Nom de plume: Rivrdog

Thursday Thud: Another sour note from Tubby the One-Note Tuba

To quote my good friend out in SD, the Coyote Kid:

"Gov. Chris Christie can kiss this retired military and police veteran’s ass for lowering the flag to half mast for a druggie just because she was a pop star singer."

Now, aren't YOU glad this pandering chump didn't run? Heaven help the eventual GOP nominee if they ask him to be Veep. I don't think I've ever not voted because of a poor Veep choice, but there's always a first time...

If it were to be Romney and Christie anyway, I would be too busy puking my guts out to vote.

Thud! Indeed.

Thursday Thuds #14

Thud the First: The Fast & Furious hearings, aka "gunwalker", get more interesting, and the price of poker is rising. Rep Issa is about ready to cite Holder for contempt for failing to answer the many subpoenas. My take? If Obama wants to cite "executive privilege" isn't he admitting he has something to hide from Congress? The only thing Obama might have worth hiding is the evidence directly linking him to knowledge of or direction of, the stealth gun-control program which went awry.

Thud the Second: The GOP. The Stupid Party has flamed out and is in a terminal dive. It will make a mighty "thud" when it craters in. Don't invite me to the memorial service, I'll be too busy helping it's replacement, a new Conservative Party, get started. The Conservative Party will first strut it's stuff in the Congressional Elections of 2014, and if it makes a good showing there, the GOP will never be seen again. Good riddance.

Thud the Third: The Facebook IPO. It's like Chinese food. You can fill up on it, it's tasty, but you'll be hungry again in a couple of hours. Chinese food doesn't stick with you and neither will Facebook and their IPO. Facebook will NOT have even the influence Apple has, and Apple isn't saving any planets that I've heard of. The fact is, the script-sorcery that brought us Facebook will bring us something better soon, and Facebook will slip into obscurity, just as all the others before it have done. Time, of course, with their gushing over the IPO, is so overblown that it ought to have a Saffir-Simpson rating.

Thud the Fourth: The idea that the Nanny State wants to ban sugar by classifying it as a "toxin". Most people who walk the Earth are NOT diabetics, for which sugar is a problem, and those who ARE diabetics have the personal choice to make, as I made it, to either control sugar intake and control their disease, or not control it and have their bodies fall apart. That's where the decision lies, with the individual diabetic, not with the over-reaching Government. The "thud" you hear on this one is just one of the many jackboots pounding the pavement enroute to taking over your life. Let's say no to the sturmtruppen on this one, and make those jackbooted Government thugs about-face and march out of our health and well-being decisions. Besides, isn't the definition of a "toxin" that of a substance that when anyone is exposed, the bad effect happens? All those non-diabetics have zero effect from exposure to sugar. It's not a toxin.

Thud the Fifth: We get final proof that taxation is harmful to all the world's economies, and it seems that the harder the world's governments try to levy taxes, the more commerce is done "off the books" and goes by untaxed. Fair Tax/Flat Tax, whatever you want to call it, a minimalist, but all-encompassing approach to taxation works best, and the usual socialist "if it moves, tax it" approach works hardly at all.

Thursday Truths

Too much cheery Christmas noise around here to hear any Thud! sounds, so we will content ourselves today with the ringing sound of the Truth, fortified by the side-tones of Irony.

Truth the First: No "mission accomplished" in Iraq. Nothing has changed there since Saddam was toppled, lo, these past 8 years. Before the dust from the last Army convoy out of Iraq settled, the Sunnis and Shiites were at each other's throats again. Last night's death toll: 63 dead, almost 200 injured in various car-booms and IEDs. I think I can speak for at least some of the 4,000+ KIA in OIF, and some of the 30,000+ wounded, when I give both the Bush and the Obama Administrations a hearty, "Thanks for nothing, cretins" I should really say that a bit stronger, but it's a family holiday, don't you know? To this old 'Nam vet's lights, both Administrations get the blame, but Bush's get's most of it. He opened the hostilities there, and he was Commander-in-Chief when his Army began to think of other things to do besides kill the enemy, things like putting idiotic ROEs in place, and prosecuting our own people for following their own combat training and proven combat skills. Obama told us he was going to end the war, and he did. He ended it too soon, but he did what he said he would, idiotic as his idea of cut and run was in the first place.

