Psycmeister's Ice Palace!

Game. Over.

2012-02-02T19:51:00.003-06:00

So let me get this straight.. Translators of the CHRISTIAN Bible are now leaving out the terms "Father" and "Son of God" from new translations of the BIBLE because-- now get this... it is offensive to-- MUSLIMS.

'Father' and 'Son' Ousted from the Trinity in New Bible Translations
news.yahoo.com
A controversy is brewing over three reputable Christian organizations, which are based in North America, whose efforts have ousted the words "Father" and "Son" from new Bibles. Wycliffe Bible Translators, Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) and Frontiers are under fire for "producing Bibles that r..

Read, as they say, the whole sickening story.

Save The Eagles?

2012-01-23T22:19:00.002-06:00

Remember how it was oh so important to save eagles? It was so important that the mosquito killing chemical DDT was banned, and as a result, millions upon millions of human beings died from mosquito-borne illnesses. Nearly 30 years later, it would seem that eagles aren't that important after all:

A controversial wind farm proposed near Red Wing plans to ask for federal permission to legally kill eagles, making it one of the first in the nation to participate in a new federal strategy aimed at managing the often-lethal conflict between birds and turbine blades.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials say they urged the developers of AWA Goodhue Wind to seek the new permit because the deaths of an unknown number of eagles and endangered golden eagles will be inevitable once the 50-turbine project is up and running.

The process for such "incidental take" permits was devised in 2009 as a compromise between the demand for clean energy from the growing number of wind farms and the rising concern over the estimated hundreds of thousands of birds and bats that they kill every year.

So, is it wrong to kill eagles? From an enviro-whacko perspective, it depends on who does the killing.

You see, it's different when a lefty kills an eagle. Remember when DDT was banned because it was supposedly (never proven) making the egg shells of eagles too thin and brittle. As a result, literally 10s of MILLIONS of human beings died from mosquito borne illnesses-- supposedly to save eagles. But it's OK to kill a few eagles if it means that these monuments to stupidity and "green religion" are left intact.

Meanwhile, it was acceptable to kill tens of millions of human beings by banning DDT--to "save" eagles.

Ain't it grand how liberal illogic works?

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 1-18-2012

2012-01-18T21:37:00.001-06:00

Capt. Eddie S. Ray
57 years old from Seattle, Washington
Company B, 1st Light Armored Infantry Battalion, Task Force Shepherd, 1st Marine Division

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Captain Eddie S. Ray, United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism while serving as Commanding Officer, Company B, First Light Armored Infantry Battalion, Task Force Shepherd, FIRST Marine Division, in the Emirate of Kuwait on 25 February 1991. During the early morning hours of G+1 of Operation Desert Storm, an Iraqi mechanized division counter-attacked elements of the FIRST Marine Division in the vicinity west of the flame and smoke engulfed Burgan Oil Fields in Southeastern Kuwait. As dense black smoke shrouded the battlefield, an Iraqi mechanized brigade engaged the FIRST Marine Division Forward Command Post security forces. During the ensuing intense ten hour battle, Captain Ray repeatedly maneuvered his Light Armored Vehicle Company in harm's way, skillfully integrating his Light Armored Infantry weapons, reinforcing TOW's, and AH-1W Attack Helicopters to decisively defeat main Iraqi counter-attacks. Leading from the front and constantly exposed to large volumes of enemy fire, Captain Ray led swift, violent attacks directly into the face of the vastly larger enemy force. These attacks shocked the enemy, destroyed 50 enemy Armored Personnel Carriers, and resulted in the capture of over 250 Iraqi soldiers. Operating perilously close to the attacking enemy, Captain Ray's courage, composure under fire, and aggressive war fighting spirit were instrumental in the defeat of a major enemy effort and the successful defense of the Division Forward Command Post. By his outstanding display of decisive leadership, unlimited courage in the face of heavy enemy fire, and utmost devotion to duty, Captain Ray reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives just so others may get to enjoy freedom. For that I am proud to call them Hero.
Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look

This post is part of Wednesday Hero. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

My son and his toys...

2012-01-12T18:46:00.001-06:00

Actually, not his toy, but he pretty much built it for his friend...

A Dodge Ram 3500 with a Cummins Diesel does a burnout:

Regarding High Crimes and Misdemeanors...

2011-12-08T21:08:00.003-06:00

If this doesn't fit the bill, nothing does..

US Attorney General Eric Holder testifies before the House Judiciary Committee in Washington, DC, December 8, 2011. Holder faced a congressional hearing over a scandal which allowed US weapons to find their way into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. AFP PHOTO/Jim WATSON (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

Wisconsin Republican Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, a former chairman of the House Judiciary Committee where Attorney General Eric Holder testified on Thursday, suggested that impeachment of administration officials involved with Operation Fast and Furious may be the only way to bring the scandal to a close.

In a heated exchange between Sensenbrenner and Holder during Thursday’s Judiciary Committee hearing, Sensenbrenner said impeachment is one option on the table if Holder and the Justice Department continue to withhold information from congressional investigators.

Sensenbrenner didn’t specify which administration officials he thinks could face impeachment proceedings, or if Holder is among them. But he did say the drastic measure would be a last resort.

“There is really no responsibility within the Justice Department,” Sensenbrenner said. “The thing is, if we don’t get to the bottom of this — and that requires your assistance on that — there is only alternative that Congress has and it is called impeachment,

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/12/08/sensenbrenner-floats-impeachment-of-obama-admin-officials-as-fast-and-furious-response/#ixzz1g0GTzsQk

Folks-- This IS an IMPEACHABLE offense-- and that's not hyperbole. The Obama justice department, via Fast & Furious, has become complicit with and a party to out-and-out MURDER, with hundreds of innocent people, including one brave U.S. border control agent, dead as a result of this program--all designed to make it easier for the Obama administration to impinge on 2nd amendment rights. This is nothing less than unconscionable; a criminal act worthy of the rank of "High Crimes and Misdemeanors." Holder must resign. Obama must resign or be impeached.

A Positive Message in Hip-Hop

2011-11-27T10:52:00.000-06:00

Too often, "hip hop" songs emphasize predatory sex and glorify street gangs and crime.. but this is a hip hop song with a different message.. as strong a pro-life message as I have ever seen, reportedly based on the true story of the artist:

Like everything else in this world, music can be utilized as a force for evil, or for good. The positive message embraced by this song and video gives me great hope that the pro-life message will reach those who are most drastically in need of it. A whole generation of great minds and awesome potential is far too often being flushed down a sink or placed in a garbage dumpster.

The Lynching Continues-Racism in the Media

2011-11-13T11:20:00.001-06:00

Herman Cain was featured on a Holly Bailey hit piece the other day about the video in which Cain pokes fun regarding Anita Hill.

Herman Cain is defending himself from sexual harassment allegations, but that didn’t stop him from joking about Anita Hill, the college professor who made similar allegations against Clarence Thomas during his Supreme Court nomination hearings 20 years ago.

A Fox News camera captured Cain laughing about Hill during a campaign stop in Kalamazoo, Mich., Thursday, when a supporter brought up the professor’s name.

“You hear the latest news today? Anita Hill is going to come …” a man told Cain, the conclusion of his statement muffled by the crowd.

“Is she going to endorse me?” Cain joked, as he and the crowd laughed heartily.

Of course,

Cain insisted Friday he wasn’t trying to insult Hill.

“We walked into this room and … one of my supporters said, ‘Anita Hill was trying to contact you’ and my response was, ‘Is she going to endorse me?’” Cain told New York Post columnist Fred Dicker, per Politico. ”He said it in a humorous way. I gave a humorous response.”

Even if Cain was trying to insult Anita Hill, the whole Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas thing was a joke to begin with-the first of many attempts to lynch powerful black people who dared strayed away from the white limousine liberal massas‘ plantation. Again… unproven allegations meant to lynch another –gasp!– conservative–gasp gasp– BLACK MAN. Yep.. no underlying racism, there…

But why am I particularly calling out Bailey’s piece as yet another media lynching of Cain?

Look at the accompanying picture they decided to post to go along with the story:

Will you take a look at that.. Herman Cain (with his wide-brimmed fedora) posing with two women, who just happen to be attractive..maybe even a little ghetto… My but if that doesn’t fit the stereotype of a black pimp, eh? No agenda on the part of photographers there, I mean, given that he probably posed for pictures with countless others that day. No direct linkage of the photo with the story. No thought as to the possibility that they could have posted a solo picture of Cain. But again-no agenda there on the part of Holly Bailey or Yahoo News– nothing to see here–move along, now.

White Limousine Liberal massas and their charges in the media have often utilized racist, stereotypical images as a means of attaching an un-written narrative of dullard, Uncle-Tom-ish or downright gangsta personae to their other-than-white objects of conservative disdain.

Lest we forget…

or…

or..

Or this one of former RNC Chair Michael Steele

Or the ubiquitous…

There is one thing of which I am now more convinced than ever– liberals are absolute masters at projection, and these examples literally scream proof of that assertion. Whenever disagreement with their ideas rears its ugly head, one can be sure that liberals will reflexively spit out a veritable machine-gun patter of epithets, which will inevitably contain the word, “RACIST;” at which point one can be assured that they are not, in fact, looking out a window, but rather in a mirror.

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 11-2-2011

2011-11-02T21:50:00.000-05:00

This Weeks Post Was Suggested By Beth & Cindy

1st Lt. Ashley White, Sgt. First Class Kristoffer B. Domeij & Pfc. Christopher Horns
October 22, 2011

On Saturday, October 22, 2011, three United States Soldiers were killed in Kandahar, Afghanistan. They were 1st Lt. Ashley White, 24, 230th Brigade Support Battalion, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, North Carolina National Guard; Sgt. First Class Kristoffer B. Domeij, 29; and Pfc. Christopher Horns, 20, both with 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives just so others may get to enjoy freedom. For that I am proud to call them Hero.
Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Big Fat Mike...

2011-10-31T22:03:00.003-05:00

It looks like the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade float..err.. I mean Michael Moore had his clock cleaned today.

Seems like the "champion of the little guy" -- one of the-err..99-percenters had a bit of trouble when pressed about his $50 million dollars he was sitting on:

What I was wondering, what the hell were those #OWS protesters feeding him? I mean, a guy like that's gotta eat...

And then I came up with this...

To the tune of "Big John" by Jimmy Dean:

It all started one morning on the fifth of June.
the night that there was a big blue moon..
from that day on twasn't a donut that was safe
from the mouth of a great big oversized waif named Mike..
Big Mike, Big Miiiike..Michael Moore..

