Darts In The Forest

My father in law finally got a dart board.


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Helsinki Tram Accident - 1999

Here is a photo from a tram accident in Helsinki back in 1999.

I was on the tram and saw the car crossing in front and knew when I saw it coming that there was no way it was going to make it. It hit hard enough to spin the car around.

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Illegal Alien Impact - Severe School Overcrowding

I live in Fairfax County Virginia. The local High School, Annandale High School has been suffering from overcrowding for a while. The Country is now shopping around 4 main options in dealing with the problem (link).

I had gone to a presentation back in December on the issue and the issue of illegal aliens came up. The response was that the school District was not allowed to investigate the impact of illegal aliens on school overcrowding and that they are prohibited from asking anyone about their legal status.

This is what happens when you mix politics into situations that need a clear understanding of the facts. Overcrowding is not the only issue Fairfax County Public Schools has to deal with concerning immigrants, including illegal aliens, as the county also has a problem with keeping white and black students in certain district schools that are being overrun with an unnatural influx of immigrants. you see, parents are going to believe politicians for only so long. During WWI, the Japanese knew that they were losing the war because the 'Great Victories' the Japanese were winning were ever closer to the homeland. Eventually people do figure out that they don't like what is going on. Constant school overcrowding is a definite warning sign.

Our politicians, especially our Democrat leaning ones, want to tell you that illegal aliens are not an issue and should be formally legalized and brought into our society. However, they are negatively impacting our communities in many small ways, both draining resources and packing our schools. These same politicians then pass laws requiring Government to ignore the problems created. We the people then suffer.

Our Congressman is Democrat Gerry Connolly. He is a direct contributing factor to this problem.

I don't know what else to say. It just seems that all our politicians are working overtime to wreck our neighborhoods. I am ready to fight back, and guess it is time to get more involved.

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Spotted in Bermuda - Dan Mitchell, Brian Garst

Last night returning to my hotel I ran into Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute and Brian Garst of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity and Big Government.

They were working on a press release concerning events they were following here and I will add it once it comes out.

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Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich - 2012?

I received my first 2012 presidential race fund-raising letter yesterday. It was from Mitt Romney. I got as far as 'Dear Fred' before I just went and tore the mailing up and tossed it in the trash. I did that because I have no interest in Mitt Romney being the Republican candidate for President. I think my biggest objection is 'RomneyCare'.

Of course I will vote for him if he wins the nomination, but he will have to get there without my help. That goes for Newt Gingrich as well. I think the photo below is a perfect example of how he is a political player. The lady he is sitting on the couch with rammed ObamaCare through Congress with zero regard for the concerns of anyone other than those pushing the radical overhaul of healthcare. If Newt becomes President, you can bet the Democrats will come calling demanding that they work together. This is a call they only make when they are out of power. Once in power, they kick their conservatives partners to the curb. This happens over and over because the Republicans are stupid, because they believe in the Democrats calls for bi-partisanship.

Let these guys have a VP or other supporting position. But by all means, lets find someone better for President!

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Scrap the 'Tax by the Mile' Idea for Transportation - Everyone Should Pay

The idea of taxing drivers based on how much they drive keeps coming back in the news. I covered this back in April, 2009 in the post 'A (GOVERNMENT CONTROLLED) TAXI METER FOR EVERY CAR IN AMERICA!'. Now the President is pushing this idea ahead and a way to get more tax from the population.

The Obama administration has floated a transportation authorization bill that would require the study and implementation of a plan to tax automobile drivers based on how many miles they drive.

The plan is a part of the administration's "Transportation Opportunities Act," - The Hill

That's great if you want to turn every car and truck in America into a taxi earning for the Government.

Here are some additional thoughts (in addition to my original post linked above) on this subject an how funding for the building of roads and bridges should be shared between the entire population.

First, a well-developed, well-maintained public transport infrastructure is in the benefit of every American. While some use the roads every day, everyone benefits from them, including those without a car. Need a policeman, Fireman or ambulance? They can't get to you if you without a road to get them there. While the need is rare, the need in those cases is urgent if not life-threatening. So just because you do not use it everyday, it does need to be maintained regardless of your use. And imagine trying to sell your house if there was no road to get to it. Use a bike or walk on the sidewalk. This is possible only as a result of road building. If you are going to tax drivers by the mile, why not also bikers and walkers?

So with this one issue in mind, it is not fair to burden only a segment of the population with funding of this infrastructure.

Then, as i wrote before, a mileage tax on cars is like putting a Government-controlled taxi meter in every vehicle in America. Outfitting every car and truck in America with tracking devices just to collect more tax has to be one of the dumbest ideas, ever. It would also be one of the most expensive projects, simply to put in place the tracking devices to levy and collect the tax information. And of course, it is not going to be the Government that pays, but car owners.

