Ah it seems MajorDad missed posting the Homespun Symposium for this week at Homespun Bloggers. That's OK, because we can simply make up our own! Just for fun, I'll make this week's Homespun Symposium random -- I'm gong to go to CNN.com and select the...third news story listed when I get there. That will be this week's topic:

Large Quake Hits Northern Japan.

Ok, well that didn't work too well. I'll go back and try the third news story listed in the politics section...

Federal Budget deficit drops again.

Sigh. Must be a slow news day.

The story starts out with

The Congressional Budget Office predicts a budget deficit of $314 billion for the coming fiscal year, almost a $100 billion decline from last year's deficit.

Of course, the Formerly Mainstream Media (FMSM) cannot let a chance go by to criticize President George W. Bush:

Last year's deficit was a record in dollar terms

The whiners Democrats were quick to respond, complaining about tax cuts and baby boomers retiring. Hey Kent Conrad (W-ND), here's a clue: if you don't have enough money, STOP SPENDING IT!

I'm no big fan of deficit spending -- heck, I'm not a fan of about 95% of government spending. If you don't have the money, stop spending it. Want to save money? Get rid of the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and half the other departments that do nothing but unconstitutionally take my hard-earned money.

So.

What's your take on the news that "the federal budget deficit drops again"?

Posted by: Ogre at 11:41 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Apparently if you live in Ohio, you better be darn careful who you blog about. If you happen to publish a blog that is critical of a judge, you might not only get thrown in jail for "intimidation," but you might get completely shut up by getting no visitors, no phone calls, and solitary confinement. Who says there's free speech in Ohio? Not this judge.

Now I better be careful even typing this on the internet. Of course, the Supreme Court did rule 60 years ago that there is a first amendment and that people can specifically publish things about judges that might make them "unpopular," but that clearly doesn't apply in this case.

So bloggers, be careful -- you, too can get thrown in jail if you piss off a judge. Hey Judge Markus, bite me. Are you going to come arrest me now, too?

(Linked to Beltway Traffic Jam and Mudville Gazette).

Posted by: Ogre at 09:44 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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Those outside the state of North Carolina have likely never heard of one Judge Manning. Anyone inside North Carolina who pays any attention to government or education knows his name. This is a judge who has decided that he is going to take the place of the legislature. He has decided that he has the constitutional power and authority to make laws, interpret laws, determine spending, and enforce laws.

How is this possible? Simple -- other people do not understand the concept of separation of powers. The judge has responded to yet another lottery lawsuit, this time in regards to school funding. He has decided that the North Carolina Constitution says that not only is every citizen guaranteed an education, but that he, personally, gets to determine that education.

What the actual North Carolina Constitution says:

The people have a right to the privilege of education, and it is the duty of the State to guard and maintain that right.

The governor and the legislature has recently increased spending by $85, $22, and $75 million -- but Manning says, "the legislative branch is not reacting to this case"

Manning says, "They're going to have to spend some money to effect change." So a judge claims to be able to determine spending levels for the state. That's wrong, and he is wrong-- VERY wrong.

Once again, I call on the constitutional republic to work the way it's supposed to work, with checks and balances. The legislature is 100% free to completely and totally ignore this egotistical potential dictator. He has NO power to tell the legislature how to spend money! NONE! What's he going to do if they ignore him? Arrest the legislature? Oh wait, he's need the governor to do that, wouldn't he?

This judge does not have the power to tell the legislature how much money to spend, no matter how much he wants that power. The legislature should absolutely ignore him and do their job. In a more perfect world, the legislature would start proceedings to remove the judge for him attempting to usurp the power of the legislature.

Posted by: Ogre at 05:00 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 He has decided that he has the constitutional power and authority to make laws, interpret laws, determine spending, and enforce laws. This happens on the national level and everywhere. It is the problem of our times.

Posted by: Jay at August 16, 2005 08:16 AM (2FcUc)

2 Where do I sign up? I need a good shot of ego in the morning. It'd do me good to tell the lesser people what they can and can't do with their tax dollars. . .

Posted by: Oddybobo at August 16, 2005 08:39 AM (6Gm0j)

3 Sure, Oddy -- become a judge and you, too, can have ultimate power in this country. Easily in this state. Worse, there's NO way the legislature will oppose him -- ordering Democrats to spend more money is like ordering an alcoholic to take a drink.

Posted by: Ogre at August 16, 2005 09:00 AM (/k+l4)

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Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says

It is out of strength and not weakness that we are taking this step. We tried to reach agreements with the Palestinians which would move the two peoples towards the path of peace. These were crushed against a wall of hatred and fanaticism.

I truly hope this will work. However, since Hamas has already announced that they will continue their terrorist bombings and cowardly attacks on unarmed civilians in Israel, I hope Sharon will keep his other words:

The world awaits the Palestinian response a hand offered in peace or continued terrorist fire. To a hand offered in peace, we will respond with an olive branch. But if they chose fire, we will respond with fire, more severe than ever.

The Formerly Mainstream Media (FMSM) in the press is at a total loss on how to react to these developments in the middle east. On one hand, terrorists are being appeased. That's nothing but good news to the FMSM. However, Sharon also said,

With the help of God, may this path be one of unity and not division, of mutual respect, and not animosity between brothers, of unconditional love, and not baseless hatred.

Hey Sharon, and anyone else who wants to appease terrorists -- this one's for you:

Who's your daddy?

Posted by: Ogre at 08:30 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 I'm with you on this one - but I'm kinda wondering if Sharon is really stupid like a fox - perhaps he's doing this knowing that the Palistinians can't hold themselves back - and thus they'll give him an excuse to blow them sky high!

