Flag flap...

Apparently some 12,000 US flags were recovered by a worker of Invesco Field in Denver right after the Democrat National Convention. I'm hearing that the McCain campaign plans to hand them out today at their event in Colorado Springs.

Of course, the Obama campaign is distancing themselves from this, saying that they didn't discard them or that Senator Obama himself didn't order them discarded, even after they sat for over week in bags on a dock.

I really don't think that they cared until they heard that the flags had been rescued. After all, the US flag is a symbol of things that most Democrats stand against. Why would they care about some US flags unless their use promotes their purpose? See my previous post about a similar disgrace at a liberal University. How liberal? How about the University of Maine is the only known university to offer programs in Socialist and Marxist studies, including a minor?

Random thought of the day on global warming

As much as we realists have come to understand that the warmers preach the ideas of global warming with such fervent faith as those believe in other myths, I'm reminded that throughout history, we've been plagued by such people who believed in other pseudoscientific drivel (and in some cases, still do). How about the old theory that the earth was the center of the universe? There were people who believed so strongly in this idea that they would kill off dissenters. The Salem Witch Trials were so steeped in ignorance that 20 so-called "witches" were executed (moreover, they were not burned at the stake, as many still believe... after all, as anyone knows a true witch could never be killed in this fashion).

So... I don't suppose that global warming could just be another such episode... could it?

Michael Phelps, role model

I'm no fan of the Olympics or the sport of swimming, but I can't help but look on Michael Phelps's achievements with any less than the feelings of utter awe and total pride. His performance is one that brings forth tears in me. What better place to display the fruits of individual achievement than in front of a nation of people who are brainwashed to believe that it is wrong and bad? This is perhaps the greatest juxtaposing of individual achievement and political discourse since Jesse Owens's spectacular performance in the face of Adolf Hitler in the 1936 Olympics in Germany. Or the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" where the USA's hockey team beat the heavily-favored Soviet Union in Lake Placid, NY during the thick of the Cold War.

I'm certain that it's only matter of time before some council of anti-individualists claiming to work for the "greater good" makes it impossible for such achievement to burst forth. After all... it was a young, white, rich, American male with a reasonable name that did all this. In today's world, that's so much to hate.

Thank you, Mr. Phelps. Thank you for showing us once again what's possible with hard work and determination.

Increase in minimum wage = increase in jobless claims

From the SayAnything Blog. You can't teach liberals how to run a proper economy when all they care about it using it to feed their political careers.

Thinking of moving to Wordpress...

Both sites are far from quick and speedy, but I like the Wordpress interface better and they have more templates to satisfy my intemperance. We'll see.

Depeche Mode... what was I smoking?

For some reason, Depeche Mode slipped under my radar from the 80's all the way up to now. Don't know how or why. But it doesn't matter. I've "discovered" them. Amazing how many "oh that's THEM" moments I had. LOL.

Alot of their stuff reminds me of an 80's version of NIN.

Question of the moment: Will Rush ever be elected to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame?

Why in the wide world of sports do so many Rush fans care about this? Rush was built on a healthy foundation of not selling out or caring much about what people thought about their music. That's why so many of us claim to love them. Yet so many of us are ready to sell that legacy out to the decision of "popular" opinion---one that consists of what people think about their music.

I don't listen to Rush (or any other music, for that matter) because other people like it or not. I guess this explains how I feel about the critics' opinions, too. I'm the one listening, making personal and emotional connections within me with the music; it's not up to someone else to tell me what to like or how to feel. At the same time, the critics' opinions are their own and they are entitled to them. So in general, I feel that motions taken to get Rush inducted into the Hall or to hate on critics who pan the group are largely a waste of time. In fact, that critics and the Hall don't seem to care for Rush means that the guys are probably doing something very right.

Music is very personal and very often an emotional experience for me. In this parlance, I sure as hell am not concerned about Rush's status in the Hall. That's too much like "conforming or being cast out." That's not what Rush is about, and that's not what I'm about.

Environmental hypocracy...

A quicky I thought up last night: Enviromental wackjobs don't want you to make clothing out of animal or plant products. But they don't want you to pollute the earth by making synthetic materials.

I guess we all should just run around naked! :-D

So-called netiquette & Comic-Book Guy wannabees

This is too much for my feeble mind to untangle, so 'splain something to me: On an Internet forum, if you post a new topic that has been covered previously in a different thread, you've done wrong. If you dare post that topic to a thread that has crossed someone's arbitrary idea of "old", you've done wrong. Regardless, it's obviously more important to waste time & bandwidth pointing out to everyone that you're emo and offended than to stay on topic.

This reminds of the Caps-lock police... a n00b posts a question all in caps and then the next 22 posters feel like they have to chastise the n00b. "It's like shouting," they say. "Get over yourself," I reply. Welcome to the oh-so-useful forum on the friendly, productive Internet.

Or the spell-check police. Here we have purportedly sophisticated humans who never make a mistake but can't cope with it if someone else does. So, the next 31 posters complain that someone misspelled "the". Alot of these folks pride themselves on being l33t h4x0rs. Even worse is when one of these bastions of grammatical grace has found their way into the losing side of a debate... and then they try to discredit the winner by pointing out a spelling error several posts back. Classy!

All this make me view my audiences as consisting of a bunch of Comic-Book Guy wannabees. You know... those guys who trifle over irrelevant details instead of concerning themselves with proper scope? These are the guys that when they speak, 95% of the time the first words out of their mouths are "Well, actually..." (or some derivative). These guys are so great and knowledgeable, but somehow they forgot to learn about human nature and built-in error correction. I work with guys like this, and no one can stand them because of it. What's worse, they have no idea why nobody care to be around them anymore than they have to.

Ever wonder why we don't elect a President by direct vote? Go figure.

We're in a world of hurt, courtesy of the Democrat Hate Machine

Yep... the Democrat Hate Machine (DHM). You know... the folks that hate achievement, logic, reason, and everything they produce?

It's pretty easy to see that we're pretty much teetering on the edge of Real Trouble with all of this oil stuff. Since Pelosi's Politburo took office, national average gas prices are up from $2.10/gal to over $4.00 a gallon. In spite of the IMMEDIATE drop in oil prices upon the mere mentioning by the President that he was killing restrictions on drilling from his office, the Politburo still claims (without ANY justification) that it would take 10 years for any drilling to lower gas prices.

Today, the Say Anything Blog pointed out that it would take much to militarily cripple the US by restricting oil imports. I mean really... how hard could it be when just a little blip in demand and a socialist majority in Congress cause the gas prices to shoot through the roof? And in the face of this glaring vulnerability, the Politburo still won't allow drilling in ANWR or off-shore in massive deposits.

Kudos to the Congressional Republicans drawing attention to this yesterday. The so-called "People's Party"... the tolerant party that SO concerned about everyone's rights turned the lights and microphones off on the people that are trying the hardest to do the "People's Work" and address this crisis... so they could go on vacation.

Something tells me that it just got a whole lot easier for Congressional Republicans to take back the majority in 2008. It won't stop our inexorable slide to the left, but hopefully it'll slow things down.

BTW... how does Senator Obama address the issues of high energy prices? By planning to tax "windfall profits" of oil companies and redistributing this money to his proletariate in the form of $500 and $1,000 checks. I thought that the minimum wage increase would have taken care of this. Wait... the reality of that is that jobs will be lost, prices will go up, and the people that this was supposed to be for will be hardest hit.

It's truly sad that this nation has allowed itself to become one populated by foolish, ignorant voters. It is they who have allowed the DHM to gain such a foothold in our leadership. And it is they who will eventually cost us our freedom.

Coincidences can be a real bastard...

In spite of how much I like trip-hop and Portishead, I really never took notice of this song until it came up on the thumb drive on the way to work last Tuesday morning.



Pretty fantastic, huh?

Of course, my day took a terrible turn later on when I also discovered some upsetting personal news (that I'm not going into here). Coincidences being what they are, I'll prolly always associate this song with that news. Guess it's appropriate... at least it's a sad-sounding song. It'll be good for when I want to feel sorry for myself, I reckon.

We're done.

President Bush signed the housing bill. This constitutes my vote of "no confidence" in the current administration.

Downright fucking disgusting...

Someone want to tell me why I can sit there and deny myself a hedonist lifestyle so I can keep myself financially stable... making proper decisions about how much to spend on necessities like houses and food and also desires. AND NOW I HAVE TO PAY TO HAVE THOSE THAT DECIDED NOT TO MAKE SIMILAR, RESPONSIBLE DECISIONS BAILED THE FUCK OUT?!?!? WHERE IN THE CONSTITUTION IS IT ENUMERATED THAT BAILING OUT HEDONISTS IS THE GOVERNMENT'S RESPONSIBILITY?!?

