Truthful politicans

We sometimes wonder which, if any, politician is telling us the truth. It all started with Nancy Pelosi when we heard her say something along the lines of the rich are getting richer and not paying their fair share.

So we went to the 50 Richest Members of Congress (2011), and she was 12th at $35.20 million. If that is her net worth, why doesn’t she kick more into the pot?

We also found that of the 50, 32 were Republicans and 18 were Democrats. The richest is a Republican from Texas, and number 50 is another Republican from Texas.

A little further down the list we found a familiar name, Tom Harkin at 29th. You may remember he is one of those pushing ethanol. Well now we know why; his wife has about $1 million in ConocoPhillips Co. stock and sits on the board. She is also on the advisory board of NTR PLC, a renewable energy company based in Ireland.

So even though the ethanol we are currently forced to use has proven to be inefficient, cause smog, and contain carcinogens, he is the one looking out for us?

And we have the Tea Party taking hits right and left. Now comes news that supposed backer, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, talks out of both sides of his mouth.

He claims to stand up against big government,
and runaway federal spending while the press is present. Yet he bugged the Transportation Department to spend $3 billion on high-speed rail in his home state of Virginia.

If the Tea Party isn’t a recognized political party, one has to believe the fault lies with the politicians pointing the fingers at them.

John Boehner and Darrell Issa are also mentioned as hypocrites. And yet we wonder. If there is no Tea Party, and the Republicans are spending as fast as the Democrats, how can we citizens stop the nonsense.

We believe term limits would be a good start. Removal of all retirement accounts, perks, and COLA raises would be even better.
Comments are always welcome.

Happy Halloween!

Here is your not too scary Halloween card. A friend sent it to us, and we thank him.

We will also give you a short story, and since it is Halloween we will make it about trolls. Names have been changed to protect the storyteller.

In a troll country we’ll call Trollbama lived a rich and evil troll. For the sake of this tale we’ll call him O’Soros. While he wasn’t the richest troll in the country, O’Soros was among the 1%. He also thought of himself as almost Godlike and believed his way was best.

This troll spent millions of troll dollars to get a certain troll elected as leader to further his ambitions. You would think he’d be elated when his troll, we’ll call him O’Barry,
got elected but he was not.

It seems this troll, who was said to be the smartest troll in all the land, couldn’t get things done. When cornered O’Barry would blame his failures on everyone else, and not bother with facts or workable solutions.

So O’Soros launched a plan to get his way and lord over the masses who weren’t buying the bull he was trying to ship. He would take away their “toys”, and thus make them sad, hopeless, and controllable.

He hatched a plot to buy up companies that made their pea shooters and peas so they couldn’t hunt. They also wouldn’t have any means to overthrow his vision of what Trollbama should be.

So he founded a company with a name that nobody in Trollbama could find fault with; the Freedom Group. Under the guise of investing, this company began buying established pea shooter businesses like Bushmaster, Marlin, Remington, DPMS, Dakota Arms, and H&R.

The trolls thought it was great that all these pea shooter companies were under one banner, until O’Soros put his master plan into action.

He raised the price of pea shooters and peas so high that nobody except the super-rich could afford them, thus disarming Trollbama in a short time. This meant that only the military and police had pea shooters and the trolls couldn’t do anything about it.

But he overlooked the ingenuity and determination of the citizens’ of Trollbama. Small groups came together, invented a potato gun, made several, bought plenty of potatoes, and took back their land. And everybody lived happily ever after, except O’Soros and O’Barry.
Comments are always welcome.

Some history

We received a joke email the other day, and although we don’t know who wrote it would like to share it with you. It is called “The Briefest History of the Earth”. We have only changed the ending. And it goes like this:

Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters/gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in the winter.

The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer.These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups:

1 . Liberals
2. Conservatives.

Once beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early humans were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That’s how villages were formed.

Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to BBQ at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as the Conservative movement…

Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly BBQ’s and doing the sewing, fetching, and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the Liberal movement.

Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women. They became known as girlie-men. Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention of group therapy, group hugs, and the concept of Democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that conservatives provided

Over the years conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass for obvious reasons.

Modern liberals like imported beer (with lime added), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare.

Another interesting evolutionary side note: most of their women have higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are liberals.

Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn’t fair to make the pitcher also bat.

Conservatives drink domestic beer, mostly Bud or Miller. They eat red meat and still provide for their women.

