T-Mac's Smack

I've moved

2007-08-10T08:25:00.002-07:00

Hey folks, I don't know why our computer people didn't tell me I needed to do this sooner, (they're computer people, what can I tell you). But this blog site has moved. (Now the computer people told me where to tell you to go to find it, but they don't seem to realize that everytime they open their mouths I'm swearing some sort of Martian language is coming out.) I'll see what I can do to find myself.

HA. HA. A computer person slipped up and spoke English. I'm found..
Go here. Read my blog. Comment, banter, cuss computer people ... Woo Hoo
http://www.nwfdailynews.com/blog/user.php

I've moved

2007-08-10T08:25:00.001-07:00

Equal time for my GOP friends

2007-07-25T15:38:00.000-07:00

Somebody recently responded to a blog I wrote that sorta questioned the sanity of those who worship Bill O'Reilly, by calling me a "good little Democrat."

To that person I say "I ain't a good little nothin'."

Anyway, I've got a little something to make you Republicans smile. 'Cause I do love ya. Really.

A cannibal was walking through the jungle and came upon a restaurant operated by a fellow cannibal.
Feeling somewhat hungry, he sat down and looked overThe menu...

+ Broiled Missionary: $10.00
+ Fried Explorer: $15.00
+ Grilled Republican: $20.00
+ Baked Democrat: $100.00

The cannibal called the waiter over and asked, 'Why such a price difference for the Democrat?'

The cook replied, "Have you ever tried to clean one? They're so full of (poop) , it takes all morning."

Good quote

2007-07-23T08:13:00.001-07:00

Good ol' Ben.

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote."
- Benjamin Franklin, 1759

More plastic stuff

2007-07-23T08:08:00.000-07:00

This article was discovered for me by someone who listens to NPR (try it sometime, you may give up Bill O'Reilly forever)

Anyway, it adds a little more information to the discussion we were having about all the plastic that is finding its way into our oceans.

Battle over Method Thwarts Bottle Recycling
by Nancy Cohen

Morning Edition,

July 23, 2007 · Companies that reclaim the plastic resin from empty beverage bottles say they can't get enough of the stuff. However, fewer than one-quarter of the billions of plastic bottles Americans purchase every year are recycled.
Some of the worst places for recycling are large public events. For instance, baseball games at Boston's Fenway Park draw more than 36,000 fans, but there are no recycling containers in sight.
A Little League park in Mansfield, Conn., may have a better game plan — a transparent receptacle with a recycling symbol stamped on the outside. The containers have increased the recycling of bottles and cans in town parks by about 60 percent.
"It was like 'Yes! This is the answer to public events!'" says Virginia Walton, Mansfield's recycling coordinator.
Walton says the key to getting people to recycle more is to give them a way to do it — and make it a no-brainer.
'Bottomless' Demand for Bottles to Recycle
Public recycling bins of any kind are rare in the United States, but the industry that recycles the bottles' plastic resin, known as PET, is hungry for more to make fabric, carpets and new bottles, says Michael Schedler of the National Association for PET Container Resources.
"The demand is almost bottomless at this point," Schedler says. "There's so much new demand coming on and existing demand can't be met."
Across the country, recycling programs for plastic bottles are a hodgepodge — each state and town does its own thing. Some recycle plastic at the curb; others at drop-off centers. Some don't recycle at all.
Allen Hershkowitz of the Natural Resources Defense Council says container deposit laws, also known as "bottle bills," give a financial incentive to recycle.
"People realize in bottle-bill states that throwing out a can with a deposit on it is, in effect, throwing out a dime or a nickel," Hershkowitz says.
Many Grocers, Bottlers Oppose Deposit Laws
The 11 states with bottle bills account for more than 60 percent of the PET plastic recycled in the United States. But many grocers are against deposits.
"It's somewhat dirty, it's inconvenient and it actually costs us money," says Ken Capano, who owns two ShopRite stores in Connecticut.
Capano says the deposit law in his state places too much of the burden of recycling on grocers, who have to provide space and machines to take the bottles back. It costs each of his stores about $20,000 a year, he says.
Bottlers, who have to administer container deposits in some states, also oppose the laws. Susan Neely, president of the American Beverage Association, says curbside programs work better.
"The key is a comprehensive program that draws in not just bottles and cans but milk jugs and newspapers and magazines and detergent bottles and all the things that make up the waste in our communities," Neely says.
In California, the deposit program funds curbside recycling. Jim Hill of the California Department of Conservation says the state uses the money from bottles and cans that aren't returned. That adds up to $250 million a year.
"Curbside systems, drop-off systems all working together, I think, is the best approach to get the best bang for your buck," Hill says.
California also addresses some of the grocers' concerns. Instead of supermarkets taking back the bottles, independent redemption centers do. The state also puts a deposit on all beverage containers except milk and wine.
Some Say Laws Should Target More Than Bottles
Kim Jeffrey, president and CEO of Nestle Waters North America, says he's not against container deposits, but he says beverages should not be the only containers targeted.
"Everybody that sells a plastic container that's recyclable should have some deposit on it if we're going to do this thing the right way," Jeffrey says.
And he means everybody.
"If it's P&G with a detergent container; if it's ConAgra with a peanut butter container; or if it's me with a bottled water container; or if it's a dairy with a one-gallon milk container — this should be a level playing field on this," Jeffrey says.
Hershkowitz says that if Americans don't recycle more plastic, other problems will get worse.
"Petroleum-based plastics emit enormous amounts of hazardous emissions and greenhouse gases during the acquisition of the petroleum and the transformation of that petroleum into a plastic product," he says.
Hershkowitz says recycling avoids that pollution, but making recycling work isn't a national priority. However, the growing market demand for empties may trigger a new commitment.