Yeah. I'm pissed. Once again, the intelligent and reasonable are forced to prop up the inconsiderate buffoons. All in the name of buying votes so the government elite can make a career out of doing so. All in the name of a media-overblown "crisis" that affects a whopping 5% of homeowners.

Thanks be to Congress (truly the opposite of "progress"). I guess it's time for me to stop being responsible for my actions.

FUCKING COME ON!

Seeing a 76-10 vote on this tells me that in addition to the broad Democrat support (no surprise, here), there was broad Republican support (less of a surprise than it used to be). The 10 no-voters were:

Barrasso (WY), Coburn (OK), Corker (TN), Cornyn (TX), DeMint (SC), Ensign (NV), Enzi (WY), Grassley (IA), Hatch (UT), Hutchison (TX), Kyl (AZ), Thune (SD), Vitter (LA)

The non-voters don't impress me... they could have voted "no", but they were too coward.

Thank goodness these ten had the balls to do the right thing. I expect no less from Senator Coburn, who impresses me more and more with every passing day.

I've long supported President Bush amidst all the irrational "Bush Disillusionment Syndrome" perpetrated by the media (except with how he's handled the illegal immigrant invasion problem). However, if he signs this, I'll pull all my support. At that point, I might as well vote for the Democrat Party candidate for President. After all, they'll be the same thing.

Sad news...

My fondest childhood memories include the nights Mom & Dad used to take us kids to Sandusky Speedway to watch the supermodifieds race. We spent many summer Saturday nights watching the Shullicks, the Sauniers, and the Gibsons take home trophy after trophy. I'm still a big fan, but they don't have supermodified racing out here in Oklahoma. So I follow it via the web.

Over the years the names and faces have changed, many times coming down through the next generation of family drivers. One of my favorites from back in the 80's was Todd Gibson. A racing legend, Gibson raced supermodifieds since the 60's and started races in IndyCar along the way. He and his son Gene Lee used to tear up the Perkins Township 1/2-mile asphalt oval regularly, their Baja Boats-sponsored roadsters in purple (#0) and yellow (#75) unmistakable as they zipped around the track.

Racing is many times a family affair. Todd's three other sons, Jeff, Terry, and Larry, are all involved in racing, and so is Larry's son Zach, who's a rising star in winged sprints. In fact, since I've been on a supermodified-photo-collecting kick lately, I stumbled on Zach's website the other night. This is where I learned about the rest of the Gibson family.

As I was reading Supermodified Scorecard to catch the weekend's race results, I learned that Terry had been killed in an accident in a MSA heat race at Toledo Speedway Friday night.

My thoughts are with the Gibson family as well as Terry Gibson's team and competitors during this difficult time.

Points for the day...

First... the Science & Public Policy Institute is reporting that it has been mathematically proven that global warming is not happening.

It won't matter, though... after all, the religion of global warming thrives on faith just as much as any other religion. It doesn't matter how much science you throw at it, people will still blindly believe.

Next, apparently Chicago's ban on handgun ownership is working very well: they're calling in the National Guard to help with the violent crime problem there.

Finally, Reason.com is reporting that even though socialists everywhere would have us believe that "the middle class is shrinking", not only is it simply not true, people don't care.

Nicely done...

You know this is an act because in the real world, some whiny bitch would ruin this for everyone:



I was going to embed this from the original site, but the embed code had a ridiculous amount of garbage embedded in it.

Speaking of idiots...

Here we have video of John Wiley Price's apparently racist rant, plus an interview where he decries terms such as "angel food cake" and "devil's food cake" as racist:



The Dallas Fox affiliate had an online poll up on the page where they showed this video on their website. The question was, "Is the term "Black Hole" racist?". Last I looked before it was pulled, the vote was 97.5% "no". Most lopsided online poll I have EVER seen. LOL.

It's good to know that Mr. Price's primary concern as a county commissioner is looking out for the best interests of his constituency as opposed to his hangups over differences in skin color and culture.

Just for funsies...

I'd like to share this video of Criss Angel's steamroller illusion:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7gl8nNsDMA

I could have embedded this, but I chose not to because what I really want you all to see is the raft of comments that has been posted to the video. Here we have a cross-section of some very intelligent people... people who will most likely voting for our next President. Makes you feel warm and fuzzy, doesn't it? Restores your faith in humanity, no?

I wasn't going to address the issues contained within, but this is the sort of thing that happens when those that put their unsubstantiated beliefs up against those who refuse to suspend their realism long enough to enjoy the "unreal". Great unwashed, indeed.

To clarify for everyone concerned: Criss Angel is billed as an illusionist. That would literally mean "one who deals in illusions". Of course he wasn't really run over by a steamroller on the asphalt surface... it was an illusion. Anyone who actually believes that this was real is an idiot, and so is anyone who can't appreciate this fantastic illusion for what it is. That would cover 99.9% of the commenters to that video.

Well... they're no rocket scientists, are they?

Once again, a tale of people so preoccupied with perpetuating racism that they are ignorant of even basic science.

As reported by the Dallas Morning News, Dallas Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield (white) , said it seemed that central collections, "has become a black hole" because paperwork apparently was lost in the office. Another Dallas Commissioner, John Wiley Price (black) erupted with a loud, "excuse me!", followed by him correcting Mayfield by saying the office has become a "white hole." Then Judge Thomas Jones (black) demanded an apology from Mayfield for his racially insensitive remark.

You have GOT to be kidding me. I have to find these geniuses on YouTube. And here they are:

In 1999 when a white DC staffer resigned amidst criticism for using the word "niggardly", which means "miserly", to describe a business dealings, I could almost understand the confusion, considering that "niggard" and its derivatives have fallen out of common usage. But even people educated in gubment schools knows what a black hole is: an object so massive that it's gravitational pull doesn't let even light (hence "black") escape (hence "hole"). Hell, Disney made a movie about one back in the early 1980's.

For those that don't know, a "white hole" is quite the opposite of a black hole: it's a point that nothing can enter; it casts material forth with force analogous to a black hole's ability to suck it in.

But to Price and Jones, that doesn't seem to matter. It's apparently a HUGE priority to trot out their hangups with differences in race because it's overwhelmingly more important than what's being discussed in a public meeting. In my humble opinion, if the public that they "serve" is any smarter than these two bozos, they'll show them the door at the earliest opportunity.

The most important half-hour you will spend this week...

US Navy SEAL MA2 Michael Monsoor lost his life 9/29/06 during fighting in Ramadi, Iraq when a grenade threatened to kill him and two of his teammates. He fell on the grenade, selflessly giving his own life to safe those of his brothers.

I'll never have the honor of standing in the same room as this hero. But I feel privileged to know that there are such people who will stand thusly for our freedom.

The most important half-hour you will spend all week will be remembering MA2 Monsoor by watching these videos (sorry for the links, embedding was disabled).

Memorial footage
Medal of Honor presentation, part 1
Medal of Honor presentation, part 2
Medal of Honor Flag presentation

Never forget this American Patriot.

More anti-theism from the liberal media...

So here at Australia's Daily Telegraph, it was time for them to again trot out one of the tried-and-true class warfare dog-and-pony shows to try to make their audience believe that theists aren't as intelligent as anti-theists (even though they used the word "atheists" instead).

Look... spirituality is an individual choice, and I happen to know alot of very intelligent people who are theists (like those who aren't zealots), and alot of really stupid people who are anti-theists (like those who are zealots).

But such class warfare ignores these things... it's goal is to brainwash people into believing that mob mentalities are the best ways to think.

The ol' AP spin...

So the AP put out a story today entitled

Surprising fact: Half of gun deaths are suicides

In this story they crowed that some 55% of firearm-related deaths in 2005 were suicides. Of course every news outlet with a related anti-gun agenda picked this up in the light of the recent SCOTUS ruling that the 2nd amendment, just like all the other amendments in the Bill of Rights, were enumerated for individuals.

So what if suiciders used guns? This was back when they were illegal in DC anyhow. It's illegal to kill yourself for any reason by any method anyway. I hardly think that if someone really wants to do the big deed that some bed-wetter is going to stop them by taking away guns. They'll just find something else.

Here's a headline that should cause more consternation:

Surprising fact: Three quarters of poisoning deaths are unintentional.

Jeez... wouldn't make more sense to be more worried about people who didn't mean to hurt themselves but did anyway rather than those that want to kill themselves and happen to choose a rather effective method?

Guess it's more important to continue whining about having lost a battle.

BTW... I got the poisoning stats from the same place that the AP got the firearm-suicide stats.

Chicago! Stone of Sisyphus!

Holy smokes... they done released it for real! After 15 years of waiting, here's the freshest Chicago stuff ever made since they hit the Warner Brothers label!

Get it for less than $10 at Amazon.com!

