A day at the air show: Offutt AFB

US Air Force Thunderbirds

The old feeder decided to part with some gas money and spend the day at Offutt Air Force Base yesterday. The base was holding its annual Defenders of Freedom Open House & Air Show, and I had a great time. Here is a video I shot of the Thunderbirds. The pictures that follow are all clickable.

Nice crowd of decent, patriotic folks

I was able to park on the base, then caught a shuttle bus to the area where the static displays and some open are afforded an excellent view of the flying performances. There were the usual aerobatic flyers with little hot-rod planes doing stunts that seem to break the laws of physics. I tried to snap some photos, but most of them came out like this. I'm not used to the 'lag' between pressing the button and the shutter function on my digital camera.

AC-47 gunship - Spooky

Some old cats were there displaying an AC-47 gunship. These gents looked like they might have been with this machine since Viet-Nam. I gave them $2 bucks to look inside and they actually had a couple of nasty little chain guns mounted. I suppose its OK to have these since the Supreme Court's Heller decision. Below is a picture of the 30 mm business end of an A-10 Warthog. Now that is a big Gatling gun!

Business end of an A-10 Warthog

The A-10 demonstration must have been heartening to all the old grunts in the audience. This ugly death machine seems to be the perfect close air support device; its a flying full auto cannon that can carry bombs and rockets stuck to every available spot on its wings. Click the A-10 gun picture to see how the The AN/GAU-8a 30mm Avenger weapon just about fills the fuselage. I took a picture of the big magazine.

F-22 with pyro display background

There were aircraft of every sort, old and new. The F-22 was exotic looking, but the big transports and antiques were perhaps more fascinating to an old duffer like myself. All in all, I had a wonderful day. It was nice to see the young troops who were so polite and helpful. It is almost enough to restore one's faith in the future of America. I got a big kick out of watching the recruiters work the kids. This one asked the recruiter why he had a life raft set up on the runway. Sarge's answer: "So boys like you will ask about it."

Farm field salute at the Offutt runway - click

This last picture came from Google Earth. (You can click it to see the street names, etc.) It shows the respect the folks of Nebraska, especially those in the Bellevue area, have for the US military in general and the Air Force in particular. God bless 'em.

The day trip was a tonic for the old feeder. The Open House and Air Show is on again today. If you live anywhere near, go see it. Take the kids.

Muslim Picnic in Omaha, Nebraska

Roasted Hog

I missed it. Along with most everyone else, since the public evidently wasn't invited until the day of the event. From KETV News' web site: Omaha Muslims Hope Picnic Improves Understanding.

Let's see, a bunch of Mohammedans, no hog roast, no beer, no scantily clad ladies, no advance publicity, and it was held on that most American of holidays, the Independence Day weekend. My understanding is improving already.

First, the down side of this Independence Day: Nah

We are unworthy

I had a down-side post based on Chris Satullo's A not-so-glorious Fourth and similar Independence Day liberal hand-wringing in mind for today. Instead, Scott Voorhees is doing a great job of it on KFAB right now. He's got the listeners going with this one. No sniveling!

Real Nebraskan's don't like this anti-American bent the liberal revisionists have taken.
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I was even going to mention the long faces in Elkhorn since their cool town fell to Fahey's Falangists. The new ruling junta's anti-American edict:

The only LEGAL fireworks within the City of Omaha are Snakes and Caps. All other fireworks are illegal within the city limits of Omaha, NE. A person using fireworks within the city limits of Omaha can be faced with a $500 fine and/or jail time.

Liberty dies by inches. In San Francisco they don't even call it Independence Day; its now America Festival: A fun Fourth of July weekend. The article doesn't even mention a reason for the celebration at all.
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Tomorrow: God Bless America, even atheists can say it once a year. What have they got to lose?

Moving Wall in Elkhorn, Nebraska

Anti-War Hackers?

