New Year's Developments

I will begin today with a video of a Canadian police chase captured by nonsensible shoes.

Winter weather has only really begun to hit us around here, but the "People's Almanac" has predicted a hard freeze next year.

I would advise everyone in the colder climes to bundle up, store up, and prepare for a hard late winter.

There have been unconfirmed reports coming out of the far north that Santa has failed to return from his annual global toy distribution campaign. Some say that he has started his New Year celebration early.

H/T to PISSED and leevandenbrink

I have just started a new job as an assistant manager/maintenance man for a warehousing operation. As such I will not be imbibing in the spirits of the season with the rest of you lucky bums out there. (Only a sardonic reference...Don't take it personally) Breathalyzer testing will be part of the New Year routine I am told.

Be assured that I will continue my daily, or semi weekly attacks on the Left and will remain abreast of all the latest developments in the political arena.

Finally, I just wanted to share the latest missive from the Pacific rim. It would seem that our difficulties at home are not affecting The One, or his entourage.

Have a Happy New Year and have one for me!

I will be "occupied" with other pursuits.

Kudos to Liberal Guy as well!

Get Them Terrorists Boys!---Do We Feel Safer Now?

Information Sharing...or Information Suppression...PROGRESSIVE GOVERNMENT WILL SCREW IT UP!

Claudia - December 27, 2011

Oops! US Government post Classified Document Revealing Plans to Wage War on Americans
via Black Quill and Ink

Within an hour of posting a critical FEMA document sourced publicly on a government website that discloses plans to hire contract employees under a continuity of government plan, that document was removed and replaced by the following cryptic warning against posting ‘classified’ documents:

ATTENTION: Agency users are responsible for properly uploading controlled, unclassified materials to FBO using the access control procedures for document packages and attachments detailed in the FBO Buyers Guide. Do not upload ANY classified materials to FBO.

The government-linked document we posted was marked ‘Source Selection Sensitive’ but not considered classified. Further, it was listed publicly on a government website that was soliciting bids for government contracts. However, despite its public classification, it contains information that clearly is NOT intended to gain wide publicity.

As we reported earlier, the highly contentious federal government plans for Continuity of Government (COG) are largely classified, yet have come to light in shards. Congressman Peter de Fazio made waves after going on the House floor to give a speech raising hell about how the plans for COG, including martial law, were not only classified, but kept secret from Congress, the only organ of public officialdom still tied directly to the people.

However, there are plenty of completely public Homeland Security and FEMA documents detailing parts of the secretive COG plans for a national emergency. Among these is the document covered earlier, as this document reveals not only detailed aspects of the COG personnel relocation plans and martial law takeover of communications, but a plan to militarily-target Americans and designate them as enemy combatants– dramatically, through a blue/red high-tech surveillance matrix aimed at suppressing dissidents and occupying the homeland.

Read the rest (restored pages of the suppressed document) here.

The conclusions drawn in the following parody are not my own...

_______
If the government really is planning this (I have my doubts – they can’t be THAT ignorant of our love of freedom), they sorely misunderstand the depth of our passion.

Well, what do you think?

PS. Just as an aside; do you remember the basement arsenal that the Gummers (Michael Gross and Reba McEntire) had in the movie “Tremors”? I laughed when I first saw the movie. Now I’m envious...From ZIP

The FBI no can do data system. Or: $451 million just ain't what it used to be.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI's upgrade of its computerized case file system has hit another snag and will not be fully deployed until mid-2012 after it crashed twice during a trial run by agents in October, according to a government report released on Friday.

The agency has struggled to upgrade its systems for years despite efforts by FBI Director Robert Mueller to make it a priority after the September 11, 2001, attacks.

The $451 million project, known as Sentinel, has experienced cost overruns and was temporarily halted a year ago when more problems emerged. Lockheed was originally contracted for the project but its role has since been significantly reduced. [...]Posted by Will Profit

Call The Government Man...Quick!

I toldja bout dem Ho's round hea...Jus' ain't trustin' em!

DECEMBER 27--A Pennsylvania man is facing a criminal rap after he called 911 to report that a pair of prostitutes had left his home without fully “servicing” him, cops report.

Police allege that Jerry Streng, 63, paid the women $400 and brought the hookers back to his Berlin home. As Streng told a cop, he hired the pair “for the purpose of ‘Smoking Smoke’ and engaging in sexual intercourse,” according to misdemeanor criminal complaints...Read more at TSG

I would demand refund and a recall of this plainly DEFECTIVE merchandise. She ain't no prize either!

H/T to Will Profit

The Kim Jung Obama Gallery

It is almost time to ring in the New Year with the changing of the old guard in North Korea...

