"Advising the target of proposed annihilation to respond "proportionately" to a feeble aggressor is so vile as to be almost funny. God's response to those who sow the wind does not seem particularly proportionate.
If Hosea 8:7 gets it right, they shall reap the whirlwind." -- George Jonas
Here's hoping Hamas reaps the whirlwind.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
To the Inevitable Year End Music List Makers....
Boo, hissss. I crap on your lists.
... See, that rhymed.
I like it when my favorite music is all a non-mention in the year-end lists of the hoity-toity music mags. It's a sign of an almost "Bushian" combination of ignorance and self-confidence that these non-mentions make me feel both superior and privileged to the rewards of a secret knowledge that makes the highest audit level of Scientology seem a cheap investment.
In short, I (with only a very few exceptions) look down on music critics like I look at Amway salespeople.
... See, that rhymed.
I like it when my favorite music is all a non-mention in the year-end lists of the hoity-toity music mags. It's a sign of an almost "Bushian" combination of ignorance and self-confidence that these non-mentions make me feel both superior and privileged to the rewards of a secret knowledge that makes the highest audit level of Scientology seem a cheap investment.
In short, I (with only a very few exceptions) look down on music critics like I look at Amway salespeople.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Search Order = Where we are headed....
Search Order -- by Raúl Rivero
What are these gentlemen looking for
in my house?
What is this officer doing
reading the sheet of paper
on which I’ve written
the words “ambition,” “lightness,” and “brittle”?
What hint of conspiracy
speaks to him from the photo without a dedication
of my father in a guayabera (black tie)
in the fields of the National Capitol?
How does he interpret my certificates of divorce?
Where will his techniques of harassment lead him
when he reads the ten-line poems
and discovers the war wounds
of my great-grandfather?
Eight policemen
are examining the texts and drawings of my daughters,
and are infiltrating themselves into my emotional networks
and want to know where little Andrea sleeps
and what does her asthma have to do
with my carpets.
They want the code of a message from Zucu
in the upper part
of a cryptic text (here a light triumphal smile
of the comrade):
“Castles with music box. I won’t let the boy
hang out with the boogeyman. Jennie.”
A specialist in aporia came,
a literary critic with the rank of interim corporal
who examined at the point of a gun
the hills of poetry books.
Eight policemen
in my house
with a search order,
a clean operation,
a full victory
for the vanguard of the proletariat
who confiscated my Consul typewriter,
one hundred forty-two blank pages
and a sad and personal heap of papers
--the most perishable of the perishable
from this summer.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
CIA Recruitment on the Radio -- What????
Yep, folks. File this under more "Stuff I Just Don't Get".
And I don't know 'bout you, but I don't really feel any safer, now that I know this:
There are CIA Recruitment ads on radio (610 WTVN), complete with martial music and "be-the-best-you-can-be" kinda crap, website address, AND they tout that The Company is now an "Equal Opportunity Employer".
Wow.
Again, don't know 'bout you guys, but I grew up with the John Le Carre' "Smiley" novels, Graham Greene, Frederick Forsyth, Edward S. Aarons, the best: Adam Hall's "Quiller" and more, and I don't see my CIA operatives as average people.
I want my spy to be a 150+ IQ MIT grad, recruited by his/her professor with a whisper-in-the-ear out of an IVY League Masters program.
I want them to be ultra-smart persons of questionable ethics and morals who don't mind waterboarding the occasional terrorist/informant/captive for the "greater good", and who are always up for a little "wet-work" on the side.
The Republic is in serious trouble and the CIA is now an Equal Opportunity Employer.
We truly do not want to be an independent nation much longer.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Ohio Spends 7 MIL on Rigged Bid for Breath Testers....
State of Ohio to spend 7 Million on 700 Breath Alcohol testing machines. AND, guess what, the bid was RIGGED.
Furthermore, it appears that the machine is unreliable.
They must be planning on making their money back pretty quickly.
Just like the decision to use this grant money, the DUI game is rigged to make money for the state.
This is NOT about highway safety. It is only about REVENUE.
Furthermore, it appears that the machine is unreliable.
They must be planning on making their money back pretty quickly.
Just like the decision to use this grant money, the DUI game is rigged to make money for the state.
This is NOT about highway safety. It is only about REVENUE.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Social Security -- The Biggest Ponzi Scheme....
From The Mises Institute:
Wall Street executive Bernard Madoff was recently arrested after admitting to his sons and later, to the FBI, that he was running a gigantic Ponzi scheme -- to the tune of $50 billion. He is now being sued by a number of investors.
Since he voluntarily admitted to the crime, he sets a good example for individuals like Michael Astrue, commissioner of the Social Security Administration.
With a budget of over $600 billion and more than 62,000 workers, the SSA is one of the largest pyramid-Ponzi schemes in existence.
Yet there is one difference: contributions to social security are compulsory, whereas Madoff's firm didn't coerce starry-eyed investors. While neither has the moral high ground, if Mardoff is going down -- to be consistent -- so should the SSA.
Wall Street executive Bernard Madoff was recently arrested after admitting to his sons and later, to the FBI, that he was running a gigantic Ponzi scheme -- to the tune of $50 billion. He is now being sued by a number of investors.
Since he voluntarily admitted to the crime, he sets a good example for individuals like Michael Astrue, commissioner of the Social Security Administration.
With a budget of over $600 billion and more than 62,000 workers, the SSA is one of the largest pyramid-Ponzi schemes in existence.
Yet there is one difference: contributions to social security are compulsory, whereas Madoff's firm didn't coerce starry-eyed investors. While neither has the moral high ground, if Mardoff is going down -- to be consistent -- so should the SSA.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Tips on How to Discourage Burglers....
Under the "Things I don't understand" label.
The Columbus Dispatch has an article on "Tips on How to Discourage Burglers".
Nowhere in the article do they mention shooting the burgler, cutting off his head, and hanging said head from the railing/balustrade/overhang of your front porch along with a sign that simply says: "Burgler".
IMNSHO, that should be "tip #1".
The Columbus Dispatch has an article on "Tips on How to Discourage Burglers".
Nowhere in the article do they mention shooting the burgler, cutting off his head, and hanging said head from the railing/balustrade/overhang of your front porch along with a sign that simply says: "Burgler".
IMNSHO, that should be "tip #1".
Monday, December 8, 2008
An Open Letter of Apology....
Dear Mr. Perot,
We were wrong. You were right.
We are very sorry.
Sincerely,
The American People
WTS says: "And we laughed him away, because he dared think us intelligent enough to be interested in the statistics that were spelling out our national peril. That was his big mistake. If he'd only put the damned charts on the side of a NASCAR, he'd've served two terms."
CFG says: "We have a problem created by people spending money that they had no hope of ever paying back. The government is solving the problem by spending money that we have no hope of ever paying back."
The Issue is Main-stream Islam's support for Terror....
A great article from Harold Evans at US News and World Report.
I think the most important issue relating to World-wide Islamic Terrorism is the support that Radical Islam gets from "mainstream" Islam -- along with almost NO condemnation of the radical element's plans for exectuting a cycle of terroristic violence that they promise will end only when Islam rules all people.
Mosques all over the world collect money for supposedly peaceful purposes that finds its way into the hands of terrorists. This is documented. It is not even a secret to the Muslims who are encouraged to give by their leaders.
Even in democratic host countries, Imams preach the establishment of Sharia Law and the eventual subjection of non-Muslims into Dhimmi-hood.
No other organized and supposedly mainstream Religion has these world-wide problems. You can't even compare any other religion's hard-line supporters to Islam's.
For those of you who point the finger at "extremists" of ANY religion, that's not the deal here.
Actually, there are so many different sects within major "religion" - especially in "Christianity", and for the sake of labeling, I don't see a lot of these as "Christian" - that even the label of "extreme" is not a good indicator.
For instance, many would think the "Amish Friends" or lighter versions of the same an "extreme", or the Bahai, but you would be hard pressed to find more peaceful people.
And even "Fundamentalism" is a misnomer in this "extreme" usage, as the church of my family (GARBC Baptist) is "Fundamental", but you would be hard pressed again, to find a more peaceful people.
Just because someone believes that the Bible says that you, as an unbeliever, are doomed to Hell, and feels a need to warn you about that danger, doesn't predispose them to violence. And while you might find them smuggling Bibles into China, you won't find them blowing up a cafe' of "unbelievers" -- or bombing someone else's church.
So, again, I think that at some point you have to point the finger, and say "You people are not policing your own. What is your problem?"
That is the question you need to ask mainstream Islam.
I think the most important issue relating to World-wide Islamic Terrorism is the support that Radical Islam gets from "mainstream" Islam -- along with almost NO condemnation of the radical element's plans for exectuting a cycle of terroristic violence that they promise will end only when Islam rules all people.
Mosques all over the world collect money for supposedly peaceful purposes that finds its way into the hands of terrorists. This is documented. It is not even a secret to the Muslims who are encouraged to give by their leaders.
Even in democratic host countries, Imams preach the establishment of Sharia Law and the eventual subjection of non-Muslims into Dhimmi-hood.
No other organized and supposedly mainstream Religion has these world-wide problems. You can't even compare any other religion's hard-line supporters to Islam's.
For those of you who point the finger at "extremists" of ANY religion, that's not the deal here.
Actually, there are so many different sects within major "religion" - especially in "Christianity", and for the sake of labeling, I don't see a lot of these as "Christian" - that even the label of "extreme" is not a good indicator.
For instance, many would think the "Amish Friends" or lighter versions of the same an "extreme", or the Bahai, but you would be hard pressed to find more peaceful people.
And even "Fundamentalism" is a misnomer in this "extreme" usage, as the church of my family (GARBC Baptist) is "Fundamental", but you would be hard pressed again, to find a more peaceful people.
Just because someone believes that the Bible says that you, as an unbeliever, are doomed to Hell, and feels a need to warn you about that danger, doesn't predispose them to violence. And while you might find them smuggling Bibles into China, you won't find them blowing up a cafe' of "unbelievers" -- or bombing someone else's church.
So, again, I think that at some point you have to point the finger, and say "You people are not policing your own. What is your problem?"
That is the question you need to ask mainstream Islam.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Union Concessions tend to hurt retirees more....
Retirees have virtually no defense against the broken "promises" of their employer.
What bothers me about "union concessions", is that they always seem to be tied to the retirement benefits of workers who have already retired.
It's like getting a 30-year loan from your bank and five years into it, the bank comes back and doubles your interest rate -- it's just damn unfair.
Some of these guys were employed way before 401Ks and Roths. And here they are with half the retirement they were promised and little to no health care.
Life's a bitch -- and then you retire, evidently.
Of course, the way things are headed - and fast - it really won't make any difference. Retirement and health benefits will soon be a part of our Golden Age past....
What bothers me about "union concessions", is that they always seem to be tied to the retirement benefits of workers who have already retired.
It's like getting a 30-year loan from your bank and five years into it, the bank comes back and doubles your interest rate -- it's just damn unfair.
Some of these guys were employed way before 401Ks and Roths. And here they are with half the retirement they were promised and little to no health care.
Life's a bitch -- and then you retire, evidently.
Of course, the way things are headed - and fast - it really won't make any difference. Retirement and health benefits will soon be a part of our Golden Age past....
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Evil Hates Goodness....
The Rabbi and the Terrorists By Dennis Prager
It was obvious to observers around the world that one of the designated targets of the Pakistani Islamist terrorists was the Mumbai Chabad House, the one Jewish center in Mumbai. The 10 Islamic terrorists who came from Pakistan to India chose their targets with great care.
If one assumes that the terrorists' primary goals were to destabilize India, weaken growing Indian-Pakistani cooperation in fighting terrorism, and greatly increase Indian-Pakistani tension, hopefully to the point of military war between the two countries, every one of the targets made strategic sense. Slaughtering as many people as possible in India's major economic center, including as many foreign tourists as possible at Mumbai's finest hotels, also made sense.
