Wednesday, November 24, 2010

A set of ideas who's time has come ....again

In a November 24th article by Jennifer Epstein in Polititico, Gov. Bobby Jindal made a rather impassioned statement on the merits of part time legislatures.  In this article, he proposed not only making legislatures part time, but argued for term limits and restrictions on lobbying for current and former legislators.

Here is the comment I made on the Politico article:

Gov. Jindal has the right of it!!

Many state legislatures are part time, sitting only for a few months a year then adjourning.

Here in the Commonwealth of Virginia, our session begins in January and ends by March and the rest of the time, the representatives have real jobs in the real world with a few official meetings thrown in from time to time and the occasional special session should something unexpected occur.  They have to live in their districts and with the consequences of their actions, facing the home folks most of the time.  There is no place to hide, no way to dodge the consequences…  There is no “bubble”.

It is an interesting fact that states with part time legislatures seem to have fewer budget problems than those with full time legislatures.  Cases in point: Virginia, West Virginia, Connecticut, Montana and North Dakota all have budget surpluses and all are blessed with part time legislatures.  The states and territories with full time legislatures like D.C., Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Massachusetts, Illinois, and California all have massive deficits or serious budgetary problems.

Although hardly proof positive, it is an interesting trend that states with smaller “citizen legislators” seem to be more fiscally conservative and more economically run than those places where there is a full time “political class”  at work all the time.

Perhaps there is a lesson for the denizens of Washington D.C in this. 

The venerable and well respected journalist David Brinkley once lamented that western civilization, or at the very least, American democracy began its decline when air conditioning was installed in government buildings such as the Capitol Building and the White House, as well as  other governmental edifices  in the 1930’s thus allowing the legislature, the executive branch and government bureaucracy at large to remain in the nations capitol through the hot, humid and patently unpleasant summers typical of the upper Chesapeake.  With this bit of alleged progress, the “powers that be” could continue to work through the languid summer days and nights, turning out ever more rules, regulations and laws and spending ever increasing amounts of taxpayer money.   Conversely, they spent  fewer and fewer days back home among those they supposedly represented, safe within “the bubble” from the slings and arrows of the home folks, appearing only to fund raise and run for re-election.

Yes, indeed, the Governor of Louisiana has it right.  It is time for legislators to return home and live like the rest of us…  Perhaps common sense will return when they do.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

All Hail Obama Rex!!!


It seems congratulations are in order for the honorable Barrack Hussein Obama, President of the United States.
This salute comes in honor of an achievement unparalleled in the history of our republic and indeed, the entire world. He has presided over a milestone event that the first 40 men who have held the illustrious office of President of the United States could not claim to have reached.

What, pray you ask, could it be that the "Anointed One" has done to warrant this notice?

It seems that our Commandante and Chief and those who serve his cause to bring "Hope" and "Change" to the masses and to "fundamentally transform America," have another achievement to celebrate. Having seized control of two largest automobile makers in the country, and having nationalized the health care delivery system in a legislative coup d'etat, they now can now add this little gem to their list of accomplishments....

According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, in the first 19 months of the Obama administration, the federal debt held by the public increased by $2.5260 TRILLION dollars, which is more than the cumulative total of the national debt held by the public that was amassed by all U.S. presidents from George Washington through Ronald Reagan. When President Reagan left office in 1989, the total federal debt held by the public (you, me, financial institutions, foreign governments, etc.) was $2.1907 TRILLION dollars. This number comes from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. In short, that means all U.S. presidents from Washington through Reagan accumulated only that much publicly held debt on behalf of American taxpayers. That's $335.3 billion less than the $2.5260 TRILLION dollars that was added to the federal debt held by the public just between Jan. 20, 2009, when" The Annointed One" was inaugurated (coronated?), and to think, August 20, 2010  will be the 19-month anniversary of Obama's inauguration....  It is truly an amazing thing!

Of course, being the competent, responsible administrator that he is, he did what all others in his position seem to do when confronted with the product of their poor stewardship of the nation's finances- he danced. In a style unparalleled since the days that Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire graced the silver screen, Obama did a "Potomac Two-Step" that would have made those old hoofers proud.

His claims about how he was and is "investing in America",  that his "Stimulus Plan," which by itself added $787 billion to the debt, was the only thing that could be done, was necessary to save the country. The problem was and remains that the hemorrhage of cash has not just continued....  It has increased by order of magnitude!

Let's review:
  1. AIG, the failed insurance and investment house received nearly $70 billion in bailout dollars.
  2. Citibank Group and Bank of America receive $5 billion
  3. General Motors and Chrysler received over $140 billion that they claim to have paid back but really haven't
  4. Auto Industry Financing Program received $78 billion but has paid back less than half their "loan"
  5. Bank bailouts via the Capitol Purchase program cost us $205 billion but less than half has been paid back
  6. The Making Homes Affordable Program was given $27 billion, but that cash sits in lenders vaults unused for the most part because lenders are scared to loan it due to the present state of the economy, and the general tight lending standards that are being applied now in the wake of the Housing market meltdown.
These are just a few of the ways that congress and your President are running up the tab. The only problem is that someday someone will have to pick up the check and pay the toll.
And if all else fails and the whole rotten, corrupt mess falls to pieces, he can do one of the other time-honored practices of the Washington establishment….
He can blame Bush.



Monday, August 30, 2010

Obama slams Arizona before the world

The outrage that is Barrack Obama’s Presidency continues as his internationalist streak once again rears its ugly head and overrides his sacred duties and responsibilities as President of the United States.

In what can be seen only as a tragically flawed act to appease the worst players on the international scene, the Obama Regime has created a report for release to the United Nations Human Rights Council. This particular group is charged with determining the level of compliance and actions of member states to principles established decades ago when the U.N. began weighing in on the concept of “human rights”. The problem with this concept is that the membership of this sub-group contain many of the worst offenders of “human rights” and make no attempts to adhere to the basic principles or concepts of “humane treatment” as defined in the U.N. Charter. In deed, many give only lip service to the concept.

Cases in point are Cuba, The People’s Republic of China, and Egypt. And yet another, Saudi Arabia; a theocratic monarchy that treats women as chattel property with virtually no rights to property or to due process of law. Many members are military dictatorships or quasi-democracies with single party rule. Truly they are fine examples to sit in judgment on the conduct of others when it comes to the rule of law and the fair and equitable treatment of people. The United State in 2007, disgusted by the hypocritical, anti-Semitic, and anti-American stances taken over the years, formally withdrew from the council, electing to just “observe” their activities. The Obamanites in the Department of State have now decided to re-apply for full membership. Not content with just sitting down with the bad actors on the council, the Obama Administration has decided to prostrate our nation before them. They are issuing a self-deprecating and demeaning report about the state of human rights in America. But the main item on this report is what makes it especially egregious.

The Regime has decided to give the actions of the State of Arizona top billing in their mea culpa opus to the U.N. Not content with abrogating their responsibilities to the citizens of this county, the Obama Regime has decided to bring ridicule and derision upon the sovereign State of Arizona and her people for daring to enforce existing federal immigration policy at the state and local level.

Arizona Senate Bill 1070, or SB-1070, was a bill passed by the Arizona legislature and signed into law by that state’s Governor, Jan Brewer. This was done in response to the utter lack of action on the part of federal authorities to curb the rampant illegal alien invasion of our southern border. Not only is illegal immigration an issue, but human trafficking and drug smuggling are also pandemic in the borderlands of the southwestern United States. The federal government has been completely derelict in its duty to secure the border, and the states in that region have been demanding action. Not content to just sit by and be invaded and victimized by drug cartel criminals, Arizona drafted then passed this bipartisan law that was a virtual mirror image of the federal immigration statutes with some additional language that permitted the local and state police to question the immigration status of any person they reasonable believed to be here illegally.

The usual suspects, Hispanic nationalist groups like “La Raza” (which means “The Race” in Spanish…) and others like the ACLU saw this bill primarily as racist. Their reasoning ran the gamut: the law was an infringement of federal powers and was essentially racist in nature; specifically, that it was designed to target Latinos only and that it would lead to racial profiling and harassment. Even though the law was drafted specifically prohibiting such activity, the leftist elites went to war against Arizona and Governor Brewer for daring to put the spurs to the feds over their inept action on immigration.

The Obama Regime, never content to let a crisis go to waste, mobilized the Legal Commissars in the Justice Department to file suite in Federal District Court to block the new law. They were successful in getting a court injunction of the major enforcement provisions of the law that required police to make inquiries of a person’s immigration status. This will likely put the law on track for review by the Supreme Court.

Arizona and her people are being held up to the world for official international review and criticism thanks to the Obamanites. I know of no other time in our nation’s history when a sitting governor, state, or state law has ever been held up to ridicule on the international stage, especially to likes of Communist China, Russia, Cuba, and Saudi Arabia who sit on the Human Rights Counsel, and the other paragons of virtue that make up the United Nations as a whole. It is a travesty unlike any that has ever been perpetrated before by the federal government.

It is unfortunate that our President lacks the character or propriety to even see this as the affront it is to the nation as a whole and to Arizona in particular. That American diplomats that are supposed to serve the interests of our nation are so shallow and so banal as to have even drafted such a document shows just how far we have fallen in such a short time.