Posted by: leftbrainfemale at August 16, 2005 08:51 AM (M7kiy)

2 I really do hope it works, but if it doesn't, Sharon did slip that line in: "But if they chose fire, we will respond with fire, more severe than ever." He better back up his words on this one! If he does, he'll quickly earn my respect back.

Posted by: Ogre at August 16, 2005 09:01 AM (/k+l4)

3 Elf bowling,,,,, nice touch Ogre. As serious as the story was, that was funny.

Posted by: Tomslick at August 16, 2005 02:22 PM (xNjHI)

4 I try to keep things light, even when they're not.

Posted by: Ogre at August 16, 2005 02:56 PM (L0IGK)

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A self-described "Wiccan," Darla Wynne, sued Great Falls, SC in 2001 because she's an idiot. Wait, I'm sorry, it was because she's a Wiccan idiot. No wait, that's not it, she sued because she wanted to play the lawsuit lottery! Yes, we have yet another contestant in the lawsuit lottery! Sue a city, get ten thousand; sue a company, get ten million! It can all be yours, take a shot, there's ZERO risk!

In this moronic case, the woman was "offended" that someone would say the word "Jesus Christ" in public. I'm offended that Darla is an asshole -- how much money can I get for that?

The town has a population of only 2,199 people and one meathead (Darla Wynne). She sued to make the town council stop using the word "Jesus" and won (incorrectly). The town appealed and common sense lost. Now Darla I-want-cash Wynne is suing AGAIN, this time for $65,000 in "legal fees."

She hasn't won this case yet, but it certainly appears she will. If she does, and even if she doesn't, I really, really wish I were on the town council. This is exactly why there is a separation of powers in the United States. The judge can tell the council to not utter the word "Jesus," and the court can even order the town to pay $65,000 -- but the judge can't force the town to listen.

Yes, the town should tell this judge and Darla I-have-no-life Wynne exactly where they can stick it. They should keep mentioning Jesus Christ just as much as they darn well want to. If the judge orders them to pay $65,000, they should absolutely ignore him. The judge and Darla I'm-a-stupid-idiot Wynne can't do anything about it.

This is exactly how a constitutional republic should work. The town should ignore them both and say "Jesus." What could happen? Will a town council member be ARRESTED for uttering the name "Jesus?" Wouldn't THAT be spectacle? I'd do it in a heartbeat if I were the council member.

However, if the executive branch ignored the judge, there would be no one to arrest the council member! Then what? Would the federal government come into the thriving metropolis of Great Falls, SC and make a federal prisoner of the town council? Again, I would love to see that.

Same goes for the $65,000. Just ignore them. What can the judge do? In a real constitutional republic, nothing! The executive branch is charged with enforcing the laws. If a judge is ignored, only the executive branch can enforce the laws -- if they ignore the judge, too, there's NO ONE to enforce the judge's crappy decision.

Great Falls, SC, this judge was wrong, and you know it. Ignore the judge. Continue to exercise your right of freedom of religion. Let the federal government show up and arrest you for saying "Jesus." Do not give in to these extortionists.

Posted by: Ogre at 05:07 PM | Comments (12) | Add Comment
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1 That is REDICULOUS!!!!!!! I'm with you, bro. SCREW the judgement; the town should just ignore the ruling and flip this asshole off when she comes to collect on the judgement. People like this piss me off to no end.

Posted by: Gun-Toting Liberal at August 15, 2005 06:50 PM (Er9BL)

2 I really wish they would ignore her. I would honestly absolutely LOVE to see the federal government come crashing into a town of 2,200 to arrest someone and throw them in federal jail for saying the word "Jesus." It would really show that this country is lost.

Posted by: Ogre at August 15, 2005 06:59 PM (L0IGK)

3 This lawasuit offends me, can I sue the gubment? Tort reform ... /TJ

Posted by: TJ at August 15, 2005 10:38 PM (PL7dL)

4 Yes, I'm sure you can. And you could probably win.

Posted by: Ogre at August 16, 2005 05:31 AM (L0IGK)

5 Ogre, you have your facts mistaken. What started this mess was when I wen to town council to complain about crack dealers on a street corner. They made my bumper stickers an issue and began to require participation in a Christian prayer as mandatory to participate within the council meetings. I was on the agenda and when I skipped the prayer, was knocked off the agenda. I requested a nonsecular prayer or to allow a rotation of religious leaders within our community and they refused. Yes, I did win in court, and the judgement is not specific again Jesus Christ, but it simply states that no specific deity can be named during the invocation. IF all council members were Pagan, Wiccan, Hindu, Buddhist or Islamic, I am sure Christians would be offended by being forced to participate in a prayer to another God they don't believe in, so this ruling protects us all from being forced to participate within a faith that we do not believe in. You also got the fact of a second suit wrong. The attorney fees, which btw has been ordered and granted, was a part of the original suit. The only way it will become a second suit, is if the town council appeal it and then it has nothing to do with me because I don't get the money, my attorney does. I have no problem with anyone disagreeing with me, but for once, I wish you all would at least get the facts straight. You call me an idiot, but an idiot with half a brain could do some research and see what you say is false, but then again, you are expecting people, and many are, to be blind sheep to be led to the water troth and drink what ever you serve up, whether it is factual or fictional. I realize this will probably be deleted, but hell, a little education never hurt any one! Well, maybe a little, when they actually had to use their brain to understand the facts! Don't hurt yourself ogre!

Posted by: Darla Kaye Wynne at October 01, 2005 07:30 PM (ywZa8)

6 They began to require participation in a Christian prayer? Ok, I'm not buying that one at all. How did they REQUIRE you to PARTICIPATE? Did they tie you down and beat you until you said "Hail Mary?" Did they grab your throat and move your lips and force you to say "Yeah, Jesus?" That's just silly to even imply that they forced you to participate. If they wanted to say a prayer, you can not listen all you want to. If all the council members were Wiccan, in a free country, they'd be ABSOLUTELY free to say whatever prayer they wanted! And *I* would celebrate it if that were actually allowed to happen! I'm about FREEDOM, not promoting religion. And I believe that if the people of the town want to freely associate and say "We Love Jesus," no federal court should be able to stop them at all. And never fear -- I never delete comments unless they contain serious offensive (bad, course, etc) language (not "offensive" ideas).

