Blacks Hate ∅bummer Too
blacks' dilemma with ∅bummer
friday, september 2nd, 2011
"election of our nation's first black president is delivering an unexpected message to our black population. And those black Americans are discovering that what a man or woman does – their actions – is what matters, not the color of the skin they're in. It's taken 50-60 years, but it's finally starting to "sink-in".
It seems ridiculous to point out that this was supposedly the point of the civil rights movement. Purge racism from America.
But blacks themselves have been the ones having the hardest time letting it go.
It is not hard to understand why black Americans were happy that a black man was elected president of the United States. It was kind of a final and most grand announcement that racism has finally been purged from America.
But for the highly-politicized parts of black America this was certainly not the only message. Because for the highly-politicized parts of black America, the point has always been to keep race in American politics.
For black political culture that dominated after the civil rights movement, the point was not just equal treatment under the law, but special treatment under the law. Plus the assumption that more black political power – defined by more blacks holding office – would mean that blacks would be better off.
In other words, post-civil rights movement black political culture embraced an agenda exactly the opposite of what the civil rights movement was about. Its agenda was to get laws and policies that were not neutral but racially-slanted and to put individuals in-power, based on their race and not on their character and capability.
So, according to the script of this political culture, election of a black man as president meant more than an end to racism. The conclusion had to be that if the man holding the highest political office in the nation was black, it must follow that blacks would be better-off. (Here's what ∅bummer has done in 135 weeks in the Office of POTUS; real admirable accomplishments, aren't they?)
Now blacks have a dilemma. We have a black president and blacks are worse off. Not just a little, but a lot worse off.
In the words of (way too) longtime Congressional Black Caucus (foul-mouthed, commie bitch-filth-scum) member Maxine Waters (RACIST-CA), "Our people are hurtin'..."
Blacks now grapple with two possible conclusions.
One, our black president is a traitor to his race. Our struggles put him in power and now he's not taking care of his folks. He's become, in the words of left-wing professor and (racist, hate-filled) activist Cornel West, a "mascot" of Wall Street.
Or, two, that the man's (non) performance reflects his (racist) views and his (incompetent, inept) capability, not his (half-breed) race. He's not delivering for anyone. Blacks are hurting more because they were already in worse shape when Obama got elected. Bad policies hurt the weakest the most.
And it happens that the bad policies that have always failed are the big government liberalism that has defined modern black politics.
With further thought, blacks might realize it's this same flawed idea – that growing government and electing black politicians would make blacks better off – that explains why blacks have remained disproportionately "hurtin".
Take the Congressional Black Caucus itself. The average poverty rate in Black Caucus districts is almost 50 percent higher than the national average. Yet, these black politicians have 100 percent re-election rates.
Maybe a real bonus that will have come from electing a black president is that blacks will take seriously Dr. King's dream that we judge men by their character and not their color.
The Civil Rights Movement took blacks to the edge of the Promised Land. But political activism can only remove barriers to freedom.
It's up to the individual to embrace freedom and take on the personal responsibilities that go with it.
Maybe blacks will realize that they should blame Barack Obama. Not because he is black, but because he is a (commie, piece-of-shit, lowlife dirtbag, illegally-elected,
© Star Parker, "Townhall" Magazine, 8/22/2011.
John's Note: This lady "Speaks to Conservative Truth & Values". More of her articles, are here. (Comments in parentheses, links and various punctuation etc, are my own additions/corrections and probably do not reflect the author's views/opinions.)
Around The Garden Center
After listening to what havoc and destruction which Hurricane Irene "could possibly wreak" in the Susquehanna Valley – goodbye NYC! – on both Saturday night and all-day Sunday, I decided not to go to "The Cabin", for this weekend. Floods, mud slides etc were not my cup-o'-tea, as it was last week and on several previous harrowing weekends, up there. I "might" be needed here to help Mom & Dad in an emergency situation, go to the GC&N Complex for any alarms from Choice Security, get called to help friends or relatives, or whatever. I called William and asked him to take care of Jenny and "The Cabin", and called Capt Clay to let him know that I wouldn't be around for the weekend. They understood, but I'd be there next weekend for the "new weapons and shooting lessons" for Clay and his 6 deputies, since we'd be closing on
I'm well-prepared for what's coming and getting Mom & Dad there, too, on Friday and Saturday, before TSHTF that night and all-day Sunday. To me, this is more like "Y2K", but having been through numerous hurricanes here before – Hurricane/Tropical Storm Andrew in 1992, Hurricane/Tropical Storm Floyd in 1999, Hurricane/Tropical Storm Allison in 2001, Hurricane/Tropical Storm Henri in 2003, Hurricane/Tropical Storm Isabel in 2003, Hurricane/Tropical Storm Hanna in 2008 – but one never knows what might happen with the storm's "final track".
I stayed-up and made a Late Night BLT with Fried Egg and Cheese Sandwich and Matzo Soup for dinner, did some more computer (CSS-xHTML) work on the Corporate and "Journal" Websites, listened to "The Savage Nation" from 6-9pm EST on the Net, on WSBA 910-AM, and crashed around 9:30pm.
By 4:15am Friday, the headlines were getting more and more ominous and millions of people were being advised to leave coastal areas for inland shelters. I decided to skip my 8pm Church Meeting tonite – they can have someone else
As I was getting ready to leave at 3pm on Friday, Sanders Plumping/ HVAC showed-up to try to effect repairs on the irrigation system electrics in the Pump House, attached to the Main Retail Building. Steffi & Kim had just left and I had to stay with the electrician and help him change a "Coyote Box" switcher and a "Franklin Electric" switcher, which together control 3 of my 8 wells' output. Seems that all of the "new factory parts" he brought didn't work and there was no "juice-in/juice-out" on the "FE" Box, no matter what combination of old/new switches he tried, which meant that the wells were being shut-down prematurely and would have to be manually-run and manually-reset in the morning, by me. Thankfully, we'd be getting "some rain" over the weekend, and watering wouldn't become a problem until we cleaned-up the mess and damage on Monday, and saw what plants were "in distress".
On Saturday, August 27th, House Bill 40 takes effect.
