The way it is supposed to work is the customers get something of value ( the product or service) and the company gets money that helps them stay in business, keep people employed and reward the owner and employees for taking a risk and servicing a niche.

The way it is NOT supposed to work is;

 1.) for a small company to enter into a market on a shoestring budget …

2.) work for years in a basement …

3.) end up employing 7 people (pretty good accomplishment in this economy since Obama’s so-called “stimulus” isn’t producing many jobs) …

4.) provide a product that make people happy

5.) and then have some billion dollar company ( that does not make the same product) come in to try to get them to cease and desist their operations because at some point in time that Billion dollar company may want to delve into the same niche.

 You, my dear reader may be wondering what the hell I’m talking about. 

I’m talking about a small start-up company in Vermont called Rock Art Brewery. This company has defied the odds over the last few years and picked up market share with its beer that it calls the Vermonster. Even better, the beer has sold so well that the company has increased the number of people it employs.

So in walks Monster Energy Drink.

These fuckers want Rock Art Brewery to stop calling their beer the Vermonster. Apparently, the Monster Energy Drink company is looking to expand into the beer business in the future and doesn’t want to have to compete with the Vermonster for name recognition and market share. So what do they do? The trot out their lawyers who then seek to bully the little guy into giving up their rights.

WRONG ANSWER MONSTER!!!

ROCK ART BREWERY WAS THERE FIRST. IF YOU WANT TO COMPETE IN THE BEER MARKET IN VERMONT AND WANT TO TAKE ON LITTLE ’OLE ROCK ART BREWERY. EITHER GET YOUR ASS IN GEAR AND DO IT OR FIND SOME BIGGER PANTS TO MAKE ROOM FOR YOUR HUGE VAGINAS!! 

STOP TRYING TO SCREW OVER THE LITTLE GUY. IF YOU FUCKERS WITH YOUR BILLION DOLLARS CANNOT COMPETE AGAINST A GUY IN HIS BASEMENT, YOU NEED TO FIND ANOTHER FUCKING LINE OF WORK!!

To this end, I’m asking anyone who reads this to contact Monster Energy Drink and tell them that unless THEY cease and desist their campaign against Rock Art Brewery, you will not only refrain from buying their product, you will actually buy their competitor’s product and will have your friends spread the word to do the same.

I first heard about this when reading how Allyn Hane hates Monster Energy Drinks

Here is the video laying it all out;

Monster vs. Rock Art Brewery

And here is the number for Monster Fucking Energy Drink –> 1-800-426-7367

Tell them to go fuck themselves.

Site build It is a service that is offered to internet marketing novices and it should be avoided.

Why Should Site Build It Be Avoided?

Site Build It should be avoided because it costs you $300 and does nothing for you except give you a website and show you some very basic information, most of it worthless, about building a website

Anyone, and I do mean anyone, can go to blogger.com right now and create a blog and get the free information out there on the web. The sources are endless but some of the best sources for this are Grizz who teaches people to make money online and Vic who also teaches people to make money online. Follow these guys and you will not fail to make money online. They teach you everything you need to know and it costs you nothing.

But don’t just take my word for it concerning Site Build It. “Lissie” has provided a Site Build It Review at her site. She has gone into quite some detail as to why it is a scam. I think that paying $300 for stuff you can do for yourself and find information for yourself is a bad investment. Stay as far away from Site Build It as possible.

NOTE: If you still have the urge to throw away $300 after reading Lissie’s review, send me an email and I’ll tell you where you can send the $300 to me instead!!

Here it is…

The culprit??

Global Climate Change !!!

That’s right. Jupiter is in the throes of climate change in which it is apparently warming up by anywhere between 15 and 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

We’ve been told by the “green lobby” for years , that humans are the cause of the warming of the Earth. Now, Jupiter is warming too.

Which naturally begs the question…

How many dangerous, global-warming-causing, SUV’s are up on Jupiter anyway?

Thai’s Take?

Global Warming is a natural occurance. Trying to stop it is akin to trying to stop the ocean waves from rolling into shore by standing on the beach yelling “Stop!”

Fortunately, National Geographic is suddenly coming around now that the Mars ice-cap is also melting.

We truly are a remarkable species to be able to affect not only our planet but MArs and Jupiter with the CO2 we emit into our atmosphere.

It truly is breathtaking the hubris the “greens” have isn’t it?

You cannot embrace an Obama-like use of words which signify nothing and expect the public to buy what you’re shoveling!

