I’ve oftentimes criticized that phrase for being meaningless in a political campaign.  Especially when the person using it lacks substantive, meaningful positions.

Jon Powers, the former Army captain and Iraq War veteran running for Congress, will reimburse the $4,000 he charged his campaign for renting his home as his campaign office, his campaign manager says.

“The campaign may not pay for mortgage, rent or utilities for the personal residence of the candidate or the candidate’s family even if part of the residence is being used by the campaign,” according to the Federal Election Commission’s campaign guide for congressional candidates.

It looks like Jon Powers’ chickens have come home to roost.  Here’s his campaign in a nutshell:

Powers’ campaign of “leadership by example” is about listening to everyday Western New Yorkers, meeting our challenges, and providing reasonable, cost-effective solutions to the problems that impact real people in their daily lives.

Politicians violating the law is not the type of example we need our elected officials to follow.

The Buffalo News: City & Region: Powers to pay back money received from campaign to rent his house

National, New York State, Ridiculous | 2 Comments »

Recently, I was in the hospital for 3 days.  I am fine now.  The experience was illuminating in more ways than one.

$65 million was awarded to Kaleida Health to help close Millard Fillmore Gates Circle Hospital and move services to Buffalo General Hospital,

My whole experience doesn’t jive with the so-called need to close area hospitals, especially at a tremendous cost to taxpayers.  I waited about 5 hours to be seen in the emergency room at Millard Fillmore Suburban.  It was 2 or 3 more hours before a doctor, who had to be called in from Millard Fillmore Gates, saw me.

I needed to be admitted but there were no beds available, so I spent the night in the Emergency Room.  Late the next morning, a doctor, whom I presume to be one of the heads of the ER, told my nurse to call my doctor and downgrade my condition so I could be placed on a floor that didn’t correspond to what my doctor had ordered.  Beds were needed in the ER.

During my stay, I witnessed patients who were in Suburban while waiting for a bed to open up at Gates Circle.

The whole experience seemed to indicate a shortage of hospital beds.  Yet, we taxpayers are forking over 100’s of millions of dollars to assist the closing of hospitals.  It makes no sense!

State aids Kaleida in closing Millard Gates - Business First of Buffalo:

Government Waste, New York State, Rants, Ridiculous | No Comments »

The battle of the bureaucracies is about to begin.  The two titans of government waste and inefficiency disagree on the safety of cloned animals used for food.

The FDA Says Clones Are Safe For Food even as the USDA Recommends That Food From Clones Stay Off the Market.  What is a consumer to do?

First, abolish both dreadful agencies and save the taxpayers some money.  Second, enact a simple law requiring that food from cloned animals is labeled and let the consumers and the market decide what is best.

Government Waste, National, Ridiculous | No Comments »

Salon.com has published an illuminating list of quotes from 2007.  Here are three of my favorites from the list.  You can check them all out here.

• “When I talk to senior government officials on the phone, it’s my own policy — our conversations are confidential. If I want to use anything from that conversation, then I will ask permission” —

Tim Russert, under oath at the Lewis Libby trial, citing the textbook function of a government propagandist to explain his role as a “journalist.”

• “I suggested we put the vice president on ‘Meet the Press,’ which was a tactic we often used. It’s our best format,” as it allows us to “control the message” —

Cheney media aide Cathie Martin, under oath at the Libby trial, making clear how well Russert fulfills his function.

• “Our most basic civil liberty is the right to be kept alive” —

Mitt Romney, invoking the cowardly flagship of the modern GOP in arguing for limitless presidential powers and, with one short sentence, completely repudiating the core, founding American political value as most famously expressed by Patrick Henry.

Musings, Ridiculous | No Comments »

The decision to move the Gateway Harbor concerts out of North Tonawanda to Lockport is short-sighted at best.  NT’s mayor’s animosity toward the concert promoters certainly did not help the situation.

After a six-year run in North Tonawanda’s Gateway Harbor, the massively popular Molson Canal Concert Series is moving to the City of Lockport.

North Tonawanda Common Council President Brett Sommer confirmed late Tuesday that the decision by promoters had been made to move locations, leaving the Twin Cities shut out of the free shows that drew tens of thousands annually to the Erie Canal’s shore.

Sommer, a Republican, criticized Democratic Mayor Larry Soos for making comments that Sommer said “opened the door” for promoters to seek a new venue outside the Tonawandas.