Castle Doctrine Took Effect In PA On 8/27/11
Knowing that we might lose power, I decided to bake 6 Chicken Cordon Bleu, Sautéed Onions & Roasted Red Peppers, Chanterelles with White Wine, Butter & Parsley, Sweet Stuffed Cherry Peppers, Borettano/ Cippolini Onions, pignoli/pine nuts, with fresh Cilantro and a sprinkling of Hot Pepper Flakes, for a little " bite", topped with fresh-gratings from a new wedge of Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese. I can't even begin to tell you how delicious all this is as a sauce poured over the Cordon Bleu, kept in the 'fridge and reheated. Or better yet, immediately-served fresh and hot w/ Cappellini Pasta. I didn't relish the idea of eating hot dog & beans or peanut butter crackers – though I have easily done that numerous times – if we lost power for 1-3 days, so I made this ahead of time, just in case. It'll keep for 3-4 days, and I might make some Cappellini Pasta to go along with it. Perhaps some roasted, salted and buttered Brussel Sprouts, too? Mmmmm.
The more I checked the progress of Hurricane Irene, the more I got confused: there were dozens of possibilities for its "final track", and no one was even close to knowing where it would go. Millions were in its potential path, and hundreds-of-thousands were being evacuated from so many areas it was impossible to keep track, anymore. I kept-up with FR.com's "official thread" on Irene, but it was full of too much mindless chatter and some good NOAA charts and graphs, so I switched over to NWS' AccuWeather.com's Site for their definitive progress warnings/statements for this area. Here's Irene from a video taken from the space station. And here are some fascinating historical pictures of the 1944 Hurricane, which hit NYC.
Net, net: we'll know what happened when it's all over, won't we? Until then, it does no good to speculate about anything beyond our direct control.I skipped my 8pm Church Meeting, did some more computer (CSS-xHTML) work on the Corporate and "Journal" Websites, listened to "The Savage Nation" on the Net, on WSBA 910-AM – plenty of "Savage" streaming stations here – and headed upstairs to bed around 9:30pm. Murphy was already waiting for me, on the bed. I have to work tomorrow, unlike 95% of the rest of the population.
Up at 4:30am on Saturday, I logged-on to the weather and news websites, to check Irene's condition and progress, fed & watered Murphy, made Fresh-Squeezed OJ, a nice breakfast of Scrambled Eggs, Sausage & Toast, and coffee.
I mentally-readied myself for some ugly weather ahead for the day. Rain and wind are easy to take; it's a prolonged power outage, with all utilities not functioning which will cause trouble for people. Living in a condo, a stand-by solar-powered generator isn't a possibility for me, due to the regulations against solar panels on my roof, and that almost made me wish I lived in a nice little house, due to Winter Blizzard, Spring storm outages and now, the Fall Hurricane Season's arrival. But I'm well-stocked and overly-prepared with more-than-everything I need, and can share with nearby Family and neighbors, if need be.
Back to Irene: it's fallen-apart to a Cat-1 Storm, but was still huge and making landfall in North Carolina, and looking to head-up the Eastern Seaboard – I could give a flying shit about the liberal hell-hole of NYC – to New England. I honestly thought it might veer-out to sea by now, but I was wrong. It's coming up the coast, as predicted. What? CCW Permits are invalid "during a state of emergency" in North Carolina? Total bullshit! If there was ever a case for legally-carrying a firearm, a state of emergency is it, dammit!
Uh oh, Irene's heading inland toward DC and Baltimore, and eventually us in the York (PA) area. Philly, NJ and NYC will get slammed by the storm surge and winds. I
The rain started in earnest at around 10:45am, and was coming-down in torrents, in East York. On the 15-mile drive home from work, it was raining and blowing sporadically, but nothing like it is right now. Apparently, we were getting some of the "leading bands of rainfall", ahead of the main storm, since it was just hitting Baltimore around 10:30am, and heading directly for us in PA.
When I started my condo's HP® Pavilion Elite HPE-570t series (Win-7 Pro) unit, with its WD® "My Book" 2Tb External Drive, I got ***red flag warnings*** that my Norton 360 Anti-Virus was turned-off, the double-router system had been disabled and that I had no Net access. After a brief shutdown and restart, that all went away and everything was back to normal. I immediately ran the daily-updated-database Malwarebytes-AntiMalware on all my internal and external drives, including the Cruzer® 32Gb Flashdrive, which I use to carry files to work and back to the condo, and "nothing was found". Scared the crap out of me for 2-3 minutes, before doing the restart and getting M-M's final results. Everything is turned-on and reset to "normal", now.
I continued on FR.com's now-massive, "Official Irene Thread", while switching between local WGAL, NOAA, NWS's Accu-Weather.com and several other sites reporting in on what was happening with the approaching storm. The Weather Channel is useless, liberal-run bullshit and not worth watching, anymore. None of the reports are good news, as of 12:15pm on Saturday.
Hells bells, at 2:40pm I can hear the driving, "horizontal rain" on the condo's 4 skylights, southern windows and sunroom's 3 massive windows (old pic; forgot my digital camera today), and see the 40-50mph winds blowing outside, and now we're getting the frontal assault of the storm. The "yellow & red" areas of the storm, according to all the weather maps in-motion, are still 15-20 miles away with all the heavier rain, but my street is already flooded 3-4ft up over the lawn, and the roof's gutters are overflowing. Boy, are we having some fun, or what? Now, at 3:15pm, the "yellow & red" areas are beginning to hit the York-Lancaster (PA) areas, and we're really getting some serious rain; even worse than before. Damn, I wished I'd brought my digital camera along home when we bailed-out at 11am. But here's an 8/27/11 at 3:00pm "screen grab", using MS-Paint, just as it starts to override York County.
"Mother Nature's In Charge; We're Just Along For The Ride." – John Shelley II, 1997
Hurricane Prep: "The American Way"! Okay, that's sort of funny. At 4:45pm, it's now a light rain and 10-15mph winds; nothing to call/write home about. Must be that ∅bummer, who couldn't lead flies to cowshit, is "personally in-charge at FEMA"? What a bad joke that inept, incompetent, sambo-boy truly is! Speaking of incompetent asshole, shit-for-brains-liberal-demokkkRATs, turd-polisher mayor Mikey "Douchebag" Bloomberg (MORON-NY) shut NYC down Saturday and Sunday, costing it BILLIONS in lost revenue, just for a nothing Tropical Storm. What obvious idiocy and stupidity! Just wait until a "real one" comes through, as people have enough of him crying "wolf!", won't take it seriously, and many thousands will die as a result.