Done is done!

X-Files movie less than a month away!

This is my favorite TV show of all time. And now a second movie's coming out!

It's about time...

Apparently, the Washington State Patrol have decided that it's high time to enforce traffic laws against moron drivers who feel the urge to just poke-ass it along in the passing lanes of highways. I'm not a road rager, but very little infuriates me more than getting stuck behind one of these squareheads. They're called "passing lanes" for a reason! And in Oklahoma, of course this is a HUGE problem. Maybe the Oklahoma Highway Patrol could learn something from their Cascadian brothers.

Jump is here.

Just damn...

George Carlin died last night at 71 of heart failure. While I didn't necessarily agree with all of his philosophies and politics, the man definitely made my world a brighter place.

Thanks for all the laughs, George.

I'm back!

Just spent the last 2-3 months storm chasing and neglecting my writings here... now that chase season is pretty much over, it's time to get back to reality.

Let's start with this amazing performance of one of my favorite Christmas carols, "O Holy Night" by tenor David Phelps:



Aside from it being completely and utterly stirring, I posted this intentionally to inflame the anti-theists who claim to be atheists. Enjoy!

Once again disgusted...

So one of those Bush-haters out there apparently decided to take their hatred out on a wheelchair-bound girl yesterday as he heckled First Lady Laura Bush and her daughter Jenna Bush.

Just how utterly symbolic is this? An out-of-control Democrat preying on the weak and defenseless to further their cause? Just about spot-on.

I guess this idiot got his ass beat by the father of the girl and then was arrested. Good.

Disgraceful...

A fitting word to describe what the so-called educated at the University of Maine allowed to happen in their Student Center.

No matter what anyone says about "freedom of expression", there is no such thing as enumerated in the Constitution. Regardless, this isn't even a "freedom of speech" issue. This is a property rights issue. The flags belong to the University and so does the venue, and it doesn't infringe on anyone's rights for them to make a display such as this.

That. Being. Said.

It absolutely breaks my heart when the very people for whom freedom was provided by the fighting men and women of this country can take the most important symbol of that freedom and debase in such a manner.

In other words, you are well within your right, but I am utterly repulsed by the way you choose to avail yourself of that right. Both with the flags-on-the-floor bit and with the way you treated one of our servicemen. Here's me exercising my right: Fuck you, University of Maine. Fuck you.

One lesson to take from this: "education" does not imply "intelligence". In this case, they are little more than snobby ingrates.

Remember, these so-called "educated elite" are the same idiots that scream the loudest about the presence of the Confederate Flag in our nation's history, saying how it symbolizes slavery.

Socialist pipe dream: so-called "universal" health care...

All you fans of universal health care, have a look:



Sounds great, doesn't it? Do you think that the patient received "compassionate" health care from its brokers in Canada (aka, the government)? Just how compassionate do you think it is to make someone with a life-threatening brain tumor wait months for basic diagnostic examinations when time is critical to save his life?

Anyone with a piece of brain in their skulls should realize that so-called "universal" health care is neither universal nor compassionate. More than anything else, it is rationed. Much like food has been in times of famine. That means that everyone gets some, but generally not enough. That means everyone suffers, just like when Sir Winston Churchill said,

The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.

You want affordable health care? Improve yourself and spend less frivolously and/or vote for politicians that refuse to allow government to meddle in health care.

The United States has perhaps the greatest health-care system in the world, because it is driven mostly by individual responsibility (= freedom). This means that those who refuse to take responsibility for themselves will not receive proper health care. A single-payer system removes that individual responsibility component. Is that the kind of environment we want to foster? One where government-provided security supplants freedom?

Some people like to crow that, "every other industrialized nation has universal health care." Even if this is truly so, just because an idea wins a popularity contest doesn't mean that it's the best idea out there. This is exactly why our nation is a republic and not a democracy. Besides, there have got to be reasons why our health care system is the best as is.

BTW, who do you expect might be proponents of rationed health care systems? How about Democrat presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton?

American Idol & Hell's Kitchen...

I watch both of these when I have time, and thought I'd jot down a couple observations...

First, if David Cook doesn't win American Idol, I'll be sorely disappointed. He's definitely the most talented of the group. Even if his performance last week wasn't great. Now, like Simon said, if we can keep this from being a popularity contest...

Second... I'm counting the seconds until both Jen and Jason are eliminated from Hell's Kitchen. Jen talks to much and makes no sense. Jason is a woman-hating idiot and worthless in the kitchen. I reckon they'll both be shown the door soon enough... no way Ramsay's going to give a quarter-megabuck job to these schmucks.

Corey, while being strategic, likely screwed herself over when she picked Christina and Jen for elimination, when Sharon was clearly the worst. In doing so, Corey indicated to Ramsay that she's more concerned for herself than the good of her team. I'm quite certain that Gordon's intelligent enough to pick up on that.

BTW, WTF do we call this reality TV? These and their ilk are little more than groupwise game shows. Like auto racing and marathons, everyone plays at the same time. Because of the setups, there's really nothing about them that makes them reality. Especially since in reality, most people would shrink at the idea of competing to be the best.

Jeff Gordon a class act...

I'm no fan of Gordon's on the track (I'm a Junior fan), but how can you not respect someone who's done this?

'Nuff said.

The lefties are really reaching now...

Check this out: Petraeus' 'ribbon creep'

Yeah... what a surprise. More asshattery by the anti-achievement, anti-individual, anti-military left.

Here's another: Memo to Petraeus & Crocker: More Laughs, Please

What a pompous, self-righteous wingnut! Mr. Cavett can't find true fault with material content, so instead to project some image of badness, he discredits heroes such as soldiers, firemen, and policemen with paragraphs and paragraphs of achievement hating or by picking at the manner by which they speak all while trying to speak over the heads of his audience. This is what he chooses to do with the security and freedom that these heroes provide and defend.

Typical lefty misdirection.

Just what is the major malfunction with Okie drivers?

Tonight while making my way through Lindsay after the chase, a 'Billy Truck (tm) pulled out right in front of me and poked along. I passed the truck at the next light, and suddenly, I had the immutably bright lights of a full-blown Okie driver in my rear windshield.

Nevermind that the driver pulled right out in front of me only moments before, it was time for him to get hillbilly-strong, throwing caution to the wind that I might be the type to knock someone's teeth down their throat for that kind of stupid shit. Of course, as is usually the case with the hillbilly-strong, he showed his true yellow color when he turned off shortly after floodlighting me.

That's what I thought.

*shaking head*

As it turns out, I do have something else to talk about...

Imagine a fantasy world in which Hillary narrowly avoided throwing away her legal career for... wait for it... lying:

Read this article before it disappears.

And still so many people want to put her in office.

Apprently, Obama has a 10% lead on her in the opinion polls. Worse yet, most people would want Obama to pick someone other than Hillary for VP if he gets the Democrat nod.

I also read recently that some well-heeled Democrats are offering a consolation prize for Hillary if she doesn't get to be president: Governor of New York. This in itself might make me vote for Obama to prevent her from running again in 2012. Then again, maybe not.

Lots to speak of today...

Today's tidbits come from my reading of the articles at Fox News:

1. Apparently the major oil companies are taking heat from Democrat congressmen because they had $100B in profits last year. What they're not telling you is that Government made $440B in (plundered) profits from Big Oil last year. ExxonMobil alone is reported to have paid more in taxes than the lower half of all individual income earners last year. Who's the bad guy here? Remember that Thomas Sowell quote I included yesterday?
   
   
2. A Madison, WI high school student is suing the Tomah School District because he refused to remove religious references from a project he turned in and earned a zero. I hope he wins big on this one. If the government schools want to separate church and state, then they have to keep antitheism out too.
   
   
3. A related story alludes to a less than 50% graduation rate in a large number of the largest US cities. The problem here is two-fold: lack of teaching of personal responsibility AND failure of our school systems to be much more than indoctrination centers.
   
   
4. Yeah, gas prices are up and the economy's cooling down right now, but are we really in a recession or depression as the lamestream media want everyone to believe? Economic conditions were actually worse in 2000 near the end of the Clinton Administration, but you never heard a blurb about the economy being so bad. Couldn't possibly be that we had a Democrat president at the time and have a GOP president now, could it? Couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact that the US sheeple believe everything they hear in the press and the media are leveraging that in an election year, could it? The single-largest factor in the cause of any possible recession or depression right now is the media reporting.
   

Wow... I really thought I had more than that. Sorry.

Quotes for today...

Folks... I found a great political cartoon site today called Red Planet Cartoons. Do yourself a favor and visit.

While I was there, I picked up a couple quotes of value. First by Thomas Sowell:

Nothing is easier, or more emotionally satisfying, than blaming high prices on those who charge them, rather than on those who cause them.

