Monday, June 15, 2009

Oklahoma Here We Come?

Looks like Californians are headed east to Oklahoma to escape high taxes, anti-business practices and unaffordable housing due to highbrow zoning laws.

Ask these Okies-in-reverse why they traded the Golden State for the Sooner State – named for settlers who came there sooner than the Homestead Act allowed – and you'll hear a lot of similar themes: easier to find a job; cheaper to buy or rent a home; better place to make a fresh start. Ask them why they stay in Oklahoma and they'll add to that list a deep optimism that it's a place where things are about to take off.

I hope the transplants understand why Oklahoma is the anti-California. There is no oppressive state government sucking the life out of productive people and small businesses in order to pay for deadbeats and welfare queens. Here's a clue, remember those liberal asshats you voted for in California? Their policies are what you are escaping. Don't make the same mistake in Oklahoma.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Happy 234th birthday to the US Army

Two hundred and thirty-four years ago, the United States Army was established to defend our Nation. From the Revolutionary War to the Global War on Terror, our Soldiers remain Army Strong with a deep commitment to our core values and beliefs. This 234th birthday commemorates America’s Army – Soldiers, Families and Civilians – who are achieving a level of excellence that is truly Army Strong both here and abroad. Their willingness to sacrifice to build a better future for others and to preserve our way of life is without a doubt, the Strength of our Nation.

http://www.army.mil/-news/2009/06/12/22635-happy-birthday-army/index.html

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Long Live the Queen

Happy Birthday Queen Elizabeth!

She's lived through the Blitz, the diminishing power of the British Empire and scorn for her crown. Regardless, she remains the preeminent symbol of royalty and an example of its protocols and stoic traditions.

Hopefully she'll remain in good health and live many more productive years so we won't need to put up with her insufferable, hypocritical son on a grander stage.

Remember this:

Prince Charles was accused of hypocrisy last night for using a private jet on an 'environmental' tour of South America.

The prince will travel to the region next month in a visit costing an estimated £300,000 as part of his crusade against global warming.

He will use a luxury airliner to transport himself, the Duchess of Cornwall and a 14-strong entourage to Chile, Brazil and Ecuador on a 16,400-mile round trip.

He was roundly criticised for flying first class to the U.S. with a 20-strong entourage to collect an environmental award in 2007.

According to The Carbon Managers company, the trip will leave a 322 ton carbon footprint. Prince Charles says he will offset the carbon emissions.

From Labour MP Ian Davidson, "It would be hard to make this up. To hear that the Prince of Wales is flying to South America to save the environment and taking 14 staff on his jet at hideous cost just for this trip is the height of the absurd. At a time when the greed of bankers is causing much adverse comment I would have thought that Prince Charles would have had more sense than to be so financially and ecologically wasteful."

Sorry, Right Honorable Davidson, the Prince doesn't have the sense of a barnyard chicken and is a A-1 goofball to boot. Who could forget the tampon scandal?

For many Britons, the epitome of Prince Charles' on-again, off-again romance with Parker Bowles was the transcript of a racy and sometimes gross telephone conversation they allegedly had years ago.

The transcript of the 1989 phone tryst appeared in Australian and British media in 1993, the year that Charles and Diana separated after more than 11 years of marriage.

In one part of the chat, which exudes sex, the woman identified as Parker Bowles says she needs her partner all the time, to which the male speaker replies: "Oh God, I'll just live inside your trousers or something. It would be much easier." The man also says he'd like to live in the woman's underwear "as a tampon."

The Prince's hypocrisy has routinely drawn the ire of his subjects. Here and here...

The Digital Switch

Nearly 800,000 calls were received by a federal hot line this week from people confused about the nationwide move on Friday to drop analog TV signals and broadcast only in digital.

Amazing...this has been in the news for years, and when it finally happens after huge amounts of press and a 5 month delay, people are still confused.

And, how is being poor, a minority, or under 35 an excuse? You'd have to be living under rock not to be aware of the switch, the converter box and the coupons available.