Conservatives are big game hunters, rodeo cowboys,lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, engineers, corporate executives, athletes, members of the military, airline pilots and generally anyone who works productively.

Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living.

Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to govern the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans.

That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America .. They crept in after the Wild West was tamed and created a business of trying to get more for nothing.

This ends today’s lesson in world history, Liberals will get angry and consider it absurd while Conservatives will laugh until they cry and claim it as truth. In any event, don’t shoot the messenger…
Comments are always welcome.

Weekend wanderings

We are working on something for tomorrow, so in the meantime here are a few things you may not have heard about. Gearheads should enjoy the following-

Craig Breedlove is going back to Bonneville on the 50th anniversary of his first land speed record. He is going to Bonneville in 2013 in a quest to break the 800 mph barrier. He will have someone else drive the car.

The Barrett-Jackson auction should be interesting come January. For the first time since 1973, a Silver Arrow will cross the auction block. In 1933 Pierce-Arrow built 5 Silver Arrows making them a very rare automobile.

Considered futuristic, obviously luxurious, and some say the first design concept car. Powered by a 462 cubic inch L-head V-12 that put out 175 horsepower and cost $10,000 in 1933!

The owner believes this is the very first Silver Arrow built, and if confirmed we imagine the bidding will top $1 million easy.

Then AutoTrader Classics has a feature on a 1916 Model T rod called the “Trojan T”. Built in 1961, before kits were commonly available, the tech sheet shows the ingenuity used back in the day.

Comments are always welcome.

Winding down

The car events are starting to get scarce, so this may be the last post on weekend events for a while. Before we get to a few events, we’d like to thank Jim Fisher for mentioning the blog on his show.

It is the last Friday and Saturday for the Haunted Junk Yard at the QCCA Expo Center from 7 pm to midnight. Admission is $10, and you can call 309-788-5912 or 309-799-7469 for more information.

Saturday, October 29th, is a Bonus Racing Day at Cordova Dragway. If the weather co-operates, the gates open at 11:30 am. General admission is $8 and kids 6-12 are $3. Test and tune is $20. For more go here.

January 20-22, 2012, will be the 29th Annual Rod & Custom Auto, Motorcycle & Products Show.
It will be held at the QCCA Expo Center, 2621 4th Avenue, Rock Island, Ill. For more info go
here.

We have work to do, and if we get far enough along with it we may get out to the garage again. It was straightened out until life happened, now we have to square it away again.
Comments are always welcome.

Pricey privy

We wonder why the city sees the need for a privy in a park at a cost of almost a quarter of a million dollars. While we’re sure it would be a nice brick structure, we question the cost.

It just seems like there should be a cheaper way to provide a toilet for those who use the park. Someone mentioned that a good chunk of the cost would be for water and sewer lines that have to be run.

An Alderman said about 500 kids and families use the park, but didn’t specify with what frequency. It is also stated they privy would be placed between the baseball fields and tennis courts.

Sounds lovely. But if water lines have to be run 775 feet, and sewer lines 425 feet, why couldn’t the building be moved closer to the where the lines would hook up?

Since kids, tennis players, and families use the facility, wouldn’t they be able-bodied enough to walk a little farther to use the rest rooms? After all, it’s not like they are all St. Ambrose students and need help crossing the street.
Comments are always welcome.

Does smoking kill?

With the recent shenanigans from politicians at all levels, our inquiring mind clicked into overdrive. We decided to look into a couple of things we’ve been told and see how they stack up.

We have been hearing forever how bad cigarettes are for us and how they kill us before our time. So we looked into Cigarette consumption by country to see where we stand.

Turns out Japan is the 12th highest user of cigarettes while the U.S. is 39th. Japan averages 2,028 cigarettes per adult per year, the U.S. averages 1,196 cigarettes per adult per year.

Then we looked into the Core health indicators to get more answers. According to the website, even with the Japanese people smoking about 1,000 more cigarettes a year per adult than we do, they live longer. People in Japan have a life expectancy of 82.5 years, while we only go 77.5 years.

Under life expectancy, Japan came in number one, and the U.S. was in a tie for 20th with countries like Germany and the U.K. who smoke less than we do.

Add to that the fact Japans’ infant mortality rate is half of ours, they have fewer doctors and nurses, and spend half as much on healthcare; yet they outlive us!

We have figured out why we don’t live as long. The Japanese don’t have to put up with our politicians!
Comments are always welcome.

What if?