But one target seemed to make little sense. In fact, until the attack was over people were uncertain whether the terrorists' attack on the Jewish center known as the Chabad House was part of the original plan or chosen spontaneously. Only when the lone terrorist who was captured told his interrogators that the Chabad House was planned a year earlier was it indisputable that killing the Rabbi, his wife, their children and any other Jews present was part of the plan.
The question is why?
Why would a terrorist group of Islamists from Pakistan whose primary goal is to have Pakistan gain control of the third of Kashmir that belongs to India and therefore aimed to destabilize India's major city devote so much of its efforts -- 20 percent of its force of 10 gunmen whose stated goal was to kill 5,000 -- to killing a rabbi and any Jews with him?
The question echoes one from World War II: Why did Hitler devote so much time, money, and manpower in order to murder every Jewish man, woman, and child in every country the Nazis occupied? Why did Hitler -- as documented by the late historian Lucy Dawidowicz in her aptly named book "The War against the Jews" -- weaken the Nazi war effort by diverting money, troops, and military vehicles from fighting the Allies to rounding up Jews and shipping them to death camps?
From the perspective of political scientists, historians, and contemporary journalists, the answer to these questions is not rational. But the non-rationality of an answer is not synonymous with its non-validity.
For the Islamists, as for the Nazis, the destruction of the Jews -- and since 1948, the Jewish state -- is central to their worldview.
If anyone has a better explanation for why Pakistani terrorists, preoccupied with destabilizing India, would expend so much effort at finding the one Jewish center in a country that is essentially devoid of Jews, I would like to hear it.
With all the Pakistani Islamists' hatred of Hindus, they did not attack one Hindu temple in India's major city.
With all their hatred of Christian infidels, the terrorists did not seek out one of the 700,000 Christians in Mumbai.
To reinforce my point, imagine a Basque separatist terrorist organization attacking Madrid. Would the terrorists take time out to murder all those in the Madrid Chabad House? The idea is ludicrous. But no one seems to find it odd that that Pakistani Muslim terrorists who hate India and want it to give up control of Indian Kashmir would send two of its 10 terrorists to kill perhaps the only rabbi in Mumbai. As Newsweek reported during the siege, "Given that Orthodox Jews were being held at gunpoint by mujahideen (sic), it seemed unlikely there would be survivors." Newsweek, like just about everyone else, simply assumes Islamists will murder Jews whenever and wherever possible.
They are right.
For years I have warned that great evils often begin with the murder of Jews, and therefore non-Jews who dismiss Jew-hatred (aka anti-Semitism, aka anti-Zionism), will learn too late that Jew- and Israel-haters only begin with Jews but never end with them. When Israeli Jews were almost the only targets of Muslim terrorists, the world dismissed it as a Jewish or Israeli problem. Then it became an American and European and Filipino and Thai and Indonesian and Hindu problem.
Two final points:
One is that it is exquisitely fitting that the same week the murders in Mumbai were taking place, the United Nations General Assembly passed six more anti-Israel resolutions. As it has for decades, the U.N. has again sanctioned hatred for a good and decent country as small on the map of the world as the Chabad House is on the map of Mumbai.
Two: Statements from Chabad in reaction to the torture-murders of a 28-year-old Chabad rabbi and his wife called on humanity to react to this evil "with random acts of kindness." Evil hates goodness. That's why the terrorists targeted a Chabad Rabbi and his wife.
Copyright 2008, Creators Syndicate Inc.
It was obvious to observers around the world that one of the designated targets of the Pakistani Islamist terrorists was the Mumbai Chabad House, the one Jewish center in Mumbai. The 10 Islamic terrorists who came from Pakistan to India chose their targets with great care.
If one assumes that the terrorists' primary goals were to destabilize India, weaken growing Indian-Pakistani cooperation in fighting terrorism, and greatly increase Indian-Pakistani tension, hopefully to the point of military war between the two countries, every one of the targets made strategic sense. Slaughtering as many people as possible in India's major economic center, including as many foreign tourists as possible at Mumbai's finest hotels, also made sense.
But one target seemed to make little sense. In fact, until the attack was over people were uncertain whether the terrorists' attack on the Jewish center known as the Chabad House was part of the original plan or chosen spontaneously. Only when the lone terrorist who was captured told his interrogators that the Chabad House was planned a year earlier was it indisputable that killing the Rabbi, his wife, their children and any other Jews present was part of the plan.
The question is why?
Why would a terrorist group of Islamists from Pakistan whose primary goal is to have Pakistan gain control of the third of Kashmir that belongs to India and therefore aimed to destabilize India's major city devote so much of its efforts -- 20 percent of its force of 10 gunmen whose stated goal was to kill 5,000 -- to killing a rabbi and any Jews with him?
The question echoes one from World War II: Why did Hitler devote so much time, money, and manpower in order to murder every Jewish man, woman, and child in every country the Nazis occupied? Why did Hitler -- as documented by the late historian Lucy Dawidowicz in her aptly named book "The War against the Jews" -- weaken the Nazi war effort by diverting money, troops, and military vehicles from fighting the Allies to rounding up Jews and shipping them to death camps?
From the perspective of political scientists, historians, and contemporary journalists, the answer to these questions is not rational. But the non-rationality of an answer is not synonymous with its non-validity.
For the Islamists, as for the Nazis, the destruction of the Jews -- and since 1948, the Jewish state -- is central to their worldview.
If anyone has a better explanation for why Pakistani terrorists, preoccupied with destabilizing India, would expend so much effort at finding the one Jewish center in a country that is essentially devoid of Jews, I would like to hear it.
With all the Pakistani Islamists' hatred of Hindus, they did not attack one Hindu temple in India's major city.
With all their hatred of Christian infidels, the terrorists did not seek out one of the 700,000 Christians in Mumbai.
To reinforce my point, imagine a Basque separatist terrorist organization attacking Madrid. Would the terrorists take time out to murder all those in the Madrid Chabad House? The idea is ludicrous. But no one seems to find it odd that that Pakistani Muslim terrorists who hate India and want it to give up control of Indian Kashmir would send two of its 10 terrorists to kill perhaps the only rabbi in Mumbai. As Newsweek reported during the siege, "Given that Orthodox Jews were being held at gunpoint by mujahideen (sic), it seemed unlikely there would be survivors." Newsweek, like just about everyone else, simply assumes Islamists will murder Jews whenever and wherever possible.
They are right.
For years I have warned that great evils often begin with the murder of Jews, and therefore non-Jews who dismiss Jew-hatred (aka anti-Semitism, aka anti-Zionism), will learn too late that Jew- and Israel-haters only begin with Jews but never end with them. When Israeli Jews were almost the only targets of Muslim terrorists, the world dismissed it as a Jewish or Israeli problem. Then it became an American and European and Filipino and Thai and Indonesian and Hindu problem.
Two final points:
One is that it is exquisitely fitting that the same week the murders in Mumbai were taking place, the United Nations General Assembly passed six more anti-Israel resolutions. As it has for decades, the U.N. has again sanctioned hatred for a good and decent country as small on the map of the world as the Chabad House is on the map of Mumbai.
Two: Statements from Chabad in reaction to the torture-murders of a 28-year-old Chabad rabbi and his wife called on humanity to react to this evil "with random acts of kindness." Evil hates goodness. That's why the terrorists targeted a Chabad Rabbi and his wife.
Copyright 2008, Creators Syndicate Inc.
Friday, November 28, 2008
The "Religion of Peace"....
The Religion of Peace:
"Don't judge the Muslims that you know by Islam and don't judge Islam by the Muslims that you know."
... Islam is an ideology. No ideology is above critique, particularly one that explicitly seeks political and social dominance over every person on the planet.
Muslims are individuals. We passionately believe that no Muslim should be harmed, harassed, stereotyped or treated any differently anywhere in the world solely on account of their status as a Muslim.
Islam is not simply a belief about God. It is a word that means Submission. Islam is a set of rules that establish a social hierarchy in which Muslims submit to Allah, women submit to men and all non-Muslims submit to Islamic rule.
Since we don't live in a Muslim country (where censorship, intimidation and brute force are shamelessly employed to protect Islam from logical deconstruction), we are still free to openly exercise our right to debate the merits of the Islamic value system against Western Liberalism.
Are men really superior to women as the Qur'an says? Are women intellectually inferior as Muhammad taught? Does propagating material (the Qur'an) that openly curses people of other religions amidst random calls to violence really improve the health of our societies? Is it right to keep women as sex slaves, merely because the Qur'an explicitly allows it in multiple places? Should atheists and homosexuals have to choose between the noose and an outward profession of faith in Allah?
Yes, there are Muslims who take issue with these aspects of Islamic theology, but it doesn't change what Islam is. Don't confuse the ideology with the individual. Don't draw conclusions about Islam based on the Muslims that you know, be they terrorists or humanitarians. Islam must be understood on the basis of what it is, as presented by the Qur'an the Hadith and Sira (biography of Muhammad).
By the same token, don't draw conclusions about the Muslims in your life based on the true nature of Islam. Like any other group, not all Muslims think alike.
... Most Muslims (even devout ones) have only a superficial understanding of their religion. Most never made the choice to be Muslim, so (as with all religion) there are widely varying degrees of seriousness with which they may take their faith.
The Muslims that you know are not terrorists. More than likely their interests in life are similar to yours and they have the same ambitions for their children. They should neither be shunned, mistreated nor disrespected merely because of their religion. Their property should not be abused, and neither should copies of their sacred book be vandalized.
Pre-judging an individual by their group identity (or presumed group identity) is not only unethical, it is blatantly irrational, since group identity reveals nothing about them. Every individual should be judged only on the basis of their own words and deeds.
Don't judge Islam by the Muslims that you know, and don't judge the Muslims that you know by Islam.
"Don't judge the Muslims that you know by Islam and don't judge Islam by the Muslims that you know."
... Islam is an ideology. No ideology is above critique, particularly one that explicitly seeks political and social dominance over every person on the planet.
Muslims are individuals. We passionately believe that no Muslim should be harmed, harassed, stereotyped or treated any differently anywhere in the world solely on account of their status as a Muslim.
Islam is not simply a belief about God. It is a word that means Submission. Islam is a set of rules that establish a social hierarchy in which Muslims submit to Allah, women submit to men and all non-Muslims submit to Islamic rule.
Since we don't live in a Muslim country (where censorship, intimidation and brute force are shamelessly employed to protect Islam from logical deconstruction), we are still free to openly exercise our right to debate the merits of the Islamic value system against Western Liberalism.
Are men really superior to women as the Qur'an says? Are women intellectually inferior as Muhammad taught? Does propagating material (the Qur'an) that openly curses people of other religions amidst random calls to violence really improve the health of our societies? Is it right to keep women as sex slaves, merely because the Qur'an explicitly allows it in multiple places? Should atheists and homosexuals have to choose between the noose and an outward profession of faith in Allah?
Yes, there are Muslims who take issue with these aspects of Islamic theology, but it doesn't change what Islam is. Don't confuse the ideology with the individual. Don't draw conclusions about Islam based on the Muslims that you know, be they terrorists or humanitarians. Islam must be understood on the basis of what it is, as presented by the Qur'an the Hadith and Sira (biography of Muhammad).
By the same token, don't draw conclusions about the Muslims in your life based on the true nature of Islam. Like any other group, not all Muslims think alike.
... Most Muslims (even devout ones) have only a superficial understanding of their religion. Most never made the choice to be Muslim, so (as with all religion) there are widely varying degrees of seriousness with which they may take their faith.
The Muslims that you know are not terrorists. More than likely their interests in life are similar to yours and they have the same ambitions for their children. They should neither be shunned, mistreated nor disrespected merely because of their religion. Their property should not be abused, and neither should copies of their sacred book be vandalized.
Pre-judging an individual by their group identity (or presumed group identity) is not only unethical, it is blatantly irrational, since group identity reveals nothing about them. Every individual should be judged only on the basis of their own words and deeds.
Don't judge Islam by the Muslims that you know, and don't judge the Muslims that you know by Islam.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Further Up And Further In....
Thank you for your prayers.
Margaret passed the threshold at 9:14 this morning. Angels in heaven are rejoicing. "Further Up And Further In!"