Her most recent comments regarding Iran, our troops and our policy in Iraq have shown her to be completely out-of-touch with reality.

She was speaking with the San Francisco Chronicle and said the following;

Well, the purpose of the surge was to provide a secure space. A time for political change to accomplish the reconciliation. That didn’t happen. Whatever the military and the progress that may have been made, the surge didn’t accomplish its goal.  And some of the success of the surge is that the goodwill of the Iranians. They decided in Basra when the fighting would end. They negotiated the cessation of hostilities…the Iranians 

Excuse me Madame Speaker…but you’re lying!!

Iraq’s Prime Minister has shown great courage in going after the Sadrists and clearing out Basra. The Sadrists had to sue for a cease fire, which was not offered nor given, and have been routed from many of the areas where they used to operate. This show of force allowed the Sunni blocs to re-enter the government and reunify with their Iraqi brethren.

Iraq has in short order;

• Gone after the Sadr militias
• Enacted oil legislation with equitable distribution of oil revenues
• Passed a budget
• Cleared the way for provincial elections this Fall

Want to know how I know this??

Because Nancy Pelosi, herself, said these very things to Prime Minister Maliki when she visited him earlier this month.

She welcomed Iraq’s progress in passing a budget as well as oil legislation and a bill paving the way for provincial elections in the fall that are expected to more equitably redistribute power among local officials.

So, with the violence going down and Al-Qaeda now admitting defeat in Iraq, how is that not achieving our goals Madame Speaker??

It is statements like these that make the Iraqis either ignore you or hate you Madame Speaker.

The lack of popularity of Pelosi’s views was evident in the fact that her first day on the ground Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki did not make an effort to see her. Maliki is currently in the northern city of Mosul overseeing a crackdown on insurgent networks there. But the city has been largely quiet in recent days, and there was no obvious pressing reason for the Prime Minister to skip Pelosi’s arrival.

Pelosi may not get much more warmth from the American military leaders she plans to meet either. Pelosi argued against sending additional surge forces to Iraq, a plan overseen by Gen. David Petraeus that is now widely credited with reducing the levels of violence in Iraq.

Goodwill Of The Iranians??

Is she serious? Or has she caught a case of whopper-itis from Bill Clinton ?? The U.S and Iraqi forces dominated the Sadrists in Basra. As for the “goodwill” of Iranians, would this be the same goodwill that kills over 10% of our troops in Iraq?

Steve Schippert has a great piece about this interview here.

Steve excoriates her for much of the same reasons I do but then goes further about her shedding crocodile tears over our troops;

She went to Iraq last week to visit the troops “in preparation for Memorial Day.” How does that work, exactly? How does visiting Iraq prepare one for Memorial Day? Forgetting the ‘how’ for a moment, perhaps it should be asked ‘why.’ Speaker Pelosi answers that question unequivocally, after a very flat and tellingly unarticulated “they’re so great” reference to the troops, as she immediately spells out casualty figures of dead and wounded. Of course, she didn’t meet any of the dead honored by the nation, but somehow her trip was “in preparation for Memorial Day.”

And, just as she offered that the troops in Iraq are “so great” without articulating how they are so, she says, “We’ve lost, what’s it – 4,075 – something like that now, every one of them precious to us.” This is immediately followed by an uneasy silence, seemingly struggling for words and incapable of expounding on just why they are so precious to us. Not a word of what they have done. They’re just dead. And I am just disgusted.

Unable to articulate, she breaks the pause by immediately reminding of the over 10,000 wounded. And, without pause, of course informs also that she has just been to the hospital and is in fact going right back yet again to the local VA hospital in San Francisco just as soon as her media brief at the Chronicle is over

Thai’s Take

She was going back to the hospital to visit with troops? Ugh!

Please … Madame Speaker… please don’t subject our troops to more punishment by having to be in the same room with you again!!

I can assure you that they will smile and comport with all the “niceities” that your position requires, but they would much rather being undergoing rectal surgery than having to spend time talking with you.

Does anyone remember when Valdimir Lenin coined a phrase when called the Soviet sympathizers who lived in the West,  “useful idiots”?

That is exactly how Nancy is acting vis-a-vis Iran! She is a puppet that lends significance and credence to terror-sponsoring nations (and therefore terrorists) around the world. It would merely be a sad story about some deranged American woman, if not for the fact that she is 3rd in line to be President!

I’ll leave you with a second quote from Steve’s article where he explains the “goodwill” of the Iranians and exposes Pelosi’s usefulness to their cause.