The new guard---same as the old guard---with new faces---

Will we do the same?

But you can call me Il

By Jong-Heon Lee (Trans.)

From a list of titles allegedly used by “prominent leaders from 160 nations across the world” to refer to Kim Jong-Il, as announced last winter by North Korean state television. The titles were translated from the Korean by Lee Jong-Heon.

• Supreme Commander at the Forefront of the Struggle Against Imperialism and the United States
• Greatest Saint Who Rules with Extensive Magnanimity
• Lode Star of the Twenty-First Century
• Best Leader Who Realized Human Wisdom
• Leader with Extraordinary Personality
• Perfect Picture of Wisdom and Boldness
• Eternal Bosom of Hot Love
• Master of Literature, Arts, and Architecture
• World’s Best Ideal Leader with Versatile Talents
• Humankind’s Greatest Musical Genius
• Master of the Computer Who Surprised the World
• Man with Encyclopedic Knowledge
• Guardian Deity of the Planet
• Heaven-Sent Hero
• Power Incarnate with Endless Creativity
• Greatest Man Who Ever Lived
• Present-day God
• World’s Greatest Writer

Page II

GOD SYNDROME

THE NEW PROGRESSIVE DEITY

H/T to Liberal Guy and The People's Cube

Cow Sensitivity Training

PETA has asked the Department of Transportation in Illinois to commemorate the spot where 16 cows lost their life on May 22 in a traffic accident says a report in the Chicago Tribune.

The cows plunged from the back of a tractor trailer when it jackknifed on a bridge on an I-80 highway overpass.

I’m wondering if we could just have a memorial BBQ. I’ll bring the grill.

Now, before you start laughing remember: This is Illinois. 
Yes, that state.

You know how people warn you about avoiding stupid mistakes by saying, “You don’t want to be that guy.”

Well, ladies and gentleman I present you your Daley-Obama-Rahm Emmanuel-led State of Illinois. That state.

It’s a state where graft makes everything “work,” and where 3 out 4 governors go to prison, because someone has to take the rap for all that graft. You have to keep up appearances that you are interested in good government. And there is nothing like sending both Republican and Democrat governors to jail to make the message clear. 
   
You don’t want to be that guy? Then, don’t become governor of Illinois.

What’s next? Cow-sensitivity training?
  
That’s been a terribly pressing problem for the US. If we could only get federal control of those roadside monuments, this economy would really boom. And certainly replacing spontaneous, personalized, ad-hoc memorials by friends and relatives who knew the victim with a sanitized government memorial will probably better aid the grieving process for those who are left behind.
Thank God for good government in Illinois.


The problem for PETA isn’t that their proposal is outrageous, stupid, ridiculous, insulting and loony; no the problem for PETA is the same problem that the rest of us have with government. The only reason why Illinois politicians aren’t rushing to support PETA in raising a memorial is because PETA doesn’t have the cash to get the graft machine to use the misguided law regulating personal acts of grief to help PETA with their outrageous, stupid, ridiculous, insulting and loony proposal.


Because earlier this year the Illinois legislature, in an outrageous, stupid, ridiculous, insulting and loony move, raised personal income taxes by 67 percent and corporate income taxes by 47 percent…and then started exempting the very biggest corporations from the tax.
And if you don’t think that those exemptions weren’t driven by cash and graft, then congratulations!

You qualify for either the Republican or the Democrat nominations for governor in Illinois...Read More by John Ransom

It's TAX Resolution Time

Just because I love Jack so much (and resemble him some say) I have chosen these two pics from BigFurHat

You will find some great stuff there today.

But, of course some of it SUCKS!

Have a great day, and get some pizza while you can!

The Curse of Cornstalk, Night Before Christmas

This is not typical Christmas fare, but in response to questions I have received concerning the Silver Bridge collapse; and certain rumors of supernatural influences; I am posting the following update for your edification and enjoyment alone. Weirdness is not uncommon in these parts, and whether this disaster was due to curses or crypto-zoological causes, I will leave for you to decide.

The following is the history of the legendary chieftan and Shaman Cornstalk, whose curse it is said, still wreaks havoc over Appalachian residents.

The Curse of CornstalkPoint Pleasant has seen its share of devastating floods and fires; some attribute it to the dying curse of the great Shawnee chieftain, Cornstalk.
On October 10, 1774 a great battle took place between Virginia militiamen led by Andrew Lewis, and a multi-tribal confederation led by the Shawnee warrior, Cornstalk; this battle took place at the confluence of the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers, later incorporated in 1794 as the town of Point Pleasant. The Native American tribesmen were duped by the British-loyalist Governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, into believing the militiamen were coming to sign a peace treaty. The confederation suffered a massive defeat, never to return to the area to fight again; the militiamen suffered heavy casualties also. Dunmore's intent was to divert the attention of the colonists away from independence from Britain by stirring hatred between colonists and Native Americans. Because of the British interests in the battle, some have declared this battle to be the first of the American Revolution; detractors label it the last battle of the border/Indian wars.