Truth the Second: You can put a "green", "totally sustainable" plan into place for handling garbage, as was just done in the City of Portland, but you can't get by the ringing Truth: garbage stinks. Portland's Sustainable Fairy Mayor, Sam Adams' new plan was that wet garbage collection would be cut back to bi-monthly from weekly (but the cost to residents did NOT go down, heh!), and kitchen scraps (i.e. rotting food) were to be dumped into the garden-waste recycling cart, which was still going to be emptied weekly at curbside. OK, so far, so good. The only problem was, that this program adds rotting animal waste products (meat scraps, etc) to the garden waste (most of it lawn clippings or raked-up leaves), giving that compost a new, fierce decomposition smell and many new pathogens growing in that compost. Of course, the Citeh wouldn't manage any of that within it's own City Limits, it imposed that burden on the City of North Plains, a part-suburban, part agricultural area a half-hour West of Portland (I used to hunt pheasant out there before liability insurance killed off public hunting on private land). Depending on the wind direction from the offending compost heap, lots of folks are learning the Truth about Holy Sustainability.

Truth the Third: Is that any Government process, left in place long enough, soon begins to warp any acceptable rules or ethics to suit itself. The Portland Fire Bureau (Portland doesn't have Departments, it has Bureaus, as if that catchy French word wards off the usual corruption that goes with internal City administration) seems to have an internal promotion scandal on it's hands. Typically, police and fire administrators want to promote their own choices, and those choices are those have the best abilities to "get along" kiss ass, not necessarily the best leadership and mental strengths. It's always been this way, at least since I first ventured into Civil Service in 1973. So, the PFB simply showed a copy of the promotional exam to those it wanted promoted. Now, this appears to have taken place for some time and down through all the bugles (fire officers' rank is denoted by how many bugles they sport on their collars or epaulets). Interesting that this major corruption inquiry is being handled internally in the PFB. That shows how strongly-emplaced the corruption is. They should have turned this one over to State Justice or some other State agency to have the Truth ferreted out.

Truth the Fourth: The current pouting session pissing contest game of tag over the Payroll Tax Holiday continues apace. As I hear news reports, it seems every third word out of any reporter's mouth is "Obama". Excuse me, have ANY of these spreaders of lies even read the Constitution? The President has NOTHING to do with revenue and finance of the Government until a properly passed Bill hits his desk, at which point he may choose to sign it or not. The current flap is not at that stage, since there are two different Bills, one from the Senate (where the Constitution says that such Bills may not originate, they must originate in the House) and one from the House. The competing Bills must be sorted out in Conference Committee, and that hasn't happened, because the Senate went Home for the Holidays without finishing that vital work, and the tax law contained in the Bill becomes moot and taxes will boost (by revoking the Tax Holiday) automatically, in nine days. The whole thing is a charade, anyway, and has been ever since the Holiday went into effect during the past current Depression Recession business slowdown. The government put every working man and woman on the Dole by forgiving their contribution to their Social Security Account, and putting it "n the cuff", and now times are bewtter, according to the Gummint, so why are we arguing about this, let's just start paying our tiny share again, shall we? Nothing hammers the Ruling Class harder than ignoring all their advice, most of which is guaranteed to ruin your life anyway, and THAT'S the Truth.

Truth the Fifth: Sportz Truth: NFL players are the modern version of Roman Gladiators, sacrificing their bodies for our vicarious enjoyment. Some of them are going to get head injuries, and some of those head injuries are going to lead to later problems off the gridiron. That's the Truth, so get over it, NFL Players. You don't see Muhammad Ali suing professional boxing, do you? There's no crying in football, men. Suck it up.

Thursday Thud #13

...that's correct, there will only be one Thud heard today, because the Thud illustrated here is really the only one you ever want to hear, if you are a warrior, and if you're not one now, you probably will be in times to come.

That Thud! of course, is the sound your mortal enemy makes as he falls at your feet, vanquished by your last, best, finally victorious, blow.

Winning your last battle, the battle you went into knowing either you or your enemy, but not both, would come out alive, is what my presentation today is about.

There's music which was written to inspire those fighting this last battle, to bring the Union side of that battle to victory. It's called, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, it is sung here by several school choirs, and presented by the owner of the website you are linked to. If your sympathies stood with the other side in that conflict which ended, lo these 146 years ago, I feel your pain when you hear this music, written as it was to stir the wrong side to victory. None the less, the music accomplishes it's goal, and in a Nation Re-United, but now, sadly, falling rapidly from it's former grace, it needs to be heard again, it needs to be taken to heart, and it needs to inspire yet another generation of Americans to arise from their slumbers, throw off the yokes we have been burdened with unjustly, and smite those blows which will vanquish our oppressors and restore the former glory of our God and our Nation. When we do, we get to hear that rarest of sounds, that Thud! signifying that we've won.

