FIRST SHOT!
Yes, Les is in Alaska!
So let me take a shot at some local news.
He's gone back to Alaska!
In April of every year, Les Kinsey, who happens to be one of the best people around this area, heads back to his home in Homer, Alaska.
Once there, he opens his home and gets ready for his better-half Fran who follows him up a week later.
They are a great couple. They're happy, good natured, friendly folks who we miss until they get back. They are the kind of people who help friends, are there when needed, and simply have a great attitude towards life.
Soon after opening his home, I'm sure the other locals can find Les with his boat getting ready for a day of fishing and beer and laughs - or maybe beer, laughs and fishing. But either way, I'm sure he's already been down to his boat and as gotten some tips from others as the latest fishing news. Many friends down here in the lower 48 are already talking about making their trip up to visit and get in on some of that world famous Alaska fishing.
Alaska is one of two states that I've never been to. It is a place that I will one day visit.
In materials science and metallurgy, toughness is defined as the ability of a material to absorb energy and elastically deform without fracturing - be strong and flexible. It is also defined as the resistance to fracture of a material when stressed.
From what I know of folks in Alaska, the people in Alaska have that same sort of toughness. They have the strength it takes to endure the challenges there - and the flexibility that it takes to adapt to changes that come along that might not be all that welcome.
Yes, change in itself means nothing. What matters is what kind of change we're talking about. Changes that are bad are bad, and changes that are good are good. Unwelcome change is something that no one wants or needs.
Alaskans have that toughness that requires a balance of strength and adaptability to handle the bad changes that can test any one's resolve.
I've heard it said that being a resident of Alaska is not for everyone. For Les Kinsey, Alaska is in his blood. It is a place that brings a smile to his face whenever he talks about it. There is laughter in his words, and joy in his eagerness to return home to Alaska.
"Fishing will be good this year, after all, it's Alaska," he'll say with pride and a smile.
It is a pleasure to know a man like Les. He is a man's man with a good heart and a great feel for what's right and what's wrong with things. He smiles at what is good and clean and great, you can see it in his eyes when everything is good. And yes, I've seen him when he's had have to steady himself because his has strong desire to right was is wrong with the world.
But hey, that's just Les. He's a good man! And Les, if you're reading this, I hope you've already been to the American Legion and had a few laughs with the guys up there. They sound like a great bunch!
Like the intrepid fisherman always casting out for the illusive great catch that will be his alone to hold high, Les strives to live a simple good life - a life of quiet excitement among friends and family - a life in Alaska where his heart is full and his spirit content.
A life that brings him back to Glencoe here in California, where his friends wait to hear his stories and talk about that great northern state where he has a home and the fish are as big as Volkswagens.
I hope to see you soon! And yes, bring back some Halibut or maybe parts of that Moose - either way, I hope you have a great time at home!
And Now From My Day Going To The V.A.!
After fasting for a blood test, I decided to try out Jeb's Hill Country Cooking restaurant in Sonora. My server was a great gal by the name of Beverly Egger.
Driving down to Sonora to the Veteran's Clinic there was an interesting drive. First, I found myself behind someone driving a pickup pulling a horse trailer full of cattle. The cowboy in the passenger's seat was Craig who is known for being a pretty good hand with horses, but no, I don't know who was driving.
Whoever it was, he must have been cussing a blue streak all the way down the 9 miles to Mokelumne Hill because his brakes were smoking and the smell of burnt rubber filled our normally clean mountain air.
Now, usually I'm not a fast driver. And here in rural America, people have a tendency to drive a little slower and not as hurried as they do in the city. But yes, I do try to get close to the speed limit.
Instead of doing so, I drove the for 7 of those 9 miles right behind Craig, his cows, and his slow driving friend at between 25 to 30 miles per hour.
Now grant you that it is a 55 mph that I usually take at 45 mph, but 25 to 30 mile per hour was like standing still. And yes, when I finally got the chance to pass him - I did.
But that got me thinking about things that happen when you have to be somewhere by a certain time. You ever notice that when you really "need" to get somewhere, and be there at a certain time, that all sorts of folks seem to get in your way.
Well, Tuesday proved to be one of those days.
And honestly, I don't usually care if someone spends their time aimlessly lolly-gagging down the road. But really, if folks are going to do that - then they should do as most considerate folks out this way do all the time - they should simply pull over and let faster traffic pass. I do that all the time.
Not Tuesday, no, not Tuesday! It was apparent that every inconsiderate lolly-gagger in two counties was on the road between Glencoe and Sonora all at the very same time. And yes, it feels worse when you're going for blood-test and had to fast for the last 12 hours.