Worse, cars are already taxed in relation to how much they drive through a tax on gasoline. Sure, the rate is different for everyone, based on how much your car consumes as well as how much city/highway driving you do. However, everyone who drives pays and there is no need to make any changes to the cars (such as adding hundreds of dollars of GPS tracking and metering equipment) as the tax is collected at the pump.

One of the complaints of the current system is that people who choose hybrid cars save money because their cars use gasoline more efficiently than people who choose gas guzzlers. But there is an easy solution to this problem. Simply get rid of the $7,500 tax credit buyers of these cars receive and use that money for road building. The Administration would never do that because this would kill off the market for these cars, despite it solving the reduced gas tax revenue problem they create. And keep in mind that this is a problem the Government created in the first place for offering the tax credit.

Also, Democrats conveniently forget one reason for having a gasoline tax was to encourage drivers to conserve gasoline. Unfortunately for the rest of us, conserving gasoline means less tax money for Congress to waste. So our reward for being 'better citizens' is more taxes. In this case a proposed tax on every mile that you drive your car.

Also, lets not forget that the driving-force for a pay-by-mile tax is that the idea of raising gasoline taxes higher is universally unpopular. So as a fix, they decide to simply invent a new tax revenue stream. By all means raise the gas tax and incur the anger of the voting public. I can't see how this alternative is going to make people less angry. Really, they are going to violate the personal property of millions of American in installing tracking devices.

In addition to scrapping the credit for hybrids and electric cars, how about also scrapping the multi-Billion Dollar ethanol gas subsidy.

Ninety organizations are calling for an end to the $6 billion-dollar-a-year subsidy that encourages the production of ethanol biofuel from maize in the United States.

Ethanol makes up about 10 percent of the gasoline fueling cars in the United States, and almost all of it is made from maize.

"It’s renewable and domestic, home-grown," says Bob Dinneen, president of the Renewable Fuels Association, who adds that this home-grown source of energy is reducing the nation's dependence on foreign oil.

A 2007 U.S. law requires motor fuel to include renewable fuels. And - for blending in ethanol - gasoline makers get a tax credit that adds up to about $6 billion this year. - VOA News

In addition to direct savings from ditching the ethanol subsidy, all drivers would benefit immediately due to better gas mileage from running on an all-gas mixture.

Worse, the money already extracted from car owners (and even residents in general) in some places is obscene. Certain Metropolitan areas subsidize their mass transit project through overcharging tolls for vehicle drivers. I just drove back from New York and the sight of a sign noting that the Toll to cross the Verazanno Bridge was $13 was shocking even with the knowledge that this is the round trip price. Still that is $6.50 for each direction. It is well understood that a good portion of that toll is destine to subsidize the subways. How much? Try half!

MTA Bridges and Tunnels (B&T) operates seven bridges and two tunnels that form essential links for vehicular highway transportation in the New York City metropolitan region. With an average daily traffic of more than 800,000 vehicles using the nine crossings and more than half of its $1.4 billion in revenue dedicated to mass transit, B&T plays a significant role in enhancing regional mobility. - MTA 2011 Final Proposed Budget (PDF Link, page 186)

Overbilling Car drivers to support the region's public transit system is only part of the redistribution that is going on in the NY City area. Take these additional taxes:

What You're Paying the MTA When You Don't Use It

• .34% payroll tax on all employers (to include school districts and local governments)
• 5% additional sales tax on car rentals
• Surcharge on drivers' licenses and car registrations
• .375% of the sales tax
• 17% surcharge on corporate taxes
• Surcharge on telephone taxes
• .3% Mortgage Recording Tax-1; .25% MRT-2 - Link

All of this in order to prevent fare hikes and cuts in service. And yet, all of these acts mask the true costs of the service of public transport. It also puts off the need to fight waste and abuse when such a large slush fund is available to cover over the difference from actual revenue (bus and train fares) from actual expenses.

So drivers are already paying. Perhaps, money already extracted from drivers should be used on roads and the place to raise additional revenue should be in raising public transit fares. They are the ones who are not paying their 'fair share'. Their share is being partially paid off the backs of car owners.

Declaring that only some benefit from a well developed road infrastructure is simply false. Also, the excuse given for requiring all Americans to have health care in ObamaCare was that all Americans will eventually need medical care. the same applies to roads. Everybody needs them. So everybody should pay.

P.S.

