Congressman: We'll reinstate the Bush tax cuts, dare Obama to veto

At a town hall meeting in Phenix City, AL, on Monday, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL/3) said that, despite discussions to keep at least some of the Bush tax cuts, there is the possibility that the current Democrat-controlled Congress will allow the cuts to expire. If that happens, and if the GOP wins control of the House in November, the new Republican Congress would reinstate the tax cuts, and "dare the president to veto it".


[Direct link]

My guess is that if November 2nd turns out the way the prognosticators are saying it will, and the House flips over with a heavy number, and the Senate either flips or comes close, I'd be surprised if they just didn't let them all expire. Now, if they do that, I can assure you, January of next year, we're going to pass legislation to put them all back in place and date the president to veto it.

This is why I voted for Rogers in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, and will again this November.

Trying not to be bitter about the loss to Hawaii

The local Little League baseball team was knocked out of the Little League World Series yesterday. The West team, from Waipahu, Hawaii, beat the Southeast team, from Columbus, Georgia.

Ever since Barack Obama was thrust onto the national scene, the Hawaii has been tainted by association. However, Barack Obama doesn't have any connection with Hawaii Little League. None whatsoever.

I mean, you've seen him try to throw a baseball, right?

Plus, Little League requires a birth certificate.

My time machine is broken and my crystal ball is in the shop

Netflix sent me an email tonight.

Dear Basil,

We are always making improvements to ensure you receive your movies quickly. As part of this process, we ask our members about how we are doing from time to time. Please tell us when you received Mystery Science Theater 3000: Hercules Unchained, which was shipped to you on Wednesday, Aug 25, 2010 by clicking on the appropriate link below.

• I received the movie Thursday, Aug 26, 2010
• I received the movie Friday, Aug 27, 2010
• I received the movie after Friday, Aug 27, 2010

Thanks for your help!

-Your friends at Netflix

Now, I really like my Netflix account. The streaming feature is awesome, feeding movies directly to my TiVo. And, of course, the DVDs in the mail is good, too. They mail a DVD one day, I get it the next. When I mail it back, they get it next day, and send me a movie later that day, with it arriving the following day.

Their system works. And I like it. And, I appreciate that they ask about how their service is.

You did notice that today is Thursday, August 26, didn't you?

I wonder what they'd do if I said it arrived after Friday? Would they think that my crystal ball is working? Or that my time machine is fully operational?

Of course, if it was, I wouldn't be using it to answer future questions about Netflix. But, the time machine isn't working. The perpetual motion machine that powers it is on the fritz. I need to get that thing fixed.

Maybe Cleveland has a good idea after all

You may recall a week or so ago when word came out that Cleveland was putting high-tech trash cans out that would rat out people who don't recycle.

The trash cans have chips inside that can tell when you take the recycle can to the curb ... and when you don't. And that's the key. When you don't ... and if it thinks you've gone too long without taking out recyclables ... it will contact the city and tell them. Then they send a trash cop out to look around in your trash.

I don't think I like the idea. Because, well, what has Cleveland ever done that was a good idea? No, really. Okay, they signed Jim Brown to play football, but that was 53 years ago. And he quit playing football after nine years. Even a bad-ass like Jim Brown couldn't stomach Cleveland for too long.

Smart trash cans isn't along the line as sign-Jim-Brown-to-play-football smart. It's stupid. The trash cans are smart, but the whole idea is stupid.

Really, do you want your trash can calling and telling on you? I bet even Oscar the Grouch wouldn't want a tattle-tell trash can.

But, maybe, just maybe, we can use that technology for something good instead of narcing on you about recycling.

For instance, we could put those chips in Obama's golf clubs. Then, if he goes too long without taking the clubs to a golf course, we'd know that he might be in Washington trying to screw up the country some more. It could call someone who would send him a free pass to a golf course. As long as Obama is hitting the links, he's not hitting the economy in the nuts.

There could be chips placed on Democrat Congressmen. When too many get together at one time, you know they're planning something bad. So, it would call Fox News or Andrew Breitbart and they'd show up with a camera, scaring the Democrat Congressmen back into their little holes in the ground.

They could put one on Rosie O'Donnell. That way, whenever she showed up somewhere, it could call anyone in the area so they could run away.

One on Al Gore could call the police whenever he got near a masseuse.

One on Barney Frank could call the police whenever he went near anybody.

One on Roman Polanski could call all the parents of teenage girls so they could hide their daughters.

One on Ron Paul could call everybody whenever he went somewhere. His supporters would all show up, and the rest of us could go somewhere else, confident that we'd be free of them for a few minutes.

So, maybe we could take the technology Cleveland is using to play trash police and put it to some good use.

A Tale of Two Leaders

It was the best of times,
it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom,
it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief,
it was the epoch of incredulity,
it was the season of Light,
it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope,
it was the winter of despair,

we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way -- in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evel, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

There was a president with a crossbow, and a president who liked to bow.

Vladimir Putin, prime minister and former president of Russia, shot a whale with a crossbow today.



Compare that to the president of the United States, who bows to other leaders.



Remember when the United States used to have a president who ... was a man?

I miss those days.

