Hey there sportsfans. It being Friday night and me being overcome with the surety of knowledge that this is the best time of the year, I figured I'd best check in with some profit potential for you all. Of course this isn't just the best time of year because of football, although thats about 70% of my argument for it. The food you put out this time of year is better and maybe best of all are the colors this time of year. I can never get enough of the reds, oranges, yellows and browns that come out on the trees. All around the Truckee Meadows the colors are changing and especially down by the river, where the cottonwoods are in full yellow burst. Up and down my own street are maples, birches, aspens, cottonwoods, crabapples and dogwoods just beautiful in their arrays of color. Anyways, just thought I'd throw a little rhapsody at you all in case some lib'rul wanders in by mistake thinking that all conservatives are devoid of artistic thought.

Speaking of artistic thoughts, nothing concentrates the mind like the prospect of fiduciary enhancement. So with that in mind, I offer up the Tex-Mex-Pollack picks of the week. Since we had a funky schedule this week I don't actually have input from the Pollack so Pancho Palica is beyond reproach for any failed picks here.

Longhorns cost us money last week, they won't do it again, take the 'Horns give the 11 pts. (At least thats what I got it at, the line opened at 12)

Mizzou has to show they're for real, the Chuckwagon gang is in the way and they don't have AP. Take Mizzou at home against Oklahoma
and give the 2 pts.

Auburn big over Mississippi...give the 17.5 pts

Hate doin' it but rooting for the Sodbusters helps the Longhorn SOS right now. Take A&M over Baylor in Waco, give the 4.5 pts.

Tease the Niners to the Titans...should give you 3+ touchdowns for SF to play with and a minimal cover for Tennessee.

Now get out there and stimulate that economy sportsfans, when next we check in, Cream of Broccoli soup with bacon and more musings on the lunacy of the left...

Smilin' Paul Villa U.S. Senate 2010
cyber-Congressman, R-Reno
Proud Member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy and 2 SUV Family

Pancho Palica, the Polish Mexican survived his "Massacre at the Mirage" and I will survive last Saturday's "Bloodbath at Bully's". For you foreigners, Bully's is what passes for a sportsbar in these parts. You devoted readers can thank the Lord that I didn't manage to post my picks of the week last week because I went a horrid 1-4 in College action. Cal, Texas, Oregon, Tennessee all failing to cover. We'll try to rebound this week as my beloved Longhorns travel out to Lubbock and take on my niece's own Red Raiders, or as we like to call them, "dust aggies"...

Getting back to our bread and butter though, how about yet another lesson in liberal hypocrisy? So let me see if I get this straight. When it became necessary for the United States to liberate Iraq from the dictatorial grip of Saddam, liberals were all apoplectic that the United States was acting unilaterally, because of course unless France was on board, then whatever policy the U.S. implemented was bound to be morally bankrupt, ineffectual and without gravitas. Something like the french are as a people. The point being that libs continually tried to delay the war in order to snivel in an unending chorus that we needed to "build a coalition". Forget the fact that President Bush had built a coalition of the willing. Sort of like putting up a new barn, you can invite your neighbors to come help and pitch in but if they don't, it doesn't mean the work still doesn't need doin'.

So in the case of Iraq, despite the fact that we did engage in a multilateral approach, the Bush administration was still accused of going it alone and unilateralism. Now comes N. Korea and the sawed-off Stalinist with a big mouth is starting to stamp his foot and draw our attention. The Bush administration has for some time been actively engaged in attempting to bring the North Koreans to "six-party talks" including all their neighbors, S. Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States, in an attempt to diffuse the current crisis. Now that we are trying to publicly pursue a peaceful and multilateral approach to a crisis, the libs cry foul! Now we are told that the policy is ineffective, (because we know how effective those 1994 unilateral talks conducted by IMPEACHED ex-president Clinton and ex-president Carter were) and that we must discard the 6 party talks.

Clearly, democrats have no concern for American security in this matter. Twelve years ago they send the worst president of the 20th century, whose failed approach to the Middle East has spawned the current war, to North Korea. The result? Billions of American tax dollars used against us, millions of North Koreans starving and oh by the way, North Korea now has nukes. The only thing missing would be a photo-op of Bill Clinton posing next to one of the nukes, with a small label on it, saying "Made in USA". So the essence of democrat carping is this, when they act unilaterally, no matter how contrary to American interests, it's ok. When Republicans act unilaterally in support of American interests, it's outside the bounds of deceny and morally reprehensible. Funny how your lefties can never find their way to church but they can always find a way to decry Republican policies as "morally bankrupt".

OK students, now that you've had yet another lesson in liberal hypocrisy, go forth and sin no more....