Not content with bankrupting the treasury of the nation or nationalizing huge sectors of our economy, Obama now wishes to see the nation brought low and made a mockery of; a target ridicule before the entire world community, shredding our only real capitol in the world- our moral authority.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Mark Halprin/Time magazine ask for Republicans to "do the right thing..."

I find it interesting Mark Halperin of Time magazine says that Republicans should "Do the right thing" when it is the Muslim community that should be asked to do so.... But then again, it seems the aggrieved are always asked to be tolerant and understanding. It has been a one way street in that regard. The only thing I agree with the author here is that Conservatives/Republicans don't need to bang the drum on this. Obama and his Progressive sycophant friends in New York are digging their own graves and the Muslim community will continue to demonstrate that their cultural norms and practices are incompatible with western norms of behavior and tolerance. If the Islamic community had any sense of decency, they would never have even considered this site as a place to put their Mosque/cultural center. I recall a similar issue occurring in Poland. In 1984 Cardinal Macharski, archbishop of Cracow, announced the establishment of a Carmelite convent in Auschwitz in a building on the camp periphery which had originally been a theater but was utilized during World War II to store the poison gas used in the Auschwitz-Birkenau crematoria. Needless to say, Jewish survivors and the Jewish community at large objected to this on similar grounds as 9/11 families and survivors – that it is completely inappropriate, unwanted and out of context with the nature and history of the location and what it meant to those who survived the camps and the families of those who died there. Needless to say there was a great fight over this issue between the Catholics of Poland and the Jew who see the site as hallowed ground. Eventually the convent project was canceled when the convent was relocated by direction of the Vatican. We face a similar issue in New York and unfortunately, we lack leadership with the sensitivity to veto this project. Nobody is saying that Muslims can’t build a mosque. The families and survivors of 9/11 aren’t saying it either. What is being said is that the location is wrong and that if “tolerance” means anything to the Islamic community, then they need to yield on this issue and relocate to another site a respectful distance from “ground zero”.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Atomic Apologies: Is the U.S. Ambassador going to say "Sorry for the nukes?"

This is a re-post of an article I wrote in November of last year, when rumor circulated that the "Dear Leader" was going to Japan and "apologize' for nuking Japan at the close of World War 2.

Now word comes that the U.S. Ambassador to Japan, John Roos, will lead a delegation to the 65th annual commemoration of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Evidently the "Dear Leader" and his minions feel that we, the aggrieved party in that conflict, must demonstrate remorse for winning. That we must display regret for utilizing a weapon that Japan and Nazi Germany most certainly would have used on us (had they had it).

Showing up with an official delegation lead by our Ambassador, who will be undoubtedly asked for comments and sentiments, is just a really bad idea. Japan was defeated by this country and her allies by force of arms, and going to a Japanese city that was destroyed in that war serves no purpose. All a reasonable person could do is grieve over the loss of life in general and the reflect on how terrible the scourge of war is. But in the recent past, the "Dear Leader" has been anxious to minimize, criticize and indeed apologize for past actions of the U.S. He has even denied the nature of our nation and culture in order to curie favor in regions of the world where we are engaged in a struggle to preserve our civilization. Sending Ambassador Roos to Hiroshima or Nagasaki at this time, and knowing this administrations penchant for apologies, can only be viewed as an opportunity to lay low the sacrifices made by millions of service men and women and civilian scientist and workers who made victory possible.

If you read the following, I think you may get an inkling of what goes on in the head of Barrack Hussein Obama, The Apologist and Chief.

I guess President Barack Obama didn’t take any history classes when he was in school. Nor did he have a teleprompter available to refer to when queried about the historical significance of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States in August of 1945.

The Community Organizer and Chief has embarrassed his country once again and made himself look the uneducated, uninformed and tactless rube when he was questioned by Japanese media during the joint press conference with the Prime Minister of Japan.

The reporter asked the President about his desire to visit those two cities and what his understanding was of the historical context of the atomic bombings of the cities and weather or not he felt the attacks were justified. Looking like a deer in the headlights, the President began a very disjointed reply about his desire to pursue an active anti-nuclear proliferation policy and how he has begun to cut back America’s nuclear stockpile. He commented on the unique perspective that Japan and her leadership had on the subject of nuclear weapons and their use. Then he commented on his lack of firm travel plans to either Hiroshima or Nagasaki. The Stammerer and Chief then went off on a tangent about North Korea.

What was blatantly clear was that he was unprepared to for the question and equally unprepared to defend the actions of the United States or its leadership who at the time were fighting a war to preserve not only our freedom but the freedoms and the sovereignty of all the free nations of the world against the forces of German and Italian Fascism and rabid Japanese Militarism. In fact, he dodged the subject all together.

I don’t know who he thinks he is fooling by changing the subject. He clearly didn’t want to answer the question and was very uncomfortable with the subject. Uttering platitudes on the subject of non-proliferation is comfortable, appealing, politically correct, but most of all, safe. Defending the reputation and motives of a past administration desperate to quickly end a world war that had cost millions of lives by the most expeditious means possible, seemed beyond his capabilities. He seemed stymied by the prospect in fact.

It is unfathomable to see that over 60 years after the end of the second world war, we, the United States of America, are still having to explain our actions to the very people who attacked us on December 7th, 1941, or that we are made to feel as if we have somehow done something evil in using nuclear weapons to end the greatest war in the history of the world. It is the United States and her nuclear shield that has in fact deterred aggression in the world ever since the end of that war.

What were the alternatives?

Militarily, we could have blockaded Japan and just stood off and bomb them and shelled them and hoped they grew tired or hungry enough to surrender... The odds of this working were small. The fact that allied prisoners of war in their thousands were also being held in the home islands of Japan, suffering untold agonies and miseries meant that they would probably be wiped out as retribution by their desperate and angry captors who were not very humane with prisoners under the best of circumstances. Civilian casualties from an unrestricted bombing campaigns and from the starvation and disease that would have resulted from a prolonged quarantine and from continued military attacks around the clock, day in and day out would have been horrific. Casualties would have certainly been in the millions.

The option of just demonstrating the weapon to the Japanese rather than actually using it on them was not an option as we had so little material to use in actual weapons that we couldn’t risk expending it and it not have a tangible military result. Nor could we risk letting other countries know just how far we had progressed in the development of nuclear weapons, especially the Soviet Union, who we viewed as a potential rival in the future. There was also the altogether not unreasonable belief that even having seen a demonstration that Japan’s leadership would have acquiesced and given up.

That left a conventional amphibious and airborne invasion of the home islands of Japan.

The plans for that eventuality, Operations Olympic and Coronet were being formulated at that time. Previous attacks against Iwo Jima and Okinawa had given war planners some idea what to expect if the U.S. and her allies were to attempt such a venture. The prospects weren’t good at all. Unlike Europe where civilian populations were seen as non-combatants, and for the most part behaved as such, this would not have been the case with Japan. The militarist government there had conditioned and trained the populace over the previous years to take an active role in defending the home islands from invasion. If the civilians had actively resisted and the military elements in Japan proven as stubborn and intractable as they had in previous operations like Okinawa, the projected casualties on both sides would have been astronomical. The Okinawa, Iwo Jima and the Philippine campaigns were the basis used to gauge how a possible amphibious and airborne invasion of the home islands would be resisted. Okinawa had generated 72,000 American casualties in an 82 days action. The liberation of the Philippines took nearly a year, and cost Japan 336,300 dead and the Americans 62.514 dead or wounded. Iwo Jima’s “butcher bill” was nearly 22,000 Americans killed or wounded, with only a little over 1,100 prisoners taken out of a defending garrison of over 22,000 Japanese soldiers, marines and seamen.

In contrast, the planners of the invasion of Japan envisioned a nightmare scenario of over 1.2 million casualties to Allied forces and 5-10 million military and civilian casualties to the Japanese. With those sorts of numbers, it was no small wonder that any responsible, reasonable or humane leader would have looked for other options to that sort of body count.

When viewed objectively, when all the aforementioned options were looked at, even in hindsight, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the best options in a bad situation for all parties concerned. They provided a stark reality check to the leadership of Japan as to what their futures would be if further resistance continued. Were the results horrible? Certainly they were. Were the results desirable? When viewed against the possible loss of life and treasure in a conventional attack, the answer is and unqualified YES.

Too bad President Barack Obama didn’t seem to know any of this and too bad he seemed unable or unwilling to articulate these facts to the world at large.

Maybe he’ll get it right next time....


Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Amazing Grace History/"Amazing Grace" By Wintley Phipps

I recently saw the most amazing video....

Mr. Wentley Phipps gave the most inspirational and musically interesting presentation I have heard in many a year....

I will let the Youtube video which went truly "viral" speak for itself. I think you will be impressed...

Christian or not, it is the best 9 minutes I have spent online in a while...

Foreign aid: It isn't aiding America.....

In response to an article in the Reuters News alert dated 20 July, 2010 at http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/56091/2010/06/20-134522-1.htm .

One of the activities I always enjoyed in the Navy was the opportunity to visit ports around the world and to participate in volunteer aid ventures like fixing up a school or helping build a playground for kids in impoverished areas, or even helping orphans.

