Remember....

Take 10 minutes today to remember those who gave everything for liberty...

 

Memorial Day - Black Panther Style

This Memorial Day I wanted something a little different. This video I found on You Tube it is the reenactment of the capture of a German prisoner in the Saint Nazaire area of France by the 66th Infantry Division. My Grandfather was a member of the 66th Infantry. The people of St. Nazaire made this video as a "Thank you" to the 66th for liberating their town of German occupation. If my Grandpa was alive today I believe he would say a simple "Your Welcome."

Thank You Grandpa for putting your life on the line for freedom. Thank You, to all the American soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines for keeping us free!

Registration Scammers?

Appears Coloradoans are going to be "assaulted" by people forcing Obama registrations. Here is a link to a local news story from KKCO. Word of advice... register at clerks office, there are criminals scamming people everywhere and some of them don't just work for the Obama campaign.

You May "Fly Over" but you Cannot Stop a Train

In Fruita, Colorado, on a sunny day you can look overhead and see the paths that  large aircraft have taken as they rushed their passengers and cargo from one coast to the other. Air travel is an amazing American invention where hundreds of people can climb into an metal tube and in hours travel across this great land.   A journey which took months on horse and wagon, weeks in a train and days in an automobile. A sure sign of progress. The trip is fast, relativity inexpensive (for how many miles are traveled) and efficient.

Also in Fruita, Colorado several times a day you can hear the rumblings of  hundreds of tons of locomotives and train cars passing through town. They are also efficient, but  it is a different kind of efficient. While an aircraft can get you from one point to another quickly a train can carry more weight from "point A" to "point B" than an airplane can, even though this mode of travel is much slower.

This is analogy is representative of how I think the American political spectrum is shaping up the last 4 or 5 years. The liberal left is representative of the pretty, new, and shiny aircraft. The conservative right is representative of the mechanical, aged and dark locomotive.

Four years ago the country wanting a quick escape from economic hardships, and trials of battles fought abroad they leaped at the chance to board the "Hope and Change" airliner that promised to whisk them out of their current doldrums and take them to a new and exciting place. A place where all things promised were shiny and new and the their problems could be solved in a speedy journey into the "wild blue yonder".

As the 747 zipped across the country the passengers could look out the sealed windows from the climate controlled cabin and witness the checkerboard pattern of rural American farms as they zoomed to their promised destination . Unquestioning his abilities and experience, they trusted their pilot and let him take control of their journey.

At train stations located 30,000 feet below there was another type of American boarding the "Liberty Special". A 100 ton steam locomotive, billowing black smoke and cinders.   The "Liberty Special" passengers boarded feeling confident that the locomotive would arrive at their destination safely and securely because the Liberty Special had made the journey many times over a hundred years.

As the Liberty Special  lurched forward to start her journey, the Hope and Change airliner had already traveled hundreds of miles passing legislation like the "Stimulus bill", the automaker bailout, "Cash for Clunkers" and "Obamacare". The pilot rushing to his destination, never opened the cockpit door to check on the status of his passengers. With the high speed of the aircraft and the lack of experience of the pilot the passengers were getting ill. They started to realize they had made a mistake on how to travel to the destination.

The Liberty Special was slowly creeping to speed in 2009 when Chris Christie was elected Governor of New Jersey, Scott Brown elected to the Senate and the birth of the Tea Party movement. By 2010, the Liberty Special was approaching full speed with the sweeping Congressional election. The passengers of the train know that the safest way to arrive at your destination was to rely on Liberty. The path they take is trusted and secure.

While it is true that the passengers on the Hope and Change may be on approach to land, the passengers are violently ill then they realize that one of the large engines on the plane had failed due to poor spending habits of the airline company. The pilot, in an effort to comfort his ill passengers, let them know that the reason for the failure of the engine and reason for their illness was due to the negligence of a locomotive engineer that was was operating a train four years ago. Then through the window the pilot notices a large flock of Canadian Geese.....


The moral of the story is take your time, enjoy the trip and always take Liberty over Hope and Change

A little video of the Silverton Train with music by C.W. McCall both in the Great State of Colorado.

Social Economics 101 - Reagan VS. Obama

Hello Boys...I'm Back!!!

After a bit of an absence, I have returned! My apologies for all those who were enjoying reading Plumb and Square  when I suddenly "went off the air" way back in January of 2011. My issues have cleared up and I am returning to blogging full time again. Please be patient while I reacquaint myself with the page and clean up bad links and stuff. If there is something that you like to see (or dislike) please let me know. Thank you for coming back (hopefully) to Plumb and Square.  Todd

I Will Return....