Perhaps it has not occurred to Speaker Pelosi that so profound is “the goodwill of the Iranians” that over 10% of the 4,075 dead American military men and women she speaks of were felled by the hands of the same. In fact, 18% of US combat deaths in the last quarter of 2006 came at the hands of the EFP, an Iranian “goodwill” gesture to their proxy Iraqi militias. If we’re going to have a discussion of casualties and “the goodwill of the Iranians,” Madame Speaker, let’s please do. But let’s first get the context properly framed.

Amen Steve !!

Japan is recognizing that with oil prices as high as $135 a barrel that suddenly, alternative forms of energy are now becoming more attractive options.

But after decades of seemingly terminal decline, Japan’s coal country is stirring again. With energy prices reaching record highs — oil settled above $135 a barrel on Thursday — Japan’s high-cost mines are suddenly competitive again, and demand for their coal is booming. Production has jumped to its highest in nearly four decades, creating a sensation rarely felt in these mining communities: hope.

“We are seeing a flicker of light after long darkness,” said Michio Sakurai, the mayor of Bibai, on Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido. “We never imagined coal would actually make a comeback.”

Soaring commodity prices have had distorting effects across the global economy, driving up food prices and prompting fears of future energy shortages. But they have been an unanticipated boon to the coal producing regions of countries like Japan that had written off coal mining as a relic of the Industrial Revolution.

This is basic economics. As a commodity goes up in price, seemingly expensive options suddenly become cost-effective to use.

Remember, we’ve also had the technological ability to turn coal into a synthetic oil so that it can be refined to use in our automobiles. When did we have this technology?  The 1920’s – when German scientists developed it!

So why haven’t we gone and done this? Well the plain answer is economics. In the 1920’s you could literally stick a pole in the ground and strike oil in many places around the world. Oil was therefore easier and cheaper to extract than the process of turning coal into oil.

Now that oil is so expensive, alternative methods of obtaining energy are being explored (along with drilling in places where it used to be “expensive” to drill).

Thai’s Take

Its a win-win (or lose-lose) depending upon where you stand.

We can mitigate the price of oil by building more refineries in the U.S. We haven’t built a new one in the last 30 years and the ones we have are already running at their peak. But for now, the high price of oil is allowing the oil companies to drill in areas that used to be too costly to develop. It is allowing us to look at a technology that is almost 90 years old (but never widely used). It is also allowing us to start looking at renewable sources of energy (solar, wind, hydro, etc…) and to develop these into viable solutions. However, it is driving up prices of everything and making people go crazy about bio-fuels (using corn, sugar, etc…) to make ethanol. All this does is drive up the price of food and makes it that much more difficult for poor and starving people to eat.

Make no mistake, someday we will need to get off the “oil-standard”, but that day ain’t coming anytime soon so we need to find ways of increasing our oil production to alleviate the price at the pump. This means allowing states to drill off their coastlines and allowing Alaska to drill in ANWR. It also means building more refineries and more nuclear power plants. We also need the price to come down so that the price of food will also come down ( the ”greens” pushing for biofuel have blood on their hands as far as I’m concerned). And in the meantime, the high price at the pump is making it so we can develop alternative means and renewable sources of energy.

So – try to lobby your Congressman or Senator to have them allow for more drilling and add more refineries and nuclear power plants. And in the meantime, realize that economics will ensure that while oil is high, it will begin to lose its prominence enough to allow some enterprising people to make enough breakthroughs to replace it. 

Last Saturday was the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby which was won by Big Brown.

Eight Belles, a filly, was running in the race and finished second behind Big Brown.

Immediately after the race finished, disaster struck.

Eight Belles was galloping for another quarter mile past the finish when she broke both of her front ankles.

She was euthanized on the spot.

Now PETA has issued their familiar calls to ban the jockey, riding crops and to prevent the racing of horses under the age of 3. I don’t think any of the above (except increasing the age of the horses who are able to race) is the proper way to go. The jockey did everything right and his use of the crop avoided an in-race disaster that could’ve incorporated other riders and horses. Waiting to race horses until they are a bit stronger is the best solution PETA has proposed so-far.

The Humane Society has also weighed-in by claiming that the way horses are being bred is leading to a dangerous situation because they are being bred for speed and not durability.

“There are problems coming to light more than ever — problems related to breeding,” said Wayne Pacelle, Humane Society president. “Breeding too many horses, and waiting for someone else to clean up the problem. And breeding them for body characteristics that make these animals vulnerable to breakdowns, especially those spindly legs on top of these stout torsos.”