It has become clear to me however that what was once an individual effort from well meaning crews on a visiting ship to grateful recipients has become industry that is not only unappreciated but even counterproductive.

The attempt to "win hearts and minds" seems pointless if the people it is intended to help are resentful and even hostile to the efforts made. Since the people conducting aid operations (people like U.S. military) can't remain permanently to reinforce the commitment of bettering a situation in a given area, when they leave, there may be feelings of resentment or abandonment at the perceived lack of commitment. In my opinion, foreign aid rarely has the intended effect as it is seen as a "pay-off" or an attempt to curry favor- insincere at best, an insult at worst.

When we sailors went to do a project, it was done though local contacts made by our chaplains with local leaders who had specific needs and wants and who were appreciative and who understood that this activity was being done by men who were volunteering their time and efforts. It was understood that these men could be doing something else with their time but were willing to forgo well earned time off and the "usual and customary" activities of sailors on liberty, to help them. Going where we aren't wanted giving people "help" they don't want, need or appreciate is a complete waste of time and resources we as a nation can no longer afford anyway. What I did with my shipmates was always appreciated and when we arrived, did the work then left, we always felt we had done something meaningful and worthwhile; the work as meaningful to us and the community. Going into a situation with the specific, engineered purposes of winning "hearts and minds" is a very bad idea.... If the Kenyans need help with something, let them do the work themselves and if help is needed from us, let them know that it will be rendered if they ask for it. The same goes with supplying money and materials. If they want it, let them make the request.

Otherwise, butt out.

We can't really afford to be rebuilding latrines in Africa anyway. America is broke and we need to worry about our own situations and circumstances here at home.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Another immigration story........

I walked into my home one evening and found that I wasn’t alone….

Sometime during the day, a visitor came calling while I was at work and made himself at home in my house without my knowledge or consent…

I am a peaceable fellow most of the time, but finding my home violated by this intruder really annoyed me as you can imagine, but I recovered my composure and approached the fellow who was seated on my couch enjoying a beer and some chips while watching my television.

A soccer match was on and the announcer in very loud and excited Spanish was calling the game, and my “guest” seemed not even to pay me much attention as he was the game. He was scruffy, and unkept. He looked as if he had had a rough time on the road - like one of those hobos one would see in an old movie or in old black and white pictures of “Okie’s” from the “Dust Bowl” in the 1930’s.

I walked over and stood a few feet from him, amazed at his calm demeanor and his seeming lack of concern at my presence.

His eyes shifted to me after I cleared my throat loudly as one is apt to do to get another’s attention.

I nonchalantly asked him who he was and what he though he was dong in my house.

His reply was that his name was Juan and that he had just arrive in the U.S. a few hours earlier and that he saw that my house, which was nicer than his house in Mexico, and decided that he would just come on into my house and take up residence. After all, he needed a place to live and a job because there were none to be had back home. Everyone in Mexico knows there was work here to do, and since he needed a place to live, it was only right that he should be allowed to be wherever he wished, as it was his “human right”, and since we “stole” the land from Mexico in the 1840’s anyway, he would stay here, in my house.

To say that I was dumbstruck by this litany would be an understatement.

He then informed me that he had already done a couple of chores around the house as a way to solidify his claim to be there: “to do the work that Americans won’t do”, like taking out my trash and washing the few dishes in my sink in the kitchen. He then said that since he had done all this work, he now had even more right to be there, and oh, by the way, he felt entitled to make himself a sandwich and have a cold beer too since he was hungry and hadn’t had a decent meal in days since before leaving his homeland.

Morbidly curious, I inquired as to what he planned to do.

He said that he liked my house and reiterated that since it was so much nicer than his in Mexico and since he had done work for me, that he felt entitled to continued occupation of my home and entitled to free food and beer, all this in exchange for doing a few chores around the place. It was after all only fair. Of course, he continued, I should also pay him for the work he had already done too, and if I would be so kind, would I please put him on my health insurance so he and his family, who would be joining him soon, could go to the doctor free when they arrived.

Incredulous, I then asked if there was anything else I could do for him and he gave a considered look.

“Si”, he said, “I want my 6 bambinos to have a better life than me so they must have an education…. I want them to go to your schools and because they don’t speak English, you must ensure that they get their education in Spanish, after all, they must have the best education possible and it would be racist to insist they learn English since they are Mexican… It would be culturally insensitive….”

“So let me get this straight” I asked with a certain note of sarcasm in my tone

“You have come here into my home without invitation. You, in fact, broke in. You think that this land where my house sits was stolen from Mexico 150 odd years ago, so by extension or by right, you feel that you are entitled to be here in this country paid for with the blood of America’s fighting men, and in the home that I built and paid for with my sweat and hard earned money. You feel that because you have done some work here or that because you are willing to do some work in the future, that you can just come here without so much as a “by your leave”- that you can just trespass here, that you and yours can just take up residence in violation of the law? Then you insist that I pay to educate your illegal alien children in Spanish because it is racist to insist they learn English, and then you demand that I provide you with medical care just because you are here and need it? Does that sum it up? Is there anything else I can give you?”

He sat there and thought it over for a long minute considering my question.

“Si, there is something else….” He replied

“I want to vote in the next elections so we can have a say in your affairs and in redistribution of your wealth so that we can keep getting all these great things we want from you and your country… I want amnesty for me and my family so we don’t have to stand in line to get our green cards and then get citizenship so we can then bring in all our relatives so they too can get a nice place to live, free education and medical care and so we can get all the other things we can’t in Mexico….”

“So why not just go the American consul in Mexico and begin the immigration process and do it right?” I asked.

He laughed and said “Why would I do foolish thing like that?!!”

“It takes months and month and you must fill out many papers and pay mucho dinero to go to Estatos Unitos that way…. Only a fool would do that!!!” he laughed.

“Many of my friends, millions of them in fact , have already come under the wire and they are not having to mess with silly papers or having to pay to be here…. They say Obama will give amnesty to us…that the Republicans will give it to us….why should we do it the hard way?”

"Only idiots and chumps do it the hard way... America is very forgiving of such things..." he said with a smile. "I know this because I have been caught and let go many times before."

I could hardly argue with him. He had a point.

”Anything else?” I asked, tired and sobered by the litany.

“Si, senior… Next time you go to market, would you get some Coronas and limes instead of Budweiser? I prefer a good Mexican beer….”

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

NAACP vs. The TEA Party....

What we see with this diatribe by the NAACP is a pathetic attempt to remain relevant by demanding that a group with little or no central leadership control the actions of every person who may just show up at one of their events... Their complaint that signs showing the President in an unflattering or insulting way are "racist" is a totally bogus. History of protests in this country shows that cartoons and charactitures of political and public figures is normal and certainly not unprecedented. How many times have we seen demonic or even NAZI imagery used against Presidents like Ronald Reagan or the Bush’s? That sort of inflammatory imagery has been a regular staple of politics in America since colonial times when early Presidents might have been depicted as kings, animals or even women (something seen as a great insult at that time). It seems that the NAACP is hyper sensitive and over-reacting to protests against the man they perceive as “their guy”... their anointed one. They seem willing to play the "race card" at the drop of a hat even when he comes under what some may see as a legitimate scrutiny for his ill-conceived and badly executed policies. Perhaps the NAACP needs to take a step back and re-evaluate its mission statement. Maybe they should be more concerned with raising the standards of conduct and discourse within their own ranks and in the black community in general, and stop worrying about what others beyond their control are doing. Perhaps they should be more concerned with improving the status and condition of black Americans by advocating high character and by preaching personal integrity, personal honor and responsibility rather than getting mixed up in the political debate that is ever present. It is my personal opinion that the NAACP, realizing that they are loosing relevancy, has contrived this little tantrum of theirs to get back in the spotlight. Like all the others who rely on the industry of racism such as Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Louis Farrakhan, et al, the NAACP needs to keep finding fault and fanning the flames where and when they can, and lacking any legitimate or useful contribution, has contrived to create this incident to get back their seat at the big people’s table; to be once again the leading advocacy group in the eyes of their fellow black as well as the leading voice in racial issues in America. It is truly pathetic that an organization founded to better the futures of people who were desperately seeking their place in the world should conduct themselves in such a base and tawdry fashion.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Appeals panel considers whether Obama is even American

Appeals panel considers whether Obama is even American

I would love to see what would happen if the court rules that Obama is NOT a "natural born citizen" as is required by the constitution.....
What would happen with all the laws he has put into place and all the executive orders he has issued? More importantly, what of all the appointments he has made including Supreme Court justices? Would all of it become "null and void"?
I would argue that he would be guilty of treason for assuming office illegally and perpetrating a fraud on the American people by illegally assuming power in full knowledge that he was not qualified to assume. I would also like tho know who in the Democratic Party knew he was ineligible to run.

So many possible scenarios.....

Friday, July 2, 2010

STOP financing the enemy: We need a NEW energy policy NOW!!

America needs a new energy policy desperately.

This nation is in grave danger due to our dependence on foreign oil for much of our energy which places us in economic jeopardy and threatens the security of if not the very survival of the republic.