Well, the donut shop was a big hangout but he
ate all the donuts and he let out a shout-
he said "Where's more donuts?!" and the blow of his hand
sent another poor baker to the promised land, Big Mike...

Big Mike.. Big Miiiiike..Michael Moore!

Well all the donuts were gone-he grazed out of his range,
so he went to McDonald's to watch the numbers change-
after 3 million burgers he let out a sigh-
"With a meal like that I can go for some pie"

Big Mike. Big Mike--Big Miiiike- Michael Moore..

Well all the food was gone, there wasn't a lead-
everything was gone from fruit to seed,
so the townspeople said, "Everyone take heed-
let's blow this town, cause there's nothin left to feed Mike!"

Twas a voracious appetite that led Mike on,
to eatin' everything from buildings to lawn,
and he ate and he ate til there wasn't nothing left,
but this nine-story building at 5th & Calumet-Big Mike.

(Big Mike..Big Miiiike- Michael Moore).

Well, he started on the cornerstone and ate his way indoors-
he gobbled everything from the sinks to the floors-
but when he got to the trusses, the building collapsed--
and everybody knew they finally seen the last of Big Mike..

(Big Mike..Big Miiiike- Michael Moore)..

Well there's not much left of that town today-
all the townspeople just moved away..
not much of that building, 'cept a sign quite big- sayin'
"AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS BUILDING LIES A BIG FAT PIG--BIG MIKE"

(Big Mike--Big Miiiiike- Michael Moore)

SEIU #FAIL in St. Cloud

2011-10-24T23:13:00.009-05:00

It was not a good night to be an SEIU union thug.

I attended a legislative hearing hosted by the Minnesota House Health and Human Services committee held tonight at the Stearns County building. The hearing, chaired by Steve Gottwalt, was to hear different views of the debate as to whether to allow unionization of independent daycare providers. The meeting was also attended by Republican House representatives King Banaian, Mary Kiffmeyer, Mary Franson, Joe McDonald, and Bob Barrett, as well as by Democratic legislators Larry Hosch, Patti Fritz, Diane Loeffler, and Erin Murphy. When I arrived at the meeting, there was a rally/press conference/photo op hosted by purple-shirted SEIU members, who were giving their spiel to local reporters without any return questions. There were a cadre of purple shirts there, including children of union organizers/members carrying signs saying "Do it for the children" (I kid you not!). They had their obligatory oversized, professionally-created placards of pictures of families. It was then that I asked them this question.. and it went something like this:
Notice how the SEIU thug at first tries to poo-poo the fact that non-union daycare providers will still have to shell out fair share costs to the union ("Fair Share" in the State of Minnesota is 80 percent of union dues-still a hefty price in anyone's book); but after being pressed on the issue, explains away the higher cost of daycare via unionization by saying that "the increased subsidies" as a result of unionization will "more than offset the (increased) cost.

In other words, the SEIU leadership acknowledges that they will attempt to shift the cost of union membership of daycare providers to taxpayers (yes, that means you and I). After stating what he said, they hastily ended their press conference and headed into the hearing room, which had over 100 people. The hearing was divided into three sections; one section allowing meeting attendees in favor of the proposal to speak, one section allowing those against the proposal to speak, and finally, the last portion in which the legislators were allowed to share their views, as well as to ask questions of those who spoke earlier.

A total of 8 speakers rose in favor of unionization of daycare providers, five of them were wearing purple SEIU shirts, and one of them spoke twice. Two of the speakers identified themselves only as daycare providers, although they did not disclose that they were also highly paid SEIU organizers (a fact that was later brought out by Representative Mary Franson). All spoke of the virtues of daycare as a profession, but not one of them gave a cogent argument as to how unionization would help the daycare providers do their jobs, or help the children in their care-- a complete disconnect. They also berated the existing professional daycare organizations as doing nothing to advance their cause.

When it came time for those against unionization to speak, no less than 16 speakers rose (including myself). Two of those speakers were from professional daycare organizations (not unions)-- both of those self-identified as such before they spoke, and both stated that polls of their membership indicated that very few, if any of their ranks were in favor of unionizing. No less than three of those testifying stated that they were pressured into and/or mislead into signing union cards under the guise that "it was only for further information" only to be blocked out of those "informational" (actually organizational) meetings because they would not commit to the union cause. "Heavy handed" doesn't even begin to describe it. One childcare provider testified that she was visiting her husband in the hospital and that her mother was helping with the daycare. The union organizer came to the door and had the provider's MOTHER sign the card, saying it was just "to get more information." Most there who did sign cards complained there was no informed consent, that they were asked to sign the cards just "to get more information"-- it was not explained to them that the cards were in fact a consent to unionize. The providers wanted their cards back, but under current Minnesota labor law, those signatures are irrevocable.

In other words, it was a campaign of fraud by the union.

Most all of the anti-union providers stated that they are independent business people, who decided to run their private daycares as independent business people, so they could be their own boss. They didn't want unions coming in and telling them how to run their business.

It was quite clear (as I later testified) that the unions were not interested in helping daycare workers improve their lot in life or their business; they were not there to help children; they were there only as a means, as one person put it, "to fatten their ranks and raise more money." And they pulled out all the stops (including using children as props) to make it seem all warm and fuzzy.

Yeah. The SEIU is all warm and fuzzy, alright. So warm and fuzzy that they knocked on daycare providers doors, pressuring them and/or downright misleading them into signing union cards that CANNOT be revoked.

When it came time for the legislators to finally chime in, the DFL legislators present (as well as the SEIU membership) appeared to be very uncomfortable, trying not to step on the toes of their Union benefactors, with Republicans leading the charge in terms of calling for investigations into how union card signatures were obtained. Add that to the mountain of substantive testimony given by independent daycare providers vs. the nonsubstantive testimony given by their pro-union counterparts, it was quite apparent that the SEIU membership was mopped across the floor, brought through the wringer, and hung out to dry.

180

2011-10-20T20:15:00.000-05:00

This is undoubtedly the best set of pro-life arguments ever laid out in one missive; many of them mirror my own that I’ve made over the years. This video, although long (33 minutes) is well worth the view:

"Arab Spring?" Or Jihadi Stench?

2011-10-20T12:36:00.002-05:00

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, freeze dried, or doing hard time for the past few hours, you know that Colonel ~~Khaddafy~~ ~~Qaddafffy~~ ~~Kadafy~~ ~~Gaddhaffi~~ err…the guy in Libya who perpetually dressed like the bellhop at the Ritz has assumed room temperature. The lamestream media are in the middle of falling all over themselves as if Barack Obama himself pulled the trigger. Aside from that, it is these two paragraphs in the story that leaves me more than a bit wary (emphases mine):

“It is a historic moment. It is the end of tyranny and dictatorship. Gaddafi has met his fate,” Abdel Hafez Ghoga, a spokesman for the National Transitional Council (NTC), said. Celebratory gunfire and cries of “Allah-o-Akbar” rang out [does that phrase sound familiar to you?--ed] across Tripoli as the news of Gaddafi’s death spread.

Gun-totting rebel fighters went around the streets firing into the sky. Cars out on the roads honked horns and people hugged and kissed each other and sang national anthem. Gaddafi’s body was taken to a mosque in Misrata, a report said quoting an NTC official.

So what’s next?

It is (or should be) a well-known axiom by now that the road to hell is paved with the ‘good intentions’ of liberals, who excel at pie-in-the-sky thinking but have no cognitive connection nor grounding as to how the real world works. Thus it is with the Obama administration, whose incoherent, unworkable domestic and foreign policies have been proverbial Forrest Gump boxes of chocolates.

The so-called, so-touted, Barack Hussein Obama-approved and supported “Arab Spring” has turned a relatively stabilized Arab world with whom the West could at least dialogue into contumacious, anarchical, “Lord of the Flies” hell holes, in which Sharia-loving, Jihadi-friendly Islamists could not only get a foothold in terms of power, but in the process get their flea-bitten fingers on some pretty sophisticated military technology, including biological weaponry.

At least former Egyptian president Mubarek had the sensibility to turn down the offer of nukes from a rogue state..could anyone be certain that the current regime (if one could call it that) would do the same? Now in Egypt, instead of a regime that was relatively tolerant of other faiths, relatively stable, and on co-existing terms with Israel, we now have an Islamo-fascist mob mentality that persecutes and murders Christians, and whose relationship with Israel is on what seems to be an irretrievably downward spiral. Gaddafi, though a despot, via the school of hard knocks knew his place, and therefore knew not to push the envelope past the point where unmanageable retaliation would have taken place.

In Iraq, great care was taken by President George W. Bush to attempt to ensure that what replaced Saddam Hussein was a western-friendly government that would be an Arabic counter-balance to Iran, Syria and other un-friendly forces in the region; and, to a great extent, that was accomplished (Afghanistan is a different story, but for different reasons). But to encourage and foment revolution in already western-tolerant Arab countries and hoping that the pieces fall in your favor is not a foreign policy.

It is, in fact, a suicide pact.

Soulmates?

2011-10-16T13:59:00.002-05:00

The #Occupy (insert name here) crowd have enmassed quite a few fellow travelers to their cause. But perhaps, though not surprisingly the most noteworthy group to join their cause has been none other than the American Nazi Party:

What is really MISSING – is the “MOVEMENT” from these popular protests – its time to pull WN heads out of their collective ass’s, and JOIN IN the attack on Judeo-Capitalism. What do you suggest? That WN Working Class White people DEFEND the Judeo-Capitalists? IF the “movement” wasn’t so PATHETIC it would be OUT THERE – LEADING these protests! The fact that its these “lefties” as you call them, who are picking up the ball and running with it – only shows how much more in tune THEY are with the fed up masses of White Workers, than the fossilized, reactionary “right-wing”. WHO holds the WEALTH and POWER in this country – the JUDEO-CAPITALISTS. WHO is therefore the #1 ENEMY who makes all this filth happen – the JUDEO-CAPITALISTS. WHO therefore do WN need to FIGHT? My heart is right there with these people, perhaps someday the “movement” will SHOW the same COURAGE and DEDICATION that these people OUT THERE FIGHTING are SHOWING!
Sincerely, ROCKY SUHAYDA Hail Victory! 88! www.ANP14.com

While anything having to do with even the word "Nazis" has inherent shock value (including the the fact that there even continue to be hate groups such as this), what isn't necessarily surprising is that they are in solidarity with the #Occupy movement.