 

If you are a regular reader of Plumb and Square you might have noticed I have not posted anything in quite a while. Because of some personal circumstances, I am suspending adding posts for about 6 months. I love blogging and as General MacArthur said when he left the Philippines..."I  will return!"

To get your "fix" of local and political blogs let me point you to some of these other great guys who will be "Watching your back" until I can return...

Gene at Living the Grand Life
Rick at  War on Wrong

Clint at The Quantum Conservative
John at John Linko

Thank you for patience and for reading Plumb and Square.  Todd

We're Number Two!!

If I read the numbers correctly Denver Broncos will have the number two overall selection in the NFL Draft. That and seeing Tim Tebow's promise are the only reasons this whole year wasn't a waste.

I can see the Broncos selecting Patrick Peterson from LSU. He is a super fast Cornerback. Maybe Da'Quan Bowers from Clemson, a very talented Defensive End. Either way I get to spend the day today and draft day in April the same way ...Chanting... we're number two, we're number two.

R. Lee Ermey on Obama

If you are one of those mamby pamby socialists out there, this clip is not for you. For the rest of you I believe you can relate...

Christmas Guest

I hope you have a Christmas guest...


Merry Christmas from Plumb and Square!

12 Days of Christmas - Election Style

 

Adjourned sine die

The 111th Congress has adjourned, never to have another meeting date (sine die in Latin). Thank God it is finally over. Let's take a brief look at the damage that has been done by this left wing radical Congress...

111-003 Children's Health Insurance Program

111-005 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

111-031 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act
(You know, the act that modifies the government employees Thrift Savings Plan, the Civil Service Retirement System, and the Federal Employees' Retirement System and by the way tells you that smoking is bad for you.

111-148 Entitled The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
The BIG one!

111-203 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act

They also confirmed 2 Supreme Court Justices and and ratified the START treaty.

Of the approximately 290 laws passed. There were approximately 63 post offices named or about 21% of the laws passed. Then of course there is the commemorative coins minted, Congressional Medial of honor winners, and other "pat on the backs" that Congress feels obligated to give out.

There were two laws they passed this session that I really liked (and most likely the only ones read by Congressmen):

111-165 To provide that Members of Congress shall not receive a cost of living adjustment in pay during fiscal year 2011

111-289 Appointing the day for the convening of the first session of the One Hundred Twelfth Congress.

So Long to Ya - 2010

The annual Jib Jab year in review...

Turn out the Lights the Party's Over

I remember watching Monday Night Football and "Dandy" Don Meredith would sing this when the losing team had no chance to win. Fitting that Don passed away on the same day the Denver Broncos were eliminated from the playoffs. So this one's for "Dandy" Don and the Denver Broncos....

Never Gonna Stand For This by Teachenor Clark

Duck!!!

I've been thinking about about the lame duck sessions for Congress and the President lately and the concept just boggles my mind. Why after an election where a majority of people decide on a new Congress or President do we allow for a sitting Congress or President to make decisions or laws?

Let's start at the beginning (the very best place to start). In the original Constitution the date which a new session of Congress begins was the first Monday of December. The date which the Presidents term was to begin was not in the original Constitution. March 4 was the date that was 30 days following the casting of Electoral College votes in Congress (February 4, 1789)for George Washington. That gave him time to travel to the capitol (New York) to the inaugural.

The first Constitutional reference to the Presidential inauguration date (March 4) was in the 12th Amendment.

The person having the greatest Number of votes for President, shall be the President ... if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President...

That still did not set the exact inauguration date for President. That all changed with the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution. This Amendment set both the Presidential and Congressional term start dates.

The Twentieth Amendment

1. The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.

2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.

3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.

4. The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.

5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article.

6. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission.

So that is the history of the lame ducks in a nut shell. Now I will get on with my rant on why this has turned crazy.

First off, this age of communications and travel advances there is no reason to have any kind of lame duck for the President or the Congress. The lame duck Congress and President have no accountability to what is passed during the lame duck sessions. I heard it explained on the Fred Thompson Show as "It is like giving your ex-wife your check book after the divorce." It just doesn't make any since. The "ruling" party could pass (and have passed) all kinds for legislation without having to account for their actions to the people they are to represent.

For example, There was a vote for censure of the crook Charlie Rangel. During that vote our Representative, John Salazar, voted no. Charlie Rangel is a convicted criminal and our Representative said essentially that the people of the Third Congressional District think that is A-OK. I don't believe that is true. That is just a small example.

I believe that after an election, there is no reason to wait until the Third of January to swear in Congressmen. Have the new congressmen sworn in the day their election results have been verified. The "official" start date of Congress could still be in January, but the new Congressmen could already be serving. That eliminates the lame duck problems with Congress.

