Obama now Worried about Medical Marijuana

President Obama told Federal agents to ignore the Federal laws regarding Marijuana when he first was elected and now it is reported in Reason Magazine that he has now reversed himself and has directed Federal Agents to come down hard on illicit marijuana operations even in the states that have legalized medical marijuana operations. Why the change of heart? Read the full story at Reason Magazine

Kind of reminds me of the City Councils recent vote banning driving while under the influence of Cell Phones and then the second guessing just a few days later.

Must be an election year

New Blood for Havre City Council

Good Bye Cowboy Kaul

Democrat Bonnie Parenteau is the lone candidate for Ward one. Republican Brian Barrows is the lone candidate for Ward 2 and incumbent Republican Andrew Brekke didn’t receive a challenge and will retain his seat. The only contested race is in Ward 3 where newcomer Republican Rick Dow will face incumbent Democrat Bob Kaul. At least we have a couple of new faces that should improve the make-up of the council and we also have the opportunity to get shed of “The Cowboy pretender and Rat safety officer’ Bob Kaul

The current council has set the bar pretty low so any change will be an improvement. Interestingly when Dow slam dunks Kaul the council will have 4 republicans in the city council office for the first time in many decades.

City Council: Bad Water? Buy Rust Colored Linen Northern Broadcasting System, Inc.

City Council: Bad Water? Buy Rust Colored Linen Northern Broadcasting System, Inc.

Yes Indeed Our Havre Chowder Heads make state wide news

I do love the Flint Report

Havre needs some Candidates for the City Council positions

If you have a burning desire to serve on Havre’s City Council the filing deadline is Thursday June 30^th at 5pm.  Three people have filed thus far.  Democrat Bonnie Parenteau has filed for the Ward 1 seat, Republican Brian Barrows has filed for Ward 2 and Incumbent Republican Andrew Brekke has filed for re-election in Ward 4.  Ward 3 is still awaiting a candidate.  So far there are no contested races

Another Chapter in the Dirty Water Saga

Although everyone at city hall has been playing stupid  (ok … maybe not entirely playing)  about the dirty water problem the Corrector has discovered that City Water officials have known the cause of the problem for some time now. The flooding has increased turbidity and bacteria’s in the raw water which has raised the need to increase the chlorine and other chemical content of our water to insure that it is safe. The increased chlorine levels attract rust from the water pipes causing the brown rusting water which is staining our laundry. To cure this problem yet another chemical has to be added to the water treatment process to neutralize the effects of the chlorine. Apparently this chemical is expensive and the City staff just plain will not do it because of the added cost and chose instead to play stupid and tell us they are working on a solution which buys them some time for nature to take its course and for the water to clear up a bit.

While the Corrector came down harshly on Councilman Cue Ball for his ignorant comment about rust colored towels we have also learned that the council is being kept in the dark about the real cause of this problem. Councilman Veis deserved a slam for the ignorant comment he made but the truth is that none of the council people have a clue as to what is happening. (particularly the senile ones) Apparently the City Department heads are much like the school administration and actually hide facts from the council who are elected to represent us the taxpayers.

So to make a long story short – It’s all about the money. It costs bucks to treat the water correctly and we are told the City Water department is losing money. The water enterprise fund depends on summer at least being moderately hot and dry so residents have to purchase vast amounts of water to keep their lawns green. Most people in Havre haven’t even watered their landscaping once this year causing the water department budget to be in arrears. You can count on the council voting to raise your water rates to make up for this deficit in their budget so get ready to storm City Hall if you have any objections.

In addition the Great Northern Inn manager and others with damaged wash have picked up claim forms at City Hall for damage caused by the unclean water. We wonder how high the damage claims will reach?  Head on down and file your claim!

Wouldn’t it have been cheaper to just properly treat the water in the first place and avoid all this bad press and damage claims?

Havre Council's Weekly Idiocy

Spineless

Havre’s hopeless spineless City Council never ceases to amaze me. The Corrector reported back on June 7th that the Havre City Council had passed a cell phone ban on a 5-3 vote. Now apparently a few people disenchanted about this rash decision have actually called their council representatives to express their dismay with this lunacy and lo and behold Councilwoman Pam Hillary is now going to lead a charge by making a motion to repeal this new law even before it takes effect.

Hillary was quoted in the Havre Daily "News" as saying; “Law is law. It’s made by men, and men make mistakes.”

