Off The Kufs

My Streak Is Over

2012-07-27T05:59:00.000-04:00

As much as I have enjoyed blogging on all sorts of topics over the past 4 and a half years I must say that the "daily" part of the blog is coming to an end. This means that I will be posting far more infrequently. If you are interested in my opinions than kindly follow me on Twitter at @jkufs If you are not on Twitter you do not know what you are missing. To the approx. 100,000 views of my blog I am overwhelmed and thankful. My life just keeps getting better and better and has changed so much since the journey started with my first two blogs from Feb. 17 and 18th of 2008. I blogged about musician Josiah Leming and that the underdog Barack Obama was not only going to beat out Hillary but win the Presidency as well. In four+ years I have have gotten married, had a beautiful son, lost (after downs and ups) 45 pounds and kept it off, grown my hair longer (although I miss the short hair), and become a better person. I did not miss a blog post a day for over 1600 days. The streak, like all streaks, is over. I will only be blogging videos that I think should be watched or originals that are too lengthy for Twitter. So feel free to check periodically. Checking daily, however, will only disappoint you. The new Blogger template, the emergence of Twitter, the more important parts of my life, and changing technology in general have led to this decision. Who knows, perhaps I will miss the daily element and change back. Thanks again for following me, my views, and my life. I am humbled. Like I used to say on my old radio show on WAUB1590, this is Jason Kufs...rounding third and heading home.

No Surprise Here-The Dems Are NOT Excited

2012-07-26T04:17:00.000-04:00

This is good news. Now make sure you look at the polls and who is sampled. It should not be + Dems at all. Of course, NBC's was +11! Democratic Voting Enthusiasm Down Sharply From 2004, 2008 Republicans more enthusiastic than in 2008 by Jeffrey M. Jones PRINCETON, NJ -- Democrats are significantly less likely now (39%) than they were in the summers of 2004 and 2008 to say they are "more enthusiastic about voting than usual" in the coming presidential election. Republicans are more enthusiastic now than in 2008, and the same as in 2004. For more: http://www.gallup.com/poll/156194/Democratic-Voting-Enthusiasm-Down-Sharply-2004-2008.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=syndication&utm_content=morelink&utm_term=All%20Gallup%20Headlines%20-%20Politics

New Blogger.com Format

2012-07-25T04:26:00.000-04:00

Perhaps I am being rigid here but change for the sake of change stinks. Blogger.com, the template I use for this blog, forced me to leave the old format to post and replace it with this new one. The new one is not as user-friendly. Perhaps I am the old curmudgeon but change for the sake of change stinks. Why would they do this? The old way worked well for years. At least give me the option. The new way makes it more difficult to label, to move from composition to HTML, the "Preview" screen freezes and setting the date and time is more cumbersome. Thanks Blogger for making this experience less fun.

This Date in Shortstop Tavern History

2012-07-24T04:58:00.000-04:00

If you are on Facebook I created a page for my dad and friends of the Shortstop Tavern. If you are not on Facebook I am not certain as to what you are waiting for! Anyway, sometimes my dad gives me "This date in Shortstop Tavern History" posts and we have fun with that. So get on and "like" the Shortstop Tavern!

Letter to the Editor About Joggers About Us?

2012-07-23T04:00:00.000-04:00

I almost think that this Letter to the Editor in my hometown paper is about my wife and me. I only say this because we run with Billy in our BOB Stroller daily. They are made for that. This guy doesn't live in our neighborhood so I am not certain it is us he is talking of but here is his letter from yesterday followed by my response:

Keep babies away from traffic

I’ve noticed that while driving, there are a few individuals that have decided that it is OK to go jogging/running with a baby carriage.
Now, I’m all for a healthy lifestyle, but I really have to say that this is the height of irresponsible behavior. Running with an infant in a baby carriage is not just stupid, but it endangers the life of the child. To add to this senseless behavior, these people run with the child in the street.
I would like to see the Auburn Police Department take the initiative to arrest these people and charge them with reckless endangerment and any other charge possible before a catastrophe occurs. This is not sensible behavior, but utter nonsense.
There are also bicyclists that tow a child in a carrier behind them on the road. This is no less dangerous. Any accident whatsoever places the infant in a position of no salvation, no matter how skilled the cyclist is. I cannot see how this suggests responsible parenting in any way.
Gerard Marco
Auburn