Fasting for a blood-test can make a normally calm easy going person want to launch an RPG at the vehicle in front of them so they'd get the hell out of the way.
So yes, here's a big thank you to Beverly Egger who made my day better after walking into Jeb's Hill Country Cooking restaurant to get a cup of coffee, breakfast, and relax.
Jeb's decor is country log cabin look with Western theme - and yes, I like the old saddles on the rafters. It was pretty busy when I got there. And from what I gather, it usually has quite a local following. It's obviously not as glitzy as Applebee's, but then again it's not meant to be. The food is real good with good size portions at low prices, and yes all of the folks working there were really nice.
All in all, it was a great place to eat, relax and catch up on the local news. If you've never been down to Sonora to say hello to Beverly, you should drop in to Jeb's. Of course, there is one thing that you may get a kick out of as much as I did - this gal moves!
Yup, the Road Runner has nothing on this gal as she speeds around the place taking orders, pouring coffee, delivering meals, and of course her occasional pit stop at the register. She is a real nice lady!
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| There she goes! |
SECOND SHOT!
Black Democrat Guest Calls Tucker Carlson a "Bow-Tying White Boy!"
In a tense segment on Megyn Kelly’s "America Live," Fox News Contributor, Democrat Jehmu Greene spun a little out of control when she attacked fellow contributor Tucker Carlson as a "bow-tying white boy" when he called her out for a bad defense of Elizabeth Warren.
Megyn Kelly hosted the discussion about Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren’s supposedly questionable claim of Cherokee heritage.
Yes, Elizabeth Warren's ridiculous claim to 1/32nd Cherokee ancestry was supposedly used by Harvard as an example of diversity hiring.
Greene was specifically trying to argue that the revelation of Warren’s previous attempts to pass herself off as Native American would actually hurt the Republicans more than the Democrats, because many non-white voters would identify with Warren, and feel offended by the GOP calling her qualifications into question.
Carlson completely rejected the idea, even going so far as to laugh at it.
Greene was not pleased saying, "You see Scott Brown really questioning her qualifications because he has to appeal to white, working-class voters who feel marginalized because of affirmative action."
Then Greene said, "This smells real stank to women who do not like being called on their qualifications."
Carlson and Kelly continued to laugh off the episode. "It’s so offensive and dumb," said Carlson of Warren's response to the controversy. "But leaving that aside, it does provide a window into a system that is fundamentally corrupt that awards people based on their DNA."
Fox News stays balanced by hearing both sides, but Democrat Jehmu Greene was obviously upset at conservative Tucker Carlson's repeated suggestions that Warren only got her job because of some kind of fraudulent attempt at diversity.
Greene said that questioning Warren on her qualifications, as she insists Brown has done in the wake of this controversy, "is going to appeal to folks like you, voters like you: bow-tying white boys."
Megyn Kelly was, apparently, mortified by the incident and once the segment was over, actually apologized on behalf of Fox for the racially charged attack, saying this:
"Well, earlier in the program, Jehmu Greene was here and she called Tucker Carlson an inappropriate name. I want to apologize to Tucker and/or our viewers for that. I wasn’t sure I heard what I thought I heard and now we have confirmed it was that. It was not consistent with our standards and I do apologize on behalf of the program."
I like Megyn Kelly and watch her as often as I can. I just don't see why Megyn Kelly felt she needed to apologize for a racist comment by Jehmu Greene. Jehmu Greene should have made the apology.
Besides, it probably went completely un-noticed by her viewers because most Americans are getting pretty used to Democrats - especially Black Democrats - making racist slurs and hate filled comments as if they have a special license that gives them rights to say things that others can't say.
THIRD SHOT!
Ahmadinejad In Trouble At Home As Rivals Rout Him In Iran Election Runoff
In Tehran, Iran, the supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have been reduced to a small fraction in Iran's legislature, which is hugely outnumbered by those who once backed him but then turned against him.
It is an Islamic State pure and simple, and with that comes huge problems for the entire region.
An Islamic state is a type of government in which the primary basis for government is Islamic religious law. From the early years of Islam, numerous governments have been founded as "Islamic", beginning most notably with the Caliphate established by Mohammad himself and including subsequent governments ruled under the direction of a "Caliph" which means "successor" to their prophet Mohammad.
However, the term "Islamic state" has a more specific modern connotation because of the articulated and promoted edicts of ideologues such as Abul Ala Maududi, Ayatollah Ruhallah Khomeini, and Sayyid Qutb.