Posted by: Ogre at October 02, 2005 07:50 PM (iJFc9)

7 Ogre, the point that Ms. Wynne was making was this: "They made my bumper stickers an issue and began to require participation in a Christian prayer as mandatory to participate within the council meetings." The point is, they would not let her participate in the council meeting (her RIGHT as a citizen) UNLESS she participated in the Christian prayer. And, mind you, she did this many times (she bowed her head while the prayer was being said), but they still would not even HEAR HER COMPLAINT, but sent her away, just because they did not like her bumper stickers! Not only that, but they spread vicious words about her, which caused mentally imbalanced people to beat her up and to kill her pets!!! Why are you defending people who are trying to get out of doing their jobs (cleaning up the crack problem) and INSTEAD making someone a skapegoat just because she has enough integrity to follow her own conscience in her own religion? If the situation was reversed, as you suggest, and all the council was Wiccan, would you agree that people MUST say a Wiccan prayer to the Wiccan goddess, or else the council will not even HEAR their complaint?

Posted by: Margaret at October 08, 2005 11:27 AM (10/nb)

8 I'm not comprehending how you "make" someone participate in a prayer. Do they have mind readers there? "Hey you, with the head bowed -- stop thinking about sex and think about God!" That just doesn't make sense to me. If the entire coucil was Wiccan, I would have no problem with them saying a Wiccan prayer. However, as with the current example, I'm not sure how you FORCE someone to comply with a certain prayer.

Posted by: Ogre at October 09, 2005 06:52 PM (iJFc9)

9 Perhaps the words shouldn't be "FORCE." Here are her own words as to what happened: "I moved over here in the Fall of 1998, by the Spring of 1999, I had bought this house, which put on me on the other side of town, which meant my route to work changed and had me stopping at a stop sign on a daily basis that 3 crack dealers occupied as well on a daily basis. Because I didn't buy their drugs, they became obscene with me, by grabbing their crotches and telling me they had 12 inches for my backside. This went on for almost 6 months before I had my fill and an argument with them, which by this time they were already driving by my house and if I was outside they continued the obscenities. I made them mad when I cussed them out at the stop sign one day and they decided to jump in their car and chase me down, and I pulled over to play whoop ass with them, but 2 guys from the Big A Auto Parts store came out and they took off. They told me I needed to go to the police and being the biker babe that I am, I didn't want to be a snitch but was informed that in this town, everyone went to the police with their problems, it was the way things were done, so I did. The police told me that they were only allowed 2 undercover operations a year and that if I wanted anything done about it I would have to go to a council meeting and talk with them, which I did, but I had never been to a council meeting prior to that and had no desire to do so and would have never went back had they not made my bumper stickers and my faith an issue and dealt with my issues of the drug dealers. I had no problem with their prayer at the council meeting, matter of fact I participated in it. I stood, bowed my head and said amen at the end, just like everyone else. When it came time for me to talk, I got a sentence out and then they informed me my bumper stickers were offensive and wanted them removed and my time ran out, so I had to go back 6 times and each time I prayed with them, but by that time, I was interested in why it took so long for them to hear me and why did I have to accuse them of making money from the drug dealers to get action, so I continued. Then when I didn't remove my stickers the prayers began to be directed at me or at least that is how I took it when the prayer, "may everyone find JC including the heathens" was said. At the next council meeting, I didn't bow my head and they waited for me to bow my head and then publicly pointed out that I didn't bow my head and people called me a Satanist and told me I wasn't wanted and I could get burned out during the meeting and none of my council said anything about these comments. So then, I asked for a generic prayer or to have members of the community alternate the prayer and they created a policy, which banned members of the community from giving prayers, and went to the churches and requested resolutions and petitions and got them against me and my request. From there, it just escalated to the point of having to file suit, but during all of this the first of the vandalism on my vehicles began and they were throwing bricks through my windows, egging my house and the first of the cats began to be poisoned, so they pushed me to the point of putting a stop to this organized hateful attitude towards differences." And here's just SOME of the things that town's done to her: "I walked into my home where a front door and windows were broken and spray painted, cabinets tore down, poop in microwave, cat box dumped in my bed, spray paint on the walls that said, " die witch, " refrigerator and stove flipped over and everything out of the drawers and it was totally demolished. I called the Chief and then I went to the police station only to be given a security catalog and told he would be jeopardizing his job. I went home and attempted to clean up and from that day forward until August 11, 2004, my house was vandalized a total of 9 times. I have redone my home 5 times and am working on the 6th now. During that time, everything except one piece of furniture survived in its entirety, which is a dresser from a beautiful bedroom suit. How it survived I don't have a clue, but one of my friend's reminds that he feels it is because when he came over and saw it flipped on the floor and offered to turn it back up, I told him to leave it that it would only end up there again and he said he thinks that saved it. During this time, I did try to get, as much of my stuff that wasn't broken or broken too badly outside in the shed or on the front porch, but it didn't save my animals. I walked in once to find a cat gutted and hung from a planter in the back bedroom, my African Grey, Little One beheaded and her heart cut out, with a note attached saying I was next, cats poisoned, murdered, my horses almost killed, my oldest Yorkie was blinded when she was 14 and then attacked again this year, which now she is completely blinded and just recently had to under go surgery which they didn't think she would survive due to her age. I have been pulled over my fence and beaten. Even my male raccoon was taken and I think they were going to kill him, but possibly attempted to torture him first by shaving him, which was their mistake, because he got away and came home. They killed my iguana, Sammie, which she was 6 feet long, my black shark and due to the attacks I had to give my horses away because I couldn't be in 2 places at once, my 9 foot Burmese as well." All because that Council made her a scapegoat because they didn't want to do their own work and clean up the town.

