CREDIT

  

"In all times, but more especially of late years, attempts have been made to extend wealth by the extension of credit.

It is an injustice to the tax-payers who are made to pay a debt through taxation which is not theirs."

                                                    Frederic Bastiat

                                                    1850

         

            

Vegas Things

Steve Wynn's new resort opened , the Encore, this week. Thousands of invited VIPs were catered. All were high roller targets. Each was given a token, depending on their pecking order, was worth a single play of $1000 to $50,000 win. I lost on mine. This weasel threw snakes on me.

Two cycle jumps this week ! Robbie Kenieval (son of Evil) is going to jump the Caesar's fountains on Evil's anniversary of jumping the fountains, crashing, breaking  bones, pelvis, popped out an eye, in a coma for 29 days. On delayed Fox-TV.

On NY eve, another bloke will jump across the strip and into the Paris Casino. On ESPN live at 8PST. Downtown, locals are free on NYE, last year $40 per.

Nothing ever happens here.  SNOOOOOORRRRRR........hawK.......SNOOOOOORRRRRRRR

Favorite Xmas Song

               TOYLAND          TOYLAND

                    LITLE GIRLS AND BOYS LAND

                         ONCE YOU CROSS ITS BORDERS

                               YOU'LL NE'RE  RETURN

                                       AGAIN     ~~ 

                                                                        --  Victor Herbert 1903

Cactus Canyon Annex

Westin Hotel's $19 million extended stay hotel will open next week. It is adjacent to the Cancer Institute so that families can walk to the institute during treatment. Very close by is the Cactus Canyon Bar and Grille which will use the new hotel as a spill over. Every room has a full kitchenette, wooden floors. There is a pool and workout facility, two grilles and two cabanas.

The cancer institute is two years old and is expanding to its 3rd building. It is a treatment and research facility. We pass it every day coming home from the dog walking park. 

things

            One has to wonder

                   what testosterone brings

             Joy and sorrow

                   and management      

                          of new things........   

ZANTA

DEER  ZANTA

YER PANZ FRAM LAS YOR NO FITZKA   2 PIG

P S     MO POPPITY GORN IN O POX  FO  DOGZ

... for the Bible tells me so...

"Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so".

At Methodist Sunday School as a boy with clean mind, eyes and ears, the meaning of living a Christian life was beginning to filter to me.

It's why today I can testify to the verse in Scripture that says, "You have been my hope, Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth" (Psalm 71.5).

This noon we go to the Church and spend 30 minutes in quiet reflection as we listen to the seasonal sounds by Ruth Johnson on the piano. Sunday we watch "Hour of Power" at home and then go to Sunday Methodist services.

...for the Bible tells me so...is still in glance in the rear view mirror 

   and the road ahead

   is more clear.  

CHING...CHING

The casinos make more money from penny slot machines than they make from quarter 

and dollar slots COMBINED !!!

The Fall of Democracy

When the thirteen colonies were still a part of England, Professor Alexander Tyler wrote about the fall of the Athenian republic over two thousand years previous to that time.

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government.  It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure.  From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship.

The average age of the world's great civilizations has been two hundred years.  These nations have progressed through the following sequence:  from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage.      ---Alexander Tyler

Alexander Tyler

Next bubble

We've recently gone through a series of bubbles--housing, oil, stock market, materials, Wall Street compensation, etc. 

Now the fed is throwing money at any problem as a solution.

 

Is this the basis of the BIG BUBBLE when our govt can't service all the programs and IMPLODES ?? 

Just wondering.

Another Lasorda ism

Lasorda wasn't pleased with the umpire's calls

So he let it known to the ump and the ump told him to sit down and shut up.

Lasorda did so. As he sat down, he took a ball out of the active ball game bag and wrote on the ball with a pen, "U R BLIND     T LASORDA 

After a couple of pitches in the dirt and a foul ball, the ump raised 4 fingers for the ball boy to bring him 4 new balls, which included the inscribed ball. The ump didn't notice and the signed ball was soon in play.The batter hit the ball foul into the stands.

Lasorda's sister picked up the foul ball !!

  

Another Lasorda ism

Another Lasorda ism

The Dodgers bought the contract of their 1st Japanese baseball player, a relief pitcher. The pitcher asked for aid from the other players to learn English language things. 

Day 2 of spring training, the JP pitcher was pitching. Manager Lasorda went out  to the mound to change pitchers and was given the ball.

