New American Mascot

Diaper change we can believe in

An able-bodied man paid by the government of the United States to lie in a giant crib, wetting his diaper week in week out, is almost too poignant an emblem of the republic at twilight.

Move over Bald Eagle!

They Are the 53%

Occupy Wall St. Kitchen Reportedly Set to Cut Back Meals Because of Freeloaders

"We need to limit the amount of food we're putting out to curb the influx of derelicts," a kitchen volunteer told the New York Post. Another volunteer said the cooks felt "overworked and under-appreciated" and worked 16-hour days.

Welcome to the 53%.

Their Hatred is Their Identity

It's Already Been Settled

Is the US Declaration of Independence illegal?

In Philadelphia, American and British lawyers have debated the legality of America's founding documents.

What's to debate? There was a fundamental disagreement, the war settled it. The U.K. has no further say in the matter. They bring up the Civil War in the article. Same thing, the war settled it, even if it had gone the other way.

It is important to settle differences peacefully and within the law - 100% of the time would be ideal, but there are times when it is just not possible. It might be argued that the people of North Korea are obeying the law of their land but wouldn't it be far better for them if they fought a revolution against 'Dear Leader' and freed themselves from his tyranny? It wouldn't exactly be legal by North Korean standards would it, but who cares?

Connect the Dots

Muammar, Dead at Last

As I watched President Obama take a victory lap when he announced Gaddafi's death, my thoughts turned to what Ted Belman, a widely-read blogger called the Israpundit, had to say. "Gaddafi wasn't any worse than the barbarians that killed him and will replace him. There are no freedom-loving democrats in the entire Muslim world which consists of seventh century-minded brutes."

Why does it seem as though Obama is involved in toppling governments, either through war or fomenting rebellion, that are of little threat to us and opening the floodgates for radical, anti-Western Islamic law to fill the void? Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, Libya - this is not a complete list, it's hard to get information on these things from the mainstream media. Yes, right or wrong, we toppled Iraq and Afghanistan, but at least we tried to help the people form a fair, open, democratic government. Now, Obama seems very happy to help the rebels achieve the goal of Sharia law and radical Islamic rule.

I see a pattern developing.

How Not to Be a Victim

66-Year-Old Woman Shoots and Kills Home Intruder

Hopper says she was terrified when she heard the intruder at her her door, firing two warning shots through her window to scare the man away. When 37-year-old Jesse Edward Theis persisted, attempting to come back in, Hopper fired a fatal shot in his abdomen, killing Theis on the scene.

It happened in California, I'm glad to see she was not charged you never know with California.

World War II On American Soil

I bookmarked this a while back, thought it was interesting. I had never seen these pictures before, didn't know much about WWII in the Aleutian Islands (still don't). Since watching Deadliest Catch the name of the town Dutch Harbor grabs my attention.

World War II: Battle of Midway and the Aleutian Campaign

Evil vs. Goodness

Evil is in opposition to life. It is that which opposes the life force. It has, in short, to do with killing. Specifically, it has to do with murder - namely, unnecessary killing, killing that is not required for biological survival.

When I say that evil has to do with killing, I do not mean to restrict myself to corporeal murder. Evil is also that which kills spirit. There are various essential attributes of life - particularly human life - such as sentience, mobility, awareness, growth, autonomy, will. It is possible to kill or attempt to kill one of these attributes without actually destroying the body. Thus we may "break" a horse or even a child without harming a hair on its head. Erich Fromm was acutely sensitive to this fact when he broadened the definition of necrophilia to include the desire of certain people to control others - to make them controllable, to foster their dependency, to discourage their capacity to think for themselves, to diminish their unpredictability and originality, to keep them in line. Distinguishing it from a "biophilic" person, one who appreciates and fosters the variety of life forms and the uniqueness of the individual, he demonstrated a "necrophilic character type," whose aim it is to avoid the inconvenience of life by transforming others into obedient automatons, robbing them of their humanity.

