Inform On Your Friends and Neighbors

In the killing fields of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge, the government used informers in each village to determine who was loyal. Those who were deemed not loyal enough were led to mass graves and beaten to death or buried alive. "Bullets are not to be wasted" was the cost-saving directive.
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The Obama White House is now asking informers to contact them with information that they consider "disloyal." The White House issued a memo.asking the public to inform the Obama administration of any "fishy" e-mails or blogs. Fishy, in this case, being anything critical of the Obama healthcare plan, which the White House characterizes as "disinformation." That's right, Obama's Chicago Political Machine is channeling Pol Pot.
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Luckily, at least one politician, Texas Senator John Cornyn, is confronting the Obama White House on this hideous new political tactic.
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The question is this: What are they going to do with the information? Suddenly, exercising my First Amendment rights feels like something the White House is prepared to punish. Is that what the President is supposed to do? And if their attitude is that a move like this is acceptable, what else do they have in mind for Americans?

The Natives are Getting Restless

In Austin...



In Pennsylvania...



In Setauket, NY...

Why So Serious?

How's That Stimulus Thing Working Out?

Associated Press: "Tax receipts are on pace to drop 18 percent this year, the biggest single-year decline since the Great Depression, while the federal deficit balloons to a record $1.8 trillion."

I don't suppose anyone in Congress has thought of maybe, oh, I don't know, cutting spending????

What Obama Really Means is....

Regardless of your stance on government-controlled healthcare ("socialized medicine") there's no denying what Obama has said, that he does not want to eliminate private insurance.

Well, sort of.



You can't say you weren't warned.

PUBLICITY STUNT*

* "an event staged to get public attention or for marketing purposes" - Dictionary.com

Yeah, Let's Put 'Em In Charge of Healthcare, Too

Headline: "Government to suspend 'cash for clunkers' program out of funding concerns"

Seems to me the Obama administration needs to hire Miss Cleo so they can get more accurate forecasting.

I Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself

In a recent article in the Vancouver Sun, Australian geologist Ian Plimer is profiled, and his newest book, Heaven and Earth -- Global Warming: The Missing Science is introduced. Plimer is known primarily as an outspoken critic of the theory of manmade global warming. A few snippets from the article:

"Purging humankind of its supposed sins of environmental degradation has become a religion with a fanatical and often intolerant priesthood, especially among the First World urban elites."

"...anthropogenic global warming is little more than a con trick on the public perpetrated by fundamentalist environmentalists and callously adopted by politicians and government officials who love nothing more than an issue that causes public anxiety."

Hawkins Once More

John Hawkins has once again written a great column, this one titled "Seven Things That Would Be Different If McCain Had Beaten Obama." Very fair, and impressively credible analysis. The first paragraph of #7 was particularly insightful:

"Item #7: You'd be talking Republicans down off of ledges today: After the last four years of Bush, having another Republican President who paid little attention to the grassroots would have been incredibly demoralizing."

Hand, Meet Cookie Jar

"WASHINGTON – Despite their denials, influential Democratic Sens. Kent Conrad and Chris Dodd were told from the start they were getting VIP mortgage discounts from one of the nation's largest lenders, the official who handled their loans has told Congress in secret testimony."

This would be Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, by the way.

Read the rest of the AP story here. If you want to see something even more interesting, look at this.

On Communism and Healthcare

Bruce Bilosky has a great column today that addresses Communism and the proposed healthcare legislation in Congress. A couple of interesting tidbits:

"A business colleague of mine commented recently that he supported Communism. He stated it would be fine if he were at the top and thus in control of money and decisions. He mentioned Fidel Castro’s supposed $6 billion that he has in foreign bank accounts. This gentleman understands that not everyone has the same results under Communism."

"...refer to the July 15th editorial in Investor’s Business Daily which speaks to their reading of the bill. It only took them to page 16 to find a clause that would outlaw anyone from taking on a new private policy once the public option is established thus forcing everyone into government-run health care."

[Edit: That last claim, which seems so plausible, may or may not actually be the case. Page 16 (out of 1018 pages) of the House's healthcare legislation is written in such dense legalese that it can mean practically anything they want it to mean. So the claim of "outlawing new policies" is on the bubble of credibility at this point.]

[Edit #2: There now seems to be at least some merit to the claim. Fortune/CNNMoney.com stated in a recent column: "The employees who got their coverage before the law goes into effect can keep their plans, but once again, there's a catch. If the plan changes in any way -- by altering co-pays, deductibles, or even switching coverage for this or that drug -- the employee must drop out and shop through the [Government-run] exchange. Since these plans generally change their policies every year, it's likely that millions of employees will lose their plans in 12 months." So the needle moves slightly to the "credible" side.]

Riddle Me This

This morning I read a clever riddle that I don't remember seeing or hearing before. I didn't solve it, yet the answer is obvious, once you know it. (The sign of a good riddle.) Here's the riddle:

The man who made it doesn't want it.

The man who bought it doesn't need it.

The man who needs it doesn't know it.

What is it?

Highlight the next line to see the answer.
A coffin or casket

Things Our Kids Won't Know

Wired.com has a GeekDad article, "100 Things Your Kids May Never Know About." Wifey and I have discussed this subject quite a bit because of all the changes that have occurred in the last twenty-five years, along with our more-than-usual rural upbringings. It makes me wonder -- what did our parents (and grandparents) know that we were never aware of?

