year-old Joseph J. Pritchard of Stromsburg, who were both wanted on felony warrants, Collins said.

Once the vehicle stopped, Brokaw fired multiple rounds at troopers, Collins said. Troopers, who returned fire, killed him.  (Lincoln Journal Star)

This shooting happened within miles of our farm.  I am commenting not because it is an uncommon occurrence in Nebraska, which it is, but because this man was known by some in our family.  He graduated in the same high school class as my daughter and my wife was his teacher in sixth grade.  Both my wife and daughter say that he was not a happy person and as he got older was mean.  My wife remembers that he came from a troubled and angry home.  She treated him with kindness, but not even that overcomes an angry home.

It is sad when an otherwise normal kid is warped by his home environment.  Years back when I was a law enforcement officer I was involved in a couple police shootings.  In one case a suspect was shot to death by another officer.  I thought exactly the same thing then as I thought when I heard about this shooting.  What a waste.  Just one day more... 

WEARY

In the recent Time magazine, Zbigniew Brzezinski stated exactly what I think about those who are calling for the U.S. to get involved in Syria:

“The Syrian conflict is a sectarian war in a volatile region whose potential to spread and directly threaten American interests would only be increased by U.S. intervention.

The struggle is between forces funded and armed by outside sponsors, notably Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Iran. Also participating are foreign religious groups not directly controlled by the sponsors, namely the Sunni Salafists and Iranian-aligned militias, not to mention intensely anti-Western al-Qaeda fighters. American involvement would simply mobilize the most extreme elements of these factions against the U.S. and pose the danger that the conflict would spill over into the neighborhood and set Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon on fire.”  (Time)

Zbigniew Brzezinski is one of the most intellectual minds on world affairs and his words should be listened to.  Some in Congress have been rattling the sabers of military intervention, notwithstanding that the majority of Americans are war weary.  Weary of the cost in dollars and lives. The neo-cons had their way with civil wars in Iran and Afghanistan at a horrendous cost. The time has come to stop getting involved in sectarian and religious civil wars.  Just one day more...

In a previous post I commented that our service with DirecTV was getting costly, especially since we are required to pay for numerous channels we don’t watch.  Cable and satellite providers bundle packages and it is a take it or leave it deal for consumers.  Now comes legislation to address that issue.  

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is working on legislation that would pressure cable and satellite TV providers to allow their customers to pick and choose the channels they pay for.  

Consumers have long complained about the rising costs of cable TV packages and having to pay for dozens or even hundreds of channels just to gain access to the few that they watch. 

But McCain's legislation, which he is expected to introduce in the coming days, will likely face furious opposition from both the TV broadcasters and cable providers.

In addition to pressuring cable providers to offer channels a la carte, McCain's new bill would bar TV networks from bundling their broadcast stations with cable channels they own during negotiations with the cable companies, according to industry sources. So for example, the Disney Company, which owns both ABC and ESPN, could not force a cable provider to pay for ESPN in order to carry ABC.

The National Association of Broadcasters and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association declined to comment, but the groups are expected to oppose the legislation. Both industries have argued that the government should not micromanage how they offer their products to customers and that bundling can promote diverse offerings.  (The Hill)

It is always troublesome when the government intervenes in commerce.  The exception is when the business practice is so egregious that the consumer is being screwed.  Such is the case with cable and satellite television.  The technology is available for a la carte selection of channels, yet the appetite to make more money keeps the providers from making that available to consumers.  As is the case with most legislation to protect consumers, the lobbyists (The National Association of Broadcasters and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association) will stop it and for that they are buttheads.

BACK ONLINE

This week has been a “no internet” week for us.  As I mentioned in a previous post, we use a Verizon hotspot for our internet here on the farm.  Because of the high fees have only the basic service and reached our limit.  Within a couple of months we will make the switch to Millenicom and quadruple our limit at a slight higher cost than what Verizon charges.  Thank goodness.

SPRING PROJECTS PART 2

The spring projects continue and this week we hit the trifecta when the tree guy, electrician and plumber showed up.  The massive tree stump is gone and I have been leveling the ground getting it ready for rock. 