Upon Cornstalk's demise as the result of an ambush, he reportedly with his dying breath cursed the area for 200 years. [There is some evidence that the "curse" was actually a fictitious plot element of a local play during the early 1900s.] His "words" spurred many a discussion upon each unfortunate occurrence in the town during that time span, including floods and severe fires that seemed to plague the downtown through the years, up through a cowardly, murderous hostage situation at the Mason County Courthouse in 1976.

(Photo is postcard image circa 1930 of the Cornstalk monument in its former location on the Mason County Courthouse lawn. In the early 1950s it was moved, along with the chief's remains, six blocks south to Tu-Endie-Wei State Park at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers, scene of the battle described above.)


                      And now for a very common phenomenon
                       in my region...The Legend of MOTHMAN.

roadsideamerica.com

Point Pleasant, West Virginia

West Virginia has played host to two famous monsters, both within a span of a dozen years. In 1955, a 12-foot-tall space creature landed in a flying saucer and terrified the town of Flatwoods. And in 1966-67, a monster nicknamed "Mothman" performed a similar frightfest on the citizens of Point Pleasant.

Mothman was made into a Hollywood movie in 2001 and thus is more than a monster -- he's a celebrity.

Mothman arrived in Point Pleasant in November 1966 in classic style, scaring couples in parked cars and eating farmers' dogs. He was described as seven feet tall with a barrel chest and a piercing shriek.

His most memorable features were his ten-foot batlike wings and his huge, red, glowing eyes. And unlike the Flatwoods monster, Mothman didn't spook and run. He hung around for over a year, building an impressive roster of over 100 fear-struck locals who claimed to have encountered him.

Fortean researcher John Keel heard the stories and came to Point Pleasant to see what was happening. He compiled what he found in a 1975 book, The Mothman Prophecies, which was later turned into that 2001 Richard Gere film.

Some people thought that Mothman was a mutant, spawned from local chemical and weapons dumps. Some thought that he was the "the curse of Chief Cornstalk," a Shawnee leader who had been treacherously murdered in Point Pleasant in 1777, and who had finally gotten around to exacting his revenge.

Things got ugly on December 15, 1967, when the Silver Bridge, which connected Point Pleasant to neighboring Kanauga, Ohio, suddenly collapsed into the Ohio River, killing 46 people trapped in rush-hour traffic. Some claimed that the catastrophe was triggered by a sonic boom from Mothman's wings. Others believed that Mothman had been sent to warn the people of Point Pleasant, although his message was obviously lost in translation. Whatever the connection may have been, Mothman disappeared after the bridge fell down. Maybe he simply felt that Point Pleasant had had enough.

Mothman remained an obscure bogeyman until 2001. Then the movie based on John Keel's book, The Mothman Prophecies, came out, and the town realized that this was its one chance to make something good out of its monster. On the day that the film opened, West Virginia's secretary of state announced that Point Pleasant's old KFC would be converted into a Mothman visitors' center, and that a 20-foot-tall Mothman sculpture would be commissioned.

Things didn't turn out quite that grand. In 2002, Point Pleasant held its first Mothman Festival. In 2003, Gunn Park was renamed Mothman Park, and a 12-foot-tall stainless steel sculpture of Mothman was unveiled. It is a unique civic monument, an over-the-top effigy that you'd expect see on the handle of a Barbarian collectibles knife, not on a downtown street in West Virginia. Its football-size red eyes were meant to be lit from behind at night, but sponsorship funding came up a little short.

In 2005 the Mothman Museum and Research Center opened across the street from the statue, run by monster booster Jeff Wamsley. It's a small place, only open on weekend afternoons, but it does display some of the props from the film, and it sells an assortment of Mothman souvenirs. Weekday visitors with an urge for Mothmanabilia can walk a block south to the Harris Steak House, which has its own assortment of t-shirts, books, DVDs, Christmas ornaments, Beany Babies (unofficial), comic books, and license plates for sale.

Even Chief Cornstalk has a memorial in Point Pleasant. A four-ton stone obelisk, marked simply "Cornstalk," stands in Point Pleasant Battlefield State Park down by the river. The Chief's surviving remains -- three teeth and a few bone fragments -- are sealed in the center of the obelisk, perhaps to ensure that his curse is safely locked away.

