This Strategy Works Well...

The Isle de Grande...Weekend Recap.

All kinds of news in the Home of the State Fair this week.  The local news reports a "gang or rafter" of turkey's taking over Hall County Park...seems this takeover has disturbed some of the local "high roofers" and they want Game and Parks to come in and arrest and relocate them.   A few other "gangs" of a different species of turkey needs some attention in GI too.  Speaking of arrests...was coming back from Kearney yesterday about 3 pm and just west of Alda ran into a "rafter" of State Patrol and Sheriffs' cars swarmed around a mini-van.  Noticed a nice young man in cuffs getting a lot of attention.  Didn't know if I should drive through or stop with all the flashing lights.  Another patrolman was coming in from the east like a bat out of hell...he tried to cross the median and failed to realize that yesterdays warm temps had turned the center median into a quagmire resulting in a nice out of control slide.  I was looking at a possible head-on if I stopped so I went on...of course if he would have hit me it would have been my fault since he had his flashers on.   I don't know why the patrolman felt he needed to be in such a rush...there were already 7 cars surrounding the detainee.  On a related note...donut sales were reported down in GI yesterday afternoon. 

Life in GI can't go on with what seems to be a murder of the week.  This weeks stabbing/bludgeoning was allegedly committed by a mother/son team in the shadow of the State Fair grounds.  Other than that just a random assortment of burglaries...forgeries...assault and strangulations and child abuse.  It's Obama's fault...all those unemployed men out there.  Friday's jail report included 202 inmates/detainees...11 new bookings and 9 releases.

Mr's One Out combs the daily liberal whinings with a little more scrutiny than I...and was perusing the legals and came across what appears to be a "Payouts For Parents Program" in the school spending report.  Hundreds if not thousands of dollars paid out for "parental mileage."  Seems if the school doesn't provide bus service parents are reimbursed for mileage.  This must be a new program...well in the last 40 or 50 years or so because there was no reimbursement to my parents...or any of my friends parents that I know of.  You had to go to school and you either walked...rode your bike...got a ride at your own expense or pooled with others because school was mandatory...bus or no bus...uphill both ways in the snow or not.  I would think if the state or locals are trying to find things to cut from the budget to save money...this line item would be one of the first.  

Ka...Flooooosh...

Good thing Nebraska's Financial Forecasters don't forecast the weather or are in charge of our retirement investments.  I can't think of a time in the past year and a half they have hit what state tax revenue income would be.  Looks like our Governor and friends in the Unicameral are going to have to trim another 30+ million from Nebraska's budget...just less than a week after other "forecasters" said Nebraska and most of the other abutting states were bouncing back economically.  Like everyone else...no one has a clue.  

I'm riding with the guy that said we have a rocky row to hoe the next ten years and there will be peaks and valleys along the way.  If our leaders at the local...state...and national level don't give an extra strong tug on the spending reins yesterday...it's only going to get worse.  Unfortunately I don't look for them to change their "tax and spend and tax some more while throwing in a new fee or two" habits.  

Not For The Squeamish...

The first indication of Obama being like the rest of us.  Then he looks at it....ewwwww.

Help Me! I'm an Idiot....

This guy makes Dan Quayle look like Einstein.

No Working Lunch Here...

While at work Thursday I caught a couple brief glimpses of the ObamaCare Bi-Partisan Parley.  Didn't have the audio turned up as the television is meant to be for situational awareness.  So...without audio I had to visually interpret my quick glimpses of the proceedings.  What did I interpret you ask?  Well...I'll tell you anyway.  

First of all I saw a bunch of D's' gathered in one area...and R's grouped up in another area.  Where the Hell was the Seating Czar?  We don't have one you say?  Well I guess I will have to perform a self-appointment.  What I would have done is arrange the seating DRDRDRDRDRDRDR...etc.  That arrangement would have been noticed by Joe and Jane Sixpack.  Reid and Pelosi looked like the Corsican Brothers...joined by a common bladder with Obama.  