The Moving Wall, a traveling replica of the US Viet-Nam War Memorial, is in the neighborhood through this weekend. Stop by and honor the tens of thousands of men and women who gave their lives trying to keep communism from destroying Southeast Asia. Here is a map indicating where the display is set up.
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The link to The Wall USA above indicates the site has been hacked. Who would do such a thing? I'm guessing it isn't any of America's foreign enemies, but home-grown traitors who did it. Here is the cached version, if the real site is still down.

Cops bust up Juneteenth parade in Omaha

North Omaha: Guns, God, Cash, Big Red
click and go figure

Yesterday was Juneteenth, a celebration of the abolition of slavery. The 'world-wide' emancipation celebration isn't an official holiday in Nebraska, but the local chapter of the NAACP traditionally has a parade in North Omaha. The neighborhood also marks the day with other related cultural and ethnic events, like shootings, car chases and brawls.

This year's observance was no different. From the Omaha World Herald:

The annual Juneteenth parade in north Omaha ended early Saturday when an 18-year-old man was shot near 22th and Lothrop Streets.

Police halted the parade after the 11:14 a.m. shooting near Lothrop Magnet Center, said Tommie Wilson, president of the Omaha chapter of the NAACP.
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The NAACP sponsored the parade, which began at 10 a.m. at 24th and Hamilton Streets. The parade route was along North 24th Street, with Miller Park as the destination. Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the United States.

Wilson said she was upset that police stopped the parade. She said only 37 of 72 parade entries made it along the route before it ended.

"People missed all of that wonderful parade," Wilson said. "The cops need to, instead of stopping the parade, move the perpetrators."

It was the second time in three years that a Juneteenth event in Omaha ended prematurely. Organizers shut down a Juneteenth festival two years ago when fights broke out.

Wilson said Juneteenth isn't the problem; it's violence in the city. "This stuff is happening every day — we just happened to have a parade," she said.

The theme of the interrupted parade in North Omaha was a bit confusing: "History is NOW: Diversity through UNITY!" I'm sure there is some deep meaning in there somewhere, but I can't figure it out.
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Did you know that much of Omaha is now available in Google's very intimate Street Views. Click here, then click "Street View" to tour North Omaha without any risk of getting mugged, stabbed or shot. Here is a screen shot of 24th and Lake as it appears on Google Maps Street View.

Omaha - weekend tornado update

Millard - Blue tarps on Sunday

The tornado damage this weekend in Omaha was worse than it seemed at first. Several homes and businesses in the Millard neighborhood were seriously damaged. The weather experts are calling it an EF-2 tornado, as rated by the Enhanced Fujita Scale. Even though the warning sirens came a bit late for these folks, there were no deaths or serious injuries. Omaha cats are weather wary, and will take to their basements without waiting for sirens when tornadoes threaten.

This roof needs more than a tarpaulin

These pictures are from WOWT Channel 6. Find personal accounts of the storm here.

I couldn't sleep at all last night

Updated: The tornado damage in Omaha was
worse than it seemed at first.

Last Night's Storm

A small tornado zipped through the Omaha, Nebraska area last night. I can't hear sirens (or anything else) once I'm asleep, but a soaking rain coming in through the window and onto my bed woke me up. After that, sirens from Omaha and several other little bergs nearby kept me awake. There was some storm damage: a few roofs damaged, signs knocked over, trees uprooted and power outages, but I don't think anyone was badly injured. The churches ought to be full this morning.

Bobby Lewis - 1961
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I couldn't sleep at all last night
Just a thinking of you..
Baby things weren't right
Well I was tossin and turning
Turning and tossin
Tossin and turnin all night..

We simply must stop annoying the wind gods or this will only get worse.

Fahey: Omaha may get downtown stadium for free

A new downtown stadium at no cost?

Just when you thought Omaha's Mayor Mike Fahey was on the ropes, the crafty pol pulls a rabbit out of his hat. Fahey wants a new riverfront ballpark built as part of his legacy, but many think it too costly. Now he says the city can have a new stadium for free, thanks to his middle east connections.