Craig's response

2007-07-19T13:49:00.000-07:00

Well now I told ya'll yesterday that I was going to eventually talk to Toni Craig, the head of the Okaloosa County Democratic Party and get some thoughts from her on John McDaniel's candidacy for the 5th District House of Representatives seat.

I did.

Craig believes McDaniel's candidacy will represent her party's first real challenge of the Republican Party's complete dominance in this region.

Part of the challenge will be energizing Democratic voters in Okaloosa County, which owns about 35 percent of the total voters in the mostly rural house district that stretches from Fort Walton Beach to out by Marianna, where McDaniel, Jackson County's sheriff, is from .

Craig said the state Democratic Party is also enthused by McDaniel's candidacy ... maybe too enthused. "They're getting him out there sooner than he wants to be," she said.

Craig also said she believes Okaloosa County Commissioner Sherry Campbell will be the front runner in what is now a three person race for the Republican nomination in District 5.

A new day??????

2007-07-18T14:15:00.001-07:00

Strange as it might seem to you and I, the St. Petersburg Times is gotten all atwitter at the notion of a Democrat running for office in what they so boorishly refer to as "The Panhandle."

(For the folks that still call this newspaper the "Playground Daily News, our region is long past being called the Panhandle. We're the Emerald Coast, or Northwest Florida --- at least right up until the time the St. Joe Company gets into enough Chamber of Commerce pockets to convince us all that we really should be Florida's Great Northwest.)

Anyway, there's this Democrat, name 'o John McDaniel, who's announced his intention to run to fill the District 5 state House seat currently occupied by Rep. Don Brown, a Republican from DeFuniak Springs.

Mr. McDaniel is the sheriff of Jackson County. So he's a gun-totin' Democrat. That's got to be worth something. Former House Speaker Allan Bense though, told the St. Pete Times he thinks Jackson's got a major undertaking on his hands.

Toni Craig, Okaloosa County's Democratic Party chairman (Hee Hee. Okaloosa's Democratic Party, tickles me even to type it) obviously thinks Mr. McDaniel "Johnny Mac" has got a good chance. She's the one that notified me of the St. Pete story.

Ms. Craig could not be reached for comment for this particular blog, at least not yet.

(always evolving media that Internet.)

And you know, he could. There's a lot more Democrats over there near Marianna where McDaniel is from then there are here. Might be interesting.

By the way, in the interest of fairness, I probably need to mention that there are three GOPers' already chomping at the bit to replace Brown, who is leaving because of term limits. They are Brown's legislative assitant Brad Drake (who has been with the representative since he was first elected in 2000) Okaloosa County Commissioner Sherry Campbell and Andrew Dwyer, who the Times reports is the proud "owner of a janitorial company."