After so many, many endless hours of watching weather sites, maps, computer models and FR.com's endless thread, I said, "Screw it", took a 2hr break and watched Tom Selleck in "Jesse Stone: Night Passage", a 2006 movie on DVD, which I'd watched a couple of weeks ago. I have the entire "Jesse Stone" DVD Series, now, and they're definitely Tom Selleck's best movies ever. It was a refreshing change from the all-day, all-weather-related BS, which I'd endlessly endured on Hurricane Tropical Storm Irene.
For dinner, I had 2 of the 4 Chicken Cordon Bleu, half of the Sautéed Onions & Roasted Red Peppers, Chanterelles with White Wine, Butter & Parsley, Sweet Stuffed Cherry Peppers, Borettano/ Cippolini Onions, pignoli/pine nuts, with fresh Cilantro and a sprinkling of Hot Pepper Flakes, for a little "bite", topped with fresh-gratings from a new wedge of Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, which I'd made last night; they were beyond delicious. Man, I'm a great chef. I should open a small, high-end bistro and chef only for discerning people. Nah, I'm getting too old and tired for all that work and pressure. 30 years ago, after graduating from the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) in Hyde Park, NY, I could have done it – averaging 150-250 meals a day – but not now. At almost 62, it's too late in life for a much younger man's work.
Full and very tired, I laid-out everything I needed for tomorrow's breakfast, as I usually do, so there'd be no "fumbling around" for what I'd want to use and eat, tomorrow morning; I had breakfast firmly-envisioned. Now the yawns were setting-in and it was time to call it a day-and-a-half. I went to bed earlier-than-usual and decided to sleep through what's left of Hurricane Tropical Storm Irene, in the morning, before going food shopping and over to see Mom & Dad. I had my "shopping list" prepared, turned the AC up to 77°F – it was only 73°F outside – and headed upstairs at 7:30pm. Murphy followed close on my heels. The rain sounded good and the wind had calmed-down from this afternoon's gales. It was getting dark from the dense storm, anyway. It would still be here and with us much of tomorrow, judging from its size and what was still on its way here, as a Nor'Easter from the south.
I awoke at 2:15am to the sound of pounding rain on the skylights and windows, got-up, found we'd lost power, reset the digital clocks and microwave, fed & watered Murphy, made some Fresh-Squeezed OJ, logged-on to the computer and checked the weather and new sites. It looked like 80% of the storm had moved north but we had a long way to go before it moved out of our Mid-Atlantic Region, for good. Hurricane Tropical Storm Irene was truly a Nor'Easter now, curling back upon itself and continually-dumping rain and high winds upon us from the ocean and extending all the way down to Richmond, VA. Looking out the front door, the water was up over my lawn, lapping at the front porch, with the street in front of the condo under 8-10" of water, and the storm drains blowing backwater 2-3ft up into the air. I shut down the computer and went back to bed at 2:45am. Nothing I could do but go back to sleep. Maybe some food shopping later in the morning, instead of my usual 8am trip to Weis Market, in East York. Hurricane Tropical Storm Irene would be with us for a while, yet. I decided to go back to sleep for 3-4 hours-plus and just ride it out, as I needed and wanted the extra sleep. I wondered how the "folks in Adam's Junction were faring", with all this rain. I'd call Capt Clay and William later in the day and find out.
Back-up again at 7am, I saw that we'd again lost power and had to reset the digital clocks and microwave, plus it was still raining hard with the wind blowing easily at 40-50mph. Logging-on and looking at the weather sites, about 99% of Hurricane Tropical Storm Irene was north of us and headed up to New England, just hugging the inland coastal areas, and we were getting the vicious "back winds". It hadn't veered out-to-sea, as many had predicted, but stayed right along the coast and slightly inland. My condo rain gauge read 6.00" and it had overflowed sometime during the night or early morning. I'd need a bigger rain gauge for these events.
I re-watered & re-fed Murphy, made some more Fresh-Squeezed OJ, a hearty and filling breakfast of Cheddar Cheese Grits, Sunny-Side-Up Eggs, "Texas Toast" & Butter , a side of Country Sausage, and Turkish-Grind, French Roast, Drip Coffee in the Chemex® Drip System. After checking my shopping list, I deleted a few things, which I could pick-up at Saubel's in Stewartstown, on Monday. And I added a few things for this morning, which only Weis Market has.
I didn't even want to think what a "war zone" the GC&N Complex would look like, after all the wind and rain, on Monday morning, since I knew every exposed containerized plant and tree would be laying down and would have to be stood-up, and broken limbs pruned-off, if necessary. It would be a mess, but at least we'd prepared at best we could for it by putting away all pots on benches and other fragile things inside the Main Retail Building. I just hoped that the GHs' poly (6-mil plastic) had survived intact and that we didn't have any major repairs to do. I put a load of laundry in, and got ready for my trek to Weis, and to survey the damage outside.
Crap! Roads blocked-off all over the place by PA State Police, Springettsbury Twp Police, York Area Police, Fire-Police Volunteers and Met Ed/Verizon/Columbia Gas and scores of pieces of power and construction equipment trying to clear streets and roads. Huge old trees, limbs and foliage down everywhere; especially old, large trees uprooted with 15-20ft wide (shallow) rootballs. And numerous power lines, still "sparking" on the streets. Emergency crews from the utility companies, townships and state are working, and probably have been since early this morning, using heavy equipment to clear all the debris. But I saw no major house damage, thankyouverymuch. Roads were either partially or completely blocked-off, all over East York, so I barely made it to Weis Market, using shortcuts through many businesses' parking lots and numerous back road shortcuts, but also scrapped my plans to go see Mom & Dad, whom I called to make sure everything was okay, and didn't drive down to the GC&N Complex to see the damage/carnage. I'd see it in the morning, if the roads had been fully-cleared.
I did "condo chores" all-day Sunday instead, and caught-up on things I'd put-off for weeks. Skipping dinner, I crashed at 8:30pm with the alarm set for 4am. I had some *bad news* for my staff meeting in the morning, after doing final budgets for July and August, with September through October not looking good at all. It would be a restless night; I knew that was coming and so did Murphy.
Up at 4am, I took care of Murphy, made breakfast and coffee, downloaded numerous emails from customers who'd had trees come down, damage to the homes and property, but at least there was no major flooding in our area. I had no idea to what to expect at the Complex – hoping for the best but preparing for the worst – at 5:30am, when I was watering Murphy for the last time, and getting ready to leave.