Every year we send literally hundreds of billions of dollars overseas to pay for the oil and gas we consume. The monies used for this end up in the coffers of regimes that are at best only barely tolerant of us (Kuwait, Indonesia, Nigeria or Mexico), while others seem mostly ambivalent (Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States) or, and at worst, out right hostile (Venezuela and Iran). They are hostile not only to us, but to many of our allies as well.

Why does this present a problem? Why should we care what the “Oil Arabs” and the other less than friendly nations do with that cash? After all, it is their money now, right?

What does this have to do with us or our energy policy?

True enough that they sold the oil and we bought it and it is their money now. They have a right to do with it as they see fit, but why should we, the American consumer, bankroll those who may not have our best interests at heart? What could they be doing that is so bad as to warrant all this concern?

One of the many places oil revenue is used is in the funding of hundreds of “madrasa diniyyah” (religious schools) and mosques in many Muslim and non-Muslim counties throughout the world. This funding is done via so-called “charities”, many of which are bankrolled in whole or in part by our so-called ally, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. While the funding of schools seems a noble venture on the surface, there is a very dark set of objectives underneath all those seemingly good intentions.

Most of these schools are built in Pakistan and other countries that have populations decidedly hostile to the west and to America in particular. In many of these schools and the attendant mosques that are built to provide “religious guidance”, the subject matter taught is decidedly not what you would expect to find in a school for young and middle school aged children in most of the rest of the world: reading, writing, arithmetic, the social sciences and literature.

Behind the establishment of the “institutions is a very ultra-conservative group who are adherents to the Wahhabi sect of Islam. They are found in positions of power within the ruling strata of the Saudi government. They even have control of the “religious police” who enforce the morality laws throughout the Kingdom, and are major sponsors of these schools. These Wahhabist are predominant in controlling much of the activity and influence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. By virtue of this influence, they have access to the vast wealth of the kingdom. Because they have so much influence and have the access to the wealth of the realm, the Wahhabists continue to funnel large sums of oil revenue (via their “charities”) from the royal treasury to programs in the madrasas and mosques they have built throughout the world. Their teachings are an extremely conservative (read: intolerant and militant) form of Islam. This sect has an abject intolerance of any sect, faith, practice or government that doesn’t subscribe to their orthodox views. This is the attitude, enforced, encouraged and taught by the sponsors of these schools. This highly orthodox view has metastasized, becoming more rabidly militant in nature in recent decades, especially when issues involving the west, Israel, America, and democracy are made a focal point. Their view of America, Europe, western civilization and our way of life is viewed by the sponsors and instructors in these schools and mosques with a vehemence and hostility that is nothing short of utter hate bordering on the psychotic.

Any act is viewed acceptable from their religious point of view because some mullah or imam has decreed it so: it is the will of Allah…. The young take it on faith and the young mind is bent and twisted to this world view.

There is positive proof that the real mission of these schools is not just to teach basic life skills but to also indoctrinate the young with a militant, viral form of Islam. This indoctrination of these young, impressionable minds in these petro-dollar funded schools and mosques, include children as young as 6 to 8 years of age, who sit in small groups reading and reciting from just one book, the Quaran. These recitations go on for many hours a day, day after day in endless rote memorization sessions until they have it memorized. Additional “training” is also given by the imams in their version of what the meaning of the Quaran is, according to their orthodoxy and political views. The children, imbued with scripture and anti-western propoganda, become dedicated to program of demonization, dialing back, and the eventual expunging of all western influence in their region of the world. The corollary to this is the eventual stamping out of any freedoms or progress enjoyed by minorities and women and the destruction of the west and the killing or subjugating of all infidel populations and infidel lands. In their eyes, these are seen as prime objectives in the life of any faithful Muslim who is true to the faith. To see proof of your oil dollars at work, one merely has to view the videos of the teaching sessions in these institutions or the sermons given by the imams and mullahs in the mosques or the street protests in any Arab or European capitol containing these Islamist radicals. Read the signs and hear the chants calling for Israel’s destruction, our destruction, or for Shiria law to become the prevailing law in the west, and you will begin to understand the threat. The young people in these protests are either products of these radical teachings or are being lead by those who are.

They want our constitution, our freedoms and our way of life to be erased, expunged, destroyed…..

If proof of this danger is needed, one has but to merely look at a roster of the 9/11 hijackers who destroyed the World Trade Center in 2001: 15 of 19 were Saudis and the mastermind, Osama bin Laden is also a Saudi.

All this hatred and all the terrorism it spawns today is funded in large part every time you fill your gas tank.

To put it bluntly, we are financing the means to our own possible destruction. We are providing for the scholarship of those who are murdering our countrymen and subverting our civilization.

What can be done to de-fang this monster that has risen from the sands of the Mideast? What can we do to take from them the ability to fund their operations? The only way is to remove the seemingly unending cash flow that funds our detractors and enemies.

Can we accomplish these aims?

The only way to accomplish this is to eliminate our dependency on their oil, thus drastically curtailing or eliminating all together their one and only dependable, large scale revenue stream, and thus removing much of their power and influence over us and those they threaten.

To say that America and the rest of the industrialized world have become hooked on easy access to cheap and plentiful petroleum from a very hostile and dangerous part of the world is to belabor the obvious.

That paradigm must change if we are to survive as a free and ever progressing civilization dedicated to the freedoms we have fought and strove for over nearly two and a quarter centuries.

America, as a nation, has all the resources necessary and most if not all the technology needed to become energy independent if we choose to deploy the new and existing technologies we possess and to free up domestically available fuels and resources, and reallocating them for different uses.

In short, the key to our independence lies in the immediate construction of the next generation of nuclear powered electrical generating plants and nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities and then reallocation of fossil fuels once used in electrical generation to new and/or different purposes which can be replaced later as new and developing technologies come on line or become more commercially viable.

At the moment, America is using a patchwork quilt of coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear, wind, solar, and hydroelectric power to generate our electricity. This is a hugely inefficient and costly conglomeration of sources for the largest national power grid on Earth to rely on. It is also very inefficient when you view the support required to administer, operate, maintain, feed (fuel), and develop upgrades to these many varied systems. Coal and oil which make up a bulk of the generating capability are dirty and produce many toxic emissions that must be scrubbed from their effluent and the sequestered in some manner to keep it from contaminating the environment. Natural gas, the second most common of the fossil fuels used, is much cleaner but still produces some undesirable emissions. Hydroelectric, the cleanest high capacity source of power, had reached its limits unless capacity can be increased by improving generating technology at existing facilities. It is NOT a forgone conclusion that this can or will be done to any great extent. One can not depend or plan on regular advances in technology to increase output. Creating more hydropower capacity generally requires construction of more or larger plants and dams or would require damming more rivers which is environmentally undesirable. There are also issues with availability of water to drive the generating turbines. Draught and increased need for fresh water by agriculture and cities, especially in the far west, has already adversely affected the sources of water to many dams already in existence like Hover Dam in the southwest, and the many dams in the northwest especially along the Columbia River.

Nuclear energy is the only safe, dependable, large scale, clean, (no greenhouse gasses or other chemical pollutants) and readily deployable technology out there that can deliver the vast quantities of electrical power we need to sustain our Republic. France generates upwards of 70% of its electricity from nuclear power. It seems strange and indeed counter intuitive that America, the nation that was the pioneer in the development of this technology, should rely so little on it. Nuclear waste from these facilities, which is the single major issue with nuclear power, can be dealt with if we reprocessed nuclear fuel as the French have learned to do. Utilizing “Breeder Reactors” which create their own fuel with little waste or utilizing reprocessing technology like the French, we could solve most of the problems created such as the recycling of the vast quantities of spent nuclear fuel rods presently being stored in cooling ponds at the nuclear power facilities now operational and radioactive waste that would be created by the reprocessing operations in the future, which seem the only serious impediments to nuclear energy, will be greatly reduced in volume from what now exists. What technology we lack, we can acquire from commercial sources in Europe, especially the French, under license or we can develop here.

It is very conceivable that electric cars powered by electricity generated by relatively clean and plentiful nuclear energy make sense as a competing choice of fuel source to gasoline or other fossil fuels. If the increase in the use of nuclear technology doesn't turn you on, then CNG or “compressed natural gas” vehicles would be the next best thing. They can run with existing technology (internal combustion engines) modified to burn domestically acquired gas versus liquid fuels like gasoline or diesel made from imported oil. T. Boone Pickens, a well-known oilman and entrepreneur has advocated a plan much like this whereby the long and short haul truck fleet in the U.S. would be given grants or loans to convert their trucks over to burning CNG instead of diesel. The conversion of 6 million vehicles over to CNG would reduce imports by nearly half just by itself. The only issues that need addressing are CNG distribution and filling facilities for these vehicles. Fortunately, natural gas is available most everywhere in America. It isn’t a process that could occur overnight but it could be done within a decade.

