Retail sales rise sharply in September (AP)

AP - Shoppers, encouraged by cooler temperatures and falling gasoline prices, went on a shopping spree in September, giving many retailers better-than-expected gains and lifting the industry’s spirits two months before the holiday season. A notable exception was Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Of course you all have read that I have on a number of occasions I visited Walmart to find that they were out of jalapeños but this last weekend’s trip was the kicker. I couldn’t find any celery!?!? WTF Walmart? You had plenty of fresh dill (what????), but no celery. Maybe the "Superstore" idea wasn’t your best.

The wife and I live at Walmart.  We are there at least four to five days out of the week for odds and ends.  Being a seasoned Walmart shopper, I know that one should shop early on weekends because by mid-afternoon the shelves can become quite empty.  What I don’t understand is when specific things aren’t stocked.  In New Mexico there are a couple of things that need to be stocked at all times.  Pinto beans, jalapenos, salsa, tortilla chips, re-fried beans, and tortillas are mandatory in stock, on the shelves items for any grocery store in New Mexico.  Hell I think even most convenience stores keep all these items in stock as well including limes for all the Corona purchases.

Yesterday I stopped to get a few things, milk, salsa, chips, mac and cheese, and cereal.  We are very picky about salsa and only buy the "Not so hot" Sadies brand.  No big surprise, they were sold out.  Ok, well hell let’s just make our own.  Onions, check!  Diced tomatoes, check!  Tomato puree, check!  Garlic, check!  All we need now is some Jalapenos.  I get over in the produce section and there are no jalapeno peppers to be found.  Now I am just damn furious.  I love to cook and one gripe I have with Albuquerque is that it is almost impossible to find certain ingredients.  I am not talking about exotic ingredients, I’m talking about things like pancetta, cannelini beans, and imported Italian tomatoes.  I know these are Italian and I’m living in a Hispanic influenced state so I just let these things slide, but now no jalapenos?  When will the madness end?  I live in New Mexico and I can’t buy the ingredients needed to make salsa.  Does anyone else see a problem here??

I guess my only option is to shop at a real grocery store and to ditch Walmart.  Walmart may suck but I have done tests and shopping there saves me around $80 every visit compared to shopping at Smiths, so I guess I’m screwed either way.

A teacher at West Boca Raton High School is in trouble after school district officials learned about pictures on the web of her in a bikini.

Erica Chevillar, 25, is a first-year social studies teacher at the school. She is also one of about 80 models featured on the Web site of the USA National Bikini team, a Boca Raton-based company, according to the Web site. The site lists calendars for sale featuring scantily clad models dressed in bathing suits, provocative outfits or lingerie.

Oh, dear God no!  We can’t have good looking teachers teaching our kids!  This is an outrage!  I mean, high school teachers need to walk a fine line when in college studying to make the "big bucks".  None of this posing in scantily clad outfits, which is clearly the first step before becoming a full on porn star.

Please, give me a break!  I say, Yah! for bikini wearing teachers.  Maybe, it will get the kids’ attention.  God knows nothing else these days is working.

Of course there is always a big loser kid who says something stupid to the press.

"I don’t think it’s appropriate," said Josh Yanover, a sophomore at the school. "It’s a teacher. People are going to be paying more attention to her than what they are learning in class."

WHAT?!?!  Did he just say that?  Clearly this kid is either gay or just trying to be a little kiss ass. What teenage boy doesn’t want a hot teacher that has posed for a bikini calendar?  On the other hand maybe this kid just plain stupid, because making a comment like that will definitely get your ass kicked.  Speaking of getting his ass kicked, how about the kid whose mom made the complaint.  I bet these two kids aren’t the most popular right now.

Read the whole story here.

Kids are going to be pissed, or maybe not.

Tens of millions of students will no longer be able to buy non-diet sodas in the nation’s public schools under an agreement announced Wednesday between major beverage distributors and anti-obesity advocates.