Some of the knowledge lost to our kids:

• Rotary dial televisions with no remote control. You know, the ones where the kids were the remote control.
• 8-track cartridges (And the matchbooks required to keep them in the tape deck. - kw)
• The scream of a modem connecting
• Waiting several minutes (or even hours!) to download something
• When Spam was just a meat product — or even a Monty Python sketch
• Typewriters
• CB radios
• Remembering someone’s phone number
• Finding books in a card catalog at the library.

It's worth checking out the other 91 items.

Titleholders Don't Keep This Title Very Long

Headline: "World's Oldest Man Dies"

Are You Tone Deaf?

I'm not much of a singer. I've been reminded of that pretty consistently my whole life. Here's an excerpt from a real conversation with my dad from thirty years ago:

Dad: "What did you do with that money?"
Me: "What money?"
Dad: "The money you should have spent on singing lessons."

Okay, so I've accepted that I can't sing. But I have a good ear. In other words, I can tell whether or not someone else is singing in tune. That was always a brag, until I found the Distorted Tunes Test online. The web site is provided by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. The test actually measures one's ability to determine pitch. It's simple. One at a time, snippets of several songs are played, and you answer whether the snippet was played correctly or not. The songs are all standards, so recognizing the song itself should be easy.

In this case, my self-confidence was justified, as I judged 26 out of 26 samples correctly. Apparently the money I spent on listening lessons was well-spent.

So That's How the Democrats are Going to Pay for Their Programs

"Man Receives $23,148,855,308,184,500 Credit Card Bill"

Yes, Let's Compare Obama to Bush

Barack Obama threw out the first pitch at the 2009 All Star game today. You can see the video of it here. Here's what Yahoo Sports had to say:

"Earlier on Tuesday, the President said that he planned to throw his first Presidential pitch high so it'd get to the plate without bouncing, but his control was lacking. He clearly didn't throw a strike like George W. Bush famously did during the 2001 World Series in New York just weeks after Sept. 11.

"The more debatable point from the historic moment was the reception the President was afforded... Though Obama was roundly cheered by the All-Star fans, his live presence still didn't attract the applause that George W. Bush did during a taped announcement by the four previous Presidents before the game and some boos could even be heard among the cheers."

Despite what the announcers said, Obama clearly didn't get the ball to the plate. Note where Pujols' feet and glove are.

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Here's Bush's first pitch from 2001:

For all of Obama's vaunted athleticism, Bush made Obama look like a little girl in comparison. Now, which one looked more like the leader of the free world?

Other People Say Smart Stuff, Too Part XV

I've written about (or plagiarized from) columnist John Hawkins previously. Today he struck paydirt again with his column titled "Five Criticisms of George Bush That Could Be Better Applied to Barack Obama."

And the Heat Goes On*

*A tip of the hat to Sonny and Cher.

But It's a Dry Heat

The "Feels like 102°" is a nice touch.

Auto Racing Drama

I normally don't care about any kind of auto racing, but with its Hollywood-like drama, this one race kept my attention. The storyline is self explanatory. Action really starts at about the 3:00 mark.

Let's Start Keeping Score

The Obama administration and its willing accomplices in the Democrat-controlled Congress have developed the technique of rushing through enormous legislation, because of the dire consequences they claim would happen if anyone carefully inspected, thoroughly contemplated, or even actually read the legislation. As a result, the trillion dollar stimulus bill and the trillion dollar climate bill both passed quickly, against Republican resistance.

Since hurried legislation was so necessary, let's look at the first results of the stimulus bill. Without the stimulus bill, the Obama administration said, unemployment could reach as high as 8.5 percent by April. With the Democrat bill, we were told, unemployment would only reach 7.8 percent.

As of today, less than a week after the end of the second quarter, unemployment is at 9.5 percent. This is what Vice President Joe Biden meant when he said everyone "guessed wrong" on unemployment. Biden said the White House is keenly aware of the gap between the rhetoric used to sell fast passage of the legislation and reality.

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I subscribe to Edmund Burke's idea of Conservatism, wherein change is introduced gradually, building on the wisdom of what has gone before. Change must be organic, rather than revolutionary. Rushing through radical change without due consideration, "may be a mask for the preferences of one man, and at best represents only the untested wisdom of one generation." I don't think our latest generation of Congressmen have shown themselves to be unusually wise. The stimulus legislation scorecard illustrates this.

20 Days? Really?

Okay, trying to finish two writing projects kept me busy, but twenty days since my last post is excessive, even for me. And it's not like there's not a lot going on.

Sarah Palin resigning her governorship? Explanations run the gamut, from "she's leaving to make money" via a talk show, highly-paid speeches or sitting on boards of directors, to preparing her run for President in 2012, to "she's just nuts." While I have no idea what she's about to do, the timing of her announcement -- late Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend -- fits the pattern of politicians who don't want the media to jump on the story. This may be the sign of a breaking scandal. Stay tuned.

North Korea's playing chicken with the United States, pushing to see how far they can go. To his credit, Barack Obama has not apologized for provoking the North Korean belligerence. Yet. Stay tuned for further developments in this possible prelude to WW III.