When I did arrive at 6:15am, it truly was a ***war zone***, with only a few B&B field trees uprooted, minor GH damages, but every containerized shrub and tree in the place was laying-down, tiled, bent or blown-out of its pot. It was a real mess. The rain gauge read 5.1", but I knew we'd had more than that. With those fiercely-blowing winds, not all of the moisture makes it into the rain gauge's small "official opening". We had several large 4-5" caliper (diameter) trees broken-off at ground-level, tree limbs down everywhere, and as I predicted earlier, all containerized nursery stock was blown-down; even the very large 100gal boxes. I spent 2hrs-plus doing GH repairs and setting-up containers, before the staff arrived at 8am, and later worked along with Steffi & Kim to get things cleaned-up. I started getting calls from customers about downed and uprooted trees, and told them that my Conditional Warranty does not cover "Acts of Nature"; they'd have to effect repairs themselves or pay to have the trees cut-up and hauled-away. I had 2-3 days of repairs and work here to get done and to try to get back-in-business, but couldn't respond to their calls right now, as short-handed as I am. I referred them to some local tree service companies for help.
On top of it all, my 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee "Laredo" developed "a ticking valve" and once again, "wouldn't hold a simple 750rpm idle", on the way into work at 6am; it kept stalling-out, so I had to "baby it" for 15-miles into work. I now have it scheduled for an "emergency Tuesday 8am trip' to nearby Endurance Automotive, to see what the problem is, this time. I really didn't need this crap, right now. Dammit: what next? NO, don't ask that question!
After getting "bad news" – see "The End Of My Era" section, just below – I started listing "outstanding financial liabilities" for an upcoming Wednesday meeting, closed-down early, made 2 stops and went home. I worked on the soon-to-be "Closed/Out-Of-Business Page" for my Corporate Website, which'll be archived before it's pulled-off the Net, possibly along with my weekly "Journal". I don't know just yet; I will know more after my 3pm Wednesday meeting with my corporate attorney. It was only 5pm, and I had several hours to kill before I could go to sleep at around 8pm, and finally get "some peace" from the day's bad news. Almost immediately, Murphy intuitively "sensed that something wasn't right with me", and cozied-up more than usual. We listened to "The Savage Nation" (6-9pm EST) until 8:15pm on the Net, on local WSBA 910-AM, I took an Rx 12.5mg Ambien® CR™, and finally slept-in-peace.
Backup at 4:15am, I fed & watered Murphy, made Fresh-Squeezed OJ, Eggs Benedict & Hash Browns, and coffee, scanned the weather and news sites, worked on my new "Closed/Out-Of-Business Page" for my Corporate Website, and left money for my cleaning lady and her husband, who regularly come on Tuesdays for the condo work. I made it into work by 6:45am, limping along in the crippled Jeep, and probably will have to borrow Dad's Jeep to get Alan and I out to Spring Grove to look at a customer's dying specimen-grade plant, for possible replacement.
Yes, I'm still in a "state-of-shock" over my 21+ year-old failing business, so after Wednesday's meeting with my corporate attorney, I will explore *liquidation sales* and *auctions* to rid myself of the inventory and pay-off the few remaining creditors; less than $30,000 total. There's no bankruptcy involved; merely a lack of "normal retail business traffic & landscape jobs", due to ∅bummer's terrible economy and bad decisions. The numerous buildings and 20-acres of land? Well, that's another matter altogether, isn't it? It appears that there's little or no market for them/it right now. I'd rather they sit empty and rot rather than "give them away", which is what I'd have to do to move them. I really do need to eat something, as I haven't been able to keep any serious dinner down since getting "the bad news" on Monday, and it's going on 5 days since I've eaten anything "solid of substance", except breakfast. I'm dropping more weight, fast: down from 185lbs to 177lbs. I can't live on Ocean Spray® Diet Blueberry-Pomegranate Juice forever, but I just have no real appetite, anymore.
I had Alan and Arthur drive to the long-time Customer's home in Spring Grove (PA) to replace the specimen-grade conifer (evergreen), which we'd installed in 1998 – and had done nearly $100k in work over 2 years – and was still covered under our 5-Year Conditional Warranty. They took 3 specimens along in the 10-ton dump truck for him to choose one from, and for them to install. Endurance Auto fixed my Jeep's idle problem, changed the oil and filter but the valve-knocking continues; not a good omen at all. I've gotten 350,000 miles out of each of the engines of my two previous SUVs: 1988 Jeep Grand Cherokee "LTD" and 1994 Grand Cherokee "LTD", but this 2002 Grand Cherokee "Laredo" has been problematic, ever since I bought it new. But since Chrysler DaimlerChrysler Motors Company LLC took the "government cheese" US Taxpayers' BILLIONS Bailout, I won't ever buy another unit from them again; same with GM/GMC, although I really like the GMC SUV line-up this year. And NO: neither Chrysler nor GM paid back the $15.7 BILLION in US Taxpayer Bailouts; pure BS and LIES! After closing at 2:45pm, I stopped at Drovers/Fulton Bank in Red Lion (PA), where I'd had my business and personal accounts for 13+ years before moving to PNC Bank, also in Red Lion (PA), back in June, and closed-out the remaining checking account balance of $1,700 in cash, to transfer to PNC, to help pay some bills. I'd left $2,500 in there just to cover any outstanding checks. It's closed now.
Yes, I rarely ever get colds and never get the flu. Clue & major hint: I stay away from crowded places full of people who either are sick or coughing/sneezing. Like doctors' offices, theaters, malls etc. Try it; it works.
I was home by 4:30, met with some people from the CHCA Condo Board about several landscaping issues, fed & watered Murphy, listened to "The Savage Nation" (6-9pm EST) until 8:15pm on the Net, on local WSBA 910-AM, took an Rx 12.5mg Ambien® CR™ and went to sleep around 8:30, still without eating any dinner. No appetite. My meeting tomorrow at 3pm would solve some of the issues, hopefully.
After a night filled with various weird dreams of "various relatives and friends, in trouble due to Hurricane Irene, holed-up at my condo for protection", I was up at 4am, took care of Murphy's water and food needs, still didn't have much of an appetite, but made some oatmeal & coffee anyway, scanned the weather and news sites and left for work. I stopped at Sheetz® for more coffee and smokes, got into work at 6:15am, and made a "long list" for Alan & Co to work on, for the day. We had many things to catch-up-on from the drought delays and hurricane, plus get more replacements done for some customers. I also had to leave at 2pm for my 3pm attorney's meeting, in York. I called a local, well-known auctioneer, to chat with him, though I'm not sure I'm going "that route", just yet.