My Brother and I held her and prayed with her as she passed. It was a relatively easy path and a comforting experience.
She is catching up with Dad right now.
... In the southland of the heart
Where night blooms perfume the breeze
Lie down
Take your rest with me
... In the southland of the heart
Where the saints go lazily
Lie down
Take your rest with me
... In the southland of the heart
There's no question of degree
Lie down
Take your rest with me
In the southland of the heart
Everyone was always free
Lie down
Take your rest with me
- Bruce Cockburn
Margaret passed the threshold at 9:14 this morning. Angels in heaven are rejoicing. "Further Up And Further In!"
My Brother and I held her and prayed with her as she passed. It was a relatively easy path and a comforting experience.
She is catching up with Dad right now.
... In the southland of the heart
Where night blooms perfume the breeze
Lie down
Take your rest with me
... In the southland of the heart
Where the saints go lazily
Lie down
Take your rest with me
... In the southland of the heart
There's no question of degree
Lie down
Take your rest with me
In the southland of the heart
Everyone was always free
Lie down
Take your rest with me
- Bruce Cockburn
Saturday, November 8, 2008
My Mother....
My Brother and I would appreciate your prayers.
I just drove to Lancaster from Athens, about two hours ago.
My Mom is in the process of dying. She started seriously toward it early this week, and today her body started the shut-down process. Tonight hospice gave my Brother and I the morphine to ease her breathing. She's not big, so it just takes a very small amount every half-hour or so. We are in contact with the hospice nurse and she is in contact with the doctor on call for them.
God is with her, and I believe that she is very aware of what is happening. His Grace and Mercy are abundant and strong.
It's a process that we have prepared ourselves for, as we have known that barring Our Lord Jesus' Return, she would soon leave us.
Again, Prayers would be appreciated.
I just drove to Lancaster from Athens, about two hours ago.
My Mom is in the process of dying. She started seriously toward it early this week, and today her body started the shut-down process. Tonight hospice gave my Brother and I the morphine to ease her breathing. She's not big, so it just takes a very small amount every half-hour or so. We are in contact with the hospice nurse and she is in contact with the doctor on call for them.
God is with her, and I believe that she is very aware of what is happening. His Grace and Mercy are abundant and strong.
It's a process that we have prepared ourselves for, as we have known that barring Our Lord Jesus' Return, she would soon leave us.
Again, Prayers would be appreciated.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Palin Bitten by Rabid Fox (Reporter)....
Palin Bitten by Rabid Fox (Reporter)....
PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) - With a Fox reporter locked onto her arm, Sarah Palin ran a mile to her car, where she was able to dislodge the animal, throw it into the trunk and drive to a Prescott hospital. The Yavapai County Sheriff's Office said the Fox reporter, which later attacked Keith Olbermann also, tested positive for rabies. Olbermann is immune, however, and apart from his daily megadose of Xanax and wiping the drool from his chin, required no treatment.
Palin told deputies she was on a trail Monday at the base of Granite Mountain when the Fox reporter attacked, biting her foot. Palin said she grabbed it by the neck when it went for her leg and it latched onto her arm. Knowing that a Fox reporter is always rabid, she wanted to make sure it didn't get away so she ran to her car, where she was able to pry open its jaws, wrap it in a sweat shirt and toss it into the trunk.
Palin is receiving rabies vaccinations, along with truth serum, courtesy of MSNBC.
Update:
The rabid reporter has been identified as Carl Cameron, and has denied actually testing positive for the disease. He was quoted as saying "Like all Fox reporters, I carry the Vapid virus. I'm not rabid at all." However, witnesses on the scene, including famous bloviator Bill O'Reilly, have testified that Cameron was, in fact, foaming at the mouth.
(Yes, I did tamper with this, and may be sued by AP. They probably have NO sense of humor. You'd be amazed at how few words I had to change/add/delete.)
Faux News is in the middle of literally throwing Palin under the bus.
I thought she was the "future of the party".
Guess ratings DO matter more.
Carl Cameron literally threw her under the bus this evening.
Amazing. Check out the vid.
Boy, some people's fifteen minutes are a little rougher than others... I actually felt sorry for her. Collectively stabbed in the back, it looks like Faux and their masters are trying to ruin what little career she has left.
I hated the pick, but it was McCrazy's pick to make, and the 'pub power structure is painting her as the reason they failed. As if she volunteered to be the VP pick.
To illustrate this weirdness, contrast that with "Joe The Plumber" who seems bound for his own TV show, or sumpthin'.
Btw, they failed because McCrazy wasn't conservative enough. Oh, and his ideas were lousy.
PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) - With a Fox reporter locked onto her arm, Sarah Palin ran a mile to her car, where she was able to dislodge the animal, throw it into the trunk and drive to a Prescott hospital. The Yavapai County Sheriff's Office said the Fox reporter, which later attacked Keith Olbermann also, tested positive for rabies. Olbermann is immune, however, and apart from his daily megadose of Xanax and wiping the drool from his chin, required no treatment.
Palin told deputies she was on a trail Monday at the base of Granite Mountain when the Fox reporter attacked, biting her foot. Palin said she grabbed it by the neck when it went for her leg and it latched onto her arm. Knowing that a Fox reporter is always rabid, she wanted to make sure it didn't get away so she ran to her car, where she was able to pry open its jaws, wrap it in a sweat shirt and toss it into the trunk.
Palin is receiving rabies vaccinations, along with truth serum, courtesy of MSNBC.
Update:
The rabid reporter has been identified as Carl Cameron, and has denied actually testing positive for the disease. He was quoted as saying "Like all Fox reporters, I carry the Vapid virus. I'm not rabid at all." However, witnesses on the scene, including famous bloviator Bill O'Reilly, have testified that Cameron was, in fact, foaming at the mouth.
(Yes, I did tamper with this, and may be sued by AP. They probably have NO sense of humor. You'd be amazed at how few words I had to change/add/delete.)
Faux News is in the middle of literally throwing Palin under the bus.
I thought she was the "future of the party".
Guess ratings DO matter more.
Carl Cameron literally threw her under the bus this evening.
Amazing. Check out the vid.
Boy, some people's fifteen minutes are a little rougher than others... I actually felt sorry for her. Collectively stabbed in the back, it looks like Faux and their masters are trying to ruin what little career she has left.
I hated the pick, but it was McCrazy's pick to make, and the 'pub power structure is painting her as the reason they failed. As if she volunteered to be the VP pick.
To illustrate this weirdness, contrast that with "Joe The Plumber" who seems bound for his own TV show, or sumpthin'.
Btw, they failed because McCrazy wasn't conservative enough. Oh, and his ideas were lousy.
So much for "governing from the middle"....
Rahm Emanuel, possibly the most partisan, anti-conservative Democrat since Darth Maul, is now Obama's Chief of Staff....
It is gonna be a "long, long year".
It is gonna be a "long, long year".
Some Investment Advice -- and The Good Part....
From Iowahawk:
Buy: Sterno Inc, Guns R Us, Amalgamated Firewood
Sell: Apple (electronics), apples (the fruit), Jerusalem real estate
From Mr. Shirt:
"One good thing, It is a great moment in history that an African American can be elected President with 52% of the vote. And the the fact that at least 90% of the other 48% voted based on issues rather than superficial characteristics, like skin complexion.
I’m more comfortable with the deal, because the Dems did not achieve the 60% of congressional control that would have made for a very scary 2 years minimum. As of today, my biggest future fear is we are only one psycho-nut-job-racist away from hearing the words “President Biden.”"
Buy: Sterno Inc, Guns R Us, Amalgamated Firewood
Sell: Apple (electronics), apples (the fruit), Jerusalem real estate
From Mr. Shirt:
"One good thing, It is a great moment in history that an African American can be elected President with 52% of the vote. And the the fact that at least 90% of the other 48% voted based on issues rather than superficial characteristics, like skin complexion.
I’m more comfortable with the deal, because the Dems did not achieve the 60% of congressional control that would have made for a very scary 2 years minimum. As of today, my biggest future fear is we are only one psycho-nut-job-racist away from hearing the words “President Biden.”"
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Courtesy of BuckBlog at It's A Paul World: The best post on the election. EVER.
Daniel 4:17
This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.
NIV Version:
The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men.
Daniel 4:17
This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.
NIV Version:
The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men.
VP Choice costs McCain....
... More than he knew at the time. It was hubris. I think he knows now. He's no dummy, but his off-the-cuff, seemingly "maverick" choice has bit McCain good.
It was a choice he didn't have to make. Play to your Conservative Christian base (btw, I am a "Crunchy-Con" Christian), Anti-abortion, etc... OR play to female undecideds (the most likely demo of undecideds to vote) and pick a woman who was qualified. He picked a pretty face, who had some softball interviews on Faux. Without giving it a lot of thought. (Seems Obama didn't give much thought to his choice, either. THAT is Blowhard Central.)
Christy Todd Whitman would have eaten Biden's lunch. She is smarter, more knowledgable on almost every subject, and a better speaker. And, she probably knows more about energy than any candidate, Prez or VP, ever. But, she's pro-choice.
McCain made the mistake of thinking the CC bunch would not support a pro-choice VP. He was wrong. They had no choice. Where would they go? The CC leaders are pragmatic. The people would follow. In the end McCain would have gotten their vote, and their protestations would have brought attention and votes from undecideds.
They wouldn’t have been left with a choice, they aren’t going to pull a Dem ‘04 and Naderize by going to the Constitutional “Party”. They would have fallen in line, he would have gotten his share of independents, a VP debate winner, and this race would probably have been his.
It was a choice he didn't have to make. Play to your Conservative Christian base (btw, I am a "Crunchy-Con" Christian), Anti-abortion, etc... OR play to female undecideds (the most likely demo of undecideds to vote) and pick a woman who was qualified. He picked a pretty face, who had some softball interviews on Faux. Without giving it a lot of thought. (Seems Obama didn't give much thought to his choice, either. THAT is Blowhard Central.)
Christy Todd Whitman would have eaten Biden's lunch. She is smarter, more knowledgable on almost every subject, and a better speaker. And, she probably knows more about energy than any candidate, Prez or VP, ever. But, she's pro-choice.
McCain made the mistake of thinking the CC bunch would not support a pro-choice VP. He was wrong. They had no choice. Where would they go? The CC leaders are pragmatic. The people would follow. In the end McCain would have gotten their vote, and their protestations would have brought attention and votes from undecideds.
They wouldn’t have been left with a choice, they aren’t going to pull a Dem ‘04 and Naderize by going to the Constitutional “Party”. They would have fallen in line, he would have gotten his share of independents, a VP debate winner, and this race would probably have been his.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Ohio State Football -- What a mess....
Disappointed....
I don’t have high expectations. And my hopes have gotten lower over the last two Vest “press conferences”. I realize he doesn’t answer questions, but this time, I think he doesn’t know the answers. I realize it’s early, but he may have a QB on his hands who will not function well in his offense, and I don’t know if The Vest is capable of designing an offense that TP can function well in.
Here's what's wrong at this point:
1- A smoke and mirrors offensive line. Not helped by big, slow guys with cement shoes, and a Zone blocking scheme made for small quick running backs. Nobody uses their hands correctly, or gets low and drives their man off the line. You'll rarely see a pancake from any of these guys, no matter how much of a weight-room hero they be.
2- A quarterback who passes the ball like a bad free throw shooter (and the pass looks like a weak fade-away three-point attempt).
3- A coach with play-calling that is so predictable that he trys to make it sound like a positive in his "press conferences". "Press conferences", because they are classic studies in avoidance and spin.
4- A bunch of seniors -- who guaranteed don't like the switch to a freshman QB, but have to shut up and live with it -- are watching their stock drop, along with the loss of a productive senior year. (See the ESPN/ABC Lauranitis interview before the Penn State game and look at the body language when asked about TP's leadership.)
5- A defense that HAS to be great. After all, we're ranked 11th, with one of the worst offenses in OSU history.
