Happy Memorial Day!!

Well, something went wrong, my post got deleted....

Okay, #1, to all my friends, online and offline, who are veterans: thank you for your service. Thank you for the sacrifices you made. Thank you for making the US Armed Forces the greatest armed force in the history of the planet. Thank you for protecting us from scumbags who would cut off our heads on videotape and bomb our skyscrapers. I appreciate it. Most of us do, actually, despite what you hear in our "unbiased" media. Most of us are very proud of you, and the work you've done.

Now then... I'm trying to stay off the dogfighting, but I had to throw this in: The Redskins released a statement "on behalf" of Clinton Portis. In the statement, it said that he does not condone dogfighting.

Oh really. Is that right...

So when he says "Hey, it's Michael's dog, on Michael's property, if he wanna fight it, so be it.", ahhhh, that's not condoning it?? Because to me, it sounds like he's fine with it.

ESPN ran a story on last night's sportscenter... they have an informant now, who states that Michael Vick was a "high roller" in the dog fighting world. Sounds like he's the Don King of dogfighting. Along with some horrific videotape of actual dogfights. This informant states that the dogfighting world is now "terrified" that Michael Vick will start talking, and naming names, to save his own butt from jail...

I'd like to know what kind of sick freaks watch that, and enjoy it.

NFL Players, apparently.

Played a lot of poker this weekend, and had a few great Bacon Cheeseburgers. An all star weekend, to be sure.

Dario Franchitti won the Indy 500, in the rain... nice. Mr. Ahsley Judd, for those of you not paying attention. So he's got that going for him....

Bike's not running at the moment... a little exhaust system problem, hopefully to be worked out next week... and it better be by June 2nd, because they're doing a photo thing at Wisconsin Harley in Oconomowoc, so, it's gotta be ready by then...

Well, what else can we say... the Brewers may be returning to earth... And I heard Bob Harlan is going to stay on as Packers President... gotta be a story there somewhere.. I was so hoping, hoping, hoping that the new team prez would quickly dispatch "beady eyes" Ted Thompson... I guess not.

Until next time!

Just shut up....

Good morning!

Been busy... no time to post. Now that summer is here, we got a lot to do... important Harleys to ride, car shows to go to.... It's a big job, being a small dog. Lemme tell ya.

Anyway, memo to Clinton Portis: shut up, dude. Whoops, too late.

Of course I'm referring to the dog fighting comments. Which, as a small dog, are quite disgusting to me personally...

Of course you are all aware that Michael Vick, star QB of the Atlanta Falcons, is being strongly implicated in a highly illegal and morally outrageous dog fighting ring, that it looks like, if he isn't running it, he's at least heavily involved in it. Apparently, this guy who makes around $10 million dollars a year playing football has nothing better to do in his free time than to train dogs to fight to the death.... nice.

That's bad enough... truly, it is. But get this: Clinton Portis, another NFL player, comes out yesterday and defends Michael Vick, basically saying "Yeah, well, if he's dogfightin', maybe people oughtta jes mind dare own bizness."

What?? Huh?? Defending dogfighting?? Ahh, Clinton, the phrase "cruelty to animals" doesn't even begin to scratch the surface here... and gentle readers, I must censor myself, and not discuss the particularly horrific things that are done to a dog in the process to "train" him to tear another dog's throat out in a fight to the death....

He also goes on, in a rambling quote, to point out that he knows where some good dog fighting takes place, in secret places on backroads in Mississippi.

Aha. Oh really. Is that right. Hmm....

Now, ahem, this is where I really lose it... right now, we have federal prosecutors, grand juries, FBI Agents, and lord knows who else, crawling up Jason Giambi's ass, trying to pin a steroid rap on him.

(For those of you who don't know, Jason Giambi is an all star first baseman for the Yankees who admitted to using steroids in testimony before a grand jury that was supposed to be sealed but somehow got out.)

(Also, for the record, I really don't care what happens to Giambi, or to Barry Bonds. People hate Barry Bonds because he's an arrogant jerk, not because he's black. Also, because he's been lying about steroids forever. At least Giambi had the sack to say "Yeah, I was doing roids.")