Come lunchtime Obama slips off...nnnnnnnnnoooo.  As Lunch Room Monitor Czar...he sits and eats out of the same Valentino's buffet like everyone else.  Hopping from table to table in 5 minute intervals...being one with the troops.  

The whole thing appeared staged and the 2:1 ratio of talk time favoring the Dems made it appear even more so.  I think bi-partisanship got left out in the parley parking lot. 

Weasels In The Hen House...

Al Gore is in hiding...there are threats to yank his Nobel...and the Brits don't want his movie "playing in Plymouth"...or any other school in England.  Legislators coming to our rescue seem to be a recurring theme that is wearing thin...and of course the usual suspects keep showing up.  If you think Senators Lieberman and Graham are our friends...I think you are gravely mistaken...and Kerry and Reid can't help themselves.  They've just about attained "Maverick" status in my book.   It would be interesting to follow their money trail. 

No Witch Doctors Here...

Call your Representatives tomorrow...or today for that matter. 

You Make The Call...

Pop Corn téléphone portable micro-ondes
by sassiere

Not totally sold on this yet...but interesting just the same.  Next time I am sitting in a goose blind with 6 guys with cell phones going off...my waders are going to be lined with Reynolds Wrap.  I don't think this was Nebraska popcorn either...the kernels looked kind of mutant to me.

Robot Weather - No Hot Air Here...

The local guys can be replaced...

Imports R' U.S....

McCain Should Be Buying Carbon Credits To Cover The Horse Crap He Puts Out...

This is why I had a hard time voting for him.  Having gone through the gamut of "Maverick's" in recent years...I have come to the conclusion that "Maverick" translated means "twists in the wind."  Time for Arizonan's to put this guy out to pasture. 



McCain Called On The Carpet...





The Pudding...

Life On The Isle de Grande...

The top editorial in the local paper this morning focused on how Grand Island was saved by the Governor when he used his influence to speed up the start to the second half of the already underutilized South Locust bottomland run to I-80.  On a good day...the average two-way hourly traffic count on the current two-lane 6 mile stretch between 6 pm and 8 am runs about 60 vehicles an hour at best...and not much better from 8 am to 6 pm. This is based on my frequent counts...not the Chamber of Commerce or City Justificator's numbers.  I am certain my  count might triple during the two weeks of "TGISF." 

The grade work has been complete for a couple years now and they just demolished the last farmstead in the way last week so it's full steam ahead.  The funny part is had it not been for "Obama and The Stimulators"  the multimillion dollar "Road to Gridlock"...(there are two stoplights within a block of each other just before it crosses Highway 34 into town...which will by the way be a major bottleneck come State Fair time...that is if they come) would have not been possible...maybe for years after the State Fair debut.   

I suggest they name the thoroughfare "Hornady/Vavricek/Gnadt Drive" so years from now our most recent trio's legacy of failure will live on in perpetuity.  And you know what?  The present two lane South Locust and the other 5 primary entrances into GI would have easily handled the State Fair traffic.  We gotta put on a show for the sake of the show no matter the cost.  I would have rather seen the Obama money go to fill a few of the "Black Canyon of The Gunnison-like" potholes in town.  How could we have done it without Obama and Dave Heineman?  Take a bow guys. 

Since the Mayor and Chamber are in such a toot to have this done by State Fair time...I can imagine the pressure they will put on the contractor.  I can also imagine the quality of work from a rushed project...especially when the pace of most Nebraska roadwork is akin to the speed of Egyptian pyramid building when it comes to "gettin 'er done."

Of equal importance...Crime is down in GI this week...only 1 stabbing in a dugout clearing weekend barroom brawl...and a buried story about one of the local baseball teams doing a little preseason batting practice on about 20 car/truck windows this past weekend.   Also as I predicted another mayoral candidate surfaced at the last minute...she didn't want to be Governor and I doubt she's a Democrat anyway.  Mary Lanfear...a retired nurse...threw her hat into the ring and just in her introduction and a letter to the editor regarding gangs in GI's public schools...she is rising like cream to the surface when compared to the other wannabe's.  Of course talking the talk is always easier than walking the walk.  I do know though that when you want something done you call in a nurse...I've been married to one for 33 years and I speak from experience...they put in a harder day by noon than any three energizer bunnies do all day...sorry Unc. 