Yeah, given the fact that the Vest handicapped the rest of the season in an overreaction to the USC blowout, we're doing "great"; this is the Big-Ten. -- not the SEC. With a decent passing attack, Beanie could run. Receivers wouldn't have to depend on coming back to the ball to get a reception. You may be amazed at how good some of these guys are once they actually get some passes thrown their way -- in the NFL.
The Vest has no idea where this football team is, and he may not be capable of designing an offense that TP can succeed in.
My guess is that after two years of a failed attempt to integrate TP into a combination of offensive schemes, and despite his physical talent, the Bucks and The Vest will opt for a pro-style QB. If not, recruitment will suffer, and we will be saying hello to a couple of Michigan-like years....
I don’t have high expectations. And my hopes have gotten lower over the last two Vest “press conferences”. I realize he doesn’t answer questions, but this time, I think he doesn’t know the answers. I realize it’s early, but he may have a QB on his hands who will not function well in his offense, and I don’t know if The Vest is capable of designing an offense that TP can function well in.
Here's what's wrong at this point:
1- A smoke and mirrors offensive line. Not helped by big, slow guys with cement shoes, and a Zone blocking scheme made for small quick running backs. Nobody uses their hands correctly, or gets low and drives their man off the line. You'll rarely see a pancake from any of these guys, no matter how much of a weight-room hero they be.
2- A quarterback who passes the ball like a bad free throw shooter (and the pass looks like a weak fade-away three-point attempt).
3- A coach with play-calling that is so predictable that he trys to make it sound like a positive in his "press conferences". "Press conferences", because they are classic studies in avoidance and spin.
4- A bunch of seniors -- who guaranteed don't like the switch to a freshman QB, but have to shut up and live with it -- are watching their stock drop, along with the loss of a productive senior year. (See the ESPN/ABC Lauranitis interview before the Penn State game and look at the body language when asked about TP's leadership.)
5- A defense that HAS to be great. After all, we're ranked 11th, with one of the worst offenses in OSU history.
Yeah, given the fact that the Vest handicapped the rest of the season in an overreaction to the USC blowout, we're doing "great"; this is the Big-Ten. -- not the SEC. With a decent passing attack, Beanie could run. Receivers wouldn't have to depend on coming back to the ball to get a reception. You may be amazed at how good some of these guys are once they actually get some passes thrown their way -- in the NFL.
The Vest has no idea where this football team is, and he may not be capable of designing an offense that TP can succeed in.
My guess is that after two years of a failed attempt to integrate TP into a combination of offensive schemes, and despite his physical talent, the Bucks and The Vest will opt for a pro-style QB. If not, recruitment will suffer, and we will be saying hello to a couple of Michigan-like years....
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Kantians With Cruise Missles....
Kantians With Cruise Missles.
An excellent article on Empire/Liberal Republics, by Joseph Stromberg.
"Pay no attention to that State behind the Democracy.
Brought to my notice by The Dawg at Old Hop's Hideout.
I learn a lot reading Chuck's blog.
An excellent article on Empire/Liberal Republics, by Joseph Stromberg.
"Pay no attention to that State behind the Democracy.
Brought to my notice by The Dawg at Old Hop's Hideout.
I learn a lot reading Chuck's blog.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Obama's handlers seek to lower expectations....
From JRoosh at Mitch Berg's at Shot in the Dark blog:
Don’t Look Behind the Curtain (Please)...
Barack Obama’s senior advisers have drawn up plans to lower expectations for his presidency if he wins next week’s election, amid concerns that many of his euphoric supporters are harbouring unrealistic hopes of what he can achieve.
Hope will now become Mild Despair
Change will now become Slightly Less of The Same
We Are The People We Have Been Waiting For will now become "Your call is important to us, Please Hold The Line; Calls Will Be Handled In The Order They Were Received. Your call will be monitored and recorded to insure Fairness Doctrine compliance, have a Joy Joy Day”
Tax cuts to 95% of Americans will become New Online Access to the Unemployment Benefits Application Process
Spread the Wealth will become Oops. Sorry About Your Job....
Friday, October 31, 2008
"I'm not dead, I'm inspecting the grave yard...."
The originator of one of the best quotes of all time is dead.
Tom Moody was the 44th mayor of Columbus, and served from 1972 to 1984. During his time in office, the Columbus Public School District was desegregated and the city's freeway system underwent significant expansion. The downtown skyline also grew during Moody's time in office. The city saw development of the Huntington Center, One Nationwide Plaza and the AEP Building.
He was notable for his response to police when pulled over for suspicion of drunk driving: "I'm not drunk, I'm inspecting the city".
Tom Moody passed away on Thursday, October 30, 2008 of natural causes, at Riverside Hospital. He was 78 years old.
Tom Moody was the 44th mayor of Columbus, and served from 1972 to 1984. During his time in office, the Columbus Public School District was desegregated and the city's freeway system underwent significant expansion. The downtown skyline also grew during Moody's time in office. The city saw development of the Huntington Center, One Nationwide Plaza and the AEP Building.
He was notable for his response to police when pulled over for suspicion of drunk driving: "I'm not drunk, I'm inspecting the city".
Tom Moody passed away on Thursday, October 30, 2008 of natural causes, at Riverside Hospital. He was 78 years old.
Obama volunteers move to Ohio -- to help us out....
NPR's Morning Edition had a story on today about the out-of-state Obama volunteers that have moved here to Ohio to help us decide how to vote (my characterization).
Quite a few liberal volunteers, mostly from New York, and the most in "forever", per NPR, have moved here, and taken up residence for the Election season.
Interesting stuff.
Quite a few liberal volunteers, mostly from New York, and the most in "forever", per NPR, have moved here, and taken up residence for the Election season.
Interesting stuff.
Monday, October 27, 2008
For "Serious" Believers in the Future of Independent Politics....
Follow my tortured reasoning here. This is the best time to vote a 3rd party candidate. McCrazy is toast. Viva La Revolucion.
The Future Is At Stake
Here's why you "real" Conservatives should vote for Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate, to register a serious protest vote, and further the cause of Third Party politics in America.
Pulling the lever for McCain will not help the chances of any future for 3rd party politics in America in any way. The larger Obama's margin of victory - and make no mistake, the margin will be huge anyway -, and the more attention his huge monetary advantage gets, the better it will be for the chance of future serious 3rd party candidates.
And here's why:
People need to see that the impending Democratic landslide combines a Congress that will start with enactment of the "The Fairness Doctrine" and soon proceed down the path to a dreaded ratification of some form of "The UN Small Arms Ban" with a President who is going to make Jimmy Carter look like Ron Paul. The future looks good for a one-party Demo overrun of the Three Branches. And this revelation of the imminent threat of total one-party control might be just enough to spur a resurgence of interest in 3rd party candidates, especially on the Conservative side, now that the Neo-Cons seem to firmly control what used to be the Republican Party.
Things have GOT to get worse - and they will, from a freedom standpoint - before we, as either a Nation or a remnant of Independent Anti-Government people, decide to make things better.
So Viva La Revolucion! The sooner the better.
We need to start cultivating the Spirit of Revolution here and now. The best way to legitimately access publicity and the advantages that come with it, is a strong 3rd party showing in a major election. And at this point, "strong" doesn't have to mean more than 2-3 percent.
McCain and Obama BOTH want to take away your freedom through the "Nanny-State".
Remember the Mel Brooks' line "It's good to be the King."?
A lot of people are fine with "spreading the wealth around" -- except if it's their wealth. And remember that the "wealth" concept is subjective. To an extremely poor person, even a lower middle class person is "wealthy".
Well who decides? It's good to be Robin Hood. Not so good being the rob-ee....
Giving "tax refunds" (which are basically bribes - a “tax cut" which is more accurately described as wealth redistribution) to people who don't pay taxes in the first place is Socialism in action.
Promoting Class Warfare through redistribution schemes (which both McCain and Obama are proposing) simply results in costs being passed on down the line, with the rich continuing to get richer, while the poor get poorer faster, and the middle class totally vanishes.
What do you think happens when the tax man shows up at the widget factory and tells the manufacturer that taxes just went up? Exactly. The factory raises the price of widgets and costs work on down the line. This is the REAL "trickle-down" economics.
Tax collections for corporations that take their profits offshore, or transfer profits to private income need to be redesigned totally.
When the government takes revenue generated by taxes and gives it to someone else, be that entity a defense contractor for weapons, a soldier as salary, a builder for a new library, a congressional staffer for research or a non-taxpayer for no reason at all, that is what we used to call spending.
You can call it "Make work pay", or whatever you please, what is really proposed is nothing more than a massive new spending program. Calling it a tax cut is pure BS.
"Hi there, Mr. Mug-ee".
You're gonna find that from your middle-class perspective, with rising costs of everything being passed on to YOU, that while it might be great to be the mugger, mug-eeville is not where it's at!
My worry is that "Yes We Can," an excellent campaign slogan, will continue to morph into "Because We Can," an evil method of governance.
So, even given the fact that Obama may very well try to appoint the entire 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to the SCOTUS, I can't pull the lever for McCain. Both of these men and their programs will be Long-term Bad for America.
Vote a 3rd party ticket, please. Do it for the future of America.
The Future Is At Stake
Here's why you "real" Conservatives should vote for Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate, to register a serious protest vote, and further the cause of Third Party politics in America.
Pulling the lever for McCain will not help the chances of any future for 3rd party politics in America in any way. The larger Obama's margin of victory - and make no mistake, the margin will be huge anyway -, and the more attention his huge monetary advantage gets, the better it will be for the chance of future serious 3rd party candidates.
And here's why:
People need to see that the impending Democratic landslide combines a Congress that will start with enactment of the "The Fairness Doctrine" and soon proceed down the path to a dreaded ratification of some form of "The UN Small Arms Ban" with a President who is going to make Jimmy Carter look like Ron Paul. The future looks good for a one-party Demo overrun of the Three Branches. And this revelation of the imminent threat of total one-party control might be just enough to spur a resurgence of interest in 3rd party candidates, especially on the Conservative side, now that the Neo-Cons seem to firmly control what used to be the Republican Party.
Things have GOT to get worse - and they will, from a freedom standpoint - before we, as either a Nation or a remnant of Independent Anti-Government people, decide to make things better.
So Viva La Revolucion! The sooner the better.
We need to start cultivating the Spirit of Revolution here and now. The best way to legitimately access publicity and the advantages that come with it, is a strong 3rd party showing in a major election. And at this point, "strong" doesn't have to mean more than 2-3 percent.
McCain and Obama BOTH want to take away your freedom through the "Nanny-State".
Remember the Mel Brooks' line "It's good to be the King."?
A lot of people are fine with "spreading the wealth around" -- except if it's their wealth. And remember that the "wealth" concept is subjective. To an extremely poor person, even a lower middle class person is "wealthy".
Well who decides? It's good to be Robin Hood. Not so good being the rob-ee....
Giving "tax refunds" (which are basically bribes - a “tax cut" which is more accurately described as wealth redistribution) to people who don't pay taxes in the first place is Socialism in action.
Promoting Class Warfare through redistribution schemes (which both McCain and Obama are proposing) simply results in costs being passed on down the line, with the rich continuing to get richer, while the poor get poorer faster, and the middle class totally vanishes.
What do you think happens when the tax man shows up at the widget factory and tells the manufacturer that taxes just went up? Exactly. The factory raises the price of widgets and costs work on down the line. This is the REAL "trickle-down" economics.
Tax collections for corporations that take their profits offshore, or transfer profits to private income need to be redesigned totally.
When the government takes revenue generated by taxes and gives it to someone else, be that entity a defense contractor for weapons, a soldier as salary, a builder for a new library, a congressional staffer for research or a non-taxpayer for no reason at all, that is what we used to call spending.
You can call it "Make work pay", or whatever you please, what is really proposed is nothing more than a massive new spending program. Calling it a tax cut is pure BS.
"Hi there, Mr. Mug-ee".
You're gonna find that from your middle-class perspective, with rising costs of everything being passed on to YOU, that while it might be great to be the mugger, mug-eeville is not where it's at!