The music is all about fighting with the inspiration of a resolute God, and stout fellow-soldiers at your side, all of whom take inspiration from that resolute God.

In the Bible, the words are in Romans 13:4

I have one small complaint about this music, as it is usually sung today: In the second-to-last stanza is the line, "As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,". This line is changed a bit in a politically-correct way now, and is usually sung, "As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free,". This seemingly-small change dilutes the entire purpose of the music, which was to get the soldiers singing it or listening to it to overcome their fear of death on the battlefield, and to put forth their very best effort to win the upcoming battle.

I can find no provenance that tells me that this change is an accepted one by the heirs of the composer, Julia Ward Howe, so I state firmly that it is an improper change which badly distorts the music's purpose, and should never be repeated. Sing the lyrics correctly, please.

BTW, this is the 150th Anniversary of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, Miss Howe wrote it in 1861.

BTW2, this post is dedicated to two of my greatest inspirations in life, Miss VikkiLee and the Patriot Padre.

Thursday Thuds #11

Today's Thuds are highly specific, and are agressive, all of them being the sound of my "Clue Bat" connecting with dense skulls. 

Thud the First redounds to the City of Portland Planning Division, which is in the process of ginning up support from the Left to take over political hegemony of the Willamette River, which bisects Portland. Note that the Willamette River is both Federally and State of Oregon protected and regulated, but no matter to the City, which demonstrates here that they want to assume control. As I spoke of in Friday Foibles recently (Foible #2), I did complete the fisk of the City's Grand Plan. you can see it here:

Download RivrStratReply2

So, off it goes, but I'm not done on this subject. The Yacht Clubs, who collectively (through their memberships) own hundred of millions of dollars worth of property in this burg, are supposed to have a voice, the Columbia River Yachting Association, speaking for them before Star Chambers such as the "Healthy Rivers" office of the City. In the past several years, that org lost it's two most effective members, Jim Schwitter and Richard Rydman, who used to ably represent we power boaters' interests, so now the CRYA is barely a shadow of it's former self, and I was told NOT to bring this matter to their attention by my Club's representative to the CRYA.

Fine, I won't. There are over 85,000 powerboats registered in the tri-County Portland Metro area, and if I can put together a PAC to represent them, I need no more than 10% of those boat owners, each paying a $10 annual donation to the PAC, to be in business representing the interests of power boaters. I've put together my business plan for the PAC, discussed it with a Big Name in both the local TEA Party and the AFP, and have support there. All I need now is to have a Corporate Constitution written, get my incorporation papers filed and my IRS tax status applied for, and I'm off to the (boat) races. Considering the wealth (word used in it's FULL capitalistic sense) of executive talent available amongst local boat owners to help me fight the advancing take-over of the River by the Green Movement, and the potential resources available, I smell napalm on the morning air. It smells like Victory!

Thud the Second is the sound of the "Clue Bat" connecting with the cranial shell of the local (Gresham, OR) version of the Occupy Movement. They have tried to get going in my suburbian City, but we're mostly surviving and more conservative out here, 15 miles East of Portland, so the Gresham version of the Flea Party is struggling. I gave an AAR and simultaneous warning to them via the Letters section of my local blatt.

Thud the Third is the sound of Reality connecting with European Socialism, as in the heavy bill for that political folly hitting the floor of empty vaults in almost every European Union member country's Central Bank. This article contains the news. Note that the ECB and the member Central Banks are again going to try to "monetize" (socialist-speak for printing fiat-money) their gargantuan debt. At best, that buys time, but since the only proper use of that time is to convince the European populations it is past time to dump Socialism, and that can't be done in most cases, so the European economic situation is terminal. The US stock exchanges, which breathed a HUGE collective sigh of relief at this "solution" yesterday, are having buyer's remorse today. Personal stake: my eldest daughter and her hub are touring Austria and southern Germany for the next two weeks, but hub assured me he has sources of moolah there in case the Euro collapses while they are visiting the empty shell of Western Civ.

