This from the woman who wrote to a Saudi Arabian prince begging for the money that New York City rejected following 9/11. She lost her House seat in 2002 for stating several times that 9/11 was a Bush Administration conspiracy, and then her crazy father claimed that "the Jews stole her seat because she spoke out." Since returning, she's been fined for campaign finance violations and garnered more attention for stupid comments in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Now the nutter from Georgia assaults a Capitol Police officer who was just trying to do his job.
According to sources on Capitol Hill, U.S. Representative Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) punched a Capitol police officer on Wednesday afternoon after he mistakenly pursued her for failing to pass through a metal detector.
Members of Congress are not required to pass through metal detectors.
Sources say that the officer was at a position in the Longworth House Office Building, and neither recognized McKinney, nor saw her credentials as she went around the metal detector.
The officer called out, “Ma’am, Ma’am,” and walked after her in an attempt to stop her. When he caught McKinney, he grabbed her by the arm.
Witnesses say McKinney pulled her arm away, and with her cell phone in hand, punched the officer in the chest.
McKinney’s office has not responded to requests for comment.
According to the Drudge Report, the entire incident is on tape.
Drudge continues, "The cop is pressing charges, and the USCP (United States Capitol Police) are waiting until Congress adjurns to arrest her, a source claims."
No charges have been filed. Capitol Police spokeswoman Sgt. Kimberly Schneider says that senior officials have been made aware of the incident and are investigating.
A statement attributed to McKinney has been released on the Internet, where she allegedly claims to have been harassed by Capitol Hill Police.
The statement's writer says that she has been harassed by white police officers she says do not recognize her due to her recently changed hairstyle.
"Do I have to contact the police every time I change my hairstyle? How do we account for the fact that when I wore my braids every day for 11 years, I still faced this problem, primarily from certain white police officers," the statement says.
The writer details the incident, saying, "I was rushing to my meeting when a white police officer yelled to me. He approached me, bodyblocked me, physically touching me. I used my arm to get him off of me. I told him not to touch me several times. He asked for my ID and I showed it to him. He then let me go and I proceeded to my meeting and I assume that the Police Officer resumed his duties. I have counseled with the Sergeant-at-Arms and Acting Assistant Chief Thompson several times before and counseled with them again on today's incident. I offered also to counsel with the offending police officer."
http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=77991
Dick Williams, publisher of the Dunwoody Crier, told FOX News that McKinney has often complained of mistreatment of African-American members of Congress regarding security checks on Capitol Hill. Indeed, this is not the first incident with McKinney at a checkpoint, according to Slate magazine.
"In August 1993, during her first term in office, a Capitol Hill police officer tried to prevent her from bypassing a metal detector, as members of Congress are allowed to do. For years afterward, The Hill reports, the Capitol Police pinned a picture of McKinney to an office wall, warning officers to learn her face because she refuses to wear her member's pin. (And because officers are innately suspicious of a black woman with braided hair and gold shoes)," reports the online journal.
A spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert was quick to comment on the incident.
"On a day when the Democrats are promoting their national security agenda, it's probably not a good idea for them to allegedly strike police officers."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,189553,00.html
Yeah, Atlanta voters sure chose well, didn't they? I guess every city needs a Marion Barry clone in office to represent all the stupid people who are allowed to vote. Notice how she completely denies any responsibility even though she wasn't wearing her ID pin as she was required to do. You'd better believe that she'd be the first one to screech if a terrorist or other non-elected crazy got into that building though.
And I hope that the officer sticks with it and charges her and sues her personally as well.
And for all the Cynthia fans out there, there was this stupid stunt of hers a couple of months ago too. Just more proof that she's out of her depth in Washington DC:
Thursday, Feb. 2, 2006 10:35 a.m. EST
Congressmen Ejected With Sheehan
The ejection of Cindy Sheehan and a congressman’s wife from President Bush’s State of the Union address for wearing T-shirts with political content garnered plenty of media attention.
But few noticed another, quieter drama unfolding as two members of Congress were also unseated – Reps. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., and Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., both members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
McKinney has been accustomed to staking out an aisle seat and therefore assuring a network TV appearance with the president, according to Roll Call’s "Heard on the Hill” column.
So McKinney went to the House floor hours in advance of the speech, along with Jackson, and they snagged two choice seats in a section normally reserved for Senators.
Jackson then returned to his office while McKinney remained to hold on to the seats.
But three hours after Jackson got back to his office, he received a cell phone call from a frantic McKinney telling him that sergeant-at-arms staffers were kicking her out of the seats.
Jackson rushed back to the floor and told the officials: "Why are we reserving seats for people who [didn’t filibuster] Alito?” An official explained that was out of his control.
The confrontation continued for a few tense moments, but ultimately McKinney and Jackson moved away, avoiding a standoff with Senators who wanted the seats.
"Why do McKinney and Jackson go through all the trouble of saving seats for hours on end to shake hands with a president they don’t even like?” Roll Call wondered.
The reason, according to Roll Call: TV commercials are expensive and the Congressional Black Caucus, Jackson said, has been invited to the Bush White House only twice, so the State of the Union address is a chance to "show our constituents our proximity to the president."
He added, "They need to know their members of Congress have access to the president.”
www.newsmax.com
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
The truth comes out. The "spontaneous" rallies of illegal immigrants were organized
This past week we've all been treated to the spectacle of hundreds of thousands of immigrnats--many illegal--and their supporters protesting and voicing outrage that our government might actually pass laws to remove them from our country and deny them welfare benefits intended for Americans and legal immigrants. We've seen them waving Mexican and Salvadoran flags while chanting in Spanish, and in California and Texas, they've run onto highways to shut traffic down, stormed government buildings to disrupt operations, and even pulled American flags down from high school flagpoles, running up Mexican flags in their stead. The've fought with our police, damaged our property, and basically threatened us not to try to enforce our immigration laws or keep them out of our country.
Well now it's coming to light that much of this was organized in advance by spanish media outlets and the so-called labor union SEIU (Service Employee International Union--a far-left socialist group that masquerades as a bargaining unit for waiters, janitors and other people working jobs that should not have unions in the first place.) And of course Liberals like Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former first doormat turned psuedo-senator, have vowed to block any attempt to criminalize illegal aliens and deport them. Hillary and her kind want them made into citizens with voting rights, just like they want convicted felons to be allowed to vote. They know that people like that who have proven that they do not respect the laws and feel entitled to things that rightfully belong to other people are solidly behind the democratic party.
Well it's now high time to put a stop to this once and for all. First of all, we all need to call our Senators and tell them to quit wussing out and start supporting legislation passed by the House of Representatives which makes these illegals felons and opens the door for deportation. We also need to call on our President--a man that I normally agree with and support--and tell him that amnesty isn't going to be acceptable and deportation and denial of jobs and government services needs to be the only thing that these illegals get. Finally, we need to tell our legislators to pressure Immigration and Customs Enforcement and get them to start showing up at these rallies where illegals are protesting. They need to show up with busses and arrest teams and start grabbing up anyone there who cannot prove that he or she is here legally. Then those bussess need to take the prisoners straight to the border for immediate deportation. Do that a few times and you won't see illegals proudly ripping down the American flag and telling us how powerful they are here.
This is our country, not theirs. The freedoms and privileges here belong to Americans and legal immigrants who followed the rules and applied for VISAs. If we went to Mexico or El Salvador and acted like they act here, we'd wind up in prison or shot. And since they insist on challenging us and daring us to do something about it, I'm calling on the US Government to do exactly that and start locking them up and booting them out wholesale.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/3/29/92746.shtml?s=icp
Well now it's coming to light that much of this was organized in advance by spanish media outlets and the so-called labor union SEIU (Service Employee International Union--a far-left socialist group that masquerades as a bargaining unit for waiters, janitors and other people working jobs that should not have unions in the first place.) And of course Liberals like Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former first doormat turned psuedo-senator, have vowed to block any attempt to criminalize illegal aliens and deport them. Hillary and her kind want them made into citizens with voting rights, just like they want convicted felons to be allowed to vote. They know that people like that who have proven that they do not respect the laws and feel entitled to things that rightfully belong to other people are solidly behind the democratic party.