Like the earlier notion of the "caliphate", the modern Islamic State is rooted in Islamic law. It is modeled after the rule of Mohammad. However, unlike the "caliph" governments of the past which were imperial despotism or monarchies, a modern Islamic state can incorporate modern political institutions such as elections, parliamentary rule, judicial review, and popular sovereignty.
Despotism By Any Other Name Is Still Oppression
But don't let the trappings of elections, parliamentary rule, judicial review, and popular sovereignty fool into thinking that their people have freedoms and rights. It is ruled by Despotism, and that in itself is a form of government in which a single entity rules with absolute power.
In this case the Islamic Clerics rule the country, but their front-man Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is power hungry.
Because he was perceived to challenge the authority of top Clerics, according to final results from a runoff parliamentary election announced Saturday, those who once backed him but then turned against him.
Iran's propaganda machine is only second to the one used by the Democrat Party here. It is now touting the turnout for Friday's vote as a show of support for the country's religious leadership in their confrontation with the West over Tehran's controversial nuclear program.
The voting results are seen a humiliation for Ahmadinejad, whose political decline started last year with his bold but failed challenge of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over the choice of Intelligence Chief.
While usually in agreement with the conservatives on foreign policy and many other issues, he had tried to change the rules of the political game in the Islamic Republic, where the president and legislature are subordinate to religious figures like Khamenei.
For me, I'd like to see Ahmadinejad and those Isamic Clerics tar and feathered!
The little maniac Ahmadinejad wants nukes to destroy Isreal and take his own people to Hell in the process. He lines up behind other crazies in history like Hitler and Mao and Stalin who didn't give a single thought about the well being of their own people.
And the Clerics, well they're happy keeping their people under a 7th century oppressive rule while they send out their own people as "suicide-bombers".
There doesn't seem to be any redeeming qualities in the whole group. Nothing but sick bastards!
FOURTH SHOT!
City of Stockton On Brink Of Bankruptcy Discovers Illegal Payouts To Elected Officials
The City of Stockton, California, has had big problems for a while now.
Gangs are running loose, murder rate is one of the highest in the nation. Besides being considered the most dangerous city in all of California, the city has been on the brink of bankruptcy for months.
Now the City of Stockton finds out that the city has been shelling out hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal benefits to elected officials, even as the city considers bankruptcy.
So now the question is whether the Stockton council members who received the money - totaling nearly $277,000 over more than 20 years - plan on giving any of it back.
Mayor Ann Johnston told local Fox40 in Sacramento that the city is weighing its options.
"We need to fix this. None of the council members or I had any idea that this was the situation," she said.
Fox40 reports that officials learned about the illegal enrollment in the state retirement system after a local newspaper columnist discovered the provision in the city charter and told the city attorney, who apparently determined the benefit was improper.
"At this point, I need to look at what the options are and if I have any choices or not," Johnston said.
But Ralph White, an ex-councilman, told Fox40 the options are simple. "Weighing what options on what?" he asked. "Whether to give the money back, or keep it? Do you wanna be a thief, or does she wanna give the money back? That's the option."
Stockton has been considering bankruptcy while it attempts to balance its finances. Should Stockton take that step, it would mark the largest city bankruptcy in U.S. history.
Just another great moment in Liberal policies gone haywire!
FIFTH SHOT!
Sacramento, California, Hate Crime Caught On Video
Watch this video of a black teenager punching a believed handicap women, and you too will have to agree that it is a sad commentary on California.
Black Youth Using Handicap Woman As Punching Bag
SIXTH SHOT!
In a brazen criminal scheme to defraud taxpayers, one of the highest-ranking officials in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to helping embezzle $600,000 from the Federal government.
Over three years, James Woosley and at least five other ICE employees scammed the agency by fabricating expenses for trips that were never taken and for hotel, rental car and restaurant expenses that did not exist, according to court records.
The steal $600,000 over a 3 year period is a lot of money!
His son and Woosley's live-in girlfriend, Lateisha Rollerson - both ICE employees - allegedly ran the scam out of the elder Woosley's two Virginia homes. It's the Federal version of a Crime Family.
Here's how it worked, according to court records:
ICE employees traveled to Washington, D.C., on business, but instead of staying at a hotel, they stayed with Woosley. Rollerson allegedly created false receipts from hotels like the local Marriott, while Woosley approved their fraudulent expense reports and charged each employee a kick-back fee for half the amount.
Prosecutors accused Woosley of receiving about $188,000, some of which he used to buy a new house and a boat.
Sources inside ICE say the scam represents a total breakdown of oversight within the agency, especially given the periodic background checks and financial examinations given to agents working within the sensitive Office of Intelligence.
This ICE employee wasn't just any employee, he was their top man.