And one other little aside. I'm going to miss Rep. Brown when he's gone. I like his guts ... and ... to this date he is the first and only state representative to ever pull me out of a fire ant bed.

What do you think of Johnnie Mac's chances? What do you think of a member of this Okaloosa County Commission running for state office? What do you think about being referred to as the Panhandle? What do you think about having St. Joe Company shove "Florida's Great Northwest" down our throat.

And what do you think about the vast number of fire ant beds in this region and does knowing that Don Brown pulled me out of one lessen your opinion of him?

wonderful, just wonderful

2007-07-16T13:09:00.000-07:00

Here's a little breaking news from a group called Friends of the Earth

Make anybody feel like advocating for nuclear power?

World’s Most Powerful Nuclear Reactor Catches Fire
July 16, 2007

World's Most Powerful Nuclear Reactor Catches Fire, Leaks Radioactive Waste into Sea after Earthquake

Accident in Japan serves as reminder that nuclear power is not safe, says Friends of the Earth Executive Director Norm Dean

KASHIWAZAKI, JAPAN -- The Associated Press is reporting that the world's most powerful nuclear reactor caught fire and leaked 325 gallons of radioactive wastewater into the Sea of Japan today after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake in the northwestern part of Japan.
Friends of the Earth-U.S. Executive Director Norman Dean issued the following statement in response:
"This accident is a reminder that nuclear power is not safe," said Dean. "Nuclear reactors are vulnerable to natural disasters and unintentional human errors, as well as intentional sabotage such as a terrorist attack. There is also the long-term problem of transporting and storing radioactive nuclear waste once it is used. Like the disaster at Chernobyl and near-disaster at Three Mile Island, today's accident reminds us that nuclear power is hardly the safe panacea its supporters claim it to be. Energy conservation and wind and solar power are cleaner and safer than nuclear power, and they are a better way to fight global warming."

All good things ...

2007-07-16T08:21:00.000-07:00

Found this on the World Wide Web. What is this world coming to?

Vt. Town Considers Banning Nudity

By JOHN CURRAN Associated Press Writer

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. — Topless women on parade? That was fine. Teenagers loitering in the buff, in a downtown parking lot? No problem. Naked sunbathers at swimming holes? It was just au naturel.
But a senior citizen in his birthday suit, walking through the center of town on a Friday night, wearing only a fanny pack? That's where Brattleboro draws a fig leaf.
After years of allowing public nudity, the town famous for its strip-and-let-strip attitude is considering banning it in parts of town, saying naked notoriety has begun drawing people here and is offending locals.
The town's Select Board plans to introduce an emergency ordinance banning nudity in some parts of town Tuesday.
"Just because you can doesn't mean you should," said Select Board member Dick DeGray. "You can't go into a store and buy an adult magazine until you're 18, and yet you can walk down the street in Vermont and see naked people. There's something wrong with that picture."
On July 6, a 68-year-old man showed up naked downtown, walking the streets during Gallery Walk, a monthly social event in which people roam downtown, stopping in art galleries and shops. Gallery owner Suzanne Corsano was locking up for the night when she encountered him on a sidewalk.
"Naked people don't impress me," said Corsano, 60. "But to be walking down the street like that. I just looked straight at him, and he looked down. He was trying to get me to look down there, but I wouldn't."
The man told residents he was from Arizona and had decided to vacation in Brattleboro after reading about its public nudity freedom on the Internet.
Vermont has no state laws against public nudity, although a handful of cities and towns have enacted anti-nudity ordinances.

Like a wise man once said. "You cain't make this stuff up."

I particularly like the "there's something wrong with this picture" quote. So apropo.

Idiot sighting

2007-07-13T11:22:00.000-07:00

A little Friday humor. Do you have any "idiot sightings" of your own?

The people you work with are actually smarter than you think!

IDIOT SIGHTING:
I had to have the garage door repaired. The Sears repairman told us
that one of our problems was that we did not have a "large" enough
motor on the opener. I thought for a minute, and said that we had the
largest one Sears made at that time a 1/2 horsepower. He shook his
head and said, "Lady, you need a 1/4 horsepower." I responded that
1/2 was larger than 1/4. He said, "NO, it's not." Four is larger than
two. We haven't used Sears repair since.