This was said, of course, in reference to everyone's blaming of high gas prices on the greed of the oil companies rather than government interference and taxes. Nevermind that the oil companies make about 9 cents per gallon and government takes around 42.

And this one from our greatest President, Ronald Reagan:

Republicans believe every day is July 4th. Democrats believe every day is April 15th.

The reference here should be obvious.

Morning logic...

Ever notice how many people there are out there that are just never wrong? Seems like it's prevalence is on the rise. This attitude goes hand-in-hand with such wonders as frivolous lawsuits, class warfare, lack of personal responsibility, etc.

Funny how no one ever stops to consider this:

1. People who refuse to learn are idiots.
   
2. People learn primarily from their mistakes.
3. People are imperfect, thus they make mistakes.
4. Thus, it's human nature to learn as you go.

However, for the people that can never do wrong:

1. They must know it all already.
2. Thus, they can't learn anything new.
3. Thus, they are cretins and become more cretinous as time goes on.
   

Prison's full of innocent people, right? What about the presidential campaign?

One other thought: If people can do no wrong (and thus they know it all), why does it piss people off so much when you point our that they know it all?

WTF kind of BS is that?

The best way to handle mistakes is to:

1. Be on the the lookout for them.
2. When they occur, admit them, learn from them, and move on.
3. Use what you learned to prevent the same mistake from happening again.

If you don't do this, the mistake will just repeat itself. Is that what you want?

Pants suit on fire...

So this time Hillary was finally called out on one of her lies, this one in reference to the tall tale of a spiral landing and canceled greeting ceremony in Bosnia. Videos of the event clearly show she was lying. Then she followed it up by trying to dismiss it publicly.

Folks... this should show you just how dangerous Hillary really is: this was a huge, outright LIE. And she would just rather cover it up and act like it was nothing. Just how many other lies has she covered up and how many does she plan to do that with in the future?

Don't get me wrong here. All politicians lie. But this one was pretty huge.

I guess even the lamestream media have gotten tired of just glossing over all of her "misspeakings" and "misstatings". Apparently, she misunderestimated her own protection as given by the news outlets.

I love this song... go figure

Government needs to battle childhood obesity?

While I'm ranting... why is it exactly that the State has to address childhood obesity?

Oh, that's right... because parents refuse to take care of it themselves, the gubment has to come swooping in with another ill-formed solution designed only to buy votes.

Thank you Governor Henry. Just what we needed: another reason to push responsibility (and therefore freedom) out the door. Maybe we should just push our kids out the door to get some exercise rather than spin up another big spending program.

Brought to you by a homophobic Bible-belt Republican politician...

Here's a flash of brilliance brought forth by Sally Kern, one of Oklahoma's state representatives:



This is a perfect example of another overzealous moron trying to foist her ideals on others via poorly constructed arguments that aren't logical and do not follow. This is a perfect example of why I refuse to have anything to do with religion. This is not a proud day for my state.

In related news, leave it to the Bible-belters to pull another fast one on their constituents. And to think, we made fun of Kansas when they were in the news trying to put mysticism and ghosts in front of education. I reckon it's better to Rep. Kern and the other flat-earthers in Oklahoma's legislature for our children to grow up into procreative troglodytes who know nothing of the real world that surrounds them. Gays a threat? Hardly. Religious zealots a threat? You bet. Take a look at al Qaeda.

Representative Kern: Thank you (and those like you) for embarrassing our state on a national and/or global scale. Tell you what: if you want to live in a world made up only of people just like you, go away and build your utopia. Just leave the realists out of it. Thank you.

Afterthought: If Rep. Kern wants an accurate speech, all she needs to do is replace every reference to homosexuality with references to overdone religion.

Afterthought again: And this is why I still hold that sending a child to a gubment school is akin to child abuse.

Final afterthought: Republicans need to stay the fuck away from handling social issues, much like Democrats need to stay the fuck away from handling economic issues.

Asshat.

Still wondering...

I don't think I'll ever get an answer to this question, but I'll ask it again anyway:

If Democrats are so concerned about all the money being distributed equally, why don't they just band together in their own little group, throw all their money in a pot, and divide the pot up into equal portions for every one in their little group, so they could build their little socialist utopia?

My answer is this: In order for a Democrat society to subsist, you need to feed it the fruits of labor of lots of high achievers. After all, all that cradle-to-grave service costs money. High achievers usually aren't Democrats, and Democrats aren't generally motivated to earn that money on their own. Therefore, it's important to force their system on others to form a financial basis for their utopia. Sounds good, don't it?

Democrats at their best...

So I guess the Hillary and Obama campaigns can't figure out how to get a leg up on the other, since they've resorted to that Democrat stalwart of name-calling. Hillary's campaign likened Obama to their favorite Independent Counsel Ken Starr, and one of Obama's key advisors called Hillary a "monster".

This name calling happens regularly when a Democrat can't win an argument. How many times have you heard a Democrat call an opponent "Hitler"? Apparently, it's better to misdirect by criminalizing their opponent rather than exercising some ability to debate.

An older (but still applicable) definition of "Democrat" is "one who panders to the ignorant masses". What better way to do this than to sink to the lowest common denominator like this?

And the dust settles...

So it's apparent that the voters in Texas and Ohio are no smarter than the voters in Oklahoma, what with giving victory in the Democrat primary to an avowed socialist and all.

Anyway...

Hillary Hypocrisy... again!?

This was pointed out to me this morning by a good friend: remember when Hillary accused Obama of plagiarizing someone's speech? Just how is this any different than Hillary's copying of the 3AM commercial from the 1984 Mondale campaign?





I can't wait to hear this one... but I know I never will. Hillary's a member of the "protected" class.

FWIW, Mondale went on to get beaten like a narc at a biker rally against Reagan. Too bad today's voters aren't as smart.

I have to ask... just what is it that Hillary experienced at besides stealing from the achievers and giving to the lazy? And would I want her manning that phone at 3AM, or wouldn't I want someone that has actually dealt with crisis greater than a philandering husband?

Cute

So Fox News rolled out a digital countdown clock to mark the closing of polls. Ok, fine. But why do they have to show precision to the tenths of seconds in the closing minute? What is it that's going on that it's so crucial that we have this precision?

Just a little silly to me, and since I have an innate need to rant...

Whoopsie

Someone posted a comment on my Sneaker Pimps entry, and I think I accidentally deleted it in a fit of noobishness. Sorry 'bout that... if you post it again, I'll make sure not to f it up this time.

Oh, and thanks for reading. :-D

weak

Putzing around the house today doing chores, and had to pause again at Cavuto. They had the chair of the Dallas County, Texas Democrats on, who was proclaiming that it was sexist for people to vote for a "new" candidate rather than for Hillary. She went on to say that this is largely driven by unflattering pictures of Hillary that have made their rounds in the media.

When advised that there has been much to do about McCain's age (and wrinkles), the chair stated, "well, agism is different than sexism."

That's it. The rest of her platform sort of disintegrated right there.

And let's not forget, now we have the "Obama darkening-scandal" before us, much like we had it during OJ-Mania.

Have we covered all the bases of class warfare in the Democrat campaign yet? We've had race, gender, religion, name-calling, income dragged in... all of this from the "tolerant" party.

Right.

Never bite the hand that feeds you...

Check out this video for the Sneaker Pimps' Post-Modern Sleaze from their 1996 debut album Becoming X:



This is GREAT song and a GREAT video. And as with all good things, it didn't last. After the success of Becoming X, Chris Corner asked vocalist Kelli Ali (then Kelli Dayton) to leave, reportedly because he didn't want the band to sound like Portishead. After Ali's departure, the band more or less tanked. They're apparently still together, but only tenuously so.

The rub is that their stuff with Ali was miles ahead of anything Portishead ever did. And now, the stuff that Ali does is better than what the Sneaker Pimps do now.

WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THESE PARENTS!?!?!?

Every once in awhile, you see examples of bad parenting. In my line of work, I see it all the time. But this is one of the FUCKEDEST things I ever saw:



At the end of watching this, I find myself tearing up with little Jonathan. How anyone could justify messing with a little kid's emotions like that, ON FUCKING CHRISTMAS, is beyond imagination.

If the folks over at Engadget and Microsoft hadn't taken steps to make sure this was corrected, I'd hook him up myself.

Sorry, I don't normally let loose it like this... I just don't fucking understand how anyone can be this cruel to someone they purport to love. I really think that these morons need to be locked up for this asshattery.

Word.

Those of you wishing to follow the story, take the jump.

Once again the Democrats are forcing the costs of their political aspirations upon us

The Democrats are at it again, trying to buy votes on the wave of financial ignorance fostered by the US sheeple. The Democrat Party has its panties in a bunch that oil companies "raked in record profits" last year. Well, we all know what that means, don't we? It's time to plunder! After all, the only way Democrats can make a career out of their political aspirations is to buy votes from those too stupid or apathetic to be responsible for themselves. So, the Democrat-controlled House passes some $18B in taxes on those profits.

