The new offical threat board!

Random Thoughts for Jan the 25th, 2011

Goofy Goings-on in Chi Town!

Ah Chicago! Don’t you just love the place? A melting pot of political haberdashery where almost anyone can get elected to an y office as long as they are Democrats that is. Up until this time I thought our buddy Blago would forever hold the crown for exercising stupidity in politics, but I might be wrong.

 

Rahm Emanuel, for the last three months has thrown everything but the kitchen sink into his bid to become Chicago’s new Mayor. He even gained the endorsement of such legends as Bill Clinton while saturating the airwaves with all sorts of clever campaign advertisements. Now with the polls showing him to be a shoo-in, there has been found a fly in his suppository ointment.

Seems an appellate court has ruled him ineligible to run as he failed to meet residency requirements to run for office. What a total bummer Rahm. Now, the other three mayoral candidates are in a mad scramble to capture all those votes that would have gone to him. Rod Blagojevich would be so proud to find out he’s not the only idiot around. Looks to me like Chico will be the main man now.

 

Speaking of Blagojevich!

Now with the mayor campaign thing in his rear view mirror, perhaps Rahm will have more time to respond to the warrant for him to appear as a person of interest at the upcoming trail of Rod Blagojevich.

 

Yes, this perennial circus of a trail will kick back into gear starting on April the 20th. Defense lawyers have said that Emanuel would be of interest to them because they believe he would testify that nothing nefarious took place in his conversations with Blagojevich or his staff in late 2008. Emanuel is not accused of wrongdoing at this point.

 

What is for sure will be some great file footage for the media outlets as once again Blago, and his oh so perfect hair, will grace TV screens across America. I can also hardly wait as the prosecution attempts to rekindle those fires of outrage in a jury that will (more than likely) care less. Talk about old news! While the trail goes on, I’m sure Blago will show up looking like a movie star every morning, shaking hands and smiling at the cameras as an adoring public follows his every word.

 

For every day the trail goes on, Americans will also get repeated reminders by the Republicans that he is a dyed in the wool Democrat. Talk about collateral damage!

 

At any rate, this event will give America some comic relief at a time when it can really use it. Someone please let me know if Fitzgerald will be making another appearance! That man is a true glutton for punishment!

Random Thoughts for January 22, 2011

 Have ya all got enough Chinese junk yet?

OK, all you out-of-work, lazy, capitalist pigs. Here’s the bottom line. All that ‘made in China’ junk we've been purchasing since the sixties has put our country into hock to the tune of over a trillion dollars. A grateful China is growing by leaps and bounds as a result. American jobs, however, are disappearing faster that a twelve inch pizza delivered by mistake to a Weight Watcher’s convention. So, from now on, when you get the desire to by more junk, please make it American-made junk.

California hit and run ends with man beaten and robbed by mob!

A man crossing a busy LA street was struck twice by different vehicles, then a woman who stopped to try and helped was hit by a third vehicle. The driver who did stop and try to help was, in turn, beaten and robbed by a mob. Yeah, LA, the perfect vacation destination. Click on the title above for the full story.

Keith Olbermann to leave MSNBC!

After eight years, and under circumstances that are unclear, Keith Olbermann has stepped down. Olbermann, 51, who has the highest-rated evening anchor on MSNBC, came to an agreement with NBC's corporate management late this week to settle his contract and step down, says The New York Times. Olbermann signed a four-year contract extension in 2008 for an estimated $30 million.

Now, all those liberals will have only Rachael Maddow to watch. Or, will she be next?

Have you run out of stuff to worry about yet?

Well, that’s why people like me are here for ya. While there are many daunting challenges facing our country these days, things could be worst.

Take Yellowstone Lake, for instance. What appears to be a beautiful centerpiece to the natural splendor that is part of Yellowstone Park nestled in the northwest corner of the state of Wyoming, hides a dark secret. While very tranquil on the surface, it underneath lurks a huge caldera just five miles below. A monster, that should it get out could possibly spell the end of the United States and even perhaps life as we know it on planet earth. And now that monster maybe stirring.Watch this documentary video!