Now before you go all Godwin on me in this case (actually, you can't-- it is the Nazis' chosen solidarity with the #Occupy movement that makes the movement itself de facto Reducto ad Hitlerum), let me state my case.

First of all, the #Occupy demands (official or not) are incompatible with a free society. #OWS protesters do NOT want a free society. They do not want capitalism. I'm going to come right out and say it: they in fact, want communism. Communism, as history has shown time and time again, has invariably led to lives of misery and untold oppression, not to mention the murder of literally tens of millions of people.

Second, despite what they may tell you, #OWS protestors are not just a bunch of peaceful, warm & fuzzy (albeit pungent) hippies. As there is no way their demands can be met within the legislative process, other than by throwing away the United States Constitution, in order for their utopian society to be realized, an overthrow of the Constitution must be undertaken, and with it, an unavoidably violent revolution. They (at least the politically astute among them) know this. Karl Marx knew this. Lenin knew this. Mao Tse Tung knew this. Castro knew this. Adolph Hitler knew this. And the American Nazi Party knows this.

Third, there is a viral antisemitic theme threading throughout the global and domestic #Occupy movement. There must always be a scapegoat around which one can rally their useful idiots. The #Occupy folks have rallied their troops around minority Jewish bankers...capitalists..that happen to be rich. A veritable trifecta of a target!

And lastly, it should be noted that many democrats of note, including our President, have also sided with the #Occupy crowd.

Envy, oppression, violence, murder, misery.

When it comes down to it, my friends, communists, Nazis, and the Occupy Wall Street crowd are nothing more than different feathers on the same bird.

The Higher Education Bubble..

2011-10-12T19:47:00.003-05:00

There are two sectors of our economy in which costs are out of proportion to inflation and spiraling out of control: Those being, health care and education. Not surprisingly, it is those two sectors that are also the most insulated and far removed from free market forces:

From: The Best Colleges

The Beach Head Has Been Established...

2011-10-06T22:57:00.002-05:00

Many would like to portray the supposed #OccupyWallStreet movement as a spontaneous, grass roots effort.

Nothing can be further from the truth:

Billionaire financier George Soros’ fingerprints, for example, have been all over the anti-Wall Street campaign from the very beginning. And this week, the infamous hedge-fund boss publicly announced his sympathy for the protesters and their complaints about bailouts — despite the fact that he lobbied for even greater unconstitutional handouts to bankers in 2009.
“Actually I can understand their sentiment, frankly,” he told reporters while announcing a large donation to the United Nations. “I can sympathize with their grievances.”

But Soros’ support for the protesters goes far beyond his tepid public statements. In fact, the original call to “Occupy Wall Street” came from the magazine AdBusters, an “anti-consumerist” publication financed by, among other sources, the Soros-funded Tides Foundation.

And today, I received this email from Chris Browers of the Daily Kos:

Occupy Wall Street is spreading like wildfire. There are now supportive groups for the protests in over 250 communities in the United States and Canada.

Almost wherever you live, there is an Occupy Wall Street group near you. Many of these groups have already started their own local protests, while the others are planning upcoming events.

Daily Kos is joining with SEIU, the Service Employees International Union, to help grow this new movement of the 99%. We need to let the 1% know that we will no longer be silent in the face of the economic pain they continue to inflict on everyone else.

Please, pledge to join an Occupy Wall Street group near you. After you sign, you will be redirected to a comprehensive list of local groups.

Solidarity is beautiful,
Chris Bowers
Campaign Director, Daily Kos

Make no mistake about it, folks. The far left Soros sock puppets, under the direction of George Soros himself, have established a beach head. What was once ostensibly a grass roots effort are now the marshaled forces of Soros, SEIU, and other fellow travellers.

Much has been said by the usual suspects on the left of this country that #OccupyWallStreet people are just the leftward version of the TEA Party. But when did you ever see a TEA party demonstration in which its members provoked violent confrontations with law enforcement as a means of creating a propaganda opportunity?

And make no mistake--they mean to do violence. In fact, the violence is already occurring.

Note that President Obama has already signaled his not-so-tacit approval.

The ultra far whacko left of this country is making their stand, and have made their intentions known that they will resort to violence and outright revolution in order to meet their nefarious ends.

We are in a fight; a fight for the very heart and soul of America that could very well turn into the next civil war.

Be on watch, my friends. Be on watch.

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 10-5-2011

2011-10-05T21:42:00.000-05:00

This Weeks Post Was Suggested By Steve

F/O Leland H. Pennington
24 years old from Alma Place, New York
332nd Fighter Group
1921 - April 21, 1945

Sadly, little is know about Flight Officer Leland Pennington's military career. He joined the Military sometime in 1941 or 1942. He became one of the famed Tuskegee Airmen. Then in 1945, after a bombing run on the Attnang-Puchheim marshalling yard in Austria, F/O Pennington was lost after completing a successful escort mission.

You can read more about F/O Pennington here and here

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives just so others may get to enjoy freedom. For that I am proud to call them Hero.
Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

They're Really On A Roll, Now...

2011-09-27T21:07:00.001-05:00

One Dem: "We need less democracy" ; another: "Suspend elections!"

Sieg heil?

GAFFES MEAN THINGS* (*unless you're a democrat.)

2011-09-26T20:50:00.004-05:00

Michele Bachmann today was reported as praising American achievements, such as the Intercontinental Railroad.

Of course, last time anyone checked in American history, there has never been, nor is there ever likely to be, an inter-continental railroad.

Unless they decide to build a trestle between New York City and London, England.

Of course, the media is likely to have a veritable field day with this latest Bachmann gaffe, and use it once again to showcase how utterly uncouth and ill-informed she is.

No wait. My bad. It wasn't Bachmann who said that.

It was Barack Hussein Obama (hmm-hmm-hmm-pbuh).

Never mind.

Move along.

Nothing to see here.

Separated At Birth? Part V

2011-09-26T20:14:00.005-05:00

1. New & Improved Hugo Chavez, and Dr. Evil:

2. Burger King plastic guy..and Mitt Romney:

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 9-14-2011

2011-09-14T19:51:00.001-05:00

This Weeks Post Was Suggested By Michael

Maj. Albert Brown
105 years old from Pinckneyville, Illinois
Oct. 26, 1905 - Aug. 14, 2011

At 105 years old, Albert Brown was the oldest living living survivor of the Bataan Death March.

In April of 1942, then Capt. Brown and 70,000+ American and Filipinos were marched 66 miles to POW camps on the Bataan peninsula in the Philippines with little food or water. Many were beaten and killed along the way and left where they fell. “One 18-year-old I knew, he fell down,” Mr. Brown said. “A guard came along and put a gun to his head, pulled the trigger and walked away.”

Capt. Brown spent 3 years as a POW where he was beaten; thrown down stairs, seriously injuring his back; and struck in the neck by a rifle butt, causing a fracture. When he was finally freed he weighed just 90 pounds. “We were listed in groups of 10. If one escaped out of the 10, they eliminated the rest of them, killed them. So, at night, just before roll call, you tried to find out if your 10 were still there.”

You can read more about Maj. Albert Brown here

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives just so others may get to enjoy freedom. For that I am proud to call them Hero.
Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

New Motivational Poster...

2011-08-11T17:26:00.001-05:00

Media Event..

2011-08-07T18:59:00.003-05:00

I'll be joining the Round Table tonight from 10p-midnight CDT on Jack Tomczak's Late Debate on 95.9 in the Cities, or AM 1130 in the St. Cloud area. Streamed live here.

Blame it on Democracy...

2011-08-06T11:08:00.002-05:00

It's a damned good thing that this avowed socialist has a democratic republic to deal with, otherwise we may all be in gulags. He's blaming "democracy" for his failures:

Birds of a Feather...

2011-08-04T23:39:00.007-05:00

On each person's Twitter home page, there is a section of folks who, by virtue of tweets, interests, personality, etc., are most like that person. For instance, found on Speaker John Boehner's twitter page:

And on Senate Minority Leader Eric Cantor's Twitter Page:

On Congresswoman (and Presidential Candidate) Michele Bachmann's Twitter page:

And finally, On President Barack Hussein Obama's Twitter page:

Winning?

BREAKING: Dayton Conditionally Accepts June 30 GOP Offer To End Shutdown

2011-07-14T11:00:00.002-05:00

Moments ago, Just received a tweet from @KTLK-FM stating that Governor Mark Dayton has sent a letter to Amy Koch And Kurt Zellers stating that, with some conditions, he is willing to accept the offer made by the Minnesota GOP that was designed to avert a state shutdown.

I spoke with Representative Steve Gottwalt a moment ago, and he indeed confirmed that the letter was sent; but was sent with "some conditions;" so that a full agreement was not yet set in stone. Gottwalt said, "We're happy that Governor Dayton appears to have accepted our proposal... but the question to be asked is, "Why did it take so long? Why did the Governor want to put Minnesotans through such unnecessary pain?"

***UPDATE***

A copy of Dayton's letter to Koch and Zellers can be found here.

Now He's Messing With Our Beer..

2011-07-13T18:31:00.003-05:00

When Mark Dayton clearly intended to inflict maximum pain to Minnesotans with regard to his decision to shut down the government, he pulled a lot of she-nanigans in his effort toward his nonsensical quixotic quest to tax the bejeebers our of job creators. But now he's reached a new low:

The state shutdown means Miller-Coors will have to stop selling beer in Minnesota.

State officials have told the company it must come up with a plan to remove its 39 brands of beer from shelves, and bars in a matter of days.

The company failed to renew its brand license with the state before the shutdown. Each alcohol brand needs to pay a $30 brand license fee, which is good for three years.

Without the license Miller-Coors cannot sell beer in the state.

You mean to tell me that "Deer-In-The-Headlights" Dayton can't get along without a housekeeper and a gardener, but is OK with letting millions of dollars of tax revenue slip through Minnesota's fingers in the midst of the time in which Dayton and his DFL crybabys are complaining that we don't have enough money???

Paging Alice- how the hell do I get back through the looking glass?

Yes, He Is, In Fact, A Terrorist

2011-07-13T18:25:00.002-05:00

What this amounts to is not only a blatant LIE-- (there is more than enough $ coming in via monthly revenues to service the current debt, and SS is not considered a part of nat'l debt); What this amounts to is not only cheap political posturing; what this amounts to is nothing less than psychological terrorism. Obama's not only threatening seniors with Armageddon;he's also threatening disabled veterans, as well:
–noun

1.thers.