Obama sided with Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro in condemning the ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya by the military. The coup occurred after Zelaya tried to change the Honduran constitution so that he could run for President again. Apparently the Honduran military, judiciary and legislature took a dim view of such a dictatorial move. No wonder Obama sympathizes with Zelaya. A Constitution and laws get in the way. Marxist dictators get nervous when the people revolt like that.

Since my last post, it's been an unhealthy time to be a celebrity. Goodbye and good luck to Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Billy Mays, Ed McMahon, Fred Travalena, Gale Storm, Karl Malden et al. And news coming out today is that former NFL quarterback Steve McNair was found shot to death.

The House of Representatives passed a monstrous climate bill 219-212, with votes along mostly party lines. In what has become normal procedure, Democrats dumped 300 pages of the 1200-page legislation at 3:00 a.m. the morning before the vote was to be taken. The legislation, which would have practically no effect on reducing carbon emissions, would drive up energy costs for all consumers while lining the pockets (via pork, aka "earmarks") of Democrats. We'll see what the Senate does with this "pile os s--t" (as described by House Minority Leader John Boehner.) (And which I described -- accurately, I think -- as "poor legislation directed at the wrong cause of a questionable phenomenon of an unproven and increasingly-disputed theory, which will lead to higher energy costs.")

Cleaning Up Bookmarks

While wandering through the mess I call my Favorites, I ran across several sites bookmarked that I apparently intended to blog about, but never did. Since they contain information that I thought (at least at the time) worth noticing, and because I want to clean up my folders, I'm making a digest of these sites.

First up is a column, "The Nature of Conservatism," written by Mike Adams, in which he spells out the differences between Conservatives and Liberals. Favorite passage: "If there is one thing that separates the conservative from the liberal it is his view of human nature. The conservative sees man as born in a broken state. This tragic view of human nature sees man as selfish and hedonistic by design....This tragic view of human nature also explains why conservatives often speak of religion and family values."

Next up is a column written for the New York Times on May 1 which discusses the marketing of global warming to people who don't care. A media research group, ecoAmerica, accidently sent a fsummary of its findings and recommendations to the media. Read "Seeking to Save the Planet, with a Thesaurus," by John M. Broder. Favorite passage: "“climate change” is an easier sell than “global warming.”

Along those lines, The Capital Research Center issued a report titled "Al Gore’s Carbon Crusade: The Money and Connections Behind It." It describes the fortunes that global warming alarmists such as Gore stand to make when the government implements massive legislation. Favorite passage: "[E]nvironmentalists are discovering new ways to get rich while believing they are saving polar bears and rainforests."

Right Wing News had a column on April 16 entitled "50 Things Every 18-Year-Old Should Know." It's a non-political list of good advice that us oldtimers wish we had followed. Favorite passage: "#24 - Don't ever loan your friends money if you want to keep them as friends. After all, if they were good with money and were likely to pay you back in a timely manner, they probably wouldn't need the loan in the first place. If they really need the money, you want to help them, and you can afford it -- just give it to them."

John Hawkins wrote a column on March 10 entitled "The 10 Biggest Amateur Mistakes by the Obama Administration So Far." Favorite passage: "Choosing tax cheat Timothy Geithner to be his Treasury Secretary was such an incredible screw up that it deserves it own entry. It's mind boggling that any Administration would choose a tax cheat to run the department that's in charge of the IRS. Moreover, in Obama's case, he has already announced plans for the largest tax hike in American history, nearly a trillion dollars, and the man in charge of that effort doesn't pay his taxes?"

Obama: "A False Prophet"*

Jon Voight spoke at a Republican fundraiser Monday night. His speech was the highlight of the evening, according to people who were there. He nails Obama. You can bet you won't be seeing clips from this speech on the evening news.





*According to Jon Voight.

It's Official: Obama is God*

*According to Evan Thomas of Newsweek:

"I Told You So" Doesn't Quite Suffice

From an Associated Press story:

"The Federal Reserve announced a $1.2 trillion plan three months ago designed to push down mortgage rates and breathe life into the housing market. But this and other big government spending programs are turning out to have the opposite effect. Rates for mortgages and U.S. Treasury debt are now marching higher...."

Will Obama finally accept the blame? Or will he continue to pass the buck to Bush?

Obama-Resistant

Who Knew? (Answer: About half the country)

According to an ABC News report, Barack Obama is now emphasizing his Muslim roots: "During a conference call in preparation for President Obama's trip to Cairo, Egypt, where he will address the Muslim world, deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications Denis McDonough said "the President himself experienced Islam on three continents before he was able to -- or before he's been able to visit, really, the heart of the Islamic world -- you know, growing up in Indonesia, having a Muslim father -- obviously Muslim Americans (are) a key part of Illinois and Chicago."

Boy, we sure never heard anything like this from the Obama campaign before he was elected, did we? Wonder who Obama is trying to appeal to with these kinds of statements? Americans?

During the campaign, Obama was very sensitive about being associated with Muslims. From a 2008 campaign speech: "And that's what the Republicans when they say this isn't about issues, it's about personalities, what they're really saying is, 'We're going to try to scare people about Barack. So we're going to say that, you know, maybe he's got Muslim connections.'...Just making stuff up."