The pitcher bowed, gave Lasorda the ball, and said

"Take a hikee "  

Positive Thinking

Tom Lasorda. great baseball manager for the Los Angeles Dodgers, began his managerial career in the sticks in the Pony League as I recall.

His team had some good prospects but they soon lost 4 then 5 then 6 then 7 in a row.

Just before the next game, Lasoda walked into the team dressing room. Players were looking at the floor, their focus on the losing. Lasorda gathered them, and said, "the greatest team in baseball is thought to be the 1927 New York Yankees, with Babe Ruth hitting 60 home runs. Lou Gehrig was in his prime too.

Would you believe that team lost 9 games in a row that year ??

The pony team went out on the field that day and ended the losing streak. By season's end they had won the championship.

Years later, one of the players from that team and a major league player asked Lasorda if the 1927 Yankees had really lost 9 games in a row.

He answered, " I just asked you guys  a question, didn't state a fact. I was only one years old then, how would I know ?"

I just wanted to jolt you guys into Positive Thinking.         

 

Stock market

All of my stocks have a stock split.

the Strip Below

 Las Vegas dawn, September skies now  red

Two new cactus blooms! as I turn my head

A trio of dogs greet me with a spin and a lick

And there's the Strip below

Where visitors gamble and trick.

It is Vegas football Saturday

Mark your tickets,

Make THEM pay 

Then return Sunday for more yay!!

CHILL OUT !!!

The new bar being built at the Mandalay Bay will open in a month. It will be called the "Minus 5 Degree Bar"' because it will be -5 degrees 24-7. Guests will be issued parkas and gloves. The price of admission which includes one vodka will be $30.  Customers must leave after 30 minutes. Only vodka is served with a 3 drink MAXIMUM.

Like an igloo, walls will be made of blocks of ice

Where to go when it's 115 in the desert !

Football Contests--Las Vegas 2008

Hilton  $1000 buy  in  pick 5 best pro games each week $750,000 aggregate pot or 100 %

Station   $1000 buy in pick 5 best pro games  $200,000  guarantee 100 % If you pick better than 67 % win Mercedes C-350W

And the best for last  $30,000 pro winner new contest each week. Coast Casinos  FREE !!!

Denver Democratic Convention

The last time the Democratic convention was held in Denver was a century ago,1908. Apache Indians were congregated at the station as greeters. Loads of snow from the mountains were piled around the train station.

With whiskey as a catalyst, a massive snow ball fight ensued and some of our visitors ended up in the hoochie.

William Jennings Bryan won the nomination again (1896,1900,1908) and failed to win again as Taft was elected President. Bryan, from Nebraska, was best remembered as a thunderous orator.

  

Hey-Hey

Jack Brickhouse died 10 years ago today. born a year earlier than Poo-Paw in 1934. He was the voice of the Chicago Cubs for 5000+ games.

 

When black and white TV was in its infancy, JB broadcast every Cub home game in Chicago on TV.

Anyone from the Midwest in JB broadcasting days would know his saying, "Hey--Hey "!! was Jack Brickhouse.

We visited with him at a Denver Bears game. He signed our Cubs seat cushion.

"Hey--Hey-- Ernie Banks has hit another Home Run....   

  

Ostrich hause

Viewed an ostrich documentary last night.

 Being egg laying, they are branched from dinosaurs.

Flightless, they can motor up to 50 MPH--the only bird on 2 toes.

If this speed doesn't deter an assault, they can eviscerate a lion with one karate chop.

Males can grow to 500 lb. An egg content is equal to 18 chicken eggs.

Avoid.                                                                             30/30 

Gaylord Perry was a great baseball pitcher, even voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Alas, he was a terrible hitter, typically taking three wild swings without making contact. A good morning, good afternoon and good night.

A reporter was talking to manager Alvin Dark during batting practice. Perry was up and hacking away and the reporter asked Dark if Perry would ever be able to ht a home run.

Dark scoffed and said that a man would walk on the moon before Perry would hit a home run.

 

On 20 July, 1959, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.   

20 minutes later, Gaylord Perry hit his only lifetime home run.

Just a quarter

Friends are down this wknd, and I told them a slot machine story re my Dad. I thought the poo-pawers would enjoy this too.