Obama says he cannot guarantee Social Security checks will go out on August 3 - Political Hotsheet -
www.cbsnews.com
In CBS News interview, President Obama says Social Security checks may not go out Aug. 3 if no deficit deal is struck Read more by Corbett B. Daly on CBS News' Political Hotsheet.

Bill s.978

2011-07-01T02:32:00.006-05:00

Klyka here. I don't really post on this blog, if at all, however I do have something that I do think you all should know about a bill that is currently in the Senate right now. Namely Bill s.978: To amend the criminal penalty provision for criminal infringement of a copyright, and for other purposes.

Now what does this bill mean? Lets look a little closer at whats inside.

SECTION 1. CRIMINAL INFRINGEMENT OF A COPYRIGHT.
(a) Amendments to Section 2319 of Title 18- Section 2319 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (b)--
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively; and
(B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
‘(2) shall be imprisoned not more than 5 years, fined in the amount set forth in this title, or both, if--
‘(A) the offense consists of 10 or more public performances by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of 1 or more copyrighted works; and
‘(B)(i) the total retail value of the performances, or the total economic value of such public performances to the infringer or to the copyright owner, would exceed $2,500; or
‘(ii) the total fair market value of licenses to offer performances of those works would exceed $5,000;’; and
(2) in subsection (f), by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following:
‘(2) the terms ‘reproduction’, ‘distribution’, and ‘public performance’ refer to the exclusive rights of a copyright owner under clauses (1), (3), (4), and (6), respectively of section 106 (relating to exclusive rights in copyrighted works), as limited by sections 107 through 122, of title 17;’.
(b) Amendment to Section 506 of Title 17- Section 506(a) of title 17, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)(C), by inserting ‘or public performance’ after ‘distribution’ the first place it appears; and
(2) in paragraph (3)--
(A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘or public performance’ after ‘unauthorized distribution’; and
(B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘or public performance’ after ‘distribution’.

Under this bill, streaming any copy-written media will be considered a felony. It does matter if you put a song in a Youtube video, threw an old movie on Livestream, or even just streamed yourself playing some video games. Under this bill you would be considered a Felon and would be treated as such.

Beyond this Video Game Streams can be big business. I know people who make a living making Machinima, Lets Plays, and many other things. Their business' cannot survive this bill.

Now I honestly don't want to get into a talk about copyrights and piracy (maybe some other time?) . But I do believe this bill does not represent anything along the lines of fair justice. I encourage you all to write, call, or even visit your congressmen/woman to talk about this bill.

Don't live in The United States of America? This bill still affects you. The United States of America has a controlling interest in the internet and thus policy. I encourage you to send this bill around to everyone you know. Make sure they all know about it and what harm it can do.

This is Klyka, signing out.

EDIT: It seems the guys over at Demand Progress, who are much more eloquent than I have even made something that will even expidite the process of sending a letter about your feelings to this bill. Go on and check them out.

So..since when did Hitler rise from the grave to run an airline?

2011-06-22T20:53:00.003-05:00

If you ever needed a reason to not fly Delta Airlines, this is it:

Delta Air Lines' plan to add Saudi Arabian Airlines to its SkyTeam Alliance of partnering companies would require the American carrier to ban Jews and holders of Israeli passports from boarding flights from New York or Washington bound for Jeddah, prompting outraged accusations of illegal religious discrimination.

The issue, which has caught the attention of the American Center for Law and Justice already, was raised when Washington attorney Jeffrey Lovitky was perusing airline procedures for travel.

"As we learn more about the issue and facts, we are determined to ensure that American citizens do not face discrimination by airlines like Delta that are passenger code-sharing with Saudi Arabian Airlines, said Colby M. May, director and senior counsel of the ACLJ.

Read more: Delta adopts Saudi 'no-Jew' fly policy http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=314309#ixzz1Q3msnMr2

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 6-22-2011

2011-06-22T20:38:00.000-05:00

Homecoming

Aviators assigned to the Sunliners of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 81 walk to greet friends and family members after arriving on the tarmac during a homecoming at Naval Air Station Oceana. VFA-81, part of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 17, returned home after a deployment aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) to the U.S. 5th and 7th Fleet areas of responsibility.

Photo Courtesy Navy.mil Taken By Mass Communication Specialist Indra Bosko

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives just so others may get to enjoy freedom. For that I am proud to call them Hero.
Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

So That...What?

2011-06-21T20:03:00.000-05:00

A number of years ago, while in a strategic planning meeting, my then-supervisor stated thusly:

"We do this, so that___. If you can't fill in the blank, then you shouldn't be doing what you're doing."

Enter Mark Dayton.

Despite the fact that the MN GOP-controlled legislature has given Governor Dayton everything he wants in terms of both K-12 spending and health care spending, and despite the GOP's dropping of their demands for tax relief in their budget, Governor Dayton remains singularly, myopically hyperfocused on one battle cry: "Tax the rich!"

Now, back to my boss' axiom:

"Mark Dayton wants to impose job-killing tax hikes on the 'rich' so that______"

Mr. Dayton has yet to fill in the blank.

Now, given the fact that Governor Dayton has received nearly everything he wants in terms of spending, whatever is left, no matter how sensical, must be the reason for his continued insistence on his tax increase, that will necessarily kill Minnesota jobs. We are left with these three possibilities with which to fill in the blank:

Mark Dayton wants to tax the "rich," to tax the rich.
Mark Dayton wants to utilize the tax increase as an excuse to shut down government so as to teach Minnesotans a "lesson" that in his mind will somehow ensure democrat majorities for years to come.
Both of the above.

Given that Mark Dayton is who he is, a trust-fund limousine socialist, and given that democratic majorities in the state houses will assuredly increase the chances of his agenda moving forward, I would necessarily say that possibility number 3 fits the bill.

However, Dayton has never been known with being the brightest bulb on the chandelier. Dayton is counting on the notion that Minnesotans will pin any chaos and/or inconvenience of a government shutdown on the GOP-led legislature, and that Minnesotans are not aware nor intelligent enough to be able to put two and two together (projection is yet another fatal flaw in the liberal psyche). Given, however, that the most recent KSTP-TV/USA-Today poll reveals that only 8 percent of Minnesotans favor an increase in spending, beyond some unionized state workers, Dayton will necessarily have to look far and wide to find a critical mass of Minnesotans that will be sympathetic to his cause.

In the end, in terms of practicality, Mark Dayton may indeed sadly find that he wanted to increase taxes so that democrats will remain in minority status in perpetuity.

Governor Dayton's Scorched Earth Policy

2011-06-16T10:52:00.008-05:00

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton is fast surpassing former governor Rudy Perpich in the race for the title of, "Governor Goofy." There were reasons that he was voted as being one of the five "worst Senators" in the United States Senate, and those reasons are coming full circle in his dismal performance and abdication of his responsibilities as Governor. Gary Gross notes:

If this article is accurate, then Gov. Dayton has just brought upon himself a constitutional crisis. Here's what caught my attention:

Ramsey District Judge Kathleen Gearin will hear Dayton's request on June 23 -- just one week before state funds start to run out.

In her petition, Swanson asked the court to fund a broad expanse of state services and appoint a "special master" -- essentially a shutdown referee, to sort the details.

Dayton offered a different solution in his petition.

"Order the parties to mediate," Dayton asked the court. He suggested former Supreme Court Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz or former Associate Justice James Gilbert to act as court-appointed mediators. Swanson had asked that Gilbert be appointed special master.

Only if mediation fails, Dayton's brief said, should the court infringe "on the constitutional powers of the legislative and executive departments."

It is quite clear that Governor Dayton (despite his initial bloviating) has had it in his feeble, twisted mind to shut down the government on purpose, from the get-go, as part of a planned, perverted game of chicken, seemingly using the resultant denial of state services to maximize the discomfort and to teach Minnesotans some kind of twisted lesson as to the "danger" of conservative principles of limited government and to instill the perceived need for un-checked, unbridled, unsustainable big brother government for generations to come.

At the outset of his election win, many people, including many conservatives, argued that since Dayton wasn't the endorsed DFL candidate, that he would not be beholden to the DFL, and would thus be 'less partisan', more 'level headed,' and 'easier to work with.'

Truth be told, I never bought that notion for a nanosecond. Dayton may not have been the endorsed DFL candidate for governor; but Dayton is, always has been, and always will be, a dyed-in-the-wool (albeit incompetent) socialist, with an indefatigable belief in the primacy of the State and its all-encompassing role in people's lives. And he's not above inconveniencing and/or making Minnesotans downright suffer to twistedly impose his ideology.

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 6-15-2011

2011-06-15T10:50:00.000-05:00

Tech. Sergeants Abner Berrios & Alan Hunter

Tech. Sergeants Abner Berrios (left) and Alan Hunter display their letter perfect "black-letter initial" aircraft checklists at Pope Field, N.C. In an effort to set a positive example for the unit's newer crew chiefs and members, the two used their professional rivalry to try to out-work and out-inspect each other. The end result was the rarity of both crew chiefs obtaining discrepency free checklists. Both sergeants are crew chiefs with the 440th Airlift Wing.

Photo Courtesy AF.mil Taken By Staff Sgt. Peter Miller

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives just so others may get to enjoy freedom. For that I am proud to call them Hero.
Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Could this be why Romney refuses to renounce man-made global warming?

2011-06-14T17:09:00.001-05:00

Erin Haust of the Minneapolis Conservative examiner has done some digging, that more than sheds light on Romney's allegiance to the hysteria that is man-made global warming:

Most news outlets and political pundits are talking about Romney's "belief in man-made climate change" but there is a more practical explanation for his affection for Mother Earth.

Romney has a financial stake in the success of climate change legislation.

Since 1977, Romney has been employed by or been CEO of the consulting firm Bain & Company or its spinoff Bain Capital which Romney co-founded in 1984. Bain & Company and Bain Capital LLC are profitable to the tune of billions of dollars and have offices all over the world.

(Continue reading here)

In my book, this is more than enough to tell me that when it comes to choosing a Republican Presidential candidate for 2012, Romney is more than worth panning.

Wednesday Hero Blogburst

2011-06-01T19:01:00.002-05:00

This Weeks Post Was Suggested By Pet

Col. Van T. Barfoot
91 years old from Henrico County, Virginia
157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division

In December 2009 Van T. Barfoot made national headlines when he wanted to fly his American flag in his yard but was told to take it down by his homeowners association. It's still flying proudly today. But that's just one small event in the life of Mr. Barfoot. Long before he decided to fly that flag he defended it during W.W.II.