One real screw in this tax meter plan of Congressman Oberstar is that we are already taxed on lots of roads that we drive on. Are they going to tax us for driving through Delaware on I-95 where the tolls per mile cost more than the cost of gasoline to drive through the state? Is this little machine going to tax us for driving on our own property and on local roads and 'unimproved' roadways? And if the answer is that they will not be taxing us on all roads, why should people who do not use them have these meters installed in their cars?

And how are they going to prevent massive fraud by users disabling these machines? That might be as simple as blocking the GPS signal. It would be impractical to integrate these machines to existing cars in a way that would defeat tampering. And if they ever did manage that feat, surely people will just start not registering vehicles because they can't afford the taxes that come with it. This would be a real possibility out west where the distances to be driven are large and the possibility of an encounter with law enforcement minimal. Then again, you register your car with your state, not the Federal government. So would they expect State Authorities to enforce Federal Tax-Meter regulations?

Surely there are many more issues out there that this Congressman is not interested in hearing about.

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Obama, The Great Appeaser: No Bin Laden Photo

You would think that a Present who just publicly released a copy of his birth Certificate because a majority of the population was starting to doubt that he was born in the US, would have realized that some sort of proof of death would be required to prove to the world that the US had indeed found and killed Osama Bin Laden. But no:

In an interview with Steve Kroft for this Sunday's 60 Minutes, President Obama says he won't release post-mortem images of Osama Bin Laden taken to prove his death.

Video of the comments will appear on the CBS "Evening News" on Wednesday.

Republican House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers said Wednesday that the Obama administration should not release the gruesome postmortem images, saying it could complicate the job for American troops overseas.

"The risks of release outweigh the benefits," he said. "Conspiracy theorists around the world will just claim the photos are doctored anyway, and there is a real risk that releasing the photos will only serve to inflame public opinion in the Middle East." - CBS News

This is a perfect example of how the President and his keepers are fully onboard with the mis-belief that the solution to a violent Muslim world at war (to a certain degree) with the West is a progressive American President who makes note of their pain and is in tune with their sensitivities. So when Obama appears to be more Muslim than catholic, it really has nothing to do with his religious preference, which I suspect he is not very religious at all, but instead is all just an act to appear to Muslims to be sympathetic to their concerns, regardless of how asinine they may be. Another perfect example is how Obama made sure that bin laden's carcass was treated with respect. For God's sake why?

This is unfortunate, because it is a soft consoling hand that will do nothing to guide muslims from the extreme fringes that are at war with the US and the West in general. Treating our muslim enemies with respect, especially people who at best are war criminals, only dis-empowers those who are friends of the West and US. This is why we should put the photo out there. Osama bin Laden was a criminal. He was an enemy of all people on earth, especially Muslims. We killed him. Your welcome.

Personally, I think bin laden's corpse should have been cremated in the garbage incinerator of the USS NEW YORK and his ashes mixed with paint. Then paint his remains onto the deck as non-skid.

As far as the US not catching him alive, I covered this likelihood back in 2005 in 'Likely Unintended Effect of Fighting for Rights for Terrorists'. After all, the last thing President Obama needed during a reelection campaign would be Liberals demanding rights for this animal. And for sure some of the Liberals would eventually start openly supporting rights for Osama. In that respect, you could almost say that liberals were as responsible for the killing of Osama as the Navy SEALS were.

The tag line at the bottom of this blog says 'Appeasement is for suckers'. Unfortunately, our President seems to think that it is a magical tool. It just is one more piece of evidence of the lack of common sense our President is dealing with.

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You Are Going to Need a Bigger Car

Here is a photo of a car fully loaded down that we came across one day while on I-95 headed up to Baltimore.

According to the Smart website, the car can carry 500 pounds which I think is very good for it's size. Still, I can't help but wonder if maybe, just maybe, they might be better off with something a little bigger. It is interesting to see that the car can be loaded up like that in a professional manner.

Still, this is a good example of the ridiculousness of the President's comments a couple weeks ago on how Americans should go look for cars with better gas mileage as there is no fit's-all solution for most families. For us, we have a Volvo XC70 wagon and a Volvo XC90 SUV. It turned out that the wagon ended up being just a little too small when traveling and when having guests over we needed to take two cars places. So, when I traded in my also small-ish BMW 325i last fall, I ended up with the SUV, both for the all wheel drive and also for the fact that it has the 3rd row to permit seating for up to 7. We have already used the car a number of times with 6 and it has been a great solution to getting around. That said, all during the week I am driving it to and from work all alone.

One more thing about the President's dismissive comments about the high price of gas. It totally ignores the problem that high fuel prices are killing people every time they purchase home heating oil and every time people purchase an airline ticket. (And all sorts of other things...)