______________________________________

IDIOT SIGHTING:
I live in a semi rural area. We recently had a new neighbor call the
local township administrative office to request the removal of the
Deer Crossing sign on our road. The reason: "Too many deer are being
hit by cars out here! I don't think this is a good place for them to
be crossing anymore."

From Kingman, KS

____________________________________

IDIOTS IN FOOD SERVICE:
My daughter went to a local Taco Bell and ordered a taco. She asked
the person behind the counter for "minimal lettuce." He said he was
sorry, but they only had iceberg. He was a Chef?

Yep...From Kansas City!

______________________________________

IDIOT SIGHTING:
I was at the airport, checking in at the gate when an airport
employee asked, and "Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge. To which I replied, "If it was without my knowledge, how
would I know?" He smiled knowingly and nodded, "That's why we ask."

Happened in Birmingham, Ala.

_________________________________________

IDIOT SIGHTING:
The stoplight on the corner buzzes when it’s safe to cross the street.
I was crossing with an intellectually challenged coworker of mine.
She asked if I knew what the buzzer was for. I explained that it
signals blind people when the light is red. Appalled, she responded,
"What on earth are blind people doing driving?!" She was a probation
officer in Wichita, KS

__________________________________________

IDIOT SIGHTING:
At a good-bye luncheon for an old and dear coworker who was leaving
the company due to "downsizing." Our manager commented cheerfully,
"This is fun. We should do this more often." Not another word was
spoken. We all just looked at each other with that
deer-in-the-headlights stare. This was a bunch at Texas Instruments.

________________________________________

IDIOT SIGHTING:
I work with an individual who plugged her power strip back into
itself and for the sake of her own life, couldn't understand why her
system would not turn on. A deputy with the Dallas County Sheriffs
office no less.

___________________________________________

IDIOT SIGHTING:
When my husband and I arrived at an automobile dealership to pick up
our car, we were told the keys had been locked in it. We went to the
service department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock
the driver’s side door. As I watched from the passenger side, I
instinctively tried the door handle and discovered that it was
unlocked. "Hey," I announced to the technician, "its open! His reply,
"I know - I already got that side." This was at the Ford dealership
in Canton, Mississippi!

Scary stuff

2007-07-11T12:49:00.000-07:00

This is one of the scariest things I think I've ever read. Call me a tree hugger if you will, but if these excerpts from Alan Weisman's "The World Without Us" are as accurate as I believe them to be ... then it's past time to get off our collective rumps and do something to save the world from ourselves.

The excerpt describes an adventure undertaken by a Capt. Charles Moore of Long Beach, Calif. Moore sailed out of Honolulu into something known as the Horse Latitudes, or scientifically, as the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. The gyre is a Texas-sized span of ocean between Hawaii and California described as a "slowly rotating high-pressure vortex of hot equatorial air that inhales wind and never gves it back. Beneath it, the water describes lazy clockwise whorls toward a depression at the center."

"Moore had wandered into a sump where nearly everything that blows into the water from half the Pacific Rim eventually ends up," Weisman said in the book.

"For a week, Moore and his crew found themselves crossing a sea the size of a small continent, covered with floating refuse ... what was bobbing around them was a fright of cups, bottle caps, tangles of fish netting and monofilament line, bits of polystyrene packaging, six-pack rings spent balloons, filmy scraps of sandwich wrap and limp plastic bags that defied counting."

Note, everything was plastic in one form or another.

"The real reason that the world's landfills weren't overflowing with plastic, he (Moore) found," said the excerpt, run in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, "was because most of it ends up in an ocean-fill."

Some things Moore later discovered, as related in the excerpt article.

By 2005, the Pacific dump was "referred to" as 10 million square miles.

Plastic debris, Moore believed, had become the "most common surface feature of the world's oceans."

All this had occurred within about 60 years, when plastics became prevalent in our lives.

There are six other major tropical oceanic gyres much like the one between Hawaii and California.

Thoughts?

Heeee's back.

2007-07-11T08:20:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been away so long. Hope all of you haven't abandoned me. Here's a little something to catch your attention. And hopefully, induce a comment or two.

