I have been working with computers, BBS’s, and the Internet for so long that my “online” life and “real” life seem to be one in the same. I met my wife online, we found a place to live online, we both have businesses online, and our kids have their own laptops and blog, online.

If someone you know separates the two then you know something about them. Either they are hiding what they do online from their “real” life friends, or they are hiding their “real” life friends from their activities online. Some people may have justification (ie: abusive ex-spouses, jobs, etc) for doing so, but it’s all still real isn’t it? Just because they spent six hours in WoW doesn’t mean their butt wasn’t physically in that chair the whole time.

So, I was sitting here today and I read that the Obama administration is working to ban recreational fishing.

Led by NOAA’s Jane Lubchenco, the task force has shown no overt dislike of recreational angling, but its indifference to the economic, social and biological value of the sport has been deafening.

Additionally, Lubchenco and others in the administration have close ties to environmental groups who would like nothing better than to ban recreational angling. And evidence suggests that these organizations have been the engine behind the task force since before Obama issued a memo creating it last June.

While the article may (or may not) be stretching things a bit, Barack Obama has proven that anything is possible when you consider all of the other asinine ideas he’s come up with.

Is President Obama working to ban recreational fishing? Good luck with that Barry.

After reading that previous article, and wondering what I am going to do with all my tackle supplies if they do ban recreational fishing, I read that Senate Democrats are trying to add an overhaul of federal student loans into the health care reform package.

It seems they have a slight problem with scheduling and if they don’t act fast, they may just have to wait to do one or the other and you know they aren’t waiting on health care.

I don’t think they’ll add it into the bill. They’re having enough trouble getting the votes they need on health care, let alone opening that big ol’ can of worms.

If the Obama administration hadn’t been trying to ban recreational fishing those worms would have come in handy if we went fishing for the next moronic statement from Democratic leadership. Thanks to Nancy Pelosi, we don’t have too.

You’ve heard about the controversies within the bill, the process about the bill, one or the other. But I don’t know if you have heard that it is legislation for the future, not just about health care for America, but about a healthier America, where preventive care is not something that you have to pay a deductible for or out of pocket. Prevention, prevention, prevention—it’s about diet, not diabetes. It’s going to be very, very exciting. But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.

Did you catch that? We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in the bill. Get real, Nancy!

Banning recreational fishing, adding budgetary items to a bill they want to reconcile, and blubbering about bills that can’t be read. It sounds like some strange twisted alternate reality to me.

Maybe there is some separation between “online” and “real” life. If so, then I must be lost in the void between them.

Just a few weeks ago I was spammed by the Maria Sheffield campaign. She is running for Insurance Commissioner here in Georgia. It turned out her campaign manager, who was John Oxendine’s former campaign manager, may have “shared” the mailing list from the Oxendine campaign. I don’t have to clarify my position with either of their campaigns do I?

I had planned to wait a while before I endorsed another candidate or explained why I won’t be voting for them, but Nathan Deal made such an impression on me that I have to write something right now.

I. WILL. NOT. BE. VOTING. FOR. NATHAN. DEAL.

You may have heard that Rep. Deal (R-GA) announced his resignation from Congress last week.

At the time of his announcement, all I could think about was the pending health care vote. By resigning, Deal would be reducing the number of votes needed by the House leadership to pass the bill.

Two days later, he reversed course.

Just two days after I announced my intentions to leave Congress, the majority party stepped up the schedule for the proposed health care bill. Having been deeply involved in all health care legislation for the past decade, I knew it was important to stay and vote down this bill.

I would have been alright with that decision, because it was the right one, if he had made it himself. From the written statement on his own website:

Deal discussed the change with Governor Sonny Perdue, who encouraged him to stay.

Why on Earth would I vote for him to serve as Governor of the State of Georgia if he has to be “talked into” the obviously correct decision by our current Governor? Why didn’t he realize that the Obama administration would try to make the most of his decision? Why didn’t he just figure on staying until after the health care vote?