My worry is that "Yes We Can," an excellent campaign slogan, will continue to morph into "Because We Can," an evil method of governance.
So, even given the fact that Obama may very well try to appoint the entire 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to the SCOTUS, I can't pull the lever for McCain. Both of these men and their programs will be Long-term Bad for America.
Vote a 3rd party ticket, please. Do it for the future of America.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Media Double Standards....
If you are one of my Liberal friends or loved ones, you better just not read this. It is guaranteed to make you mad. Remember, if you do, that "the truth will set you free".
After this week of Biden quotes, I'm pretty sure Obama selected Biden because the Senate wants to get him as far away from foreign policy matters as possible, and the VP slot is it. Seriously. Get him off the committee if he's gonna walk around making irresponsible statements. Has anybody actually asked the reason for running off at the mouth like this? This guy just plain likes to hear his own voice. Secretaries of State and Foreign Ministers all over the world just swallowed their chewing gum.
"... "Mark my words. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. ... Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said … we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."
A "generated crisis"? By whom? Moscow? Beijing? Tehran?
This is an astonishing statement from a chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee who has access to the same intelligence as George Bush. Joe was warning of a crisis like the Berlin Wall of July 1961, where JFK called for a tripling of the draft and ordered a call-up of reserves, or the missile crisis where U.S. pilots like John McCain were minutes away from bombing nuclear missile sites in Cuba and killing the Russians manning them.
Is Russia about to move on the Crimea? Is Israel about to launch air strikes on Iran's nuclear sites? What is Joe talking about?
If one assumes Joe is a serious man, we have a right to know.
Instead, what we got was Obama's airy dismissal of Joe's words as a "rhetorical flourish" and a media – rather than demanding that Joe hold a press conference – acting as Obama surrogates parroting the talking points that Joe was just saying that new presidents always face tests.
Had John McCain made that hair-raising statement, he would have been accused of fear mongering about a new 9/11. The media would have run with the story rather than have smothered it.
Contrasting McCain with his hero, Joe declared a few weeks back, "When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television and ... said, 'Look, here's what happened.'"
Nice historical reference. Except when the market crashed in 1929, Hoover was president, and there was no television....
... Joe also has a record of 36 years in the Senate.
Has anyone ever asked Joe about his own and his party's role in cutting off aid to South Vietnam, leading to the greatest strategic defeat in U.S. history and the Cambodian holocaust? Has anyone ever asked Joe about the role he and his party played in working to block Reagan's deployment of Pershing missiles in Europe, and SDI, which Gorbachev concedes broke the Soviets and won the Cold War?
In the most crucial vote he ever cast – to give Bush a blank check for war in Iraq – Joe concedes he got it wrong.
(Joe has a record of being wrong with the most important decisions.)
"I've forgotten more about foreign policy than most of my colleagues know," says Joe humbly. Given his record, it is understandable Joe has forgotten so much of it....
... Is there a media double standard? You betcha."
After this week of Biden quotes, I'm pretty sure Obama selected Biden because the Senate wants to get him as far away from foreign policy matters as possible, and the VP slot is it. Seriously. Get him off the committee if he's gonna walk around making irresponsible statements. Has anybody actually asked the reason for running off at the mouth like this? This guy just plain likes to hear his own voice. Secretaries of State and Foreign Ministers all over the world just swallowed their chewing gum.
"... "Mark my words. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. ... Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said … we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."
A "generated crisis"? By whom? Moscow? Beijing? Tehran?
This is an astonishing statement from a chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee who has access to the same intelligence as George Bush. Joe was warning of a crisis like the Berlin Wall of July 1961, where JFK called for a tripling of the draft and ordered a call-up of reserves, or the missile crisis where U.S. pilots like John McCain were minutes away from bombing nuclear missile sites in Cuba and killing the Russians manning them.
Is Russia about to move on the Crimea? Is Israel about to launch air strikes on Iran's nuclear sites? What is Joe talking about?
If one assumes Joe is a serious man, we have a right to know.
Instead, what we got was Obama's airy dismissal of Joe's words as a "rhetorical flourish" and a media – rather than demanding that Joe hold a press conference – acting as Obama surrogates parroting the talking points that Joe was just saying that new presidents always face tests.
Had John McCain made that hair-raising statement, he would have been accused of fear mongering about a new 9/11. The media would have run with the story rather than have smothered it.
Contrasting McCain with his hero, Joe declared a few weeks back, "When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television and ... said, 'Look, here's what happened.'"
Nice historical reference. Except when the market crashed in 1929, Hoover was president, and there was no television....
... Joe also has a record of 36 years in the Senate.
Has anyone ever asked Joe about his own and his party's role in cutting off aid to South Vietnam, leading to the greatest strategic defeat in U.S. history and the Cambodian holocaust? Has anyone ever asked Joe about the role he and his party played in working to block Reagan's deployment of Pershing missiles in Europe, and SDI, which Gorbachev concedes broke the Soviets and won the Cold War?
In the most crucial vote he ever cast – to give Bush a blank check for war in Iraq – Joe concedes he got it wrong.
(Joe has a record of being wrong with the most important decisions.)
"I've forgotten more about foreign policy than most of my colleagues know," says Joe humbly. Given his record, it is understandable Joe has forgotten so much of it....
... Is there a media double standard? You betcha."
Thursday, October 23, 2008
The Racist Vote -- Black and White....
Re.: the racist vote, Black and White.
I am going to address this because of a question I was asked on another blog. And I am going to answer it as truthfully as I know how.
There are several blacks at my workplace who have never voted. (I asked.) You bet your a** they are registered, voting and are very aware of what is going on -- this year.
There are a couple blacks who work there that have been registered and vote every election, but the rest are ALL newly registered. I asked. They were happy to tell me.
As gently as I can (and I can do this, because I'm not just some nosy white guy, I'm the guy that talks to them about everything else...), I try to narrow it down, and when it comes down to it, it is not for any other reason, even though they may list it as something else (economics, mad at Bush, etc...). When you ask them in any depth about economics, and why they're mad at Bush - no matter that they didn't register a protest vote in 2004, what prompted them to register this time, it comes back to Obama -- and yet they can't really give a reason why HE inspired them to register. None of them comes out and says "Hey, it's time for a black President."
So, even though it may piss a few of you off, I think that most blacks who are newly registered, especially people who have had the opportunity to register and vote before, are doing it this time because a (partially) black man is running. And that's that.
As far as the anti-black, White, traditionally racist vote, McCain will not benefit from any supposed cross-over vote. From the historically racist areas, and from voters who are already registered, there is gonna be NO substantial group of newly registered voters that are registering simply to vote against Obama. In fact, and I've said this before, the Democrat White racist voters (see WVA, KY, Al, GA, etc...) are simply gonna stay home, or not vote in the Presidential. The 'pubs are not going to see a cross-over vote of any size from these people.
The pollsters are radically wrong if they think this race is close right now. That's not saying it won't get closer, as it always does in the last two weeks, but the newly registered Dem voters are going to have the say in what happens this election, and that say says Obama will be the next President.
I am going to address this because of a question I was asked on another blog. And I am going to answer it as truthfully as I know how.
There are several blacks at my workplace who have never voted. (I asked.) You bet your a** they are registered, voting and are very aware of what is going on -- this year.
There are a couple blacks who work there that have been registered and vote every election, but the rest are ALL newly registered. I asked. They were happy to tell me.
As gently as I can (and I can do this, because I'm not just some nosy white guy, I'm the guy that talks to them about everything else...), I try to narrow it down, and when it comes down to it, it is not for any other reason, even though they may list it as something else (economics, mad at Bush, etc...). When you ask them in any depth about economics, and why they're mad at Bush - no matter that they didn't register a protest vote in 2004, what prompted them to register this time, it comes back to Obama -- and yet they can't really give a reason why HE inspired them to register. None of them comes out and says "Hey, it's time for a black President."
So, even though it may piss a few of you off, I think that most blacks who are newly registered, especially people who have had the opportunity to register and vote before, are doing it this time because a (partially) black man is running. And that's that.
As far as the anti-black, White, traditionally racist vote, McCain will not benefit from any supposed cross-over vote. From the historically racist areas, and from voters who are already registered, there is gonna be NO substantial group of newly registered voters that are registering simply to vote against Obama. In fact, and I've said this before, the Democrat White racist voters (see WVA, KY, Al, GA, etc...) are simply gonna stay home, or not vote in the Presidential. The 'pubs are not going to see a cross-over vote of any size from these people.
The pollsters are radically wrong if they think this race is close right now. That's not saying it won't get closer, as it always does in the last two weeks, but the newly registered Dem voters are going to have the say in what happens this election, and that say says Obama will be the next President.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Shaky....
I don't often post my songs here. This one I will.
Shaky
I got shaky hands and leaky eyes
Tired of shilling compromise
Of lying liars' lying lies
And the way we eat it up
The full debt due is dreck and doom
The end of days might be real soon
We’re slouching toward a ready ruin
And the fire door is nailed shut
Oh my hands
Oh my eyes
Here we stand
And useless I
Wish wishes win
One last, once more
Hold the course
Steady on
Toward that distant shore
We fenced the range where freedom rang
Where Woody, Jack and Utah sang
Shining cities felt the pang
Slid down the hill in doubt
Cloud slides over Harvest Moon
John Smith and Pocahontas too
Thanksgiving came and stayed and grew
'til the turkey all ran out (Chorus)
Farmer Brown and Plumber Joe
Run the race, they place and show
Bankers take it all, foreclose
Class warfare by a nose
The framers never could relate
We're reined in, tamed, been replaced
With ruthless change for change's sake
And then they count the vote (Chorus)
Cross my heart, hope to die
Boots off, loved one by my side
No shaky hands, no leaky eyes
Burn it down and start it over
Burn it down and start it over
Burn it down and start it over
© DDC ‘08
Shaky
I got shaky hands and leaky eyes
Tired of shilling compromise
Of lying liars' lying lies
And the way we eat it up
The full debt due is dreck and doom
The end of days might be real soon
We’re slouching toward a ready ruin
And the fire door is nailed shut
Oh my hands
Oh my eyes
Here we stand
And useless I
Wish wishes win
One last, once more
Hold the course
Steady on
Toward that distant shore
We fenced the range where freedom rang
Where Woody, Jack and Utah sang
Shining cities felt the pang
Slid down the hill in doubt
Cloud slides over Harvest Moon
John Smith and Pocahontas too
Thanksgiving came and stayed and grew
'til the turkey all ran out (Chorus)
Farmer Brown and Plumber Joe
Run the race, they place and show
Bankers take it all, foreclose
Class warfare by a nose
The framers never could relate
We're reined in, tamed, been replaced
With ruthless change for change's sake
And then they count the vote (Chorus)
Cross my heart, hope to die
Boots off, loved one by my side
No shaky hands, no leaky eyes
Burn it down and start it over
Burn it down and start it over
Burn it down and start it over
© DDC ‘08
Thursday, October 16, 2008
The "Crack" in Joe's Story....
Ok. There's a lot of anger out there from the mostly Neo-Con side of the Conservative blogassphere, and all of it directed at the Liberal-in the tank for Obamamania-media. This is badly misplaced. In fact, it's hilarious, when you give it a little thought.
Anytime a Presidential Campaign decides to use a person as the main focus of their publicity, that person will be vetted by the press. What's amazing about this, is that the vetting wasn't done by the more-and more-amaturish appearing McCain Campaign.
And... any time a Presidential Candidate chooses a running mate, you would have expected that person to have been fully vetted by the campaign. Right? Right.
Update: “Plumber Joe” isn’t a licensed plumber at all? According to AP, he “works for a small plumbing company that does residential work.” He doesn’t need a license “because he works for someone else.”
Also, he won’t be affected by any of Obama’s tax increases on people making over $250K because he doesn’t make that much; he just thinks that, if he ever succeeds in buying the plumbing company where he works, he might make enough to have to pay the taxes. In addition, I assume, to paying the fees for a plumber’s license.