Pizzeria serves up a steamy side of porn

COMMENTARY
By Al Olson
Associate Editor
MSNBC
It’s not the secret pizza sauce. It’s not the blend of Italian cheeses. And it’s not the spicy pepperoni.
So, what is it that makes this pizza so popular? Porn.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, sex sells. And Canadian entrepreneur Corey Wildeman is exploiting this well-worn business adage to its fullest by serving steaming hot pizza — with a side of steaming hot pornography. And he has certainly aroused attention.
[Marker]When you order a pizza from Porno Pizza in Winnipeg, Ontario, you get a pornographic photo on the bottom of the cardboard box. The racy image is revealed as you eat the pizza.
Wildeman opened up his pizzeria last month and wanted to create a buzz. He needed a marketing gimmick. He got his inspiration from classic porno flicks where "pizza delivery guys meet lonely ladies and deliver more than just pizza," he said.
According to the 30-year-old purveyor of pizza and porn, his enterprise is completely legal. Customers must show identification proving they are at least 18 before getting their pie.
Surprisingly, according to Wildeman, more than 75 percent of his clientele are women.
"I'm pretty pleased to see that a demographic that some people might think that we're offending is actually a lot more open to the concept than society would think," he said.
Not everyone in Winnipeg is pleased. "We live in a society that is so steeped in porn that people have it delivered to the dinner table," Roz Prober of child advocacy group Beyond Borders lamented in the Winnipeg Free Press.

Of red ears, yellow bellies and reptiles in the SEC

2007-07-02T14:37:00.000-07:00

This just in from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

New rules for red-eared slider take effect July 1

Beginning July 1, people no longer may purchase red-eared sliders -- common pet store turtles. A new rule passed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) prohibits selling the species. However, anyone who already has a red-eared slider may keep it, under the new rule.
“This exemption was included to allow owners of red-eared sliders to keep their turtles and discourage them from releasing this nonnative species into the wild,” said Scott Hardin, FWC exotic species coordinator. “We want to encourage people to protect our native turtles. Red-eared slider turtles interbreed with Florida’s native yellow-bellied sliders.”
Red-eared sliders already in captivity will not be allowed to breed, so any offspring will have to be surrendered to certified red-eared slider adopters or dealers, or euthanized.
People still can buy and sell albino red-eared sliders and others with unusual color variations, often known as pastels.

So what do you get when you cross a red-eared slider with a yellow-bellied slider?

I don't know what makes me want to say "A Florida fan." I don't know, doesn't really make sense. Probably just pure hatefulness or something. 'Course, yellow and red do make orange.

Maybe I should say "A Tennessee fan."

Fending off the drillers

2007-06-29T12:47:00.000-07:00

I for one, hope the senators win this fight.

(From Senator Nelson's office)

Florida’s two senators on Wednesday wrote a stern letter of warning to colleagues they will try to block efforts underway to direct or fund seismic surveying for oil and gas off the nation’s coasts.
Sens. Bill Nelson, a Democrat, and Mel Martinez, a Republican, said they were sharing their "strong objection" to the inclusion of such language into the Energy and Water Appropriations bill.
"We believe such attempts undermine the protections for states like Florida that do not wish to have oil and gas development off their shores," they wrote.
Their letter was addressed to Sen. Byron Dorgan, a Democrat from North Dakota, and Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico, the ranking Republican on the Appropriations subcommittee on Energy and Water Development.
"If such language directing seismic surveys is included in the Energy and Water Appropriations bill, or any other legislation, we will use our senatorial rights to prevent this erosion of our coastal protections," Martinez and Nelson warned.
Aides to Dorgan and Domenici did not return telephone calls.
Environmentalists and other critics of such seismic surveying for oil and gas say they agree it would be the first step to undermining and then removing the offshore drilling moratoriums that have been in place for a quarter-century.
The underwater explosions involved in such surveys are harmful to marine life, environmental groups say.

Romney bad. "What's her name" ... not as bad

2007-06-27T10:04:00.000-07:00

Funny when you write about somebody like Mitt Romney, folks step up to give you more information. A gentleman, who claims to be a Republican, said he'd rather vote for "what's her name" (whoever that could possibly be) than Romney. And this, as reported by the Boston Herald, is why.