How can I be sure that, as Governor, he will be able to make the right decisions when needed? How can I be sure that he won’t be calling former Governor Purdue at 3am when he can’t make up his mind?

We need a strong Governor who can walk the walk and talk the talk, not someone who ping pongs back and forth over obviously simple decisions.

We need the real deal, for real, and that I’m afraid is not Nathan Deal.

The young one was learning how to model,

and the parent was looking for lunch.

We saw many other birds, including this Great Blue Heron who was learning to dance.

The Double Crested Cormorant offered us some lunch,

and after our siesta,

We hit the road and started the drive back home, but we didn’t get too far before we felt like we were being watched.

we made it home just before dark, thankful to have spent such a fun day with the guys enjoying some of God’s most magnificent creations. I hope you had a good day too!

What could be more important than writing here on 101 Dead Armadillos?

Let’s see. I am working on a project, and I am about two days behind schedule.

Spring is right around the corner so I need to clean up the backyard (dogs have a way of destroying things we never knew we had), clean the garage (before the spiders and other crawling critters wake up) and schedule a yard sale (probably next weekend).

So, I am outta here. See you tomorrow.

I think this was speech number 500 or something. Do I really need to see the President of the United States every day on my television? Do I need to hear his voice every day on the radio? If Barack Obama was as smart as he wants us all to think he is, he would shut up already, and he would do it now.

Let’s look at some of the things he had to say, shall we?

1. He said, “The bottom line is: our proposal is paid for.”

   Don’t be so sure about that. The CBO (the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office) has said that it lacks sufficient details to evaluate the President’s plan. There’s no way for him to honestly claim that this “new” proposal is paid for.

2. He said, “Now, it’s true that all of this will cost money – about $100 billion per year.”

   Over the course of 10 years, that $100 billion per year will add up to $1 trillion in costs. Costs he just claimed were “paid for”. If that cost is paid for, that means your taxes are going up and you haven’t even started paying for the new health care you’re going to be receiving yet!

3. He said, “Finally, my proposal would bring down the cost of health care…”

   Wait. How can you bring down the cost of health care, when you’re paying $1 trillion for it before you even know what the actual costs are going be? Remember, he said it would cost $100 billion per year and the CBO hasn’t been able to verify anything about the proposal!

   Many non-partisan experts, within the CBO and the Obama Administration itself have said the Senate bill will raise premium costs for families on the individual market by an average $2,100 and raise national health spending overall. So which part of those facts show his proposal “brings down the cost of health care”?

4. He said, “I don’t believe we should give government bureaucrats … more control over health care in America.”

   His “new” proposal creates more than 160 new boards, commissions and programs. Billions and billions (probably $100 billion) in wasteful government bureaucracy firmly planted between you and available health care.

It’s no secret that I disapprove of President Obama, but just once I would like to believe something, anything, that comes out of his mouth once he starts to make a statement. Heck, even when he starts with the words “Good Afternoon”, it usually isn’t. Have you seen the economy lately?

If his speech was meant to “rally the American people” he needs to fire his speech writers and spokespeople, immediately. All he has done is rehash all of the same aspects of a health care bill that the American people have already said they don’t want. During the presidential campaign, he made a comment about “lipstick on a pig”. If this isn’t the biggest pig to be painting lipstick on, I don’t know what is.

In addition to the cosmetic surgery he performed on the horrible health care bill, President Obama has made it clear he intends to have it pushed through Congress using reconciliation which requires a simple majority in both the House and the Senate.

By doing so, every member of the Senate and every member of the House up for re-election, who vote to pass the bill this way, will face intense scrutiny from the voters in November. My bet is less than 25 percent of them will keep their jobs. That is, if the bill ever makes it way back to the House floor at all. Steny Hoyer says they don’t even have a bill yet.

Democratic leaders are contending with a host of undecided lawmakers who want to see the fine print before making a decision. Hoyer said final language and a cost estimate should come back from the Congressional Budget Office by the end of next week.