Soos on Tuesday denied saying he wanting the concerts to leave, though he told the Tonawanda News near the end of the 2007 series that the promoters could “take it to Wheatfield.”

The Gateway Concerts were close and convenient for many people, especially residents of the Tonawandas, Amherst, North Buffalo and Kenmore.  Lockport will have a tough time attracting many of those residents.

The location along the canal in NT was ideally suited for concerts.

Read it all:  Niagara Gazette - NORTH TONAWANDA: Molson concerts to leave NT

Music, Rants, Ridiculous | No Comments »

The politics of fear is alive and well in Buffalo.  I find the prospect of being searched, in order to board the Metrorail, very intrusive.  I would probably elect to find other transportation if I were to be singled out for a search.  Also, the NYS Terrorism Tips Hotline is totally unnecessary.  People can call 911 to report the bogey man.

I haven’t been on the 2nd floor of the Main Place Mall in quite some time and was pleasantly surprised at the food court.  I ordered lunch from Buffalo Beef & Wing and had a decent Reuben sandwich, chips and a soda for only $5.50.  It was definitely a cut above the typical fast-food fare I was expecting to find.

It would be downright foolish to eliminate the Theater District Metrorail stop.  The distance might not be that great from the Fountain Plaza stop, but the wind chill downtown is enough reason to keep the stop. 

Speaking of the Theater District, it sure was dead at 3 PM this afternoon.

Buffalo, Food & Dining, Government, Ridiculous | No Comments »

In today’s Buffalo News we find out the Generals in Iraq say they need more time. Quelle surprise! For months we’ve been hearing that no new decisions will be made on Iraq until the September report is out. Now the Generals want up to 2 more years to “assess” the situation. Barely 40% of Baghdad is under control, what makes them think 2 more years is going to make any difference?

Bush revives CIA program on terrorist interrogation. Condensed version: Torture is in, torture is out, now it is in again!

On a brighter note, airlines to allow lighters again. As of August 4, the restriction on carrying more than 3 ounces of breast milk on a plane will be eased. Now if we could only carry those pesky 3.2 ounce tubes of killer toothpaste with us.

Technorati tags: news, United States, war on terror, liberties, airlines

Government, Musings, Rants, Ridiculous | No Comments »

Illegal immigration is OK when it benefits the governments illegal acts of aggression.  The price of citizenship is going up, the cost might be your life! 

A senior US defense officials today urged the Congress to fast track a section of the stalled immigration bill that would allow the military to recruit illegal aliens, after recruitment figures released by Pentagon showed that the Army failed to reach its targets for May.

The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors, or DREAM, provision in the immigration bill was expected to help boost military recruiting by allowing illegal aliens to enlist as way to obtain citizenship, Bill Carr, acting deputy undersecretary of defense for military personnel policy, told a veterans’ group representatives.

Not only are foreign countries supporting our debt so we can wage war, now we want them to fight the wars too!

Read it all: US Army wants to enlist illegal aliens quickly as recruitment falls | Press Esc

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I hope my headline is politically correct, I certainly am not trying to imply that all females are twits. If ever there were a twit, Stephanie Miller fits the bill perfectly. She is the embodiment of everything that is wrong with the liberal talk shows. The bulk of the show consists of mindless meandering combined with asinine sound effects.

She might sit in Imus’s chair, but she can’t fill his shoes.

Update: You can email MSNBC TV to express your displeasure with this awful show.

Technorati tags: MSNBC, Stephanie Miller, stupid, brainless, mindless

Ridiculous | 3 Comments »

The global warming cabal have set their sights on Buckingham Palace.  Thanks to Nightline, we now know the following horrendous facts.

• The palace has 775 rooms
• There are 40,000 light bulbs
• 4,134 tons of CO2 emissions emanate from the palace each year

Al Gore, eat your heart out.  This makes Gore almost look like a bonafide Greenie. 

But according to environmental activists, the queen’s many expeditions have come at a dreadful cost to the planet. They see aviation as a prime cause of global warming.

“We’re talking about a global emergency,” said Graham Thompson of the environmental advocacy group Plane Stupid.  (perhaps Plain Stupid would be more appropriate) ”We’re talking about something that could wipe out most life on Earth.”