Well it's now high time to put a stop to this once and for all. First of all, we all need to call our Senators and tell them to quit wussing out and start supporting legislation passed by the House of Representatives which makes these illegals felons and opens the door for deportation. We also need to call on our President--a man that I normally agree with and support--and tell him that amnesty isn't going to be acceptable and deportation and denial of jobs and government services needs to be the only thing that these illegals get. Finally, we need to tell our legislators to pressure Immigration and Customs Enforcement and get them to start showing up at these rallies where illegals are protesting. They need to show up with busses and arrest teams and start grabbing up anyone there who cannot prove that he or she is here legally. Then those bussess need to take the prisoners straight to the border for immediate deportation. Do that a few times and you won't see illegals proudly ripping down the American flag and telling us how powerful they are here.
This is our country, not theirs. The freedoms and privileges here belong to Americans and legal immigrants who followed the rules and applied for VISAs. If we went to Mexico or El Salvador and acted like they act here, we'd wind up in prison or shot. And since they insist on challenging us and daring us to do something about it, I'm calling on the US Government to do exactly that and start locking them up and booting them out wholesale.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/3/29/92746.shtml?s=icp
Monday, March 27, 2006
New gun
Well I finally got with the program and got a real gun. No more 50-80 year old rifles that have gone through multiple wars and decades of training. I finally bit the bullet, sold my MK-760 submachinegun and bought this nice Vector Uzi.
It's 9mm and fully automatic. It's actually a new gun as Vector bought a bunch of serial-mumbered receivers that were made just prior to the 1986 machine gun ban and they assembled them with parts from South African Uzis that were never fired but stored for decades until they were scrapped a few years ago.
The result is an Uzi with all new parts that hasn't been beat up for the last twenty years like most SMG's out there. In fact this one wasn't even fired by the last owner, the guy who actually purchased it from Vector. Of course I plan to shoot it and shoot it a lot.
These guns were first developed in the 1950's for the Israeli military by an arms designer visionary named Uziel Gal. The guns were so successful that they were adopted virtually the world over, including by agencies like the US Secret Service.
Here's a Secret Service Agent with one on the day that John Hinckley tried to assassinate President Reagan.
They're robust, durable guns that can be taken completely apart without tools, and parts and accessories are commonlt available for them cheap since so many Uzis were made and used around the world. This is important as oftentimes it's hard to get parts for full-auto weapons. (The old MK-760 was a prime example.) But this gun is well-built and with a nice stock of spare parts, it'll likely last longer than I will and the way machine guns escalate in price, it'll give me a fine return on my investment someday unless I decide to hand it down to some future heir.
In the meantime though, I'm going to have fun shooting it and I'll sleep better knowing that when the bad times come, it's in the safe should I need it.
It's 9mm and fully automatic. It's actually a new gun as Vector bought a bunch of serial-mumbered receivers that were made just prior to the 1986 machine gun ban and they assembled them with parts from South African Uzis that were never fired but stored for decades until they were scrapped a few years ago. The result is an Uzi with all new parts that hasn't been beat up for the last twenty years like most SMG's out there. In fact this one wasn't even fired by the last owner, the guy who actually purchased it from Vector. Of course I plan to shoot it and shoot it a lot.
These guns were first developed in the 1950's for the Israeli military by an arms designer visionary named Uziel Gal. The guns were so successful that they were adopted virtually the world over, including by agencies like the US Secret Service.
Here's a Secret Service Agent with one on the day that John Hinckley tried to assassinate President Reagan.They're robust, durable guns that can be taken completely apart without tools, and parts and accessories are commonlt available for them cheap since so many Uzis were made and used around the world. This is important as oftentimes it's hard to get parts for full-auto weapons. (The old MK-760 was a prime example.) But this gun is well-built and with a nice stock of spare parts, it'll likely last longer than I will and the way machine guns escalate in price, it'll give me a fine return on my investment someday unless I decide to hand it down to some future heir.
In the meantime though, I'm going to have fun shooting it and I'll sleep better knowing that when the bad times come, it's in the safe should I need it.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
It used to be good luck to see the first Robin of Spring.
Well I saw the first Robin today. It was a sunny day out and his little orange belly flashed brightly as he flew out of the ditch next to the highway...I was cheeered, at least until he flew right across the path of my Jeep, leaving me no chance to avoid him. I didn't hear or feel the thump but I saw the remains of the robin in my rear view mirror. Guess the sighting wasn't exactly good luck for the Robin.
And killing the first Robin of Spring? That can't be a good omen...
And killing the first Robin of Spring? That can't be a good omen...
Saturday, March 25, 2006
On the immigration protests
OK, I've been absent most of this week because work's got me in some pretty intense training that quite frankly is kicking my ass. By the time I drag myself back here to the Lair, I just want food, a hot bath, and bed. I'll be training next week too, so this blog is liable to be a bit slow.
But that doesn't mean that I'm not still paying attention to the issues. This week, the one that's been frosting me is the protests being staged around the country by people opposed to the new immigration laws that congress is working on. Principally these laws will make it a felony to sneak into our country illegally or help an illegal sneak in. This legislation is finally coming because most Americans are sick to death of people flocking into our nation without being invited and sucking on our social service network like it's their birthright. Right now there are an estimated twelve million illegals here and they're taking jobs from Americans while using our hospital emergency rooms as free clinics and sending their kids to the schools that we pay to educate our kids. Many are lifestyle criminals and their gangs like MS-13 have made many of our cities very dangerous for police and law-abiding citizens. And Frankly they need to be scooped up en masse and deported but I don't see congress getting that brave. The legislation they're working on now though is a good start.
However now there are massed protests, including marches by many illegals who proudly tout their status and call the rest of us "racist" while insisting that they aren't criminals. This is over the top. Here we have people who aren't even supposed to be in our country and they have the nerve to sneak in here like thieves and then condemn us for not approving of their presence. Wosre yet, they try to redefine the issue and accuse the rest of us of being against immigration per se. That allows them to grab the moral high ground by likening us all to modern-day Archie Bunkers. That sort of smear tactic needs to be loudly condemned and corrected every time they try it. I don't think that too many people oppose immigration in general. Personally I welcome any immigrant who comes here legally after passing a criminal background check and a medical screening and who has demonstrated that he can support himself here. We all benefit from more doctors, engineers, scientists and businessmen. We even have a place here for unskilled labor in the construction and agricultural trades. But it has to be people who apply for permission to enter our country and come in through the same channels that most every other legal immigrant has come in through since America became a country. Yes, we are a nation of immigrants, as the protesters like to say, but my ancestors came in legally through Ellis Island and most people here can say the same thing. Our ancestors didn't creep in under the border fence. Those of us angry about illegal immigration are upset about the illegal part of the concept. And the nerve of these people to now demand that the rest of us treat them as equals. Well sorry there Paco, but if you're not here legally then you're not equal and you've got no business demanding anything or leeching off of us by grabbing welfare money, moving into publicly-subsidized housing units (meant for Americans) or putting your kids in our schools. But it has nothing to do with your ethnic make-up or origin and everything to do with your status here: you're illegal! Now get out and go home!
A police officer that I know well told me that he has encountered and/or arrested hundreds of illegals. They drive without licenses or insurance, often while drunk. They fish illegally without paying for licenses or observing limits and they're often involved in gang activity. And after I lock them up and they get released on bond pending their court date, they just don't bother showing up for court. Why should they? This isn't their country and they don't feel a need to respect our laws. They just get new fake ID cards with different names and go on about their business. And that business usually involves taking jobs that Americans would take.
Some of the apologists for the illegals claim that if we deported them all and employers had to pay decent wages and social security for American workers, we'd all pay for it in the form of higher prices our food and construction costs. To this, I respond that we're already paying for it in the form of government aid to hospitals, school and jails that are packed with illegals. And when an illegal gets money, all too often they send it back to the countries that they came from, and those dollars are then gone from the US economy forever. They'll never be spent in American stores or pay wages to other Americans again. That money's out of our system forever. That may be good for Mexico (Money sent home from mostly illegal workers is their number #2 source of revenue, behind oil and ahead of tourism) but it's bad for the US.