Thud the Fourth ought to be the sound of a Federal Judge's gavel crashing own on the cult called Scientology. This report is probably more truth than fiction, given previous reports on the cult-behavior of the Scientologists, so if I'm a Federal Judge, I find Probable Cause that the cult HAS engaged in kidnapping and slavery, and I order that the cult expose all it's members to an immediate examination to see if they are living aboard that hulk of their own free wills. I order a Search Warrant based on my findings, and have a Federal Marshal's unit take over the ship (or a Navy unit if it is outisde the 3-mile limit). Based on the return of the Warrant, if evidence supports the suspicions of civil rights vioations, I order the Marshals to impound the vessel.

Thud the Fifth is the sound of a steam explosion, not exploding tofu, as the Portland Fire Dept finally "solved" the big mystery that made the national news a few days ago. It happend exactly as I said at the time.

Stay thirsty for knowledge, my friends, and you will avoid the sound of the "clue-bat" hitting YOUR cranium.

Thursday Thuds #10

Numerology! Edition # 10 published on the Tenth!

Thud the First: Is the sound of an occasional Marine hitting a bar-room floor tonight, passing out from the sheer joy of celebrating the birthday (OK, and the effect of the spirits, too!). That's permitted by USMC tradition, since today is the Birthday of the USMC, the 236th.

Thud the Second: Whatever made that thudding sound over at my s.i.l.'s place wasn't him hitting the floor, he doesn't imbibe. Oh, yes, it must have been the nurse-daughter, A USMC Desert Storm veteran...she has TWO reasons to celebrate, the USMC birthday AND her hub's. Happy Birthday, Wally!

Thud the Third: This is actually an "un-thud". Ron Paul, Sr, has hit the floor with many of his strange ideas on past occasions, but he made up for a lot of those past errors with his correct assessment of the Obama Presidency: becoming an "elective dictatorship". Right on, Ron!

Thud the Fourth: Is the sound of riot baton upside Flea Party knees (no head strikes!) a Thud! or just a Squish! Inquiring minds want to know, but it's beginning to look like we won't have to wait much longer to find out here in Stumptown. Two of the City Commishes, Nick Fish (the only one resembling a Law & Order commissioner, and he's not much of one) and Amanda Fritz, once firmly on the Mayor's pro-Flea Party side, have called for an end to the "occupations". The Police Chief has been told to have the eviction plan ready immediately, and he has said that it IS ready. We have a miserable week of cold rain in the forecast for Friday night through the next 5 days, at least, and that will provide some impetus for the departure of the Flea Party. My prediction: Hizzoner will congratulate all the protesters, tell them they did a fine job of awakening the City and Nation to the Evils of Capitalism, and now it's time to leave, then he will set a deadline, heavy on the kudos, and he will barely whisper the deadline at his presser. That deadline will pass, and a new deadline will be set, and sometime after THAT deadline the police will clear out the camp. My prediction, probably not before the end of next week, but definitely before Turkey Day, because the core area will have to be cleaned and sanitized for the Christmas Shopping season (which has really started already). Not taking any bets on how peacefully it will end, remembering that this town is known as "Little Beruit".

Thud the Fifth: Is the sound of Prohibition-era liquor regulation finally hitting the bottom of the dustbin of history in Washington State. Initiative #1183 passed, 60-40%, and now, big grocery stores there may sell booze. This will accelerate the end of Oregon's Prohibition-era system also (and will accelerate me crossing the bridge to buy my hooch, one bottle at a time, of course, I am law-abiding <;~). Both States operate their own Liquor Stores, which are known as Green Fronts here in Ory-gun, because their front windows used to have the lower half painted a bilious seafoam-green so the little kiddies couldn't stand on the sidewalk outside the store and admire the hooch. The curious thing about the expensive campaign to make this change to dump the so-called "liquor socialism" across the Rivah is that it featured the opposition claiming the benefits of Prohibition all over again. Every time I saw one of the opposition's ads (most paid for by Seagrams, which had a fat contract they will now lose), I screamed at the TeeVee, "you Idiots, we got rid of Prohibition 80 years ago in this country, get off my TeeVee". We'll have to go through the whole thing again now in Oregon, with Costco, Inc footing the pro-private sales initiative, and Seagrams opposing it.