The only mistake the people of Havre made sweetie was voting this lot of bunglers onto the council in the first place. The council has deliberated dozens of controversial topics these past two years and yet has not followed through with ONE definitive decision. They pass and repeal, they attack and then slink off into the bushes or they simply do nothing for fear of offending someone. There are currently 8 council people representing 4 wards lead by Mayor Dim. One person from each ward is up for election this year and the filing deadline is June 30th.

I am willing to vote for that "Hope and Change" this time around

Another Million Down the Drain

Its official


Taxpayers will be left holding the bag for close to a million dollars for the Havre High Schools little roof mishap this past winter. The roof failed because the original contractor failed to follow the architect’s plans yet there is no recourse for the school system because too much time has passed. I don’t think this determination surprises anyone in Havre but there is plenty of blame to pass around. An architect that didn’t design a roof to withstand Havre snow loads, a contractor that didn’t follow the plan, a school board that didn’t hire a competent person to maintain the integrity of the project and a local building inspector that failed to inspect the job all share in the blame in this fiasco. Now that the school board has given the go-ahead to spend another mere one million dollars to correct these problems what safeguards are in place to assure the taxpayers this doesn’t happen again?

Can this statement reported by the Havre Daily “News” actually be true?

Havre’s building inspector, then and now, Dave Peterson, who is now director of Public Works, said that the city takes a look at the specifications and plans submitted and then occasionally takes a look at the work being done. Sometimes contractors call the city before pouring concrete or taking some other major step in the process.

Peterson went on to say the City building inspector would be up there “occasionally” but they would be again relying on the school's engineer to keep an eye on things.

What the ??????? Have we learned nothing from our past mistakes? Here a million, there a million, everywhere a million million thanks to the never ending source of ready cash from the district taxpayers

2nd Grade Bike Rack: Was That A Camelina Biodiesel Plant That Just Flew By?

2nd Grade Bike Rack: Was That A Camelina Biodiesel Plant That Just Flew By?

Fabulous well reasoned post over at the 2nd Grade Bike Rack Be sure and take a look via the link in the title

The Corrector would like to add a few photos of the “progress” at the alleged City- County Industrial Park spoke of in the 2nd Grade Bike Rack blog (ER… make that county industrial park because the city and county can’t work anything together) Funny thing is the rail line still looks deserted and the track is presently storing out of service rail cars. Timmie Leeds at the HDN says that this plant will be absolutely underway by this fall with NMC’s Chancellor Trockie leading the pack (hey wait a minute ……. Didn’t the university system just Can him for being too forward thinking?)

Never the less …….. at least they got a sign erected, painted a shovel gold and had a big press release and even had a ground breaking a couple of years ago for the last dream (ethanol wasn’t it then?)



Stimulated



A few yards of dirt scraped off

Slough by the unused railroad track

Havre Council says Drink the Black Water – It is Safe

Filthy slimy repulsive putrid sludge
That pretty much sums up what has been coming out of our multi-million dollar water treatment plant the past couple of months. Pour yourself a glass of water and it even looks brown with some days being worse than others. The city mucky-mucks when fielding complaints of course say that no matter how it looks it is indeed safe to drink. I have been drinking only Culligan water and if I step out to eat I order tea or coffee because the appearance is about the same as this “clean” water. Why did we spend millions on the super-duper water treatment plant if no one knows how to treat the water?

Last night’s Havre Daily “News” lead story was about Havre’s Great Northern Inn’s problems with the water staining their linens. Apparently they took a complaint to the Havre City Council and you can only imagine the fine reception they received there. The Corrector’s best council buddy Democrat Gerry Vies said the problem could be easily remedied by the Great Northern Inn just buying new rust colored towels and sheets. The senile Republican councilman Bob Kaftan thought maybe a cheaper solution for the motel would be to just erect some signs telling their guests that the towels had really been washed and were actually clean but just merely stained from a problem with the water. It is apparent that stupid statements come from both parties and the Havre Council is non-partisan in their problem solving skills.

Interestingly it appears that now that the paper did an article on this problem the city is willing to maybe, just maybe take a look at having the water analyzed to see what treatment chemicals could be used to correct this problem. Why didn’t the little thought of changing treatment procedures occur to anyone months ago?

I hate to admit it but the first smart thing I have seen out of councilwoman Pam Hillary was printed in her letter to the editor in last night’s paper. She made an impassioned plea for some new folks to run for council. The filing deadline is June 30th

Senator “No Ear Marks Ever” Tester is now voting with the Republicans?