Horrible Tragedies Always End Up With Similar Spin

2012-07-22T04:52:00.000-04:00

Each time that there is a horrible tragedy of mass killing in America the liberal media quickly tries to tie it to the right-wingers. Remember it was Sarah Palin that caused the Arizona shooting. This time Rush Limbaugh was talking about Batman so that must have been the motive! They even spread rumors about the Tea Party, like I mentioned yesterday. They also want to immediately ban guns. As if the criminals wouldn't have them would more gun laws! Of course each and every shooting turns out basically the same: -It is a deranged person -It is either in the name of Allah or -It is a young liberal It is never the Tea Party. Sorry to disappoint the left. They are so desperate in their desire for it to be. But it never is. The sad thing is that people lost their loved ones to senseless death. A simple night at the movies became one of the worst nights in American history. And the drive-by media tries to spin it to fit their agenda. Makes you sad, really.

ABC Should Be Ashamed

2012-07-21T06:39:00.001-04:00

Read this in its entirity. Sickening stuff from our media. I saw that a Brian Ross was arrested in Tulsa, OK. Must have been the ABC Brian Ross. Same logic, huh? Anyway, you just know that "Tea Party" and "Holmes" were searched in Google. When will the left get it? The Tea Party is about government wasting money. They are mostly old people and have caused ZERO harm. ABC draws possible Tea Party connection with alleged Aurora shooter By DYLAN BYERS | 7/20/12 9:39 AM EDT ABC News has suggested that James Holmes -- the suspect in today's shooting in Aurora, Colorado -- may have a connection to the Tea Party. ABC's Brian Ross reported this morning that there is "a Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colorado, page on the Colorado Tea party site... talking about him joining the Tea Party last year." (See also: Full coverage of the Colorado theater shooting) "Now, we don't know if this is the same Jim Holmes," Ross cautioned "but it's Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colorado." (PHOTOS: Colorado theater shooting) ABC News is the only network or cable news channel to suggest a possible Tea Party connection, according to a survey of the TV Eyes database at 9:30 a.m. ET, though they did not verify that the two individuals were one and the same. (This is the Tea Party Patriots page on which Ross based his report.) The report has already set off alarm bells on the right. At Brietbart.com, the conservative news site, Joel Pollak has accused ABC News of "scapegoating." "How interesting that Ross and ABC News should think to look to the Tea Party website first--and to broadcast politically volatile information without verifying if that 'Jim Holmes' is the same as the suspect," Pollak writes. "Look for more scapegoating from the mainstream media and the Democrats in the hours and days to follow." (Also on POLITICO: Campaigns pause after shootings) I have reached out to ABC News for comment on its report, and will update here if and when I hear back. UPDATE: ABC News apologizes for 'incorrect' Tea party report: ABC News and Brian Ross are apologizing for an "incorrect" report that James Holmes, the suspect in the Colorado theater shooting, may have had connections to the Tea Party. "An earlier ABC News broadcast report suggested that a Jim Holmes of a Colorado Tea Party organization might be the suspect, but that report was incorrect," ABC News said in a statement. "ABC News and Brian Ross apologize for the mistake, and for disseminating that information before it was properly vetted." In a similar statement released minutes earlier, ABC News said the report was "incorrect" but did not include the apology. "Several other local residents with similar names were also contacted via social media by members of the public who mistook them for the suspect," the initial statement read.