Taking questions for a Congressman

I told Frank J. at IMAO that Congressman Mike Rogers (R-AL-3) would be in the area on Monday, and that I'd be there. I asked him, SarahK, and Harvey if they had any questions that they'd like me to ask Rep. Rogers.

Then, I asked about opening questions up to IMAO readers. He was cool with that.

So, if you want to see what the readers there want to ask a Congressman, go visit.

And, offer your questions, if you like. We'll even accept serious questions.

Maybe I should go to work for the government...

The Department of Justice wants someone who can translate what Black folks say.

Really.

According to news reports:

The US Department of Justice is looking for linguists fluent in "Ebonics" to help monitor, translate and transcribe covertly recorded conversations of the subjects of drug investigations, according to federal contracting documents.

Up to nine experts will work with the Drug Enforcement Administration's Atlanta field office helping to translate telephone conversations and "maintain a list of slang words and codes," according to the contracting information released by the DEA.

I could do that job. I've done it before, just not for the government.

Really.

Let me explain. And, keep in mind, I am not making any of this up.

Back in the 1980s, I worked in Jacksonville at a truckstop. The main areas were the restaurant, the shop, the travel store, and the fuel/service desk. I ran the fuel/service desk.

At the truckstop, some of the people that worked there were familiar with the road, and with life on the road. Many had family members who were in the trucking industry, or were former truckers or otherwise involved in trucking.

That meant that, not only were the people who worked there familiar with the daily routines and experiences of the truckers, the primary customer, but they came from all over.

In fact, about half the people who worked at the service desk weren't from the south.

Another thing you may need to know is that pulpwood trucks are pretty common in the south. Particularly in south Georgia or north Florida. And, in many parts of the south, Blacks make up 30-40% of the population, a much higher percentage than much of the rest of the country.

Which means that around 40% of the pulpwood truck drivers are Black.

And, in rural areas of south Georgia, where you're more likely to find trees, many in the Black community speak Gullah or Geechee dialects.

Now, if you aren't familiar with those, those dialects are centered around the Low Country of South Carolina -- but aren't limited to South Carolina.

And, if you're from up north, and you work at a truckstop in Jacksonville, and if a Gullah- or Geechee-speaking person asks you a question, you're probably going to be lost.

Unless, the manager of the service desk is from south Georgia and grew up knowing people that spoke that dialect.

That manager was me.

Anyway, I would be called on to translate between Yankee and Geechee/Gullah.

The Yankees would be totally amazed that I could understand the dialect-speaking driver.

And the drivers were totally amazed that I could stand to be around the Yankees.

So, I have experience speaking Black dialects. Or, at least, understanding and translating Black dialects.

Which means I could go to work for the government.

I just don't like the idea of having to speak government. The words are easy, but the meaning will drive you crazy.

My new favorite game

I know I'm a little behind the curve, but I recently got one of those new touch devices. I got an iPad. Lots of people have had an iPhone or an iPod Touch, but this is my first device of this type. And I like it. And, I'm discovering all the different apps that are available.

Like Angry Birds.

Like I said, I'm way behind the curve on this, and I know it. But it's a fun game.

In fact, the only game I can think of that could be more fun is one based on Angry Birds.

Here's the premise: You and others like you are angry because a bunch of horrible creatures have taken your stuff. So, you and the others go to get your stuff back, removing the horrible creatures in the process.

Sounds a lot like Angry Birds, doesn't it?

Only this game, anyone can play. You don't need an iPhone, an iPod Touch, an iPad, a BlackBerry, a Droid, or anything like that.

All you need is a ballot. The game is available November 2.

Microsoft hates America!

The other day, I ran into a situation with a date field on a Website. Someone who I was telling about the issue (it involved ColdFusion and a valid time value) was inspired to research valid date-time fields in databases. And, as it turns out, Microsoft SQL Server has date limitations.

For instance, you can't store a date prior to January 1, 1753 in a Microsoft SQL database.
You may ask, why would I want to store a date prior to January 1, 1753 in a database? Well, if your database is on American history, or about great Americans, then you just might need that.

George Washington's birthday was February 22, 1732 (or, February 11, 1731 O.S.) -- which means you can't store George Washington's birthday in a Microsoft database!

The Father of our Country! First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen! Our nation's first president under the Constitution! Microsoft won't let you store his birthday in their databases? That's outrageous!

Why does Microsoft hate America?

So, how big of a screw-up is Obama?

Anybody with one eye and half sense can tell that Barack Obama is a screw-up.

Some of us knew he was before he was elected. Now, everyone else is finding out what we knew all along: Barack Obama is a screw-up.

The only question remains is: how big of a screw-up is Obama?

Well, I saw today's Gallup and Rasmussen polls. And Gallup, which poll a sample of voting-age Americans, has Obama's approval rate at 44%:



Rasmussen, which polls a sample of likely voters, has Obama's approval rating at 45%:



Now, think about that for a minute.

Gallup doesn't limit to likely voters. It includes more than likely voters. Which means those not likely to vote. Those that don't care enough to vote.

Obama is such a screw-up, that even people that don't care are pissed at him.

I can see November from my house.