Evil, then, for the moment, is that force, residing either inside or outside of human beings, that seeks to kill life or liveliness. And goodness is its opposite. Goodness is that which promotes life and liveliness.

Speaking of his relationship to us human beings, Jesus said, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." Abundantly. What a wonderful word! This strange man, who obviously relished weddings and wine, fine oils and good companionship, and yet allowed himself to be killed, was not so concerned with the length of life as with its vitality. He was not interested in human puppets, of whom he once said, "Let the dead bury their dead." Rather, he was interested in the spirit of life, in liveliness. And of Satan, the very spirit of evil, Jesus said, "He was a murderer from the beginning." Evil has nothing to do with natural death; it is concerned only with unnatural death, with murder of the body or the spirit.

--M. Scott Peck, M.D., People of the Lie

Quote of the Day

Like so many people, in so many countries, who started out to "spread the wealth," Barack Obama has ended up spreading poverty.

--Thomas Sowell

Oil for Solar

A dirty road to ecotopia

If we want to stop polluting our planet, we need energy that comes from clean, inexhaustible resources. For instance, the sun just constantly, all day long, emits tons of heat and energy to no real purpose -- it's extremely wasteful, almost as bad as an incandescent light bulb. Solar technology will capture some of the cavalier sun's energy and produce electricity. This genius idea revolutionized cheap calculators, and one day some company -- obviously not Solyndra -- is going to get that electricity to power other things as well.

And then there is wind. With giant wind turbines we can finally turn it into electricity and make it work for us -- if there’s a hurricane, you can turn on all the lights and leave the refrigerator door open, because we’ll have more electricity than we can handle.

So there are lots of great green ideas worth investing in, but as a country we're kinda strapped for cash right now. Luckily, there is a valuable substance within American territory that could help us pay for all this. It's called "oil."

Barry Soetoro Supports This

There are 2 videos at this link. The first is from Howard Stern and his crew interviewing the 'Occupy' protestors and all the obligatory content warnings apply. If you don't want to hear the language, don't watch it. But it is funny.

The 2nd video is protestors doing their best to regurgitate the brainwash communist propaganda they learn in what passes for school these days, juxtaposed with quotes from communist 'revolutionaries.'

Operation: FAIL

Well, No Wonder

Driver Flipped License Plate to Save Toll

A Virginia truck driver used a device that could have come from a James Bond movie to try to get out of paying the $65 toll to cross the George Washington Bridge into New York City, police say.

Truck drivers have complained about steep toll increases that the Port Authority says it needs to finish building the new World Trade Center. By 2016, a five-axle truck will have to pay $105 to cross the bridge.

$65 to cross a bridge? Are they insane? And it's not enough, they're going to increase it to $105. You do know who is really paying for that, right. The consumer. Whoever is buying the product being delivered. All costs of doing business are passed on to the consumer.

Suddenly We're Concerned About a Nuclear Iran?

To Isolate Iran, U.S. Presses Inspectors on Nuclear Data

President Obama is pressing United Nations nuclear inspectors to release classified intelligence information showing that Iran is designing and experimenting with nuclear weapons technology. The president's push is part of a larger American effort to further isolate and increase pressure on Iran after accusing it of a plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States.

It wasn't so long ago that those of us who were against letting Iran get nuclear weapons were labeled paranoid and extreme. They said we have no right to limit Iran from getting nuclear capability and after all, they were just trying to "go green."

I think Barry Soetoro is feeling the pressure of his mask melting away and the people starting to see who he really is and what his administration has been doing in the dark. This could be a very dangerous time.

Thank God for the NRA

No one else is putting the pressure on the fast and furious scandal like the NRA.



Join the NRA.

The Great Disaster

This is a Crime?

Driver with snakes arrested on I-75

"Mr. Mesa had 10 snakes and three different lizard species in the vehicle,"

"The snakes were non-venomous," Cummings said. "Species included corn, coachwhip, pine, king and Southern hognose snakes – all native to Georgia – plus a rosy boa, a non-native snake. Mr. Mesa said he caught the snakes in Florida and was taking them to Indiana."