Great New Romney Commercial

2012-07-20T07:56:00.001-04:00

Stay Healthy Antonin Scalia

2012-07-19T05:00:00.000-04:00

Antonin Scalia is the smartest guy I have watched. Piers Morgan, who no one watches, had him on last night. I was reminded of his 60 Minutes piece

Obama Tells Small Business Owners They Didn't Build Their Business

2012-07-18T04:00:00.000-04:00

This speaks for itself. The fact that a Virginia audience roared scares me. "Roads and bridges? The government built them. Your business wouldn't have worked without them." Someone tell Obama that roads and bridges are the EFFECT. Someone's ingenuity is the cause! "You didn't build that...somebody else made that happen?!?!" He has lost it. Is this what he really believes? Scary.

My Brief Romney VP Analysis

2012-07-17T05:00:00.000-04:00

Plenty of speculation about the upcoming pick by Mitt Romney for his Vice President. Understand that no VP won or lost an election since LBJ took Texas for JFK in 1960. With this election basically coming down to 12-15 swing states, Mitt (Mitt's people) needs to look at who can carry an important state or two. They have the resources to make those determinations. Let's hope that they use them. Obviously I think Mitt HAS to take a conservative. His conservatism is questionable at best. This makes Condi Rice a weaker choice. Her abortion stance is absurd. The country is "evolving" on the issue that is now 60/40 pro-life. Her position troubles me. BUT, she cannot be spoofed by SNL. She is above that. Will she deliver an African-American or woman vote? Not many. BUT she could keep them from being angry enough to vote for Obama if they are not usual voters. She also could change conversations to foreign policy where she clearly has more clout/experience/knowledge than Biden. Choosing her might force Obama to flip Biden to Hillary Clinton. I still think that might happen. Kelly Ayotte and Nikki Haley seem to be two women with considerable favorability. From what I know I like both of them. But do we want to get clever with a female choice again? Will it make a difference. Sadly it seems like it has not made a difference in any elections or primaries in the past. For whatever reason America doesn't go gaga for a female choice. Of course someone needs to be first. I just don't see Ayotte or Haley as that person. Too risky. You saw what SNL did to Palin. You could say Palin did it to herself but that is false. The media and comics drive the youth vote. Stewart/Colbert will be all over a woman if she is not perfect. Let's assume these two are not. Marco Rubio is the perfect candidate and future of the party. The trouble is an am fearful that the vetting has come up with problems for him. Either his parents immigrant past or money past. For whatever reason the Rubio buzz is gone. Therefore I am not going to say I think he can carry Florida or he is the perfect candidate again. If they do pick him then let's assume he was vetted perfectly and that he is good to go. Experience would be the only means of Obama attacks. Rubio, however, has equal experience to what Obama had in 2008 and... Bobby Jindal is an impressive conservative, Indian-American Governor from Louisiana. The trouble is he is bland. And what state does he gather? He won't hurt you and can't be spoofed. But can he help? Tim Pawlenty is squeaky-clean and an evangelical from Minnesota. Can he even deliver his home state? Does Mormon Mitt need an evangelical? Maybe. They say that Pawlenty is Scott Walker before Scott Walker. They say he is a blue-collar guy which balances Mitt well. I know he is socially conservative. The trouble is he seems to be painfully like Mitt to me. Tall, skinny, brown-haired, upper middle-aged, handsome, wealthy, articulate, and on and on. Will people vote for this? Or will the vicious media spoof them like two typical white males, yada, yada, yada. Rob Portman is unknown to me in terms of his ideology. He is from Ohio. If they decide he can win Ohio I am fine with the choice. Bob McDonnell and Virginia would be the same script. But can one man deliver a state? Maybe he should take Scott Walker and take Wisconsin then! Seriously, Portman and McDonnell could be great choices if the Romney team does their homework. Or terrible choices. I wouldn't know. Chris Christie is very liberal on environmental issues. I don't really trust him on social issues. BUT- he is a fighter. This nice guy Mitt crap would be balanced well with Christie going for the throat! Maybe we need that. That, and only that, would make me accept a Christie choice. He is not a total conservative, however, and people will be mad. Paul Ryan is too unknown. His money knowledge is unparalleled. But that is already Mitt's strength. Is he socially conservative? Does he swing independents? MAYBE. He should help with libertarians. But will he help enough? Why not Rand Paul then? Daddy's son should help carry daddy's minions, right? Plus I think he is pretty conservative. He is inexperienced in politics but he is a doctor! And he seems to be an interesting guy. Why not? So where does that leave us? Like I said, this is the most important election in our lifetimes. Let's hope Mitt's people couple the thought I have put into it with the research they can afford and get the right person. No matter what you won't please everyone!!!