Well, apparently not.

Remember the good old days when primaries helped vet candidates? When the media actually took an interest in a candidate's past?

Are there any accusations or predictions that Conservatives made about Obama during the primaries that are not proving true?

Muslim connections? Check.
Socialist leanings? Check.
Campaign lies? Check, and Check.

How much damage can Obama and his Democrat Congress do between now and January, 2013? I'm afraid of the answer.

The Google and Dog Runs

Sometimes I retain bits of information without knowing where I got them. I recently commented to wifey that in my dream home I wanted a sort of dog run. She didn't understand what I meant. I explained that it was where a house was separated with a covered area that allowed a breeze, thus helping cool the house.

As is my wont, I googled the term to show her a picture. I was chagrined to find that everything connected to the term "dog run" had to do with kennels and chain-link fences. It wasn't until I added the word porch to the search that I was finally able to get the proper hits.

From the Handbook of Texas Online: "DOG-RUN HOUSES. The dog-run, dog-trot, or double log cabin was a common type of house in Texas at the middle of the nineteenth century. The building consisted of two cabins separated by a ten or fifteen foot passageway, with a continuous gabled roof covering both cabins and the passageway between them, or dog-run...."

Seniors '09

Tonight our son, a graduating high school senior, received a book from the senior parents, a combination cookbook, Who's Who and memory book. Each of the seniors has a page devoted to him or her, with their date of birth, favorite color, their favorite recipes and other such information. Leafing through it gave me more insight into these kids' lives than anything else. Among these responses to the category of "Worst Fear":

My son: "Losing my inspiration." (Profundities run in the family. One of his favorite recipes was for a bologna sandwich.)
From a set of twins: Twin A - "Not glorifying God;" Twin B - "Burning to death." (Proving that not all of their chromosomes matched. Geneticists still have some work to do.)
Half of the rest of the class: "Spiders."
The other half: "Snakes."

Most touching response, from a young man who battled cancer his senior year, and who inspired his teammates on the football team to shave their heads so their haircuts would match his: Worst fear: "Chemo."

God bless and watch over our children.

With Powell, The Point's Already Made

According to an article on Yahoo News, Colin Powell has decided to fight Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh regarding the Republican Party. Powell believes that Republicans should change their principles to gain voters. "Americans do want to pay taxes for services," Powell said at a recent conference. "Americans are looking for more government in their life, not less." He also stated that he thinks Rush Limbaugh "diminishes" the Republican Party.

Colin Powell has invoked Limbaugh's name repeatedly in recent months, aping what Democrat strategists have tried to do: paint Limbaugh as the de facto head of the Republican Party. Although one could at one point have argued that Powell is simply expressing his beliefs as a Republican, it stretches credibility when you see how willingly he accommodates and uses a particular Democrat talking point. Add that to the fact that Powell publicly endorsed Obama during the presidential campaign, and you can see why Dick Cheney expressed surprise that Powell considers himself a Republican. Everyone should be surprised.

Colin Powell long ago used up any political credibility or good will he may have garnered from his military service up to and including Desert Storm. The straightforward military man has given way to the political opportunist. It is only hypocrisy and deviousness that prevent him from coming clean and declaring himself a Democrat. His actions have already belied his words.

American Idiots

According to a story in Yahoo News, members of Green Day are angry that Wal-Mart won't stock their latest CD, due to its language and adult content. Wal-Mart sells edited clean versions of CDs by other artists who have the same type of content. Green Day, however is unwilling to "censor" itself. Lead singer Billy Joe Armstrong says, "They want artists to censor their records in order to be carried in there," he said. "We just said no. We've never done it before. You feel like you're in 1953 or something."

Okay, so far fair enough. Wal-Mart insists on selling clean music to its customers, and Green Day refuses to allow an edited version to be sold. Both retain their own principles and integrity, right? But not so fast....

Bassist Mike Dirnt said: "As the biggest record store in the America, they should probably have an obligation to sell people the correct art."

First of all, Wal-Mart has absolutely no obligation to sell something it doesn't want to sell, simply so that Green Day can make more money. Green Day members are apparently angry that Wal-Mart has a choice in the matter, just as they do. Wal-Mart has committed itself to providing "clean" records to its customers, so that customers -- or more likely, parents of customers -- know that the music sold there does not contain certain content. Wal-Mart's obligation, if it has any, is to take care of its customers. Selling Green Day's unedited CD would violate Wal-Mart's voluntary agrement with its customers.

Next, Wal-Mart is not asking Green Day to censor anything. Censorship is the suppression of speech. Green Day has not been forced to be silent about any subject, nor to change their language. What they want to say in their music is widely available, in the way they want to say it. There is no censorship involved here. Wal-Mart, a private company, says it will not provide a channel for Green Day to sell their music. That's all.

As of now, no one's rights have been violated, taken away or trampled. If Green Day had their way, however, anyone who disagreed with them would not have the right to express it. Like a spoiled two-year-old, Green Day members are simply throwing a tantrum because they can't have everything their way. They're acting like American Idiots.