Profits alone don't show the entire financial picture. Of more importance to the big picture are the profit margins. But it's difficult to make myrmidons that vote Democrat understand that. So let me explain:

Profit = gross revenue - business costs

Profit margin = profit/gross revenue * 100%

So, let's have a short exercise, shall we?

Let's say Poxblog Oil Co had gross revenues of $1M in 2007. Poxblog Oil's business costs (what they spent to bring in that megabuck) was $900,000.

2007 profit = $1,000,000 - $900,000 = $100,000

2007 profit margin = $100,000 / $1,000,000 * 100% = 10%

Now, let's say that Poxblog Oil sold twice as much in 2008. That means that their total gross revenue was $2M. Let's also say that it also cost them twice as much to make that revenue, or $1,800,000. That leaves them with $200,000 profit.

Holy shit! Profits have doubled. Time to plunder/levy taxes/buy votes!

But wait. Poxblog's 2008 profit margin is $200,000 / $2,000,000 * 100%, or... wait for it... 10%. Somehow, profits have doubled, but profit margins haven't changed.

2008 profit = $2,000,000 - $1,800,000 = $200,000

2008 profit margin = $200,000 / $2,000,000 * 100% = 10%

From Neal Boortz in 2005:

When they read that oil company profits have gone up they have no educational basis upon which to balance the fact that oil company revenues have also gone up... thanks to the increase in the price of crude oil. Revenues go up. Profits go up. It's not really that hard to understand.

Someone will now come along and point out that the oil company profit margins have been rising along with the profits themselves. They're right. You see, costs don't necessarily double when revenues do. There are some costs that remain fixed even when the prices for raw materials (crude oil) increase. This will mean that profit margins will also increase, though not anywhere near as much as profits themselves. Is this necessarily a bad thing? Hardly. Just where do you think the energy companies, including the oil companies, get the money they need to explore for new sources of oil, to build new refineries, and to conduct research on additional or alternate energy sources? That money comes from profits. If profits increase due to high demand met by a scarcity of product the oil companies will be in a position to use increased profits to expand production and to search for new sources of oil. If the government seizes these profits, as suggested by Hillary Clinton, then those dollars would not be available for energy company investments into expanding our energy resources.

Another source of funds for oil companies to use for exploration and the development of additional energy resources would be the money that comes from investors. These investors purchase shares of stock in oil companies because they believe that their investments will appreciate in value and, in some cases, will pay dividends. If the government bows to the paranoia and anti-capitalist ignorance of the state-educated masses and seizes those profits, what then will be the reason to invest in these oil companies?

Hitting the high achievers the hardest slows down the momentum of our economy right at it's very foundation.

These taxes will be passed on the customer, just like they are every time. And it will hurt the low-income people the most... you know... the very people that Democrats purport to protect?

These are SIMPLE, straightforward concepts. Regardless, I'm sure that your average Democrat couldn't explain them. Nor would they care too, because it's they who are screaming the loudest that profits are up. It's these people legislating to make a moneygrab. It's these people forcing YOU to pay for their political careers! And yet somehow this is less evil than groups of people working hard and having it pay off.

McCain takes the high road, Cunningham takes the low road...

So, yesterday Bill Cunningham of WLW 700 AM in Cincinnati opens for John McCain by making some low blows at Barack Obama. McCain takes the high road, accepting responsibility for Cunningham's low-brow actions and apologizing to Senator Obama. Next thing you know, Cunningham proclaims to be voting for Hillary Clinton.

Clown. Apparently, Cunningham's presence was more about him that it was supporting John McCain.

Okay... while I'm ranting...

So here we are again... the lights are out in South Florida, and Fox News has to start wall-to-wall coverage of the event like the end of the world's about to arrive. They pulled this shit last week with an airplane with a gear-light indicator.

Reminds me of the local stations here in Oklahoma that go into Whopper-Doppler mode anytime moisture falls from the sky.

Look, I normally watch Fox News because as a libertarian (and regardless of what the lefties like to scream), I have found that they are the least biased of the networks (and, to be honest, they have the best looking female reporters). But that doesn't mean that I blindly support them in everything they do.

Gimme a break. I switched over to CNN (Clinton News Network), and was ready to shoot myself within 30 seconds of hearing Wolf Blitzer. Guess I'll just turn off the TV.

Is there something in the water in South Florida?

Okay, so Fox News is rolling continuing coverage of a widespread power outage in South Florida. Why, I don't know. Whatever.

The striking thing is that once again, sheeple display their stupidity by apparently ignoring a basic driving safety tenet (and state law in Florida):

Upon approaching a 4-way intersection governed by traffic lights that are not working, the intersection shall be treated as a 4-way stop by ALL directions of traffic.

But no... news shots of intersections down there show accidents being caused by people who can't be bothered to follow the law. It's even worse in groups, where mob rule and anonymity in numbers are what control people's minds. Hell, they even showed motorcycle cops rolling right through.

Remember, these are the same people who couldn't figure out simple ballots in West Palm Beach during the 2000 presidential election.

An afterthought: I'm hearing news stories where our schools go into some ridiculous state called "lockdown" every time someone cuts a loud fart. During these periods, apparently these schools act like prisons and won't release children to their parents. More stupid black & white decision making brought to you by people who can't think for themselves, yet are left in charge of teaching our children.

I'll tell you what: if someone had my children and wouldn't release them to me, there'd be hell to pay. All the more reason to home school.

Fire & hillbillies just don't mix...

You'd think that people would learn after each winter/dry season in Oklahoma. But no. Once again, today we have raging grass fires everywhere. It's not like we have an abundance of natural causes, and it's not like these people have been warned that conditions are ripe for fires to be out of control.

But instead, it's way more important for Mountain William to set a pile of lawn waste alight on a windy, dry day and walk away from it. Or maybe Cletus can't be brought to not flick his smoke out the window. Next thing you know, we have a conflagration that destroys huge amounts of vegetation, wildlife, and property. Sometimes it even takes lives.

There are solutions to this mess. First, the state has to take a proactive role in just prohibiting all outside burning from October through March. I think that six months out of the year is enough for hillbillies who can't be inconvenienced to mulch or otherwise dispose of their waste to burn it off. Second, don't be so damned quick to remove burn bans just because it freaking rains. Fire weather depends on much more than the rainfall from last night. Third, state and local government needs to institute burn permits and inspections. Finally, more responsibility needs to be placed on those burning outdoors so that when their shit gets out of control, they are fined, jailed, and/or sued for it. Hell, in some areas that I frequent, cash-strapped city governments don't even fine these idiots when they burn during a burn ban. These morons need to be held responsible for the full cost of the fire protection services that are putting out the fires they cause.

Makes not a damn bit of sense to me.

Quote for the day...

From historian Joseph Ellis's "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation", here's what the founding fathers thought of democracy and democrats:

"... the term "democrat" originated as an epithet and referred to 'one who panders to the crude and mindless whims of the masses.'"

So, doesn't seem interesting that today's Democrat Party consists largely of people like this? Many thanks to Boortz for this one.

Hilarious... but not really

Sitting here on my day off getting some chores done, I had to stop and watch a bit on Cavuto where a Democrat strategist was on with two economists (sorry, I don't remember any of their names) and Neil discussing Obama's and Hillary's budget plans. It wasn't pretty... kind of like a lamb going to the slaughter; the economists had a field day.

Folks, I'm not kidding when I say this: The Democrats want nothing more than to expand the entitlement state in order to buy more votes for themselves. Remember what I quoted a couple months ago about the the stability of great nations and the people voting themselves money out of the public largess? We're seeing that played out now.

I have a great plan with which we can put a real quick stop to this bullshit. Since the existence of government is borne by those who fund it, is it not fair that the weight of the vote of each constituent is proportional to how much each taxpayer pays in? What a way to keep checks on government thuggery! If someone wants to tax high-achievers disproportionately, then the high-achievers have a strong defense against it. After all, they're paying more for it.

Hell, this plan may even bring more money into the government in the form of donations from people wanting more say. It might even motivate lower achievers into achieving more. My goodness, coupled with the FairTax, this plan could super-energize the economy.

With the entitlement-based attitude most people have now, this will never happen.

Looks like I'll be buying a book soon...

