With gold and silver spot prices hovering near recent lows.. why are precious ore traders trying to sell to us rather than trying to buy it up for themselves?

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HuffPost headline/story: "Pelosi Says Legal Weed Still Has A Chance In D.C. * The "cromnibus" spending bill that the House of Representatives passed Thursday is supposed to stop the marijuana legalization approved by D.C. voters in November * Pelosi agrees with the congressional Democrats who say there's a loophole * That loophole arises from language that reads differently in two pieces of legislation -- the omnibus spending bill and a rider introduced by Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) * the omnibus says that no funds “may be used to enact any law, rule, or regulation to legalize or otherwise reduce penalties" associated with the recreational use of drugs illegal under federal law. But where the omnibus says "enact," the Harris rider uses the phrase "carry out." -- Hmmm.. a bill and a rider pass.. one says no funds "may be used" nor can be used to "carry out". Hmmm.. "loophole"..? Looks more like a one-two knockout punch!

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Online story: "A South Carolina mother was insane when she drove her three children into the ocean and therefore not guilty of child abuse, a Florida judge determined Friday. * Prosecutors, in turn, dropped three attempted murder counts against Ebony Wilkerson. * After ruling that Wilkerson was not guilty by reason of insanity of three counts of child abuse, Circuit Judge Leah Case ordered a hearing next week to determine whether the woman should be involuntarily hospitalized for treatment or released with court supervision." -- "to determine whether the woman should be involuntarily hospitalized for treatment or released with court supervision"? Good grief.. if the judge feels the woman should ever be released under any circumstance, she's as insane as the woman. I'm not a litigious person, but I hope some lawyer will represent the three children in a law suit against the judge for 'mental abuse' that the children will feel just knowing their mother could get out and try it again.

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Online story: "A federal judge has imposed some limits on what actions police can take during protests in Missouri, ruling that officers must give demonstrators a reasonable chance to disperse before deploying tear gas and other chemical agents." -- Good grief.. what is it with female judges today? In this case, I hope the judge's court security team gets together and tells the judge that it will comply with her Ferguson order, and not try to stop any ranting protestors/defendants in her court until they actually get to the bench.

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You know...sometimes government out thinks itself and spends way to much money trying to solve a problem. Recently, it was announced that over a million dollars would be "spent" on the intersection of Double Churches Rd at Veterans Parkway. There is a logistics problem, but $1 million..not even $2 million will solve it ...but $100.00 will. Not too long ago, a logging truck was trying to make a right turn off Veterans onto Double Churches. There's a railroad crossing about 30 feet from Veterans, and the grade is about 2 feet higher than the road bed of Veterans. This makes turning right onto Double Churches a reverse banked turn. Anyway, the top heavy logging truck trailer shifted its load making that turn, and turned over, spilling its load onto Veterans and Double Churches. The GA DOT solution is to level out that grade difference. Since the rail bed is not going to be changed, the GA DOT would have to raise Veterans Parkway. Or....or, for a $100.00, maybe less, the GA DOT could simply erect a sign prohibiting tractor-trailers, logging rigs, and dump trucks from making a right turn there. There are plenty of other route options the truck drivers can take.

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While we're talking about road projects, let's look at the widening of Whittlesey Rd between Whitesville and Veterans. Not too long ago, a big ta-doo was made about unplanned problems delaying the finish by six months and costing another $1 million+ dollars. I rode by Friday about 2:00PM and saw 14 pieces of road equipment, but only 1 was working, and 6 men "working".. 1 was operating the 1 piece of equipment that was working, 2 men were walking around pointing at things, and 3 were distributing straw on the exposed dirt ( to stop erosion if it were to rain). At this rate, we'll soon hear that it will take another 6 months and another $1 million dollars before it's finished.

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While I'm at it, I may as well tee-off on the roundabout at River Road and Bradley Park/Cascade./Green Island Drive. Now the estimate is up to $1.5 million, and that's not going to be close to what it will eventually cost before it's finished. Pretty big elevation changes will have to be solved, and still, top heavy tractor-trailers, logging rigs, and dump trucks will have to negotiate extreme extended curves that will generate centrifugal forces capable of turning the load beds of the trucks over. Of course the problem could be solved for a lot less money with minor changes to Green Island Drive and River Road. What I've been told by a Councilman is that the GA DOT is not interested in doing a simple fix. The GA DOT wants to do big projects.

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Today must be Road Day. Also drove along Moon Road where the GA DOT is raping that neighborhood just north of Miller Road and on to Weems Road. The homeowners are getting shafted! None will ever be able to sell their homes..or even get a good rent rate based on what the value was before the GA DOT started scraping away all the front yards that fronted along Moon Road. It looks like some people will have to look both ways for car traffic before stepping off their front porch.

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Soapbox moment: The recent plea by a local judge to raise ticket fees by a $25.00 "technology fee" is one of the things just wrong about the way government does business. Private businesses adopt new technology as a way to reduce costs and improve productivity and profit margins. Whether it's the Public Safety, Court or City clerks, or Council,I'm tired of local government officials telling us it is going to cost us more money to adopt new technology. Initial outlay is one thing, but if "new technology" doesn't reduce the costs long term, then it's not worth bringing into the system.

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That $1.1 TRILLION dollar "continuing resolution" had a weird bipartisan coalition...57 Democrats getting their last opportunity to make a difference on spending money that isn't there, and 162 Republicans depending on Karl Rove to make excuses for them.

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Hey, Senator Feinstein... where's the IRS report on its progress being made on collecting the $4,500,000.00 in taxes owed by al Sharlatan? Why aren't all his accounts frozen like the usual IRS practice in such cases?

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Jonathan Gruber Stupid LIV's L-E "soundoff": "Fox News supporters who say they learn of news items on Fox that are not reported by the “mainstream media” should realize they really don’t need to know that news." -- Good grief.. this guy must take his daily Kool-Aid by IV.

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L-E headline: "Will Muschamp set to return as Auburn defensive coordinator" -- Well, he's certainly shown he knows how to block and dodge all the 'stones" thrown at him this year.

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L-E's "Quotable": “Either I will find a way, or I will make one.” - Philip Sidney British soldier and poet (1554-1586) -- Hmmm.. now nearly 500 years later, the mainstream media and Democrats have now proclaim, "Either I will find a way, or I will make one up."

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You know.. one of the most depressing features in the Columbus L-E is the DUI photo section. It's not that the pictures shouldn't be made known to the public (we NEED to know), but the pictures are printed in the paper unless it's their 2nd or 3rd time being caught in 5 years. What's depressing is how many time they didn't get caught after the first time.

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L-E headline: "SCANDAL- FREE HEISMAN TROPHY CEREMONY FOCUSED ON FOOTBALL" -- You know.. say what you will.. FSU is still undefeated for the second year in a row, and while FSU has not dominated, in fact, has often had to make heroic 2nd half/4th quarter efforts to stay unbeaten, how does the QB that won the 2013 Heisman not make the "finals" of the 2014 Heisman focus?

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L-E headline: "Wealth gap widens between whites and minorities" -- And with good reason.. Democrats.. Democrats want minorities dependent on the government, and even Democrats know government cannot provide anything but safety net needs, but keep such reeled in "on the hook" by promising what they will never be able to provide. Minorities would do so much better supporting the people that want everyone to be successful on their own accord and effort.