And finally, immigrants to America have traditionally come here to be Americans and integrate into the Amerucan culture. They have learned our language and tried to blend in and adopt our ways. However now we have millions of illegal hispanics who come here and insist on remaining Mexicans, Salvadorans, Guatemalans, etc. They want to keep speaking Spanish and make no effort to learn English. They demand that we cater to them in Spanish and teach their kids in Spanish. One of the reasons that I left Alexandria, Virginia was that I got sick of not being able to order food in a restaurant or get help in a store because I only speak English and everyone who works there is speaking Spanish. Even Wal-Mart had bilingual signs on every aisle so that they could pander to people who aren't even trying to learn the language of this country. I couldn't stand it.
Now it's time to shut the protests down and that includes locking up anyone who brags about being here illegally. And we need to make it clear that we're not objecting to law-abiding immigrants but only to trespassers. And anyone who sticks up for these trespassers--like Senator Hillary Clinton--needs to be deported right along with the illegals that we round up. And when I'm President, there will be a wall built along our the entire length of our southern border and it'll be built with the forced labor of all the illegals that we arrest inside our country.
And here's a perfect example of the respect that these illegals and their supporters have for our country--here's our flag thrown on the ground at one of their rallies in Tucson this past week. This picture is truly worth a thousand words:
But that doesn't mean that I'm not still paying attention to the issues. This week, the one that's been frosting me is the protests being staged around the country by people opposed to the new immigration laws that congress is working on. Principally these laws will make it a felony to sneak into our country illegally or help an illegal sneak in. This legislation is finally coming because most Americans are sick to death of people flocking into our nation without being invited and sucking on our social service network like it's their birthright. Right now there are an estimated twelve million illegals here and they're taking jobs from Americans while using our hospital emergency rooms as free clinics and sending their kids to the schools that we pay to educate our kids. Many are lifestyle criminals and their gangs like MS-13 have made many of our cities very dangerous for police and law-abiding citizens. And Frankly they need to be scooped up en masse and deported but I don't see congress getting that brave. The legislation they're working on now though is a good start.
However now there are massed protests, including marches by many illegals who proudly tout their status and call the rest of us "racist" while insisting that they aren't criminals. This is over the top. Here we have people who aren't even supposed to be in our country and they have the nerve to sneak in here like thieves and then condemn us for not approving of their presence. Wosre yet, they try to redefine the issue and accuse the rest of us of being against immigration per se. That allows them to grab the moral high ground by likening us all to modern-day Archie Bunkers. That sort of smear tactic needs to be loudly condemned and corrected every time they try it. I don't think that too many people oppose immigration in general. Personally I welcome any immigrant who comes here legally after passing a criminal background check and a medical screening and who has demonstrated that he can support himself here. We all benefit from more doctors, engineers, scientists and businessmen. We even have a place here for unskilled labor in the construction and agricultural trades. But it has to be people who apply for permission to enter our country and come in through the same channels that most every other legal immigrant has come in through since America became a country. Yes, we are a nation of immigrants, as the protesters like to say, but my ancestors came in legally through Ellis Island and most people here can say the same thing. Our ancestors didn't creep in under the border fence. Those of us angry about illegal immigration are upset about the illegal part of the concept. And the nerve of these people to now demand that the rest of us treat them as equals. Well sorry there Paco, but if you're not here legally then you're not equal and you've got no business demanding anything or leeching off of us by grabbing welfare money, moving into publicly-subsidized housing units (meant for Americans) or putting your kids in our schools. But it has nothing to do with your ethnic make-up or origin and everything to do with your status here: you're illegal! Now get out and go home!
A police officer that I know well told me that he has encountered and/or arrested hundreds of illegals. They drive without licenses or insurance, often while drunk. They fish illegally without paying for licenses or observing limits and they're often involved in gang activity. And after I lock them up and they get released on bond pending their court date, they just don't bother showing up for court. Why should they? This isn't their country and they don't feel a need to respect our laws. They just get new fake ID cards with different names and go on about their business. And that business usually involves taking jobs that Americans would take.
Some of the apologists for the illegals claim that if we deported them all and employers had to pay decent wages and social security for American workers, we'd all pay for it in the form of higher prices our food and construction costs. To this, I respond that we're already paying for it in the form of government aid to hospitals, school and jails that are packed with illegals. And when an illegal gets money, all too often they send it back to the countries that they came from, and those dollars are then gone from the US economy forever. They'll never be spent in American stores or pay wages to other Americans again. That money's out of our system forever. That may be good for Mexico (Money sent home from mostly illegal workers is their number #2 source of revenue, behind oil and ahead of tourism) but it's bad for the US.
And finally, immigrants to America have traditionally come here to be Americans and integrate into the Amerucan culture. They have learned our language and tried to blend in and adopt our ways. However now we have millions of illegal hispanics who come here and insist on remaining Mexicans, Salvadorans, Guatemalans, etc. They want to keep speaking Spanish and make no effort to learn English. They demand that we cater to them in Spanish and teach their kids in Spanish. One of the reasons that I left Alexandria, Virginia was that I got sick of not being able to order food in a restaurant or get help in a store because I only speak English and everyone who works there is speaking Spanish. Even Wal-Mart had bilingual signs on every aisle so that they could pander to people who aren't even trying to learn the language of this country. I couldn't stand it.
Now it's time to shut the protests down and that includes locking up anyone who brags about being here illegally. And we need to make it clear that we're not objecting to law-abiding immigrants but only to trespassers. And anyone who sticks up for these trespassers--like Senator Hillary Clinton--needs to be deported right along with the illegals that we round up. And when I'm President, there will be a wall built along our the entire length of our southern border and it'll be built with the forced labor of all the illegals that we arrest inside our country.
And here's a perfect example of the respect that these illegals and their supporters have for our country--here's our flag thrown on the ground at one of their rallies in Tucson this past week. This picture is truly worth a thousand words:
German Shepherd. Free to bad home.
OK, I took Lagniappe the dog into Harpers Ferry today and the nice lady at the ice cream shop gave him a free cone because she likes him and thinks he's cute when he jumps up and puts his paws on her windowsill and stares into the shop, hoping for a treat. Naturally I feel obligated to buy a cone for myself now as a way of paying something for his cone. So after he wolfs his ice cream down, I get one and we go off to sit down so I can eat it. I get mine about half done when a lady walking past says that I have a nice dog. I turn for a split second to acknowledge this compliment and Lagniappe lunges. His teeth snap shut on MY ice cream cone and it's gone in a heartbeat. Now I know he loves ice cream because his grandmother--my mom--got him started eating the stuff when she was babysitting him a few years ago and now he goes nuts for it. But ripping me off is new behavior and not something that's going to be tolerated here.
So if he does this again, he's on the market, hopefully to the first Vietnamese restaurant or testing lab that wants a dog. And I'll get me a replacement dog who remembers who the boss is, and preferably one who doesn't like ice cream.
So if he does this again, he's on the market, hopefully to the first Vietnamese restaurant or testing lab that wants a dog. And I'll get me a replacement dog who remembers who the boss is, and preferably one who doesn't like ice cream.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Coffee shop memories...
I stopped by a coffee shop today while I was downtown and suddenly it dawned on me that I'd been to this particular coffee shop before.
It was about three years ago. There I was, minding my own business as I stopped by this coffee shop one morning for a cup of coffee. The store sits on a three-lane, one-way street, one lane of which is taken up with parked cars. However, right in front of the store, there's a black Mustang parked so as to block one of the remaining two lanes. Now I've legally parked about a block back because I don't approve of illegal parking like that, even by me in a marked unit. Sure I won't get a ticket, but it just looks bad.
I go in and get my coffee, and when I come out, it's still there. So I ask the people sitting at the patio tables if any of them own the Mustang. One young fella in his mid-20's sitting there with three friends says that it's his. I tell him he needs to move it, and he looks at me and says "You're not the city police, are you?"
I told him that I wasn't, and he said "Well when a city police officer asks me to move it, I'll think about it." Little punk said it in front of maybe two dozen people.
I just said "OK, if that's how you want to play it..." and I walked away sipping my coffee. and I prayed that he wouldn't move the car in the time it took me to walk back to my cruiser. Apparently he was unaware of the fact that my agency and that city have concurrent jurisdiction. I have as much authority as any city officer but rather than argue with him...
It took me maybe a minute to drive back to the store and pulled my cruiser up behind his Mustang, which he'd obligingly left right there. And right in front of those two dozen people, I got out my city ticket book and started writing the ticket. Now he wants to be reasonable.
"OK, Ok...I'll move it right now," he says as he runs over and jumps over the little patio fence.