The following is a fictional event and no names were used to protect those who believe everything they read. Although the event never happened the pizza was tasty.

If you were fixing dinner and one of your children knocked the pan of spaghetti sauce off the stove, what do you do?

Most of us would grab paper towels,rags, dish towels or whatever, clean up the mess and mop the floor. Then you would make alternative plans for dinner.

We would either heat-up leftovers or order a pizza.
Dinner is about a half-hour late and the total cost is around $25 for the pizza.

Politicians on the other hand, would have to have a debate about whether or not it is going to leave a stain on the hardwood floor, if the spill is a bio-hazard, and what agency to call to actually clean up the mess.

The president would declare it the worst domestic crisis in the history of our country, the First Lady would demand to know the calorie count of the sauce, and Senate Majority Leader would vow to vote against it.

Press conferences would have to be held to assure the public it wasn’t a terrorist action, and the FDA, DEA, EPA, FBI, local police, and homeland security would have to be notified.

After the green light from these agencies, committees would have to be formed, OSHA would have to investigate and make recommendations, and a contractor would have to be called to erect a walkway over the spill until a solution is found.

While this was going on they would set up a per diem account that would pay them to eat at a restaurant until the problem is fixed.

Democrats would accuse Republicans of wanting to rip out the hardwood floor because they want to ruin the environment and Republicans would accuse Democrats of overstating the urgency of the issue.

After a lengthy session of Congress they decide that another contractor should be hired to clean up the mess with all organic cleaners and any waste double-bagged.

Total time is 8 weeks, 3 days, and 16 hours at a cost of $1,186,392.47 not including the per diem.
And that is how our country got in the mess it is in today.

Comments are always welcome.

Something different

Here’s one for you; what’s 19 inches tall, jet engine powered, and looks a little like the Batmobile?

If you guessed the Flatmobile, give yourself a pat on the back. It is said to be the worlds lowest street legal car.

It all started with two donor 1963 Hillman Imps and a jet engine. It has a 2 inch ground clearance, a total height of 19 inches, is 12 foot 2 inches long, and 5 foot 5 inches wide. It is powered by a DIY gas turbine and has Goodyear Eagle tires. Claimed top speed is 100 mph.

We don’t care to go that low, but have to admit it is an interesting vehicle. There are more pictures, a history, the build, and more at the link above.
Comments are always welcome.

Threat assessment

The 2011 National Gang Threat Assesment is out, and if the National Gang Intelligence center(NGIC) is right, things aren’t looking good.

Some of the key findings; gangs are expanding and posing an increasing threat to communities nationwide. Gangs are becoming more violent, engaging in less-typical crimes, are more adaptable and use advanced technology.

Some of the less typical crimes include; alien smuggling, human trafficking, prostitution, counterfeiting, identity theft, and mortgage fraud.

Gangs are involved with alien smuggling for the money. It is more lucrative, and less risky, than drugs. And is some cases, gang members are among those being smuggled across the border.

Human trafficking statistics:

18,000 to 20,000 individuals are trafficked into our country every year.

Worldwide, there are 12.3 million victims of forced labor, bonded labor, and prostitution. Of these, 1.2 million are children; 1.4 million are victims of commercial sexual exploitation and of these 98% are women and girls.

32% are used for forced economic exploitation, of these 56% are women and girls.

Prostitution is another source of income according to this report. Gang members act as pimps, luring and/or forcing at-risk younger females into prostitution, and controlling them with violence and psychological abuse. It is the second largest source of income for gangs in San Diego, California.

There are about 1.4 million gang members active in the U.S. comprising more than 33,000 gangs. Of those; 1,140,344 are street gang members, 231,136 are prison gang members, and 44,108 are Outlaw Motorcycle gang (OMG) members.

These gangs are responsible for an average of 48% of violent crimes in most areas and up to 90% in others. Major cities and suburban areas see the most gang-related violence.

Neighborhood-based gangs and drug crews are still the biggest criminal treat in most areas. Aggressive recruitment, alliances and conflicts between gangs, the release of gang members from prison, advancements in technology, and Mexican Drug Trafficking Organization(MDTO) involvement has been the cause of the gang expansion and escalation of violence.

Gangs have infiltrated the police, military, and other such groups to collect information and learn skills. And of course, the are in our prisons.

Locally, according to the Violent Crime map only around 15 counties in Iowa have not reported violent crimes.

That concludes the nickel tour, the website has a lot more information if you are so inclined.
Comments are always welcome.