Even as recall petitions are being circulated, in part over the stadium issue, Fahey has cooked up a plan to get his stadium built by oil-rich Arabs. The details won't be made public until later today, but here's what the Omaha World-Herald had this morning. Excerpt:

As Landow outlined the arrangement, the ballpark would be built in the riverfront area, as previously planned. The only difference would be the addition of two towering minarets marking the foul lines. In exchange for completely funding the stadium, The Emir of Dubai would have use of the facility for an outdoor Mosque and a Muslim-American resource center.

Dubai. Its where its at.

Omaha Mayor Fahey Recall Petition Drive Starts Today

Send me back to Kansas City

The petitions start circulating today. If you are fed up with Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey, whether it be for his ill-advised, forcible and undemocratic annexations, his costly plans for a needless new ball park, or his overreaching desire to expand the grasp of city government, get out and sign a petition. Don't wait: 21,734 valid signatures are needed by April 22 to get the issue brought to a general vote.

Here are the initial locations where recall petitions will be available today: Rosenblatt Stadium parking lot. Memorial Park, and the Fraternal Order of Eagles No. 3943 in Elkhorn. I expect the Elkhorn location will be doing a land office business; there is no love lost on Mayor Fahey in that berg.

The old feeder doesn't live in Omaha, but I despise petty tyrants who pursue public service only to enrich their cronies with tax money. Mike Fahey is just such a man, and its time to kick him to the curb before he does more damage.

Omaha: It's time for Mayor Fahey to GO...

Apologies to Stalin's family

Its about time someone started a drive to recall Mike Fahey. The long overdue recall effort has begun, and signatures are needed pronto. Find someone with a petition and sign it! Better yet, help circulate petitions or otherwise support this laudable effort.

The current Mayor of Omaha, Nebraska, is a dishonest petty tyrant who has sold the City down the riverfront. We've watched him disregard the will of the people when he forced the Elkhorn annexation down the throats of the good people of that nice un-Omaha-like town. Then he tried to hijack all the school districts in his One City, One School District fiasco. Now he wants a new ballpark built downtown without regard for whether its what the people want or even if it is a good idea or not.

Here's the website. It isn't much, but the reasoning behind the need to stop this megalomaniacal little Caesar now is sound. What's next Mike? A useless footbridge across the Missouri River to Iowa that nobody wants? Oh, I forgot...
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More Plains Feeder reasons to recall Mayor Fahey.

Omaha: another senseless murder spree or racist statement?

Broken clock or race murderer?

Local cats are already aware that a young lady was shot in the head and killed by a kid with a hunting rifle a hundred yards away late last Sunday. So far, there seems to be no connection between the 21 year old victim, Brittany Williams, and the man caught running from the scene with the rifle, Kyle Bormann, 18. Kyle evidently had recently come to Omaha, Nebraska from South Dakota, where he was wanted for punky dope charges.

Now, according to ABC News, the seemingly senseless shooting might be a sort of hate crime. Kyle is white and Brittany was black. It happened on the eve of Martin Luther King day. I hope not, but in any case we need to send this cat to hell ASAP if he's found guilty. You can get more details and vote on it at PYSIH. Eye on Omaha has several relevant posts as well.

Another Omaha blog the Minority Midwifery Student is authored by one of the murdered girl's friends. Her initial post on the killing: "My friend, Brittany Williams, was murdered last night. She's gone." MWS also links to Brittany's MySpace memorial.

Omaha cop/writer: on the scene at Omaha mall murders

Omaha Police Sergeant Jeff Baker was one of the first cops on the scene of the Westroads Mall shooting spree here in Omaha, Nebraska. Sgt. Baker wrote his first impressions of what he saw, published by the Omaha World Herald as: Personal account: Officers came face to face with horror.

Now the OPD veteran has put his creative writing skills to work on a more detailed account published as an exclusive by PoliceOne.com: An officer's first-hand look at the Omaha mall shooting. It starts out with: "After 20 years in law enforcement, I thought I’d seen it all." Its a good thing the crimes didn't happen on a dark and stormy night. My lame criticism aside, I found the story insightful, especially with respect to how cops are trained to deal with this sort of on-the-job unpleasantness these days.
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Would you believe this nasty murder-suicide committed by a hateful and self-indulgent broken clock of a young man now has its own Wikipedia article? Excerpt:

An hour before the rampage, Hawkins' mother gave the Sarpy County Sheriff's Department his suicide note which stated, "I just want to take a few pieces of shit with me... I'm gonna be fuckin famous."