From page 409 of "The Bad Boy of Baltimore", a biography of H.L. Mencken by Marion Elizabeth Rodgers:

"By the mid-1930's, thanks to the New Deal, all that self-reliance had changed, prompting Mencken to declare: 'There is no genuine justice in any scheme of feeding and coddling the loafer whose only ponderable energies are devoted wholly to reproduction. Nine-tenths of the rights he bellows for are really privileges and he does nothing to deserve them.' Despite the billions spent on an individual, 'he can be lifted transiently but always slips back again.' Thus, the New Deal had been 'the most stupendous digenetic enterprise ever undertaken by man.... We not only acquired a vast population of morons, we have inculcated all morons, old or young, with the doctrine that the decent and industrious people of the country are bound to support them for all time. The effects of that doctrine are bound to be disastrous soon or late.'

When someone asked, "And what, Mr. Mencken, would you do about the unemployed?" He looked up with a bland expression. "We could start by taking away their vote," he said, deadpan. Mencken was not surprised when the majority disagreed. "There can be nothing even remotely approaching a rational solution of the fundamental national problems until we face them in a realistic spirit," he later reflected, and that was impossible so long as educated Americans remained responsive "to the Roosevelt buncombe."

While I think that the downfall of America began with the ratification of the 17th Amendment, which nationalized the Senate, this is pretty spot on.

Bands of the 1990's...

What a wonderful decade in music. I've decided that the following is my Baker's Dozen of Favorite 90's Music Acts (stereotypically 90's acts only, in no particular order):

Alice in Chains
Smashing Pumpkins
Sneaker Pimps (with Kelli Dayton-Ali only)
Pearl Jam
Garbage
Alanis Morissette
The Prodigy
Live
Thrill Kill Kult
Portishead
Stone Temple Pilots
Rage Against the Machine (not their politics)
Nine Inch Nails

'Splain somethin' to me...

So the Democrat Party is usually the one that champions the idea of scrapping the electoral college system for electing our president and electing our president through a national popular vote.

Why, then, aren't Democrat supporters smart enough to elect their presidential candidates directly by national popular vote? Moreover, why aren't Democrat supporters smart enough to elect their candidate through just a regular delegate system without fear that so-called super-delegates can just wipe out whatever choice they make?

Hmmm. Seems to me like the Democrat Party has once again confounded their constituency with smoke and mirrors. I reckon whatever they bought their voters' votes for was worth it to them.

Just plain badass

Y'know... sometimes technology is leveraged in ways that are so freaking beautiful:



I can't wait for a laser bass to be put together.

Boy... that's one classy lady...

By now, I'm sure y'all have heard about Jane Fonda's use of the C-word on a live national television broadcast. If not, have a look at this clip from NBC's The Today Show:



What's the reaction been? Some very calm reporting. You've got to remember, when I was told Jane Fonda said "C-word" on TV, I thought that they meant she said "Commie". After all, she is a leftist icon. And this is why she'll get away with this without much more than a slap on the wrist, if even that. I mean, she couldn't even apologize for her sexist remark in person... NBC had to trot out one of their people and come up with some half-ass deal.

Let me tell you, this was much worse than a Golf Channel saying the word "lynch" or Imus saying "nappy-headed ho's" (and I hate Imus). But remember, these people gave an opportunity for the media to put up stories about someone hating on those in their favored protected classes. Those kind of stories sell. But Jane Fonda... well, she is a member of the very protected left her slur was against.

Now, you might think that I'm being a touch ridiculous about all this, and perhaps I am. But damnit, I get tired of this bullshit double standard.

This is all the more reason to believe that today's sexism and racism are driven largely by people who (1) have no idea what they're talking about, (2) are looking to take advantage of the situation for their own gain, (3) won't shut the fuck up, and (4) are too naive or ignorant about the problem. In other words, if we could get those that bring gender and race into every consideration they make to stop, then racism and sexism would largely go away. Yes, I know there will always be people who will hate regardless. But the influence they have will go away through natural selection if we IGNORE those who hate but don't commit a crime, and PUNISH those who do commit crimes. You self-proclaimed progressive liberals who love to hate intelligent design should be able to understand this.

Criminy...

One question for this morning: Just why in FUCK am I paying because the NFL, MLB, and NCAA can't keep their acts together?!

Of course, what I'm referring to is this increasingly popular habit for Congress to make inquests into the actions of these sanctioning bodies. Exactly where in the Constitution is it stated that Congress has the power to do any of this?

Look, if these idiots want to destroy their lives with drugs, I have no problem with it (this'll be covered in a future article). If someone violates the rules of the sanctioning body or the law, then let the sanctioning body or law enforcement take care of it. In other words, lawmakers, you have enough problems doing your jobs without extending yourselves into roles that you have no business being in. Go buy your votes back where you belong.

If "con" is the opposite of "pro", just what is the opposite of PROgress?

Uh oh... watch out for the Citgo troll...

So from what I read on this AP story, Hugo Chavez is none to pleased with ExxonMobil's attempts to take their ball back.

What does Chavez expect? Chavez seized control of ExxonMobil's (and ConocoPhillips's and others) Orinoco assets in Venezuela. So, this newest move is tit for tat.

What's Chavez's reaction when he doesn't get his way? Throw a temper tantrum. Threaten to stop selling oil to the US. Oh boy... that'll kill us. The US is Venezuela's #1 customer, but the suppliers ahead and just behind Venezuela on the ranking chart will fall all over themselves to sell us even more oil. It wouldn't be a problem to make up the difference in short order. Keep in mind, too, that the US is part of this list, contributing some 4 times what we import from Canada.

Will all this mean that much? No, not really. What it will do is slightly increase oil prices for awhile, but they'll go back down as our importers correct the situation. After all, it's much easier for our importers to sell to us than it is for them to sell to other countries.

BTW, Chavez is not so dumb as to stop selling to the US. He'll cry for now, cause gas prices to go up for a little bit, and then he'll go away, just like the rest of the tinpot dictators. But when US oil exports account for 15-20% of Venezuela's GDP, it's not difficult to see who'll outlast who here.

Food for thought: Why is it that socialists like to blame conservatives for high gas prices, but Chavez, a socialists socialist, is more than willing to push up gas prices to serve himself?

Also to note, he's got the propaganda machine in full swing here... the US as an "empire" and "Mr. Danger".

Finally, if you'd like a more centered article about this, read here. Oh, and if you want play-by-play commentary on the situation, check out Citgo Boycott.

There are not words...

I like Rush so much because the members are among the best on their instruments (the whole achievement thing and all). But when something is this good, it brings tears to my eyes:



I was never a big fan of James Brown or Christina Aguilera, but this is what it is: a display that proves that Christina Aguilera is one of the great talents of our time.

This fucking rules.

That's all I can say about it. Peep it yourself.

Republican presidential campaign...

So, even as a libertarian, I was disappointed that Mitt Romney dropped out of the race yesterday. Why? Because I believe that he was truly the best candidate for president at this time. I'm not thrilled with his position on the FairTax and his history of instituting socialist health care schemes, but he is a businessman, and that's what we need right now.

That said, I think that this dropping out was very smart for at least two reasons. First, he is right that it is time to solidify a national campaign for president now, before the competition splinters the potential vote in manner that causes the Democrat Party's candidate to win. Second, he displayed to us that he is more interested in what the people need rather than what he wants. Do I believe all this politics? Not necessarily, but it's still better than what the Democrats have put up. I'll be looking for Mitt Romney again in 4-8 years.

In stark contrast to Mitt Romney's position of making moves to serve the people rather than his own interests are those firmly rooted in the right wing of the GOP. We're all well aware that John McCain isn't the conservative's conservative. But those that would rather have the Democrat than John McCain are STUPID ASSES. Look, we're on the cusp of having one of the most dangerous people in American politics elected president. It is now the time to unify behind McCain and push him forth. It's apparently what the people want right now, what with is large lead in the Republican primary and all. So, GOP, come down out of your ivory tower and start thinking about what your constituency wants.

There is plenty that doesn't thrill me about McCain's platform, such as his big-government solutions. But as a moderate Republican, he does have broad appeal spanning conservative Democrats and 2/3 of the Republican party. And he will not scuttle this country like another Clinton regime would.

People have asked me why, as a libertarian, I don't vote for the Libertarian Party candidate or even libertarian Republican candidate Ron Paul. I have a lot of admiration for much of the LP candidates' and Representative Paul's platforms. But their positions on the Iraq war turn me away. If we pull out of there now, those religious zealot nutcases WILL bring the war over here, much as they did on 9/11. Better to fight that war over there than on our own soil. Another reason is that I am terrified of the possibility of a Hillary Clinton presidency. Finally, this country has been sliding steadily to the left for the past 80 or so years. To move this country back to the center requires input from the right. Thus, I am voting for the Republican candidate this election.

Another religion to not believe in

Remember a few weeks back when I talked about the Weather Channel crackpot climatologist who wanted to strip professional credentials from those that don't buy into the religion of global warming? Well, she's been one-upped.