And that's fine. Pin a steriod rap on him, if it makes you feel better. Without a doubt, the pitchers who pitched to him years ago were soaked in roids, and the outfielders who ran down his fly balls were doing roids, and when they threw to second the second baseman who caught the ball and tagged him out was doing roids... but if it makes you feel better, go ahead and try to pin something on this one guy out of 700...

But here's a better idea: take all these Feds, and all these people, and drive them down to Clinton Portis's house, and say "Howdy! How about showing us where that dogfight is?? And how about pointing out everyone who was involved??"

Okay, so that's not going to happen. Fine. At the very least, these reporters who won't stop asking the steroid questions... look, if you're going to hold goofy steroid suspects to the fire, you also have to hold these dogfighting people to the fire. Seriously. Every time a reporter talks to Michael Vick or Clinton Portis, I want him grilled about dogfighting. Grilled.

And hey, Phil Knight? Founder of Nike?? Yeah, pick up the white courtesy telephone... your little million dollar spokesman, Mike Vick, is dogfighting. You sure you wanna be associated with that??? The money you pay him may well be used to breed fighting dogs, Phil. Yeah, call your office...

The whole thing is disgusting to me, I'm sorry. People and dogs have been hanging around together for around 50,000 years, being pals. 3000 years ago, people on the Island of Malta had portraits painted, with their little white dogs, which to this day are called "Maltese".

That's it for today... I'll try to post more often. Been busy.

Until next time!

Soo Boring...

So bored... too bad nothing's going on in the wide wide world of sports... not!!!

Well, where to begin?? Okay, Brett Favre. I could go on for ten pages here, but suffice it to say, the latest developments, I feel, lend a boatload of credence to what Mark Chmura said... I also tend to think that the "trade demand" was leaked by the team, as a reply to the blast Favre got off.... I'm also shocked by Bob Harlan's comments this morning on WTMJ radio, basically saying "We thought we had him, and New England outfoxed us.", regarding Moss. I don't get that at all. It's become painfully obvious that beady eyes Teddy T had utterly no interest in Moss.

I hear from a lot of people out there that Brett will never be traded, Brett will retire a Packer, blah blah blah... Mighty Joe Montana finished his career in a different place. Favre could too. Have no illusions. Tedly, if you ask me, spends every day greasing the skids for Favre to go, one way or another.

Also, for those of you (and you know who you are) who keep telling me what a big difference Moss would have made.... stop it. You're embarassing yourselves. The Pack is not "one player away" from title contention. We were a very sad 4-8 before we beat the 3 worst teams in the league, and then, scoring our only win of the year over a team .500 or better, we Beat a Bears team that "mailed in" one of the greatest Fed-Ex Lick-a-stamp efforts in recent memory... so, let's maintain control, people. This is not a good football team. An 0-3 start, I'd prepare myself for the trade demand to resurface... And really with a brain trust like Thompson and coach McPositive, does anyone really see a title in the near future??

My stockholder neighbor this morning, in his own inimitably gruff style, told me this morning "Thompson is on deathwatch, as far as I'm concerned! He's gonna see me at every shareholders meeting from now until the day he's fired!!!" Ahem, unquote.

Anyways, we're back to the "All My Packers" days, the revolving soap opera.

On a better note, how about Big Phil Mickleson, winning a big Major Championship at the TPC Sawgrass, The Players Championship!!! Gotta love that. Huh? What's that you say? All I hear is this wierd buzzing noise?? The Players is not a Major?? Well, it is in my book. TPC Sawgrass wins will count as majors, as far as Fireplug is concerned. Huge win.

Phil went to Butch Harmon, swing guru, 3 weeks ago. Since then, he's finished 3rd, 3rd, and 1st. Heh heh. I think it's working. Plus, I daresay, they don't call him Phil "The Thrill" for nothing... his usual round of golf has a lot of tense, adventurous moments in it. Not yesterday! He drove the ball great all day, hit his irons perfectly, played super smart golf... tapping in for par all day, he made it look easy. Seemed to be in complete control... really, a Phil we haven't seen before...