Posted by: Margaret at October 09, 2005 09:40 PM (DHqN1)

10 You've addressed a few different issues. If there is criminal activity taking place at her house, she should call the city police. If they do not help, she can call the Sheriff or the state police. If they do not help, then she can call the federal government. It's hard to blame criminal activity in her house on the city council unless she's got proof that those people were involved. If she does, however, certainly go to the state government (state senators, state reps). I think the main point is the center one in your reply. She was "offended" because someone said that they wished the "heathens" would see the light. NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO NOT BE OFFENDED BY ANYONE. If she's offended by a prayer, don't listen to it. Don't file a lawsuit to stop the prayer. She's not the first person in the country to go to a council meeting to ask for help fighting drug dealers. She's not the first to be completely ignored by the council -- it happens ALL THE TIME. I don't know what's on her bumper stickers, but if I saw them and didn't like them, I could ask her to remove them, too. There's nothing wrong with that. This sounds like a personal issue that has absolutely nothing to do with religion. It sounds like there was some fighting between people, including her, and the fight was taken to court, and it included religion to get to court -- but I can't tell. I'd like to hear the story from the other side, because I bet it would be drastically different. Too bad the animals had to suffer in the middle of such human arguments. And seriously, thanks for stopping by and trying to set the record straight.

Posted by: Ogre at October 09, 2005 10:13 PM (iJFc9)

11 You're welcome. Thanks for listening! And good luck with your fishin'! :-D

Posted by: Margaret at October 10, 2005 10:23 AM (SVDAq)

12 Thank you -- unfortunately, I didn't even get a nibble. I barely caught seaweed. I think my hooks were on backwards...

Posted by: Ogre at October 10, 2005 11:56 AM (/k+l4)

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Today's Charlotte Observer has an editorial explaining their political position for this year's city council election. Oh, they don't tell you it explains their political position, so in case you read it and missed it's point, I'll help out a little. They claim there are "three big questions" to ask potential candidates for the Charlotte city council.

This answer gets a little long, so I'll put it in the extended entry. more...

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Yay, it's time for the New Blog Carnival Showcase! Hooray!

This is the showcase that showcases (hence the name) new blogs (again, that's where the name comes from). Any blog that's less than 3 months old is eligible for participation. No other criteria apply for this carnival! If you see a blog that's young, please do direct them to the Showcase Carnival.

First up in the New Blog Showcase is:

Below the Beltway

For the carnival, he submits a post about Catholics and the Boston Globe. The title shows where he's going with this one with "Catholics Need Not Apply." Good details and supporting links.

He has a relatively short blogroll, but he's included in the Life, Liberty, and Property Group, so I might be a little biased to favor this blog...

Anyway, head on over, read the blog, and drop him some comments. You remember when you started out and were just dying to know that SOMEONE was reading your blog, right? I know, I feel that way many days, too...so get over there and drop some comments!

Elie's Expositions

He's from New Jersey and trying, I imagine with incredible difficulty that I cannot possibly conceive, to come to grips with the death of his 18-year old son. I just absolutely cannot imagine that kind of pain. The article he sends to feature in this showcase is "As He Was," introducing his former son.

There's also plenty of other posts mixed in, like neat baseball questions and some of my favorites, logic questions! Yay!

So if you want some varied reading on all sorts of different topic, some of which are truly very personal, please be sure to head on over and read. I'm quite sure he will appreciate the comments, as you did when you started blogging.

Also, if you're interested in hosting the carnival in the future, drop us a line at the showcase email (showcase.carnival@gmail.com). It's real easy, you get links, and it's often a lot of fun exploring new blogs. Thanks for reading!

(This post also to be found in the Ubercarnival listings).

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The North Carolina Legislature in on a temporary break. They've adjourned after approving a horrible budget weeks late. However, before they left, the question of a state lottery was left unanswered.

The North Carolina House passed a lottery bill. The Senate did not. The Senate was scheduled to vote on the issue on Saturday. However, since the vote was going to come out different than the Dictator of the Senate wanted, so he simply canceled the vote.

That is how the Democrats in the North Carolina Senate operate -- if the vote will not go the way the "leaders" want, they simply delay the vote. What will happen now during the week-long break, is the dictators will use their power and their "discretionary funds" to attempt to strong-arm and bribe Senators until they get the votes they need.

All the Senate Republicans and 5 Senate Democrats are so far still standing strong in their opposition to state-sponsored monopolistic gambling (aka lottery). However, it is highly likely that if just one Senator can be strong-armed or bribed (with taxpayer cash), there will be a very quick vote, likely at night, without debate, to slip the lottery through.

If you're interested in freedom and small government in North Carolina, watch the Senate very carefully when they return in a week.

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This week's new neighbor is a special one. This week I'd like to introduce a neighbor who is quite well-known. If you've been blogging for more than a few days, and if you've ever looked at the Ecosystem, I'm sure you've heard or seen this neighbor.

This blog often flirts with top-ten status, and is never far from the top 10. It currently averages 935 daily visits and has almost 2,000 unique links to the blog. This week's neighbor is the source of this neighbor feature and the maintainer of that Evangelical Blogroll over in the sidebar. Please say hello to

The Evangelical Outpost

The blog is updated daily and has good stuff all the time. He's got a neat, regular feature called "Yak Shaving Razor," where there's all sort of odd and fun tips on... well, all sorts of different things from Google and Firefox hacks to rules for arguments.