Thud the Sixth: Is the sound of Penn State's athletic program, and maybe some of their scholarship foundations as well, hitting the floor and not getting up. As this pundit sees it, Joe Paterno was hired to run a football program, not be detective-in-charge of a sex abuse investigation, even if it did involve one of his staff. He complied with the law, and informed his superior of the NAMBLA-type incident brought to his attention. The PSU Administration dragged their feet in handling the matter, so somehow, POOF!, Joe-Pa is supposed to drop everything and pin a star on his chest to follow up where the PSU Administration and the local authorities just failed? I don't think so, and as a matter of fact, I don't think so enough to suggest that PSU donors with-hold their donations in protest at this scapegoating of Joe-Pa. I think such with-holding is going to happen anyway, but if the reports of the students rioting in support of Joe-Pa last night are any indication, the school will now be in more trouble, financial trouble, than it ever would have been if it just allowed Joe-Pa to quietly retire at the end of the football year three weeks from now. The uber-correct sportz press can just kiss my ass, too. Their coffers were well-lined by the discussion, which they themselves raised to a fever-pitch, so THEIR hands aren't exactly clean, either. Here's an article depicting the events of last night, but note how the holier-than-thou and victims-rule attitudes come through in the writing. I'm ready to puke. The cretin Sandusky just needs to be whipped to death and have his body thown in a pig-sty, that's all. A Grand Jury can examine whether or not the University failed in their legal duties and issue indictments if they did. The press and the culture-killing, victim-sainthood people can butt out or be prepared to be held up to severe scrutiny, as I am doing to them here. Try this on for size, you crap-for-brains airheads: if the parents and family of that lad actually had a handle on parenting skills, why in the Hell would they allow their kid to be messing around in a college athletic facility at close to midnight? Think that maybe there's a little moral and legal failure THERE? I do.

Thursday Thuds #9

Thud the First: Is the sound of the brain-dead MSM being scooped by Kootenai County Idaho, where they have the good sense to advise their citizens that a Nationwide EAS test, the first one ever held across the entire country, is coming in a week. So, just how sharp is YOUR Emergency Services director? THUUUUD is the sound of my county and city ES people keeling over, brain dead zombies that they are, as they failed to get this word out. Go here to see the particulars of the test, and here to see the actual FEMA brag on it.

Thud the Second: This Thud is a pre-emptive strike against the GOP, which, I'd wager a substantial amount, will try to "dump Cain" over the trumped-up sex harassment innuendo and charges coming out of the "Politico" website. Politico, of course, is wholly-owned by the Democratic Party. If YOU, the conservative voter, let the Obama War Room get away with THIS political assassination, YOU, the conservative voter, are as guilty as they are for the success of this Nation's leftward swing into Socialism. Put it this way, my friends, it's been a while since a black man was pilloried this way...think Justice Clarence Thomas. Don't let it happen again. If the pollsters call YOU, tell them you're still with Cain.

Thud the Third: Is the sound that Gresham Outlook letter-writer J.R. Bartline's intellect SHOULD hae made hitting the cutting room floor at the newspaper editor's office. He doesn't know his law. As a cop, I could NEVER enforce noise ordinances, such enforcement was reserved for the County Nuisance Officer, now known as the Code Enforcement Officer. That person is NOT a cop. JR, git yer shit straight before you go lambasting the cops for not going after the Coffee-Can & rice-grinder car kiddies. We USED to appoint all Sheriff's Sergeants as Nuisance Officers, but I only ever heard of one Sergeant who ever checked out and used a decibel meter, and that was so he could use the ticket he wrote to pimp the other Sergeants with at coffee. The legal process for writing someone up for a noise violation was more involved than making a bust for a triple-ax murder.

Thud the Fourth: Is the sound a Liberal Knee-jerk makes when it encounters hard reality. This local blatt editorial about "please don't privatize our Library" falls on deaf ears at the Rivrdog blog. Some questions about the factual background: The Portland Metro Area is roughly the twentieth or twenty-second in size in the USA as metro areas go, and are SECOND in Library size behind New Jack Citeh? Why is that? Library a bit overblown, is it? Property taxes have paid for the Library forever, but now the Metro Government (we have a third level of muni governance in this blighted area, City, County and Metro) which runs the Library wants to divest itself of it. Strange thing, Metro keeps shedding responsibilities for running things the taxpayers want, but Metro's share of the tax base has never gone down, which forces the gaining jurisdictions to have to raise taxes....