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Finland Catches Pirates off Oman

Finland sent a warship to join the fight against piracy off Somalia. They just made a nice contribution by catching some pirates.

Reports so far indicate that the seizure of the vessel took place early on Wednesday morning, some 500 kilometres south-east from Salalah in Oman.

The suspected pirates were aboard a vessel that was towing two smaller boats behind it. The vessel attempted to escape, at which point the Pohjanmaa fired a volley of warning shots to deter the crew. The vessel was found to contain eighteen persons believed to be pirates. A detachment from the Pohjanmaa found material on the captured vessel that is in keeping with that used in piracy on the high seas.

The minelayer remains on station, attempting to determine the nature of the crew-members. - Helsingin Sanomat

Each victory against pirates is very important. It will be interesting to see what happens to this bunch. I suspect that they will eventually be set free.

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Here Is Your Gun Problem - Probation For Illegal Gun Possession In DC

Here is a perfect example of what is wrong with how the Government, especially Democrat-controlled Government, fights gun crime. In this case you have a 'kid' caught doing illegal behavior, who gets a break with only being charged with illegal possession of a firearm and then gets a second break by not getting jail time. It is only now, years later that police they are finally considering putting him in jail, basically for ignoring the trivial punishment he did get, probation.

D.C. police arrested Vaughn in June 2009 after stopping a group of men selling drugs near the McGogney Elementary School in Southeast Washington. Vaughn fled as members of the vice squad swooped in on the group, and one of the officers saw him throw a black handgun onto the roof of the school.

"This kid has little regard for the public if he is willing to just throw [a gun] away where anyone could pick it up and potentially hurt themselves or someone else," said Matt Burke, supervisory inspector with the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force. "It's time for him to take responsibility for this actions."

Police climbed the roof of the school and recovered a black Jimenez Arms .380-caliber semiautomatic handgun. Vaughn pleaded guilty to a felony charge of carrying a pistol and ammunition without a license, but he failed to appear before a D.C. judge after authorities claimed he had violated his probation. A warrant was issued for his arrest in October, and authorities said he has been on the run since. - Read More at Washington Examiner

Here is his sentence from DC Court Records:

Sentence
Sentence for Charge # 1, Carry Pistol W/O Lic -Outside Home/Business
Sentence Date: 09/25/2009
Confinement Type: YRA
Time: 0 years, 6 months, 0 days.
Time Suspended: 0 years, 6 months, 0 days.
Amount To Serve: 0 years, 0 months, 0 days.
Supervised Release: 0 years, 6 months, 0 days, Suspended.
VVCA Amount: 100.00, Due: 09/28/2010
Probation Type: YRASUP, Start Date: , End Date:
Probation Time: 1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Probation Conditions: Mental Health Screening/Evaluation--Mental Health Counseling
Probation Conditions: Maintain or Seek Employment
Probation Conditions: Vocational Assessment--Job Training
Sentencing Comments: credit for time served. (DC Courts link)

So he got 6 months of jail time, all of which was suspended.

I just don't get it. They complain that gun crime is a big problem in DC. They when they are confronted with it, they give the criminals a free pass. And this guy's crime was not simple gun possession. He was up to worse. He only got charged with the gun crime.

The people being most punished by DC's lax illegal gun enforcement are those looking to own legal handguns and the community at-large who are forced to live with criminals like Vaughn roaming around.

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Note for Democrats: Spending Less is Not Extreme - Demanding More is...

It has been clear for a while that the Democrats are not interested at all in trying to win over Tea Party activists or people like myself who agree with the Tea Party goals of cutting spending and limiting Government.

Now it seems that the Democrats are taking a position of open hostility against Tea Party attempts to make out Government Representatives more responsible:

"The main thrust is basically that we want to negotiate and we want to come up with a compromise but the Tea Party is pulling Boehner too far over to the right and so far over that there is no more fruitful negotiations," Schumer said on the call. "The only way we can avoid a shutdown is for Boehner to come up with a reasonable compromise and not just listen to what the Tea Party wants. "

Schumer described Boehner as "in a box," over the budget negotiations.

The four senators came on the call after Schumer abruptly went silent and followed Schumer's script closely. - Washington Examiner

Some of our politicians simply have no shame at all. Unfortunately, this is a problem on both the left and the right. However, no amount of spin or even flat out slander of a segment of the voting population is going to change a very simple fact that the Government is recklessly borrowing huge amounts of money that they have no intention of ever paying back. And I think with this in mind, they have no problem trying to spend even more huge amounts of money, simply to buy votes. Keep in mind that the deficit for the current year is about $1.5 trillion out of a $3.5 Trillion budget. Republicans were attempting to cut budget spending by less than 2%. This is defined as extreme by Democrats. It might shock Senator Shumer, but many American families have been forced to such 'extreme' measures with their own budgets.