To get ready for the 25% Off 35% Off Annual Fall Sale – I changed it to 35% Off this morning – I had signs and hours to change, both on the front drive chain gate, below my business sign along Rt 24, and on the Corp Website, plus the outgoing message on the Office answering machine. We had numerous B&B (balled and burlapped) trees to dig and get ready for installation, next week and the following week. The fields are finally drying-out, after 5-6" of rain from Irene, and ground/air temps are dropping, so we can now get in there with our machines and safely dig them. It's amazing how many people stopped-in on Wednesday, after we'd hung the 35% Off Sale sign, down along Rt 24. And the number of calls I got, even on the "old" 25% Off Ad, was amazing, too. It might prove to be a busy weekend.
After my Wednesday 3pm meeting with my corporate attorney, I had a couple of stops to make on the way home, water & feed Murphy, reset a couple of Corporate Website Pages' hours and times, to accommodate the Fall Sale and tried to unwind from the previous meeting. I have 3 "courses of action", and some legal work to get done to dissolve my Sub-Chapter S-Corp in PA, but my att'y is preparing the papers after I and my Board of Directors sign-off on the dissolution of the company. It's painful to see it all end after 21 years. I'd also contacted a highly-respected and successful local auctioneer in York County, Brad Smith and his brother, Chuck, and he called back to meet with me next week to explore some "other options", as well as Rock Commercial Realty Co in York, to do the same. I need to *get this moving on as many fronts as possible*, since my current realtor, Alliance Realty Co, isn't getting the job done. Giving him an "exclusive" was a mistake; I realize that now. I hate having to do other people's jobs for them, dammit.
I feasted on some Friendly's Orange Creme Swirl Ice Cream, and Ocean Spray® Diet Blueberry-Pomegranate Juice for dinner; at least I kept them down and got some calories into my system, after not eating much of anything for 5 days. I've dropped almost 11-lbs in that short time. It's time to get back to eating some "real foods", IMO. Man doesn't not live by Sherbet alone, but I do love it so. There's also some Watermelon Sherbet and some Raspberry-Orange-Lemon Sherbet, among 14 or 15 other flavors, bountifully-lurking in my garage freezer. Mmmmmmmm; hard to resist 'em!
I decided to go to "The Cabin" after work on Saturday, since I had some new Class III Police Weapons to break-in and evaluate for the AJPD, "shooting lessons" to give and relax for 2 days and nights, before the September Sale's 7-day-a-week took effect. I would pack my gear on Friday afternoon and get it loaded into the Jeep, before my 8pm Friday Church Meeting.
I listened to "The Savage Nation" (from 6-9pm EST) until 9 on the Net, on local WSBA 910-AM, watered Murphy for the last time tonight, and went upstairs to sleep. It'd been a long day, and the coming month of September, starting tomorrow, would be even longer, working 7-days-a-week. Not looking forward to it, at all.
I woke-up, with Murphy's "urging" at 4am, watered & fed him, made Bacon, Sausage, Eggs & Toast for breakfast, & Turkish-Grind, French Roast, Drip Coffee in the Chemex® Drip System, copied-off my files I'd need for the day's work onto the 32Gb Cruzer® Flashdrive and left around 5:45am. I was going to call a 10am meeting with all my employees to review what happened in the meeting yesterday, with Dad and my corporate att'y, re-record the telephone's updated answering machine message for Fall Hours and the 35% Off Sale, change the sign and Website hours, make some bank deposits so we could make payroll tomorrow, check the A/R Accounts, work on a final small Landscape Estimate revision, and sit down with Steffi & Kim to put a weekly watering schedule together, to keep the plants alive during September. Whether or not we stay open during October is unknown; it all depends upon how September sales go.
All that done, I met with a customer and finalized her small landscape job revisions and hardscape job HICPA Contract – probably our last – and closed at 2:45pm. I was glad the week was coming to a close and would have Sunday and Monday off, to relax at "The Cabin", before the rigors of the Fall Sale, Corporate and Garden Center dissolution, occurred. After finishing-up this week's entry, I started on another entry. I also decided to take a Rx 12.5mg Ambien® CR™, to help me sleep. I was tired from last night's lack of quality sleep and the day's depressing activity. Much, much more would be coming my way, all too soon.
The End Of My Era
My Garden Center & Nursery is no more. It's over. Done. Finis. Kaput. Gone.
BS HEADLINE: "WASHINGTON, DC (AP) – "Consumers rebounded in July to boost spending by the most (0.8% is NOTHING!) in five months. The 'increase' is likely to ease fears (MORE BULLSHIT!) that the U.S. economy is on the verge of another recession." TOTAL BULLSHIT! We're in a REAL DEPRESSION, NOT A RECESSION, AP morons! Get it right, for once in your pathetic, lying lives, and forget the damned LIES the socialist White House scumbags tell you, idiots! I'm a small businessman – or was – and I know exactly what's going on here. Come talk to me and I'll set you straight! I dare you, AP assholes!
I have a Wednesday 3pm appointment with my corporate/personal attorney in York, to discuss closing-down and liquidation of my 21+ year-old business. It's gotten so bad that nothing is coming into the shop, and I am now personally broke and can't put any more savings into the business to meet payroll, taxes, insurance, vendors' bills, utilities or any further expenses etc, so I am going to have to declare that I'm "closed and out-of-business". "Lord, Grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the Courage to change the things I can; and the Wisdom to know the difference." I've had the $5-7,000,000 business up-for-sale for $1,500,000 for the past 6-mos, and only a "few minor nibbles"; I reduced the price this Tuesday (8/30/11) morning to $1,000,000 and dropped the "confidentiality agreement" – meaning that realtors can now use "John Shelley's Garden Center & Nursery For Sale" instead of just "nursery for sale" in their advertising – in the hopes that it would sell more quickly. But I doubt it. It's a "discretionary spending industry business", and no one is spending anything on plant material or landscaping. I had 2 cancellations for over $42,000 in lscp jobs, just this morning alone, wanting to "put everything off until next Spring". Well, there won't be a "next Spring", now. It's over after 21+ years. Good night, everyone. This "Around The Garden Center" section and my Corporate Website will cease to exist, in the coming weeks. I don't even know whether I'll continue "John's Journal" anymore, either. That may be gone, too. Time will tell, after my Wednesday meeting with my corporate/personal attorney.