Barfoot joined the Army in 1940 and was shipped to Italy in 1943 where distinguished himself in 1944 when, in the course of a single day, he advanced alone through a minefield, took out a German machine gun with a hand grenade, single handily killed eight German soldiers, captured seventeen, disabled a tank with a bazooka and then returned to his own lines and helped two of his own wounded squad members. All which earned him the Medal Of Honor. So it comes as no surprise that when he wanted to fly the American fly he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

You can read more about Col. Barfoot here

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 5-25-2011

2011-05-25T18:47:00.000-05:00

This Weeks Post Was Suggested By Michael

First Lieutenant Audie Murphy
3rd Platoon, Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division
June 20, 1924 – May 28, 1971

Most people know Audie Murphy as a popular actor, but before that he was a highly distinguished Soldier in WWII. First Lieutenant Murphy was, in fact, the most decorated American Soldier in the war earning a total of 39 medals from the U.S., France and Belgium. He was awarded every medal the U.S. had at the time including 2 Silver Stars, 2 Bronze Hearts, 3 Purple Hearts and the Medal Of Honor.

You can read more about First Lieutenant Murphy here.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Separated at Birth?

2011-05-19T19:13:00.003-05:00

Senator Henry Waxman, and "Batboy"

SEALS Under the bus in 3...2...1....

2011-05-04T22:36:00.002-05:00

That the Obama administration suddenly 'hearts' the Navy Seals is laughable:

Now the admin is saying the decision to kill OBL was not Obama's decision, but the decision of Seal Team 6; even though Obama himself took credit for every aspect of the operation during his speech on Sunday.

Anyone want to make book as to how long it will be before the Obama administration totally throws Seal Team 6 under the bus?

Navy SEALs Face Assault Charges for Capturing Most-Wanted Terrorist

www.foxnews.com

Navy SEALs have secretly captured one of the most wanted terrorist in Iraq the alleged mastermind of the murder and mutilation of four Blackwater USA security guards in Fallujah in 2004.

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 5-4-2011

2011-05-04T21:58:00.000-05:00

Sgt. Jorge A. Diaz

Sgt. Jorge A. Diaz, a squad leader with Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, receives a Bronze Star Medal with Combat V from Lt. Gen. Kenneth J. Glueck, Jr., commanding general, III Marine Expeditionary Force, during Glueck's visit to Marine Corps Base Hawaii with Sgt. Maj. Daniel J. Fierle, III MEF sergeant major, April 28, 2011. Diaz received the award for heroic achievement in connection with combat operations against the enemy during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, Sept. 17, 2010.

Photo Courtesy Of Marines.mil

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Wolves In Sheep's Clothing...

2011-05-04T21:48:00.002-05:00

On many weekends during the Bush administration, the group "Pax Christie," would stage antiwar protests in front of our local Barnes & Noble. When asked of their intentions, they would state that their beef wasn't with then-President George W. Bush, but rather they were against war in all its forms.

Curiously, they continue to be absent since the election of Barack Obama.

Oh, they would say that since Obama's election, a new era of hope and change had emerged; that protests are no longer necessary.

Yet, since Obama’s election, there has been an escalation of the war in Afghanistan--and now in Libya, where Muammar Khaddaffy's son and three grandchildren were recently killed at a "family gathering." Guantanamo Bay remains open for business. Even an extra-legal assassination of a well-known Al Qaeda leader took place in a foreign country without U.N. approval!

Yet, the shadows of Pax Christi members still remain absent from the grassy knoll in front of Barnes & Noble. The makeshift caskets, pictures of civilians killed, and "NO BLOOD FOR OIL!" signs have vanished. Even the omnipresent NO-HALLIBURTON signs no longer grace the area, though the 'evil' bogeyman continues to provide logistical support for the wars.

Not a single word of protest. Zip. Zero. Nada.

Could it be that members of "Pax Christi" actually had a political axe to grind; that their protestations and concern over war and its accompanying horrors were secondary, at best, to whomever occupied 2600 Pennsylvania Avenue?

Perish the thought.

I'm sure their intentions are as pure as the wind-driven snow-- that they have a vegan cooking class to make every Saturday, or that the batteries in their Prius died and they are patiently awaiting their exchange.

Yeah. That must be it.

A Tree Is Known by Its Fruit
Lk. 6.43, 44
15	¶ Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16	Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17	Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18	A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19	Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Mt. 3.10 · Lk. 3.9
20	Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Mt. 12.33

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 4-20-2011

2011-04-20T21:42:00.001-05:00

Capt. Lawrence Rollo

Capt. Lawrence Rollo cradles a Nigerian baby while visiting with locals during a community relations project at the Light of Dawn Government Junior Secondary School Tomarow as part of Africa Partnership Station (APS) West. APS is an international security cooperation initiative designed to strengthen global maritime partnerships through training and collaborative activities to improve maritime safety and security in Africa.

Information And Photo Courtesy U.S. Navy. Taken by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Darryl Wood

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 4-13-2011

2011-04-13T20:38:00.000-05:00

This Weeks Post Was Suggested By Steve

Lt. Col. Charles L. Brown
86 years old from Miami, Florida
October 24, 1922 - November 24, 2008

For extraordinary heroism in military operations in WWII he was awarded the Air Force Cross our nations award for valor second only to the Medal of Honor. He flew 29 combat missions as a B-17 pilot. His many other military decorations included the Purple Heart for wounds received in combat. Upon being offered a position with the United States Department of State he took early retirement from the Air Force and continued to serve his nation as a senior Foreign Service Officer spending six years in Southeast Asia as Inspector-In- Charge, Agency for International Development, U.S. Dept. of State

Sadly couldn't find too much information on Lt. Col. Brown. The best source was his obituary.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Feed Your Family on $10 Billion Per Day...

2011-04-13T20:34:00.001-05:00

Must. Read. From. I o w a h a w k

Obama Hearts Dead Babies.

2011-04-13T17:03:00.006-05:00

The title of this post may sound like so much hyperbole, but what other conclusion can one come to?

The American Principles Project (APP) Wednesday criticized the Obama administration for allowing the elimination of $600 million for Community Health Centers while protecting funding for Planned Parenthood as part of last week’s budget deal agreed to by Congress and the White House.

Touting Planned Parenthood as a key women’s health-care provider, Democrats held firm to their promise not to allow cuts to the nation’s largest abortion provider. Community Health Centers, which do not perform abortions, provide health services to the needy — including mammograms and pre- and post-natal care.

According to the American Principles Project last year Community Health Centers performed 320,000 mammograms while Planned Parenthood did none.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/04/13/white-house-protects-abortion-provider-allows-cuts-to-community-health-centers/#ixzz1JRYVzxjY

Unlike the blatant lie that Planned Parenthood president Cecele Richards told, Planned Parenthood performs no mammograms. Aside from a few ancillary condoms given out, abortion is, by and large, Planned Parenthood’s Business.

Remember, as an Illinois legislator, Obama voted three times AGAINST the Born Alive Protection Act. In other words, Barack Hussein Obama was quite OK letting a live-aborted baby perish on a gurney or in a trash can, rather than offer it life support.

Obama, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is the most pro-abortion, pro-dead-baby President we have ever had. Period.

His latest act of fealty toward the nation’s most prodigious killer of developing human beings, ostensibly in the name of ‘women’s health,’ to the detriment of organizations that actually provide services geared toward women’s health, is added testament to Obama’s ghoulish psyche.

The Democrats' Continuing War on Children

2011-04-10T19:24:00.000-05:00

I’ve always maintained that if there was anyone who had it in for kids, it was the liberal democrat. It is actually my contention that liberal democrats have been waging war against children for decades now, on a number of fronts. On one front, it is their ceaseless support for abortion. On yet another front, it is their insistence on padding their own political fortunes on the backs of the children who actually are fortunate enough to survive the womb, by willingly piling mountains of debt on their progeny for the sole reason of maintaining a stranglehold on their own political power. On yet another front, you have the liberal democrat waging war on children by indoctrinating them; thereby ensuring that they grow up to be nihilistic dolts; unable to sustain a self-determinant and independent lifestyle; thinking that they don’t stand a chance without the limousine liberal establishment being on hand to ‘level the playing field‘ for them.

These are tough times for Minnesota schools. In Lakeville, for example, the school board recently announced wrenching cuts of almost $7 million. Ninety-four teachers will lose their jobs, arts programs will suffer and a school will be closed. There was wailing and gnashing of teeth, but the board set its jaw: There’s not a dime for anything extra.
Unless you’ve got an ax to grind with white folks. Then the money spigots open. The Lakeville schools are sending a delegation of teachers to the 12th annual “White Privilege Conference” at the Bloomington Sheraton from April 13-16. The district is shelling out $160 a pop — plus $125 a day for teacher subs — for this “white guilt” festival.

Aside from being a textbook example of a situation literally screaming for a “Don’t tell me we don’t have any money!” rejoinder, this is also a textbook example of the type of war that the liberal democrat is waging on society by targeting society’s children, even at times going so far as to feature books endorsed by former unrepentant Weather Underground terrorists.

So the next time you see a liberal democrat hiding behind a child to advance his or her agenda, know that the last thing on their mind is the protection of that child and that child’s interest.

Know rather that it is the child who is in their crosshairs.

A Sane Perspective on The Nuclear Problem in Japan

2011-03-24T21:04:00.003-05:00

From a friend of my brother-in-law, a nuclear engineer for a national defense contractor:

Several people have called asking for my perspective on the events in Japan; it seems appropriate that I share some written thoughts and perspectives. You can share this with others if you desire.

First of all, it is important to keep an overall perspective on this situation. This is one of the most devastating natural disasters in our lifetimes. At last count, there were approximately 9000 people dead and 12,000 still missing. The remaining people are cold, hungry, and without power. Unfortunately, natural disasters tend to be high drama when they happen; the recovery garners less public interest. A nuclear accident, on the other hand, stays high drama for a long time. I don’t blame anyone for this – it is just basic human psychology, but it is important that we as rational people don’t allow our fear and ignorance to contribute to misdirection of concern.

Let me provide some perspective on engineering for disasters (this is one of the classes I teach at University of Idaho as well as at work). Power plants are some of the largest and most complicated systems of machines ever made. This is true for hydro-electric, coal, natural gas, nuclear, and geothermal plants alike – but even more so for nuclear power stations. (I don’t include wind farms and solar plants because they are only capable of producing very small amounts of electricity for short periods of time and won’t ever be a significant factor in meeting the world’s energy demand.)