"Yeah, you will. Just as soon as I finish writing. Go back over there and sit down."
He started to plead and apologize and he told me that he didn't know I could really write tickets. I told him again to go sit down. A minute ago he thought it was funny to front me off with all these people around. Now suddenly it wasn't so funny.
I wrote him for No Standing Anytime--$50.00. Then I noticed how far he was parked from the curb. I went over and put my 13-inch boot between his tire and the curb. I looked at him and told him that he was more than a foot off the curb too. That was another ticket for another $35.00.
I called him back over and handed him his two tickets and told him again to move his car. This time, he said "Yes sir..." and moved it without any trouble.
And that's how an Attitude Adjustment works.
Three years later as I bought another coffee at that same shop, I still thought it was funny.
It was about three years ago. There I was, minding my own business as I stopped by this coffee shop one morning for a cup of coffee. The store sits on a three-lane, one-way street, one lane of which is taken up with parked cars. However, right in front of the store, there's a black Mustang parked so as to block one of the remaining two lanes. Now I've legally parked about a block back because I don't approve of illegal parking like that, even by me in a marked unit. Sure I won't get a ticket, but it just looks bad.
I go in and get my coffee, and when I come out, it's still there. So I ask the people sitting at the patio tables if any of them own the Mustang. One young fella in his mid-20's sitting there with three friends says that it's his. I tell him he needs to move it, and he looks at me and says "You're not the city police, are you?"
I told him that I wasn't, and he said "Well when a city police officer asks me to move it, I'll think about it." Little punk said it in front of maybe two dozen people.
I just said "OK, if that's how you want to play it..." and I walked away sipping my coffee. and I prayed that he wouldn't move the car in the time it took me to walk back to my cruiser. Apparently he was unaware of the fact that my agency and that city have concurrent jurisdiction. I have as much authority as any city officer but rather than argue with him...
It took me maybe a minute to drive back to the store and pulled my cruiser up behind his Mustang, which he'd obligingly left right there. And right in front of those two dozen people, I got out my city ticket book and started writing the ticket. Now he wants to be reasonable.
"OK, Ok...I'll move it right now," he says as he runs over and jumps over the little patio fence.
"Yeah, you will. Just as soon as I finish writing. Go back over there and sit down."
He started to plead and apologize and he told me that he didn't know I could really write tickets. I told him again to go sit down. A minute ago he thought it was funny to front me off with all these people around. Now suddenly it wasn't so funny.
I wrote him for No Standing Anytime--$50.00. Then I noticed how far he was parked from the curb. I went over and put my 13-inch boot between his tire and the curb. I looked at him and told him that he was more than a foot off the curb too. That was another ticket for another $35.00.
I called him back over and handed him his two tickets and told him again to move his car. This time, he said "Yes sir..." and moved it without any trouble.
And that's how an Attitude Adjustment works.
Three years later as I bought another coffee at that same shop, I still thought it was funny.
Friday, March 17, 2006
Well Happy St. Paddy's Day!
Woo-Hoo! It's that time of year again. Time to drink the green beer.
I just looked in my fridge though and the only things green were the cheese and the bread and something in a plastic container that I don't recognize or remember putting in there. Oh well...guess Lagniappe and I will be drinking regular beer tonight.
Note to self: Clean that fridge out somday soon.
Note to egg packaging people: When you put an expiration date on the egg carton, how about putting a YEAR on there? I've got some eggs here that are either good for a few more months or else they're about a year old.And it's been so long since I bought them that I really don't recall.
Definitely got to clean that fridge out. But not today. This is a holiday and it wouldn't be right.
I remember a St. Patrick's Day down in New Orleans. Now THAT was fun. Here's my buddy Oliver hanging out in front of House of Blues as we waited for Shauna the crazy tarot reader to get off work so we could party. We drank a ton that night and joined the second-line parade that wound through the French Quarter, stopping at many, many bars along the way. I drank and Oliver kept an eye on me. Well some of the time.
I vaguely remember him riding a few blocks in a New Orleans Police cruiser because the two female officers thought that he was cute and offered to watch him while I went to get more beers. It took me a few minutes to find him after I got my beers but he was having a ball, riding along with his head out the window and getting even more beads. I don't even remember how I got home that night. In fact I think that I wound up sleeping at Shauna's...or Lisa's...or one of my wonderfully crazy free-spirited gal-pals. Ah, those were the days.
Savannah, Georgia was a good St. Pat's party a few years ago too. It fell on a Friday night then too and I hooked up with some crazy biker gal who worked at a Mercedes dealership by day and rode her Harley after hours and on week-ends. She had some great tattoos and she did her best to try to convince me to get one that night and frankly I won't say whether or not she was successful. But there's something about those tattooed Harley girls... I've known a few over the years and it always ends on a sour note but without any regrets. I could be convinced to give another one a try. If you're a shapely tattooed Harley chick reading this, send pics. Bonus points if you've still got all your teeth.
But if that doesn't work, maybe I'll just do like my friend Aaron suggests and go out and get me one of them hot-looking Russian mail-order chicks. From what I hear, they cook, clean, and do what ya tell 'em and if they don't... "Hello, is this INS?"
I might even get one that'll clean the fridge.
Any time now, I suspect that Aaron's incredibly tolerant (of him) wife Natasha will read this and fire off a snarky comment. (Yeah, she's Russian. ) But if I recall, the whole "Hey, get a Russian girl..." concept was originally her idea.
Спасибо Tash!
I just looked in my fridge though and the only things green were the cheese and the bread and something in a plastic container that I don't recognize or remember putting in there. Oh well...guess Lagniappe and I will be drinking regular beer tonight.
Note to self: Clean that fridge out somday soon.
Note to egg packaging people: When you put an expiration date on the egg carton, how about putting a YEAR on there? I've got some eggs here that are either good for a few more months or else they're about a year old.And it's been so long since I bought them that I really don't recall.
Definitely got to clean that fridge out. But not today. This is a holiday and it wouldn't be right.
I remember a St. Patrick's Day down in New Orleans. Now THAT was fun. Here's my buddy Oliver hanging out in front of House of Blues as we waited for Shauna the crazy tarot reader to get off work so we could party. We drank a ton that night and joined the second-line parade that wound through the French Quarter, stopping at many, many bars along the way. I drank and Oliver kept an eye on me. Well some of the time. 
I vaguely remember him riding a few blocks in a New Orleans Police cruiser because the two female officers thought that he was cute and offered to watch him while I went to get more beers. It took me a few minutes to find him after I got my beers but he was having a ball, riding along with his head out the window and getting even more beads. I don't even remember how I got home that night. In fact I think that I wound up sleeping at Shauna's...or Lisa's...or one of my wonderfully crazy free-spirited gal-pals. Ah, those were the days.
Savannah, Georgia was a good St. Pat's party a few years ago too. It fell on a Friday night then too and I hooked up with some crazy biker gal who worked at a Mercedes dealership by day and rode her Harley after hours and on week-ends. She had some great tattoos and she did her best to try to convince me to get one that night and frankly I won't say whether or not she was successful. But there's something about those tattooed Harley girls... I've known a few over the years and it always ends on a sour note but without any regrets. I could be convinced to give another one a try. If you're a shapely tattooed Harley chick reading this, send pics. Bonus points if you've still got all your teeth.
But if that doesn't work, maybe I'll just do like my friend Aaron suggests and go out and get me one of them hot-looking Russian mail-order chicks. From what I hear, they cook, clean, and do what ya tell 'em and if they don't... "Hello, is this INS?"
I might even get one that'll clean the fridge.
Any time now, I suspect that Aaron's incredibly tolerant (of him) wife Natasha will read this and fire off a snarky comment. (Yeah, she's Russian. ) But if I recall, the whole "Hey, get a Russian girl..." concept was originally her idea.
Спасибо Tash!
Monday, March 13, 2006
Censure President Bush? Senator Fiengold is apparently off his medication again.
So I read that Senator Russ Fiengold, (D--Taliban) now wants to censure our President for daring to eavesdrop on known Al Qaeda members who place phone calls into this country. I guess in the alternative universe that the senile senator lives in, a magical world known as "Wisconsin" that has never known a terrorist attack, (largely because there's nothing there that the rest of the nation would miss if bin Laden's boys blew it up) our Constitution somehow grants rights to foreign mass-murders who live to destroy America. And it's more important to respect those "rights" even if it means we don't do what we can to stop their next attempt to kill thousands of our relatives, friends and co-workers.