Authorities charged Mesa with one count of illegal possession of non-game wildlife without a permit, a misdemeanor. Mesa was booked into Cherokee County Jail and released Wednesday on a $5,000 bond.

All of those species, except the coachwhip, are very common in the pet trade and readily available at pet shops and especially the various reptile shows that go on across the nation. I've had 3 of those species myself. He had to go to jail because he had a snake? Was he charged with breaking a state law, or a federal law? It's only 1 count, so I assume only one snake was the problem? Which one?

There are so many laws in this country any one of us could go to jail for something we didn't even know was a crime. It seems like everything we use to do for fun as a child is now a illegal.

HoodWinked

Well said.

Pawns

Occupy Wall Street: Communism's Clueless Foot Soldiers

The Occupy Wall Street youngsters are the latest foot soldiers of Communism, though it is likely most are too ignorant to realize it. They have been so thoroughly indoctrinated in government schools and by Hollywood and the media that they have no idea how they are being used by labor unions and other leftist organizations.

The protesters are likely unaware of the misery and murders Marx's Communism imposed on Russia courtesy of Lenin, Stalin, and those who followed in their footsteps. Mao's Red China murdered thousands as well in the pursuit of the "equality" that is the alleged goal of Communism and liberalism.

My son makes lists of things he wants, too. If he wants them badly enough he will work for them. If he expects the world to hand him everything he wants on a silver platter he's going to live one miserable life. Many apparently do.

This one is interesting:


I think he gets the joke of it.

You say you want a revolution? Well, you know...

Be very careful what you wish for. The anti-military crowd wants a revolution. I really believe they have no idea what it is they are asking for. No sane person wants a revolution, certainly not a citizen of the United States. You don't revolutionize yourself from a free society to a freer society. No, no, no. The revolution they are calling for will make all of their problems worse. The redistributed funds they all want so bad never quite seem to make it into the pockets of the little guy who thought that was what he was fighting for.

I recommend this book: Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy. It is not about the Cuban revolution, but it is an autobiographical look at one child's life at the time of the revolution, and the glimpses it gives into what happened are eye opening.

Yes, Yes, Yes, Part 2

Lenny Cacchio writes: Do You Want the Ball?

Wanting the ball seems to be the mark of excellence that separates the best from the rest.

The ones that don't want the ball are the ones out there making excuses for themselves. We all do it sometimes but like everything else, when it begins to control and take over your life it's not normal. We've become a nation of excuse makers instead of go-getters.

Yes, Yes, Yes

Cornel West on CNN: Herman Cain Needs To ‘Get Off The Symbolic Crack Pipe’

"I don't believe racism in this country today holds anybody back in a big way. Is there some – are there some elements of racism? Yes. It gets back to, if we don't grow this economy, that is a ripple effect for every economic level. And because blacks are more disproportionately unemployed, they get hit the worst when economic policies don't work. That's where it starts."

"I have seen blacks in middle management move up to top management in some of the biggest corporations in America. They weren't held back because of racism. No. People sometimes hold themselves back because they want to use racism as an excuse for them not being able to achieve what they want to achieve."

--Herman Cain

There are a myriad of excuses people use excuse for them not being able to achieve, racism is only one that some people use. It's something no one wants to admit to themselves that they do but we all do it to one extent or another and you have to come to understand and overcome that part of yourself. The guy who doesn't know it can't be done is the guy who makes it happen. It's not easy to stop making excuses for yourself but nothing worthwhile is easy. Life is not supposed to be easy, if you don't have any challenges how are you going to grow? Just like you don't get stronger if you don't exercise your muscles - in fact, if you don't exercise you will get weaker. Same with your brain.

Cornel West can do what ever he wants to himself but he's out there teaching people to blame others for their own poor choices - in a sense, keeping them on the plantation. Yes he is.