Thud the Fifth: I can't let a Thurday Thuds go by without THUUUUDing the Flea Party. Such a non-violent group, they just celebrated violence by protesting in "sympathy" with the parallel group in Oakland, CA. Of course, Oakland was in the news for using the po-po to dislodge illegal Flea Party protesters from their muni center squares. Some of those Oakland protesters fought back, and so yestiddy, the local Flea Party "celebrated" their arrests. During the "celebration", some douchebag hosenose blind-sided a Portland Police Sergeant and tried to shove him under a bus, literally! The puke fled back to the Flea party camp, apparently failing to realize that hi-def video and facial recognition software would, like the Mounties, allow the PPB to get their man. He's lodged in the hoosegow now, but the po-po missed a bet: they should have charged him with attempted murder. He was pulled out of the OWS main camp, so perhaps the cops should add up the probably-considerable cost of the investigation and pursuit of the dipwad, and send THAT bill to OWS. Harboring a fugitive, hmmmm?

Thud the Sixth: Will probably be the loudest Thud ever, for it will be the earth-shaking sound of first, the European economies crashing in domino fashion, then ours, and finally China's. The EU still doesn't get it that their credit line is maxed out and they can't print any more Euros to prop up their Socialism. They just begged the Chinese to bail them out with REAL money, in which China is awash, but the Chinese people are furious, and want nothing to do with a European bailout. BTW, for the words "Chinese people", you can probably substitute "Chinese government", since the ChiComs are NOT known for letting their people talk for them...

Thursday Thuds the Eighth

I'm Henery the Eighth, I am....GAAAAAH! Now I have that earworm going, one of the most persistent.

But, it's time for some Thuds.

Thud the First: Obama! Yep, speaking to students yesterday, he actually raised the concept of self-reliance as a bogeyman! This might be his Big Gaffe, the moment everyone will point to in years to come, after his defeat, and say, "Yep, he let his complete ignorance slip out there, and never recovered from it." As I see it, this is a "TEA-Party-ish" moment. The point at which the opposition to his election really gets galvanized. On the one hand, those who follow Obama are now certified as NOT self-reliant, but reliant on the Gummint for their welfare and being. On the other hand, the REAL self-reliant ones. There's NO middle ground in such a division, because you're either self-reliant or you're not, and what's more, you probably KNOW which one you are. Politics, you see, doesn't work well when guessing games are locked out of it's repertoire. Obama has now set the terms of the debate, and if the GOP candidates, to the last one of them, don't pick up on this, well, let's just say THEY don't deserve election, either.

Thud the Second: The Flea Party has the liberls who run most cities over a barrel. The solid citizens and most of the merchants want their filthy camps gone from the city centers, but most of the libtard Mayors feel they owe these fellow-libs something, so they have tied the hands of their Police Chiefs, at least those who actually have the spine to enforce the various city laws against the camping. Portland is one of those cities. The taxpayers are fed up with the filth, the craziness (the "movement" has attracted every crazy not locked down in an asylum somewhere), the vandalism, the theft, the huge and ever-mounting cost. See Thud the First, above. We are the self-reliant and we want them GONE! A local poll had Flea Party support at 39% here last night, and we live in a VERY liberal City!

Thud the Third: The Christian Science Monitor, trying to evaluate the relative "fairness" of the various taxing schemes put forth by some GOP candidates. The sound you heard was the "thud" of their concept of evaluation hitting the deck. Taxation isn't about "fairness". It never has been. It's about providing the funds to operate a government. HOW that government operates determines HOW MUCH taxation is required, and YES, some taxation IS required. The CSM misses the point of a tax plan. First, the political point: politicians, of all stripes, simply HAVE to have a tax system that they can tinker with (deductions, etc) so as to bribe their constituents into voting for them. As far as EFFECTIVENESS goes, a system that CAN'T be tinkered with will be far more efficient to administer. It's hard to tinker with a flat tax, no deductions. That's the true "fair" tax: make "x" dollars in wages or other compensation, send in a percentage of it as tax. No deductions for any reason, just send it in. If the Gummint wants to send you some back as welfare, well, that's another issue, but EVERYONE gets taxed the same percentage.

Thud the Fourth: Rick Perry and HIS "flat" tax plan. First of all, it's anything but flat. He would grant the same deductions (read: political bribes) that are in place today, in fact, all his system does is remove all the different tax brackets and substitute one - 20%. I have slightly over $100K of taxable income, from a number of different sources. I should be in a 25% or so bracket, but I maintain the 20% bracket due to careful use of the legal deductions. Without deductions, my tax under the Perry plan remains about the same. Secondly, a Word for Perry: quit waving that postcard around, it's bullshit. No more people would be able to use the postcard than now are able to use the one-page 1040S short-form, and the reason for THAT is deductions. You have to use the forms, schedules and worksheets to use deductions. That costs me $600/year to do, because it's so complex that I have to hire a CPA, and no, Turbo-Tax does NOT get it all straight. If Perry REALLY wanted to "flatten" the tax, he would lower his Flat Tax to 15-18%, dump the deductions, and THEN his postcard would work. But then, he'd be Newt, wouldn't he?