Ever since 2004, geologists have been carefully monitoring the 24 by 45 mile caldera located under and around the lake. Using data collected on the ground and from satellites, scientists say the Mallard Lake Dome, west of Yellowstone Lake's West Thumb, has risen 4 centimeters a year since the middle of 2004. Meanwhile, the Sour Creek Dome north of Fishing Bridge has risen about 6 centimeters a year.

That the surface over the caldera moves up is not that unusual. Portions of the caldera have risen more than 3 feet between 1923 and 1984 and then dropped nearly 8 inches from 1985 to 1995. Measurements in 1995 and 1996 showed the caldera rising again before starting to fall in 1997. The latest upward motion has been unusual for its speed. According to researcher and geologist Bob Smith, “"It's like inflating a balloon, but the balloon is capped,"

Only recently, since towards the end of 2008 has the rise begun to slow. My question is whether this is due to the magma levels lowering or because the dome overhead is reaching critical mass. I ask myself this question, “How much force is required to move a piece of the earth that is 34 miles by 45 miles in circumference and over fives miles thick? What begs that question is what would happen if that energy were to be released all at once?

Random thoughts for January 20th 2011.

Onward goes Obama and his mess on Capitol Hill

It’s getting so I can’t watch even a few minutes of coverage on the television before feeling somewhat ill. Here we go with the never ending Health Bill saga. More time spent (wasted) on an outrageous boondoggle that has become the poster child of this administrations disastrous persona so far. With twenty-eight states now lodging lawsuits against the bill and a House that recently voted for repeal, Socialist elitists still proudly stand in the way of common sense and at terrible cost for the rest of us.

Historians may well point a finger at congressmen like Harry Reid as icons who helped lead America down the path to financial destruction. People like Harry Reid along with a president that doesn’t have the sense of a High School business major. Businesses and countries strive for profit, not bone crushing debt! Every single time Obama along with his left wing Democrats have tried to fix something that wasn’t broke, the end result has been disastrous. Every time!

Now with the patient in a deep coma, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear talk of yet another stimulus package or new regulations. There’s always more cronies out there to pay off isn’t there Obama? We Americans have been left holding a bag of crap while these snobs are resting easy and sipping mint juleps. But, I’ll make a bet, that when the real job of rebuilding the Republic happens in 2012, you won’t be able to find hide nor hair of these folks.

Was the recent rise of our energy costs preplanned by the Administration?

What better way to introduce a revived Cap and Trade program than to make existing energy so expensive that what used to look absurd is now looking not all that bad. And, oh by the way, let’s just skip the congress all together this time and let the DOE mandate new alternative energy measures in the form of new regulations. Those pesky ignorant old citizens won’t catch on, will they?

China’s recent visit! Can we all speak Mandarin yet?

I would be will to make a bet that Chinese President Hu Jintao has a really hard time not laughing in the face of our president during a recent visit. For a country that is so totally dependent on the US, he looked way taller than Obama did during his visit. I’ll bet it was all Obama could do not to bow down to the floor in front of a man who might be our future employer and boss.

Tell a lie often enough... and lose your ratings! Opps!

According to an article by Gloria Borger, a CNN senior political analyst, the American public is "growing tired of Palin". Oh? That was news to me. Actually, fact is Sarah is one of the few public figures that the media can't seem to get enough of these days. Especially, if you count the sheer volume of attacks on her character by the far left. So, Gloria, I have to ask you where are you getting your numbers from? A Weggie Board perhaps?

Here's a fact for you, Gloria. CNN's credibility rating and market share are in a joint nose dive from shore to shining shore. Can you say kaput? Anyone who lies to the public with half truths and distortions of the truth, no matter how frequently they do it, just won't cut the mustard among us cows anymore.