I think one of his favorite types of posts are the "Outtakes." These are well-thought out details, facts, and opinions on items of the day. There's tons of links for important data and information.

If you have heard of this blog, but never been there, head on over and have a read this afternoon. You should be reading this one daily!

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That sounds great! Sign me up! I want one yesterday! Oh, but there's a few details...

The news story linked above talks about people making hybrid cars that get 250mpg. Some of my good readers might think I'd be opposed to such a thing, since I am an "evil" conservative. Quite the contrary, I'd LOVE to have one of those things. I drive about 15,000 miles a year. I'd be happy with getting 250mpg -- if that were actually possible.

These cars are in a category called "plug-in" hybrid cars. They're like the hybrids you might see on the road now (if you live near rich people), but they have more batteries and you plug them in at night in your garage. There's a few problems, however. The extra batteries only work for the first 30 miles or so. They're not cost-efficient. And now the big secret -- "Set America Free" wants $12,000,000,000.00 in tax money to pay for them.

Look, I'm 100% for finding ways to make it so I don't have to pay more for more gasoline. But if you spend $12 billion of my tax money, I'm not saving any money! It's COSTING me money! That's just plain wrong.

When an inventor finds a way (despite horrible, onerous, heavy-handed, draconian, often punitive government regulations) to make a hybrid or hybrid plug-in at a cost that compares with current cars, and with the ability to make trips like today's cars, that's when it will work.

We don't need government to do it -- government can do very little right, let's not ask them to design our next generation of transportation! Let the free market be dominated by free people. When we figure out how to do it, we will.

I want my 250mpg car -- I just don't want government to research it, build it, or buy it for me.

Posted by: Ogre at 01:58 PM | Comments (15) | Add Comment
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1 You really are an evil conservative ogre aren't you? Not wanting to pay TWELVE BILLION DOLLARS to research these new cars that of course will help us on the way to "paradise" on earth. Didn't you hear, once they (the government) is done with this, they will release the cancer cure they already have, or didn't you get the memo? Damn that evil Glennnnn(how many "n's" is it now), intercepting our mail, I just got mine and my check from Rove wasn't there, so I'm sure I just bought one of those "n's". Good to be back where I can read the blogs again, that 80 hour week last week nearly killed me!

Posted by: Smoke Eater at August 15, 2005 12:25 AM (WJO7V)

2 Heh! Thanks for stopping by, Smoke Eater! And yes, I got the memo, but I'm trying to help keep the cure for cancer hidden because I'm also in the pocket of "Big Pharmaceuticals," too!

Posted by: Ogre at August 15, 2005 05:40 AM (L0IGK)

3 Ogre - unfortunately people don't understand conservation of energy. If you plug it in, THAT power has to come from somewhere. Heinlein had the term TANSTAAFL... Is a 250mpg vehicle (non-hybrid) possible? Maybe - but it won't be gas, it'll be a diesel, and it'll be very small and very light (i.e. very dangerous in a crash), with a top speed around 40mph, and will accelerate 0-40 in about 60 seconds with the pedal to the metal. Cargo capacity would be about one bag of groceries. Tires would have to look more like bicycle tires pumped to 100psi to reduce rolling resistance (i.e. they would wear out VERY fast). Brakes would have to be light and flimsy to cut down on weight - they too would wear fast. MPG on any sort of slope would plunge dramatically. All of these hi-mileage schemes rely on using VERY tall terminal gear ratios which fall apart climbing hills where they have to down shift. Be great in FL where the highest geographical feature in the whole state is a 200' tall mound of garbage ;-> What I just described would be a death machine that would never be allowed on the highways. Detroit certainly can do better than the mundane drek they're hawking these days, but I suspect the top end for a (non-hybrid) vehicle that could pass safety crash tests and all the other govt mandates is somewhere in the 75-80mpg range and that would be a real small single passenger diesel.

Posted by: tony at August 15, 2005 06:36 AM (eHsXE)

4 Interesting and good points, tony! The people supporting plug-ins do admit the power requirement for recharging, but they claim that's much cleaner and much cheaper than refined gasoline (and they're likely right there). Right now there are some people claiming they have 250mpg cars right now -- they're modified hybrids with massive amounts of battery power from plug-ins. So I'm sure they do meet current highway standards, but you're absolutely right on the flat ground vs hills. The current folks also admit it only works for the first 30 miles or so because after that the batteries run out of fuel and the car has to switch back to gasoline power. All of your points are valid -- and that's why current manufacturers simply say that with today's technology, it's simply not cost efficient -- and the eco-terrorists admit as much by claiming they need $12 billion in government funding to make the cars! Again, I would absolutely LOVE to have my car get 250mpg -- but I don't want government to do it, and therefore it's not going to happen any time soon.

Posted by: Ogre at August 15, 2005 07:10 AM (/k+l4)

5 Forget 250mpg, for a minute. I'd just like a NICE SIZED family sedan that I KNEW would give me 30 mpg. That's it. I don't need 250. My husband has a smaller SUV, getting 22. His lease is up and since we've never really looked at family 4D sedans since we've been getting family cars the last 8 years, I figured we should go that route as gas is so daggum expensive. He was cool with the switch (he has a sports car he tinkers with on the side to feed his male need for speed)... until we realized that sedans get the same crappy mileage as his SUV or my mini-van. Why bother? It pisses me off. After all these years we still can't get a decent family sedan that won't kill us all in a crash that gets 30 mpg? And don't beieve that crap about the hybrids. We did our research. What they say they get and what they REALLY get are two different things. Pisses me off.