Also, he evidently owes the State of Ohio $1200 in unpaid taxes... AND, he may not even be registered to vote. You'd think McCrazy would have checked, right? Right? Right.
Watch for Faux News to claim he's an Obamamania double-agent plant.
But still:
The difference between two philosophies:
One wants Joe to act like a man, help him and society by encouraging him to pull his own pants up. YEA JOE! Way to go!
The other wants to take Farmer Brown's over-alls and give them to Plumber Joe, so we don't have to stare at his crack. Poor Joe. Boo-hoo.
After all, Farmer Brown has two pairs of over-alls. He can wear his Sunday pair all the time.
And Plumber Joe won't ever have to worry about pulling his own pants up....
The debate:
I was listening, not watching. It makes for a better understanding of what is actually said, and I thought it pretty much a wash except when it came to the Supreme Court question. McCain won this.
Neither one really repeated what the negative ads were saying to the other’s face.
Obama killed McCain on health care. Again.
If I were the moderator, I would have asked three questions:
1- Do either of you support the UN's Small Arms Ban Treaty, and if so, why? (This would really separate the candidates, but might be a little too involved for most of the viewers. Pity.)
2- Do either of you think the Constitution is a "living document", and will you pick "activist" Judges for the SCOTUS, and what is your definition of "activist Judge"?
3- What are the advantages of allowing Health Care companies to set up shop in states with lower regulation, thus lower care; and how does this relate to the McCain health care plan.
I admit the last question is loaded.
Obama's Health Care Plan is better.
BUT, I would rather have McCain picking the SCOTUS Judges. Obama's stand on that scares me. He is going have a "Litmus Test" that excludes many of the most qualified jurors. Obama will pick people who want to MAKE LAW, not determine the Constitutionality of Law.
Anytime a Presidential Campaign decides to use a person as the main focus of their publicity, that person will be vetted by the press. What's amazing about this, is that the vetting wasn't done by the more-and more-amaturish appearing McCain Campaign.
And... any time a Presidential Candidate chooses a running mate, you would have expected that person to have been fully vetted by the campaign. Right? Right.
Of course, any American who is givin the chance, has a full right to ask questions of Senator Obama, including Joe the Plumber.
Update: Now, it turns out that "Joe the Plumber" is related to Charles Keating. Oops. Should we say that again? A big, Palinesque "You Betcha!" Oops.Update: “Plumber Joe” isn’t a licensed plumber at all? According to AP, he “works for a small plumbing company that does residential work.” He doesn’t need a license “because he works for someone else.”
Also, he won’t be affected by any of Obama’s tax increases on people making over $250K because he doesn’t make that much; he just thinks that, if he ever succeeds in buying the plumbing company where he works, he might make enough to have to pay the taxes. In addition, I assume, to paying the fees for a plumber’s license.
Also, he evidently owes the State of Ohio $1200 in unpaid taxes... AND, he may not even be registered to vote. You'd think McCrazy would have checked, right? Right? Right.
Watch for Faux News to claim he's an Obamamania double-agent plant.
But still:
The difference between two philosophies:
One wants Joe to act like a man, help him and society by encouraging him to pull his own pants up. YEA JOE! Way to go!
The other wants to take Farmer Brown's over-alls and give them to Plumber Joe, so we don't have to stare at his crack. Poor Joe. Boo-hoo.
After all, Farmer Brown has two pairs of over-alls. He can wear his Sunday pair all the time.
And Plumber Joe won't ever have to worry about pulling his own pants up....
The debate:
I was listening, not watching. It makes for a better understanding of what is actually said, and I thought it pretty much a wash except when it came to the Supreme Court question. McCain won this.
Neither one really repeated what the negative ads were saying to the other’s face.
Obama killed McCain on health care. Again.
If I were the moderator, I would have asked three questions:
1- Do either of you support the UN's Small Arms Ban Treaty, and if so, why? (This would really separate the candidates, but might be a little too involved for most of the viewers. Pity.)
2- Do either of you think the Constitution is a "living document", and will you pick "activist" Judges for the SCOTUS, and what is your definition of "activist Judge"?
3- What are the advantages of allowing Health Care companies to set up shop in states with lower regulation, thus lower care; and how does this relate to the McCain health care plan.
I admit the last question is loaded.
Obama's Health Care Plan is better.
BUT, I would rather have McCain picking the SCOTUS Judges. Obama's stand on that scares me. He is going have a "Litmus Test" that excludes many of the most qualified jurors. Obama will pick people who want to MAKE LAW, not determine the Constitutionality of Law.
Nasty Campaign Ads....
Repost from Terry Smith, Managing Editor of The Athens News.
Negative ads: Nasty is as nasty does
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH ran a fascinating story Monday headlined, “Attack Ads Unpopular But Effective, Party Official says.”
The party official in question, Scott Borgemenke, chief strategist for the House Republican Campaign Committee, has a key role in devising the advertising strategy for Republicans running in Ohio House of Representatives districts across the state, including the 92nd District that includes Athens County.
So he would have to claim some responsibility for the repulsive “death-penalty” mailers the Ohio Republican Party sent out against the Democratic 92nd District candidate, Debbie Phillips. I wrote about these mailers last week, so I won’t go into full detail, but they basically made the argument, in Technicolor negativity, that because Phillips opposes the death penalty, she is therefore an “ally” of brutal murderers and child rapists.
This is not unlike GOP vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s recent offhand remark that Barack Obama “pals around with terrorists,” based on his acquaintanceship with a man whose domestic terrorism occurred when Barack was 8 years old.
The article actually cited another noxious ad campaign that Borgenmenke is involved in this election season, a homophobic mailer whose underlying grievance against the Democrat in a House race (opposition to a bill that would ban gay adoption) would have applied just as well to GOP House Speaker Jon Husted and a majority of Republicans who opposed the same bill, according to the Dispatch.
In the article, Borgenmenke freely admitted that this sort of campaigning is bad. “I don’t think it’s a good thing for the system,” he said about the negative ads. “It just works.”
His attitude is so cynical and corrosive that I’m not going to waste your time explaining why. If you don’t see the moral bankruptcy of using scare tactics and outright deception — completely divorced from any reasonable discussion of issues — to win an election, you’re just Borgenmenke’s type of voter: Stupid, gullible and impressionable.
Negative ads: Nasty is as nasty does
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH ran a fascinating story Monday headlined, “Attack Ads Unpopular But Effective, Party Official says.”
The party official in question, Scott Borgemenke, chief strategist for the House Republican Campaign Committee, has a key role in devising the advertising strategy for Republicans running in Ohio House of Representatives districts across the state, including the 92nd District that includes Athens County.
So he would have to claim some responsibility for the repulsive “death-penalty” mailers the Ohio Republican Party sent out against the Democratic 92nd District candidate, Debbie Phillips. I wrote about these mailers last week, so I won’t go into full detail, but they basically made the argument, in Technicolor negativity, that because Phillips opposes the death penalty, she is therefore an “ally” of brutal murderers and child rapists.
This is not unlike GOP vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s recent offhand remark that Barack Obama “pals around with terrorists,” based on his acquaintanceship with a man whose domestic terrorism occurred when Barack was 8 years old.
The article actually cited another noxious ad campaign that Borgenmenke is involved in this election season, a homophobic mailer whose underlying grievance against the Democrat in a House race (opposition to a bill that would ban gay adoption) would have applied just as well to GOP House Speaker Jon Husted and a majority of Republicans who opposed the same bill, according to the Dispatch.
In the article, Borgenmenke freely admitted that this sort of campaigning is bad. “I don’t think it’s a good thing for the system,” he said about the negative ads. “It just works.”
His attitude is so cynical and corrosive that I’m not going to waste your time explaining why. If you don’t see the moral bankruptcy of using scare tactics and outright deception — completely divorced from any reasonable discussion of issues — to win an election, you’re just Borgenmenke’s type of voter: Stupid, gullible and impressionable.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Real Life Differences Between Liberals and Conservatives....
Are your friendships and personal relationships suffering because of politics?
Do you find yourself "treading lightly" in your day-to-day interactions with people, simply to avoid conflict or discomfort?
Is it actually causing you anxiety?
Is it just me, or has anyone noticed this difference between Liberals and Conservatives?
In my experience, Liberals are more aggressive in On-Line give and take, while Conservatives seem to be more aggressive face to face, but in "real life", Conservatives more readily forgive and forget.
Liberals who take their politics very seriously seem to view non-agreement as almost a criminal offense. If you “make a point” that contradicts their views, basic tenents or beliefs, they are much more likely to let political disagreements damage or limit personal and social relationships.
I've had a conversation turn plain ICY, just over the slightest observation, much less a difference of opinion.
At first I thought that the difference was Rational vs. Emotional, but I don't think that's the case now. I do know there is a lot of anger on the Liberal side over the last eight years, and believe me, as a Libertarian, I am extremely angry over the NeoCon highjacking of both our Country's policy and the Conservative label -- BUT it still doesn't explain this seemingly basic difference in the approach to discussing politics.
Do Liberals take political disagreement more seriously and it is more likely to affect their every day interaction with other people, or is this just my experience?
Do you find yourself "treading lightly" in your day-to-day interactions with people, simply to avoid conflict or discomfort?
Is it actually causing you anxiety?
Is it just me, or has anyone noticed this difference between Liberals and Conservatives?
In my experience, Liberals are more aggressive in On-Line give and take, while Conservatives seem to be more aggressive face to face, but in "real life", Conservatives more readily forgive and forget.
Liberals who take their politics very seriously seem to view non-agreement as almost a criminal offense. If you “make a point” that contradicts their views, basic tenents or beliefs, they are much more likely to let political disagreements damage or limit personal and social relationships.
I've had a conversation turn plain ICY, just over the slightest observation, much less a difference of opinion.
At first I thought that the difference was Rational vs. Emotional, but I don't think that's the case now. I do know there is a lot of anger on the Liberal side over the last eight years, and believe me, as a Libertarian, I am extremely angry over the NeoCon highjacking of both our Country's policy and the Conservative label -- BUT it still doesn't explain this seemingly basic difference in the approach to discussing politics.
Do Liberals take political disagreement more seriously and it is more likely to affect their every day interaction with other people, or is this just my experience?
Here's a fresh example: On Thursday, my boss, the owner of our company, came out for Obama publicly -- in a company-wide meeting.
If it had been for the other major party candidate (I am voting for Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate, so I have no dog in this tussle.), I think that probably complaints would have been filed -- whether or not there was legal recourse.
Friendly discussion, anyone?
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Old Hop on the Economic Collapse....
Some condensed and edited comments from Chuck at Old Hop's Hideout:
We are in a Depression.
Austrian School economists have been predicting this since 2002. Our economy, inextricably linked to an unconstitutional central bank called the Federal Reserve, is dis-contorting itself from false, manipulated credit and has entered the crack-up phase of the boom-bust cycle. If ever the prescient wisdom of Thomas Jefferson and John Taylor of Carolina was to be proven, it is now.
Central banking is the ruination of any economy.
The harder the Federal government tries to fix the problem the worse it gets. Chicago School economist and Nobel laureate Milton Friedman demonstrated that a series of time-lags (recognition, decision, and implementation) results in government fiscal and monetary interventions only exacerbating market convulsions. George W. Bush has embarked on the same disastrous policies taken by Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930's.
Both Presidential candidates John McCain and Barak Obama have supported the infusion of yet more false liquidity into the financial markets, proving that neither understands the Federal Reserve System as the cause and aggravation of the business cycle. Neither of these men have the economic acumen to solve this crisis, regardless of their political demagoguery. Whatever policies either of them pursues will only deepen and protract the suffering.
Meanwhile, the only candidate who understands how the economy works, Ron Paul, was roundly rejected by American voters.
It does not take an economist with a Ph.D. to intuit that days of debt-financed high living have to meet with an inevitable end.
In a free market, business failures are absorbed by the market with minimal impact to the general public. More efficient players buy up and reallocate the assets.