I Can't Take It

Are these adults? Is this kindergarten? It doesn't matter what the video is about, you will not, if you are of normal or above intelligence, be able to get through this entire thing.



I'm sorry. There is something seriously wrong here. The human race is devolving, these people never matured past the age of five. I deal with the public at work and sometimes I think it is me - more and more I am running into people who do not know how to communicate, how to be civil, how to ask a question, how to get down the road 5 miles without someone holding their hand. It's not me, I know. There is something seriously wrong with an increasing number of people. Anyone who has dealt with the public for a number of years could tell you that.

If you are curious, Neal Boortz explains what the video is about here.

When Progress is not Progress

When this country was still a colony of England, The New England Primer was the principle textbook by which children learned to read. It begins with the Lord's Prayer, "Our Father, which art in Heaven..." and continues with a study of the alphabet. Children learned to read from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

Here's a sample of sentences used to teach the alphabet. They are written in rhymes to assist memorization.
A: In Adam's fall we sinned all.
B: Thy life to mend this Book attend.
F: An idle Fool is whipped at school.
J: Sweet Jesus he died on a tree.
P: Peter denies his Lord and cries.
Q: Queen Esther in royal state to save the Jews from dismal fate.
R: Rachel doth mourn her first-born.
S: Samuel anoints whom God appoints.
U: Uriah's beauteous wife made David seek his life.

You recognize immediately the flavor of the book. Textbooks were not plentiful. They were printed in England and shipped here. So imagine a country in which the principle text book for teaching children is solidly based in the Bible liberally illustrated with Christian morals. This is the book used to teach children in Early America.

America's educational system, legal system and system of government were all founded in the God of the Bible.

Our generation thinks of itself as highly educated. By comparison we think citizens of 17th and 18th Century America were rural, less educated, and crude. But the New England Primer was written for 1st graders. And today’s American must struggle with King James English, Shakespearean poetry and the complexity of speech used by the average American who lived 300 years ago.

For example, today's typical legal student cannot reason through the Federalist Papers without a modern translation that simplifies the language. Yet the average farmer could comprehend it in the early 1800's.

Abraham Lincoln is considered by English scholars as one of the greatest men of letters ever to use the language. Yet he was self-educated in rural Kentucky. How do his letters compare with the average student of today's public schools?

The literacy rate among American children during early America was said to be 97 percent. I don't know how such statistics were acquired but I suspect they were more accurate than those we see today.

What happened?

In his book "Whatever Happened to Sin" Karl Menninger describes one overt change in Western Culture. President Eisenhower was the last president to use the word "sin" in a speech. We’ve moved on.

America is now described as "Post-Christian". The man who occupies the White House says we're not a Christian nation. For those of us who attended public schools where we began the day with prayer, read from the Bible and sang religious songs, that’s a monumental change. Morals changed. Darwin convinced the academicians that life came about accidentally. He postulated the Chaos Theory that the world began in chaos and evolved up. Now his disciples propose to return the world to chaos so they can rebuild something better.

This week America is observing 10 years since we were attacked by Muslims bent on destroying our country. People who know history see a strong religious connection to this attack. Such people do not refer to Islam as a “peaceful religion.” They also recognize that Muslims are more zealous than Christians.

America has abandoned the Protector God. So 10 years after the attack on the center of American commerce, there remains a hole in the ground where the World Trade Center once proudly stood.

As the country gathers to mourn this attack on our freedom, something will be strangely absent. No Christian minister will be allowed to participate in the ceremonies. Maybe it is appropriate that these dignitaries will gather around a hole in the ground that 10 years after the attack America seems unable to fill.

It is strangely symbolic of a hole in the heart of our people. And we seem determined to lock outside the only key that will fit.

Jim O'Brien, Sep. 9, 2011

Fighting the Right Battle

Herman Cain is all about fiscal sanity. Herman Cain is about capitalism. Barack Obama is a Marxist.

--Alan Caruba

Occupy Wall Street

Excellent commentary on the protesters.