"It tells us that the vetting process and the checks and balances, the internal controls at ICE, obviously are inadequate," said Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., who sits on the House Committee on Homeland Security.
"It's bad enough you find some employees, federal employees, who are misusing taxpayer dollars," Miller said. "However, in this case, these are ... Intelligence Officers that are handling classified information."
One ICE employee involved was Ahmed Abdallat, the agency's Intelligence Supervisor in El Paso, Texas.
Abdallat, a former Colonel in the Jordanian Air Force, joined ICE in 1995 and worked throughout the Middle East, including three years in Saudi Arabia.
It's said that Abdallat's salary was by no means enough to make him rich, yet in 2010 he made three wire transfers to Middle Eastern accounts totaling $570,000. Plus, according to authorities, he maintained personal accounts in Jordan totaling $1.2 Million.
Shannon Enochs, an FBI special agent, said during a lengthy court hearing that the FBI does not know where Abdallat got the money - but doubted he made it working as a Civil Servant within the U.S. or Jordanian governments.
Abdallat travelled to D.C. at least 13 times in 2009 and 2010. Each time he submitted travel vouchers that allegedly contained fictitious charges not supported by any receipts or fake receipts created by Rollerson on her home computer. Each time, ICE paid.
More serious, however, were his trips to Jordan. Federal prosecutors charged him with eight counts of misusing a Diplomatic Passport that he was not supposed to have to fly to Jordan.
During a search warrant of Abdallat's home in El Paso, the FBI reported pulling out 29 boxes of evidence, including two Jordanian passports that he denied having during background checks in 2000, 2005 and 2010.
Abdallat also denied having foreign bank accounts, though the FBI found several written in Arabic after serving their search warrant.
As a life-long intelligence officer with clearance to secret and classified papers on terrorism, narcotics and human smuggling along the Southwest border, Abdallat's file should have received priority review. Instead, he maintained close personal and financial ties to Jordan, apparently without suspicion.
Four of the five suspects indicted by the U.S. Attorney's Office in this ICE scam already pleaded guilty to embezzlement and received one to two years in prison.
The GSA, the Secret Service, ICE, Border Agents on the take, how much more is going on under the radar? And yes, I can't help but wonder if this is a symptom of people in government thinking they are just above the law?
Or is this caused because the Obama administration is so Gung Ho on making the Federal government even bigger and they see a sign of approval from the Obama administration?
Anyone who has lived under a Socialist government can testify to the corruption and graft in the government, I can't help but wonder if this is the net result of the Federal government's Socialist policies?
And honestly, I can't help but wonder how many Americans out there are sick and tired of Government Employees ripping off the American Taxpayer?
LAST SHOT!
Dentist Pulls Out Ex-Boyfriend’s Teeth in Act of Revenge
This report out of Wroclaw, Poland, on May 1st, is just too good too let pass.
It was reported that a 45-year-old Polish man has had a life lesson when it comes to woman. He now knows the full extent of a woman's wrath.
Oh, the fury of a woman scorned - yes, his ex-girlfriend, a dentist, removed all of his teeth.
That's right! Dentist Anna Mackowiak took advantage of a heavy dose of anesthetic, and removed Marek Olszewski’s pearly whites. Every last one of them.
The couple had separated just days before. Marek Olszewski, who was suffering from a toothache, said since Mackowiak was a "professional", he had no reason to think anything would go wrong.
It's guys like this that give the term stupid it's definition.
Let's see, you need a dentist so you call and make an appointment with your ex-girlfriend of a few days ago. You go to her office. You allow her or an assistant to apply a heavy dose of anesthetic. You leave yourself completely at the mercy of an ex-girlfriend who you just split up with days before.
Yup, this boy is as dumb as they come.
"I tried to be professional and detach myself from my emotions, but when I saw him lying there I just thought, 'What a bastard,'" said Anna Mackowiak.
Once she saw her chance to get even with Marek Olszewski, she then locked the door and plucked out Olszewski’s teeth - one by one.
Mackowiak then wrapped his jaw in bandages. When he woke up, she told him there had been some complications and suggested that he wait until he was home to remove the bandages.
"I knew something was wrong because when I woke up I couldn’t feel any teeth and my jaw was strapped up with bandages," said Olszewski.
Marek Olszewski, outraged at his new-found misfortune, used expletives to recount what happened to the Daily Mail. He added that his new girlfriend dumped him after learning he was now toothless.
As for Mackowiak, she is being investigated for medical malpractice and could face up to three years in prison. But of course, if she gets lucky and get a woman judge and a few women on the jury at her trial - she might get a high five!
Story by Tom Correa