We were out for a summer family trip to Colo in our new packard. We stopped for lunch in a cafe close to Grand Lake. They had a nickle slot machine. My eyes were fixed upon it and I begged Dad for me to play with a quarter from my own stash-paper routes, grass cutting, lemonaid.

He looked inward, gave me a quick gambler's eye sparker, and said, "Just a quarter". 

The lady gave me 5 nicks for my quarter and in a moment the coin-in pull arm happened, for the 1st time in my life !   Zzzzzzz-clunk Then Zzzzzzz-clunk again . Then an orange and then an orange  then 3 oranges.  A grand slam !! I scooped up my 15 nicks and returned to our table.

My Dad acted like he hadn't watched but between slurps of soup he looked down and softly said, "Don't leave a winner up, sometimes they repeat".

So I went back to the machine, fed in a house nickle, and BAMMM ! 3 more oranges hit again.

P.S. Now I live in Las Vegas

July 4th

Very important date, the day we declared our independence from England . 7/4/1776.

Three Presidents died on the 4th of July, two on the same day ! Jefferson and John Adams both died on 7/4/1826, our 2nd and 3rd presidents, who were adversarial.

President Monroe also passed on a July 4. He was the signature of the Monroe Doctrine, giving notice to other world powers not to attempt to colonize the Americas.  

And Lou Gehrig of the NY Yankees gave his farewell speech on July 4, 1939,to 60,000 and he said, "Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth..."

He had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a rare disease that causes spinal paralysis and death, now best known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease".

God Bless America Day,  2008.

Rockies

Watched the Rocks-Pads on the tube. Showed the Eric Young lead off home run in the Rox ML opening game. That was 15 yrs ago !! 

Sold our two tickets to that game for 30X to a scalper. I scalped him. We had backup tickets and saw the game.

That was Eric Young's only HR for the year until the last game of the season when he hit TWO taters!! 

                                                                                                                                   30-30

Alternative-energy policies

Our energy policy at work.

Congress went home for the 4th of July recess WITHOUT extending the solar, wind and other alternative-energy tax credits set to expire on Dec. 31.

Since this is an election year, Congress has only a relatively  small window for renewing the credits which are intended to increase manufacturing  volumes and bring down costs for these technologies.

 Congress is scheduled to meet only for another three weeks in July and three weeks in September before shutting down for the elections.            -J Jubak

Whoops...

Another 30,000 rooms are being built on the Strip. 

Whoops....the umbilical cord-the airlines bringing in 30 million passengers a year to Las Vegas-are being downsized. Fewer flights. Fewer seats. Strangling remote Vegas like a strangling snake. 

Snake eyes.

Yet a $50,000 buy-in poker game occurred at our nearby Red Rocks Sat night and this week ABC shot their "the View" show 5 days from a stage built around Caesars Palace fountains. And we still have the house, out of 2200, nearest the golf course. 

Could have been worse, batting left-handed.        30-30

Smoking Addiction

This is not going to be a long, anti-tobacco rant, just a quote from a friend, an x-smoker:

"I smoked for 20 years. I'd pick it back up tomorrow if it wasn't unhealthy and so brutal to quit again  and it has been 16 years since I quit. Talk about addictive !!!!!!!!!!!!!"  

Poker

Check out Linda Johnson, pro poker champion. Pro since 1980, she is friend of our dog trainer, Cookie. Cookie brought her over to our poker game today.

Poo-paw won 1st place out of 8 players, box to wire. 

Folgers

Smucker is expected later this week to seal a deal to buy Folgers from Procter and Gamble, giving it leading position in the coffee market. WSJ

When Mark graduated from Colorado with a degree in engineering, he went to Kansas City to work for Folgers. One day he called me and said, "Dad, I want to go to law school. I think I need more logic".

I returned, "That proves you need more logic" !!

Iowa was on his short list of schools, as was Houston.

I told him to go to an international school like Houston. Even the top student at Iowa would end up settling family farm squabbles.

Now if he had stayed with Folgers, we all would rcv a bottle of jam or jelly for Xmas.  

Politica USA 2008

Hillary is like the moocher who won't retire for the evening and go home.

Da-Da -Da-Da

Da-Da-Da-Da 

Hey, Hey

Goodbye

Obama has huge money lead over all but has bad buddies.    Stay tuned. 

3 Digit Day

Newbies always await their 1st triple digit day in temperature. It creates another party here in Las Vegas and enrolls one in the official Vegas 100 Club. It was early this year but many desert rats and cats, like me, enjoy HOT desert sun absorption.

