Crabby Fat Guy

For week #4 of Terror With Cheese - place an order at Fat Willie’s (654-1099) on Tuesday and get a free DVD.

This week’s movie is “Spooks on the Run” starring Bela Lagosi and the East Side Kids. This is a comedy/horror film.

For the first time we start the DVD with a cartoon.

I thought some may be interested in this rehash in the Akron Beacon Journal regarding camps not checking on employees. (link)

Anyone who likes blue cheese knows the joys of blue cheese on a hamburger.  It is not easy to melt blue cheese crumbles onto your burger.  Therefore Crabby is pleased to announce as his nomination for top innovative achievement of the 21st century - drum roll please - BLUE CHEESE SLICES.

I have only been able to find them one time in Lancaster - I just hope that the package that I did find was not just a freak of nature.

Fire and rescue crews were recalled to the fire in Amanda at 5745 Chillicothe-Lancaster Rd SW this morning at 8:27 AM.

A 19 year old female MRDD client is reported missing. She was last seen at 7:30 PM at the Fairfield County Fairgrounds. Anyone having any knowledge of her whereabouts should call the Lancaster Police Department or the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Department.

I have not heard any further update on this story.  If anyone has further info please email crabby@crabbyfatguy.com.

After the fireworks the Marine Corp Band had to be extricated from the mud by a large tow truck in order to exit the Fair Grounds.

Fire and rescue crews have been called to a fire at a single story house at 5745 Chillicothe-Lancaster Rd SW at about 10:45 this evening.

The fire is reported to be fully involved.

All residents are out but a med-flight has been requested.

The fire was brought under control at 11:42 PM. The Red Cross has been summoned as well as a fire investigation unit from the state Fire Marshall’s office.

link to map.

The following email is going around Lancaster….(link - pdf format).

Well don’t believe it. This particular email is listed on Snopes.com (link).

Q: What would you do as president for energy?

Encourage the development of OUR resources including off-shore drilling and drilling in ANWR.

Balance the budget.

Encourage alternative energy sources

Q: Let’s start with item one on the agenda - would off-shore and drilling in ANWR lower prices?

A: Yes, anytime the supply increases prices will go down. It’s all a matter of Supply and Demand and nothing else - basic econ 101. The lower prices will NOT be huge however.

Q: If the price decrease will be minimal then why bother?

A: The reasons are many. Borack Obama has indicated that he would oppose this drilling of OUR resources because it will afford us little or no immediate relief. That IS TRUE, but it is not the job of the president of the United States to plan for the four or eight years of his or her presidency - long term planning beyond his presidency should be one of his jobs. Secondly, we will be paying ourself rather than international sources of energy. We will be paying oil workers and paying them well providing jobs and taxes. American workers will spend that money in American stores, the American stores will employ more and so on down the line. Payments made to international sources of energy leave the country and we never see that money again. Thirdly, it adds to the energy security. Much of our oil comes from volatile parts of the world. Our source of oil could be be cut off at ANY time. If this were to happen $4 gas would sound like a bargain.

Q: What would balancing the budget accomplish for energy?

A: All world markets in oil trade in US Dollars. As long as the dollar is weak prices will remain high worldwide. The best, fastest way to raise the value of the dollar and lower the price of oil would be for a bi-partisan congress to agree to commitment to a balanced budget. The effect would be IMMEDIATE.

Q: Higher taxes?

A: I would much prefer a top to bottom revamping of how the US does business to reduce expenses. As an example we could virtually eliminate the IRS AND SIMPLIFY TAXES by switching to a “Fair Tax” type of arrangement - like an national sales tax. Right now there is a huge “underground economy”. Ebay sellers that do not report income, waitresses that fudge their reports, and, of course, criminals that sell drugs. A consumption tax taxes all of this unreported income.

Of course there are many other things that can be done to reduce expenses. Eliminate pork for one. EVERY expense line item in EVERY government office should be scrutinized - run it like a business.

Q: How would you encourage alternative energy sources?

A: X-prizes! According to Wikipedia an X-Prize is:

The mission of the X PRIZE Foundation is to bring about radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. The Foundation fosters innovative, high-profile competitions that motivate individuals across all boundaries to solve grand challenges. The prizes are worth millions of dollars and capture the imagination of the public to draw attention to the goal.

Rather than spending our money on research we will spend our money on RESULTS. X-prizes are modeled after the Orteig Prize in the amount of $25,000 given to the first to fly from New York to Paris. You didn’t think that Lindberg did it for free did you?

Offer $250,000,000 to the person or company that makes large scale cellulose ethanol a reality and just watch the results come in! Under this program a large number of prizes could be offered for a large number of results.

Q: What alternative fuel source do you see as most promising?

A: Ethanol from cellulose. It would benefit our energy independence. The process also results in ethanol PLUS electricity. It also benefits the farmer - they could not only sell the corn, but also the corn stalks. It also results in much reduced CO2 emissions - the corn plant takes up as much CO2 as it produces when burned. A neutral effect on CO2 in the atmosphere.