But since it's pretty much a safe bet that the radical islamofascist killers won't attack Wisconsin, this crazy old Democrat will take up their cause and fight for their right to plot privately. It's a sad thought that so many of these Democrats hate President Bush and those of us who voted for him more than they do the members of the vicious terror network that brought down our Trade Towers and smashed our Pentagon. I just hope that America remembers this at election time because this is the major difference between the two parties: President Bush and the Republicans are fighting to keep America safe and free, and the Democratic Party--led by whack jobs like Russ Fiengold, Michael Moore, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton--is fighting to protect the rights and feelings of Al Qaeda members and Taliban fighters overseas.
"Hanoi Jane" Fonda had nothing on some of these Democrats when it comes to giving aid and comfort to our enemies.
But since it's pretty much a safe bet that the radical islamofascist killers won't attack Wisconsin, this crazy old Democrat will take up their cause and fight for their right to plot privately. It's a sad thought that so many of these Democrats hate President Bush and those of us who voted for him more than they do the members of the vicious terror network that brought down our Trade Towers and smashed our Pentagon. I just hope that America remembers this at election time because this is the major difference between the two parties: President Bush and the Republicans are fighting to keep America safe and free, and the Democratic Party--led by whack jobs like Russ Fiengold, Michael Moore, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton--is fighting to protect the rights and feelings of Al Qaeda members and Taliban fighters overseas.
"Hanoi Jane" Fonda had nothing on some of these Democrats when it comes to giving aid and comfort to our enemies.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Today was a man day
I'll carry on with the Ray-Nagin bashing soon enough. For those of you who want to read that, scroll down because there's plenty. But I took a break from it today because it was one of those days when it felt good to be a man and do manly things.
I started off with a trip out to the airport, where I rented this nice plane.
Everything checked out nicely during pre-flight so off I went.
Look--it's Lagniappe's Lair! You can almost make out Lagniappe through the window. He'd better not be on my couch!
If you click on the pictures, they will get bigger.
I overflew Harpers Ferry for a bit. You're looking at three different states here. The town in in West Virginia. Across the river to the north (left in this pic) is Maryland, and down the Potomac River, the land on the south (right) side of that far bridge is Virginia.
Here's where the Shenandoah River comes into the Potomac. Note the pilings of the old bridge, washed out decades ago by floodwaters. The rivers and their periodic floods have practically erased the Harpers Ferry that Thomas Jefferson, Merriwether Lewis, Robert E. Lee and John Brown knew.
To the right of the river you can make out the old C&O Canal and it's towpath. It's dry now, but it used to carry commerce 184 miles from Cumberland, MD all the way into Washington, DC. The towpath still goes the entire way and it's a great hiking/biking trail.
After this, I flew out to Hancock, Maryland and shot some touch-and-go landings on their runway. Then I took the plane back to Martinsburg called it a day from flying.
From there I went to my gun club for a bit of shooting. Men fly and men shoot. And this was a man day.
I shot this nifty FAL that I built from spare pieces and parts a couple of weeks ago. Took a bit of fiddling with the gas tube assembly to get it shooting, and a bit more flddling with the front sight post to get it shooting where it was aimed, but it's dead-on now. I know...it looks like hell. But now that I know it shoots, I'll pull it back apart and re-finish the whole thing so it's all a nice new parkerized gray. I'll probably replace the plastic stock and handguards with some nice walnut too. Real men shoot guns made with wood.
And since I wanted to shoot some more, I broke out the CZ-85 and the H&K P7M13 and thoroughly killed a few more paper targets. These two guns are both 9mm. Normally I'm not a fan of 9mm. I know that European police and military forces have used it for close to a century now, and it's a good cartridge if you're only shooting Europeans, but for defense against American bad guys, the .45 is still king. When you hit someone with a .45, they stay hit. But I didn't have a .45 today. I had these guns. And I like them enough that I don't mind that they're only 9mm.
After that, since I was done flying and shooting for the day, I stopped off at the local bar and had a manly burger and a few beers, served to me by some seriously fine specimens of womanhood wearing tight shorts and even tighter t-shirts. Alas I could not take photographs in there so you readers will have to use your imaginations, but I can tell you that looking at them was worth every penny of the extra few bucks added to the price of the drinks.
All in all, it was a good day to be a man and do manly things.
And Lagniappe says that it was a good day to play basketball. We did some of that, too
I started off with a trip out to the airport, where I rented this nice plane.
Everything checked out nicely during pre-flight so off I went.
Look--it's Lagniappe's Lair! You can almost make out Lagniappe through the window. He'd better not be on my couch!
If you click on the pictures, they will get bigger.
I overflew Harpers Ferry for a bit. You're looking at three different states here. The town in in West Virginia. Across the river to the north (left in this pic) is Maryland, and down the Potomac River, the land on the south (right) side of that far bridge is Virginia.
Here's where the Shenandoah River comes into the Potomac. Note the pilings of the old bridge, washed out decades ago by floodwaters. The rivers and their periodic floods have practically erased the Harpers Ferry that Thomas Jefferson, Merriwether Lewis, Robert E. Lee and John Brown knew.
To the right of the river you can make out the old C&O Canal and it's towpath. It's dry now, but it used to carry commerce 184 miles from Cumberland, MD all the way into Washington, DC. The towpath still goes the entire way and it's a great hiking/biking trail.
After this, I flew out to Hancock, Maryland and shot some touch-and-go landings on their runway. Then I took the plane back to Martinsburg called it a day from flying.
From there I went to my gun club for a bit of shooting. Men fly and men shoot. And this was a man day.
I shot this nifty FAL that I built from spare pieces and parts a couple of weeks ago. Took a bit of fiddling with the gas tube assembly to get it shooting, and a bit more flddling with the front sight post to get it shooting where it was aimed, but it's dead-on now. I know...it looks like hell. But now that I know it shoots, I'll pull it back apart and re-finish the whole thing so it's all a nice new parkerized gray. I'll probably replace the plastic stock and handguards with some nice walnut too. Real men shoot guns made with wood.
And since I wanted to shoot some more, I broke out the CZ-85 and the H&K P7M13 and thoroughly killed a few more paper targets. These two guns are both 9mm. Normally I'm not a fan of 9mm. I know that European police and military forces have used it for close to a century now, and it's a good cartridge if you're only shooting Europeans, but for defense against American bad guys, the .45 is still king. When you hit someone with a .45, they stay hit. But I didn't have a .45 today. I had these guns. And I like them enough that I don't mind that they're only 9mm.After that, since I was done flying and shooting for the day, I stopped off at the local bar and had a manly burger and a few beers, served to me by some seriously fine specimens of womanhood wearing tight shorts and even tighter t-shirts. Alas I could not take photographs in there so you readers will have to use your imaginations, but I can tell you that looking at them was worth every penny of the extra few bucks added to the price of the drinks.
All in all, it was a good day to be a man and do manly things.
And Lagniappe says that it was a good day to play basketball. We did some of that, too
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
New Orleans Nostalgia... Pre-Katrina/Pre-Nagin photos
Just a few shots looking back on happier times. I know it's pretty much Quarter pics, but that's where I used to live and play.
Hopefully I'll be living back there again one day soon. And hopefully both Disaters Katrina and Nagin will be nothing but unpleasant memories.
Hopefully I'll be living back there again one day soon. And hopefully both Disaters Katrina and Nagin will be nothing but unpleasant memories.
How's that foot taste, Ray?
If Ray Nagin, soon-to-be outgoing Mayor of New Orleans (Oh, please God...) had any friends left in the world, they'd have put duct tape over his mouth by now. I mean he just keeps saying dumb stuff and proving to everyone that he's not the man to represent all of the residents and businesses of the Crescent City.
His latest gaffe was minor compared to some of his earlier ones but it still showed us all how he thinks. Addressing a crowd of ex-New Orleans residents in Houston and trying to give them a reason to vote for him. (Someone tell me again why people who aren't living in the city are being allowed to vote?) As he spoke to this crowd, rather than tell them why he's the best man for the job, or lay out his plans to undo the damage caused by his previous screw-ups before, during and after Hurricane Katrina, he tried to scare them into voting for him by pointing out that most of the people now running against him aren't black.