I Am Disgusted With Joe Pa

2012-07-16T03:30:00.000-04:00

Well I read the Freeh Report and it took me some time. My feelings are similar to what I thought before I read it-that Joe Paterno not only knew that young boys were getting raped by his right hand man but he did nothing to prevent it or discipline. Paterno's only concern seemed to be to protect the Penn State reputation, football program, and brand. It makes me want to vomit. To think of the boys whose lives could have been spared the permanent scaring if he had acted in 1998. Or worse in 2001. Rick Reilly, who I rarely agree with, said it better: Friday, July 13, 2012 The sins of the father By Rick Reilly ESPN.com What a fool I was. In 1986, I spent a week in State College, Pa., researching a 10-page Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year piece on Joe Paterno. It was supposed to be a secret, but one night the phone in my hotel room rang. It was a Penn State professor, calling out of the blue. "Are you here to take part in hagiography?" he said. "What's hagiography?" I asked. "The study of saints," he said. "You're going to be just like the rest, aren't you? You're going to make Paterno out to be a saint. You don't know him. He'll do anything to win. What you media are doing is dangerous." Jealous egghead, I figured. What an idiot I was.Twenty-five years later, when former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was accused of a 15-year reign of pedophilia on young boys, I thought Paterno was too old and too addled to understand, too grandfatherly and Catholic to get that Sandusky was committing grisly crimes using Paterno's own football program as bait. But I was wrong. Paterno knew. He knew all about it. He'd known for years. He knew and he followed it vigilantly. That's all clear now after Penn State's own investigator, former FBI director Louis Freeh, came out Thursday and hung the whole disgusting canvas on a wall for us. Showed us the emails, read us the interviews, shined a black light on all of the lies they left behind. It cost $6.5 million and took eight months and the truth it uncovered was 100 times uglier than the bills. Paterno knew about a mother's cry that Sandusky had molested her son in 1998. Later, Paterno lied to a grand jury and said he didn't. Paterno and university president Graham Spanier and vice president Gary Schultz and athletic director Tim Curley all knew what kind of sick coach they had on the payroll in Sandusky. Schultz had pertinent questions. "Is this opening of pandora's box?" he wrote in personal notes on the case. "Other children?" "Sexual improprieties?" It gets worse. According to Freeh, Spanier, Schultz and Curley were set to call child services on Sandusky in February 2001 until Paterno apparently talked them out of it. Curley wasn't "comfortable" going to child services after that talk with JoePa. Yeah, that's the most important thing, your comfort. What'd they do instead? Alerted nobody. Called nobody. And let Sandusky keep leading his horrific tours around campus. "Hey, want to see the showers?" That sentence alone ought to bring down the statue. What a stooge I was. I talked about Paterno's "true legacy" in all of this. Here's his true legacy: Paterno let a child molester go when he could've stopped him. He let him go and then lied to cover his sinister tracks. He let a rapist go to save his own recruiting successes and fundraising pitches and big-fish-small-pond hide. Here's a legacy for you. Paterno's cowardice and ego and fears allowed Sandusky to molest at least eight more boys in the years after that 1998 incident -- Victims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9 and 10. Just to recap: By not acting, a grown man failed to protect eight boys from years of molestation, abuse and self-loathing, all to save his program the embarrassment. The mother of Victim 1 is "filled with hatred toward Joe Paterno," the victim's lawyer says. "She just hates him, and reviles him." Can you blame her? What a sap I was. I hope Penn State loses civil suits until the walls of the accounting office cave in. I hope that Spanier, Schultz and Curley go to prison for perjury. I hope the NCAA gives Penn State the death penalty it most richly deserves. The worst scandal in college football history deserves the worst penalty the NCAA can give. They gave it to SMU for winning without regard for morals. They should give it to Penn State for the same thing. The only difference is, at Penn State they didn't pay for it with Corvettes. They paid for it with lives. What a chump I was. I tweeted that, yes, Paterno should be fired, but that he was, overall, "a good and decent man." I was wrong. Good and decent men don't do what Paterno did. Good and decent men protect kids, not rapists. And to think Paterno comes from "father" in Italian. This throws a can of black paint on anything anybody tells me about Paterno from here on in. "No NCAA violations in all those years." I believe it. He was great at hiding stuff. "He gave $4 million to the library." In exchange for what? "He cared about kids away from the football field." No, he didn't. Not all of them. Not when it really mattered. What a tool I was. As Joe Paterno lay dying, I actually felt sorry for him. Little did I know he was taking all of his dirty secrets to the grave. Nine days before he died, he had The Washington Post's Sally Jenkins in his kitchen. He could've admitted it then. Could've tried a simple "I'm sorry." But he didn't. Instead, he just lied deeper. Right to her face. Right to all of our faces. That professor was right, all those years ago. I was engaging in hagiography. So was that school. So was that town. It was dangerous. Turns out it builds monsters. Not all of them ended up in prison.