It took a while for the full effect to finally "hit me", but when it did, I became so angry, depressed and morose that I wanted to stop at the nearest PA State Liquor Store, and get a "bottle of something 150 proof", just chug it and pass-out for a day or so. But I didn't. That would be a stupid thing to do, at this point-in-time. It would solve nothing and only add to my already growing list of problems. I blame the addicted-to-spending assholes in DC for the ruination If you live long enough, you have regrets, and the ones that "nag" at you the most, are the ones where you knew you had a choice. The very same ones where you knew you could have stopped yourself; the very same ones where you looked into a mirror, and everything good inside yourself said, "Don't do this". It all hit me like a ton of bricks, but I have to close-it-all-down, after 21+ years. of this country as a Constitutional Republic, "Governed of The People, By The People and For The People". The RINO-spendthrift GWB and deviant, perverted, racist internal enemy ∅bummer socialists, have won another round by helping to tax-me-and-my-customers-to-death, over these past 5-6 years. So many lives and businesses have been ruined and destroyed; I'm just another one in the long, long line of them. And pitifully, there will be many, many more casualties, before it's all-said-and-done, if ever. I'll bet the very few dollars I have left on that fact.
Where the hell was moron-clown, shit-for-brains, idiot-Gov Rick Perry (RINO-TX)'s "theory/philosophy" a few years ago, when I could have really used it to save my business? Oh, I forgot: he was a rabid, liberal-demokkkRAT back then in 1988, running AlGoreBore's presidential campaign. Now, he's a so-called "Conservative"? BULL-F•CKING-SHIT! He's a RINO, piece-of-lowlife-garbage! Like GWB was.
If the corrupt, criminal, f•cked-up US Government would just leave the private sector alone, and quit trying to regulate it and everyone's life, I'd still be in business, and so would the hundreds and maybe thousands of other businesses who've "gone under", over the past 2-3 years. Any and all US Government involvement is the death knell of any successful business and their customers, taxing and regulating us all, to death. Especially small businesses, which create 70% of America's jobs.
I never had a "course in Capitalism 101", in any school I ever attended. My work ethic was instilled into me by my wonderful and loving Parents, and I gave 101% to every job I ever had. I gave way far more *blood, sweat & tears* than that, to John Shelley's Garden Center & Nursery, Inc., when I came-up with the idea in 1988, while working in the NYC "Advertising Jungle", called "Madison Avenue", from the early 70s to the late 80s. My early work ethic was inculcated and earned me awards, promotions and huge salaries in that crazy world of advertising. And I thought it would be enough to get me through my own business. Well, it did for 21+ years, but there's no way I could fight the DC politicians' huge tax increases/rules/regs etc, and expect to win without bending-over and grabbing my ankles. My integrity, morals and mores strictly prohibit that kind of behavior. No way; I automatically lost. It wasn't even close.
And America loses now too, as another small business, which provides 70% of the jobs in this country, withers and folds-up like a flower in a drought. John Shelley's Garden Center & Nursery v4.0 will also soon disappear from the Net, after I archive and preserve it electronically, as I did with the first 3 versions of it, before putting-up v4.0, in January 2011.
It's been a long and great ride, and I truly wish it could have gone on even longer. I shall miss all of my many thousands of wonderful Customers – many who've become good and close Friends – whom I've met and worked for over the 21+ years, along the way. I miss you all so much, already.
∅bummer&Co Are The Destroyers of America
That is the gross understatement of the year, possibly the decade, if there ever was one. ∅bummer (RACIST-IL) is a racist, subhuman pig-fucking muslim infiltrator bent on destroying the US from within, with sharia-pigshit law, a hate-America, hate-Whitey, subversive Leninist, dirtbag, lowlife half-breed, a Chicago nigger ghetto punk, union-thug puppet, commie-liberal-progressive-demokkkRAT, pathological liar, an inept hack, an incompetent amateur, a self-effacing poseur, and worst-of-all possibilities for America, POTUS.
That sambo and his shit-for-brains, totally-incompetent, white-trash asshole VP, Joey "Hair Plugs" Biden (ASSHOLE-DE) wield and co-control such great power in the corrupt US Government – along with Rep Nancy "Stretch" Pelosi (BOTOX-CA) and Sen "Dingy Harry" Reid (CROOK-NV) – is totally unthinkable to our failing Constitutional Republic, once the envy of every nation on the face of this planet. Now, we're becoming a "Turd-World Nation", very quickly, under their combined, corrupt, criminal "leadership".
Shit-for-brains ∅bummer's (LIAR-IL) "Green Industry" Scam is failing faster than any computer
A new ∅bummer (SCUM-IL) 1% tax on all bank transactions – HR 4646 – coming right after the November 2012 General Elections? Watch for it, "under the radar". Oh, never mind; the bill is now DOA.
FOX News: "Labor Secretary Hilda Solis (TRAITOR-CA) has overseen a number of signed agreements between U.S. agencies and foreign officials pledging to give migrant (criminal, illegal alien) workers the full protections of U.S. workplace laws – regardless of their legal status – and she says her department will uphold them. Solis says foreign workers need to know their rights, so that they can lodge complaints without fear that they will be fired or deported. She believes the signed agreements with countries like El Salvador and Mexico will serve to 'remove those fears'." IMO, the filthy bitch is a traitor and should be summarily tried and executed.
muslim "Heritage" In America?
Ol' pigshit-for-no-brains, Barack Hussein ∅bummer, during his Cairo speech, said: "I know, too, that islam has always been a part of America's story." Say what, ∅bummer?
First, let's get this straight: islam is NOT A RELIGION; IT IS A POLITICAL SYSTEM OF TOTAL AND ABSOLUTE CONTROL over its mindless adherents, dumbass sambo boy.
Really? Were those muslims that were in America when the Pilgrims first landed? Funny, I thought they were Native American Indians. Were those muslims that celebrated the first Thanksgiving Day? Sorry again, those were Pilgrims and Native American Indians. Idiot sambo.