For those locations where such service is not available due to logistical issues, natural gas, like propane gas, which is used for all manner of uses in more rural areas, can be delivered in a liquid form by truck and then put into tanks like propane and gasoline for future use. Another option for consumers who live in more urban and even suburban areas, home filling stations can be set up and even metered for public use in communal living areas like apartment complexes, thus making it easier to fuel your vehicle without having to find a commercial filling station like we do when using gasoline or diesel. Unlike gasoline, CNG vehicle can fuel anywhere there is a source of gas that can be compressed. They can even incorporate compressors in the vehicles to take gas at “line pressure” and compress it in the vehicle if the vehicle operator is not able to find a standard fueling outlet. That is the beauty of the technology: flexibility as well as being eco-friendly. One additional benefit seldom mentioned is the reduction in operating costs of vehicles powered by CNG or electricity. Trucks and cars powered with CNG burn cleaner thereby reducing the amount of contamination of the lubricating oil in the engines, reducing the wear and tear internally and reducing the need for frequent replacement of the lube oil. Engines would last longer and emissions would be greatly reduced. Operating costs would be reduced as well, further reducing costs to consumers who rely on trucks, which is every consumer in the country.

My reorganization plan is simple: Electrical generating plants utilizing natural gas could be decommissioned and their fuel reallocated to motor fuel purposes as new nuclear plants came on line. Coal fired plants could be decommissioned as well and their coal “gasified” or converted to liquid petroleum for diesel fuel, lubricants or for industrial material processing (petrochemicals and other materials made from oil like polymers). This would free us from foreign oil for the most part and make America far less vulnerable to supply interruptions, external threats to the logistical train that supplies the petroleum we import, and the extremes of pricing in the international energy marketplace. Money sent overseas to hostile or potentially hostile regimes and regions of the world would be drastically curtailed or even eliminated and used to invest in energy, industrial projects and development here in America. We could even become net exporters of energy for the first time in decades!

To sum it up, we need to convert the vast majority of our electrical production to nuclear and hydro-electric and utilize this energy for both transportation (electrified rail and electric vehicles for personal and fleet use) and to traditional industrial and residential uses. This would free up less polluting, more available and deployable domestically produced fossil fuels like natural gas as motor fuel while gasified/liquefied coal products can be used for other purposes. When other technologies like use of biomass, wind and solar become more advanced, thereby more economical and deployable, we can use them to fill the gaps in the power grid as its demands grow. Bio fuels may in time provide a competitive alternative to CNG/LNG / Electrical powered vehicles, but are at present vulnerable to inclimate weather and variations in agricultural output. There needs to be more development of the infrastructure to produce fuel from bio resources and development of the transportation infrastructure for biofuel product s to market as many can’t use the same facilities, equipment or pipelines as are currently in use for petroleum products.

Within a generation it may be possible that we could see the end of gasoline powered vehicles as the major source of personal transportation in America. If a plan like the one I have just outlined is implemented, they will slowly but surely disappear as they are replaced by vehicles powered from alternative energy sources. Like the “Stanley Steamer” of the early 1900’s, gasoline powered vehicles could be rendered museum pieces or collector items in a generation or two, and eventually become quaint curiosities like the horse and buggy within a century.

Only America has these many choices and the technical acumen and economic capability to make such a plan a viable reality within the next 10-15 years, but we must begin now to bring it about before circumstances force our hand.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

On a personal note......

Recently, I spent a few weeks on "medical leave" for a chronic physical condition that I have suffered with for several years.

I won't bore you with the details, but I had some "trial surgery" and I think that it went well... No complications or problems with anything. I am hoping the doctors see things my way and will agree to continue with this course of treatment and get a little more comfortable and do more in the next phase since this one seems to have gone well....

I would like to thank all those who have given me their support and good wishes. This has been somewhat of a trial for me and my family and we all are looking forward to the next step in the process. I hope that the doctors are as supportive and will agree with further treatments along the lines we have just completed.

I would like to also go on the record and say that the facilities and the staff of the University of Virginia Medical Center were first rate and very supportive of me throughout the entire process. Granted, the many trips back and forth between Virginia Beach and Charlottesville have been a trial, but it has been a pleasure to deal with the folks up there. I would especially like to thank Dr. Raymond Morgan and his staff for all their help and understanding. Their consummate professionalism and humanity were a great comfort to me. Also, I would be completely remiss if I failed to mention the nurses and even the young interns who came and went. They too were also excellent.

I can honestly say that I didn't have a single noticeable "negative experience", which is rare today.

To my co-workers and friends at ABNB Federal Credit Union who have been so understanding and supportive, I am forever in your debt as well. You have all carried more water for me than Gunga Din; tolerating my foibles, distractions and neurosis when my condition made them manifest. I know it hasn't been easy for you all and I know that I haven't always carried my own very prodigious weight at times. I promises that that will change as my situation improves and I am able to do more to contribute to our mission statement, to provide superior customer service to the entire staff and membership of ABNB Federal.

Once again, my humble thanks to you all.....

Benjamin F. Snowden, Jr.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Another Islamic insult to New York....

A committee in New York has given the 'green light' for a group of Muslims to build a mosque adjacent to the site of the 9/11 world Trade Center attack. The crux of it is that they have to right to do so, as distasteful as it may be.

Having the "right" to do something however doesn't mean that it is the right thing to do.

Technically, I have the right to spout off pro-Nazi propaganda in front of a synagogue during the high holy days, but it would be extremely insensitive and horribly divisive to do so. The Imam who is in charge of this evolution and his crew say that they hope to bridge the gulf between Muslims and non-Muslims by building a mosque at the site near 'ground zero'. This is an obvious lie when you look at the anger and resentment to this project.

No bridges of understanding are being built and none will be if this plan continues. It may even set back relations.

The Cordoba Institute folks could have built a mosque anywhere but chose this particular site.

Why?

They had to know that they would cause problems, and they have for many who lost friends and relatives. If you look at what this attack did to the nation and to the city of New York in particular and how people view the area where the attack occured, you can understand why people view this place with reverence akin to what one might feel looking upon war graves on a battlefield. This construction would be analogous to the Muslims building the Al Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Jews have suffered that insult for centuries. Christians have also been equally denigrated by conversion (read: violation) of their holy sites, too. The Saint Sofia Basilica, in Constantinople, the greatest church in the Eastern Empire was "converted" to a mosque in 1453 at the fall of the Byzantine Empire, then into a museum by a secular Turkey. This was a tremendous loss to all of Christendom, especially the Eastern Orthodox faith for many centuries.

Building at ground zero is just another Muslim insult to the non-Muslim world. It is a finger in the eye of the survivors and those who lost friends and loved ones. There is no other way to view it.

Perhaps political, and economic pressure can be brought to bear on the people who are making this happen. Perhaps the unions who control many aspects of construction, transportation and other "services" can make things difficult and therefore "persuade" the Muslims to build elsewhere.... anywhere but there. Or the Mayor and city agencies who grant building and use permits can be convinced via the political process to shut this project down.... Come on New York!! Get with the program and stand up for yourselves and let these people know that with 'rights' there are responsibilities, and one of these are to be a "good neighbor".

Muslims having a place to meet and to gloat about 'jihad', to have a place to pray for our destruction and the souls of those who are killing our young men and women as well as those who are allied with us in our struggle against these Islamic terrorists, and locating that place next door to what is essentially the largest 'war grave' in that War on Terror", is just plain wrong.

People of New York: Rise up and be heard!!!

Help them 'see the light', and demand that they who are advocating this project, shelve their plans forever, and behave as the sensitive, bridge building 'good neighbors' they claim to be.

Obama's "Katrina"...

Why is anyone surprised by the lack of leadership during this ecological catastrophe?

I'm certainly not. I fully expected this to happen when the oil rig burned and sank...

I fully expected the E.P.A. to thwart Gov. Jindal in his attempts to save his coastal waters by denying him the permission to build sand berms to protect sensitive coastal habitats from the oil slick on the grounds that the berms MIGHT cause harm to the areas that were the construction was to take place. The absurdity of the argument is self-evident in light of what we know from the aftermath of spills in places like Prince William Sound, Alaska. The Eco-socialist of the E.P.A. are incompetent, didactic and reflect their boss's attitude and management style.

Obama and the “Cabal” have been behind the power curve from day 1. They have been disconnected from everyone from the beginning and now it is almost criminal just how unresponsive “The Regime” is. They haven’t had a formal press conference in over 200 days and have failed to be accountable to anyone for their actions. When Obama does leave the West Wing, he only ventures into friendly territory or in front of sycophantic crowds. Now it seems that he lacks any semblance of macro-leadership and now even liberal Democrat apologists like James Carville are getting fed up with the ineptitude. The federal response could have been so much more proactive than it has been. Even the Governor of Louisiana is to the point of risking jail an the hands of the Obama E.P.A. in order to do what what needs to be done to prevent further oil hitting the shoreline by building sand berms in violation of federal directives. If the feds think things are bad now, just wait until the Gulf Stream gets a hold of that slick and it ends up moving out of the gulf, past Florida, on the the beaches of south Florida and the Keys, then up the Atlantic coast… Somebody needs to impeach this idiot for incompetence and step in to do something before the slick reaches the Jersey Shore….

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

The pot calling the kettle black.....