Nagin noted that 23 candidates entered the mayoral fray before the registration deadline last week. "Very few of them look like us," he told the crowd of black ex-residents who had gathered at an NAACP meeting to hear him.
So in Nagin's mind, he obviously thinks that his best chance to get re-elected is to forget about his track-record of ineptitude, including the Superdome, the Convention Center and all of those submerged school buses that could have prevented that horror and just raise the specter of some white guy running the city.
Does Nagin really hate white people that much? Or does he just think that black people are really that stupid that he can scare them into giving him another chance just by making some racist statements? Either way, he's clearly got no business in office. The city needs someone who can be inclusive, not divisice. Someone who will unite the people who are left, not divide them or use the people who aren't even there any more to try to keep the real residents from voting him out of office.
His latest gaffe was minor compared to some of his earlier ones but it still showed us all how he thinks. Addressing a crowd of ex-New Orleans residents in Houston and trying to give them a reason to vote for him. (Someone tell me again why people who aren't living in the city are being allowed to vote?) As he spoke to this crowd, rather than tell them why he's the best man for the job, or lay out his plans to undo the damage caused by his previous screw-ups before, during and after Hurricane Katrina, he tried to scare them into voting for him by pointing out that most of the people now running against him aren't black.
Nagin noted that 23 candidates entered the mayoral fray before the registration deadline last week. "Very few of them look like us," he told the crowd of black ex-residents who had gathered at an NAACP meeting to hear him.
So in Nagin's mind, he obviously thinks that his best chance to get re-elected is to forget about his track-record of ineptitude, including the Superdome, the Convention Center and all of those submerged school buses that could have prevented that horror and just raise the specter of some white guy running the city.
Does Nagin really hate white people that much? Or does he just think that black people are really that stupid that he can scare them into giving him another chance just by making some racist statements? Either way, he's clearly got no business in office. The city needs someone who can be inclusive, not divisice. Someone who will unite the people who are left, not divide them or use the people who aren't even there any more to try to keep the real residents from voting him out of office.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said Friday that it wasn't his fault city school buses weren't mobilized to facilitate the Hurricane Katrina evacuation he ordered.
Appearing on NBC's "Dateline," Nagin was asked by host Stone Phillips: "What was mobilized? Were buses ready to take people away?"
"No. None of that," the Big Easy mayor replied.
"Why is that?" an incredulous Phillips asked.
Nagin replied: "I dont know. That is question for somebody else."
Sunday, March 05, 2006
New Orleans and public housing--some of the officials have it right.
"We don't need soap opera watchers right now ... We're going to target the people who are going to work."
With that comment, New Orleans City Council President Oliver Thomas just earned my vote for Mayor and the enmity of many of the second-handers and professional dead-beats who proudly spent their entire lives on welfare prior to Katrina.
Now that the storm has come and gone, housing in New Orleans is scarce. The storm did not discriminate and it damaged or destroyed the homes of rich, poor, working and non-working alike. Most people had some sort of insurance that is or will eventually put their home back in order. But the TV-watching, baby-making, liquor-swilling people who lived basically free of charge in the city's drug and crime-infested massive public housing projects want new houses too, only they expect the rest of us to pay for it.
I'm calling out to New Orleans right now. DON'T DO IT!!!
New Orleans as a city will be back. And it should be. It's still the fifth largest seaport in the world and the biggest one in North America. It has history and culture and it welcomes visitors from all over the world with it's unique creole flavor and southern hospitality.
But the people who just hang out in the projects don't contribute to any of that. Sure, some of them make their way down to the French Quarter, but usually only to panhandle or rob tourists. Most of them however just sit around all day, either watching soap operas, as Thomas said, or shooting each other over drugs. New Orleans' housing projects have been among the worst in America for decades in terms of crime and it's so bad that food delivery drivers won't go in, utility drivers won't go in, and ambulances won't go in without a police escort. Even Orleans Parish Sheriff's deputies have long since stopped going to the projects to deliver subpeonas because they were so frequently attacked by residents, often in full view of other residents who refused to help or identify the attackers afterwards.
I used to live in New Orleans, not far from the old St. Thomas projects off Magazine Street on the edge of the Garden District. My neighborhood was nice. Most of the residents were working people or investors rehabilitating the old buildings. But because of the proximity of St. Thomas projects, it wasn't safe to be out after dark, and that long section of Magazine Street was blighted. St. Thomas projects were a literal cancer on the community. Eighteen murders occurred there between 1992 and 1995, and the majority of residents were single mothers with annual salaries of less than $5,000 and drug-dealing boyfriends. The storefronts were all boarded up or filled with junk because no one wanted to own a store or shop there due to the crime. All of that changed a few years back however when the city condemed St. Thomas projects, evicted the criminals and layabouts, and gave the property over for mixed-income housing and a Wal-Mart. (The very Wal-Mart that we all recently saw so thoroughly looted on CNN after the storm) The welfare recipients and the politicians who pander to them for votes all cried and wailed that is was racist and "war on the poor" but the city went ahead and did it anyway. The result should be an object lesson for cities across America:
With the projects gone and the bad apples displaced, suddenly the area became attractive for new residents and families. Businesses flocked to the long-shuttered storefronts now that it was safe to be there, and many small shops, galleries, and other enterprises opened and transformed that section of Magazine street into a safe, clean, fun area that served residents and visitors alike. And the new businesses and residents brought a ton of tax revenue into the city coffers.
It was a winning situation for the city, the tax-paying, working residents and the business community. The only ones who were upset were the free-riders who got the boot after years of being able to just sit around all day watching TV and drinking beer while waiting on the next check to come. And even some of them were forced to actually find jobs and join the working economy after getting evicted. A lot of those people now live better lives after being forced to get off their asses because they earn enough money to afford better housing and nicer things. And we all know that when you work for something, you appreciate it a lot more than when someone just hands it to you and treats you like a punk for accepting it.
New Orleans now has the rare opportunity to replicate this sucess city-wide. Almost all of the public housing projects are uninhabitable, and most of the former residents are in places like Houston. There's no need to bring them all back just because they'd rather live for free and sit on a couch in New Orleans instead of in Texas. The city doesn't benefit at all right now from bringing in people who will just tax the police, courts, EMS and hospital systems, especially when those services are already strained to the mex just trying to provide basic service to the workers and productive residents that are now back.
Oliver Thomas, the City Council President (who is also black) also admitted that Katrina evacuees are pampered and spolied by storm relief programs. "At some point," he said, "you have to say, no, no, no." He and other New Orleans Housing Authority officials said future residents of rebuilt public housing will have to show a willingness to work in order to qualify for any new homes.
I agree with him and I disagree. The city needs working people back right now but people who work don't need public housing.I'm urging the council to forget about once again becoming a landlord to the lazy and criminally inclined and just let the private housing market deal with returning workers. It's capable. Leave the deadbeats , drug dealers and baby-factories wherever they are now. The overwhelming majority of them won't be able to move back unless someone else pays their moving costs and gives them free housing. Here's the change to rebuild a safe, clean city around decent working people and families of all ages, races and socioeconomic levels. Public Housing is just a magnet for the good-for-nothing, and if you don't build it, they generally won't come. Instead the city should just focus on enticing workers and business back to the city and reopening the universities and hospitals along with other businesses that provide needed services to decent people. You may get a smaller city in the end but it may well be a smaller city with a low rate of crime and unemployment and that'll make it a better city for everyone who lives there, visits or conducts business.
With that comment, New Orleans City Council President Oliver Thomas just earned my vote for Mayor and the enmity of many of the second-handers and professional dead-beats who proudly spent their entire lives on welfare prior to Katrina.
Now that the storm has come and gone, housing in New Orleans is scarce. The storm did not discriminate and it damaged or destroyed the homes of rich, poor, working and non-working alike. Most people had some sort of insurance that is or will eventually put their home back in order. But the TV-watching, baby-making, liquor-swilling people who lived basically free of charge in the city's drug and crime-infested massive public housing projects want new houses too, only they expect the rest of us to pay for it.
I'm calling out to New Orleans right now. DON'T DO IT!!!
New Orleans as a city will be back. And it should be. It's still the fifth largest seaport in the world and the biggest one in North America. It has history and culture and it welcomes visitors from all over the world with it's unique creole flavor and southern hospitality.