I guess the overgrown brat was right.
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Addendum: Sgt. Baker just e-mailed to let me know that he's a blogger. Check out The Battle Site, aka DefendUsInBattle.org. If you think the "separation of church and state" constitutional issue is being used to secularize our culture unnecessarily and unwisely, you will like Jeff's stuff.

Omaha mall murders: a view from the feedlot

Robert A. Hawkins was a loser. Like a broken clock that can never do good, he brought trouble to everyone that cared for him, paid him any attention or tried to help him. Ultimately, these broken clocks will harm folks that are connected to them only by temporary proximity.

If they live for very long, the pain and damage these losers cause is dragged out; I have seen mothers suffer for decades over sons gone bad and a whole family forfeit the joy of life in trying to care for a deranged uncle. When they 'go out in style' like Robert A. Hawkins did yesterday at the Westroads Mall here in Omaha, the damage and suffering are inflicted at once.

What to do? My first reaction was to rail about the ignorant policies that discouraged anyone from stopping Mr. Hawkins murder-suicide with a gun. I know I'd feel awful if I'd had a shot at the kid right as his mainspring broke and had left my pistol in the car or at home. But that is just me.

Looking at the incident a day later, it is become clear that I missed the point. The only thing I can think of that would help prevent these infrequent but very intense incidents, as well as to alleviate the long, drawn-out damage and pain caused by broken clocks like Mr. Hawkins is to bring back involuntary commitment. I've had to say this before, when Cho Seung-Hui's murder spree at Virginia Tech caused my knee to jerk.

Re-opening the state and county asylum system, using sensible due process for involuntary commitments, is the humane way to protect the rest of us without destroying a life. It would call for modern asylums, where the broken clocks who are our sons and daughters, aunts and uncles could live life with whatever modicum of joy and decency as God allows them. Too costly? Not when the mental anguish these broken clocks can cause is factored into the calculus. Think of the effects of yesterday's shooting rippling out from the Westroads through Omaha and beyond.

As usual, the lady bloggers I read got it right. Its time to think of our neighbors.

Mass Shooting at Omaha, Nebraska Mall

Thursday - What went wrong in Omaha yesterday.
Why nobody fought back.
Scroll down for latest updates

Shooting victim

Man opens fire with a rifle inside the Von Maur department store in Omaha's Westroads Mall. So far, 14 people injured, 9 dead, including the shooter, who apparently shot himself dead.

Police response was fast, considering that US President Bush was visiting in Omaha also today.
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Update: 20 year-old Sarpy County, Nebraska man is suspected of being the shooter. Evidently the chap left a note behind saying that he was "going out in style" today. Some crappy style.

Robert A. Hawkins

Latest eyewitness reports indicated that the perp was a white man who shot a teddy bear during his 'stylish' murder spree. Now we know his name was Robert A. Hawkins, a youth facing 'minor in possession' of alcohol charges, and a history of depression. Last words: "Now I'm going to be famous."

What made him snap? The family who had taken the 'emotionally troubled' young man into their home reported that he was fired from his job at McDonald's yesterday or early today. The firing seemed to upset him inordinately. Thousands of young cats get fired from McDonald's jobs, almost none of them react by going on a murder-suicide spree. Oh! He just broke up with his girlfriend, too. Now my heart is really starting to bleed.

We may never know why Mr. Hawkins chose Von Maur, an upscale department store, to vent his madness. His boss and co-workers at his old place of employment should be grateful he didn't seem to be looking for revenge. Perhaps he figured McDonald's wasn't stylish enough to accomplish his stated goal of going out in style.
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I note that Omaha Mayor Fahey was out of town as this happened. Look for the absentee tyrant to call for more worthless gun control laws.
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For the latest coverage of this unpleasantness, see our local TV stations' websites. The local coverage is getting too sappy for me. Example: "the scene must have been surreal, hearing Christmas music and smelling gunpowder..."