The pot calling the kettle black - OR - California’s governing entities and elites are hypocritical LOSERS

In the wake of the Arizona anti-illegal immigrant law, many cities, towns and individuals in my former home state of California have made great protest of said law citing the potential for racial profiling as well as other “humanitarian” concerns. In the customary and inflammatory rhetoric one expects from the leftists that seem to dominate there, Californians, from the political elite in all the major cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego, as well as media, sports and entertainment denizens have weighed in on just how terrible this new Arizona law is and how boycotts and protests should be carried out against Arizona and her business interests both in the state and without. No greater has been the noise coming from the Hispanic community, who seem to be engaged in completely balkanizing huge swaths of the American southwest, that support of their criminal (illegal) brethren who are sapping the very life and wealth of the areas they call home, all for the sake of selfish and do I dare say racial reasons.

What is most interesting is that Arizona is not the only state with a law that requires local and state law enforcement to ascertain immigration status. Nor has this been a new idea.

It seems that there is another bastion of racism for the liberals to rail against..... Another place where lawmakers in days gone by recognized the need of local and state law enforcement to do just that, enforce the law, because the Federal Government was failing to do so.

“That hideous, racist enclave!” you say.....

“Where is this fascist, racist place and who is in charge of it?” you ask?

Well, it’s the Golden State of California.

Arnold will be soooo proud.....

it seems that California Penal Code Section 834b reads very much in practice how Arizona’s new and much hated law reads. Take a look.....

California Penal Code Section 834b

(a) Every law enforcement agency in California shall fully
cooperate with the United States Immigration and Naturalization
Service regarding any person who is arrested if he or she is
suspected of being present in the United States in violation of
federal immigration laws.
(b) With respect to any such person who is arrested, and suspected
of being present in the United States in violation of federal
immigration laws, every law enforcement agency shall do the
following:
(1) Attempt to verify the legal status of such person as a citizen
of the United States, an alien lawfully admitted as a permanent
resident, an alien lawfully admitted for a temporary period of time
or as an alien who is present in the United States in violation of
immigration laws. The verification process may include, but shall not
be limited to, questioning the person regarding his or her date and
place of birth, and entry into the United States, and demanding
documentation to indicate his or her legal status.
(2) Notify the person of his or her apparent status as an alien
who is present in the United States in violation of federal
immigration laws and inform him or her that, apart from any criminal
justice proceedings, he or she must either obtain legal status or
leave the United States.
(3) Notify the Attorney General of California and the United
States Immigration and Naturalization Service of the apparent illegal
status and provide any additional information that may be requested
by any other public entity.
(c) Any legislative, administrative, or other action by a city,
county, or other legally authorized local governmental entity with
jurisdictional boundaries, or by a law enforcement agency, to prevent
or limit the cooperation required by subdivision (a) is expressly
prohibited.


So it seems that if Californians were to actually follow the laws on their books, and that is a BIG if, they would have the authority to do exactly what Arizona is actively doing to rid itself of illegal aliens or at least make a dent in the problem by making things decidedly uncomfortable for them especially if they run afoul of the local or state authorities.

So where is the protest over California’s statute? Why aren’t the denizens of La Raza running amok in the streets protesting? Because the people of California and indeed many other liberal enclaves have been cowed and browbeaten into inaction. They have been lead to believe they would be labeled racist if they went after the illegal aliens in this country. They have been told it would be inhuman or unconstitutional or some other ridiculous notion

It is just a matter of following the law, and California won’t.

Arizona will and that is what seems to piss-off the Marxist/Socialist/Liberal illegal alien lovers.....

I will be booking my next vacation to Arizona.... where they appreciate the law.


Thursday, March 4, 2010

We will soon loose access to the "High Ground"

I am a real "Space Junkie" from way back... I remember sitting in my grandmother's living room watching Neal Armstrong taking the first steps on the moon and her remarking that she had gone from a "horse and buggy to the moon" in her lifetime. Seeing the space program dying a bit at a time has been hard for me and now that we as a nation are essentially broke financially, it seems almost inevitable that we will loose our edge over the rest of the world in space technology. It sticks in my craw to rely on Russia to get our Astronauts into orbit and perhaps beyond. China is coming on strong and soon the E.U. and India will have viable manned programs on their own sooner rather than later. The "no bucks, no Buck Rogers" axiom seems to be our future. As hateful as it is, we may just have to wait for commercial companies, companies like Boeing, SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, and others, to step up and do what NASA and the political savants in Washington who decide operational imperatives and budgets could not do: create a viable, commercially sustainable and growing space presence that will not be subject to political whim and mismanagement that seems endemic in the NASA administration and in the halls of power in Washington. Perhaps, someday, we will have leadership worthy of our dreams and aspirations as we once did when we went to the moon inside of a decade. It is clear that there is none to be found in either NASA or in Washington now, nor does any appear to be on the horizon. How pathetic...

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.....

No great nation has shown themselves more pitiful than Russia....

Pravda, the “official” news organ of the old Soviet Union and the presently officious news organ of the new Russian Federation has been busy wielding their poison pens at a new target, Canada.

Not satisfied with letting the sports chips fall where they may and choosing to engage in their customary contrarian behavior, the Russians, via that press organ has been busy voicing a continual and demeaning diatribes against Canada and her Olympic efforts. They have questioned and commented on everything from the viability of Vancouver as a site for the games, to suggesting that the recent tragic death of Georgian luge rider Nodar Kumaritashvili was somehow Canada’s fault. They have even used the awarding of a gold medal for men’s figure skating to American, Evan Lysacek, instead of to their “golden boy” Yevgeny Plushenko, as fodder for criticism of Canada, even though the Canadians had no part in that decision.

I know that Canada and Canadians are perfectly able to stand and defend their own honor.

They don’t need me to do so here on their behalf.

They certainly have done so admirably enough for as long as they have existed as a nation and as a people. They have sent their sons and daughters to war in honorable defense of freedom and justice in two world wars. As an American of Canadian decent, I have a special feeling for the land and the people of the “great white north” who I call friend as well as family. When I read or hear someone pronounce scurrilous and unwarranted remarks toward those I feel some kinship to, I feel need to speak up.

Pravda’s recently assertions that Canada was in the “shadow of the United States”, and that by virtue of being our next door neighbor, that made Canada a “skinny weakling” of a nation. They also made the follow on remark that Canada was a mere “colonial outpost” to Great Britain. The sum total of these assertions was that neither the city of Vancouver nor Canada as a whole had any business hosting an event like the Olympics, something, incidentally, they have done twice before successfully. Strange that Russia questions it now since they attended the games in both Calgary and Montréal and have done well in both venues.

When did Canada or specifically Vancouver become such a terrible place to host an Olympiad?

This poisonous op-ed probably began to truly coalesce when the Russian found they were not doing as well as they hoped they would. The “medal count” was beginning to look decidedly lopsided toward North American teams and athletes. My guess is that this dissatisfaction needed a target. Canada, or specifically, the city of Vancouver and her Olympic organizing committee became that easy target. Knowing that the United States, quintessential target of all Russian/Soviet ire, would just laugh and inquire if the Russians would like some cheese with their whine, decided to stick it to Canada instead.

Let’s analyze:

Russia is the largest country on the planet with a land area approximately 7 million sq. km. larger, and a population 75% larger than Canada. But for all that vast size and population, it is Russia who has manifested the inferiority complex.

Canada, like Russia, is a polyglot nation. Both nations are made up of many peoples from all over their respective geographical areas. The difference is that Canada is made up of immigrants who voluntarily have made the choice to become Canadians and to become part of a free society based on the rule of law and on the traditions of fair play, economic and political freedom. Russia is a nation who’s history is covered in blood, and steeped in tragedy not only for her own indigenous Slavic peoples but of those who her rulers have conquered and subjugated over the last millennia. Rarely have Russians known a period of history where the political landscape was not controlled by despots or oligarchs or a period when the populace was not ravaged by war or in the throws of economic misery. I have yet to see lines of people at the Russian borders begging entry to their country, but I have seen lines at Canada’s ports of entry populated by those who wait patiently, and with hope for the future to enter and begin their new lives as Canadians.

As an American, I expect to be hated, envied, reviled and generally put down and upon by Russia and her ‘state controlled media’. For them, it is politic and sport. We have been rivals too long and both countries are too different politically or economically to get along and play nice with each other. There is too much history that they refuse to lay down and let go of to allow it. It is Russia who has a vast pool of talent to draw upon. When compared to Canada, the large athletic training infrastructure from the Soviet era could be utilized to increase their haul of Olympic medals. Blaming Canada for the lack of success (medals) is just wrong. It shows a lack of national pride and a lack of good sportsmanship.

It also shows a lack of class and graciousness, which elements most people in the know, see as hallmarks of the Canadian national character.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

What have they done right yet???



“HOPE...”

“CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN...”

We have been told so many lies.... Yes, LIES.

I remember the old axiom “there are lies, damn lies and then statistics...”

I know that all politicians play it fast and loose with the truth regardless of party affiliation, but the level of deceit in the last year has been nothing short of legion.
With the election and coronation of Barack Obama and the sitting of the most liberal congress since the Roosevelt Era, we are confronting something that I had never expected to ever see; a neo-communist government in power that shows absolutely no compunction in lying right to our faces and doing so with utter contempt and with utter impunity. I remember the likes of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reed standing up in their respective houses of congress in 2008 and excoriating President George Bush for his outrageous spending and for his war policies. Yet they have spent more money in 1 year than he did in 8 years, and both wars continue unabated.