Dr. Larry Bramlage ( the on-call veterinarian at Churchill Downs) seems to agree with the Humane Societies assessment; 

“The value of a horse is no longer related to how much he can win on the racetrack,” Bramlage said. “It’s related to how likely he can get you to one of those events. The breed creeps toward a faster and faster individual, but that individual may be brilliant because they have a lighter skeleton. We’re inadvertently selecting for the wrong thing.”

Thai’s Take?

I agree with both the Humane Society and Dr. Bramlage. The sport of Horse Racing needs to change the way they breed their horses.

I love Horse Racing but I love horses even more. No other animal has the same quiet grace and nobleness of our equine companions. I grew up around horses so its no surprise that I feel this special bond with them.

I’m not asking for the sport to be banned or anything crazy like that. I am merely asking that the breeders start looking at things a different way and trying to prevent as much as possible these senseless injuries.

NEW YORK —  Former President Jimmy Carter’s upcoming meeting with senior officials of the Palestinian terror group Hamas is not “in the interest of peace,” according to State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

FOX News confirmed on Thursday that Carter will travel to Syria next week for an unprecedented meeting with the senior leadership of Hamas. The State Department has designated Hamas a “foreign terrorist organization,” a stance McCormack reiterated.

The State Department had “counseled the former president about having such a meeting,” he said. “U.S. policy is that Hamas is a terrorist organization; we don’t believe its in the interest of our policy or in the interest of peace to have such a meeting.”

I wish I could say I’m shocked, but Jimmy Carter has been a terrorist-apologist for as long as I’ve been alive.

What is it about the Left that they constantly look to appease our enemies and criticize our own country?

Thai’s Take ?

Let me get this straight…

• We’re engaged in a long war against radical Islam and the terrorists that it creates.

• Hamas is a terrorist organization which is part of radical Islam that which we are seeking to defeat.

• So naturally, Jimmy Carter is going to meet with them – and thus grant them the political PR victory they crave.

This is akin to a former president going to meet with Hitler, Mussolini or Hirihito during the early 1940’s.

The State Department naturally doesn’t want Carter to go.

I say they should take away his passport.

I’d be interested to hear your take on this.

- Thai 

 This new estimate is 25-fold increase from an earlier USGS estimate in 1995 which pegged the amount of recoverable oil at 151 million barrels.

 What Does “Technically Recoverable Oil” Mean?

“Technically Recoverable Oil” is that oil which is estimated to be extracted using current technology and current Oil industry practices.

Simply put, what would’ve been oil left in the ground by drilling companies 30, 20 an even 10 years ago is now able to be extracted and refined for our use. 

What Does This Mean For You?

The find is HUGE!  

The Bakken Formation estimate is larger than all other current USGS oil assessments of the lower 48 states and is the largest “continuous” oil accumulation ever assessed by the USGS. A “continuous” oil accumulation means that the oil resource is dispersed throughout a geologic formation rather than existing as discrete, localized occurrences. The next largest “continuous” oil accumulation in the U.S. is in the Austin Chalk of Texas and Louisiana, with an undiscovered estimate of 1.0 billions of barrels of technically recoverable oil.

While it will not get us to Energy Independence anytime soon, it can have a significant effect at the pump if we would only allow new refineries to be established (none have been built in decades).

Sen. Byron Dorgan (D – ND) had this to say;

“It is clear that the Bakken formation contains a significant amount of oil – the question is how much of that oil is recoverable using today’s technology?” said Senator Byron Dorgan, of North Dakota. “To get an answer to this important question, I requested that the U.S. Geological Survey complete this study, which will provide an up-to-date estimate on the amount of technically recoverable oil resources in the Bakken Shale formation.”

Thai’s Take?

As I said, this is a huge development in domestic oil production. Right now, our technology is at a point where we estimate we can get up to 4.3 Billion barrels out of this field. In the ensuing years, look for that figure to be revised upward as our technology improves.

However, despite Sen. Dorgan’s statements, look for his party (democrats) to demonize the oil exploration in this area like they have demonized ANWR exploration efforts. Suddenly you will see pictures of a meadow and animals playing in it, even though the picture has nothing to do with the actual area that will be explored. Look for them to also continue to block any effort to build new refineries.