“At this point in time we don’t have a bill,” Hoyer said. “It’s a little difficult to count votes if you don’t have a bill.”

Once again, our Congressional leaders are pimping a bill no one has seen yet. It hasn’t even been written, yet the President has spoken to the American people encouraging them to support whatever it is that they may write in the future.

The President wants Congress to act before he leaves on his trip to Asia on March 18th. Both Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer say it’s “doable”. I don’t think so, neither does Howard Dean.

Passing the healthcare proposals before Congress will “hang out to dry” every Democratic incumbent running for reelection this fall, Howard Dean said Thursday.

Dean, a physician by training who’s a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), said that Democrats in Congress — and President Barack Obama — would do themselves more harm than good by passing the current healthcare bill.

How long can the Democrats ignore the will of the American people even when their own party members begin speaking out against the bill? It won’t be much longer, I can guarantee you that.

It’s time to start over. Toss out the current bill, sit down at the table to discuss the real issues, and put together a real health care proposal that makes sense.

If the Democrats don’t see this is the best way to move forward on health care, it’s time to vote them all out of office.

It’s time to get leaders in those seats who know how to listen to the American people.

Well, I have finally started devoting some time to my “continued” education and I am working on two small projects. One of those projects is Stuffr for the Mac and Stuffr for the iPhone. The other is a yet to be determined app for the iPhone.

Instead of standing by the shore getting my feet wet, I have jumped in completely. It won’t hurt to have ‘Mac / iPhone Developer” on my resume now will it?

I’m not sure how much time I am going to have in the next couple weeks, thanks to President Obama and the Democrats on Capitol Hill.

White House officials tell ABC News that in his remarks tomorrow President Obama will indicate a willingness to work with Republicans on some issue to get a health care reform bill passed but will suggest that if it is necessary, Democrats will use the controversial “reconciliation” rules requiring only 51 Senate votes to pass the “fix” to the Senate bill, as opposed to the 60 votes to stop a filibuster and proceed to a vote on a bill.

Are they crazy? No less than 60 percent of the American people are against this bill. Passing this bill, especially through reconciliation will be political suicide for all of them, President Obama included.

Sen. Tom Harkin told POLITICO that Senate Democratic leaders have decided to go the reconciliation route. The House, he said, will first pass the Senate bill after Senate leaders demonstrate to House leaders that they have the votes to pass reconciliation in the Senate.

Harkin made the comments after a meeting in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s office including Harkin and Sens. Baucus, Dodd, Durbin, Schumer and Murray.

When asked whether the leaders had made the decision, Durbin said: “We are moving ahead with a version of the health care reform bill that we believe has a good chance of passing both the House and the Senate.”

Personally, I don’t think they have the votes in the House or the Senate to pass the bill with reconciliation, but we shall see.

That’s it for tonight. Who knows, I might have a screenshot of the new Stuffr app by tomorrow.

I took the video fairly early in the day. We ended up with about 3 inches total here at our house, but at one point it was melting as quick as it was falling.

It was pretty to watch, but it was a heavy, wet snow and the kids didn’t find much interest in it. Amazing really, because we rarely get snow, so you would think they would want to be out there all day.

With all the snow falling outside, I couldn’t help but wonder if hell had frozen over. After reading the news today, I’m still not sure.

House Ways and Means Committee Charlie Rangel was on the verge of losing his gavel Tuesday night as a trickle of Democratic defections turned into a flood.

It wasn’t clear how Rangel would go – voluntarily, by force, temporarily or permanently – but the tide had clearly turned against him by the time he walked into a closed-door meeting with Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s staff Tuesday night.

“The dam broke today,” said a senior Democratic aide.

Charlie Rangel has been in the House of Representatives for 39 years. House members are elected every two years. That’s one election and 17 re-elections so far for those of you keeping track. By now, Mr. Rangel is pretty settled into his job as a career politician, but it looks like his days are finally numbered.

Sure, it’s only a leadership role, but a very influential one at that, so if hell is freezing over, I’m hoping his days as a Congressman could be coming to an end as well.