I for one think this is a good idea but I don’t think it will stop kids from becoming obese.  I personally don’t think that the public school system is to blame for our children being fatter than ever.  It’s the parents fault and I see it all the time while shopping in Walmart.  It’s become the norm to shut a kid up with food.  Next time you are grocery shopping look at the kids that are in the child seats of shopping baskets.  I guarantee you that over 80% of them will be eating something and it won’t be anything nutritious.  Parents don’t discipline their children anymore, they distract them with treats instead.   When I was a kid  you received treats for behaving, but now kids receive treats to keep them distracted.

The article also says that it will only sell water, juice and low-fat milks to elementary and middle schools.  What exactly do they classify as juice?   How about a Sobe Black & Blue Berry Brew?
 

In my kids elementary school they don’t sell any sodas, but they do have a Sobe "juice" machine in the cafeteria.  I don’t know if any of you have ever tried a Sobe Black and Blue Berry Brew before but I can tell you that its just as sweet as any soda.  Hell, the second ingredient is HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP and the fourth is SUGAR.  Is this any better for our children?  The argument of course being that it has juice in it so at least there is something that gives it nutritional value right?  Sure, but not until you get to the sixth ingredient do you see any kind of juice.  Also, you should note that a serving size is 8 oz. but the bottle is 20 oz.  Kids do not look at serving sizes on labels.  To a kid this bottle is one serving and I will bet that every kid given one of these will drink the whole thing in one sitting which equates to a whopping 310 calories and 78g of sugar.  This is certainly no better then the average soda.

While I think that the public schools are moving in the right direction, I think that parents are ultimately responsible for what their children are eating and drinking.  Besides, ever notice that fat kids normally have fat parents?  Come on people, get a damn clue and stop killing your own children.  The government won’t save them, that job is up to you.

Read the whole story here and check out some nutritional info on Sobe drinks on their website.

Turns out James Bond wasn’t as much "the man" as first thought.

Disclaimer:  I am not responsible for any adverse reactions to this post.  If you have a weak stomach and have had a bad experience with gin, it is advised you discontinue reading immediately.  I am not responsible for nausea associated with the smell of gin or that of green olives.  You know who you are, consider yourself warned.  That means you Greg!

It has come to my attention that the famous line from all James Bond movies, "…martini, shaken not stirred.", really was a way to tell everyone that good ole Mr. Bond couldn’t handle a stiff drink.  When you shake a martini the ice melts more then if it is stirred.  Thus a shaken martini is more watered down.  Also, when shaken it becomes cloudy and has small ice chips floating in the glass.  One of the great things about a martini, is how clear and clean it looks.  When shaken it takes away some of the elegance that defines this drink. 

What is worse is that in newer Bond movies he orders a "Vodka" martini.  Vodka?  My God, were the writers insane?  Nothing like taking one of the coolest guys and turning him into a wuss.  I know that you vodka martini drinkers think you are of the same caliber, but considering that premium gin is 96 proof and vodka is only 80 pretty much sums it up.  Plus, vodka has no taste so all you are drinking is watered down grain alcohol.  The Russians would be so disappointed!

And if you are one of those dirty or filthy people, just go ahead and get yourself another drink.  Stop insulting the gin by putting olive brine in your drink to mask the taste.  Besides you are paying top money for the gin so why replace it with something that is essentially free for the bar.  Nothing looks worse then a pale, cloudy, puke green martini.

My ordering recommendation:  extra dry Sapphire martini (stirred not shaken) with a single olive, two being the absolute maximum.  Bartenders please take note, "extra dry" does not mean no olives!!  I wish I knew which idiot started that rumor.

SANTA FE — Gov. Bill Richardson will travel to Mexico today to pitch the idea of combining efforts to attract the first binational team in the history of the National Football League.

Get off it already!  If you spent as much time worrying about the public school system as you do about bringing the NFL to New Mexico maybe my kids would have a chance at a good education.  I bet the $5.5 million you spent buying a new jet would have helped.  Idiot!