And of course, in the ultimate irony, Tiger FIRED Butch Harmon.... so, how GREAT would it be if Phil roared up and tore up the PGA Tour with Butch?!?!? That would be truly Epic...

How about Dale Jr., leaving DEI??? Heh heh, I suppose it was bound to end badly... It's probably not good when you have Dale Jr, with his sister as his agent, in big time negotiations with their stepmother. Kudos to Norman Chad, great columnist & Poker analyst, who had this observation: "How does Dale Earnhardt Jr. leave Dale Earnhardt Inc?? Shouldn't he seek family counseling first?? Then again, James I of England had similar issues in the late 16th century with his Mother Mary, Queen of Scots. I believe she eventually was beheaded." Nuff said.

By the way, I'm about the same age as Roger Clemens... if doing some 'roids and HGH will get me a part-time, $18 million dollar deal, I'll do whatever....

Well, it was a big weekend, and I'm a tired puppy... time to find a big pillow and lay down for awhile....

Until next time!

Paging Packer Fans, Packer Fans...

Good Morning!

I finally figured out how to put a picture in here!!!

Amazing.

Anyway, back to today's blog....

Listening to the Sunday Morning Football Show on 1510 AM... also airs on 100.5 FM in Columbus & Madison. This is Craig from the Steve & Craig Show, and Mark Chmura.

Chewy breaks this story out on the air, from one of his "sources", that on the Saturday of the draft, Brett Favre is of course in his compound in Mississippi... One Randall Moss is also in Misissippi, at one of his mansions... The two talk on the phone.

One Brett Lorenzo Favre then places a call to the Packers war room, and says hey, I'll talk to Randy if you want, or get on a conference call...

An unidentified person in the Packers War Room tells him that "Naaah, we're going in a different direction."

And allegedly, his Excellency Mr Favre, Bishop of Green Bay, was not pleased in the least. Chewy used the words "pissed as hell" to describe Mr. Favre's reaction.

So, despite all the rumblings from Beady Eyes Tedly Thompson, they actually never had any intention whatsoever to try to get Randy Moss...

An interesting little story....

As I said, I was against the Moss thing all along... but honestly, I'd pick up Keyshawn for nothing in a heartbeat. Bring the guy in already....

That's your football tidbit this morning....

Well, what else.... The Frankster is making his way back to the north... so get ready for a brutal cold snap, to welcome his soft Florida butt back to reality...

I guess it's time to move along here... there's a nice cheesy Egg McMuffin somewhere, with my name on it....

Until next time!

Solid Gold Doggie...

Good day!

I'm solid gold... at least, that's what they tell me. I wish I was solid gold. If I was solid gold, I'd be worth around $8000 us dollars.

The Royal Canadian Mint unveiled this morning in downtown Ottawa their new 100 kilogram gold coin. No, seriously. It's a new worlds record. Previously, there had been a 31 kilogram gold coin, which was roughly the dimensions of a steering wheel. The new 100-Kg is said to be the diamter of an car tire, and as thick as a hardcover novel. I think I'll stick with the 1-oz gold coins, thanks.

Which might be just enough to put gas in my truck! Wow...

Let's review for a second: the price at the pump is within a few cents of the all time record, hit when Katrina happened. Meanwhile, the price of a barrel of West Texas Light Sweet Crude Oil is around $12 cheaper per barrel right now... Seriously. All I can say is, WOW. Whew...

And hey, quick memo to all you people e-mailing me your "Boycott Exxon-Mobil" emails: Knock it off. I'm not sure such a boycott would work... let's face it, how long can crackheaded addicts boycott their crack dealer? Exactly, they can't. But, suppose I give you that point. I admit a boycott has merit, for the sake of argument. Okay, obviously, IF a boycott is to occur, the LAST place we want to boycott is an AMERICAN Company!!! You idiots. For starters, we have Citgo, who is controlled partially by Hugo Chavez and his band of Venezuelan Commie Socialists. So, if you must Boycott, start with Citgo. Next, you could easily move to Royal Dutch Shell, and boycott them. Boycott the foreigners, people, not the Americans. Exxon Mobil still actually employs some of the last employees in America, and they actually pay living wages. At this point in time, I think we need to protect that sort of activity.