It’s important to recognize that each of us uses more electricity today that our parents did and our parents use more than their parents did. We do this by choice. Every time we plug in a cell phone, iPad, computer, TV, etc, we place a demand on the electrical distribution system. This demand either has to be met or the electrical grid shut off. Since people don’t like blackouts (and since they are dangerous), electrical utility companies continue to add more generating capacity by building more power plants. This increase in demand has also kept many nuclear power stations on line beyond their design life spans.

When we design power plants, we have to establish a basis for how much force the plants can withstand and how long they need to last – fundamentally for how safe to make them. The safer we make them, the more expensive they are and the more everyone pays for their electricity. Consequently we do not design power plants to be as safe as they can be. We (engineers, companies, governments and society at large) accept a certain amount of risk as a tradeoff between the cost and the benefit of the plant.

We can understand the concept of risk as the mathematical product of the probability that a particular event will happen and the consequence of that event. Risk = Probability X Consequence. So something that isn’t very likely to happen, but produces a very negative result would get the same attention in the design as something that is very likely to happen but produces a relatively benign event.

There is risk in all forms of power generation.

Let me provide a few examples and then we’ll get back to Japan. In the last few years there have been several power plant accidents around the world. Last summer there was a major disaster at a hydroelectric plant in Russia. It killed 69 people. There was a natural gas explosion in Pennsylvania in 2009 that killed 5 people and another in 2010 at a power plant in Connecticut that killed 6 people. Coal fired power plants release more radioactivity and toxins to the environment than nuclear; in 2008, a coal plant in Tennessee leaked a billion gallons of toxic sludge and contaminated over 300 acres. Fatalities and damage to the environment happen in power plant accidents routinely and the events barely make the news – unless it happens at a nuclear plant.

The reactor accidents in Japan are bad. The economic cost of the cleanup is going to be staggering – in fact it is possible that this event will start the end of the commercial nuclear industry. However, the risk of anyone actually dying is very low. What this accident really shows is that a 40 year old nuclear power plant, that was not built to withstand a magnitude 8.9 earthquake and a 30 foot tsunami at the same time, is still a safer form of energy than coal, hydro, or natural gas. But somehow, if not a single person dies from this accident – an accident caused by a natural disaster so catastrophic that 20,000 people die from the disaster itself, we’ll walk away thinking we learned that nuclear is unsafe. We’ll get the wrong message because almost no one understands what is happening, the people who are doing their best to report on the events lack even basic understanding of the words they are using, and the rare people who do understand what is happening don’t have the communication skills to explain it.

OK, so what is happening in Japan? There are six boiling water nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power station. Each of these plants is designed to pump distilled water into a reactor, boil the water, use the steam to turn a turbine (think of blowing on a pinwheel) to make electricity, cool the steam back into water and pump it back into the reactor where the process repeats over and over. When the fuel in the reactor becomes inefficient at producing heat it is moved to a storage pool and replaced with fresh fuel. The spent fuel will cool off over several years and become less radioactive until it can be removed from the pool and is either chemically reprocessed or stored in dry casks.

When the earthquake hit, the power station did what it was designed to do. It shut down. When the tsunami hit, the sea water flooded the area and shorted out the electrical distribution systems. With the reactor off and no ability to get power from another plant a nuclear reactor normally uses back up diesel generators to power the pumps that circulate the cooling water through the reactor and spent fuel pools. Unfortunately, the diesels were also damaged by the tsunami.

This left the reactors in a position to not be able to circulate cooling water, allowed a buildup of heat and hydrogen gas. (When water is in the presence of some forms of radiation it will separate into its constituent parts: hydrogen and oxygen. If the water cannot be circulated and the concentrations of hydrogen and oxygen gas built up, and some form of ignition occurs – say a spark or other heat source – the hydrogen and oxygen will recombine to form water again. This process releases energy – it is exothermic. ) This happened several times in the Fukushima plants and there were several hydrogen explosions that further damaged the buildings.

These events can be easily misunderstood when you hear about them in the news.
“An explosion occurred at an uncontrolled and overheating nuclear power station that is now leaking radiation” communicates a very different message than “A power station had a power outage and made some water” but they mean exactly the same thing. For the people who get to repair and clean up these plants, these are significant events; to the general public they are not. Let’s address the radiation part of the story and see why.

Radiation comes in several types. Generally what is being discussed during this event is a type called gamma radiation so I’ll provide a little background on this one type. Gamma radiation is like sunlight. It is an energy wave. It can’t be blown by the wind or leak like water. Just like sunlight, too much is not good for us and increases the chance of getting cancer. Like sunlight, in the right quantities it is actually helpful. Gamma rays and x-rays are only distinguishable by where they originate. In other words, getting a dental x-ray is the same thing to your body as being exposed to radiation from a nuclear reactor. Every human on earth is exposed to gamma rays every day from birth to death. In fact, each of us is naturally radioactive – we are ourselves sources of radiation. This is because radioactivity (the characteristic of something that gives off radiation) is quite natural. Of all the elements in our bodies, one of them is potassium (K-40) which we get from potatoes, bananas, etc.

So how much is too much? Let me try to help with a perspective again. The biological effect of radiation exposure is measured (in our country) in units called ‘rem’. A typical person receives 0.3 rem a year from natural sources and about another 0.1 rem from consumer products and medical procedures. By law, a person in the nuclear industry can receive about ten times more than that - up to 5 rem a year . This is safe, but the nuclear industry also works to keep radiation exposure as low as they reasonably can. For instance, in my entire career I’ve received a cumulative dose of 0.25 rem. If you fly on an airplane, you are closer to the sun so you receive more radiation – about 0.1 rem per 1000 miles of flight. A lethal dose of radiation of radiation is approximately 500 rem in a single dose or about 100 times the legal limit.

So when you hear about “abnormal radiation levels” or “radiation leaking” etc you have to keep it in perspective. People who get on planes to fly away from Japan will likely receive more radiation from flying than if they had stayed in Japan in the first place. I know radiation is scary to people, because it can’t be perceived by our senses and become of all the myths we’ve been exposed to. A radiation level that is “100 times greater than normal” doesn’t necessarily mean anything scary at all – if “normal” is a low number – which it usually is. For instance, if a typical radiation exposure rate outside a nuclear reactor is 0.001 rem per hour and it’s a now “a hundred times” above normal it would now be 0.1 rem per hour. You could sit there for two or three hours and get the same dose you’d get flying across country without even being concerned.

I know there are people getting worried about radiation exposure on the west coast of the US, so let me try another perspective. I work for the navy. When we got word of the events in Japan, we sent one of our nuclear powered aircraft carriers, the USS Ronald Reagan, straight through the radioactive plume to Japan to provide humanitarian support. We voluntarily sucked up the radioactivity into the ventilation system, cleaned it up and are still there trying to help the people of Japan. Some of the people who know the most about this stuff are voluntarily going right into it to help. The radiation levels in the Fukushima plant are dangerous to people inside the plant, but they know this and are trained to deal with the risks (the highest cumulative dose I’ve read about to any of the workers is 10 rem or about 50 times lower than a lethal dose).

If you wanted to limit your exposure to sunlight, you’d restrict your time in the sun, move to a place where there is less sunlight and wear clothing that covers your body when you do have to be in the sun. In radiation protection language we call this time, distance, and shielding. The same principles of time, distance, and shielding apply to this situation. For instance, since California is about 5000 miles away from Japan even a lethal dose in Japan would likely be unmeasureable in the United States. (If you want the math it goes like this: Let’s say the radiation level a mile away from Fukushima was outrageously high – say 500 rem/hr. What is the radiation level in California – 5000 miles away? It would be 500(1²/5000²) or 0.00002 rem/hr –which is too low to measure.)

I understand people’s concerns but I’d advise you to stay away from the news, if you can. The poor reporters are just not equipped to be able to explain this event. They consistently say things that aren’t true because they don’t understand the words they are using. They are also scared themselves. If you do feel the need to follow the events, the IAEA website isn’t bad: http://iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsunamiupdate01.html

Let me summarize a few things. The reactor accident in Japan is the result of a natural disaster that was worse than what the plant was designed to withstand. It’s a bad accident and is going to be wildly expensive to clean up (cost has always been the problem with nuclear). I don’t expect anyone to die from the events going on in the power plant; I don’t believe there is any significant risk to people anywhere, but especially not outside the plant itself; I believe our focus, concern, and attention as a society should be placed on supporting the victims of the natural disaster; Since I have the skills and knowledge to actually help with the nuclear end of the crisis, I am volunteering to go and help. I don’t suspect the Navy will take me up on my offer, (we have a team there already) but if I can go I will.

Yes He Did...

2011-03-12T20:35:00.003-06:00

Obama has made it no secret that he wants to take the United States down some notches. His insufferable vendetta against the United States has led to 'necessarily' skyrocketing energy costs. He has bowed and cowtowed to nearly every tyrant known to the world, while at the same time dissing long-time traditional allies of the United States. And now, his administration has singlehandedly decreased your purchasing power:

US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner shocked global markets by revealing that Washington is “quite open” to Chinese proposals for the gradual development of a global reserve currency run by the International Monetary Fund.

The dollar plunged instantly against the euro, yen, and sterling as the comments flashed across trading screens. David Bloom, currency chief at HSBC, said the apparent policy shift amounts to an earthquake in geo-finance.

“The mere fact that the US Treasury Secretary is even entertaining thoughts that the dollar may cease being the anchor of the global monetary system has caused consternation,” he said.

Mr Geithner later qualified his remarks, insisting that the dollar would remain the “world’s dominant reserve currency … for a long period of time” but the seeds of doubt have been sown.

So... How's that hopenchange working for you?

Did I call it, or what?

2011-03-12T15:34:00.004-06:00

From a tweet I made yesterday..

And lo and behold, as if on queue...

Ain't it a caution when truth is stranger than hyperbole.

Regarding Un-Holy Congregations and the Church of Global Warming

2011-03-09T21:05:00.005-06:00

In a never ending quest of how best to sell the lie:

Climate Change Rings "Truer" Than Global Warming

American skepticism about whether the world's weather is changing depends partly on wording. More believe in "climate change" than "global warming," a new study by the University of Michigan shows.

Three of four people, or 74%, thought the problem was real when it was referred to as climate change, while 68% thought it was real when it was called global warming, according to questions posed by U-M psychologists on a RAND-conducted survey of 2,267 U.S. adults..