Tues hit 103, then Wed hit 109 in the middle of May. No headlines about it, sun happens........here. 

Cactus Garden

We are enjoying  a big show of cactus blooms. These were mostly planted in 2001 when we moved here. The spectacular 18 ft giant yucca is having its 1st bloom after 10 yrs. We bought it seven yrs ago when it was 2' tall and about 3 yrs old.

 

Mothers'Day

The 1st Mothers' Day was 100 years ago, in Philadelphia, May 10, 1908.

My Mother never told me I was a "little cookie in the oven". I was the "keg in the pantry".

99c Shrimp Cocktail No Mas

After 49 years of selling shrimp cocktails for 99c, the deli bar at the Golden Gate casino bumped the price to $1.99. It is estimated that 30 million of these snacks have been sold.

This promotion began in 1959 at 50c. One was even welcomed to take the glass with them as a souvenir.  

The Golden Gate was the 1st hotel in Las Vegas, just across the street from the train depot, and had the 1st phone number, #1. 

Along the way it was called the Sal Sagev Hotel. I think I have a postcard showing the Sal Sagev, which is Las Vegas spelled backwards. 

Allegiant Airlines; Derby

Allegiant Airlines reported a super earnings report yesterday and the stock surged 35 %. Their business model has worked well, started up as smaller town roundtrips to Las Vegas. Colo Springs, Des Moines, South Bend Ind, Ft Collins and such. Now they've added other vacation hubs of Orlando, Phoenix and Belleview WA. Had best seat fill of any airline, 87%.

Ky Derby weekend. Watch the races parties at many race books. Station has a $2 wager that one can bet, pays up to $20,000. I'm looking at a mix of Eight Belles, Court Vision, Z Fortune, Big Brown, Col John. 20 horses in the field. WHEEEEE !!

Take me out to the ball game

The Rockies played at San Diego Padres last night. It was on TV here. I stayed up to watch it. After 9 inn it was O-O. After 13 inn it was O-O. Both teams scored one in the 14th. 1-1. 

In the 17th inn the Pares had to rush over to a nearby Safeway distribution center to procure more hot dogs. 

18th inn, no score

19th inn, no score; the water program turned on, water sprinklers open  on the field; latrines go dry

20th inn, no score; city busses leave

21st inn, no score, fans take their 3rd 7th inn stretch

22nd inn, Rockies score a run on two Padres errors and win 2-1

638 pitches, longest game ever for the Rockies or the Padres

.....buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack...

I won' t care if I ever get back....... 

Frontier Airlines

chose chap 11 bankruptcy today. Based in Denver.

O memories.......

We had freebee standby flights  on Frontier then.

One spring Saturday we flew to Phoenix on Frontier to see the Cubs play Oakland. By the time we arrived at the ball park we were told  that the game was sold out.

We expressed our disappointment to the ticket man.

I remember he gave us a quick eyeball sweep, then said, "follow me".

He went up to the nearby press box, picked up two folding chairs and took us down and placed us in the aisle on the front row.

30/30                                                                                                    

   

Vintage Tractors

Here is a story about the interest in vintage tractors, Go to 

WSJ.com/OnlineToday. There are several photos with the story.

Poo-Paw

Golden Gate Casino

A family who owns 13 nuts and bolts (no kidding!) plants in the midwest is buying half of the Golden Gate casino in downtown Las Vegas. Their plan is to remodel the joint while still retaining much of its historical character. Home of the 1st telephone in LVS, phone number #1; at one time was the Sal Sagev hotel (Las Vegas spelled backwards); famous for its 99c shrimp cocktail. The valet recognizes us and parks us VIP right by the door to the deli. When we moved here 15 years ago there was a live trio on Wed and Sunday nights for a number of years and $1 dice 24/7.     

stock market on Sara's birthday

Rough ride downward in wild water to this point. Two 9-1 up-down volume days  should give us an 100 day (tepid) upward meandering pause in a bear market.

 

All of this mailing of checks to us, bailing out banks, etc, is credit (our) money.  We are borrowing OUR MONEY to right some federal financial failures.

Near misses in life

Dad loved Estes Park, Co. Special was the Loveland Hghts cabins in the Big Thompson Canyon...We had res for all the family Mother, Gene, Billie and kids in August, to stay there. Just after this was OK for everybody, Billie and I rcvd an invitation to go to Boston with friends to see the Yankees and Red Sox.