The only people who don't have much to feel happy about in Point Pleasant are the victims of the Silver Bridge collapse. They have a memorial, too, at the spot where the bridge once entered the town. But their names are inscribed on lowly bricks, and you have to step on them to read the bronze plaque that lists only the names of the town's politicians...Read More
And for the latest Mothman conspiracy theories Read This.

To me, the real spirit of Christmas lives on in the memories I have of watching this man on his own show, with my family close by.

Now to let y'all know that I have not lost my mind, or my Christmas spirit, I will close with what I believe to be the best rendition of "Let It Snow" ever done.

This is being sung by my one and only Homie--Deano Martin...and in the company of his favorite sidekicks..."The Golddiggers".

Have a very Merry and Joyous Christmas...

Back in a few days...

Merry Christmas from Steubenville, OH and Follansbee, WV

Herald Star...Area commuters and businesses on both sides of the Ohio River received an early Christmas present last week when the Market Street Bridge was re-opened.

The Dec. 7 ceremony marked the completion of renovation project that officials hope will keep the span, which was built in 1905, open until a new bridge can be built between Brilliant and Wellsburg. Motorists have had to endure closures the past two summers while crews made repairs to the bridge towers and Ohio approach spans and trusses. The work included cleaning and painting, the lowering of clearance bars to ensure the 5-ton weight limit is maintained and the installation of decorative lighting.

With the $13.7 million project complete, the convenient connection between downtown Steubenville and Follansbee has been restored. That should come as a relief to businesses, as the length of trips to shop in both communities have been greatly shortened.

Photos prior to bridge repair

Older photos

Now, I will take you back to Christmas in 1967 which I still remember well.

The Silver City Bridge was built at almost the same time, by the same company, and was constructed using many of the same materials and methods that were used in the construction of the Market Street Bridge in Steubenville, OH.

The Silver Bridge Collapse !!!

On December 15,1967 at approximately 5 p.m., the U.S. Highway 35 bridge connecting Point Pleasant, West Virginia and Kanauga, Ohio suddenly collapsed into the Ohio River. At the time of failure, thirty- seven vehicles were crossing the bridge span, and thirty-one of those automobiles fell with the bridge. Forty- six individuals perished with the buckling of the bridge and nine were seriously injured. Along with the numerous fatalities and injuries, a major transportation route connecting West Virginia and Ohio was destroyed, disrupting the lives of many and striking fear across the nation. (reference: wvculture.org)

The Christmas rush applied an extra load to the 40 year old bridge causing a cleavage fracture in one of the “eyebars”.

This was followed by a ductile fracture near the pin. Unable to support the weight of the entire bridge, the south side chain also snapped.

The structure only took about 1 minute to completely fall into the river below. An investigation, led by John Bennett, immediately followed the collapse of the Silver Bridge.

The bridge was constructed of carbon steel, which tends to crack. Many cracks were found throughout the bridge among extensive corrosion.

The failure resulted from stress corrosion and corrosion fatigue, two concepts which were not known in 1927.

It was also found that the flaw could not have been detected, even by today's methods, unless the bridge was taken apart and tested.In addition to the investigation,
“the federal government mandated the National Bridge Inspection Standards (NBIS). The new standards required periodic inspection of all the nation's bridges.”

Here is some more recent history of our bridge...


Herald Star...Nov. 2009

STEUBENVILLE - Joe DeSantis stood patiently at the corner of Third and Market streets with his camera in hand.

The city's streets and sanitation superintendent had accommodated a request to block off part of South Third Street for a day's filming of the Denzel Washington movie "Unstoppable."

But DeSantis and a reporter were soon asked by a City Police officer to stop taking photos and move away from the corner.

Film crews can be touchy about who is standing near a scene where Denzel Washington and other actors playing railroad workers are riding in a work van for a five second scene on the Market Street bridge.

For a few hours Tuesday Hollywood came to downtown Steubenville as the film makers shot multiple versions of a railroad van filled with workers driving west on the Market Street bridge.

Photos related to the Silver Bridge at Point Pleasant and its collapse on Dec. 15, 1967.
Thirty-seven vehicles were on the bridge when it fell into the Ohio River. Forty-six people died, and nine others were seriously injured...Photo Gallery from Herald Dispatch

Courtesy of James E. Casto

In 1928, Charles P. Vogel, standing at left, was the first person to drive an automobile across the Silver Bridge. Vogel was resident engineer in charge of constructing the span's superstructure. Shown with him, seated on the auto bumper, is George Cumpston, who was in charge of the bridge's steelwork.