Cold in the Summer?

2012-07-15T07:13:00.002-04:00

How is it possible that I have cold in the heat of the summer? I am in pain. Annoying pain. I am suffering through what started as a sore throat for a few days to a horribly stuffed nose and general weakness. Now it feels like a weight is on my chest. This is a unfortunate feeling. Let's just hope that it subsides quickly. Having a cold in the summer ruins the fun.

Am I Radical?!

2012-07-14T05:05:00.000-04:00

I had someone tell me that a friend of mine described me as a "Radical conservative Republican" and I was troubled. Am I radical? What am I radical about?

That I don't like the killing of babies? That I love America and capitalism? That I want less government in our daily lives? That I adore Washington, Franklin, Lincoln, and Reagan? I am so confused? What leaves this impression?

We are a center-right country. My values align with the majority of Americans.

I am obviously not portraying myself correctly.

Elmo's Song

2012-07-13T05:00:00.001-04:00

This is my world now. Courtesy of a little boy who loves Elmo and Sesame Street.

Tea Party Is NOT Racist

2012-07-12T05:33:00.000-04:00

What the heck does the Tea Party have to do with racism? These perceptions are so annoying. I loved James Earl Jones in Field of Dreams but these statements are troubling.

Tea party to James Earl Jones: Apologize
By CAITLIN MCDEVITT 7/11/12 2:34 PM EDT

James Earl Jones is in hot water with the tea party.

The Tea Party Patriots, which describes itself as the nation’s largest tea party organization, called on the actor “to apologize for his divisive and irresponsible comments” in an email sent to reporters on Wednesday.

On the “Smiley and West” radio show, Jones recently said, “I think I have figured out the tea party. I think I do understand racism because I was taught to be one by my grandmother.”

“This is another example of an actor playing the politics of division and deceit,” Jenny Beth Martin, national coordinator of Tea Party Patriots, said in a statement.

My Delving Into Local Politics

2012-07-11T05:00:00.000-04:00

So I had my third Parks and Recreation Committee meeting last night at City Hall. We again kicked tires around but at least this time the City Manager was there to listen. I expressed that my goal is to make Auburn a place that young people want to live in when they graduate from college. Sadly many of my friends moved away. I explained that the parks have gone to the _____ and that we needed to do something about it. Everyone has great intentions on the committee. Sadly, however, we have no real teeth. Hopefully we will eventually get some things accomplished beyond talk. Following the meeting I got to have a wonderful conversation with one of the Auburn movers and shakers. I explained to her that the groups she is involved in, IGNITE, Leadership Cayuga, Stardust, AIDA, and on and on are filled with the same names. It seems so clicky to me and no conservatives are involved. I explained myself and many others are interested. I think I ruffled her feathers a little which was not my intent. I really do not think she realized that they are all filled with liberal thought alone. I think she genuinely wants to make Auburn a better place. But I wanted her to know so do me and my conservative friends. Maybe I earned an invite to Ignite.