Can you show me one muslim signature on the United States Constitution? Declaration of Independence? Bill of Rights? Didn't think so, ∅bummer sambo-boy. There were 55 writers of the US Constitution and they consisted of: 26 Episcopalian Christians, 11 Presbyterian Christians, 7 Congregationalist Christians, 2 Lutheran Christians, 2 Dutch Reformed Christians, 2 Methodist Christians, 2 Quaker Christians, 2 Roman Catholics Christians and 1 Deist Christian. No stinking, filthy, pigshit-sipping islamic/muslim garbage were ever involved, you dumb fucking, moronic asshole!
I piss on the unholy koran!
Did muslims fight for this country's freedom from England? Nope; not a single one. Stupid sambo scumbag.
islam is a political system, with its own 6th century barbaric laws, controlling every aspect of a mindless muslim follower's pathetic life – from when to eat and drink, when to shit, what hand to use to wipe their asses, when to fart, when to rape, when to kill their own mindless adherents and Civilized Western Infidels, how to hate and murder, how to dress like a woman, how to fight like a girl, how many pre-teen boys to bugger, how many times to pray to the asshole moon-god allah and pigshit child molester mo-ham-head, – that all 1.2 billion of them richly-deserve *complete and total eradication from this earth*, IMO.Did muslims fight during the Civil War to free the slaves in America? No, they did not. In fact, muslims to this day are still the largest traffickers in human slavery. Your own half-breed, half-brother, a devout muslim piece-of-pigshit, still advocates slavery himself, even though muslims of Arabic descent refer to "black muslims" as "pug nosed slaves". Says a lot of what the muslim world really thinks of your family's "rich islamic heritage," doesn't it ∅bummer-boy?
Oh, I'm sorry, ∅bummer-boy: I forgot to mention more about the murderous, subhuman islamic/muslim shitfilth Barbary Pirate punks. They were and still are, all murderous muslim garbage, richly-deserving of summary death. ∅bummer, your "muslim heritage" is piracy and slavery, plain and simple, going back many hundreds of years and continuing unabated today. All muslim trash/filth/scumbags are still the biggest purveyors of slavery in the world today. Fact: slavery came from islam for over 14 centuries, and still does. Surprised at that, ∅bummer-boy? You shouldn't be, as you've known it for the past 30-40+ years, pigshit head.
Where were muslims during the Civil Rights Era of this country? Not present, anywhere. There are no pictures or media accounts of muslims walking side-by-side with Martin Luther King Jr, or helping to advance the cause of Civil Rights. They were "slaving" in Africa and making millions on its filthy business. Yet, you continue to blame The White Man for it, you dumb, ignorant asshole! Or maybe you aren't so dumb and ignorant, after all? You knew then, and still know The Truth About Slavery.
Where were muslims during this country's Woman's Suffrage era? Again, not present. In fact, devout and subhuman muslim filth demand that women are subservient to men in the perverted islamic culture. So much so, that often they are beaten for not wearing the 'hajib' or 'burka', or for talking to a man who is not a direct family member or their husband. Yep, the muslims are all for women's rights, aren't they, ∅bummer-boy?
Where were stinking muslims during World War II? They were aligned directly with Adolf Hitler, and the Nazis. The murderous, subhuman muslim pig-fucker grand mufti himself, met with Adolf Hitler, reviewed the troops and accepted monetary and military support from the Nazis in killing thousands of innocent Jews.
Hey, dumbass ∅bummer-boy, where were muslims on September 11th, 2001? If they weren't flying planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon or a field in Pennsylvania killing nearly 3,000 people on our own soil, they were rejoicing in the Middle East. No one can dispute the pictures shown from all parts of the stinking shithole muslim world celebrating the 9-11 slaughter-attacks on CNN, Fox News, PMS-NBC and other cable news networks that day. Strangely, the very "moderate" muslims whose asses you bent-over backwards to kiss in Cairo, Egypt on June 4th, were stone cold silent, post 9-11. To many Americans, their silence has meant approval for the acts of that day. Any comment on that fact, ∅bummer-boy?
And THAT, ∅bummer, is just some of the "rich heritage" which lowlife, subhuman, dirtbag, murderous, pig-fucking muslim filth and garbage have here in America, you sambo, shit-for-brains asshole.
I shit on the unholy koran!
And now we can add November 5th, 2009: the slaughter of 13 American dead American Soldiers and wounding of 29 other American Soldiers at Fort Hood, by a muslim major who is a doctor and a psychiatrist, and who was supposed to be counseling soldiers returning from battle in Iraq and Afghanistan. He should be summarily tried, head-shot and buried face-down in liquid pigshit, with his asshole facing allah-the-pig.
The "heritage" of any and all subhuman muslim slime, garbage and scum in America is that of wanton destruction, murder and death. From 9-11 to so-called "honor killings", to massacres on US Army Bases and the many plots to blow-up people, places and things, the subhuman muslim filth are indeed, "The Enemy Within Our Gates".
The real enemy is islam, not just "radicalized muslims", Rep Peter King (R-NY). Wake-up America and smell the islamic stench surrounding us all!
Slaughtering people for burning a piece-of-pigshit book, the koran – I wipe a dead pig's ass with it – is your "heritage", you racist, dumbfucking, incompetent, narcissistic, petulant-boy, hate-America, piece-of-pigshit, stinking ∅bummer asshole.
Riots, death, destruction, from the pigshit-eating muslim filth.
I wipe a dead, rotting pig's asshole with the unholy koran and all of the subhuman muslim garbage called islam.Memo to Mr. ∅bummer: "allahu akbar!" is a cowardly war cry, really meaning, "I have to piss on allah-the-asshole", you racist, dumbfucking, hate-America, piece-of-pigshit, Kenyan asshole.
Your subhuman muslim friends in Af-crap-istan sure love you, ∅bummer!
That too, ∅bummer-boy is the "muslim heritage" in America. All muslims and everything islamic should be totally-outlawed in America, and their very existence should be made punishable by summary execution and face-down burial in liquid pigshit, IMO.
Obama, your buddy Osama is DEAD, you cowardly, lying islamic muslim pigshit filth scumbag! Lonely now, are you muslim, ∅bummer-boy asshole garbage?
Stupid, subhuman, lowlife dirtbag, pig-fucking muslim garbage: islam is NOT a race, you dumbass, fucking butt-lickers! islam is pig-and-goatshit, mixed in a dirty toilet bowl with your koran – I shit on it! – and eaten with your left hand, islamic subhumans! Suck your left thumb, ∅bummer-boy, camel-fucking asshole muslim garbage.