"Wording matters," study co-author Jonathon Schuldt said in announcing the findings, which will be published in the upcoming issue of Public Opinion Quarterly. "While global warming focuses attention on temperature increases, climate change focuses attention on more general changes," he said. "Thus, an unusually cold day may increase doubts about global warming more so than about climate change."

What is really interesting is how this study breaks down by political affiliation:

The study found the differences were due almost entirely to participants who identified themselves as Republicans. While 60% of Republicans said they thought climate change was real, only 44% said they believed in the reality of global warming. In contrast, 86% of Democrats thought climate change was a serious problem, regardless of wording.

"It might be a ceiling effect, given their high level of belief," co-author Sara Konrath, a U-M psychologist, speculated. "Or it could be that Democrats' beliefs about global climate change might be more crystallized, and as a result, more protected from subtle manipulations."

So, democrats are more 'protected' from 'subtle' manipulations. Like those manipulations from IPCC and East Anglia college.. you know, subtle manipulations, like admissions of fudging the data upon which much of the global warming--err climate change studies are based.

Yeah. Those subtle manipulations.

The real difference between democrats and republicans with respect to climate change is not necessarily which percentage of which political bent believes that some sort of climate change is happening. Rather, the real difference between democrats and republicans lies in how each group attributes the cause of that change, and the underlying motives behind those assumptions.

According to the study above, 64 percent of Republicans (supposedly conservative) believe that the climate is changing. I also happen to believe that the climate is changing. The Earth's climate has never been stagnant, and has been changing since the Good Lord created it. The $64,000,000,000 question that the study fails to ask is whether 64% of Republicans believe that anthroprogenic activity is responsible for the climate changing; or, for that matter, whether climate change is really that catastrophic of an event. An educated guess tells me that the percentage on both counts is very, very low.

On the other hand, 86% of democrats (supposedly liberal) believe in climate change. And it is another educated guess that the vast majority of that 86% believe that man is causing it. East Anglia, and all other contradictory data be damned. To the liberal democrat, climate change, specifically the concept of anthroprogenic climate change is not as much scientific fact as it is a matter of godless dogma, held on to with every bit of zealotry as Christians hang on to the notion of the Second Coming of Christ. But the zealotries on each side are played out with very different motivations, which I will explain in the following paragraphs.

As religion is a vehicle through which Man navigates the world so as to attain a one-ness with the Divine with the goal of a glorious afterlife shared with the Divine, global warming/climate change is a vehicle utilized by the god-less Left in a vain attempt to attain a socialist utopia here on Earth. As religion is the great equalizer between rich and poor in the afterlife, global warming is seen as a great equalizer to legitimize the vast redistribution of wealth between rich and poor, both individually and collectively, and to achieve what in reality is unachievable; the socialist utopia of a classless, milquetoast society, egalitarian in both resource and outcome. God-less democrats, disillusioned by the non-prospect of Divine reward, (as there is no true belief in the Divine), attempt themselves to play the Divine, with disastrous consequences.

Even the so-called "religious left" have no real interest in the afterlife, or even in the Divine. Oh, they may call themselves Catholic or Evangelical Lutheran, or Unitarian, but just like the Global Warmers (oftentimes, the two are interchangeable), the 'religious' left utilize religion as a vehicle not to lead people to the Divine so as to achieve their Heavenly reward, but rather to vainly attempt to achieve heaven on earth, forgetting that Christ Himself said, "My Kingdom is not of this world." (John 18:36). To the Left, religion, like Climate Change propaganda, is utilized as but a cloak of legitimacy to advance an un-godly agenda antithetical to which they purport to champion.

So it is without wonder that a majority of democrats will hang on to the hideous lie that is anthroprogenic global warming, no matter the moniker. As I stated before, when the Divine is cast aside, man attempts to fill the void; with invariably disastrous consequences.

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 3-9-2011

2011-03-09T20:59:00.002-06:00

Senior Airman Nicholas J. Alden and Airman 1st Class Zachary R. Cuddeback
March 2, 2011

On March 2, a gunman walked into a Frankfurt, Germany airport and shot four people, killing two of them. They were:

Senior Airman Nicholas J. Alden who was 25-years-old from Williamston, S.C. He was assigned to the 48th Security Forces Squadron at RAF Lakenheath in England.

Airman 1st Class Zachary R. Cuddeback of Stanardsville, Va. He was assigned to the 86th Vehicle Readiness Squadron at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

Both Men were being deployed to Afghanistan. I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say our thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and families these Men left behind.

Information Was Found On And Copied From MilitaryCity.com

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Malfeasance R Us.

2011-03-08T09:51:00.000-06:00

Not only is there a plethora of doublespeak in this administration, but apparently, an abundance of double-counting things that weren’t really there in the first place:

During a hearing on Capitol Hill Thursday, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) admitted to double-counting in the Obamacare budget.
In her first appearance before the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee since the health-care law passed, Kathleen Sebelius responded to a line of questioning by Republican Rep. John Shimkus of Illinois about whether $500 billion in Medicare cuts were used to sustain the program or pay for the law.

“There is an issue here on the budget because your own actuary has said you can’t double-count,” said Shimkus. “You can’t count — they’re attacking Medicare on the CR when their bill, your law, cut $500 billion from Medicare.”

He continued: “Then you’re also using the same $500 billion to what? Say your funding health care. Your own actuary says you can’t do both. […] What’s the $500 billion in cuts for? Preserving Medicare or funding the health-care law?

Sebelius’ reply? “Both.”

Why am I not surprised? That’s the whole thing about this bunch. NOTHING surprises me anymore. NOTHING. There could be a story tomorrow about monkeys flying out of the White House, with Michelle on the back balcony, screaming, “Fly, Fly!” …and it wouldn’t surprise me.

The depth and breadth of incompetence, not to mention the outright deliberate malfeasance of this administration, were it not for real, would be laughable.

Speaking Words of Wisdom...

2011-02-18T19:16:00.003-06:00

Since this Greek comedy-tragedy has been playing out in my old stomping grounds of Madison, Wisconsin and throughout The Dairy State, I’ve corresponded with a lot of friends and acquaintances–some who have been backing the Republican-led legislature and Governor Scott Walker; and others, most of them fellow union members, who believe that Wisconsin’s actions will portend a dead-end to collective bargaining; some going so far as to defend runaway democrat Wisconsin state senators, stating they are merely buying time until ‘cooler heads’ can prevail.

Yes, I’m a member of a union–but I can also see the fact that the taxpayers cannot sustain carte blanche bankrolling of never-ending union-based benefits. Even when Ronald Reagan broke the Air Traffic control union back in the early 1980s, it wasn’t the end of collective bargaining. Far from it.

There does comes a time, however, when the rights of public sector workers needs to be balanced against the rights and the well being of those whom they serve. This, in my opinion, is a long-awaited correction in a bubble of unsustainable growth in spending.

BTW–correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t the majority of Wisconsinites vote for the Republicans to balance the state budget and to end runaway spending?

And yes, the democrat Senators ARE being derelict in their duty. Of course they don’t want legislation that will halt the union gravy train–the union is for all practical purposes a political arm of the democrat party that contributes hefty financial resources to its workings, not to mention nearly limitless footsoldier hours to help in their favored party’s re-election efforts.

Again–I’m a union member. I know that in the long term this will likely have significant repercussions in my now-home state of Minnesota, but the fact of the matter is that we are spending our great-grandchildren’s inheritances for present-day opulence, and it just has to stop, somewhere.

One of the long-loved mantras on the left during progressive rallies has been the time-honored favorite song by John Lennon called, “Give Peace a Chance.”

To my union brethren, the time is now indeed nigh to pay heed to another one of Lennon’s words of wisdom, “Let it be.”

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 2-16-2011

2011-02-16T21:59:00.000-06:00

Petty Officer First Class Robert R. Scott
26 years old from Massillion, Ohio
December 7, 1941

Robert Raymond Scott joined the U.S. Navy in 1938. Was was assigned to the U.S.S. California and was stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. On December 7, 1941 the California was hit by a torpedo during the attack. While other personnel were evacuated, Machinist's Mate First Class Scott remained at his station. He didn't survive. For his actions he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. And the U.S. Navy named the destroyer escort USS Scott (DE-214) in his honor in 1943.

From his citation:

For conspicuous devotion to duty, extraordinary courage and complete disregard of his own life, above and beyond the call of duty, during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor by Japanese forces on 7 December 1941. The compartment, in the U.S.S. California, in which the air compressor, to which Scott was assigned as his battle station, was flooded as the result of a torpedo hit. The remainder of the personnel evacuated that compartment but Scott refused to leave, saying words to the effect "This is my station and I will stay and give them air as long as the guns are going."

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Of Lunatics and Light Bulbs

2011-01-25T17:22:00.004-06:00

MSNBC had a story that stated, curiously, that people were just too dumb to buy into mercury-laced compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) and instead were still bitterly clinging onto the Thomas-Edison invented incandescent light bulbs.

While CFLs seem harsh on the eyes to many people and may pose disposal problems, they use about 80 percent less energy than incandescents and last up to 10 times as long. Lighting comprises about one-fifth of the typical monthly electrical bill. A typical household could save $10 to $50 a month by switching all incandescent bulbs to CFLs or LEDs, according to industry and consumer sources.

If every American home replaced just one incandescent bulb with one CFL, the corresponding cut in greenhouse gas emissions would equal the amount of pollutants produced by more than 800,000 vehicles, reports Greenzer.com, a shopping site that caters to the environmentally conscious. What’s more, CFL technology is slowly improving: some CFLs now can be used with dimming fixtures.

The utter nonsense of the above snippet notwithstanding, the comment section after the story had some excellent rebuttals to the story, expressing concerns with safe disposal of the mercury inherent in CFLs, CFL's inability to work efficiently as outdoor lamps in cold climates, their inability to work in dimmer-switch controlled fixtures, their inability to throw off natural light, and others.

Then came the reaction by this smarmy circus clown (a/k/a Puddleduck)

We don't always have the option to buy anything we want to use.

Seems like the same people who complain about buying oil from our enemies, are the same ones who want to keep buying more foreign oil and drilling for more oil here, so that they can hang onto their inefficient appliances.

(Yes, I know. It's such a pain pouring that gallon of gas down the back of my refrigerator--ed)

I guess that raising MPG standards for vehicles and raising efficiency standards for A/C, refrigerators, water heaters, etc., was an unnecessary intrusion into our lives and freedom, too. These rules are saving us millions of barrels of oil, per day, that we are not buying from our enemies.