Anderson Cooper 180

Last month, Anderson Cooper of CNN showed a lot of class when he referred to the "Tea Party" tax protests held across the country as "teabagging":





Cooper has now admitted that his comment was "stupid and silly" -- something that most normal people would have decided before making the comment on network (using the term very loosely) television.

The Democrat Vetting Process Works Again

Headline: "Dems red-faced over veteran imposter"

His Master's Voice

I knew those images of Obama using his teleprompter looked familiar.

Obama's Sense of Humor

Our President always enjoys a good laugh. In this photo he is chuckling over the possibility of Rush Limbaugh's kidneys failing.

Here is Wanda Sykes entertaining Barack Obama. She shows great promise as an NBC correspondent.

Cheney on Colin Powell: "I didn't know he was still a Republican"

In an appearance on Sunday morning's Face the Nation, Dick Cheney commented on the advice that Colin Powell had for the Republican Party, namely to become more like Democrats. Powell had said, "Americans are looking for more government in their life, not less." He also said Republicans should repudiate Conservative philosophies espoused by people such as Rush Limbaugh.

Cheney's response on FtN: "If I had to choose in terms of being a Republican, I'd go with Rush Limbaugh. My take on it was Colin had already left the party. I didn't know he was still a Republican."

In the 2008 Presidential campaign, "Republican" Colin Powell endorsed the Democrat candidate Barack Obama.

Obama Kills the Rule of Law

The "Rule of Law" is a foundational principle upon which America's entire legal system is built. It means that a court renders its decisions based on already-established principles, applied without discretion. This principle prevents arbitrary governance based on the whims of judges or politicians. This is what makes America "a nation of laws, not men."

With the Obama administration's intervention in the Chrysler bankruptcy, the rule of law has been violated. One group (the UAW) has benefited from Obama's arbitrary decision to put unsecured debt (UAW benefits) above secured debt (lenders and bondholders.) In fact, one of the lawyers for a holder of secured debt said that the White House even threatened to use the White House press corps to "ruin" anyone who wanted the proper and expected distribution of funds from Chrysler by opposing Obama's decision to give the UAW 55% of Chrysler and put unsecured debt before secured . That lawyer's client eventually succumbed to the pressure, and meekly agreed to the settlement. Other bondholders did not.

After that threat was made (allegedly, of course,) Obama stayed true to his word, according to the Washington Post: "The [non-compliant] lenders were sharply criticized last week by President Obama, who blamed them for forcing the third-largest U.S. automaker into bankruptcy. Obama characterized the group as "speculators" who were fishing for "an unjustified taxpayer-funded bailout." In Obama's definition, "speculators" includes pension funds that invested in Chrysler with the full expectation of earning a profit or, failing that, getting all or most of their money back if Chrysler went broke. After all, theirs was secured debt. They are discovering that Obama does not bluff when it comes to rewarding political allies and attacking political enemies. (In direct contrast to how he treats those who attack America.)

Of course, Obama learned politics in the heart of corruption, the Chicago political machine. With this violation of a bedrock legal principle, and Obama's strong-arm tactics, we see now the consequences of electing a candidate whose history was full of terrorists, criminals and marxist mentors, and who the mainstream media supports without challenge. We have become a nation not of laws, but of one man.

What did you expect?

Obama's Gift to Fiat and the UAW

The Obama administration has conducted a power grab that is unprecedented. They attached themselves to Chrysler, and now Chrysler is about to go under. Robert Robb explains it clearly in his column on RealClearPolitics.com.

Here's the situation in a nutshell (and the point of which was the subject of a vigorous "discussion" I recently had with an Obama fan): "Chrysler has $6.9 billion in secured debt. Under the law, secured lenders have the first claim on the assets of the debtor in the event of non-payment.

"The Obama administration is attempting to muscle past this law. Under its proposal, the health care trust of the auto workers' union, an unsecured creditor, would forgive 57 percent of what Chrysler owes it, and receive 55 percent of the company's equity in exchange. The federal government would forgive about a third of what it would loan Chrysler and receive 8 percent of the company's equity. Fiat would pay nothing for its 20 percent initial ownership.

"The secured creditors, with the first claim on Chrysler's assets, were asked to forgive 70 percent of what they are owed and receive nothing in equity. (Emphasis mine - kw) When they refused and forced the company into bankruptcy, they were excoriated by Obama - a shameful act by a president who pledged to uphold the law, not make it up as he went along."

Obama's "Extremist" Dictionary

Obama's Homeland Security department issued an "extremism dictionary" recently. Among those considered potential threats to America are those who oppose abortion and those who oppose taxes. It also warns about those who "link their beliefs to those commonly associated with the American Revolution." Also mentioned are those who believe in the sovereignty of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The Obama administration has amped up its efforts to criminalize those who oppose it, even in thought or belief. It's informative to note some of the beliefs that it feels threaten it. With the collusion of the Democrat Congress, Obama can now create laws to enforce its views.

What did you expect? Remember this in 2010 and 2012.

"Cinco de Cuatro"???

"'El no habla': Obama jumbles Cinco de Mayo salute" reads the headline. Read the story.

First You Win, Then You Consolidate Your Power

The Obama White House has taken control of the census process, removing it from the Commerce Department. Wall Street Journal columnist John Fund explains the importance of the census: "Anything that threatens the integrity of the Census has profound implications. Not only is it the basis for congressional redistricting, it provides the raw data by which government spending is allocated on everything from roads to schools."