But the people who just hang out in the projects don't contribute to any of that. Sure, some of them make their way down to the French Quarter, but usually only to panhandle or rob tourists. Most of them however just sit around all day, either watching soap operas, as Thomas said, or shooting each other over drugs. New Orleans' housing projects have been among the worst in America for decades in terms of crime and it's so bad that food delivery drivers won't go in, utility drivers won't go in, and ambulances won't go in without a police escort. Even Orleans Parish Sheriff's deputies have long since stopped going to the projects to deliver subpeonas because they were so frequently attacked by residents, often in full view of other residents who refused to help or identify the attackers afterwards.
I used to live in New Orleans, not far from the old St. Thomas projects off Magazine Street on the edge of the Garden District. My neighborhood was nice. Most of the residents were working people or investors rehabilitating the old buildings. But because of the proximity of St. Thomas projects, it wasn't safe to be out after dark, and that long section of Magazine Street was blighted. St. Thomas projects were a literal cancer on the community. Eighteen murders occurred there between 1992 and 1995, and the majority of residents were single mothers with annual salaries of less than $5,000 and drug-dealing boyfriends. The storefronts were all boarded up or filled with junk because no one wanted to own a store or shop there due to the crime. All of that changed a few years back however when the city condemed St. Thomas projects, evicted the criminals and layabouts, and gave the property over for mixed-income housing and a Wal-Mart. (The very Wal-Mart that we all recently saw so thoroughly looted on CNN after the storm) The welfare recipients and the politicians who pander to them for votes all cried and wailed that is was racist and "war on the poor" but the city went ahead and did it anyway. The result should be an object lesson for cities across America:
With the projects gone and the bad apples displaced, suddenly the area became attractive for new residents and families. Businesses flocked to the long-shuttered storefronts now that it was safe to be there, and many small shops, galleries, and other enterprises opened and transformed that section of Magazine street into a safe, clean, fun area that served residents and visitors alike. And the new businesses and residents brought a ton of tax revenue into the city coffers.
It was a winning situation for the city, the tax-paying, working residents and the business community. The only ones who were upset were the free-riders who got the boot after years of being able to just sit around all day watching TV and drinking beer while waiting on the next check to come. And even some of them were forced to actually find jobs and join the working economy after getting evicted. A lot of those people now live better lives after being forced to get off their asses because they earn enough money to afford better housing and nicer things. And we all know that when you work for something, you appreciate it a lot more than when someone just hands it to you and treats you like a punk for accepting it.
New Orleans now has the rare opportunity to replicate this sucess city-wide. Almost all of the public housing projects are uninhabitable, and most of the former residents are in places like Houston. There's no need to bring them all back just because they'd rather live for free and sit on a couch in New Orleans instead of in Texas. The city doesn't benefit at all right now from bringing in people who will just tax the police, courts, EMS and hospital systems, especially when those services are already strained to the mex just trying to provide basic service to the workers and productive residents that are now back.
Oliver Thomas, the City Council President (who is also black) also admitted that Katrina evacuees are pampered and spolied by storm relief programs. "At some point," he said, "you have to say, no, no, no." He and other New Orleans Housing Authority officials said future residents of rebuilt public housing will have to show a willingness to work in order to qualify for any new homes.
I agree with him and I disagree. The city needs working people back right now but people who work don't need public housing.I'm urging the council to forget about once again becoming a landlord to the lazy and criminally inclined and just let the private housing market deal with returning workers. It's capable. Leave the deadbeats , drug dealers and baby-factories wherever they are now. The overwhelming majority of them won't be able to move back unless someone else pays their moving costs and gives them free housing. Here's the change to rebuild a safe, clean city around decent working people and families of all ages, races and socioeconomic levels. Public Housing is just a magnet for the good-for-nothing, and if you don't build it, they generally won't come. Instead the city should just focus on enticing workers and business back to the city and reopening the universities and hospitals along with other businesses that provide needed services to decent people. You may get a smaller city in the end but it may well be a smaller city with a low rate of crime and unemployment and that'll make it a better city for everyone who lives there, visits or conducts business.
Friday, March 03, 2006
New Orleans... Mardi Gras is over and the bitching resumes
OK, Mardi Gras is over. Everyone had fun, there were no mass shootings this year to mar the event, and everyone's gone home now. The slogan for this year was "Drink until Ray Nagin makes sense!" and Old Willie Wonka the Chocolate Mayor didn't help his own image one bit by dressing in army garb and riding in the parades on a horse making like he had something to do with the rescue of all the people that the federal government actually saved.
But now that the fun's over, most of the former residents of that city are back to sitting around demanding that the rest of us hurry up and buy them new houses. And the worst part is that the Democrats just keep proposing plans that will actually do that.
Sorry, but I object as loudly as I can. It's not my job to buy a new house for some sap who chose to live below sea level without buying flood insurance. The people who bought insurance are going to be fine. Those who didn't need to deal with it on their own, just like the tens of thousands of other Americans who are rendered homeless each year by storms, fires, earthquakes and other natural disasters. Did the rest of us pay to rebuild coastal North Carolina after Hurricane Hugo? How about Florida after FIVE back-to-back hurricanes? Of course we didn't. So why should we rebuild the 9th Ward of New Orleans and replace all those crummy trashed shotgun houses with brand spanking new nice ones? The 9th Ward was crap BEFORE the storm and it was that way because the people living there made it that way and refused to do a thing to clean it up or make it safe. Now they want all new stuff for free? Screw that. And screw any politician who tries to ride that issue into office by trading support for these stupid plans for re-election votes.
We already got everyone out of harm's way. That's expected. We also gave everyone thousands of dollars in cash whether they were actually put out or not. FEMA audits have shown that over 900,000 of applications for the 2.5 million cash awards given out contained false information, indicating that the recipients generally screwed us taxpayers over. We also saw that money spent on tattoos, strip clubs, jewelry, guns, and of course drugs and booze. And this was done by people living high on the hog in hotel rooms much nicer than the houses and apartments that most of them had in New Orleans. Of course we paid for those rooms for months too. And did they say "thanks"? No! They filed a bunch of lawsuits when we finally stopped paying their rent 8 months later!
Most of these people have gotten more in cash, clothing, food and rent than they could ever have provided for themselves this past year, and anyone who was really trying to find a job and their own housing could have done so months ago. Many did, leaving behind a hard-core remainder of career panhandlers and second-handers who expect the rest of us to just carry them indefinitely then set them down in nice new free homes with central air and color TV sets. Well I'm tired of paying out only to be defrauded, ripped off, sneered at and sued. I had no problem helping those in need until they could get back on their feet but the gravy train needs to end for the ones who just want to keep sitting and it needs to end right now.
And for those of you who have high-speed internet and want to see a funny but sadly true video spoof about New Orleans, check this one out:
Click here unless you're easily offended.
You'll have to register to see the video, but it's simple, free and worth it.
But now that the fun's over, most of the former residents of that city are back to sitting around demanding that the rest of us hurry up and buy them new houses. And the worst part is that the Democrats just keep proposing plans that will actually do that.
Sorry, but I object as loudly as I can. It's not my job to buy a new house for some sap who chose to live below sea level without buying flood insurance. The people who bought insurance are going to be fine. Those who didn't need to deal with it on their own, just like the tens of thousands of other Americans who are rendered homeless each year by storms, fires, earthquakes and other natural disasters. Did the rest of us pay to rebuild coastal North Carolina after Hurricane Hugo? How about Florida after FIVE back-to-back hurricanes? Of course we didn't. So why should we rebuild the 9th Ward of New Orleans and replace all those crummy trashed shotgun houses with brand spanking new nice ones? The 9th Ward was crap BEFORE the storm and it was that way because the people living there made it that way and refused to do a thing to clean it up or make it safe. Now they want all new stuff for free? Screw that. And screw any politician who tries to ride that issue into office by trading support for these stupid plans for re-election votes.
We already got everyone out of harm's way. That's expected. We also gave everyone thousands of dollars in cash whether they were actually put out or not. FEMA audits have shown that over 900,000 of applications for the 2.5 million cash awards given out contained false information, indicating that the recipients generally screwed us taxpayers over. We also saw that money spent on tattoos, strip clubs, jewelry, guns, and of course drugs and booze. And this was done by people living high on the hog in hotel rooms much nicer than the houses and apartments that most of them had in New Orleans. Of course we paid for those rooms for months too. And did they say "thanks"? No! They filed a bunch of lawsuits when we finally stopped paying their rent 8 months later!