Finally our fearless leaders in Washington have stumbled onto the fact that subsidizing ethanol production is bad for the consumer. Ethanol decreases gas mileage, raises the prices of cereal grains which in turn raise the prices for consumers at the grocery store, drastically raises the price of corn which has skyrocketed the price of beef at the consumer level and hasn’t accomplished one dang thing in the fight on Al Gore’s fictitious global warming.

The US Senate voted 73-27 to immediately end what has come to be known as the blender’s tax credit which has subsidized ethanol production to the tune of 45 cents per gallon. Also the 54 cent per gallon import tariff was also eliminated. A House vote of 283-128 also ended the subsidy for installing ethanol fuel blending equipment.

Montana congressman Denny Rehberg voted yes to putting a stop to this waste of money while Senator Max Baucus followed the party line and voted no to what is best for us peasant consumers. Not surprisingly Democrat “No Ear Marks Ever” Tester, who for the past few months has been voting the Republican line, voted to end ethanol subsidies.

When watching Tester it sure is easy to figure out he is up for re-election. I guess he thinks we will forget all his liberal votes that have cost us billions of dollars like the stimulus and ObamaCare.  Not to mention his love fest with Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, President Obama or his No Ear Marks Ever campaign promise

Thanks to the Northern Ag Network for pointing out this story and be sure and take a look at how everyone voted over at the Washington Post

Brother: Can you spare a Trillion?

Montana ranked 29th in "Freedom"

How “Free” are we really in Montana? We like to think that as native Montanans we are an independent lot that goes about our own business and haven’t let anyone erode our “rights” but is that really the case? We like to cite those pesky out-of-staters that have moved into the western portion of our state that love to regulate everything and everyone but are they really the problem?

The Mercatus Center at George Mason University has just released a study that ranks all 50 states according to the freedoms enjoyed by their citizens using what they call the “State Freedom Calculator”. Surprisingly Montana is ranked a dismal 29th.  Read the study and Montana's rank here

HHS Awards Roof Contract

I see in tonight’s local “News” paper that the school board has approved Havre High School roof repairs to the tune of $974,330. Approximately $358,000 of this amount is to rectify crappy workmanship from the original contract. Low bidder Talcott Construction surprisingly came in nearly a quarter of a million dollars under the prices offered by the next bidders.

Either some contractors have an obscene profit margin or Mr. Talcott has one darn efficient operation. I wonder if anyone is going to bother to oversee this project and make a few inspections to avoid another calamity or if the taxpayers are going to be on their own again like last time?

Any comments?

Havre Daily “News” story here

Lock Boxes on all businesses?

We might be all complaining about the heavy handed Gestapo tactics of our local city hall when they recently slapped the mandatory cell phone ban upon us but it could get worse. Here is an interesting report from the city council over at Cedar Falls Iowa. The city council recently passed what they are calling an “amendment” to the Chapter 11 Fire Prevention and Protection Code. What this new amendment does is to allow the city bureaucrats to hold the keys to privately owned businesses, apartments and some rental property in the name of “for the good of the people.” The rationale behind this thinking is that if per chance one of these properties should catch on fire the fire department would have quicker access to the property to put the fire out – hence it would be “for the good of the people”

Not only is the City of Cedar Falls requiring business owners to provide a key to their private property to the city but they are also demanding that the private property owner install a lock box for these keys (at their own expense of course) on their building which the fire department could access with their master key.

WOW – I wonder how long it will take for the criminal element in Cedar Falls to obtain one of those lock box keys? Better call your local Havre City Councilman – I bet they haven’t thought of this yet.

Here is the link to the story in the Cedar Falls Courier

Are you better off now then you were two years ago?

I have been planning a little vacation and I got to reminiscing about the high gas prices we supposedly had under the President Bush administration. When President Obama was elected on November 4, 2008 gas prices were around $2.00 per gallon. I just filled up tonight and I paid $3.74. In November of 2008 unemployment was hitting a high of 6% which we considered terrible at the time now after a couple years under “Savior” Obama we just hit 9.6% unemployment. What happened?

A recent report by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform reports that President Obama’s administration is purposely driving up energy costs to make “green” technology more cost effective when compared to fossil fuels. Read the findings over at the National Review Online

A special thanks to President Obama and Senator Tester for allowing me to still be able to afford a trip to Chinook for my vacation this year

Swipe fees and "No Earmarks Ever" Tester

Poor old “No Earmarks Ever” Tester is really getting some bad press because of his stance on the “swipe” fees. While Tester is still protecting the financial interests of his Mega-Bank friends and he was happy to accept their substantial donations to his campaign he is now getting knocked about as a “turn-coat” amongst Montana consumers.