Smilin' Paul Villa U.S. Senate 2010
cyber-Congressman, R-Reno
Proud Member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy and 2 SUV Family

I needed a fairly quick meal the other day, economical too so I rummaged around the refrigerator and took stock. Whole cut up chicken, some vegetables…hmmm…I decided to reach back to one of my old favorites for times like this. Smothered chicken, which is just a wonderful way to transform some yard strutter into a tender, delicious, comfort-food dish. Especially nice on a chilly fall day.

1 whole chicken, cut up
1 can Campbell’s Golden Mushroom Soup
½ c all purpose flour
Schilling’s Montreal Chicken Seasoning (Or salt and pepper if you prefer)
3 stalks of celery chopped
1 lg yellow onion sliced thinly
1 leek (white and pale green portion sliced)
1 cup sliced mushrooms
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil

Season the flour in a shallow plate with Montreal Chicken Seasoning or salt and fresh ground pepper if you prefer. Lightly coat the chicken pieces with the mixture. Now heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium high heat. When the oil is ready, add the chicken pieces and brown them evenly on all sides. While the chicken is browning, mix your can of Campbell’s Golden Mushroom soup with a can of hot water. Keep separate in a bowl. Once the chicken is browned, add the celery, garlic, onion, leek and mushrooms, cover the skillet and reduce the heat to low. Cook it for about 3-5 minutes, just enough to turn the onions translucent. Now pour the soup mixture over contents and stir it up to coat all chicken and vegetables. Cover and simmer over low heat for 25-35 minutes. Now this is my own quick smothered chicken recipe and there are hundreds of others out there. Mrs. Smilin’ Paul and the kids all loved it though. You can serve this up over rice which is traditional or with pasta if you like. It’s really flexible in that you can serve it with white rice, saffron rice, Spanish rice or just about any rice you care to. Now get after it and good eatin’ on ya!!

I’ll be back later this week with Pancho’s Pick’s of the Week. Last week wasn’t too bad financially, but if I recall correctly my Pick’s of the Week went 2-3. We’ll get back in the game this week that’s for sure.


Smilin' Paul Villa U.S. Senate 2010
cyber-Congressman, R-Reno
Proud Member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy and 2 SUV Family

Tomorrow being the anniversary of Mrs. Smilin' Paul and my wedding, we're heading down to the liberal heartland to celebrate. Naturally being in San Francisco will be call for heavy consumption of adult beverages but what the hell, you can still get excellent seafood there. Since I've still got to pack, I figured I'd check in here and dash off my recipe for pasta and this week's picks for football. So away we go...

Pasta with butter and garlic.

Pasta, (I like to use linguine) cooked and drained per the instructions on the package.

2 tblsp olive oil
2 tblsp butter
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper

Like I said, this one is too easy. Once the pasta is cooked and drained, fire up your saute pan over medium-medium high heat. Add the olive oil and butter stirring to combine. Add the garlic and once it begins to brown, remove from heat and add the pasta, add a pinch or two of kosher salt and grind black pepper over it to taste. Toss to combine and return to heat just to get the noodles warm again and then it's ready. Serve with pork or chicken or fish. The beauty of this dish is it's versatility. I had some leftover leeks, mushrooms and bacon in the refrigerator the other day and simply chopped them all up and tossed them in with the olive oil and butter, sauteing them before adding the noodles. It was good enough to make you hit your grandma!...now get it cooked and good eatin' on ya!!

As to this week's picks. We're deep into conference play now sportfans so here are my picks of the week.

Cal at Wazzoo, give the 8.5 pts
Texas over Baylor, if you can get it at 27.5 or lower
Mizzou straps it on the sodbusters at A&M give the 2.5
Baltimore in NFL action give the 3 pts
Seahawks over Rams, give the 3 pts

Parlay and teasers as you all see fit...Now get out and stimulate the economy...

Smilin' Paul Villa U.S. Senate 2010
cyber-Congressman, R-Reno
Proud Member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy and 2 SUV Family

Boy hidy, thankfully that weekend only comes around once a year. I know I'm backed up a recipe and I've got a great one for you all who need an easy side to accompany some supper meat or fish. This is a nice pasta dish that you can make in a few minutes and requires little in the way of ingredients. Perfect for those of us who are busy and needin' to throw some supper together in a pinch. But first....

I will spare you all the ribald details of the 2006 Annual Boys Weekend in Vegas, suffice it to say that I did my level best to stimulate the local economy and it repaid me handsomely by paying for my trip and givin' me a little spending whipout on my return. Most of that windfall was produced by football wagering and even though Pancho Palica the Polish Mexican made his last stand on Saturday during the Massacre at the Mirage, yours truly was able to ride out the storm thanks to late bets on Texas, Cal and Tennessee. I also had Iowa, Ball St., Florida and Michigan outright winners. Lost a couple of parlays with Arky St. and North Texas. We also won a couple over/unders with the over on Rice/Tulane and Nebraska/Iowa St. Also lost Kent St., Notre Dame, Wake Forest over, Texas Tech and Kentucky. All in all a brutal day with a lot invested and little gained.