Thud the Fifth: Home appliances. Why the HELL does something simple to build like an electric oven have to cost well over $1,000, and that's for an inexpensive one? The "good" ones can cost over $3,000. Look, it's a steel box, fer Christ's sake, with a calrod and a thermostat, and now, some fancy little computer (probably costs $10 to manufacture). It doesn't even need moving parts (my new one, a Frigidaire, has a convection-fan, though). Jeebus! In India, they can make a CAR for that moolah! Oh, well, at least the cookies and pies and pastries that the gudwife will bake now won't have burned bottoms on them. I suppose THAT'S worth the price of a good 1/2 MOA rifle with decent tactical glass...

Thud the Sixth: Is the sound of McDonald's PR Veep getting the boot after allowing this jack-booted reaction to a PHX-area mom who wants some more public health precautions in the Play Areas. Next will probably come a boycott, no doubt lead by one of the "meat is murder" outfits, and this time, it will be effective, and Mickey Dee's will lose millions as a result. How much simpler it would have been to turn this around, hire a couple more minimum-wage employees per store, keep the Play Areas clean, and make some POSITIVE PR instead of taking the hit they're going to take. This is what ALWAYS happens when you let lawyers make management decisions. Lawyers in a company should ALWAYS be restricted to checking the legality of things like contracts, etc. They should have NO OTHER role, because when they get this far afield, the results are ALWAYS FUBAR.

Thursday Thuds # 7

It's Thursday again, that day in the working week when we have to give the boss one more day of our undivided attention. Tommorow will be Casual Friday, unless you work at a funeral parlor, and that means lightening up a bit. No, this is still Thursday, so we are still serious. Here at your Rivrdog Blog, your Rivrdog is already casual, but that's because I'm retired and am supposed to be casual! I play my role, and you play yours, OK?

Today's Thuds start out with the Boregonian, as do most of my days. Most of my interest in the newspaper centers around the Editorial page, since I want to know what the libtards on their Board are trying to convince us to do TODAY to tear down what's left of traditional culture in Portland, Oregon.

Thud the First: There's a "solar power" company here called Solar World. Unlike Solyndra Inc, which apparently was a rip-off of investors and taxpayers alike from it's inception, Solar World actually DOES manufacture photo-voltaic cells, also known as Solar Panels. They've been at it for a while, and unlike Solyndra, haven't had White House intervention to either get going or keep going. They got their money the old-fashioned way, they bamboozled convinced the filthy capitalist pigs to loan it to them. They don't even need any Marxist help from the (D)onkeys in Washingtoon. But Wait! There's more! Yes, they DO, in fact, need Washintoon's help now, because they are (gasp!) taking on Communist China! (gasp!). Yep, they want Uncle Sugar to initiate a restriction-of-trade legal action against the Chinese, for "dumping", or government-subsidizing of a competitive product, to wit, solar panels. It's no secret to anyone that China has been doing this, with the intention of taking over the marketing of solar panels entirely. The Thud you just heard? That's the sound of Solar World's case hitting the bottom of Obama's Round File. Oh, sure, there will be words of assurance from the Won, after all, this is "green industry", which MUST be protected by order of Gaia, but actually go after his buddies the Commie Chinese? Not a chance that Obama will do that.

Thud the Second: The Boregonian begs Washintoon to "Take the leash off Credit Unions". Supposedly, credit unions stand willing and able to loan small business over $13 billion, but are blocked from doing so by a law which caps their business lending. The paper's Editorial Board wants the cap removed. THUUUUD! That's the sound of this anti-bank bleat hitting the bottom of  Veep Joe Biden's Round File. Biden, you will remember from the '08 campaign, was the Senator from DE (Delaware, not Deutschland) who was bought and paid for by CitiBank, now just known as Citi.

Thud the Third: An ordinary letter-writer to the Boregonian Editorial Board complains of the cost of maintaining the State Prison system, so he proposes:

"The long-sighted answer to prison overcrowding is to provide education and diversion programs for at-risk kids and their parents. Unfortunately, such programs wouldn't generate much immediate profit, thus are less attractive to some."