Under our managed economy inefficient players -- in many cases large inefficient players -- are allowed to continue operation, propped up by subsidy and/or loose liquidity. They then become "too big to fail," and their losses are socialized and passed on to the public. Marc Faber used the metaphor of a crack addict (where "crack" is credit) to describe our economy.The main lesson the Austrians teach us: credit is not the engine of economic health; saving is.
We're hearing and will continue to hear from a chorus of boo-birds blaming the "free market" and "capitalism" for all of this. But the fact is that we don't have free markets; they are actually managed markets, especially the financial markets that led to the bust.
The great danger in times like these is for a public outcry for more regulation and tighter government controls. There is always a Hitler out there waiting to oblige.
We are in a Depression.
Austrian School economists have been predicting this since 2002. Our economy, inextricably linked to an unconstitutional central bank called the Federal Reserve, is dis-contorting itself from false, manipulated credit and has entered the crack-up phase of the boom-bust cycle. If ever the prescient wisdom of Thomas Jefferson and John Taylor of Carolina was to be proven, it is now.
Central banking is the ruination of any economy.
The harder the Federal government tries to fix the problem the worse it gets. Chicago School economist and Nobel laureate Milton Friedman demonstrated that a series of time-lags (recognition, decision, and implementation) results in government fiscal and monetary interventions only exacerbating market convulsions. George W. Bush has embarked on the same disastrous policies taken by Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930's.
Both Presidential candidates John McCain and Barak Obama have supported the infusion of yet more false liquidity into the financial markets, proving that neither understands the Federal Reserve System as the cause and aggravation of the business cycle. Neither of these men have the economic acumen to solve this crisis, regardless of their political demagoguery. Whatever policies either of them pursues will only deepen and protract the suffering.
Meanwhile, the only candidate who understands how the economy works, Ron Paul, was roundly rejected by American voters.
It does not take an economist with a Ph.D. to intuit that days of debt-financed high living have to meet with an inevitable end.
In a free market, business failures are absorbed by the market with minimal impact to the general public. More efficient players buy up and reallocate the assets.
Under our managed economy inefficient players -- in many cases large inefficient players -- are allowed to continue operation, propped up by subsidy and/or loose liquidity. They then become "too big to fail," and their losses are socialized and passed on to the public. Marc Faber used the metaphor of a crack addict (where "crack" is credit) to describe our economy.The main lesson the Austrians teach us: credit is not the engine of economic health; saving is.
We're hearing and will continue to hear from a chorus of boo-birds blaming the "free market" and "capitalism" for all of this. But the fact is that we don't have free markets; they are actually managed markets, especially the financial markets that led to the bust.
The great danger in times like these is for a public outcry for more regulation and tighter government controls. There is always a Hitler out there waiting to oblige.
The Yard Sign Test....
Every Sunday morning, I drive from our place east of Athens, to Lancaster, where I look after my mom while my brother goes to church.
I usually start out about 6:30am and I don't have to be there until 8am, which gives me a little extra time. I do this on purpose, because this is my personal time for "thinking", and I do my best thinking while I'm driving slowly through small towns and countrysides (Kinda my early Sunday afternoon drive -- so don't tailgate me, I'll drive even slower. I promise).
I go through Logan and take the back roads up through Hideaway Hills area, across Paradise Road (I love the name "Chicken Coop Road". How can you not?) and angle northwest so that I end up coming in on Duffy Road south of Lancaster. I take the small town and countryside route because I am a small town/country boy, and I love this country. It also keeps me rooted in what's important; for instance, when I see a house or a piece of land that somebody has done something special with, I relate it to me and mine, wondering if we could do THAT for our place and our family. The older I get, the more insular and family oriented I seem to get.
But, all I'm sayin' is that I keep "an eye out", and one of the things that I have noticed is the political yard sign biz.... So here's what's hap'nin' with that:
Eight years ago, in Southern Ohio, the Presidential Campaign yard signs ran 3-1 across the board for Bush/Cheney. Four years ago they ran 3-2 for the 'pubs.
This year the small towns are running for Obama, while the countryside/rural areas are running even. Bad (really bad) for McCain/Palin.
Even more amazing is the number of obviously 'pub households with ALL the 'pub candidate's yard signs EXCEPT for McCain/Palin. BUT, of all the Dem' yards with multiple signs, half of them did not have an Obama/Biden sign.
It is "beyond my pay grade" to figure out exactly what all this means, and statistical analysis needs a little more than an early morning drive, but it can't be good for the 'pubs.
Right now it looks worse than the end result of the Dole campaign....
I usually start out about 6:30am and I don't have to be there until 8am, which gives me a little extra time. I do this on purpose, because this is my personal time for "thinking", and I do my best thinking while I'm driving slowly through small towns and countrysides (Kinda my early Sunday afternoon drive -- so don't tailgate me, I'll drive even slower. I promise).
I go through Logan and take the back roads up through Hideaway Hills area, across Paradise Road (I love the name "Chicken Coop Road". How can you not?) and angle northwest so that I end up coming in on Duffy Road south of Lancaster. I take the small town and countryside route because I am a small town/country boy, and I love this country. It also keeps me rooted in what's important; for instance, when I see a house or a piece of land that somebody has done something special with, I relate it to me and mine, wondering if we could do THAT for our place and our family. The older I get, the more insular and family oriented I seem to get.
But, all I'm sayin' is that I keep "an eye out", and one of the things that I have noticed is the political yard sign biz.... So here's what's hap'nin' with that:
Eight years ago, in Southern Ohio, the Presidential Campaign yard signs ran 3-1 across the board for Bush/Cheney. Four years ago they ran 3-2 for the 'pubs.
This year the small towns are running for Obama, while the countryside/rural areas are running even. Bad (really bad) for McCain/Palin.
Even more amazing is the number of obviously 'pub households with ALL the 'pub candidate's yard signs EXCEPT for McCain/Palin. BUT, of all the Dem' yards with multiple signs, half of them did not have an Obama/Biden sign.
It is "beyond my pay grade" to figure out exactly what all this means, and statistical analysis needs a little more than an early morning drive, but it can't be good for the 'pubs.
Right now it looks worse than the end result of the Dole campaign....
Saturday, October 11, 2008
You might be a Golfer if... and National Debt....
... "You might be a golfer if you clean the walnuts out of your yard with a sand wedge." -- courtesy of my brother.
Also, there are not enough walnuts in the State of Ohio to match the number of dollars in the National Debt....
Also, there are not enough walnuts in the State of Ohio to match the number of dollars in the National Debt....
Friday, October 10, 2008
Waiting For The Barbarians....
“In our time, the curse is monetary illiteracy, just as inability to read plain print was the curse in earlier centuries.” - Ezra Pound (1885-1972)
Mises meets Poetry.
And they think that it will only be a "recession", but Here's what I said some time ago....
Hope springs eternal.
Evidently.
In fools and wise men alike.
We can't help it....
The Neo-Cons have no idea how they, in the form of the Republican Party, have alienated the populace over the last 8 yrs.
Conservatives haven’t been conservative for a long, long time, and we are going to pay the price.
We are paying it....
Now we are just Waiting For The Barbarians.
Mises meets Poetry.
And they think that it will only be a "recession", but Here's what I said some time ago....
Hope springs eternal.
Evidently.
In fools and wise men alike.
We can't help it....
The Neo-Cons have no idea how they, in the form of the Republican Party, have alienated the populace over the last 8 yrs.
Conservatives haven’t been conservative for a long, long time, and we are going to pay the price.
We are paying it....
Now we are just Waiting For The Barbarians.
Yeah, we all could use a little mercy now
I know we don't deserve it
But we need it anyhow
We hang in the balance
Dangle 'tween hell and hallowed ground
Every single one of us could use some mercy now
- Mary Gauthier "Mercy Now"
Thursday, October 9, 2008
What Is a Right and How Do We Know?
What Is a Right and How Do We Know?
By Bill Whittle
During the presidential debate Tuesday night, Barack Obama was asked if he thought health care was a “right.”
He said he thought it was a right. Well, if you accept that premise, I think you can ask some logical follow-up questions: Food is more important than health care. You die pretty quickly without food.
Do we have a “right” to food in America? What about shelter? Do we have a “right” to housing? And if we do have a right to housing, what standard of housing do we have a right to? And if it is a right, due to all Americans, wouldn’t that mean that no one should have to accept any housing, or health care, which is inferior to anyone else’s… since it’s a right? Do we have a right to be safe? Do we have a right to be comfortable? Do we have a right to wide-screen televisions? Where does this end?
See, by taking something to a ridiculous extreme, we can illuminate the problem here… what is a right? How do we know? What’s the difference between the right to free speech — which is enshrined in the Constitution — versus the “right” to health care, which is not?
Well, back in the day, we would simply say that a right has legal authority — it’s in the Constitution and therefore it’s a not just a right, it’s a birthright. So why shouldn’t we amend the Constitution to include the rights to health care, food, housing, education — all the rest? What’s the difference between the rights we have and the “rights” Obama wants to give us?
Simply this: Constitutional rights protect us from things: intimidation, illegal search and seizure, self-incrimination, and so on. The revolutionary idea of our Founding Fathers was that people had a God-given right to live as they saw fit. Our constitutional rights protect us from the power of government. But these new so-called “rights” are about the government — who the Founders saw as the enemy — giving us things: food, health care, education... And when we have a right to be given stuff that previously we had to work for, then there is no reason — none — to go and work for them. The goody bag has no bottom, except bankruptcy and ruin. Does that ring a little familiar these days? Because isn’t the danger here that if you’re offered something for nothing… you’ll take it?
Only it’s not something for nothing. “Free” health-care costs us something precious, and no less precious for being invisible. Because there’s a word for someone who has their food, housing and care provided for them… for people who owe their existence to someone else.
And that word is “slaves.”
By Bill Whittle
During the presidential debate Tuesday night, Barack Obama was asked if he thought health care was a “right.”
He said he thought it was a right. Well, if you accept that premise, I think you can ask some logical follow-up questions: Food is more important than health care. You die pretty quickly without food.
Do we have a “right” to food in America? What about shelter? Do we have a “right” to housing? And if we do have a right to housing, what standard of housing do we have a right to? And if it is a right, due to all Americans, wouldn’t that mean that no one should have to accept any housing, or health care, which is inferior to anyone else’s… since it’s a right? Do we have a right to be safe? Do we have a right to be comfortable? Do we have a right to wide-screen televisions? Where does this end?
See, by taking something to a ridiculous extreme, we can illuminate the problem here… what is a right? How do we know? What’s the difference between the right to free speech — which is enshrined in the Constitution — versus the “right” to health care, which is not?
Well, back in the day, we would simply say that a right has legal authority — it’s in the Constitution and therefore it’s a not just a right, it’s a birthright. So why shouldn’t we amend the Constitution to include the rights to health care, food, housing, education — all the rest? What’s the difference between the rights we have and the “rights” Obama wants to give us?
Simply this: Constitutional rights protect us from things: intimidation, illegal search and seizure, self-incrimination, and so on. The revolutionary idea of our Founding Fathers was that people had a God-given right to live as they saw fit. Our constitutional rights protect us from the power of government. But these new so-called “rights” are about the government — who the Founders saw as the enemy — giving us things: food, health care, education... And when we have a right to be given stuff that previously we had to work for, then there is no reason — none — to go and work for them. The goody bag has no bottom, except bankruptcy and ruin. Does that ring a little familiar these days? Because isn’t the danger here that if you’re offered something for nothing… you’ll take it?
Only it’s not something for nothing. “Free” health-care costs us something precious, and no less precious for being invisible. Because there’s a word for someone who has their food, housing and care provided for them… for people who owe their existence to someone else.
And that word is “slaves.”
Republican Party's Shame -- 6 Degrees of Separation in Action....
My brother made this astute appraisal of this year's particularly venomous political ads:
"It's like 6 Degrees of Separation. If you went to high school with a murderer, you're guilty by association."
I hate to see this. I support Jill Thompson. This is really bad.
From The Athens News - Editor Terry Smith
Worst political mailer ever:
Whenever I think I've seen it all with regard to negative campaign literature, something gets left in my mailbox that out-stinks what’s come before. Something so despicable and sick that the word “evil” isn’t an exaggeration.