Most of these people have gotten more in cash, clothing, food and rent than they could ever have provided for themselves this past year, and anyone who was really trying to find a job and their own housing could have done so months ago. Many did, leaving behind a hard-core remainder of career panhandlers and second-handers who expect the rest of us to just carry them indefinitely then set them down in nice new free homes with central air and color TV sets. Well I'm tired of paying out only to be defrauded, ripped off, sneered at and sued. I had no problem helping those in need until they could get back on their feet but the gravy train needs to end for the ones who just want to keep sitting and it needs to end right now.
And for those of you who have high-speed internet and want to see a funny but sadly true video spoof about New Orleans, check this one out:
Click here unless you're easily offended.
You'll have to register to see the video, but it's simple, free and worth it.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Ode to the Maymont bears --- killed by a stupid woman and her bratty kid
This is a story with a sad ending and one that never should have occurred.
In the Richmond, Virginia area, there is a park with animals on display. Until February 18th, Maymont park had two black bears. One was an orphan that the park had gotten as a cub, and the other was a nuisance bear that wound up there because people had fed it and taught it bad habits. The bears were in an enclosure behind a fence surrounded by a barrier wall and people could see them without getting too close.
But on the 18th, a single mom decided to take her 4 year old brat to the park, and she let him run amuck and didn't pay attention as he climbed over the barrier and approached the bears. He stuck his little hand through the fencing and got bit.
Now it wasn't much of a bite, especially as bears go. He didn't lose his hand or even any fingers. In fact the kid is just fine now. But because the park felt that they had to test the bear for rabies, and because they weren't sure which bear bit the brat, both bears were killed so that the rabies test could be performed.
Neither bear had rabies as it turned out, but both of them are still dead. And they were sentenced to death by a woman who couldn't be bothered to control her kid.
Hi. I'm dead.
Now I'm personally no stranger to animal bites. In my younger days as I traveled the country on my motorcycle one summer, I managed to get nipped by a wolf in the Souix Falls, SD zoo and also by an otter in the Vancouver, BC zoo. It was my own fault both times and I had it coming, but I didn't run crying to the zoo management and cause those beautiful creatures to be killed. I just sucked it up and went on about my business.
OK, I did have to go to the zoo infirmary in South Dakota for a band-aid because it was bleeding pretty good. And they gave me a band-aid and a free tetanus shot then they booted me out and told me not to come back, as they should have. No harm, no foul and I learned that animals in a zoo are still wild.
Now zoos these days do a much better job of posting signs to that effect practically everywhere. One would also think that this so-called "mother" would have enough sense to keep her kid from climbing over a wall and approaching these once nice bears signs or no but she didn't and two bears paid with their lives.
A note left by a mourning park visitor on the now-empty bear enclosure sums it all up. It reads: "We are so sorry you are gone -- have fun in heaven."
The papers are refusing to print the name of this woman who caused the deaths of these bears. But if and when I find it out, I'll be posting it right here.
In the Richmond, Virginia area, there is a park with animals on display. Until February 18th, Maymont park had two black bears. One was an orphan that the park had gotten as a cub, and the other was a nuisance bear that wound up there because people had fed it and taught it bad habits. The bears were in an enclosure behind a fence surrounded by a barrier wall and people could see them without getting too close.
But on the 18th, a single mom decided to take her 4 year old brat to the park, and she let him run amuck and didn't pay attention as he climbed over the barrier and approached the bears. He stuck his little hand through the fencing and got bit.
Now it wasn't much of a bite, especially as bears go. He didn't lose his hand or even any fingers. In fact the kid is just fine now. But because the park felt that they had to test the bear for rabies, and because they weren't sure which bear bit the brat, both bears were killed so that the rabies test could be performed.
Neither bear had rabies as it turned out, but both of them are still dead. And they were sentenced to death by a woman who couldn't be bothered to control her kid.
Hi. I'm dead.Now I'm personally no stranger to animal bites. In my younger days as I traveled the country on my motorcycle one summer, I managed to get nipped by a wolf in the Souix Falls, SD zoo and also by an otter in the Vancouver, BC zoo. It was my own fault both times and I had it coming, but I didn't run crying to the zoo management and cause those beautiful creatures to be killed. I just sucked it up and went on about my business.
OK, I did have to go to the zoo infirmary in South Dakota for a band-aid because it was bleeding pretty good. And they gave me a band-aid and a free tetanus shot then they booted me out and told me not to come back, as they should have. No harm, no foul and I learned that animals in a zoo are still wild.
Now zoos these days do a much better job of posting signs to that effect practically everywhere. One would also think that this so-called "mother" would have enough sense to keep her kid from climbing over a wall and approaching these once nice bears signs or no but she didn't and two bears paid with their lives.
A note left by a mourning park visitor on the now-empty bear enclosure sums it all up. It reads: "We are so sorry you are gone -- have fun in heaven."
The papers are refusing to print the name of this woman who caused the deaths of these bears. But if and when I find it out, I'll be posting it right here.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Checked out and ready to fly!
I just finished my bi-annual flight review and I'm checked out on the local airport's rental planes. Yahoo! I'm officially airborne again and able to fly around pretty much anywhere that I need to go.
What makes this really good is that I'd gone about three years without flying a plane since I was previously living in the middle of the Washington DC Air Defense Zone, which is a big restricted airspace that makes it very difficult to just fly small planes for pleasure. Now that I live out in real America again, I can once more fly a small plane for pleasure. Of course it's been three years and things were a bit fuzzy when I got back into the cockpit again with a new instructor pilot for the first of my re-orientation flights leading up to my check-ride which would recertify me to fly solo. Add to this the fun of flying over a new area and the fun began well before I first tried to figure out how to start the aircraft's engine without letting the instructor pilot know that I'd forgotten. (I knew that some of those do-dads would turn it on if I pressed 'em in the right order...) And it didn't help that this was a newer model aircraft than I was used to flying and it had lots more bells and whistles.
But it didn't take long for it all to come back...taxiing with ailerons in the proper position to deflect quartering winds, right rudder on take-off to counteract prop torque, rotate off the runway at 55 knots and climb out at 75 on full power... Once in the air though, it all came back and it looks like I still have what it takes to fly safely from Point A to Point B. And more importantly I can still land at Point B without knocking parts off of the aircraft. (Yay for me!)
So after a few hours of ground discussion and flight, including short trips to a couple of other local airports just to familiarize me with the area, Tom the flight instructor signed my biannual review endorsement and certified me as safe to rent the company's two Cessna 172's.
Now it's time to start looking for a nice taildragger Cessna of my own, preferably one with external bomb racks...
Next flight up will produce pictures. I promise.
What makes this really good is that I'd gone about three years without flying a plane since I was previously living in the middle of the Washington DC Air Defense Zone, which is a big restricted airspace that makes it very difficult to just fly small planes for pleasure. Now that I live out in real America again, I can once more fly a small plane for pleasure. Of course it's been three years and things were a bit fuzzy when I got back into the cockpit again with a new instructor pilot for the first of my re-orientation flights leading up to my check-ride which would recertify me to fly solo. Add to this the fun of flying over a new area and the fun began well before I first tried to figure out how to start the aircraft's engine without letting the instructor pilot know that I'd forgotten. (I knew that some of those do-dads would turn it on if I pressed 'em in the right order...) And it didn't help that this was a newer model aircraft than I was used to flying and it had lots more bells and whistles.
But it didn't take long for it all to come back...taxiing with ailerons in the proper position to deflect quartering winds, right rudder on take-off to counteract prop torque, rotate off the runway at 55 knots and climb out at 75 on full power... Once in the air though, it all came back and it looks like I still have what it takes to fly safely from Point A to Point B. And more importantly I can still land at Point B without knocking parts off of the aircraft. (Yay for me!)
So after a few hours of ground discussion and flight, including short trips to a couple of other local airports just to familiarize me with the area, Tom the flight instructor signed my biannual review endorsement and certified me as safe to rent the company's two Cessna 172's.
Now it's time to start looking for a nice taildragger Cessna of my own, preferably one with external bomb racks...
Next flight up will produce pictures. I promise.
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