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A Chicago High School student was arrested for disorderly conduct based on an essay he wrote for his creative writing class.  The students were instructed not to censor anything and to write about anything they wished.

Adding insult to injury, a second disorderly conduct charge was leveled for scaring his teacher.  Allen Lee, an honors student, was also transferred to an Alternative School.

Chicago is quickly traveling down the road to facsism.  First it was restauranteurs being turned into criminals for selling foie gras, now wiritng fiction for a creative writing class warrants criminal charges.

source:  Essay arrest baffles experts

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This is un-American.  I was at the pregame party last Friday before the Islanders game.  I saw no evidence that beer was causing any problems.  In fact, the beer behaved itself quite well, staying in cups after being dispensed from the taps.

The Buffalo Sabres’ popular game night “Party in the Plaza” will see some key changes, starting this evening.

The outdoor party is going “alcohol- free” through the rest of the playoff run. And as of tonight, when Round Two begins with a homeopening game against the New York Rangers, Perry Street will be closed to vehicle traffic between Washington and Illinois streets.

This sort of action is like being in elementary school all over again.  It reminds me of a teacher punishing the whole class for the acts of one student.

The silver lining is that this could be a boon to local bars.

Source: The Buffalo News: Buffalo/Erie County

Ridiculous | 1 Comment »

Sheryl Crow either has the IQ of one square of toilet paper or modern liberalism should be listed as an illness in the DSM IV.

Although my ideas are in the earliest stages of development, they are, in my mind, worth investigating. One of my favorites is in the area of forest conservation which we heavily rely on for oxygen. I propose a limitation be put on how many squares of toilet paper can be used in any one sitting. Now, I don’t want to rob any law-abiding American of his or her God-given rights, but I think we are an industrious enough people that we can make it work with only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where 2 to 3 could be required.

Source: The Blog | Sheryl Crow: Laurie and Sheryl Go to School | The Huffington Post

Ridiculous | 1 Comment »

The PC police are busy lately. Currently targeted is New York Lawyer Raoul Felder, Chairman of the NYS Commission on Judicial Conduct.

The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct has voted “no confidence” in its chairman, matrimonial lawyer Raoul Felder, because of the inflammatory nature of a book, entitled “Schmucks!” he wrote with comedian Jackie Mason.

Felder is not accused of misconduct, he is accused of writing a book. The book, a collaboration with Jackie Mason, is political satire. Here’s the description of the book from the editorial review on Amazon.com.

Jackie Mason, one of the true kings of comedy, and his partner in crime, federal prosecutor and celebrity attorney Raoul Felder, go after America’s lowlifes, scumbags, and everything else that really gets on their nerves.

This book spares no one. Politicians, sports stars, celebrities, corporations, publishers, crossing guards—they’re all fair game. If you are a scumbag, or just someone who Jackie and Raoul find annoying, there is a fair chance you are on the list.

Schmucks! combines Mason’s and Felder’s nails-to-the-wall political satire with insightful observations on the foibles of modern life to create material that will leave you crying with laughter.

The book doesn’t sound much different than the monologues delivered by Leno and Letterman 5 nights each week. Based on the recent actions of the PC police, America is in danger of losing its sense of humor and freedom of speech. That would be truly sad.

Source: Law.com - N.Y. Judicial Conduct Commission Throws the Book at Chairman-Author

Technorati tags: Raoul Felder, NYS Commision on Judicial Conduct. politically correct, satire, Schmucks!, freedom of speech, Jackie Mason

New York State, Rants, Ridiculous | No Comments »

And PETA hath respondeth.  Geez, don’t these people have a life?  With all the problems in this country, chicken farming does not even make my list of the top 100 things that should be addressed. 

This weekend, animals rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) will distribute leaflets at Louisville churches that encourage Christians to boycott fast-food chicken restaurant chain KFC Corp.

The leaflets depict Pope Benedict XVI and the tagline “Boycott KFC,” along with quotes from the Pope that “decry factory-farming abuses,” according to a news release from PETA.

Pope Benedict XVI had condemned the type of factory-farming abuses KFC’s suppliers commit against animals, saying that “this degrading of living creatures to a commodity seems to me in fact to contradict the relationship of mutuality that comes across in the Bible.”

Source: PETA to distribute anti-KFC leaflets at area churches - Business First of Louisville:

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