 We were able to move our res to the next weekend to Loveland Hgts. We went to Boston.

A 100 year flash flood hit Estes and the canyon on our original res.28 people died and the canyon was gutted.

A near miss in life's journeys.           30/30      

Another Beauty

Another yucca blooming. Now two under bloom. They send up a shaft, 2 or 3 feet a day growth until they top off with a bloom at 20-30 feet. They send off a few puplets, then die.
The bloom spirals down the shaft until the whole structure collapses. Then the cycle repeats again for anther 7-10 years

.Special beauties of the high desert.             30.30

Baby

Bought my 1st stock in 1950. I've never seen such a tumultuous market.

Yet I'm sleeping like a baby.

Wake up every hour at night and cry.

Obama never heard his Preacher Wright say wrong in 20 yrs.

Found. Rip Van Winkle. 

Last visit to Old Las Vegas

There was free freshly popped corn, 59c footlong hotdogs, a horse shoe of low limit 21 tables, and a craps table sticking out to the edge. No door, one of the last air conditioned curtains that invited customers inside. Only 2 or 3 of these air curtains remain in Vegas. Oh yes, premium beers, ice cold, 59c a bottle. 24/7.

This is Slots of Fun.

 The sparrows hopping up the aisle to snag popcorn. The rookie stickmen at the craps, having a ball on the speed of play. The slots chinging out two quarters--the sound of a jackpot !!

The popcorn and sparrows are gone. The crap table isn't open until 11 AM. But we'll be there tomorrow; Steve is in town. He just needs to pick two dice out of the basket with one hand and throw and hit the end board, like feeding chickens.

I'll buy in for $120 which will give me 20 $5 chips and 20 $buckers, my 1st play will be $3 pass, and a 2way call 1-5 for $1 each. This makes the dealers your friend for a dollar. If 1-5 hits. both the player and the dealers win $15.

6 will be  good number. That's the gambler in me      

Through an interpreter

a new pitcher from Japan' signed by the Dodgers, wanted to know how to say "Thank You" from Japanese to English. The Dodger bull pen told him what to say. 

The next day manager Tommy La Sorda went out to the mound to change pitchers.

The Jap pitcher, being removed, gave the ball to LaSorda, bowed and said

'TAKE A HIKE" !!

LaSorda had a tiff with an umpire over a series of calls. Tommy went out, kicked the dirt around and muttered, "You're blind" and went back to the Dodger bench. He took a ball from the ball boy and autographed it. Soon the umpire needed some more baseballs. The ball boy took out six new balls, including the autographed ball.  The umpire, catcher and pitcher didn't notice the autographed ball.

A couple of pitches later, this ball was fouled into the stands to his wife. She picked up the spinning ball and saw, "You're blind   Tommy Lasorda".

Spring Training Baseball

We enjoyed a bunch of spring training baseball, in Fl and Az. One time we were seated in the last row corner at Dodgertown in Vero Beach Fl. After the 2nd inning I always went to get a dodgerdog and beers. As I wheeled around, here was Roy Campanella face to face. They had wheeled him up right behind my right shoulder. Dodger great, hall of fame catcher, quadraplegic from an accident. 

In Az, we were at Scottsdale spr training game. The fellow sitting behind us was wearing a Hall of Fame ring. He was Jocko Conlin, an umpire. He was a bench player for the St Louis Cardinals back in the late 30's. In the 9th inning, the working umpire was injured. Back then there was no backup ump. The home team manager would send in a bench player to sub ump.

He sent in Conlin. 

On a bang-bang play with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, Conlin called his team mate OUT !!

The SL paper jumped all over the call.

It opened the door for Jocko as he was seen as a fair umpire. An opening happened for a new umpire. Jocko umpired for 40 years and reached the HOF.       

1951 Hudson Hornet Convertible

Gene's new 1951 Hornet CV. Only 256 were made that year. When Gene graduated from college, he entered the Air Force and I took over as the pilot of this honey while I still was in Iowa City Hi.

Dad had a hog feeding property next to Highway 6 on the edge of town. One time I was zipping  along the highway with a heavy foot and the farmer saw me fly by and told Dad.

Dad grounded me, saying that Bud saw 

"a red streak past the pig farm" !!