Posted by: Bou at August 15, 2005 08:08 AM (5JHEt)

6 And I think there is a huge demand that's waiting to be met there. There are a very large number of people who do want a large vehicle with good gas mileage -- I just think physics won't allow it. When you take all the parts that go into making a safe car -- steel, airbags, crumple zones, emissions, etc., add enough glass to satisfy Donald Trump, then add features and comfort, the darn thing is heavy! It takes a lot of power to get something that big moving. After 100 years, we still haven't found a truly more efficient way than the internal combustion engine. Having worked on cars (a lot) before, I know exactly how it is that explosions are turned into forces to drive the wheels -- the more weight, the more explosion power needed. So if you want that mileage from a big car today, your only hope is to drive downhill...a lot.

Posted by: Ogre at August 15, 2005 09:49 AM (/k+l4)

7 Bou, The car you want exists today - a 1.8L turbo-4 version of the VW Passat with a MANUAL tranny. I've got a 2000 model and it can do well over 40mpg on flat ground keeping it around 45mph. At 55-60mph it'll be in the 36mpg range. Hammering it (where the turbo starts to spin) drops you into the low/mid 20mpg range. Local start/stop driving with a lot of stop lights going to the grocery store and such at 35-40mph toppng out in 4th gear (the manual is a 5-speed, but I don't hit 5th locally) yields around 25mpg. I run full-synth oil in mine and its MPG kept improving till it had maybe 80,000 miles on it. Now its leveled out now that the engine is *completely* broken in. Sweet engine for a gas job, and Passats do pretty well in the crash tests. These days, its getting hard to find a new VW with a manual anymore in the USA though... They are putting the TDI diesel in Passat now, *BUT* the damn fools ruined it by mating it with the Porsche Tiptronic ("gizmomatic") automatic tranny. I suppose it appeals to yuppies who don't know how to shift... VW salesmen will say - "oh, but you can shift it" which is true - but there STILL is a torque converter in there that is going to hurt the MPG (I don't believe its a "lockup" type torque converter). I couldn't stand the thing...but I'm a purist too ;-> There are apparently manual TDI Passat's being sold in Germany and Canada though, but the waiting lists are LONG. VW has always made superb manual transmissions (good for at least 200K), and wretched automatics. If you can find a TDI diesel Jetta Wagon with a manual, it should yield around 50 mpg on the highway. I bought my mom a diesel Jetta a few years ago and its outstanding. I've had a number of the 4-banger VW diesels over the years and they're all in the 50mpg range. Probably hard as hens teeth to find, but back around 1983/84 or so VW put the rabbit diesel engine in the Vanagon - only sold it in the US for a single year. Those had the aerodynamics of a barn, but still got about 32mpg under almost any conditions, and you can pack a LOT of stuff into a Vanagon.

Posted by: tony at August 15, 2005 10:17 AM (eHsXE)

8 Passat? How big is that thing? Isn't that really, really small? And I can imagine the trouble with finding manuals trannys -- I love them, but they are getting harder and harder to find. I guess I'm dating myself when I say that I remember when the automatic transmissions used to be EXPENSIVE options on cars...

Posted by: Ogre at August 15, 2005 10:52 AM (/k+l4)

9 I just got back from a cross country trip, do you know how many hibreds I saw on the highway? 0.. that's as in none. I saw a couple in the cities I passed through, but they didn't seem to handle well to the hilly land of western Missouri. You want to talk about gas mileage? I get 12 miles to the gallon in my truck. I love it. Sure it costs me more to drive it, but I have the power that I need to carry all of my re-enacting equipment around. I don't notice hills on the highways. There is no worrying about not having enough room for my family and being able to carry anything. I've never been worried about the price of gas and gas mileage on a vehicle. I've always been of the mind that if have to worry about the cost of operating and maintaining the vehicle, then you just can't afford it and need to get something different.

Posted by: Contagion at August 15, 2005 03:02 PM (Q5WxB)

10 Ah, another evil one. That's one of my biggest complaints about hybrids -- power. A month ago I got a load of gravel. Can you picture a hybrid having the power to carry that to my house? I won't even drive a 4-cylinder engine car -- not enough power for me. Why? Because that's how I like my cars. I prefer big-block V8s, but those are pretty hard to find today, so I'll settle for a powerful V6 with manual transmission. You notice all the selling points of hybrids never seen to mention horsepower?

Posted by: Ogre at August 15, 2005 04:44 PM (L0IGK)

11 Tony- I have three kids. Boys. I don't think a Passat will do it, although I'd go to manual in a heartbeat. I tried to get my mini-van in manual, but that was a no-go. They don't sell 'em that way. Ogre... you did date yourself. ;-) I remember when automatic was an extra and my Dad used to gripe that he had to pay the extra cash because Mom couldn't drive one. (I can and prefer manual.) That's the problem the hybrid industry is having today. They have those who think people want high mpg warring within the company with the marketing people who know people want 'pep'. So they're not meeting anyone's needs. Frickin' decision by community crap. So they've upped the power and are now getting less MPG. Why bother. Contagion- Hybrids are big down here. Other than 'canes, we don't get the nasty weather down here, which may be why you don't see so many hybrids up there. It's just frustrating. I don't even need a LARGE sedan. I'm not talking a caddie. But I can't have a small one either. My boys are growing and I don't need to feel like a family of sardines. Thankfully we stopped at 3 kids or I'd be driving a bus the rest of my life. Blech.

Posted by: Bou at August 16, 2005 07:57 AM (5JHEt)

12 I do think Florida is a good market for them BECAUSE it's flat! And sure, get me a 400-hp, 250mpg hybrid. And I'll take that NOW, please. Hey Bou, maybe you can get a Passat and cut a rumble seat in the rear section in place of the trunk. Oh crap, I think I'm REALLY dating myself now...

