Don’t Under Estimate the Winking Owl

I have a saying in my house,

“I only Serve the Best Wine. Bring Some.”

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My wine rack now holds several bottles from a winery labeled WINKING OWL. It is a red from Merlot grapes. The wine has a deep red color and a very nice hang time on the glass. The nose is fruity and smacks of oak. The tongue enjoys hints of plums and berries. The finish is smooth. Those of you who are Winking Owl aficionados know what I am speaking of. This evening like most evenings I enjoyed two generous pours of this mellow red. The buzz I enjoy is venerable. During the buzz I write quickly and sometimes incoherently, but I write. Sometimes, I piss people off. Recently a follower left this comment, “you lost a reader with your ignorance.”  Because I read the comment after the Winking Owl had worn off with a good night’s rest, I undertook an analysis of the piece which incited the follower to conclude my ignorance

I touched upon several points in that post. 1.) I likened progressivism to communism, and equated liberals to both. 2.0 ) I cited facts about countries that control guns and confiscated them.  I followed those facts with reports about the effect of the experience on an unarmed population when the government choses to  massacre them. 3.) I offered my opinion about not trusting Obama to do the same in this country. 4.) I very coherently offered a challenge  that I would accept gun control when Hollywood gave up making movies loaded with gun violence.

So where did I go wrong? The facts about governments confiscating guns are true, so I am not ignorant on that point. An opinion is a judgement about something not necessarily based on fact, and the challenge to hollywood is valid. I believe that people commit violent crimes because of conditioning that teaches a disrespect for life from watching too many movies loaded with gun violence. You can argue with me on that one, but unless you can show me facts to the contrary, that’s what I am believing.

That leaves my number one argument which compared Progressivism to Communism. In order to change my mind about that, one would have to argue with solid facts. The progressive mind-set believes in equality for all, and that is the credo for communism too. Besides, I grew up in a family that had relatives directly affected by communism. My mother and father read the letters from their siblings in Europe telling their experiences about communal properties, and the effect of sharing the wealth upon the populace. Those many letters are congruent with Occupy Wall Street and their hatred for the one percent and other leftist cries for the defeat of capitalism. I can see it happening. I also so see a like comparison to the Castro take over of Cuba to the exploits of Obama. These are not ignorances, they are experiences indelibly etched into my psyche.

Anyway, it is my stolid conclusion, made with clarity only possible by consuming copious amounts of Winking Owl, that I am not ignorant, nor was I ignorant in that post. I simply pissed off a liberal, and that folks is the Winking Owl meaning for my life..

Is Man A Lessor Life Form?

Logo of the United States National Park Service

Logo of the United States National Park Service (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Back in March, 2011 I published a cartoon about this very irony. What sense do we make to the world, or to the universe, by contradicting ourselves so stupidly. Unless we mean that man is a lessor life form than other animals on planet earth.

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A lesson in irony.

The Food Stamp Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is proud of the fact it is distributing the greatest amount of free meals and food stamps ever. Meanwhile, the National Park Service, administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, asks us “Please Do Not Feed the Animals.” Their stated reason for the policy is because the animals will grow dependent on handouts and will not learn to take care of themselves.

This ends today’s lesson.

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Thanks Dennis for reminding me how stupid our government is.

News Release Just Leaked

This news release was just delivered to GJP for dissemination to all who are anxious for the DNC to convene. For those of you who are DNC compatible this post will appear nasty and despicable, leave right now. For those of you who are RNC compatible, have a good laugh.

This is funny folks! It is a parody, they are supposed to be an exaggeration of something that falls far short of the real thing.  Now you know where GJP stands.

Subject: Just leaked from Ether-World- DNC Schedule, Charlotte , N.C.4:00 PM – Opening Flag Burning Ceremony – sponsored by CNN

4:05 PM – Singing of “God Damn America ” led by Rev. Jeremiah Wright

4:10 PM – Pledge of Allegiance to Obama

4:15 PM – Ceremonial ‘I hate America’ led by Michelle Obama

4:30 PM – Tips on “How to keep your man trustworthy & true to you while you travel the world” – Hillary Clinton

4:45 PM – Al Sharpton / Jesse Jackson seminar “How to have a successful career without having a job.”