83% of Doctors Consider Quitting Because of Obamacare

2012-07-10T04:00:00.000-04:00

This is staggering.

Report: 83 percent of doctors have considered quitting over Obamacare
2:20 PM 07/09/2012 Eighty-three percent of American physicians have considered leaving their practices over President Barack Obama’s health care reform law, according to a survey released by the Doctor Patient Medical Association. The DPMA, a non-partisan association of doctors and patients, surveyed a random selection of 699 doctors nationwide. The survey found that the majority have thought about bailing out of their careers over the legislation, which was upheld last month by the Supreme Court. Even if doctors do not quit their jobs over the ruling, America will face a shortage of at least 90,000 doctors by 2020. The new health care law increases demand for physicians by expanding insurance coverage. This change will exacerbate the current shortage as more Americans live past 65. By 2025 the shortage will balloon to over 130,000, Len Marquez, the director of government relations at the American Association of Medical Colleges, told The Daily Caller. “One of our primary concerns is that you’ve got an aging physician workforce and you have these new beneficiaries — these newly insured people — coming through the system,” he said. “There will be strains and there will be physician shortages.” The DPMA found that many doctors do not believe the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will lead to better access to medical care for the majority of Americans, co-founder of the DPMA Kathryn Serkes told TheDC. “Doctors clearly understand what Washington does not — that a piece of paper that says you are ‘covered’ by insurance or ‘enrolled’ in Medicare or Medicaid does not translate to actual medical care when doctors can’t afford to see patients at the lowball payments, and patients have to jump through government and insurance company bureaucratic hoops,” she said. (SEE ALSO: Jeremiah Wright: ‘White racist alien DNA’ running through synapses of Obama’s brain ) The American Medical Association, which endorsed Obama’s health care overhaul, was not able to immediately offer comment on the survey. Spokesperson Heather Lasher Todd said it would take time to review the information in the survey. Janelle Davis of the American Academy of Family Physicians said the AAFP could not provide thoughtful commentary without studying the survey’s findings and methodology.

YouTube for Dad

2012-07-09T05:06:00.000-04:00

Well, heaven help me, my dad has made some Youtube videos. It is his typical ranting on politics and hatred for the New York Yankees for the first couple. Let's hope not too many get flagged as inappropriate! Just search Billy Kufs and you are sure to find them.

My Strange Addiction

2012-07-08T05:07:00.000-04:00

Urine. This speaks for itself.

Jason Mraz Again Has a Favorite Song of Mine

2012-07-07T05:20:00.000-04:00

"I Won't Give Up" by Jason Mraz is a fantastic song!

"Drive By" by Train is a Billy Favorite

2012-07-06T05:00:00.000-04:00

When it comes to dancing this is one of Billy's favorites:

Braedon Gait and Julia Goodwin singing Lazy Day

2012-07-05T07:21:00.003-04:00

This is pretty solid for two teenagers from Syracuse, NY. I have posted Julia before, she was the little girl with my wife in the number from the musical Secret Garden in 2008.

Happy Independence Day!

2012-07-04T05:42:00.000-04:00

Obamacare Truths

2012-07-03T05:06:00.000-04:00

Three parts of Obamacare with page numbers that I found especially frightening:

- Obamacare Page 167: Any individual who doesn't have acceptable healthcare (according to the government) will be taxed 2.5% of income.

- Obamacare Page 59: The federal government will have direct, real-time access to all individual bank accounts for electronic funds transfer.

- Obamacare Page 30: the federal government will decide what treatments that you get and unlike w/ insurers- no appeals.

We MUST elect Romney and GOP Senators and scrap this entire law. This does not mean that we cannot find a way to fix coverage gaps. Understand that the poor in this country already get free care. To force others is wrong on so many levels. And disgusting.