When we look objectively at all the promises and all the pledges made during the Presidential campaign and all the new platitudes that have been uttered since, we realize how little has been actually accomplished and from that what we can expect in the future.

We were promised bipartisanship, transparency, and expedient action in correcting the economic crisis we presently find our nation.

On November 5th, 2009, Sen. Barbara Boxer, in a move in direct violation of established Senate rules, conducted a committee meeting and vote to send the Cap and Trade bill out of committee on a 10-1 vote with no Republicans present. By the rules, at least 2 Republicans had to be present for a meeting to be held and a vote taken, but that didn’t seem to matter to the Democrats.

Once again, we see what the Democrats call transparency and bipartisanship.

When Obama and Company attained office they promised a myriad of things:

1. Close Guantanamo terrorist detention camps
2. Fight “Global Warming”
3. Get us out of Iraq
4. Improve our position in Afghanistan
5. Allow homosexuals to serve in the military
6 Come up with comprehensive immigration reform
7. Reform the health care delivery system

So how has our vaunted Nobel Laurite President and his sycophant congress done so far in attaining their objectives?

1. Guantanamo is still open and doing business. The problem with closing it is where do you put the terrorists? Do you bring them here to our shores or do you cut them loose back in their homelands or into a third party country? He doesn’t know.... Congress doesn’t know.... The American people intuitively know that they can’t allow those maniacs onto our shores as the Obama Administration had been planning and allow them access to our court system and to give them the same protections enjoyed by our citizens. Unfortunately, there seems to be an impasse at this point and other more pressing issues to be dealt with so, onto the back burner this issue has gone.

2. First of all: “Global Warming “is trash science. No real comprehensive proof exists to prove that it is real or that the planet is indeed “warming” at all. In fact, average temperatures worldwide have been going down over the last few years. The reason: the solar activity index (the amount of active solar activity such as flairs and discharges from the surface of the sun, sun spots etc.) is lower so the planet is cooling. Unfortunately, Al Gore and his buddy Barack Obama didn’t seem to get the memo nor have with much of the Left. They have bought into the radical eco-movement and now we all face that hideous Cap and Trade legislation which is still awaiting a vote in the Senate.

*Note: Since the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, Al Gore has been “MIA”... He hasn’t made a single appearance or major policy statement. Could it be that the coldest winter in a decade has sent the “global warming crowd” to ground? Could be..

3. We are still in Iraq now 10 months after Obama entered office. We will be there at least a year more, until the Iraqi military and police forces have sufficient strength to stand on their own. This is roughly the same timetable the Bush administration had and that was lamented by Obama during his campaign. So much for “Change”....

4. According to former Vice President Richard Cheney, in March of 2008, then candidate Obama was briefed on the situation and strategy for future operations as recommended by the military in Afghanistan and asked the Bush administration to keep mum on the subject. The administration agreed to this as a favor to them but has since been accused of not having a strategy for comprehensive or effective actions in the beleaguered nation. Obama was sent a request by the theater commander requesting an additional 40,000 troops for service there, but that decision has been delayed months in the name of prudence.

I am reminded of a story of a similar force of American soldiers, caught in hostile territory, surrounded by enemies in a little known town in the French Ardennes Forrest, Bastogne.


The 101st Airborne Division was cut off and surrounded by the German army intent on cutting the Allied salient in France as it advanced from Normandy. The Germans were intent on reaching the port of Antwerp, hoping to cut the British and American forces in half and denying the allies the use of the only heavy port facility in the region. The German Ardennes operations didn’t count on the stubborn defense of the road junction in a little known but very strategic town of Bastogne by a lightly armed group of paratroopers and some engineers and light artillery.

The Germans attacked and surrounded the Americans and a pitched battle ensued. As the Germans drove for the coast they completely encircled the town demanding it’s surrender. The General in charge of the defense, Brig. General Anthony McAuliffe sent back the now famous reply: “NUTS!” to the German commander. The battle continued in earnest but the lines held.

General Eisenhower convened a meeting to consider how to relieve the siege of the small French town and its defenders. General George Patton, while attending this meeting, told the joint staff of American and British field commanders that he could stop his advance in the south, turn 90 degrees along his axis of advance and surge his 3rd Army north over 100 miles while still engaged in an active battle and relieve the town. This would require him to move the 4th Armored Division, under the command of General Creighton Abrams (for whom the M-1 Abrams tank is named) from its position, north to relieve the town. This entire effort took place the week before Christmas, 1944 in the worst weather seen in the region in decades.

Why do I recall this battle?

Why do I bring up a battle in a war two generations ago?

I remember this battle because our troops in Afghanistan are in a similar circumstance. Although the Afghans hardly rate the same as the German Wehrmacht, our troops still find themselves surrounded and at risk of attack by a hostile force intent on their destruction. The enemy are not above using suicide bombers and other such tactics of terror. General Stanley McChrystal finds himself and his force needing relief and support, but unlike his predecessor, General McAuliffe, he is getting no support or relief from his boss, Barack Hussein Obama. While the likes of Eisenhower, Bradley, and Patton moved heaven and Earth to relive a small French hamlet and its defenders in the dead of winter, surrounded by the enemy, Obama dithers and vacillates. The request for additional troops and support were made months ago, the White House is silent... unresponsive in fact.

What is taking so long?

What possible reason could there be to wait to sent additional troops to secure that country?

There is no reason. Either you have a plan, or some sort of strategy or you don’t. Either you trust your commanders in the field or you don’t. Either you are going to do what is needed to win or you aren’t.

Sixty-five years ago when faced with a similar situation, our military commanders chose to fight and to support those who were fighting. The civilian leadership; Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, gave all their full support to their theater commanders. They didn’t hesitate. They saw our forces in peril and using some personal initiative, skill, and no small amount of just plain old fashioned guts, persevered and succeeded.

Barack Obama and his staff of amateurs are proving just how low we have sunk. They are incapable of making a timely or coherent decision. What’s worse, they admit to not wanting to make a decision soon, because they don’t have a plan. They claim to be rethinking the strategy. That is an unacceptable position to take at this juncture. What has Obama been doing? Has he done nothing visa vie Afghan policy in all this time since attaining his high office? One can only suppose by the delays and deflections that the fate of our troops in Afghanistan don’t mean much to Obama or his minions. He is too busy nationalizing car companies and banks and too busy pushing state controlled health care and running up $1.45 Trillion dollar deficits.

5. Allowing homosexuals to serve openly in the military presents many problems; social, religious cultural and disciplinary that are real and serious. Unlike the integration of women and minorities into the greater fighting force, allowing gays to openly serve presents some unique challenges in that the military is predominantly heterosexual and male. The esprit de corps and élan of the military is unique and as such, can’t be viewed the same context as civilian society where one has some freedom to refuse association with that which is objectionable or abhorrent to an individual. The military experience requires an uncommon bond of trust and intimacy of contact between members that is also unique. For military members not to have to deal with the added dynamic of same sex relations in the barracks is both desirable and indeed, necessary if trust and unit cohesion is to be maintained. Fortunately, the administration has not broached the issue. The subject has yet to come up and God willing, it won’t again anytime soon.

6. Immigration reform is also a sore spot with the American people. Many of us who are born here and those of us who have intimate experience with the immigration system in this country recognize that reform is badly needed. The problem is that there is little political will to do what is needed to fix the problem for fear of offending minority groups here and abroad. The weakness of the political establishment on both sides of the aisle is shocking and disappointing. We can’t even build a fence to place a small impediment to those who cross our borders illegally. They refuse to actively pursue and deport illegal aliens. There is even talk of giving amnesty to those who are here illegally. This is giving the criminals a “get out of jail free” card in the game of life that is unacceptable and makes a mockery of the laws we have on the books that so many of us have jumped through. It is sickening and sad that the Administrations, both Republican and Democrat can’t seem to do what needs doing.

7. Health care is seen as a human right by some people. What those people forget is that true rights are given by God to man as a condition of his existence. Doctors treat illness. Medical schools, hospitals, drug companies and medical technology companies train, provide the infrastructure and products to the healer as well as the facilities that care for people. These actions and products are not created by as a consequence of “human rights” but as a commercial service between men and the rest of society. Obama and Company are seeking to change the entire equation by setting up the government as the arbiter of all medical service delivery and compensation in the nation. This “Change” is being facilitated by special interests via government fiat under threat of fines and imprisonment by that government. In spite of enormous objections to this policy, Obama and the liberal democrat congress have passed legislation out of the House of Representatives on November 7th of this year, which will place absolute government control over the most important services provided to any populace, control of life saving medical services. As the bill awaits its turn in the Senate, it seems obvious that most Americans reject the concept of government controlled healthcare, as witnessed by the huge rallies and town hall meetings in opposition. The liberal leadership seems so intent on ramming home this bill regardless of that opposition. We as a people can not allow government bureaucrats the ability to control health care delivery in this country. So far, opposition seems to have thwarted the bills, but it isn’t dead, just stalled. With the election of a Republican to Ted Kennedy’s Senatorial seat in Massachusetts, the Liberal Democrats have been stopped cold. They are now trying to regroup. It is no time to thump chests and declare victory.