Posted by: Ogre at August 16, 2005 08:58 AM (/k+l4)

13 Passat isn't all that small Ogre - its mechanically identical to the Audi A6 but costs about $12,000 less than an A6. With the back seat folded down I can carry 10' lengths of conduit or lumber with nothing hanging out the windows. The back seat will hold about 20 concrete blocks comfortably, and the trunk is huge.

Posted by: tony at August 16, 2005 03:57 PM (eHsXE)

14 Rumble seats! Holy crap! You're older than I am! ;-) I'll look around to see what we have on the street down here as far as the Passat. I just don't think it'll hack it with 3 soon to be grown boys in the back. But hey, I'm open to suggestions!

Posted by: Bou at August 16, 2005 04:35 PM (5JHEt)

15 They're boys, they fit anywhere!

Posted by: Ogre at August 16, 2005 05:41 PM (L0IGK)

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This out of state traveler was on the side of the road, hitchhiking on a real dark night in the middle of a thunderstorm. Time passed slowly and no cars went by. It was raining so hard he could hardly see his hand in front of his face. Suddenly he saw a car moving slowly, approaching and appearing ghost like in the rain. It slowly and silently crept toward him and stopped.

Wanting a ride real bad the guy jumped in the car and closed the door; only then did he realize that there was nobody behind the wheel, and no sound of an engine to be heard over the rain.

Again the car crept slowly forward and the guy was terrified, too scared to think of jumping out and running.

The guy saw that the car was approaching a sharp curve and, still too scared to jump out, he started to pray and began begging for his life; he was sure the ghost car would go off the road and into a nearby lake and he would surely drown!

But just before the curve a shadowy figure appeared at the driver's window and a hand reached in and turned the steering wheel, guiding the car safely around the bend. Then, just as silently, the hand disappeared through the window and the hitchhiker was alone again!

Paralyzed with fear, the guy watched the hand reappear every time they reached a curve. Finally the guy, scared to near death, had all he could take and jumped out of the car and ran and ran, into town, into Willmar. Wet and in shock, he went into a bar and voice quavering, ordered two shots of whiskey, then told everybody about his supernatural experience.

A silence enveloped and everybody got goose bumps when they realized the guy was telling the truth (and was not just some drunk).

About half an hour later two soaking wet locals walked into the bar and one says to the other, "Look Ole, ders dat idiot what rode in our car when we wuz pushin it in the rain."

(HT And Rightly So).

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Have you heard about the Stop the ACLU's mailing campaign to get more members? If you haven't, head on over to the Stop the ACLU site and read all about it.

I know some of my readers support the ACLU due to some of the good things that the ACLU does. My response to that is that it is similar to saying we should let off the person who tortures and murders children because they volunteer at the soup kitchen on Friday nights. The ACLU is based on changing this country into a communist utopia. They do very little good, the do vast amounts of damage to freedom and the American Way, and they often do it with taxpayer money.

That's wrong. They should be stopped. If you want to help, head on over to Stop the ACLU and volunteer to send a few letters -- you don't even have to write them, just agree to send some.

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Once again, terrorists prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that when you attempt to appease them and give them what they ask for peacefully, the only result is that they claim victory and want to kill more people. Keep this in mind, any of my gentle readers who claim that leaving Iraq will suddenly end world terrorism.

In this case, the terrorist group Hamas has declared that despite Israel backing away from their own land and giving some of Israel's land to terrorists, Hamas will continue attacking and killing Israelis at every chance.

For decades, Hamas and other Palestinian terrorists have claimed that they simply want "their land" back from Israel. For those not familiar with that area of the world, there never has been a country called "Palestine," nor have there ever been any lands that they "owned." They just want land, and they only want to take it from Israel so they can destroy Israel.

Over decades, many wars have been fought, and deals attempted. Each time the Palestinians continued to claim that they simply wanted their own land. The Palestinians would not let Israeli's into their lands, despite Israel allowing Palestinians in theirs.

So now, with great fanfare, Israel agrees to completely pull out of an area of land, including destroying homes that belong to Israelis, and agrees to give this land to the Palestinians, as they have claimed to want so far. The only result is that the terrorists groups of Hamas and Palestine have agreed they will continue to attack and kill innocent people.

Terrorists kill people. That's what they do. The Palestinian terrorists and Hamas will not stop being terrorists until Israel has been destroyed. Islamic and muslim terrorists will not stop killing until America has been destroyed. That's what they do.

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It's the anniversary of the declaration of blog war by IMAO and The Alliance.

If you're not familiar with The Alliance, you can read this. If you want to know more about the war, head over here. If you want to know about Harvey, go here (tip: you don't want to know about Harvey).

So there will be no truthful stories lies about evil Glennn this week, as we honor a moment of silence (yes, we're honoring a moment, what's wrong with that?) and the anniversary of the blog war.

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It's August.

Oh, sorry, did you already realize that? Apparently, I did not. There was no new blog layout for August, and it's mainly that I just didn't notice that August was here!

Actually, I've been working on quite the layout, and it's coming along very nicely. It's going to be a bit different (again), but navigation-wise, not so much layout-wise. It's about 80% done, so another week or so, and it should appear.

That is all.

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1 The wood in the particular post and the steel wall in the main blog drives me nuts.

Posted by: vw bug at August 12, 2005 07:04 PM (yJkEY)

2 Sorry about that, it's part of the conversion process. I'm experimenting with making the permalink post pages completely integrated with the main page so there's no difference. The new design is going to have that wood design as a background, so it sort of slipped in during testing. Don't worry, you'll get to see lots of wood design soon!

Posted by: Ogre at August 12, 2005 07:08 PM (L0IGK)

3 Whoo hooo, Change! I love change!!! Let's see what Harvey thinks. It'll probably drive him out of his tree.

Posted by: Bou at August 13, 2005 11:29 PM (5JHEt)

4 It will certainly drive Harvey nuts because he'll have to click to read things. It's the idea we discussed a month or so ago (the book), and it's looking really good so far...just a couple more things to get working!