As Tester’s bill to overcharge consumers and protect the big bank interests move forward I find it interesting that his bestest buddy Harry Reid has now also bailed on poor Jon Boy. Isn’t Harry the guy that Tester repeatedly went to Nevada to campaign for?

You just never really know who your friends really are do you Jon?

Read a great story on the Tester / swipe fee dilemma over at the Flint Report here

Havre Passes Cell Phone Ban

Sad News from the Brown Shirt League down at Havre’s City Hall.


Our wonderful leaders approved the cell phone ban last night on a 5-3 vote. This new ordinance is to take effect on October 1st and then the police will be pulling you over and ticketing your criminal hide if they even spot you making like you were talking on the cell phone and driving. The best part of this new cell phone ordinance is that it EXEMPTS City Police, Firemen and certain other city employee’s. I guess they are cell phone safety trained and just plain smarter than the rest of us. Considering that the City taxpayers are already paying for a cell phone for each department head I wonder if the City will now be saving us a few bucks and taking those unsafe phones away from those employees.

To give credit where credit is due - Council people Janet Tretheway, Gerry Veis and Andrew Brekke voted No to this absurd ordinance. Kudos to those three for having actually put some thought into the Pandora’s Box this little snafu will be opening up. Also don’t forget former Havre Daily News publisher Val Murri who ceaselessly hounded the council until this was passed. Funny thing is he doesn’t seem to think that driving while holding his little poodle on his lap is at all dangerous – just cell phone use.

Deadline for Filing for a position on City Council is June 30th with 4 positions currently up for grabs

City Council Holds Hearing to Ban Cell Phones Tonight

Banning cell phone use while driving is on our brown shirt socialist governments “we can save everybody” City Council’s agenda tonight at 7 pm.    If you have an opinion about making yet another “crime” a primary offence while driving show up to voice your opinion.  More details here

Congressman On Recent Flight: TSA Patted Down Child, Little Old Lady; Ignored Man In Arab Garb

Congressman On Recent Flight: TSA Patted Down Child, Little Old Lady; Ignored Man In Arab Garb

Now this takes the cake.  Political "correctness" at it's finest

Wise use of your Tax Dollars by the National Science Foundation

Senator Tom Coburn just released a report on the National Science Foundation (NFS). The president’s budget proposes raising funding for the NSF by over a billion dollars. What do they do? This excerpt is from Colburn’s report

We are all concerned about America falling behind the rest of the world in math and science. As a result, numerous departments and agencies throughout the federal government spend tens of billions of dollars every year to support these fields. At least 15 federal departments, 72 sub-agencies, and 12 independent agencies currently fund research and development. With a $6.9 billion annual budget, the National Science Foundation (NSF) is our nation’s premier broad-based scientific research agency. NSF is the major source of federal backing in mathematics and computer sciences and spends billions more in important fields such as engineering, biology, physics, and technology.

This all sounds great and I think everyone agrees that we seem to lagging behind in developing new ideas but what do they really spend this money on? According to this report by Senator Colburn the “studies” financed with your tax dollars include such worthy topics as;
• A $315,000 study to determine if playing Farmville on Facebook helps adults develop and maintain relationships
• Over one million dollars spent to analyze how quickly parents respond to changes in trendy baby names
• Expended $1.5 million to create a robot that can fold clothes
• Wasted over $581,000 to study whether online dating sites are racist
• Should you buy sporting tickets in advance or wait until the last minute? A $259,216 grant analyzes this dilemma for you
• Here is my personal favorite. The NFS spent $50,000 of your tax money composing the following rap lyrics. This “song” gets me that warm and fuzzy feeling.

The lyrics printed in full below

Working in the lab is a pretty sweet gig / The people are smart and the toys are really big / But we can't be chill when our homies are ill / So we write a new proposal to create another pill / If you have malaria we wanna take care o' ya / And if we succeed then no one has to bury ya / And so we beg for grants, even though it's so demeaning / 'Cause you need a good stash for a high-throughput screening

Chorus: We need money for drugs / We ain't no thugs / But it takes more funds / To kill more bugs (parasites yo!) We start with expression of recombinant protein / A soluble product is a reason for emoting / We quantify its function and look for inhibitors / And find the delimiters of active-site perimeter When the SAR is leaving us baffled / We call in the chemists to create a new scaffold / It's not like making meth—it's really hard to do it / But we've got to break through to a brand-new therapeutic Chorus (repeat and fade)

I can’t take anymore. Read the full report yourself here
H/T to America's number 1 taxpayer watchdog The Swine Line