If Shumer wants extreme, I suggest the Republican members of Congress give it to him and the Democrat leadership. The easiest way to do this is by refusing to increase the debt limit.

Refusing to increase the debt limit will force the Government to operate under a balanced budget. Given how Democrats can't even cut frivolous and wasteful Government spending, this is probably the one way to stop this insanity. Is this an extreme way to go? the budget would have to be cut over 30% (Or cuts plus increase Government revenue). The more I listen to Congress bickering on CSPAN, the more I'm starting to think that this is the only way to go. It would be more tough love than extreme. It would surely be painted as the 'Nuclear Option', but hey, we live in a nuclear world.

At the very least, this should be the opening position for the Republicans in the House. Even if they eventually have to meet the Democrats 'half way', that will still be lots better than where we are being driven right now.

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The US is Going to Have to Take an Axe to the Budget

One thing that has become quickly clear to me while listening to all the talk inCongress of the Continuing Resolutions to fund the Government and just what to cut in terms of spending, that is it going to be impossible to 'apply a scalpel' to the US Budget and carefully cut spending. there are two problems with such a method. First, most every dollar of spending has some Congressman ready to stand up and speak against cutting it. And second, the sheer amount of overspending, around 40% of all spending is borrowed, there is no way that we will be able to get Congress to selectively cut a tiny fraction of that amount.

Ace of Spades has been covering the budget/debt problem for a while:

With just this year's spending, President Obama, Henry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi have saddled us with debt that we will probably never pay back, and the White House budget (even before the CBO corrections) agrees. It doesn't even try to pay back these deficits - in fact it doesn't even balance the budget. Ever. - Ace of Spades

I think it is time to axe the budget by starting with a new budget where each kind of spending needs to be justified with total spending limited by the amount of expected revenues.

Does this mean that I want to cut Head Start? Damn right it does. I already pay for two children of my own. It is a responsibility of parents. Shame on the Government for deciding that I should also contribute to support children of other parents.

The budget Axe. It's the new scalpel. It needs to be.
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e-Verify - 'Work Authorization Confirmed'

Homeland Security announced yesterday that it is now possible for people to e-Verify themselves. the idea being that you can check to make sure that your e-Verify information is correct.

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security launched E-Verify Self Check, which also is available in Colorado, Idaho, Mississippi, Virginia and the District of Columbia. It will be extended to all states by the end of the year.

"E-Verify is a smart, simple and effective tool that allows us to work with employers to help them maintain a legal workforce," Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a news release. "The E-Verify Self Check service will help protect workers and streamline the E-Verify process for businesses."

The initiative complements E-Verify by limiting bureaucratic hiccups and giving job applicants the opportunity to correct errors in Homeland Security and Social Security Administration databases that the system uses. - Tucson Sentinel

The E-Verify Self Check website is here Link (Not sure why they would use an impossibly long url) and it unsurprisingly confirmed that my information is correct and that I am authorized to work in the US.

So we have one less reason to not have all employers in the US use E-Verify to confirm that people applying for jobs are authorized to work in the US.

Now we just have to get the Government to start deporting illegal aliens are they trip over them.

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Democrats, Muslims, Gun Owners and Tea Partiers

This week the Democrats displayed near unlimited concern that a group of Americans might be unfairly labeled for the actions of a few bad actors within that group:

Republicans criticized their counterparts for cloaking the debate in political correctness by questioning the constitutionality of targeting a specific group. Several Democrats suggested a broader hearing that would look at extremism of all kinds.

“I cannot help but wonder how propaganda about this hearing focusing on the American Muslim community will be used by those who seek to find a new generation of suicide bombers,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the panel’s ranking member.

But Rep. Paul Broun said such arguments miss the point: that al-Qaida and other organizations are successfully radicalizing youth in Muslim American communities.

“We need to know exactly who our enemy is. We need to focus on that enemy and not let political correctness deter us from that,” the Georgia Republican said. “I think political correctness is also an enemy.” - Roll Call

Personally I think the hearings are needed. After all, all things being equal, which community is most likely to breed terrorists inside the US?

Too bad that the Democrats, who are so quick to come to the defense of one community are as quick to label and slander other groups such as pro-life supporters, gun owners, tea party supporters, anti-illegal immigration advocates, conservatives, Republicans and anyone who does not keep in step with their own radical agenda.

Also, too bad that the Democrats are so complicit with refusing to acknowledge actual cases of violence committed by those they defend while accusing persons on the right of fostering violence that never manifests itself.

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