Speaking of global warming, just how long did it take one of these warmers to blame the recent tornado outbreak on global warming? Enter stage very left: Lurch.

Nevermind that as per the NOAA that the number of violent tornadoes in the US has actually decreased since the over the last 60 years.

The morning's anti-Hillary rant

I thought that conservative Oklahoma would have been smart enough to not vote for a socialist for the Democrat nod. I was wrong.

Anyhow, this morning I'm hearing that Hillary's campaign is tapped out. So tapped out that she had loan her campaign $5M from her personal funds. This leads me to two questions:

1. If she can't even run her primary campaign without having to make a moneygrab from somewhere else, how can we possibly expect her to not have to make moneygrabs if she's elected president?

2. If she's so worried about her vision of "equality" and making sure everyone has health care, why isn't she spending her millions buying health care for those that don't have it?

I'm also hearing that many of her campaign's top managers are working without pay, and have been for the last month. So, she's got millions, and people working for her aren't being paid? Don't Democrats usually complain about such income gaps? Hell, people that work for Hillary make less than the Walmart workers that Democrats seem to enjoying championing.

Think about it, people. It's not about what's right and what's wrong here... it's all about the big power grab. This women will stop at nothing to be elected president.

One more thing on my mind this morning: Hillary cries again

Last time things were close, Hillary cried. Then she won the New Hampshire primary.

She cried again last night before Super Tuesday. I know this is a pipe dream, but I hope the voters aren't as dumb this time.

Today's 2-fer: The "erosion" of the middle class

Democrats, both in the political realm and the mainstream media, crow with great zeal about how the middle class is going away and that it's all the Republicans' and the evil rich's fault. Interesting. Let's start by looking at this video.

Now... we can see that all these middle-classers don't have it so bad. But Drew's video shows that the media and the Democrats want you to believe otherwise. Because they want to create an atmosphere of depair that they can make you believe that they can rescue us from. Another way that they can make us dependent on them. And you know what? Dependence is the opposite of independence, and independence means freedom and liberty. So, what they are wanting you to do is trade your freedom and liberty for some implied measure of security through dependence on them. You know, the big-government types who don't realize that government can't do much of anything right. What a bargain!

There are a couple of sad truths in all of this:

1. The middle class isn't struggling to survive; the middle class is struggling to buy more. After all, they have to impress their neighbors and families. This is closely related to the idea of living within one's means.

2. The US sheeple don't realize that those that they wish to vote into power to rescue them don't realize that cost of this unnecessary rescue will provide much more of an oppressive burden on them than does living as a responsible individual (or even as a slightly irresponsible individual). History bears this out. I urge you: don't help history repeat itself.

Obama's college tuition support plan

A classic Democrat lack of economic understand here: Barack Obama's plan would give each of our 16M college students $4K per year. That's $64B per year. For those of you with government educations, on average that equates to $300 additional annual burden per taxpayer. That's not even including some ridiculous health care scheme. Hillary was right... those Democrats are going to take things from us: our money. And they wonder why the middle class is struggling (we're going to revisit this one shortly).

The catch? Those receiving the stipend would have to join AmeriCorps. You remember AmeriCorps, don't you? That wonderful invention by Bill Clinton that ended up a corrupt, bloated, wasteful failure. In 2003, it was reported that AmeriCorps violated federal law by hiring more people than they were authorized to, and they spent more money than they were allowed by law. Once again, government can't do things right. And Obama wants to make it bigger. Brilliant.

Anti-illegal immigration laws working...

So I'm reading that the tough illegal immigration laws enacted by Oklahoma and Arizona are working. Good.

Of course, ignorants are calling it "racism". Nevermind that the laws are not racist, they demand that everyone wanting to live in US demand that they follow the laws. Imagine that: a nation based on the concept of "rule by law" wants its constituents to live legally. Note that the ignorants are the ones bringing race into the equation, which makes them the actual racists.

But as I said earlier, all you have to do to get the weak-minded to believe what you say is to repeat it over and over.

Clinton's socialist health care scheme...

Don't think she's socialist? Look again. From ABCNews this morning:

Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., this morning left open the possibility that, if elected, her government would garnish the wages of people who didn't comply with her health care plan. "We will have an enforcement mechanism, whether it's that or it's some other mechanism through the tax system or automatic enrollments," Clinton said in an appearance on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos".

So, she would forcibly remove our freedom of choice oppress us. And still people will vote her straight to the Oval Office. Just why is it that people who take no responsibility to maintain their own freedom have any say in removing mine?

If the sheeple of the United States had any common sense at all, they would tell this power-hungry money-grabber to take her unconstitutional schemes and cram them up her ass. But instead, we have to get ready for long waits to see mediocre doctors who we didn't choose. We have to wait for our health care system, one of the best in the world, to fall comparably to that of say, Canada. Ever wonder why so many Canadians come to the US for health care? How many Americans leave the US to go to Canada for health care?

All so this woman can buy herself enough votes to grab her power. It amazes me that the very people she courts for their votes are the very same who this program will end costing the most in the long run. But since the US sheeple don't think about the future, since the don't think most of the time period, sorry they'll lose.

People wonder why health care costs so much. In a truly free-market economy, it wouldn't, even at our system's level of operation; competition would limit it. But since government interferes to such a great degree, costs are driven sky high. Kind of like gas prices.

Tax rebates are coming.

This is a great plan by the Bush Administration, except that the Democrats, while realizing that it's a great plan, threaten to doom it unless certain concessions were made. For instance: 35M families who make at least $3,000 but don't pay taxes would get $300 rebates.

'Scuse me, but how in hell could someone who doesn't pay into something get a rebate on it? Only in the Democrat mind, where buying votes from those who've chosen to not help themselves leads to such outlandish ideas.

Even better, there were some Democrat crackpots like Charles Rangel (NY) and Ted Kennedy (D-MA), the Hero of the Chappaquiddick, who were very unhappy that arrangements to include additional benefits such as extending unemployment benefits for workers whose benefits have run out and plans to increase food stamp payments were left out of the plan.

Rangel said, "I do not understand, and cannot accept, the resistance of President Bush and Republican leaders to including an extension of unemployment benefits for those who are without work through no fault of their own," Rangel said.

Yeah. Unemployed people are without work through no fault of their own. More socialist hand-wringing.

So, where's all the doom and gloom today?

The Dow was up 2.5% today. Where was all the crowing about this? Not in the mainstream media. After all, there's Republican in the White House and another financial success story afoot. Oh, and Heath Ledger died yesterday.

Many different things today...

So, the mainstream media missed it again. The US Stock Market, after an early morning cut of the prime interest rate by the Fed, lost 1% today. I'd bank the early morning plummet on those who panicked about the world markets sliding. Overall, the market recovered nicely, losing 128 points most likely the result of fears of a world recession after Monday's performance.

Next topic: you could learn a lot reading Thomas Sowell. The man's a genius. Check this out.

Finally... why so much news coverage on the death of Heath Ledger and Tom Brady's soft cast? I guess we are so obsessed with the celebutard culture that tabloid topics have seeped into "regular" news broadcasts. I guess whatever appeals to the idiots that'll be electing our next president.

Woe are the global markets...

Interesting. Today, I heard on NBC Nightly News that markets in countries all over the world sustained large drops in value today (the US markets showed no change for the holiday). The media talking heads blamed it on the coming multi-billion dollar Bush economic expansion plan. You know, the one where the mainstream media have been moaning that perhaps as much as $800 will be distributed to each taxpayer? I've got a number of related thoughts about all of this, so bear with me.

(1) Why are those that don't pay any taxes at all bitching about not getting a tax refund? They didn't pay in, so how could they believe that they are possibly entitled to any refund? It's like stealing something from a store, and then being outraged that the store won't give "your" money back when you return it.

(2) So the mainstream media were all gloom-and-doom about tomorrow's market activity. Something tells me that, while the market has been very volatile lately, that there won't be much change. In fact, it may rise. Remember, the prime mover for any market is consumption. If the Bush plan puts money in the hands of those who are most likely to spend it right away, that money is going to come right back into our market. Though the media aren't willing to say anything about the results of the 2001 economic stimulus that Bush pushed through, the results were fairly grand, considering the market environment of the time. This will increase the purchasing power of our dollar against the other markets.

(3) Why in hell are we letting President Bush or any other government crony hold our purse strings for us? Even though I believe that giving money back to those that pay it is a good thing, I don't believe that they should be confiscating it at all. I don't need anyone telling me how to spend my money... what I work hard for everyday. That's why I support the FairTax.

(4) Related to this are the issues of illegal immigration, job deportation, and unemployment. To keep it simple: Employees join unions thinking that the unions are looking out for their best interests. The unions negotiate contracts increasing wages for their workers (in essence, buying their support) without taking into consideration any performance-based incentives. The unionized jobs become overpaid and the work output becomes sloppy. The companies find themselves in an unsustainable position. The companies fold, putting these highly paid union workers out of jobs.