We conservatives are in search of a party....

The Republicans have been out-gunned, outmaneuvered and self-destructive over the last 9 years. They abandoned principle in favor of “bipartisanship” when they had the advantage and now find themselves on the outside looking in. By abandoning conservativism in favor of neo-progressive bipartisanship, they became tools of Liberal Democrats. They became indistinguishable from the opposition and thus find themselves out of power and in gross minority status in both houses of congress. The vast majority of people in this country consider themselves more conservative than liberal (40% to 20% according to a recent Gallup poll). Republicans need to take heed of this and pay closer attention to the more conservative elements because they are the dominant force in this country. Conservatives also need to band together and help each other as well. Republican leaders still are not embracing the more grassroots movements that have come into being in the last year. The TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party movement has literally put millions into the streets of America, including over 1.5 million into the streets in Washington D.C. on 9/12/2009. They are a serious force to be reckoned with.

Perhaps, this time, the Republicans will get it together and do what they are supposed to do and truly listen to the nation.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Obama's pittiful attempt to "cut the budget"

Today, the Obama administration announced a freeze on government spending for non-defense related spending. DOD, Veterans affairs, Homeland Security and “certain foreign aid programs” would be exempted from the freeze as would most off budget items like Social Security, Medicare and most entitlement programs. This pitiful joke, Obama’s only recent attempt to even curb spending in any measurable way, will only reduce spending approximately $15 billion dollars next year when the Federal Government is projected to spend $1.3 to $1.4 TRILLION dollars more than is being raised in taxes. All this deficit spending will have to be borrowed from private equity markets and from overseas sources like China, Russia, Europe and elsewhere. This is assuming of course that they will buy the T-Bills and finance the debt....

Clearly, Obama and Company are not serious about cutting spending nor are they serious about deficit reduction if 90% of government spending is not subject to the freeze. The whole “freeze” will result in a savings of perhaps $150 billion over 10 years, a pittance when trillions are being spent. The scale of this savings is equivalent to a person saving $1.50 when you are spending $1500.00 more than you have available; a pitiful fraction of the total debt for next year. The fact that he and the Democrats who control the government think this is significant makes it all the more egregious. It also shows that Obama and the Liberal Democrats are not serious about any attempt to curb spending. If this is the best they could come up with, then they are a pathetic group indeed.

If the Democrats were truly serious, this action should have been done when Obama entered office last year. It should have included all programs and departments (except Defense) and every department in government should have been ordered to cut spending and some should have been done away with altogether, like the Department of Education.
Every agency in government should be ordered to justify it’s existence and if it is redundant or duplicated at the state level or within another federal agency, then it should be done away with. The entire federal government could be scaled back as much as 10% immediately and more as redundant and superfluous departments and agencies were shut down or scaled back.

Another way to reduce costs is to decentralize the geographical locations of federal agencies away from the D.C. metropolitan area which would reduce the costs to the government by relocating agencies and departments to areas that are less expensive to operate from. The state of the art in communications and computer technology make this more than possible. This would also have the added effect of increasing the quality of life of the staff and reducing commutes, reducing the living costs of staff and reducing the costs of operations for the agency by utilizing existing commercial space in other locations versus using that may actually cost more to operate from. As most federal agencies and departments are located within the 50 miles of Washington D.C., relocation would have the added benefit of reducing traffic and reducing the need to build additional roads and reduce stress on the transportation infrastructure, and would reduce overall energy consumption. Relocating all but the most senior department and agency heads from the D.C. are would also allow for lower payrolls as the costs of living in other areas are generally lower than what most staffers are experiencing while living in northern Virginia or southern Maryland.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

The latest outrage...Forcing You to buy T-Bills....

Today the Federal Imperium will raise the debt limit once again 1.9 TRILLION dollars.

That’s one thousand, nine hundred billion dollars.....

Has the Obama administration and the Pelosi/Reid Congress lost their collective minds?

Have any of you out there realized that every penny of this money must be borrowed, that the Treasury of the United States must go out and act like Dickens character Oliver Twist, hold out their alms bowl and ask the world “Please sir, may I have some more?”

How humiliating....

How pathetic...

How utterly irresponsible.

His Majesty Obama and the Imperial Congress have spent more money than any administration and congress, or set themselves up to exercise the ability to spend more money in less time than any group of individuals has ever done in the history of mankind.

There is an interesting question that needs to be asked and answered, however.

With our largest creditors like China, the Arab oil monarchies and Russia divesting themselves of holdings in dollars, the question begs, who is going to lend us the money?

Who is going to buy all those T-Bills?

Back in 1994, the Clinton Administration floated (leaked) a plan to force private pensions to give up their cash by forcing them to buy T-bills instead of private securities. They were going to, in effect, force them to buy government securities. Now it looks like that plan, which Clinton abandoned, may be on the table again.

With the world looking at U.S. Government debt instruments as so many junk bonds, rumors persist that Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid may be after your pension funds. They may be setting the stage to rape the cash from your 401K’s and your other private pension savings (IRA’s or other plans) and use the power of the Federal Government to force them to give them the cash for T-Bills.

How would you like that?

How would you like to be forced to buy federal debt that other world governments won’t buy because they don’t trust our government and its financial policies?

What excuse will they use?

They will use the excuse that they love and care about you and they want to they want you to have a “guaranteed stream” of income and that T-bills are a great investments and that they are going to “ensure” that you get a great return on your plans by requiring private plans to contain a percentage of T-bills into their private portfolios. The question is what the percentages will be and when it will happen. The word on the street is that the plan will happen prior to the 2010 midterm elections.

Why you may ask?

Because the Democrat leaders know that in November, 2010 the real possibility exists that they will loose so many seats in the congress that they will be unable to force such a measure through like they are attempting to do with the health care bills.

So... How is that “Hope” and “Change” looking for you now?




Thursday, January 14, 2010

Let slip the bought dogs of special privilege..

And the beat goes on......

President Obama and his buddies keep up the pretense of being reasoned and “fair”, yet they are anything but...

The latest outrage is the corrupt deal that has been hatched to exempt union healthcare benefits from the tax on so-called “Cadillac Healthcare Plans”. So, what are “Cadillac” plans? They are plans that have a particularly high level of coverage or coverage for things that are not traditionally covered by most plans. These plans may have high payouts for catastrophic illness or injury. They may have coverage for thing like hospice or long term care, or may have riders that cover some cosmetic and reconstructive surgeries that most plans don’t usually cover.

If an employer or an individual person buys one of these plans on their own, then President Obama and the Liberal Democrats, in their warped sense of egalitarianism, see this as a patently unfair act and thus worthy of taxation. So, if you as an employer, or you as a private individual decide to cover yourself or your employees with one of these plans; if you see fit to provide or purchase one of these plans for you or yours because you want to ensure that they have the highest, most comprehensive coverage possible as a perk of your employment(incentive) or as a way on ensuring your own maximum level of health and wellness, you are somehow exercising an injustice against society, that you are being unfair or greedy or evil.

That is unless you are a member of the protected classes: labor unions who have won these kinds of benefits through collective bargaining (extortion) with businesses who employ union members. Why do they get a pass? Why are they being given exemption from this most heinous tax? Shouldn’t people who attempt to cover themselves, their families, and those who cover their non-union workers be lauded for their attempts to provide the best coverage possible? Why is it that the Liberal Democrats want to punish those folks but are willing to exempt so-called trade unions?

That’s an easy one.....

The Liberal Democrats in Congress and the White House, lead by President Obama, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Harry Reid are paying back their union buddies for all the support they were given during the election and for what support they will get in the future. In other words, they are showing themselves to be the bought dogs of “special interests” above and beyond any level ever seen. As this is being written, the leaders of the autoworkers union, SEIU and the AFL/CIO are meeting with members of the White House and will be meeting with congressional leaders later to hammer out those ill-gotten exemptions. To those non-union members who voted for Obama and Co. and who have coverage by one of these policies, all I can say is: Oh, ye suckers!!

Then there is as onerous tax on medical equipment and prosthetics. Taxing a person for their wheelchair or for their CPAP machine or nebulizer is a truly heinous thing, yet the Liberal Democrats are including such a tax in the new healthcare reform plan.

So we have a plan that taxes granny’s wheelchair and oxygen tank, or Uncle Phil’s prosthetic arm, or my CPAP machine. So in short, we get to watch the allies of the Liberal Democratic Party get spoils and pay-offs for past and future support at the expense of the rest of the nation, and we get to see taxes on medical necessities. All of this is being done to you, the average hard working American. All this is being cobbled together, negotiated and formulated behind closed doors in the basement of the nation’s capitol, or in the back offices of the west wing without any input from anyone but the Liberal Democrats and their sycophants and fellow travelers. It was supposed to be a “transparent” process, a bipartisan process, all done before the CSPAN cameras so we, the People, could see it. This is what His Majesty Obama had promised many, many, times. So far, there has been nothing... not one hour’s worth of video showing the negotiations. There has ben no bipartisanship. Indeed, they ‘loyal opposition’ have been totally shut out of the process.

So much for his promises...

So much for Hope and Change.....