• KMTV
• WOWT
• KETV
• KPTM
  

Don't bother with the Omaha World Herald. It would appear that any breaking news nearly crashes their wretched web-site.
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Sad Conclusion: These killings could have been minimized or even prevented if just one mall employee, store employee or customers had been armed and taken action. I'm guessing misguided policies are at least partly to blame for the extent of the damage. Not just misguided mall and store policies that often deter a citizen from exercising their Second Amendment rights, but the misguided personal policies of the shoppers and workers that lead them to go unarmed despite their right to defend themselves.

The Westroads Mall is a "gun free" zone. I didn't know until I saw it at Joe's Crabby Shack; I almost never go into malls. Bad store policies like this don't make me want to change my ways, either.

I don't understand why any self-respecting citizen would let a store or mall policy take away their natural right to self defense by force of arms, whether such right is deemed guaranteed by the US Constitution or not. I'll not be reduced to "huddling in a corner" as David Codrea at War on Guns describes today's victim's plight.

Lonely Machines would "like to see the owners of Westroads Mall held accountable for rendering their patrons defenseless." Sounds like a good idea to me.
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Missing the point - the Day After
Lets see how many bloggers covering this tragedy have so far missed the fact that it occurred in a state that allows both concealed and open carrying of firearms BUT which allows local entities to post areas as "gun free zones". Westroads Mall has a posted "No Weapons" policy. Just one armed customer or shopkeeper could have spared much suffering. A small sampling of bloggers that have missed the point so far:

Michelle Malkin - no mention of the Mall's ill advised policy or Nebraska's CCW law.
Hot Air - ditto
Unstable - same, plus more heart-bleed
Stop the ACLU - no mention of self defense
Jawa Report - at least it wasn't a Mohammedan
JammieWearingFool - no mention
Leaning Straight Up - notes the 'assault rifle' moniker, but not the CCW aspect
Gateway Pundit - no mention
Irish Calvinist - Repent or ye shall be shot dead! A weapon won't save you.
Eye on Omaha - gets the blame game right.

I'm sure there are more bloggers that are waking up to what really went wrong in Omaha yesterday.
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Some bloggers that saw the real issues:
From the Heartland
Joe's Crabby Shack
imatt.us
AndrewsDad
John Lott's Website
Liberty Zone
Real Gun Guys
The Pickle
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Read these pro-carry comments on a Democratic Underground forum.
More comments from the Freepers.

Guess who is 60

A little wider through the beam... [Kleek]

This isn't much of a blog post, but I haven't been able to think of anything or anyone else since I heard her at the Poor Farm. Ear worm, indeed, Jeffro.
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Huge Sewer Tiles or Arty Sculpture?

Omaha will become an artsy, fruity, yuppie, liberal bastion or else, says Omaha Nebraska Mayor-Dictator Mike Fahey. He will put art work that looks like concrete sewer parts in a city park whether the folks who will have to suffer its artiness every day want it or not.

Sure, he will have a meeting to discuss the infliction of this monstrous visual carbuncle and threat to their kids on the park's neighbors. But after his minions have taken the names of everyone who opposes him, the little fat tyrant does as he pleases. Read all about this most recent of Fahey's Stalinesque escapades at Eye on Omaha, where Mongo Torrey has what you won't read in the Omaha World Herald.

At least these cement eyesores won't breed rats, like the awful 'park in a pit' Omaha calls a mall.
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In other matters, you might be interested to know that I should have gotten the Nobel Peace Prize instead of that mendacious scare-monger Al Gore. Here are a few of the reasons.

Omaha Public Schools - always on the ball

Who is watching the coop?

The taxpayer supported Omaha Public School retirement fund has been writing checks to a retired teacher that died almost 20 years ago. She was Winifred Brinker, and taught for 17 years at OPS, retiring in 1980. The $120,000 in payments made since her death in 1988 were electronically deposited to an American National Bank account.