Romney pardons: Then versus now
By Boston Herald editorial staff
Saturday, June 16, 2007

Don’t ask Anthony Circosta of Agawam about the "Romney Legacy" because he
might just tell you.

Circosta, 29, holds a Bronze Star for his recent tour of duty in Iraq,
where he led a 20-man platoon in the Sunni Triangle in 2005. What he really
wants to do now that he’s back home is become a police officer. But he has one
blemish on an otherwise clean record. At age 13 he was arrested and convicted
of assault for shooting another kid in the arm with a BB gun. The shot did not
break the skin, but the assault conviction remains.
Twice during Mitt Romney’s term as governor, Circosta made his case to the
Board of Pardons and twice they approved it and sent it along to Gov. Romney,
who rejected the recommendation.
"I’ve done everything I can to give back to my state and my community and
my country and to get brushed aside is very frustrating," Circosta told the
Associated Press.
It was nothing personal, after all. In fact, during his four years in
office Romney received 100 requests for commutations and 175 requests for
pardons. All were denied.
Rather than actually consider each of those requests on the merits,
Romney had a policy - the policy was to reject them all out of hand. Doesn’t
that make life simpler? That way he can’t make a mistake. Nope, there will be
no Willie Horton to come back to haunt his presidential campaign.
This is how Romney described that policy to the AP:
"I took a careful review during my term as governor of the people that
were brought forward. That doesn’t mean I pardoned them, but I took a careful
review."
And what does the man who granted no pardons think about one for Scooter
Libby?
"It’s worth looking at that," he said in last week’s presidential
debate. "I will study it very closely if I’m lucky enough to be president. And
I’d keep that option open."
Take that, Anthony Circosta.

So very true

2007-06-27T07:18:00.000-07:00

A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost.
She reduced altitude and spotted a man below.
She descended a bit more and shouted, "Excuse me, can you help me? I
promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I
don't know where I am."

The man below replied, "You're in a hot air balloon hovering
approximately 30 feet above the ground. You're between 40 and 41
degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude."

"You must be an engineer," said the balloonist.

"I am," replied the man, "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is, technically
correct, but I've no idea what to make of your
information, and the fact is I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been
much help at all. If anything, you've delayed my trip."

The man below responded, "You must be in Management."

"I am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know?"

"Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are or where you're
going.You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You
made a promise, which you've no idea how to keep, and
you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is you
are in exactly the same position you were in before we
met, but now, somehow, it's my fault."

see what I go through?

2007-06-26T13:09:00.000-07:00

NEWS FROM THE FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY
For Immediate Release: June 26, 2007
(I've added a few notes of my own, as I'm apt to do.)

Urgent Memo to Florida Political Reporters Covering Romney

MEMO
To: Florida Political Reporters
From: Florida Democratic Party
Date: June 26, 2007
RE: Be Careful Covering Mitt Romney Today
The Florida Democratic Party today urges the state's political reporters who are covering former Governor Mitt Romney, Republican of Massachusetts, to be on the look out for paid campaign staff impersonating law enforcement officials who may try to inhibit your ability to cover Romney's frequent flip-flops.
This is no joke.

Darn right it's no joke. I don't want anyone inhibiting my ability to cover anybody's frequent flip-flops.

Hell, I'd even object to someone trying to inhibit my coverage of infrequent flip flops (or occasional sandals).

All Florida political reporters should be aware that a high-level traveling staffer for Romney is now under investigation in New Hampshire for impersonating a law enforcement agent when he allegedly pulled over a New York Times reporter, telling him his plates had been run and that he could not follow a Romney campaign caravan.

Probably, if he hadn't been a cop impersonator, the agent could have cited the New York Times guy for being a phony newspaper reporter, or a reporter for a phony newspaper.

Today, as Romney raises money in Florida, you may want to ask his donors if they are comfortable funding this sort of activity.

Of course. "Tell me donors, wouldn't you rather just make a check out to ME?"

Please note that the staffer in question continues to be paid by the campaign while under investigation.

And the staffer ... Drum roll please

Additionally, on a different occasion, the aide, Jay Garrity, or "Trooper" Garrity, also allegedly pulled over a reporter from a different publication, Fortune magazine. That reporter said that while trailing Romney in New Hampshire on Memorial Day for a forthcoming magazine piece, Garrity instructed her at one point to stop tailing Romney's car."