I chose the round-about photo above for a purpose.  One of the local citizenry suggested GI needed one at the famous "Five Points" intersection in a letter to the editor this morning.  Hey pal...You trying to rid GI of all it's old people?   Such a death trap would confuse and wipe out most silverbacks.  You also have to have a population for round-abouts...and this ain't Houston.  It's podunk Grand Island, Nebraska...even if they falsely report the population at 50,000 in 2010.    

As you can tell by now...I don't like politicians pissing our hard earned wages away on unneeded projects.

Update...I falsely reported the batting practice numbers...there were only 19 reports...that were reported.  I apologize for over-reporting earlier.     

Robot Weather - February 15th...

 

The local guys can be replaced...

A Different Wind Story...

We hear how Nebraska needs to climb aboard the wind energy train.  As with every green energy project that comes along...or any business for that matter...they won't fly without subsidies...tax credits or grants.  Here is a story from the American Thinker that shows the other side of wind energy you rarely read or hear about. 

Letters...We Get Letters...We Get Lots and Lots of Letters...

Not really.  But I find it interesting in who...or is it whom?..stops by my poor excuse for a blog site.  I installed the Feedjit gadget out of interest to see where stoppers-by hail from.  One post I made when the Copenhagen Summit was underway has had about a half dozen hits from India and a couple from folks in Norway.  Now I know that the folks in India stand to see a lot of rupees come their way if Al Gore actually sells his snake oil and the world buys into it.  But I hope for the sake of the world Al Gore is swallowed up in a bog...one that emits lots of methane...he'll feel right at home that way. 

I also hope the title of my post did not give the folks over there in the shadows of the dripping Himalayas hope.  I just wish them well and hope they can become as responsible for their part of the planet as we have in the United States over the past 50 years.  How now "brown cloud?" 

This Is Worth The Whole 4:46...

I love Minnesota...these people can really "get down."  They are actually better than The Who was at the Superbowl.  I couldn't tell if the guy in the mask was supposed to be Hugo Chavez or Al Gore...then I thought...they are the same...both pompous asses...not the guy in the video...Hugo Chavez and Al Gore.  Great video.

Build Me Up Buttercup...

Buried on page 3 of the Daily Disappointment this morning was a story about a spin-up group wanting local tax money to promote the 2010 Census in G.I.  The report went on to state that there are parts of our drive-by city that are "hard to count."  They went on to identify the problem areas and that for a token $20,000.00 in "free tax money" from the EDC crowd and $70,000,00 from private sources...they will spray the city with advertising encouraging the locals...some not so local...to participate in the upcoming head count.  The ulterior motive is to roll Grand Island's population over the 50K mark so it can become an "entitlement community"...qualifying the former Third City for more "free" federal and state tax dollars down the road.  Hey...why not?  It's "free money."

So where does the $90,000.00 ($20,000.00 "free" tax dollars)...if they collect that much...go?  Well it goes to the local media of course.  Talk about Stimulus II.  Will the EDC reduce the "free tax money" proportionately if the private contributions fall short?  I remember in the old days when there were free PSA's/ads played/printed in abundance when there was a need to benefit a community/organization.  Obviously those old days are long forgotten. 

Robot Weather - This Day In Weather History...

The local guys can be replaced.

Audi Sales Plummet In 2010...

Superbowl Reflections...

While I enjoyed the game (it would have been better to have seen the Vikes in action)...I think it was the final song by The Who (very grizzled and very worn)..."Won't Get Fooled Again" that caught my attention the most...it made me contemplate the 2010 political races and if maybe the song was actually a battle-cry for our nation or a cheap shot at our present Commander-in-Chief.  The words just seemed to fit. 