Posted by: Ogre at August 14, 2005 08:44 AM (L0IGK)

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Hey, I won a caption contest! And I won a prize? How cool is that? Most caption contests I enter, besides me just leaving some lame entry, don't give prizes. But this contest had a prize, and *I* won it. F.U.N. fun!

My prize? Here it is:

Jealous yet?

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1 Definitely silly! ;-)

Posted by: VW Bug at August 12, 2005 07:01 PM (yJkEY)

2 Aha! You're jealous!

Posted by: Ogre at August 12, 2005 07:06 PM (L0IGK)

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Stand
In the end you'll still be you
One that's done all the things you set out to do
Stand
There's a cross for you to bear
Things to go through if you're going anywhere
Stand
For the things you know are right
It's the truth that the truth makes them so uptight
Stand
All the things you want are real
You have you to complete and there is no deal
Stand. stand, stand
Stand. stand, stand
Stand
You've been sitting much too long
There's a permanent crease in your right and wrong
Stand
There's a midget standing tall
And the giant beside him about to fall
Stand. stand, stand
Stand. stand, stand
Stand
They will try to make you crawl
And they know what you're saying makes sense and all
Stand
Don't you know that you are free
Well at least in your mind if you want to be

Everybody
Stand, stand, stand

*****************

Thank you, Sly and the Family Stone.

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Amazingly, there is actually still a chance that the North Carolina Lottery will NOT actually appear this year! That, my good readers, is good news. As a proponent of Constitutional, small government, I oppose the lottery primarily because it's just another way for the state to steal money (and I don't care that it's "voluntary"). Heck, if you support the lottery, tell me why *I* can't run one myself?

Anyway, the NC House passed the lottery by one vote, but there are 5 Democrats in the Senate that are holding up the lottery! All Republicans in the Senate oppose the lottery, and with the 5 Democrats, there is enough opposition to actually stop it -- there's supposed to be a vote later today to see if the Democrats have been strong-armed or bribed with enough cash from the Senate "leaders" to change their minds.

The Senate leader, Marc Basnight, is very annoyed -- at the Republicans! He was counting on "as many as 4" Republican votes for the Senate. So it appears he wanted to offer some cover for his pals in his own party by getting some Republicans. Sorry, Mr. Basnight, the Republicans really do not want a state-sponsored gambling arena in this state.

It will be interesting to see how this one turns out in the end -- especially since the budget (finally) passed doesn't include income from a lottery...

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I only wish the headline for this story was sarcasm or even remotely falsified or exaggerated. Unfortunately, it is not. 100% of elected Democrats in Raleigh voted to take the hard-earned money of North Carolina citizens and give it to admitted criminals.

In this case, ALL the Democrats voted to give in-state tuition to illegal immigrants in North Carolina. So if you are from Virginia and want to go to school in North Carolina, you are punished because you are not from Mexico. If, when you sign up to attend a state school, you claim you are from Mexico, the state will give you tens of thousands of dollars to attend school -- and you thought we had a problem with immigration before.

If you don't understand how this is giving money to immigrants, I'll explain. You see, when residents of North Carolina go to school at a North Carolina school, the state takes tax money and gives it to the school to pay for a portion of that education. If you are an out-of-state student (but now, NOT out of country), you have to pay for your entire education.

This makes a little sense, as the taxpayers of North Carolina are paying for a portion of other residents' education -- normally, it's the lower income people that are subsidizing the middle- and upper- class, but that's a story for another day.

Now, with support of 100% of the Democrats in Raleigh, the tax dollars of citizens of North Carolina will also be used to pay for illegal immigrants. So, if you're looking to attend a North Carolina state school, DO NOT tell them you're from another state -- just say you're from Canada or Mexico, and you will pay less.

My suggestion? Hey, INS -- time to request student records from the state schools every fall -- you'll get free admissions of illegal aliens -- deport them!

This IS what the Democrat Party stands for in North Carolina. Are you still happy voting for Democrats?

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Subtitle: How to really, really waste $17 billion in dishonest and irresponsible ways.

If you live in North Carolina and feel like being ill this morning, feel free to look at the 364-page North Carolina Budget that's headed to the governor. You don't have to look far to see how fiscally reckless NC Democrats are:

$2 billion for higher education. Don't we have private colleges in North Carolina? Yes, lots of them. Why is government competing with them? Why is government providing ANY college education? That's not their job at all.

$2.5 billion for the Division of Medical Assistance. If you cannot afford anything remotely associated with medicine, feel free to come to North Carolina -- we give it to you free. That's one of many reasons why so many illegal immigrants come to North Carolina -- 100% free health care for them, provided for by the Democrats of the Legislature, paid for by the hard-working people of North Carolina.

Department of Justice: $77 million. Do you see where the Democrats' priority lies? It's not with punishing criminals. Heck, they're rewarding criminals!

There's more, and it's lots worse. How about some spending items?

Highway Fund Transfer: $16 million. That's $16 million that the people of North Carolina paid into a fund to build roads. The General Assembly takes at least $16 million a year from this fund to pay for whatever they feel like. That's irresponsible at best, blatant lying at worst.

Sales tax increase: $417 million.
Sales tax on candy: $9.8 million.
Sales tax on cable tv: $10.9 million.
Increase tobacco tax: $118 million.
Increase income tax: $39.8 million.
Expand death tax: $115 million.

These are your North Carolina Democrats in action. They are truly irresponsible. There's tons more that's worse. Good luck changing the assembly members, because they make the rules on who you are allowed to elect, and if you elect someone they don't like, they simply vote to throw out the vote of the people. There is no Democracy and very little freedom left in the state of North Carolina.

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