Compound interest should have fattened that amount to a tidy sum by now. Unless, of course, it isn't there. The bank needed a court order to open up the account; I don't know the results yet. OPS spokeswoman Luanne Nelson said they were still "in the discovery process." Read: "We don't have a clue."

The Omaha World Herald had the details here, last time I looked. Unless they have changed their ways, the OWH will try to make you pay to read it after a few days. If you are in Omaha, you aren't supposed to read about Winifred here: Not For Online Use In Omaha Market. Any wonder why newspapers are going broke?

I gather that the stewards of OPS' retirement money just wait to be informed that a payee is deceased. Maybe they read the obituaries, maybe they don't. Winifred Brinker's obit appeared in the OWH:

Brinker's obituary advertisement ran in The World-Herald on May 19, 1988. And her death certificate was filed with Douglas County vital statistics the day after her death. OPS officials had no answers as to why they weren't aware, or made aware, of Brinker's death.

The same OPS is the steward of our children's' educations. Private schools ought to get our tax money. These bureaucrats posing as educators have no incentive to do anything right. No incentive to teach to a standard, no incentive to provide guidance and leadership, and no incentive to keep an eye on the bottom line. The taxpayers are their constant cash cow and the kids are their victims.

Omaha, Nebraska: Union Town

Not much chance of fiscal responsibility in Omaha, Nebraska as long as the public service unions have Mayor Mike Fahey in their pocket. Omaha's official city services policy will remain: pay more, get less.

Why Nebraskans put up with this organized robbery is beyond me. But I've always thought that trade unions, especially in the public sector, were a bad idea. While they stink of Marxism, they act like Mafia mobsters.

I try to stay out of Red State Nebraska's yuppified Blue Island, especially when I'm looking to spend some cash. I wouldn't want to contribute to their insanity.

Bombers Coming To Omaha

Bombers: headed for the Heartland

I thought it was Disturbing Headline: NewsRadio 1110 KFAB: Bombers Coming To Omaha.

As it turns out, the article isn't about Mohammedan MDs setting up terror cells in Omaha, but rather about a great chance to see and even take a ride in a real WWII bomber. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to see these roaring big prop planes flying over the feedlot.

The Collings Foundation’s WINGS OF FREEDOM TOUR of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress "Nine O Nine" and the Consolidated B-24 Liberator WWII Heavy Bombers, will fly into Eppley Airfield in Omaha for a visit from July 9 to July 11 to offer local citizens an opportunity to visit, explore, and learn more about these unique and rare treasures of aviation history.

The old feeder is fascinated by these rough old birds. I've flown them all on my computer flight sims. The feedlot library has almost as many WWII bomber books as it does U-boat titles. Many brave men died in both machines. Their stories are worth remembering.

Bob Kerrey

Bob Kerrey - Vietnam Ghost

Former Nebraska Senator and Medal of Honor recipient Bob Kerrey was the speaker at a Democrat fund raiser in Omaha Saturday night. The old baby-killing Lincoln leftist has a big nerve coming back before his cursed pork footbridge is finished. He is thinking about running for the Senate again. This makes two mixed-up, Viet-Nam tainted dunces sitting on that fence. Jon Bruning looks smarter every day.
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Nobody.likes.Bob.Kerrey. What kind of suckers does he think Nebraskans are?

Omahans must learn to love their city

Omaha: Cool or Un-Cool?

The Omaha Visitors and Convention Bureau is having a hard time keeping Omaha folks smiling. The expensive slogans, PR campaigns, annexations, footbridges, skyways and riverfront face-lifts have left Omaha denizens with a bad self image. They think their city stinks, no matter what Mayor Fahey and his cronies can dream up to fruitify and Disneyland-up the once rough cow town.

Naturally, the solution is to hire more consultants and fund more programs. It is the way of liberal politics: if the medicine isn't working, you just need to take more. The prescribed medicine being the taxpayers' money, of course.
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Video at 10:00