It is ironic how they, on one hand, criticize the oil companies for making record profits (and ignore how much they pay in taxes)  and on the other hand, take positions opposing any effort to actually increase the availability of petroleum products( heating oil,  gasoline, kerosene, etc…) to the consumer.

- Thai

In fact, now that the situation on the ground doesn’t fit their “quagmire narrative” they devote barely any news about Iraq at all.

Of course, any news which will reflect badly on our brave troops is still front-page-above-the-fold news in our papers and on the nightly news it is still the lede.

It is sad that the liberals who run these organizations don’t take the time to balance their coverage and include stories of real heroism which permeates our military. Oh sure it comes in drips and drabs, but for the most part the reporting is obscenely one-sided.

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. And as far as I’m concerned, each member of our Armed Services is a hero.

However, even in the rare air of “Hero-dom”, there exist those particular individuals who go so above and beyond it makes us all stand in awe.

For those who are wondering what type of individual this might be…

I give you Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Monsoor (Navy SEAL).

A Hero Emerges

Michael Monsoor was deployed to Iraq in April 2006. He had been involved in dozens of firefights and had saved a teammate’s life (earning him a Silver Star). That alone would qualify Michael for entrance to the realm of those who go above and beyond.

But Michael was about to go even further. His last acts in Iraq give life to the creed that follows;

All Gave Some,

Some Gave All

On Sept 29, 2006 - Michael was deployed with his team in Ramadi. Their mission was to provide cover for the troops who were clearing out terrorists from the area. Small-arms fire was traded between the SEAL team and the terrorists. And while the sweep through Ramadi was proceeding, a terrorist scum-bag lobbed a grenade at his team’s position.

“Grenade!” Monsoor shouted. But the two snipers and another SEAL on the roof had no time to escape, as Monsoor was closest to the only exit. Monsoor dropped onto the grenade, smothering it with his body. It detonated, and Monsoor died about 30 minutes later from his wounds.

“He made an instantaneous decision to save our teammates. I immediately understood what happened, and tragically it made sense to me in keeping with the man I know, Mike Monsoor,” said Lt. Cmdr. Seth Stone, Monsoor’s platoon leader in Ramadi.

For his quick thinking and brave actions, on April 8, 2008, Michael will be posthumously awarded our nation’s highest military honor;

The Congressional Medal of Honor.

Since my post will not do Michael justice, I thought you might be interested in a video tribute to the man who gave his life for his buddies.

The video is here.

I am not ashamed to admit that this brings a bit of a “creeper” into my eyes when I watch it.

One of the comments brings my post into perfect clarity;

 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

 Where do such Giants such as Michael come from? I cannot say, but I can say that I am happy to know that we have them looking out for us.

God Bless You Michael And Those Like You!!

-Thai

**Thai’s Note** To its credit, the Washington Post did report this story. The New York Times, in between making up stories out of whole cloth or revealing our nation’s secrets, couldn’t be bothered to report about this particular national hero. I’d like to say I’m surprised by this but I’m not so I cannot.

For those of you who are curious, here’s the Cliffs Notes version of what this entails;

From Jan 9th to April 19th…

15 guys…

$100 each…

$900 to the winner with the biggest % weight loss (prizes for 2nd, 3rd and 4th).

Each month we have our periodic weigh-ins to gauge each others’ progress. This past weekend we had our last weigh-in before the Grand Finale on the 19th.

Here’s how I fared…

 2 Weeks Until Final Weigh-In

Since my last update I’ve dropped only 2 lbs (down to 216).

I might have plateaued a bit as I keep wavering between 216 and 219 on any given day. One thing I am doing that might contribute to that plateau is continuing to lift weights with my brother-in-law. This may be sabotaging my efforts to win as I might be putting muscle on as I’m losing fat.

However, I’ll gladly lose the competition if I end up in shape and my wife has a good body to look at when I get out of the shower and not have to look at a 6′3 skeleton.

What I’ve added to my workout regimen is working on the Elliptical Trainer 6 days a week.

I vary the distance and intensity of the workouts. Some days I go 3 miles and it will take me a little over 30 minutes or so to complete. Other days I’ll do 1.5-2.5 miles with an average of 1 mile per 9.5 minutes. I’m trying not to let my body get used to the routine so that it can get “lazy”. I’m building the distance I can go by 0.5 miles each day while still working at a pace under 10min/mile.

I’ll be weighing in a day or two early due to an upcoming trip to New York City on the 19th (we can do our final weigh-in early, just not after the 19th).

Wish Me Luck!

- Thai