One mistake we made in the new garage was buying a too small water heater for the shower.  Finally the electrician showed up to wire in the larger water heater and the plumber showed up to make the connections.  Some guys have the skills to do these projects themselves, but I learned a long time ago when to call a professional.

I took the time to relube the hubs on a trailer, replace the tires and fix a taillight.  Also the first mowing of the season was done this week.  With four acres it takes most of the day and is a bit like Forrest Gump cruising on a mower with just blank thoughts.

As the weather continues to improve every day, more farm projects will get done.  It was a real drag staying indoors all winter and spring is a welcome relief.  Just one day more... 

Coffee County (Tennessee) Commissioner Barry West says a Facebook posting he had made Saturday called “How to Wink at a Muslim,” showing a man in a cowboy hat sighting a side-by-side double-barrel shotgun at the camera, was done to be funny.

West, who represents Manchester’s District 11, said Tuesday he found the image and statement on Facebook and posted it because, “I thought it was humorous.”  (Manchester Times)

Commissioner Barry West’s post follows a string of anti-Muslim acts throughout Middle Tennessee in recent years, including at least four incidents of mosque vandalism. Opposition to a new mosque in Rutherford County was so strong it took federal Justice Department intervention to open it last year.

Barry West

West, who lives in Manchester, removed it about an hour later. He did not apologize, instead questioning how his tweet had become the focus of attention.

West responded with this email: “No I did not Twitter this … no I did not create this picture … yes I shared it … so why am I being singled out?”  (Nashville Tennessean)

Yet again here is another public official who exhibits stupidity as if it were a virtue.  How in the world could this guy think this was anything other than bigotry, much less funny?  Commissioner Barry West acts clueless when he is questioned about posting the image and claimed he thought it was “funny.”  If he is that clueless he has no business being a county commissioner and is a butthead.  Just one day more...

SPRING  =  PROJECTS

Here on the farm spring means getting to projects that waited all winter.  Trimming trees, garden tilling, hauling driveway rock, yard clean up, mower prep and more.

As I mentioned in a previous post my friends made a noble attempt to remove a large tree, but the time has come to accept defeat and call in a professional.  There is a guy we’ve know since he was a kid who took over his dad’s part-time tree service business.  He is a really nice guy, but not terribly motivated.  Kind of a hit or miss deal where he takes a while to show up and may get started, only to leave and come back some other time.  About ten days ago he came by and sawed off the remainder of the tree getting it ready to grind out the stump.  Then he left.  I assumed to get his stump grinder since it is a rather large machine he tows.  But, I haven’t heard from him since.  I hauled out the chunks with my tractor, so will just wait for him to come back.

I’m not too concerned about the tree guy coming back since it isn’t a pressing project, but it did remind me of how frustrating is can sometimes be calling in so-called professionals.  About two months ago I called the electrician who rewired our house when we moved on the farm and wired the two new buildings we had erected.  I need a yard light wired and a water heater in the garage wired.  After two calls, he’s still a no-show.  I also need to have the water heater plumbed and have a guy who also has worked on both our house and new buildings.  He does plumbing part-time and I’m not sure what else he does with his time, but he never shows up when he says he will.  When he says he will be here on a certain day (he never says a time) that never happens.  

All three of these guys are nice guys, but I’m not sure what it is about being in business and not showing up to do the work.  Maybe it is a time management thing.  Or maybe they are overwhelmed with jobs - well, at least in the case of the electrician.  But, we moved to the farm to enjoy a slower pace, so we’ll just wait on these three guys to show up and get on with the other projects.  Just one day more...

TEN YEARS AGO ON THIS DATE

"Mission Accomplished" refers to a banner titled "Mission Accomplished" that was displayed on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln during a televised address by United States President George W. Bush on May 1, 2003 and the controversy that followed.  Bush stated at the time that this was the end to major combat operations in Iraq. Bush's assertion—and the sign itself—became controversial after guerrilla warfare in Iraq increased during the Iraqi insurgency. The vast majority of casualties, both military and civilian, occurred after the speech.  (Wikipedia)

Whoops... someone else stole the show.  Just one day more...

SNOW IN MAY?!

It's not much and it won't last long, but snow in May?  Just one day more...