The Census Bureau conducted a study a few years ago and found that "sampling" -- estimating numbers of people based on probability -- won't work. There are too many chances for error. However, Liberal interest groups demanded that illegal immigrants and homeless people be counted in the census. Since these people are living off the grid, so to speak, it makes it nearly impossible to get a solid headcount of their numbers. Democrat strongholds such as inner cities and urban areas, where illegals and the homeless tend to concentrate, would benefit if these people could be "counted." More population equals more representatives, and more control of Congress and federal funds.


Obama's political seizure of a process that is supposed to be scientifically conducted goes against everything he says he believes in. Last December Obama promised to "once again put science at the top of our agenda.” Unless, of course, he can trump science with politics to gain more power for Democrats.


The Census Bureau lists its mission as to serve as "the leading source of quality data about the nation's people and economy." If, as expected, the Obama White House uses disproven methods such as sampling to conduct the census, then it will have violated the Bureau's mission. The White House has become Tammany Hall, with Obama as a 21st century Boss Tweed.

Do I Worry Too Much?

Occasionally I wonder if I'm too caught up in the anti-Obama hype from Conservative pundits. Sure, he had all those problems I addressed during the campaign, but once he became President, didn't he, wouldn't he, pretty much run the country like Bush did, with some Liberal policies tossed in? Don't cynics always claim it doesn't matter who gets elected?

Then I read a column such as Mike Gallagher's, which delineates just what's happened in the first 100 days of the Obama presidency (some of my own observations are tossed in):

• Obama goes to Europe and the Middle East, bowing and scraping and apologizing for the United States of America. Even so, he gets no offers from anyone to help in Afghanistan and a stout nein to the idea of implementing his economic policies in their own countries.
• His friendly encounter with anti-America dictator Hugo Chavez provides a photo op for Chavez. Obama listens to anti-American rants at an international summit without ever defending his country.
• The Obama administration forces the CEO of General Motors to resign, and Obama's Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner says the same thing could happen to executives of banks who took bail out money. The arbitrary conversion of the government's preferred stock in banks to common stock -- mentioned as a possibility by Obama -- essentially gives ownership of the banks to the federal government. That is, they would be nationalized. [Edit: It was not Obama himself who mentioned the stock conversion, but "White House and Treasury officials" according to the New York Times.]
• Obama's Homeland Security Secretary issues a memo claiming that military veterans and those who believe in state's rights or who are pro-life should be considered a possible terrorist threat.
• That same HS Secretary, Janet Napolitano, later claims -- as qualified for her post as anyone else in this administration -- that the 9/11 terrorists came across the Canadian border.
• Against the advice of his own CIA director, and four former CIA directors, Obama releases memos detailing interrogation techniques used by the CIA, providing information to our enemies.
• Obama first says that Bush administration officials will not be prosecuted for their parts in waterboarding, then a week later says they may be prosecuted. (Political pressure from the moveon.org and the Daily Kos crowd? Or mere wishy-washiness? This is blatant political revenge. A good policy for a President? And when a Republican is President again, maybe Obama should be prosecuted for revealing national secrets to the enemy.)
• Obama and his Democrat Congress have already quadrupled the budget deficit. Through 2008, President Bush increased the federal debt by $2.5 trillion, for which he has been criticized from all quarters. Obama proposes to add $4.9 trillion to that amount.

This is in just 100 days. I'm not sure those of us who opposed Obama during the campaign worried enough.

Four and Out!

Do I even need to explain it?

Next Week He'll Host a Show on QVC

Virulent anti-America dictator Hugo Chavez of Venezuela presented Barack Obama a book as a gift. The book, The Open Veins of Latin America, by Eduardo Galeano, blames other nations (particularly the US) for the various ills that South America suffers. Check out the reviews at Amazon if you're interested.

The main thing I want to point out is how easily Chavez maneuvered Obama into posing with him while holding the book. It looks as though Obama is endorsing the book. Has anyone ever mentioned Obama's inexperience as a possible liability when facing tough foreign leaders?

There's Nothing Like a Tornado Watch

....to help you focus. Ahhhh, springtime on the South Plains!

And They Say I'm Bad

Comedian James Gregory went off on a 15-minute rant on a radio show about the way things are in America. No politician -- Democrat or Republican -- is safe here. Neither are any of the crazy things that we've forgotten how to become outraged about. (France gets smacked down particularly well.) This is one of the best combinations of reasonable thinking and passion I've ever heard. I'm just happy it's getting the airplay it is.

Listen to Mr. Gregory's rant here.

Maybe if enough of us hear his message...

If Anything Could Make Me Happier....

...than that last post, this is it.

For Some Unknown Reason, This Kind of Thing...

...makes me very, very happy.

A Quote That Made Me Feel Better

A few minutes ago I read a quote from novelist Stephen King that I had not seen before:

"If you wrote something for which someone sent you a check, if you cashed the check and it didn't bounce, and if you then paid the light bill with the money, I consider you talented."