How about the President? I think we could actually eliminate most of the lame duck for the President. The President does have to wait until the electoral votes are cast in the new Congress. If we change the Congresses start date back to the original Third of December of the election year, that gives time for the election to be settled.

You might asking yourself  "What about the time the President needs to create a new government?" I understand that the President needs to make key appointments during that lame duck session so they can "hit the ground running" when they are inaugurated. Why does that have to be after the election?

Wouldn't it be more informational for the electorate to see who a prospective President will appoint before the election? I mean it might have changed a few votes if we knew that folks like Tim "the Tax-Cheat" Geithner and "Rahm "Dead Fish" Emanuel were going to be in key White House positions.

I believe that we should be fighting to have a Constitutional Amendment to revise the Twentieth amendment. The time has come to make a change into the 21st century.

TSA Educational Video

Is Convenience Inconvenient?

I saw this story this morning on KREX-TV's website and it gave me a little pause. One of those stations is one I frequent and I had to think if I ever used the pay at the pump thing. I haven't so I'm safe.



This allows me to "rant" about couple of these convenience things that are available that I don't feel to comfortable with, the first is the pay at the pump thing. I hate the idea of the general public having access to the credit card machine when a business is closed, (see above story). Also I have used the pay at the pump thing a few times and on occasion the gas station will take out and "hold" a large sum of funds to ensure that the credit card will not "bounce". Let's say, you buy $30 in fuel the station may "hold" from 100 to 200 bucks until your transaction is posted. I usually don't have an extra couple hundred bucks waiting until a credit card transaction is posted. If you actually make it indoors, stand in line, and pay for your fuel with a human processing the card, the store will not "hold" the additional funds.

My second rant is about drive through restaurants. Drive through restaurants, drive me crazy. First off most time the restaurant can only help one customer at a time in the drive through, so you end up "in line" for a long time, all the time wasting my gas. Then once you get the food and get to your destination to eat it, the order is almost always wrong. Grrr!

Over the years working in mining, maintenance and listening to loud music, I have pretty much ruined my hearing and when I am in the drive through I usually cannot hear the person taking the order either, so I get frustrated. You add that with all the people in your car telling you what they want all at one time, I want to explode.

So, I go inside where I can see the people I'm talking to, I can check the order before I leave, and the people traveling with me can tell their order to trained restaurant employee and not me. Most times when I go into the restaurant I can get my order quicker than the people in the drive through line anyway.

My word of advice is: Go inside for everything. It will not hurt you to take a little walk (especially since you are eating fast food) and you will get better service in the long run. Plus you don't have the added chance of someone stealing your credit card information.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! May God bless you and keep your families safe.

Here are some good Thanksgiving Day quotes

Thanksgiving is a season that is very much in accord with the themes and teachings of Jesus Christ.
John Clayton

To give thanks in solitude is enough. Thanksgiving has wings and goes where it must go. Your prayer knows much more about it than you do.
Victor Hugo

Christians were instructed to serve others, and the thanksgiving was for the grace of God and the fact that God offered a way for man to return to a positive relationship with Him.
John Clayton

My whole problem is that all of my favorite things at Thanksgiving are the starches, and everyone is trying to go low-carb this year, even a green vegetable has carbs in it.
Ted Allen

My cooking is so bad my kids thought Thanksgiving was to commemorate Pearl Harbor.
Phyllis Diller

If you think Independence Day is America's defining holiday, think again. Thanksgiving deserves that title, hands-down.
Tony Snow

Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence.
Erma Bombeck

Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.
Henry Van Dyke

A lot of Thanksgiving days have been ruined by not carving the turkey in the kitchen.
Kin Hubbard

Dear Lord; we beg but one boon more: Peace in the hearts of all men living, peace in the whole world this Thanksgiving.
Joseph Auslander

I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land.
Jon Stewart

It's like being at the kids' table at Thanksgiving - you can put your elbows on it, you don't have to talk politics... no matter how old I get, there's always a part of me that's sitting there.
John Hughes

My favorite meal is turkey and mashed potatoes. I love Thanksgiving, it's just my favorite. I can have Thanksgiving all year round.
Cindy Margolis

Thanksgiving, man. Not a good day to be my pants.
Kevin James

Thanksgiving is a time when the world gets to see just how blessed and how workable the Christian system is. The emphasis is not on giving or buying, but on being thankful and expressing that appreciation to God and to one another.
John Clayton

There is one day that is ours. Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purely American.
O. Henry

Seven Score and Seven Years Ago

Seven score and seven years ago, Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address ...