Fortunately Sunday was a different day at the office and I went 7 out of 10 bets but even one of those was not a complete loss since I made the difference up plus on a teaser with the 49ers and where the Saints came through late. Nice day at the bank. Only 51 more weeks until the next trip. By then the Polish Mexican's liver might have forgiven him. Of course while we wasted away our days in Vegas, all was not well in the foreign department and that usually means but one thing, we can thank democrats for yet another global pile of steaming dog excreta that it will be up to the rest of us to fix.

I speak of course of the news that North Korea has reportedly, (maybe) tested a nuke. Seems they aren't sure whether it was a full blown bomb or a fizzle. Seein' as how most of their rockets look like something from the Estes Weekend Rocket Club Picnic and BBQ I'm willing to bet that a full blown nuke might have been a little out of their technological reach yet. I say yet because they sure as hell made a good effort there to tick us off and naturally we wouldn't be in this fix if good ol' IMPEACHED ex-president Clinton hadn't been selling off our nuclear secrets to the Chinese and sending Jimmah "Never met a dictator I didn't like" Carter to negotiate with a bunch of inscrutable gangsters who haven't negotiated in good faith since Confucious was a corporal. For those of you in Sun Valley, thats a helluva long time.

Let no American forget that it was our grand IMPEACHED ex-president who sold out our interests to the North Koreans back in 1994. Sell out literally. Americans sent billions, (Yes that's with a B) in subsidies that we knew would be used to build up North Korea's armed forces under the pretense that it was for humanitarian aid. Check, like any of that aid ever made it down to Jong six-pack in the street. Whats worse, we agreed to finance a portion of their nuclear technology as long as they promised to keep the nuclear development peaceful. Check. Do you believe that? It's like buying an armed robber a gun and asking him not to stick it to you. Thats after you testified against him the last time. With deals like this struck, who needs enemies? We've got them right here and they are democrats...

So tell me friends, do y'all really want to hand the car keys and a bottle of good whisky to the teenagers? If you do, the hangover just might hurt you more than it hurts them...

Smilin' Paul Villa U.S. Senate 2010
cyber-Congressman, R-Reno
Proud Member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy and 2 SUV Family

I won't say this last weekend was a bloodbath because I still came out ahead but damn those Raiders...I see that I plain forgot to post my picks for the week last Friday but I can go over the dismal results. Wins on Cal, Air Force and big thanks to Pancho Palica the Polish Mexican for his gift of Kent State. Lost with Mizzou and Florida both failing to cover and by the grand total of 2.5 pts. That hurt because otherwise it would have been a clean sweep. Also dumped a parlay card with Michigan, Dallas, Houston and Oakland. Thanks again Raiders. Good lord they look awful.

This week will find myself and the Polish Mexican down at the Mirage in Vegas trying to parlay our football knowledge into a financial empire. Be sure to tune in for tales from Sin City as Bull Smith comes to watch the Red River Shootout with us and Texas dismantles the Chuckwagon gang.

Back to our bread and butter though. Like any other decent American I am disgusted with the actions of former Republican Representative Mark Foley who resigned over an e-mail and instant message sex scandal involving a former page. If it's true that Republican leadership knew of Foley's activities then as a Republican I demand that heads roll. On the other hand, we should not be held hostage to the typical democrat demagoguery. Besides being generally seditious, the democrats coddle their sexual predators, witness IMPEACHED ex-president Clinton, former Congressmen Mel Reynolds and Barney Frank of the People's Republic of Massachusetts. The difference is obvious. Democrats re-elect their sexual predators. Republicans hand theirs the proverbial political pistol with 1 bullet and ask them to do the honorable thing.

Not that I've come to expect much honor from the Party of Sedition. Last week they howled for release of a classified document because it might support their claims that we have only increased the likelihood of terrorism by toppling Saddam. Can you imagine Republicans in the 1940s screaming for the release of classified information? Of course not. Republican Wendell Wilkie was continually provided with information about the war, intelligence estimates and planning for defeating the Axis. Though he might have disagreed with much of it, he never made political hay out of it the way modern democrats do in their shameless bid to regain power. Which is precisely why I beleive that Republicans maintain both houses of Congress in the upcoming elections. Americans know we're at war, the democrats have provided no substantive plans to better deal with the war and in the end, Americans just aren't ready as P.J. O'Rourke famously quipped, "to hand the car keys and a bottle of whisky to the teenagers."

Smilin' Paul Villa U.S. Senate 2010
cyber-Congressman, R-Reno
Proud Member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy and 2 SUV Family