Maybe He Dropped a Contact Lens

It has become commonplace in the first few months of Obama's presidency to report occasions when he either didn't know tradition, etiquette or protocol, or else he didn't care. Whether snubbing Britian by returning a bust of Churchill given as a gift, giving inappropriate gifts to Gordon Brown and Queen Elizabeth, or demeaning America while visiting another country, Obama shows such a complete disregard for presidential behavior that it's no longer considered outrageous. (This, by the way, is a common practice among Liberals -- they simply wear down our sense of outrage.)

The most recent un-presidential move was Obama's bowing (see: kowtow) to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. This violates centuries of American tradition of refusing to defer to royalty. Interestingly, the White House apparently denies that Obama "bowed." The excuse, according to an Obama aide, is that Obama is taller than the king, and simply stooped to shake hands.

Decide for yourself:




Despite the White House's "denial," if Obama's not bowing, then he saw a quarter on the floor. It's pretty clear that when it comes to Obama's actions, the most common comment on President Obama for the next 3+ years will be "Well, what did you expect?"

Latro, Ergo Sum #4

"I rant, therefore I am."


"Liberal" = "Inclined to act inappropriately"
At their initial meeting in March British Prime Minister Gordon Brown gave Barack Obama an ornamental pen holder made from the timbers of the Victorian anti-slave ship HMS Gannet. Obama gave Brown a collection of DVD's. When he met Queen Elizabeth, Obama presented her with an Ipod. A wag suggested that Obama's administration was looking to take over Best Buy next.

Sucker = Me
I completely fell for the Squeez Bacon featured on thinkgeek.com April Fool's Day. In my defense, I previously reported about the wonderful (and genuine) product Baconnaise, so it didn't sound that farfetched. It wasn't until I watched the following video that I got a clue.





Speaking of being a geek
I conducted a semi-scientific test and determined that you get 30% more yield from "jumbo" eggs than from "large" eggs.

Fahrenheit 451 lives
Does it bother anyone else that Obama's Deputy Solicitor General Malcolm Stewart argued in front of the Supreme Court that in his opinion it would be acceptable to ban some books under McCain-Feingold?

Netflix pwns me
Since subscribing to Netflix, I have watched more movies than I've watched the entire rest of my life. I'm working my way through IMDB's Top 250 films, watching movies that I haven't seen before, and rewatching some that I haven't seen in years. Most pleasant surprise so far: Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window. Biggest disappointment: City of God.

I'm unduly proud that I know what "pwn" means.

Dave Ramsey is killing me
When you're in the process of completely getting out of debt, every spare dollar goes to paying off debts. (duh) What that means, however, is that you're always broke. Your business is taken care of, but you have no extra cash. That makes me uncomfortable.

Internet radio
When I'm writing, I usually listen to internet radio. No commercials, very little talking to interrupt my concentration. My station of choice at the moment is KRBX, Rock 104. I listen via Windows Media Player. When I'm in the zone, I can write over 1500 words in an hour. If I could maintain that pace, I could write a book the length of Tolstoy's War and Peace in a little over two weeks.

United Supermarkets
I'm always impressed with the store and the service when I go shopping in a United or a Market Street. What do they know that Wal-Mart doesn't?

AIG and the Monkeys

AIG is the insurance company that collided with a financial iceberg and which Congress has given billions and billions of our dollars. AIG took some of that money and paid some of its executives hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses. Everyone is mad at AIG and Congress, so Congress (and Obama) are screaming at AIG and enacting legislation to create a special tax to get the bonus money back.

Now then.

The agreement that Congress created and which AIG signed before the money was given over last fall included language that specifically okayed the bonuses. So the first thing to say is that Congress has zero credibility in showing outrage now.

Most Congressmen are saying that they didn't know the language was in the agreement. This indicates one of two things: 1) These Congressmen are lying; or 2) They are incompetent, voting for something they don't understand. Neither one of these options reflects well on these buffoons.

The language was eventually traced back to Democrat Senator Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. He has been one of the loudest critics of the bonus money -- no hypocrisy there -- and at first denied knowing anything about the language in the agreement.

Let's back up for a moment. In his notorious appearance on the Tonight Show, Obama said he was "stunned" when he learned about the AIG bonuses. That would indicate some level of surprise, right? Stay tuned.

Back to Dodd. On Tuesday, March 17, in an interview, Dodd denied knowing anything about wording in the agreement that specficially provided for bonuses to be paid to executives. The next day, Dodd said that his words had been "misunderstood," and that he had, in fact, inserted the specific wording.

Ahem.

Now it gets interesting. Remember how "stunned" Obama was at learning of the bonuses? Dodd claims that he inserted the language okaying the bonuses against his own judgment but under pressure from the administration. So either Obama is lying, or Dodd is lying, or they are both lying. Regardless of the answer to that question, it is evident that they are both incompetent.

And incidentally, AIG has been the fourth-largest political contributor to Democrat Senator Chris Dodd over the course of his political career.

The AIG situation is what it is. The government should never have given them any money in the first place. Now that it has, though, members of Congress look like a bunch of chattering monkeys trying to get their faces on television so that they can show us how they, too, are enraged at the bonuses -- blithely stepping past the fact that they approved the bonuses in the first place.

Researchers: "Global Warming Has Stopped"

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee have come up with another theory to explain climate change -- "synchronized chaos." (Too complicated for here; read the article to get the gist.)