5:00 PM – “Great Vacations I’ve Taken on the Taxpayer’s Dime Travel Log” – Michelle Obama

5:30 PM – Eliot Spitzer Speaks on “Family Values” via Satellite

5:45 PM – Tribute to All 57 States – Nancy Pelosi

6:00 PM – Sen. Harry Reid – 90-minute speech expressing the Democrat’s appreciation of the Occupy Wall Street movement, and George Soros for sparing no expense, for all that they have accomplished to unify the country, improve employment and to boost the economy.

8:30 PM – Airing of Grievances by the Clintons

9:00 PM – “Bias in Media – How we can make it work for you.”  A Tutorial – sponsored by CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, the Washington Post and the New York Times

9:15 PM – Tribute Film to Brave Freedom Fighters incarcerated at GITMO – Michael Moore

9:45 PM – Personal Finance Seminar – Charlie Rangle

10:00 PM – Denunciation of Bitter Gun Owners and Bible readers

10:30 PM – Ceremonial Waving of White Flag from Iraq & Afghanistan via satellite

11:00 PM – Obama Energy Plan Symposium / Tire Gauge Demonstration / You too can get rich with Green Investment bankruptcies

11:15 PM – Free Gov. Blagovich rally

11:30 PM – Obama Accepts Oscar, Tony and Latin Grammy Awards

11:45 PM – Feeding of the Delegates with 5 Loaves and 2 Fish – Obama Presiding

12:00 AM – Official Nomination of Obama by Bill Maher and Chris “He sends a thrill up my leg” Matthews

12:01 AM – Obama Accepts Nomination as Lord and Savior

12:05 AM – Celestial Choirs Sing

3:00 AM – Biden Delivers Acceptance Speech

A Message Worth Listening To

I strongly recommend for all to view this video. It is getting national viewership on YouTube with over ten million views to date. The entire population (300 million) should watch it over and over until it believes the message. Fortunately, some of us only need to see it once to recognize the wisdom and value of the message.

Has the EPA Met the End Of Its Usefulness?


It figures, Obama caves on the Keystone pipeline and it is a joke. It is not April Fool’s Day yet “O.”

Today, I drove west on US Route 30 through a construction zone. This road is the original cross-country highway across America stretching from New York to San Francisco, but now it is a local road replaced by Interstate eighty. It doesn’t really matter which direction I drive, the road is under construction. It is a nightmare slalom course through colorful orange barrels. All along the route there are signs, paid for by you, and me declaring “WETLAND NO INTRUSION.” Often they attach them to a temporary fence stretched across a property in question. Route 30 crosses several creeks, forest preserves, and genuine wetlands. Each area is defined by a fence that is patrolled by the EPA for intrusion . What in the world does it mean, and what protection does it afford to you and me? With a little research I determined that the EPA intention is to decrease the impact of a project on a wetland.

So, here I sit in the Department of Transportation Office designing a major road improvement that widens a road from two lanes to four. My road crosses several creeks which means I have to build more bridge lanes to cross. Now how in the world do I do that without encroaching on the wetland? The EPA wants me to minimize encroachment. As an engineer, it is my job to get the project done to specification on time, and within the estimated cost. Why would I destroy more stream than is necessary to build my bridge? Isn’t that I am building a bridge evidence it is not my intention to destroy the creek? Why do you make me add cost to survey the line of allowed encroachment, build a fence and hang a sign to remind me where the line is?

A sensible engineer would lay a couple of pipes across the  span and fill in over it to create a roadbed.  In doing this he gambles that pipes he laid will accommodate the largest rush of  water nature supplies. If he loses the road floods and or washes out. In order to prevent that he builds a bridge which minimizes restriction to water flow. He doesn’t need a stupid reminder from the EPA about his responsibility. His job is to keep traffic moving safely and quickly.

How many road projects are there in America, and how many creeks and wetlands with fences and signs?  The cost is horrendous. So what?  Well, I just paid my 2011 income tax and I’m pissed about my contribution to the cause.  I am not in the one percent being picked on by Occupy Wall Street, and Obama, and by now I am probably no longer in the middle class since I haven’t earned a penny in ten years. Every dollar I pay in tax hurts, and every dollar I pull from my 401K advances me a bit closer toward  SSI and Medicaid. All you youngsters out there better be praying that I die off  before that happens or the burden of providing for my welfare will fall upon you. That is why I say get rid of the EPA, and a number of other burdensome agencies that have no useful purpose in society other than to harass the citizenry, and stop real progress from happening..