Another interesting development today was the sudden “switch” by Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY).

For days now he has blocked a bill extending unemployment benefits, highway funding, and other government programs because the bill was unfunded.

Tonight, however, he switched his position because Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) promised him a vote on his amendment forcing the $10 billion bill to be offset by closing a tax loophole, as well as a chance to offer amendments on the next Senate jobs bill which will cost $150 billion.

Just moments after he agreed to Scary Harry’s terms, the extension bill passed 78 – 19 and his amendment failed with only 43 Senators voting for it.

So what did Bunning gain out of this? Nothing. Nothing at all. He folded under the pressure when he should have stood his ground. How much longer can we write checks with nothing to pay them with? Here’s Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) speaking on the Senate floor today before Sen. Bunning caved.

The one bright side was seeing which 19 GOP members voted against the measure. Senators Alexander, Barrasso, Bennett (UT), Bunning, Burr, Coburn, Corker, Cornyn, Crapo, DeMint, Ensign, Enzi, Gregg, Hatch, Johanns, McConnell, Risch, Sessions, and Thune all voted against a bill that will cost $10 billion with no money allocated to pay for it.

Even though he voted against the bill itself, by dropping his opposition to the bill Jim Bunning helped increase our national debt by $10 billion in just a matter of minutes. Thanks, Jim!

I remember it well because I posted videos every day, sometimes more than one per day to help get the word out. Republicans simply wanted the chance to debate the matter. Funny thing. Barack Obama was not President at that time, but people seem to forget that Nanny State Nancy and Scary Harry have controlled the House and the Senate for several years now. They have been stifling debate from day one.

The Democrats accuse the Republicans of “stalling tactics” when it comes to health-care, but the Republicans are simply standing up for the American people. They did it with immigration, they did it with the energy bill, and they are doing it again now. They’re not perfect, and many of them have their own faults, but the Republicans are simply speaking (and acting) for their constituents.

The American people do not like the current bills that have been introduced by the White House, the House, or the Senate. Nancy Pelosi avoids the fact that House Republicans have introduced 70 different bills and amendments, 66 of which haven’t even seen the light of day in committee or on the House floor. Instead, President Obama, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi claim the Republicans don’t have a solution. You can only sweep so much under the rug before you trip on it!

Now, even though the bill is unpopular with the majority of the American people, President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid are planning to shove the bill through with ‘reconciliation’ which only requires a simple majority vote.

The White House called for a “simple up-or-down” vote on health care legislation Sunday as Speaker Nancy Pelosi appealed to House Democrats to get behind President Barack Obama’s chief domestic priority even it if threatens their political careers.

In voicing support for a simple majority vote, White House health reform director Nancy-Ann DeParle signaled Obama’s intention to push the Democratic-crafted bill under Senate rules that would overcome GOP stalling tactics.

A simple majority vote wasn’t good enough in the House when the Republicans wanted to introduce their own energy bill. What makes it good enough now?

Hasn’t America been led in the wrong direction long enough? The American people want a health-care solution that works. The American people have made it clear they do not like the health-care plan Democrats have proposed, and we can’t develop a new one if Democrats won’t discuss it.

Just yesterday, Nancy Pelosi said, ” A bill can be bipartisan without bipartisan votes“. She’s so out of touch with reality she can’t even speak coherently.

She is even urging her colleagues to back the current health-care plan even if it threatens their political careers because she feels the American people are not educated enough to know when they see, hear and smell the bullshit contained in the current bills being bandied about on the Hill.

What happened to the Democrat plan to lead from 2006? What about their plan to govern? Locking down the House and Senate, intimidating and bribing members into voting for their proposals, and stifling the other side of the debate is not leading or governing.

It’s criminal and it’s time for them to go.

The Democrats in Washington, D.C. have made one thing clear. Whether the issue is immigration, energy, or health-care, they have no idea what the American people want and it’s high time we, the American people, sent them a message and send them packing.