That's why they ought to give reporters tasers, to shield themselves against Mitt Romney's phony agents and get answers out of irritating county commissioners.

It's a tough job I got.

patriotism

2007-06-26T12:32:00.000-07:00

With thanks to Captain Skip Vogel (CHC) USN (Ret) (and Damon "Bloomin' SOB" Bloom) for passing this along.

From a Chaplain in Iraq.
"I recently attended a showing of "Superman 3" here at LSA Anaconda. We have a large auditorium we use for movies as well as memorial services and other large gatherings. As is the custom back in the States, we stood and snapped to attention when the National Anthem began before the main feature. All was going as planned until about three-quarters of the way through the National Anthem the music stopped. Now, what would happen if this occurred with 1,000 18-22 year-olds back in the States? I imagine there would be hoots, catcalls, laughter, a few rude comments, and everyone would sit down and call for a movie. Of course, that is, if they had stood for the National Anthem in the first place. Here, the 1,000 soldiers continued to stand at attention, eyes fixed forward. The music started again. The soldiers continued to quietly stand at attention. And again, at the same point, the music stopped. What would you expect to happen? Even here I would imagine laughter as everyone sat down and expected the movie to start. Here, you could have heard a pin drop. Every soldier stood at attention. Suddenly there was a lone voice, then a dozen, and quickly the room was filled with the voices of a thousand soldiers 'And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave, o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?' It was the most inspiring moment I have had here in Iraq. I wanted you to know what kind of Soldiers are serving you here.
===================
Written by Chaplain Jim Higgins on 5/14/07. LSA Anaconda is at the Balad Airport in Iraq, north of Baghdad"

don't say you weren't warned

2007-06-26T09:07:00.000-07:00

This just in from the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office

Getting drunk drivers off the road is always a major priority for the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office. In fact in 2006 alone, deputies made 509 DUI arrests on our roadways.
On Friday, June 29th, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Enforcement Unit will take part in a countywide DUI enforcement campaign, putting out added patrols to enhance their ongoing efforts.

Asleep at the wheel

2007-06-25T14:15:00.000-07:00

Walton County officials learned recently that they were among the biggest sinners, the ones who, as state Sen. Don Gaetz often put it, "didn't leave any money on the table" when real estate valuations spiked during 2004-05. That's why the county is being forced to cut its ad valorem taxes by 9 percent.

Sooo what's their response to this news?

"Let's buy a $1.75 million park."

I just don't get it.

Here's something

2007-06-22T14:05:00.000-07:00

"Hi Everyone!!Hope all of you are doing GREAT!Wanted to ask a favor of my friends. PAWS is in desperate need of towels and sheets, blankets and comforters. Could you please take a look through your linen closet and gather any old, tired and unused items for us!? These towels and sheets are used for bedding for cats, kittens, dogs and puppies as well as for drying after bathing and for multiple uses in our veterinary clinic. We would be most appreciative if you could put an e-mail out to your friends, family and co-workers letting them know of the need as well! If you work for a company, can you please either send out an e-mail to your co-workers or just ask around? If a large amount of items are collected at a central location we would be more than happy to come pick up. If you have items for donation and would like to drop them off we are located right where the old back gate to Hurlburt used to be….752 Lovejoy Road.THANK you so much in advance from the wonderful animals at PAWS!!!

Tricia Panhandle Animal Welfare Society"

All my new friends

2007-06-20T13:15:00.000-07:00

Amadou Diop, a barrister from Senegal of all places, contacted me today. A client of his just died in a tragic automobile accident. For some reason, out of all six billion people on the planet, he decided I should be the guy he need to "assist" him "in repatriating money left behind by his client before they get confiscated by the security $ finance company where this huge deposit($19.5million)."

Good English there Amadou buddy. Well, you are from Senegal.
Amadou promises he'll pay me handsomely, I'm thinking millions here, if I help him hide his bucks. He said our deal would be "mutual beneficial."
(Don't laugh, not all American "barristers" are good at grammar either.

Amadou's going to have to wait in line though, that's because ...

