jots

whatever ...

so nj gov christie's deputy chief of staff is nailed via emails and texts closing lanes going onto or off the gw bridge purely to make life uncomfortable in the location of the person then running against christie as he sought re-election.  he lied about some traffic study being done that necessitated it.  the dude should be shot.  not an exaggeration.  he affected thousands of lives simply because he could.  did any ambulances deliver a dead patient because of the delay?  someone should tally the harm caused during those days, charge this idiot with crimes, then shoot him dead.  no government should dick with us in such cavalier ways.  christie needs to speak out then do something meaningful.  and painful.  UPDATE - some folks (or at least one) did die.  i read that christie's POTUS hopes died, too.  i disagree.  the issue is not the scandal but how he handles it.

i am sooooo unfocused right now.  mind just wandering through a field without any direction making itself apparent.

13 degrees outside.  warmest it's been in days.  just brrrrrrrr .... but sat and sun will hit 50.  bbq time.  midwinter yard cleaning.  did i write that i was on the roof a couple of weeks ago doing the chimney-sweep thing?  even if i did, whew, i really don't like heights.  but i done good.  i hate that loose feeling in my legs when one misstep could mean tossing over the edge.  i would've been banged up, but survived (probably).  good thing obamacare is active.  i'd enroll in the ER.  pre-existing conditions accepted!

my grandmother used to make a shepard's pie.  i recall eating it on many sunday visits.  mashed potatoes on the bottom, veggies in some sort of white gravy, and a crust on top.  it was like four inches deep.  i suspect it was a mainstay as she raised four kids ... the fifth kid came a lot later.  but with all of us grandkids visiting - 3+6+4 - it showed up a lot.  if i recall, the rabbit pie she made was the same recipe.  chicken was common, too.  dad and grampa would go to the coop to select two volunteers to get plucked and roasted.  i think i'll make shepard's pie.  might have a base recipe on my pinterest - things i eat board.  gramma - carrots, celery, peas, maybe green beans.  gotta think about it.  everything would have come from grampa's garden.  i don't think i have a baking dish as deep as the one i remember she used.  i'll have to think about that.  gramma was a good cook.  UPDATE - i described the pie to my daughter jourdaine.  she made it.  came out excellent.  i was still stuffed full when i went to bed.

this doesn't sound like fun:  Carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae (CRE) is a family of gram-negative bacteria that are nearly immune to the carbapenem class of antibiotics, considered the "drug of last resort" for such infections. Enterobacteriaceae are common commensals and infectious agents. Experts fear CRE as the new "superbug". The bacteria kill up to half of patients getting bloodstream infections from them. Death rates of up to 50% can be seen in patients with CRE sepsis, a rate much higher than other resistant infections such as MRSA.  apparently it is prancing around chicago.  mass extinction here we come.  well, something will have to explain the sudden mass of bodies laying around when Christ grabs us Christians before all hell breaks loose.

this is interesting.  Contrary to the official figures, the war on poverty has mostly been won, but not by the big spending of the federal government. Instead, it is the slower and less visible, but no less real, effects of the innovation and competition that accompany market economies that has given poor U.S. households a standard of living that would be the envy of kings throughout history.  that set-up leads to these proposals: First, eliminate all minimum-wage and occupational-licensure laws. Second, open up the public schools to competition. Finally, end the War on Drugs.  first, yes; streamline, don't eliminate.  second, yes.  third, yes as to truly non-addictive drugs.  what i find interesting about minimum-wage laws is that it removes competitive from the marketplace.  it gives employers a fail-safe at which to point:  that's your wage.  remove it, and i think you'll see real wages increase over time.  and i would rewrite the 2d proposal - end all public unions including the teachers' unions.  in fact, forbid any public employee or teacher from belonging to a union.  that would introduce true competition.

Caesars Acquisition Company (NASDAQ:CACQ) has traded in a rather narrow range since the spin-off for something that is supposed to warrant multi-billions tossed at it by hedge folks.

alright, i'm outta here ...