Back in January I blogged about these krazy baptist radicals that believe American troops are dying in Iraq because the United States harbors gays.  The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) of Topeka, Kansas run by Pastor Fred Phelps, has been protesting during funerals of soldiers that have died while serving in Iraq.  They believe that God is striking these soldiers dead because America has become a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah.  The signs they carry say such things as, "Thank God for dead soldiers.", "God Hates Fags", and "God Made IEDs", a reference to roadside bombs.  These people have no respect for the poor soldiers and their families.  Just writing about it makes me sick to my stomach.

Several states have passed laws and others have legislature in the works to try and curb the protests.  Until such laws have been established there is a new group that is fighting back.  The Patriot Guard Riders is a group of bikers that travel from funeral to funeral respectfully cheering to drown out the gay protesters.  They also form lines and hold American flags in the air to shield the families.  They are not a counter-protest group.  According to their mission statement they have only two objectives:

1. Show our sincere respect for our fallen heroes, their families, and their communities.

2. Shield the mourning family and friends from interruptions created by any protestor or group of protestors.

We accomplish the latter through strictly legal and non-violent means.

According to their website are up to over 16,000 members and growing like krazy.  This is a prime example of America at its finest.  It’s great that there are people out there regardless of their ethnic backgrounds, political views, religious beliefs, etc… that are banding together to show respect for our fallen heroes.  These are true Americans and we should support them in any way possible.

Full text of the Law

CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO
ADOPTED JANUARY 21, 1911

Article VII. Elective Franchise
Section 1. [Qualifications of voters; absentee voting; school elections; registration.]Every citizen of the United States, who is over the age of twenty-one years, and has resided in New Mexico twelve months, in the county ninety days, and in the precinct in which he offers to vote thirty days, next preceding the election, except idiots, insane persons and persons convicted of a felonious or infamous crime unless restored to political rights, shall be qualified to vote at all elections for public officers. The legislature may enact laws providing for absentee voting by qualified electors. All school elections shall be held at different times from other elections.

That’s right according to state law idiots can’t vote.  Who knew?  An idiot by definition is a person of subnormal intelligence.  I think New Mexico was on to something here.  I mean how great would it be if only intelligent people got to vote?  This could change everything!  The voters would actually know the topics and understand the proposed policies.  People would vote for the person most qualified not the most popular or the one with the most money, or even the one who tells everyone what they want to hear.  Could you imagine?  We might actually get someone in office who does something for the people and the state instead of someone who is just worried about the next election.

I say, "Rock on NM! Let’s start enforcing this law with a vengeance." 

Normal day, just cruizn’ the headlines and what do I see? "House candidate admits former work as prostitute." Now this looks like it is going to be good. First lets draw some quotes that struck me a little off:

"I’ve made mistakes in my life, and I’ve stood before my creator and I’ve accepted responsibility for my behavior,"

"I don’t regret my past, nor do I wish to shut the door on my past," he said. "I think anyone who has made mistakes in their lives can be a viable member of community and society."

"Made mistakes"?!?! Experimenting with drugs, cheating on your wife, ripping off condoms from the grocery store, becoming an alcoholic, these are a little better examples of making mistakes. I don’t believe that being a male prostitute should be cataloged as just a simple mistake. Everything is wrong with the second quote. Most people who do something bad regret it later in life. By saying that he doesn’t regret his past, is he saying that if he could do it all over again he would still be a prostitute? He states that he doesn’t want to shut the door to his past yet he wasn’t open about it in the first place. With all his previous comments, you could interpret the last one into him thinking that even child molesters should be allowed to hold political positions. Then to top it all off he says this:

"I know that there are people that can benefit from my experience,"

Is he kidding? Maybe, someone looking to start up an escort service will benefit. This guy is trying to be elected to the House of Representatives. Is this really the type of person that should "represent" your state?