Three things you did not know about the subhuman filth, called islam. Watch it!
Any questions, you half-breed, sambo, lowlife scumbag, stinking ∅bummer-boy asshole? Thought not, you two-bit punk.
Things Which Make Your Head Explode
Reason #1 why NO FOOD OR OTHER PRODUCT IMPORTS OF ANY KIND should be allowed from Asia or the Middle East or any Turd-World Country, except from Israel and those should be closely-inspected, too. America is being ruined by disease and insects from the stinking, filthy Turd-World! If I had my way, we'd NUKE THEM ALL clean of all people/plants/animals, and start over repopulating and reforesting every one of those subhuman shitholes!
Shit-hole Mexican president Felipe Calderon yesterday charged that the US government, along with American drug consumers and gun dealers, was partly responsible for the deaths of 52 people killed in an arson attack at a casino in Monterey. "The economic power and firepower of the criminal organizations operating in Mexico and Latin America come from this endless demand for drugs in the United States," Calderon said. "We are (NOT) neighbors, we are (NOT) allies, we are (NOT) friends, but also, you are (NOT) responsible. That is my message." Hey, FUCK YOU, CALDERON PIECE-OF-WETBACK-SHIT! YOU are responsible for what happens in your Turd-World, hell-hole country, dumb asshole! You lost control years ago, scumbag! Mexico is America's *enemy*! CLOSE THE FUCKING BORDERS, FOREVER! DEPORT THE ILLEGAL SCUM, CRIMINAL AND FILTH, DAMMIT!
Does anyone have any duct tape for helping to keep my head from exploding from the following OUTRIGHT LIES from the muslim trash, Andre Carson?
Yeah, Rep (Amos & Andy) Andre "Congressional Black Caucus Racist" Carson-of-a-bitch (RACIST-IN), the second piece-of-shit-subhuman muslim to ever corrupt the criminal US Congress, said – "'...love to see us as second-class citizens' and 'some of them in Congress right now of this Tea Party Movement would love to see you and me hanging on a tree.'" – you useless, racist, sambo, idiot pig-f•cker, muslim slimeball punk! Yes, I'd love to see your lying nigga ass *nailed to a tree*, subhuman muslim filth! How does Indiana elect and keep re-electing a racist, islamic piece-of-pigshit-slurper, like him?
Buh-bye, ∅bummer's Illinois! And good riddance, liberal-progressive-commie-Leninist assholes. Rot in Hell, from whence you came!
Shit-for-brains Gov Rick Perry (RINO-TX), is an outright lying, alcoholic, loud-mouthed, do-nothing, illegal-alien-loving, piece-of-dogshit, liberal-progressive-demokkkRAT in GOPer garb, asswipe RINO scumbag! F•ck him and his liberal politics! I'd stay home and not vote rather than vote for him in 2012. Count on it.
Here's what to do when confronted by murderous, subhuman "flash mob" punks: KILL THEM!
Some People Just Need Killing
It's not my intention to be the judge here — that's God's "job" — but rather to "hasten the meeting" so that He can send the following subhuman filth to the "Fires of Hell", "River or Lake of Sulphur", or whatever He deems appropriate. I'd gladly/happily volunteer, at no cost to any of my Hard-Working, Fellow US Taxpayers, to gladly/gleefully/happily headshoot these murderous, lowlife dirtbags of all stripes — their skin-color doesn't matter to me, at all — and rid American Society's innocents (especially our precious children and the frail, defenseless elderly) of them, once-and-for-all. And yes, I'd rather see one innocent man convicted and executed, than 10 murderers/robbers/child rapists-murderers freed, to rob, rape and murder again. Hey; call me an "Old Fashioned Conservative"! Too harsh? Nah. Just & RIGHT!
Yes, I agree with the premise of this article, that "the death penalty is a Noahic Covenant with God, in a post-flood world", and America should apply it everyday to those deserving death for their crimes against society.Society's innocents — our precious, defenseless children and the frail, defenseless elderly — must be protected from predators, murderers, rapists, robbers and other subhuman filth, at all times and at any cost.
Fuck the "forced medication" shit; let the subhuman piece-of-murderous-shit Loughner, DIE! He should rot in Hell, where he belongs!
Illegal alien, subhuman wetback criminal murderer, Nicolas D. Guaman, 34, of Milford (MA), needs KILLING for murdering a 23-year-old Massachusetts man in an intentional hit-and-run! KILL HIM!
Duly charge, try, convict, sentence-to-death, and stand Deputy Assistant US Attorney General William Orrick against a wall and execute him, for advocating criminal, illegal immigration, in Alabama. He's treasonous, hate-America liberal dogshit filth, and should rot in Hell, IMO.
A controversial new porn site by the world’s lowlife, animal-murdering rights group could actually feed animal cruelty fetishes, according to one counselor specializing in recovery from porn addiction. Users of PETA’s new site, to be launched this year, will first be presented with pornographic galleries and videos, but shortly after they will be exposed to PETA’s graphic hidden camera investigations of animal mistreatment. Anyone and everyone associated, past and present with PETA, should be stood against a wall and shot, IMO.
A 7-month-old baby boy who was tossed from the fourth floor of a hospital parking structure died Wednesday, the same day his mother made an initial court appearance on charges of attempted murder and felony child abuse, a police spokesman said. The child died Wednesday morning at UC Irvine Medical Center and charges against the mother, Sonia Hermosillo, 31, will be upgraded to murder, said Sgt Dan Adams, spokesman for the Orange Police Department. KILL the criminal, murderous illegal immigrant bitch-filth! No trial; KILL HER! I volunteer to put a .45cal through the bitch's murderous head, at NO CHARGE to CA Taxpayers!
Child molesters, such as Delaware "pediatrician-pedophile", Earl Bradley, 58, should be SUMMARILY KILLED, and never, never get life in prison, unless they all get "Dahmerized" (killed) by the GP (general population). DIE and rot in Hell, Bradley, you piece-of-subhuman-shit!
Shit-for-brains, disgraced, liar, US Sen John "No Brains" McCain (TRAITOR-AZ) is a treasonous liar and should be duly-charged, tried, convicted, sentenced and stood against a wall and executed – I spit on him and his treasonous service in VietNam! – McCain's stinking, lying dogshit!
Shoot and kill these murderous, subhuman "black yutes"!
Kill these SDS filth.
Diones Graciano-Navarro needs summary killing, IMO.