Critique: Banquet Meatloaf Meal

Holy mashed pertatters! Just a day after I published a critique on Banquet’s Salisbury Steak Meal (wherein I compared it to meatloaf), now I have an actual meatloaf meal with which to make a side by side comparison. Bless my lucky stars.

This meal has the same two sides as the Salisbury Steak Meal. And, yes, the Salisbury has grill marks! A dollop of mashed potatoes and a smattering of corn. Not enough to really me fill, but enough to tantalize.  Now, let’s take a look at the nitty-gritty. Shall we? Let’s see what we get for eighty-eight cents (now a buck in late 2011 and still a buck in Dec 2014)!

First the directions for preparing. In this meal, you are instructed to remove the plastic film from over the potatoes which is just like the Salisbury Steak (hereafter referred to SS). As with the SS, I was instructed to nuke it on high for three minutes. Stir the potatoes. Check. And then nuke it for about two minutes more. Pretty much the protocol for the Salisbury. Wait! Is it possible that the meatloaf meal and the Salisbury steak are one and the same? Let’s look at the nutritional analysis. Maybe there’s some difference there!

OK, let me see. The calories in this meal is at 280 as compared to 290 for the steak. Calories from fat were 150 for the Salisbury and 120 for this meal. Cholesterol is 10 mg higher with the meatloaf at 40mg. But, there’s 100 mg less salt. So, all-in-all, these two guys are pretty much the same deal.

Now, as to taste. After nuking the tray for the required time, I slathered on a little butter, salt and pepper for added gustatory enjoyment and chowed down. In a nutshell, not really all that bad. The meatloaf tasted like meatloaf (abet a thin meatloaf). It could have also been the Salisbury steak for all I could tell. The corn was excellent and the mashed potatoes tasted even better after I spooned some gravy over them. Made me wonder what was in that stuff? But, for a Saturday night, while watching a really bad movie on the Sci Fi Channel, this deal was OK. Score = 8!

Critique: Banquet Salisbury Steak Meal!

It’s been a while since I reviewed a Banquet TV dinner! (I was eating wholesome food, but ran out of money). So, I thought I'd add their Salisbury Steak meal to my growing collection of dinner critiques. Of the ones I’ve tested thus far, this one ranks up there close to the top (of the current heap). As a side note, that little red dot toward the bottom of the box will inform you that it was 'US inspected by the Department of Agriculture'. For such small print (good for testing ones eyesight) that little mark is destined to become responsible for escalating food prices as a result of the passage of the Food Modernization Act last year. Just another benefit of your ever expanding nanny government. Here's a side bet. I'll wager this seventy seven cent meal will cost over $1.25 by fall. [Update: By fall 2011 it has gone to a buck! And by the fall of 2012 it was still at a buck!]

The Contents

To the best of my knowledge a 'Salisbury steak' is really nothing more than a fancy term for plain old meatloaf. In this package, you get one ‘steak’ soaked in gravy along with a modest amount of mashed potatoes and corn for about eighty-eight cents. (just a few months ago, these were .77 cents each).

The picture on the package is actually pretty accurate to some extent. Some of the meals I’ve tried do not look anything like what’s on the cover of the box. The taste also lived up to my expectations. Meatloaf, gravy and mashed potatoes are comfort foods aren’t they? The corn, well, it’s just corn and tasted as such.

Nutritional content

As to the nutrition (or lack thereof), this meal comes in at 290 calories of which 150 of those are from fat. You also get a not so very healthy slug of cholesterol (30 mg) and about half a persons daily limit of salt (1100 mg), so please don’t make this an everyday meal deal. Having said that, the overall taste is pretty good, so I'd give this one a 7 on a scale of ten.

Note: Banquet foods are made by ConAgra Foods, a company out of Omaha Nebraska so at least you are eating something that's still made in the good old US of A.