THUUUD! That's the sound of that writer's hypothetical solution hitting the hard, cold ground of Constitutional Reality, after it has been properly smitten with the Constitutional "Clue-Bat". Just where in our guiding document does it say that it is the duty of the State to raise kids or "divert" their parents? Riiiiiiiight, it doesn't. Doesn't say that in the Orygun Constitution, either. Such do-gooderism is purely a Socialist construct. You want Socialism, David James? You'll find it between Shit and Syphilis in your dictionary, but you won't find it in MY Constitution, or yours either, for that matter.

Thud the Fourth: Another letter writer, a professional scrivener, no less, hits upon the complete emptiness of the Flea Party Movement aka, "Occupy (someplace)":

"I agree with the general philosophy of the Occupy movement, even though protesters have yet to outline any concrete goals."

Mr. Cadish, the THUUUD! you just heard came from YOUR "clue-bat", which hit it's intended target, but excessive backswing then caused it to connect with YOUR cranium. You correctly identify the main fault of this non-movement, but then you agree with all of the non-movement's emptiness. How is that possible? Could it be possible because you identify with ANOTHER empty philosophy somewhere, Mr. Cadish? Stand for something, please. BTW, Mr. Cadish, according to his by-line, lives in Lake Oswego, OR, generally considered to be the richest City in the metroplex.

Thud the Fifth: Is the sound Moammar Ghaddafi's dead ass made hitting the ground, if this report from ABC news is correctimundo. Sic Semper Tyrannis!

Thursday Thuds #6

Thud the First: The Flea Party. has definitely overstayed it's welcome, but some boneheads in cities (this means YOU, Mayor Adams of Portland) just don't get it: the longer these low-life are tolerated, breaking all forms of laws from city ordinances to natural laws of sanitation, the more they will be remembered as a black mark against the City Administrations. No one is asking their beleaguered City to go out and knock heads or get out the cattle prods, but talking as equals with the mobs is a non-starter as well. Start putting the squeeze on them, Mayors, before your citizens start asking you whose drum YOU are marching to.

Thud the Second: How luverly. New homes designed deliberately to leave out the spaces where families normally gather in a more formal setting. Frankly, I wouldn't buy a house that lacked either a formal Sitting Room or Dining Room. What's next, a room with a "fighting" cage in it? I dunno. I guess if the norm in parenting is to have no clue about what your kids are doing after age three, maybe it IS too much to expect that they learn the manners and customs of sitting of a Sunday, having polite conversation in the Sitting Room, or dining, while wearing decent clothing and using customs of politeness, in a formal Dining Room. I was taught these things, but there is great temptation to not use those spaces per their design. OK, turn one of the rooms into a Library and the other into a living space just for the kids, but make them keep it CLEAN!

Thud the Third: Is the sound of Obama's Bus Driver, out in a secret bus-driving practice ground somewhere in VA, probably, practicing running over obstacles, in preparation for tossing Eric Holder under the bus to get Fast & Furious off the front page and the airwaves. Rep. Issa just upped the ante, of course, with a monster dragnet of a subpoena that DOES require all correspondence between DOJ and the Executive Mansion to be brought in. Thanx for the linx, Uncle.

Thud the Fourth: Is the sound of gun rights in Uncle's state hitting the deck. They have "shall issue" there for concealed carry, but there are all sort of regulations as to where you can carry or not, and this case of a famous pro-gun pol getting hosed and driving while juiced and armed is not going to help. Stand-to, Uncle, there will need to be some voices heard in TN now to prevent backsliding on concealed carry.

Thud the Fifth: Is the sound of General Government Motors' advertizing Veep getting booted for this stupid ad. If they don't boot him, he should be demoted and not allowed to hire bonehead ad firms. Telling us our sexual preferences ain't your job, GM.

Thud the Sixth: Is the sound of your CrackBerry achieving it's state of Nirvana as you throw the worthless POS into an empty dumpster. Now, pay your tribute tax to Apple and get an I-Phone, or skip the tribute tax and go get a new Droid Phone (just don't plan on keeping any of your data private, the Droid will send all to Mother Goog). Joe seems to think that the new Windoze 7.5 phones will be players, too, and on my 6.1 WIN fone, nothing went back to Mama MS. Disclosure: I hate RIM and it's system of not selling you the whole enchilada, but charging monthly fees for the most desireable upgrades. If all RIM crap stopped working tomorrow, not only would Pres. Obama have a bad day, which makes me have a good day, but the info-world has it's least-desireable system deleted.