Liberty or Captivity

Ripping off the Gipper

You know liberals are desperate when they start quoting Ronald Reagan. As Reagan told the gathered students 26 years ago, his guiding philosophy was "freedom, freedom and more freedom." That's not the principle behind anything Barack Obama is doing.

Hank Williams Jr

He made a terrible mistake using Hitler in his analogy about Obama playing golf with Boehner. He should have used Mao.

We're All Racists Now

One of the most widespread problems in America (worldwide) is Psychological projection.

An example of this behavior might be blaming another for self failure. The mind may avoid the discomfort of consciously admitting personal faults by keeping those feelings unconscious, and by redirecting libidinal satisfaction by attaching, or "projecting," those same faults onto another person or object.

For many, racism is the 'go-to' excuse for their own poor choices, personal weaknesses and shortcomings. It's not the only excuse, but it is a most pervasive one.

I know a guy, a self-professed New Yorican, born in Puerto Rico but grew up on the lower East side of Manhattan. Most racist person I have ever known so well, a nice guy but sees everything through the prism of racism. Anything that happens is in one way or another because of race. Things that have nothing whatsoever to do with race he still describes as racist. If a Puerto Rican server forgot to give him ketchup, it was racist. Calling him out on it does no good at all. "You're both Puerto Rican, how can that be racist?" "I'm New Yorican!" I forget what he called them, country hicks or something. "Even if they hate you and do it on purpose, it's still not racism." "They're racist #%@^*&!" "Whatever, dude."

And he is Democrat all the way, hates the racist Republicans. But if you talk to him it becomes obvious that he is actually more conservative in his views. There is also no way to make him come to terms with this. I would describe it as brainwashing. I have to agree with Herman Cain on this. He has been brainwashed since youth to like Democrats and hate racist Republicans, to look at everything through that racist prism. Perhaps brainwashed isn't precisely the correct word but the effect is the same. Cultural brainwashing? He has been imprinted since a child to think this way and he can't (won't?) escape it.

He complains a lot that people don't like him and, of course, attributes that to racism, but doesn't see that he is the one pushing people away. If you are always accusing people of racism people are not going to want to be around you. It's a self-perpetuating cycle from which it is very difficult to escape.

Edit: How sad that after I wrote this I come across this: Samuel L. Jackson echoes Morgan Freeman, says Tea Party racism is obvious

No matter how poorly the economy performs, no matter how many scandals surround the administration, no matter how weakly the president’s jobs plan is received by legislators and the public, Samuel L. Jackson can see no reason why the Tea Party might oppose Barack Obama’s reelection other than race.

There's that bad programming rearing it's ugly head again.

Decepticons

Stop Whining?

How many people in the media have pointed out that the black-white income gap narrowed during the Reagan administration, just as it has widened during the Obama administration? For that matter, how many Republicans have pointed it out?

The Reagan administration did not have any special program to narrow the racial gap in incomes. The point is that the kinds of policies followed in the 1980s had that effect, just as the kinds of policies followed by the Obama administration had opposite effects. But just listening to rhetoric won't tell you that.

Over the years, some of the most devastating policies, in terms of their actual effects on black people, have come from liberal Democrats, from the local to the national level.

Most everything the Obama administration does has the opposite effect of what they claim they are trying to do. They say they want to bring people together, yet they are dividing us in every way possible. They say they want to spread the wealth, yet the gap between the rich and poor is getting larger - and what's left of the middle class is getting the shaft. Even their 'green' programs are anything but 'green.' It's all a lie. They are the Decepticons. They are enriching and empowering themselves and their friends at the expense of the American people. At YOUR expense.

California Carry

Do not try this in New Jersey, it is illegal.

Gomenasai ごめんなさい

Japanese plane flips over during flight

The aircraft bound for Tokyo flipped almost 140 degrees to the left after the co-pilot confused command switches while trying to unlock the cockpit cabin door for the captain who was returning from the lavatory.

Sorry. Sorry everyone.

There's a video of the flight path at the link. Looks like an 'E' ticket ride!