These former employees, who are today's unionized workers, are unwilling to do what they have to do to make ends meet, in other words, they will not accept a lower-paying job so that they can make ends meet in the meantime. Illegals, who are willing to work these lower-paying jobs, because they are better than they had before, create a market for themselves with the companies. Those companies that cannot find reasonably priced labor are forced to deport their jobs to countries with lower costs of living to stay afloat. This causes the US markets then suffer overall.

And the cycle continues until it is interrupted properly. The proper way to interrupt it is for everyone to use their heads and not join unions. This goes hand in hand with people learning that they should be paid based on their skills and performance. Good luck getting today's employees who believe everything should be handed to them on a silver platter to understand that.

This is basic economics, folks. No rocket science, here.

Think, people. For yourselves.

So, remember a few posts ago when I spoke on the power of repetition as far as winning over popular opinion? This was in reference to so many people believing that the United States is a democracy (even though it is not).

So, what do you think happens when environmentalists and other weather folk with an agenda repeat their spiel about global warming over and over? That's right. Even those with government educations should be able to follow this one.

So, why does Hillary have to keep repeating over and over again that she's likable and would make a great president?

Folks, this is known as propaganda. Socialist and totalitarian regimes (and some that were/are both) have been using propaganda for years, long understanding the power that simply repeating the same thing over and over has over facts, logic, and reason. This is why such regimes take control of the press. Didn't this happen in Venezuela recently?

Think about it. Don't just follow along like all the other sheeple.

Global warming: Part 1 of an ongoing response to this old chestnut

So, when we had a record year for North Atlantic hurricanes in 2005, the global warming crowd crowed that this was a result of their favorite cause. In 2006 & 2007, there were 5 hurricanes each year, and now you don't hear about global warming fueling an increase in hurricanes.

BUT, we did just have an out-of-season tornado outbreak... how long will it be until one of these idiots proclaims that global warming causes tornado outbreaks?

Speaking of wonderful people, not long ago Dr. Heidi Cullen, then climatologist for The Weather Channel, was quoted as saying that meteorologists that do not believe in global warming should have their AMS seals revoked. Nice. You can see this here.

Here's my response:

In true peer-reviewed science, theories like global warming are tested for legitimacy. It is not up to TV mets to define theories as fact for their audiences. It is not up to TV mets or the AMS to force forth Ms. Cullen's political opinions or hypotheses on global warming with heavy hands. To do so undermines the scientific method and thus strips any idea of "science" from global warming.

These are not the times of Copernicus, when those that dared question (scientifically!) popular ideas such as earth-centered universes were put to death. So why should those that question (scientifcally!) lukewarm ideas such as global warming have their careers put to death?

The bottom line is this: attempts to legislate scientific theories as fact by over-zealous "experts" with a political agenda, ratings to increase, and some background in scientific study via threats to censure career credentials undermine scientific theory and are not appreciated by true scientists.

This press release from the US Senate Committee on Environmental & Public Works that shows there is still much dissonance in theories on global warming.

How is Ms. Cullen's opinion any better than these scientists'?

That TWC allows their name to be attached to such ideas lessens my view of them and explains why I haven't taken them seriously in years.

Hillary redux...

Again, those old enough to remember and geeky enough to care will recognize that which spawned this classic:



I can't think of a better way to sum up the direction of a Clinton presidency. I don't know why Barack Obama didn't take credit for this. It's genius.

11-string bass?!?!?

Neato. And at first I thought it was Chapman Stick. Even better, they're playing faves from my formative years. Those of you cool enough to be both about my age and a total geek will recognize these right away.

Some libertarian intemperance...

Those that know me have learned that I tend toward the rational, logical explanations. This creates a social conundrum: those who look at things more emotionally and less rationally tend to disagree with me and respond to me irrationally and emotionally (screaming, yelling, swearing, name-calling, etc.). Thus, my random thoughts tend to piss off various groups of peoples with various views. I didn't say this was a BIG problem for me... just a conundrum. So, at the risk of getting out the "sticks & stones", onward ho!

I find it interesting that so many genuine US citizens cannot even say what form of government we have in this country. In spite of the fact that the framers set this country up as a constitutional republic, we constantly hear that this country is a democracy. Not so much. See if you can find the word "democracy" (or derivatives thereof) in any of the founding documents. You can't. That's because the framers understood the evils of democracy; that it's like two wolves and a sheep deciding what to have for dinner. Amazing though, that "democracy" and it's derivative forms are found all over the Communist Manifesto. Just look at the power of repeating misinformation.

Sir Alex Fraser Tytler (1742-1813), Scottish jurist and historian, professor of Universal History at Edinburgh University is quoted as having said:

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years."

Someone else (can't remember right now) said:

"Great nations rise and fall. The people go from bondage to spiritual truth, to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, from dependence back again to bondage."

Truth. History bears it out. Time and time again. Right now, I see us moving from the apathy of the 90's into dependence. It's only a matter of time before we find ourselves right back in bondage. Guess it's about high time... the USA is just a smidge over 200 years old now.

Here's an example:

Katrina survivors are filing lawsuits against the Army Corp of Engineers because the levees weren't high/strong enough to hold back the epic floodwaters of a Category 5 hurricane. 'Scuse me, but when are these people going to take responsibility for where they chose to live? Living below sea level at the shore of a huge body of water in a hurricane-prone area is STUPID (eleventy-one!). WTF did these people expect? Well, we're seeing it now: for common sense and personal responsibility to be wiped away by a process no different than suing a screwdriver manufacturer because you stabbed yourself in the eye with their screwdriver. Hell, I chose to live in Oklahoma... smack dab in the middle of Tornado-freaking Alley. Who do I sue when an EF5 flattens my house? Nevermind that I could have chosen a more milquetoast place to live, someone will owe me BIG time! I know: I'll the manufacturers of the cars that slam into my house. They never said that their cars wouldn't fly through the air when lifted by 200+ mph winds. For that matter, why should I even bother to evacuate or take shelter? I'll just sue the National Weather Service, FCOL!

This is what our society is becoming: an entitlement-based rule-of-man dystopia, the cornerstones of which are (1) everyone expects things to be given to them instead of earning them; (2) personal achievement is bad; (3) the smallest inconvenience is an emergency for someone else; (4) being different than the mob is bad; (5) truths are formed out of how many people believe them to be true; (6) freedom is not as important as security.

Hillary

So, Hillary Clinton (self-avowed socialist), "anguished" over her loss in the Iowa Caucus, cries, and suddenly wins the New Hampshire Primary? Is this an example of how she would run government were we to make the mistake of electing her? Just throw an emotional tantrum when she don't get her way?

Hillary not a socialist? She was recently quoted as saying:

"We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."

This seems to be rooted in the very definition of socialist. From the dictionary.com definition of socialism:

socialism noun
the belief or theory that a country's wealth (its land, mines, industries, railways etc) should belong to the people as a whole, not to private owners

So, taking things away from private owners (i.e., those who were free to work to earn what they have) and giving them to the people is what socialists do. Hmm. Sounds like I've heard this somewhere before.

Here's another beautiful thought:

“I like the idea of giving every baby born in America a $5,000 account that will grow over time, so that when that young person turns 18 if they [sic] have finished high school they will be able to access it to go to college or maybe they will be able to make that downpayment on their first home.”

Given roughly 4 million annual births, Clinton’s proposal would cost taxpayers some $20 billion each year. Taking money that private owners have earned and giving to the "collective good". Doesn't that feel good? Anything to buy a vote for the future. Isn't it hilarious that the very votes that she wants to buy are being paid for with money she wants to take from us to begin with. What kind of crazed sadomasochism is this that her constituency wants to foist upon themselves and us?

It doesn't stop there:

“I am a fan of a lot of the social policies that you find in Europe.”

Nevermind that the European countries are much more socialist than we are right now.

Hillary would provide every citizen a 401(k) retirement account and up to $1,000 in annual matching funds from the government, which would cost $25B/year. This makes it her largest domestic proposal beside her plan for universal health insurance. She would fund it by taxing estates worth more than $7M per couple, which would help narrow the "gap" between the rich and those who didn't save enough for retirement.

There is a term for someone that believes that every whim and and individual need should be taken care of by the government, from cradle to grave: socialist.

Here's another good read.

Keep in mind that the world's socialist nations are splendid places to live. Places like the former USSR, Cuba, North Korea... where squalor and propoganda are the rules. What we see there today makes me want to move right in.

As an afterthought, I'm reminded of Bill Clinton's presidency. Y'know, those 8 years that Bill spent marching a string of lovers right past Hillary. Why were no tears shed then?