James Tamey contacted me recently about the death of a guy named David McLaughlin ... no lie. I'm reckoning he's got to be a long lost relative. Here's what Mr. Tamey had to say:

"I wish to notify you that I listed you as beneficiary to the total sum of (Twelve Million
Eight Hundred Thousand British Pounds) in the codicil,last testament of the deceased.

"Until his death he was a private contractor and a great philanthropist during his lifetime,
he died on 9th January 2006 at the age of 68.

"He was buried on the 3rd of February and although he is a foreigner living and working here,
he requested before his death that he be buried here in his words ...

as opposed to the dirt, I guess ...

"I therefore reckoned that you could receive this funds as you are qualified (now this is funny) by your name i
density

(I'm qualified to make $12 million thanks to "i density." Wonder if that's supposed to be "eye density.")

"all your necessary information's
(My necessary information's, what a hoot) will be passed to the bank which the funds are deposited on
your response."

On the same day Mr. Tamey contacted me, another guy, Ahmed Kamokai, emailed me too. He wanted me to help him launder several million too, and promised to reward me handsomely for doing so.

I must have been in a funk when Mr. Kamokai emailed me. I sent him a nasty email, called him a sleazy crook and promised I'd put him in my blog.

I'm a man of my word.

Funny thing about my new friends; Amadou, Ahmed and James (Danged if there isn't a country song in there somewhere). They all needed info from me. The SAME info.

Full name.........................
Detailed address..................
Occupation.......................
Work status......................
Marital status..................
Age.............................
Your Telephone & Fax:............................

I'm sure they would have gotten around to ask for my bank account number eventually.

I love the Internet

history repeats

2007-06-19T14:26:00.000-07:00

These couple of paragraphs appeared in a story this newspaper published in August of 1994, 13 years ago.

However, said Caseli, the agencies charged with regulating aquatic facilities are not doing their jobs at the Gulfarium or at any other aquatic park.

``The federal government needs to be prodded to do their job,'' she said.

On May 17, this newspaper made a request to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, a division of the United State's Department of Agriculture, for several years worth of reports compiled following what are supposed to be annual inspections conducted at the Gulfarium on Okaloosa Island. Several requests for production of these reports have been made since. No reports have been released.

On May 22 APHIS, as it is called, led a surprise three agency inspection at Gulfarium, compiled a report and has made that report available to Gulfarium staff and to the National Marine Fisheries Service, another agency involved in the investigation. APHIS officials have refused to release that report to the public.

Know what I think?

The federal government needs to be prodded to do their job.

That's what I think.

made following several annual inspections

some shots

2007-06-19T09:15:00.000-07:00

Wasn't long after the legislature adjourned following its special session dedicated to cutting property taxes that our Republican friends started cracking on the state's Democrats for opposing a constitutional amendment that would create what's being called a "super-exemption" for homestead properties.

Tax cuts are a "core issue" said state Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville.

"The Democrats fell back on their core belief that it's the governments money," Gaetz said. "Republicans believe that people are better off with their money."

"For anyone who wanted to know the difference between a conservative and a liberal, a Republican or a Democrat, this was the debate," Gaetz said.

State Rep. Ray Sansom, R-Destin, echoed the comments of his good friend.

"The true colors of the Democratic Party came out this week," he said. "Republicans want to cut taxes, Democrats don't."

Tote that party line and keep it on message, fellas. Keep it on message.

Say it ain't so ...

2007-06-14T14:45:00.000-07:00

I've heard it said a couple times this week that "When you become a homeowner you become a Republican."

ARRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH

I think it may be happening to (GULP) me.

Have I mentioned ...

ARRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH?

All I know for sure is that I bought a townhouse last September and ever since then have been really interested in seeing somebody cut property taxes.

(And don't try to defend not doing so with cuts in services. I am very intimately aware of the growth of government numbers we've been seeing over the last few years.)

Now the damn I mean Democrats are fighting tooth and nail to prevent state Republicans from making the proposed cuts they want to make.

I stand to see 7 percent knocked off my county property taxes, 5 percent knocked off my city property taxes and 75 percent of my homestead exempted and these bums want to stop me from getting that based on some fabricated losses to school funding.

Wake up Dems and quit playing politics.