The Ohio Republican Party funded the hateful mailer I’m referring to, which attacks Athens City Council member Debbie Phillips. The Democrat is running for the 92nd House District seat against Republican Athens County Auditor Jill Thompson.
The cover of the mailer shows a mugshot of a bearded man, and states, “Frederick Mundt KILLED a little girl… And,” the mailer continues on the inside, “Debbie Phillips is his ally.”
It then states, “Debbie Phillips opposes the death penalty, so murderers like Frederick Mundt aren’t punished.”
The mailer then describes the terrible kidnapping, rape and murder of Mundt’s 7-year-old victim. It concludes by saying, “Debbie Phillips may be a murderer’s ally, but she shouldn’t be our representative.”
Let’s be clear here. Debbie Phillips and Fred Mundt are not connected in any way. They don’t know each other, probably have never heard of each other. The Ohio Republican Party, however, is so desperate to retain this House seat that they will do anything, including trying to deceive people into thinking this basically decent Democrat is allied with the worst of the worst, a child rapist and murderer.
And it’s not just bending the truth. It’s flat-out lying to say that people who oppose the death penalty don’t think murderers should be punished. Inmates serving life terms in America’s prison hellholes would be shocked to hear that they’re not being punished.
A lot of good people oppose the death penalty on moral and ethical grounds. (I oppose it because of the possibility that we will mistakenly condemn and kill someone who’s innocent.) To say this means that death-penalty opponents are “allied” with the murderers is not only idiotic; it’s mean, malicious and sick.
Not to mention, using these tactics betrays how the Ohio Republican Party feels about you, the voters. They think you’re stupid, since anyone with a sixth-grade education can see through the pre-school logic used in the Fred Mundt mailer.
Jill Thompson probably didn’t authorize or endorse this mailer, just as Debbie Phillips didn’t authorize a union-funded mailer that unfairly and dishonestly attacked Thompson based on her use of sick days over the years.
But I do blame the Ohio Republican Party for this immoral garbage. And while I consider myself an independent when it comes to local and regional candidates, this makes it unlikely that I’ll look favorably at any candidate endorsed by the Ohio Republican Party anytime soon, including Thompson.
"It's like 6 Degrees of Separation. If you went to high school with a murderer, you're guilty by association."
I hate to see this. I support Jill Thompson. This is really bad.
From The Athens News - Editor Terry Smith
Worst political mailer ever:
Whenever I think I've seen it all with regard to negative campaign literature, something gets left in my mailbox that out-stinks what’s come before. Something so despicable and sick that the word “evil” isn’t an exaggeration.
The Ohio Republican Party funded the hateful mailer I’m referring to, which attacks Athens City Council member Debbie Phillips. The Democrat is running for the 92nd House District seat against Republican Athens County Auditor Jill Thompson.
The cover of the mailer shows a mugshot of a bearded man, and states, “Frederick Mundt KILLED a little girl… And,” the mailer continues on the inside, “Debbie Phillips is his ally.”
It then states, “Debbie Phillips opposes the death penalty, so murderers like Frederick Mundt aren’t punished.”
The mailer then describes the terrible kidnapping, rape and murder of Mundt’s 7-year-old victim. It concludes by saying, “Debbie Phillips may be a murderer’s ally, but she shouldn’t be our representative.”
Let’s be clear here. Debbie Phillips and Fred Mundt are not connected in any way. They don’t know each other, probably have never heard of each other. The Ohio Republican Party, however, is so desperate to retain this House seat that they will do anything, including trying to deceive people into thinking this basically decent Democrat is allied with the worst of the worst, a child rapist and murderer.
And it’s not just bending the truth. It’s flat-out lying to say that people who oppose the death penalty don’t think murderers should be punished. Inmates serving life terms in America’s prison hellholes would be shocked to hear that they’re not being punished.
A lot of good people oppose the death penalty on moral and ethical grounds. (I oppose it because of the possibility that we will mistakenly condemn and kill someone who’s innocent.) To say this means that death-penalty opponents are “allied” with the murderers is not only idiotic; it’s mean, malicious and sick.
Not to mention, using these tactics betrays how the Ohio Republican Party feels about you, the voters. They think you’re stupid, since anyone with a sixth-grade education can see through the pre-school logic used in the Fred Mundt mailer.
Jill Thompson probably didn’t authorize or endorse this mailer, just as Debbie Phillips didn’t authorize a union-funded mailer that unfairly and dishonestly attacked Thompson based on her use of sick days over the years.
But I do blame the Ohio Republican Party for this immoral garbage. And while I consider myself an independent when it comes to local and regional candidates, this makes it unlikely that I’ll look favorably at any candidate endorsed by the Ohio Republican Party anytime soon, including Thompson.
Issue 6....
Issue 6
A gambling proponent said that Casinos often sponsor Gamblers Anonymous groups and that "everything should be done in moderation".
That's like the Medellín Cartel opening up a Methadone Clinic franchise, or MS-13 moonlighting as Guardian Angels.
The casino scam just moves money around. It doesn't create any real product. Right now we're in the middle of a mess caused by just that type of business.
Gambling proponents start with writing some pretty big checks to our politicos. Once entrenched, it then takes money from people who don't understand the odds (Sound familiar?) and funnels it into the pocket of mostly out-of-state interests. Then it throws a little chump-change into the pockets of the working poor, half of whom have gambling problems of their own and just pour it back in, not helping the economy at all. Then it skims off to the state a token in the interest of publicity ("Do it for the kids.").
Gambling is often referred to as “an Industry”. Wrong. An "industry" creates a durable product. It's a business, and the jobs in the gambling biz don’t make up for the extended misery it adds to lives and the money it takes that people need to live.
Gambling is designed to NOT be profitable for the consumer. The only way it exists is that success depends on the ignorance of that consumer, and a society that believes it can get more out of this scam than it puts in is just the sucker they are looking for.
For those of you who say that gambling should be allowed in the "interests of personal liberty", let's just take that to the extreme and put up Casinos right NEXT to schools. If it’s good for society, you shouldn’t have a problem with that. In fact, why don't we incorporate the schools into the casino system by setting up "Blackjack dealer 101" as an advanced math class? Instead of a test-out for college credit, there’s a test-out for a casino job.
The idea of gambling paying for public services is silly - the casino scam as a way to pave streets. It basically exists as another TAX, just like booze and smokes, and if you are pro-tax, you are pro Government involvement in the gambling biz. We pay enough taxes for that, to our mostly ineffective local government. And this is very important: the more taxes raised from Gambling, the more influence the Gambling biz has over your Government, compromising the legislative process.
That is not a good thing.
A gambling proponent said that Casinos often sponsor Gamblers Anonymous groups and that "everything should be done in moderation".
That's like the Medellín Cartel opening up a Methadone Clinic franchise, or MS-13 moonlighting as Guardian Angels.
The casino scam just moves money around. It doesn't create any real product. Right now we're in the middle of a mess caused by just that type of business.
Gambling proponents start with writing some pretty big checks to our politicos. Once entrenched, it then takes money from people who don't understand the odds (Sound familiar?) and funnels it into the pocket of mostly out-of-state interests. Then it throws a little chump-change into the pockets of the working poor, half of whom have gambling problems of their own and just pour it back in, not helping the economy at all. Then it skims off to the state a token in the interest of publicity ("Do it for the kids.").
Gambling is often referred to as “an Industry”. Wrong. An "industry" creates a durable product. It's a business, and the jobs in the gambling biz don’t make up for the extended misery it adds to lives and the money it takes that people need to live.
Gambling is designed to NOT be profitable for the consumer. The only way it exists is that success depends on the ignorance of that consumer, and a society that believes it can get more out of this scam than it puts in is just the sucker they are looking for.
For those of you who say that gambling should be allowed in the "interests of personal liberty", let's just take that to the extreme and put up Casinos right NEXT to schools. If it’s good for society, you shouldn’t have a problem with that. In fact, why don't we incorporate the schools into the casino system by setting up "Blackjack dealer 101" as an advanced math class? Instead of a test-out for college credit, there’s a test-out for a casino job.
The idea of gambling paying for public services is silly - the casino scam as a way to pave streets. It basically exists as another TAX, just like booze and smokes, and if you are pro-tax, you are pro Government involvement in the gambling biz. We pay enough taxes for that, to our mostly ineffective local government. And this is very important: the more taxes raised from Gambling, the more influence the Gambling biz has over your Government, compromising the legislative process.
That is not a good thing.
Voter Fraud... Is it happening on BOTH Sides?
Amazing, but both sides of the "blogASSphere" are all a-twitter with stories - albeit unverified, for the most part - of VOTER FRAUD (Jaws theme plays in background).
With the Dems, it's the spector of poll-fixing, where the machines take over! Dum-da-da-daaa-DUMMMMM!!!!
With the 'pubs, it's ACORN, the New Jersey Mafia of the Voter Registration Scam, only less competent... but still with the evidence riding around in the trunk.
You can check my experience watching ACORN work here.
I wonder if ANY of it is warrented.
From "Gordon Gekko" on the Thurber's Thoughts blog:
With the Dems, it's the spector of poll-fixing, where the machines take over! Dum-da-da-daaa-DUMMMMM!!!!
With the 'pubs, it's ACORN, the New Jersey Mafia of the Voter Registration Scam, only less competent... but still with the evidence riding around in the trunk.
You can check my experience watching ACORN work here.
I wonder if ANY of it is warrented.
From "Gordon Gekko" on the Thurber's Thoughts blog:
"... When you consider that you can register on line, in person at the BOE, and fill out the registration form enclosed with your tax returns, this seems ripe for just this kind of activity.
At what point does a citizen have a responsibility to seek out and act on their "right to vote"?
If the only way to vote is have an ACORN rep show up at a supermarket (or a Likker Sto') for you to fill out the forms, it doesn't appear to me that you consider your civic duty all that important."
I promise to pursue the truth... at least as far as the next beer. (Oops. Make that Bloody-Mary. I'm on a diet.)
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
First take on tonight's debate - McCain down in flames....
“My friends”. How many times? Thirty?
McCain missed too many openings. He didn’t listen to Obama’s replies and let too many opportunities pass. He referred to his notes to remember the questions and his talking points, and that looked weak.
Obamamania didn’t turn in a strong performance, but McCain would have done better if he hadn’t shown up.
McCain lost almost every point. He was especially weak on health care.
Of course his plan is written by the HC lobby and designed to effectively take the very chance of coverage away from those who most need it.
He missed the opportunity to really connect the Dems and the Fannie/Freddy debacle.
He had a chance to go for the kill on that and either chose not to, or flat-out wiffed.
No mention of Ayers either, but that may not have been a mistake. That is only flying with his supporters right now.
Only on the Pakistan and the Russia questions did he sound as if he knew what he was talking about.
The Iran waging war on Israel question was idiotic. How long would that last? 5 minutes?
Most importantly, he lost the “look and act” test. Unfortunately that’s what counts for most viewers. It left me wishing I’d listened to it on radio, so I could make-believe it was a tie.
McCain missed too many openings. He didn’t listen to Obama’s replies and let too many opportunities pass. He referred to his notes to remember the questions and his talking points, and that looked weak.
Obamamania didn’t turn in a strong performance, but McCain would have done better if he hadn’t shown up.
McCain lost almost every point. He was especially weak on health care.
Of course his plan is written by the HC lobby and designed to effectively take the very chance of coverage away from those who most need it.
He missed the opportunity to really connect the Dems and the Fannie/Freddy debacle.
He had a chance to go for the kill on that and either chose not to, or flat-out wiffed.
No mention of Ayers either, but that may not have been a mistake. That is only flying with his supporters right now.
Only on the Pakistan and the Russia questions did he sound as if he knew what he was talking about.
The Iran waging war on Israel question was idiotic. How long would that last? 5 minutes?
Most importantly, he lost the “look and act” test. Unfortunately that’s what counts for most viewers. It left me wishing I’d listened to it on radio, so I could make-believe it was a tie.
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