Cabin Fever An Issue In North Carolina???

Seems the folks in King, NC must get a little edgy during a snowstorm.   I think local government is overstepping its bounds just a smidge.  At least they could have allowed explosives purchases. 

Just think...all those people snowed in at home with no booze and all that weaponry and explosives that they can't take out of their house.

...Update...The news link was updated with a followup of some of the local citizenry's and Sheriff's reactions.  The Sheriff caught a little heat.   

Deer? What Deer?

Nebraska for years has had an overabundance of deer.  Now...the NG&P Commission has given up and says "No Mas" and is letting our Unicameral decide how to control the deer herds.  They have made all kinds of suggestions that stop just short of "deer drive-bys"...giving ranchers and farmers the right to drop Bambi and his cousins any day of the year and as many as possible.  Even going as far as paying a 25.00 bounty.  In a rare moment of wisdom they did back off on night hunting.  

My question is...What do they have planned for the snow geese that each drop a pound of doo-doo in Nebraska rivers...lakes and ponds on a daily basis?  Snow geese numbers are growing exponentially from east to west across the state and are showing up in places they never used to.  Turkey legislation may also have to be a back burner consideration by our friends in the Unicameral as they seem to have replaced the pheasant population in our state.   

The Next 11 Days...

Robot Weather - Strong Winter Storm Tonight Through Friday...

The local guys can be replaced.

The Yin and the Yang...

A "recent" Gallup poll of Nebraskan's may be giving Nebraska Closet Democrats false hope.  Of course the results were something I have suspected for some time now.  That the "Red" in Nebraska does not run as deep as some purport it to run.  It would have been nice for LJS to report the demographics of what areas of Nebraska were polled...etc. etc.  It's highly speculative and contentious on my part...but I think the poll was heavily weighted by the "easterners" in our state and that the Third District provides the edge for Nebraska Republicans.  

Hear that "tickety...tickety...tickety" in the distance?  That's Don Walton and Jane Kleeb doing the "Happy Dance."  

Leavenworth's Street Sweeper Revealed...

The Sweeper photographed late one evening outside his penthouse on Leavenworth...

The Sweeper's SAB brother...Living abroad in the Sahara...or possibly on a sandbar along the Platte River north of Funk.

Robot Weather - February 1st...

The local guys can be replaced.

Fewer Cows...

Yesterday's local pulp fiction had a story telling how Nebraska beef production numbers are down as we start the year.  I wonder if the reporter decided this was worthy news after eating in some of GI's finer eating establishments the past few months.  I know it has sparked my curiosity.  Of late...it seems whether you order a steak on South Locust or on the pot-hole ridden 281 corridor...the part that isn't in the city's 2010 budget to resurface...it is hardly identifiable as what one would perceive as a steak by Nebraska standards.  I thought a good steak came out hot on a platter and was at least 3/4 of an inch thick.  Of recent it might be a half inch thick if you are lucky.  I've seen thicker slices of bologna... and without your glasses you could easily "misteak" "tongue of Hushpuppy" for one of GI's 8 ouncers. 

What happened?  Did GI's restaurateur's decide to go healthy on us?  Are producers sending the good steaks out of state?  C'mon folks...this is Nebraska...we used to be the "Beef State"...it said so on our license plates.  And did the restaurant prices drop when the butcher surgically "parted the meat" into two?  No...prices went up.

Well..it looks like I am on a quest for a restaurant that serves old-style "Nebraska Steak."  A note to visitors...if your plans include a great steak dinner during the upcoming horse race season...or State Fair...if they get it built in time and the State Supreme Court rules in favor of the move...which it shouldn't...you might want to survey the surrounding burgs for that sleeper steak house or do as the cows say..."Eat Mor Chikin."

 

Cut Off At The Pass...

The Objective Conservative had an interesting scoop this morning...seems "Benito/Benedict/Ben Dover" Nelson memorabilia has become passe in some Nebraska circles.