Enough on that. Interesting report, naturally unreported widely, but buried in Barrons was this little tidbit. Bank reserves have fallen to $39.6 billion dollars, near a record low. Which is fascinating to me. In 1994, bank reserves stood around $60 Billion dollars, which was still very low, but, it was $60 Billion. Today, in the US Banking system, deposits are roughly double what they were in 1994. And the banks collective book of outstanding loans is north of double. And as we have seen, some portions of this book of loans is, shall we say, risky. "Subprime" may be the word you've heard. Still, reserves have fallen. Does the phrase "Fractional Reserve Banking" mean anything to you?? Did a chill just go thru your body, as you imagine the overburdened overextended american consumer (whose wages are dead flat, if they still have a job, but the payments on their ARM mortgage keep rising) defaulting on their stuff??? Did you involuntarily feel a twinge of panic, picturing the "house of cards" falling down, when the defaults start hitting, and the banks have no reserve to fall back on?? You should've...

The Dow is up above 13,000, and people seem excited by that. Fair enough. Let's turn to the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank, and see how excited they are. They released some interesting numbers. Starting in 2000, looking at the actual prices of the items in the CPI, without the "hedonic" (read BS) adjustments from 2000 to 2007, the Dow would have to be at 14,100 right now, just to be "even" with the 11,500 dow peak in 2000. It hasn't even kept up with inflation. so, congrats on that Dow.

Peter Schiff, President of Euro Pacific Capital, had these interesting observations: the 13,000 is quite a hollow number. Again, measured against prices of a basket of things, the Dow is down 2000 to 2007. To wit:

o In January of 2000, The Dow bought 43 Ounces of Gold. Today it buys 19 Ounces.

o In 1929, the highest close of the Dow was 380. In 1929, 380 bought... you guessed it, 19 ounces of gold.

Despite all the hoopla, it looks like the rise from 380 to 13,000 is mainly inflation.... and it's barely keeping up, it would seem...

So you hate gold?? No problem. Let's look at some other stuff:
Again, 2000 to 2007:

o The Dow buys 30% less Euros than it bought in 2000. Ouch.

o The Dow buys 35% less Milk than it bought in 2000. Oops.

o The Dow buys 40% less Wheat than in 2000. Sensing a pattern?

o The Dow buys 65% less Silver Bullion than in 2000.

o Buys 70% less Oil than in 2000. Okay, I don't NEED Silver, but I DO need Oil!!

o Buys 80% less Copper. Hold off on that wiring project...

o Buys 90% less Uranium.

Housing, Insurance, College Tuition... you get the picture.

Luckily, I have some Gold, Oil, and Uranium Investments. Thus, I can eat Bacon Cheeseburgers with impunity, and sleep like a tired puppy every night. Can you??

Until next time!

May Flowers...

Hey, welcome to May!!! When little dogs go outside and do their business in leisure and comfort....

Well, the Packers draft continues to be lambasted in the press... I just saw something, 105 post-draft analysis were looked at by some writers... over 50% of those analysts gave the Pack a grade of D or F...

Report to your area public health Kiosk for your Wellbutrin tablets. Seriously.

So, we lost the "Randy Moss" sweepstakes... if you can call it a loss. I personally am fine with it. But, if you really have your heart set on a free-agent wideout, Keyshawn Johnson was just released... we could pick him up for free, basically, compared to Moss. And why not? He had 70 catches for 815 yards and 4 touchdowns last season. He's big, tall, a good possesion guy. Why not?? No, seriously, why not??

Don't look now, but your Milwaukee Brewers are 17-9. .654 winning percentage. Seriously. True or false, the Milwaukee Brewers have the best record in Baseball. True!!! Seriously! It's still early, but honestly, I may cut this page out of the paper.. Pitcher Ben Sheets even got a hit last night, snapping an 0-38 drought dating back to last season.

Gotta wax the Caddy... a small doggie is going to the Milwaukee Mile Sunday, to run laps for charity.

It's a tough job, but someone has to do it.

I'm gonna go get a bacon cheeseburger.... I suggest you do the same.

Until next time...