Among other comments, researcher Dr. Anastasios Tsonis said this: ""The research team has found the warming trend of the past 30 years has stopped and in fact global temperatures have leveled off since 2001."

Where Racism and Self-Interest Intersect

The Wall Street Journal reports on Democrat Representative Maxine Waters, demonstrating how her own party wants her to keep her nose out of certain financial legislative decisions. This attitude is despite Ms. Waters' position as a member of the House Financial Services Committee.

Why the concern? Because Ms. Waters and her husband have a big stake in "minority" owned OneUnited Bank. Her involvement is complex, from her practice of giving the bank's executives special access to Federal Treasury officials, to the shares, stock options and other benefits she and her husband have in the bank, to her husband's postion as a director of the bank.

Ms. Waters has also been relentless in her efforts to prevent OneUnited from being forced to merge with other, "non-minority" owned banks. At a hearing on minority lending in 2007, Ms. Waters alluded to two banks, Independence Bank of Washington, D.C., and "another bank that was about to be acquired by a major white bank out of Illinois." You know, the special white bank, where only white people can go.

Racism in all its forms is stupid and vile. What's even more stupid and vile is when one party -- the Democrat one -- allows its members to practice racism publicly, without consequence. That those members can use their racism to affect legislation is beyond belief. When it comes to Liberals, however, you can't consider any action too outlandish, too outrageous or too foolish.


[Edit 3/14: Michelle Malkin has a bit more detail on the antics of Maxine Waters. How in the world can she still hold office? Oh, that's right, she's a Democrat. There are no standards for behavior.]

The Truth About Rush

I'm a big fan of Rush Limbaugh's, and I'm ecstatic that the Obama administration has seen fit to target him as an enemy. (Hmmm...weren't enemies lists a bad thing just a short while ago?) Rush has the opportunity to fight back via his radio show, and the backbone and skill to do so effectively.

In a recent column by Matt Towery, the wisdom, or lack of it, in attacking Rush is confirmed by polling data. (Read Towery's column for that information.) My point here is Towery's description of his one brief personal encounter with Rush:

"It was enlightening. He was the complete opposite of his persona. He was soft-spoken, extraordinarily polite and clearly not taking himself too seriously. My friends who know him well tell me he is still that way today."

Towery later gives one of the best descriptions of Rush Limbaugh the radio personality that I've ever seen articulated:

"...anyone who listens to his show knows that Limbaugh plays the role of pompous ringmaster, but in jest. After five minutes it is clear that he is not a hatemonger."

A huge percentage of the people who criticize Rush Limbaugh have never listened to his show, much less listened long enough to get the subtleties of his humor. Their remarks and accusations are not only wrong, but very wrong. The mistake the Obama bunch has made is forgetting the twenty million Americans who listen to Rush, and who enjoy his show. Rush is a skilled communicator, and his Conservative message gets through very effectively. The Democrat attacks are adding to the number of people who will realize the power and the wisdom of Conservatism. More power to them.

It Takes a While

Gallup just released a poll indicating that more Americans than ever – 44% -- believe that the threats the media report about global warming are overexaggerated. In the decade since Gallup started tracking this topic, the percent of Americans who believe the media is correct, or is underestimating the threat, is also at its lowest level ever.

There is a distinct political bent here. Republicans are more likely to be cynical about media coverage of the subject – that’s a shock – than Democrats. However, the increase in the number of disbelievers is from the population of independents. Democrats tend to have a certain, um, inflexibility of thought.

A comment about Gallup’s report, however. This is a quote: “Americans generally believe global warming is real. That sets the U.S. public apart from the global-warming skeptics who assembled this week in New York City to try to debunk the science behind climate change.”

That passage illustrates how poor reporting can mar otherwise good information. You can accept that “global warming” is real – the average temperature over the last century has gone up a bit less than one degree Centigrade; that is, the globe has warmed. Accepting that point does not concede that 1) Warming is caused by humans; or 2) The effects will destroy us.

The meeting in New York City referenced is the International Conference on Climate Change. Debunking the science – or more precisely, the lack of rigorous scientific standards – used by global warming alarmists should be the job of every scientist. I’ll repeat a point I’ve made before: When did “global warming” become “climate change?” Could it be because the earth has not experienced warming for several years, has perhaps even cooled? If you call it climate change, then you can use any sort of weather to prove your point. Global warming actually requires warming.

Again, another previously-mentioned point: If their science was up to snuff, they wouldn’t have to cheat; e.g., the discredited “hockey stick” graph; their practice of ignoring the “Little Ice Age;” the almost unknown fact that increases in CO2 gas follow warmer temperature, not cause it. Yet now, government interference into businesses is based on their CO2 emissions.

The ICCC’s purpose is to allow a discussion of the side of the scientific argument that the media and the government don’t want you to hear. Despite the claims by global warming profiteer Al Gore, the argument is most definitely not over.

Technical Catastrophe

While trying to edit my labels, I accidentally deleted ten of my past posts. Nothing to say about it, other than "Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens."

Now I'm Somebody

In today's mail I received several copies of the book I ghostwrote that hit the bestseller list on Amazon. Pretty cool.

[3/12/09 Edit: I forgot to mention, the books were autographed. Ghost autographed. Snicker.]