I wonder if "Puddleduck" will make that same speech in the mirror when not so far down the road she has to plug in her government-approved and mandated electric car?

But here's where "Puddleduck" gets my blood REALLY boiling (emphases mine):

Unfortunately, these people are the reason that these kinds of laws have to be passed. Voluntary compliance doesn't seem to work with business or with the American people, even when compliance is in their own best interest.

If you want to try to be a patriot, then why not do something that doesn't take a lot of effort and helps this country with her energy crisis, instead of whining because one of your choices to create more pollution is being taken away from you?

To which I retorted,

We wouldn't HAVE to buy oil from our enemies if environmentalist whackos didn't have politicians in their hip pockets who prevent us from harvesting oil from our own lands (of which we have PLENTY--check out the Bakken).

We wouldn't have to buy mercury-laced CFLs if G.E. didn't have politicians in their back pocket that would MAKE us buy them, so that GE could make a boatload of money, and so that enviro-whackos could feel some sense of smug superiority in having their will imposed on others, and in the process feel like somehow they're going to control warming or cooling of the earth, even though we have no more control over the earth's climate than we do the rising and setting of the sun.

You ascribe authority and omniscience to some almighty governmental bureaucrat or politician who wouldn't know his backside from a hole in the ground as some kind of expert, just because they're elected or work in an EPA office; without any thought as to whether they either know what the heck they're talking about in the first place; or worse yet, whether they're feeding a bunch of BS to mushrooms in the dark so as to line their own pockets and/or prolong their power and control.

But go ahead, sheeple. Keep on trusting Big Brother to determine what is well and best for you, and to wipe your behind when you need it. Never. I mean NEVER--think for yourselves.

Some people's kids.

What Hath Roe v. Wade Wrought?

2011-01-23T11:16:00.005-06:00

A legacy of over 50 million lives, snuffed before a breath could be taken.. and sometimes after a breath was taken:

Johnson learned last week that Philadelphia prosecutors believe Gosnell frequently delivered late-term babies alive at his clinic, then severed their spines with scissors, and often stored the fetal bodies — along with staff lunches — in refrigerators at the squalid facility. Tiny baby feet, prosecutors said, were discovered in specimen jars, lined up in a macabre collection.
"Did he do that to mine? Did he stab him in the neck?" Johnson asked at her North Philadelphia home. "Because I was out of it. I don't know what he did to my baby."

Gosnell was charged last week with killing seven babies born alive and with the 2009 death of a 41-year-old refugee after a botched abortion at the clinic, which prosecutors have called a drug mill by day and abortion mill by night. The medical practice alone netted him at least $1.8 million a year, much of it in cash, they say.

But the women going there were merely exercising their freedom of choice, right?

When Davida Johnson walked into Dr. Kermit Gosnell's clinic to get an abortion in 2001, she saw what she described as dazed women sitting in dirty, bloodstained recliners. As the abortion got under way, she had a change of heart — but claims she was forced by the doctor to continue.
"I said, 'I don't want to do this,' and he smacked me. They tied my hands and arms down and gave me more medication," Johnson told The Associated Press.

The AP tries to mitigate the horror of abortion by blaming it on the abortion protesters:

Johnson, then 21, had a 3-year-old daughter when she became pregnant again. She said she first went to Planned Parenthood in downtown Philadelphia but was frightened away by protesters.

"The picketers out there, they just scared me half to death," Johnson, now 30, recalled this week.

Someone sent her to Gosnell's West Philadelphia clinic, at the Women's Medical Society, saying anti-abortion protesters wouldn't be a problem there. She said she paid him $400 cash.

But really, what is the difference between what Gosnell does and what other abortion providers do on a regular basis? It comes down to a difference of only around 6 inches. You see, while most late-term abortion providers wait until the baby is partially delivered up to the neck before inserting a pair of scissors into the baby's skull, Gosnell did the exact procedure, only a minute or two later after the baby was fully delivered.

Either way presents a heinous end; grand larceny committed against human beings of their chance, nay their right to live their lives; the only offense committed by the infant being its mere existence.

Contrary to popular belief, examples of man's inhumanity to man do not exist exclusively on battlefields, gulags, nor death camps. Man's inhumanity to man is illustrated every day of the year, right within our own neighborhoods, right under our noses, to the most innocent and the most vulnerable among us.

As Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said, "It is a very great poverty to decide that a child must die that you might live as you wish."

Is Tim Mahoney a Poster Child for Cluelessness?

2011-01-14T20:57:00.004-06:00

My representative, Steve Gottwalt, sent this gem along...

from Rep. Tim Mahoney (DFL- St. Paul) . . .

“Taxes are just a cost of doing business,” Mahoney said. “If you’re going to be ill, you’d rather be ill in Minnesota. We have a more high-service government than in Texas.”

Mr Gottwalt added (emphases mine),

"Mahoney and the DFL like high taxes -- they firmly believe higher levels of government spending result in a higher standard of living. He obviously has not checked the examples around the country. Take Maine and New Hampshire, for instance. One has reduced government; the other has grown it. Guess which one is doing better economically? We need lawmakers willing to embrace the reality that state government is living beyond its means, making promises it cannot keep with money it does not have -- and that does not lead to a better Minnesota. We need lawmakers with the wisdom and foresight to focus on sustainable outcomes, not just more spending. Minnesota's business and regulatory climate places it near dead
last in the nation. That's costing Minnesota jobs, prosperity and revenues.

In light of Illinois' democrat-controlled legislature's near unconscionable decision to raise taxes by 66 percent in a futile attempt to solve its budget woes, it should be quite apparent that the last thing one should do when one finds oneself in a hole is to keep on digging. After all, when the golden-egg laying producers vote with their feet as a reaction to these tax hikes, who will be left to foot the bill? Yet, in an exercise in magical thinking of epic proportions, Illinois democrat governor Pat Quinn praised the 'courageous' decision to raise taxes:

Patrick J. Quinn, the governor of Illinois and a Democrat, praised the decision of state lawmakers — in the wee hours of the morning on Wednesday — to raise the individual income tax rate by about 66 percent as a necessity to avert the state’s “fiscal emergency,” which includes a budget deficit of more than $13 billion, about $8 billion in unpaid bills to social service agencies, pharmacies and others, and a sinking bond rating.
“Our state was careening towards bankruptcy and fiscal insolvency,” Mr. Quinn told reporters, after indicating that he intended to sign the tax increase.

Gee.. and I wonder just how the State of Illinois found itself in fiscal insolvency and bankruptcy to begin with? Could it have been... Oh, I don't know, OUT OF CONTROL SPENDING???

Yet the same candy-man a/k/a Santa Claus mentality that had the effect of literally bringing Illinois to its knees, continues to be touted by clueless DFL legislators like Mahoney as if it's some sort of badge of honor.

DFLers like Mahoney can be compared to a guy sitting in a restaurant who observes folks at the next table begin to keel over from food poisoning. Now, anyone with a modicum of common sense would make it a point to see what they were eating, so as to avoid ordering the same thing, lest he suffer the same fate. Yet the magical thinking that is the hallmark of 'progressive' thought will not allow for such a blatant application of common sense. You see, fiscal train wrecks occur in other states--not ours!

A very wise man once said, "Learn from others' mistakes. You won't live long enough to make them all yourself."

It would appear that Mahoney and Co. have a very long, long way to go in learning that lesson.

Only He Who Risks, Is Free..

2010-12-26T21:12:00.003-06:00

I met a very interesting character today on Twitter.. specifically, an individual that goes by the handle, ObeyMyObama; whose profile states:

The people want PROVISIONS supplied & RISK removed. Statist gov't only option. Statism works with fair & just leader like Obama. AcceptCopeObey

At first I thought that this was obviously a sham account; one that was created tongue and cheek.. but the more that I observed this fruitcake, the more I saw that this person was actually serious:

http://bit.ly/edmSn0 We believe a strong central government, led by a honorable, fair & just authority is most efficient & equal. #p2 #tcot

And...

We don't think that freedom is most important thing. Equality is most important. Government is the answer. #p2 #tcot

So I decided I make contact with this person:

>>@obeymyobama <<

to which this sad, sad person replied,

Communism failed, unfortunately. Statism will work this time w/ fair & just leader. Obama removes risk & provides provisions.

To which I retorted,

@obeymyobama And who provides Obama with the provisions to provide to you? Is it the magic provisions dust that Obama carries in his pocket?

To which she retorted:

@Leo_Pusateri those that can provided, must provide. Equality is the foundation to a fair and just society. Don't hate, give if you have.

Can one believe that such people exist in our United States? Someone who wants to be taken care of, womb to the tomb, so willing to give up their liberties in lieu of a life supposedly free of risk.

This exchange made me think a lot about how some people are quite comfortable with living their lives in economic squalor, devoid of liberties, so as to provide themselves with a false sense of security. This harkened back to me in the form of a poem from the 1980s that had been shared with me:

Only a Person who Risks is Free

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach for another is to risk involvement.
To expose your ideas, your dreams,
before a crowd is to risk their loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To believe is to risk despair.
To try is to risk failure.
But risks must be taken, because the
greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The people who risk nothing, do nothing,
have nothing, are nothing.
They may avoid suffering and sorrow,
but they cannot learn, feel, change,
grow, love, live.
Chained by their certitudes they are slaves;
they have forfeited their freedom.
Only a person who risks is free.

- anonymous

Separated At Birth? (newly updated)

2010-12-26T19:07:00.000-06:00

Laura Ingraham has a whole eleven pages of "Separated at Birth" photos at her website...

Being somewhat of a "Separated at Birth" afficionado over the years, I've posted a few of my own and have compiled them into this post.

Enjoy!

A few "Separated at Births" I have noticed over the years:

Nancy Pelosi, and King Crimson:

Al Franken, and The Swamp Thing:

The Alien 'Exeter,' from the 1950s sci-fi classic,"This Island Earth," and Joe Biden. (I dare you to tell the difference--really).

Barack Obama, and the little brother from "Malcom in the Middle"

The Joker, and Algore:

Hillary Clinton, and some other man in a pantsuit.

'19th Hijacker,' Zackarias Moussoui, and "The Brain" from "Pinky & the Brain"

John Kerry, and the balloon heads running out at the opening of the Turin Olympics:

Boy George (Karma Chameleon) and Uncle Fester:

Welll... you be the judge:

With apologies to "The Little Buddy"

George Soros, and Simon Bar Sinister, from the 1960s cartoon show, "Underdog!"

And finally,

John McCain...

And his long-lost cousin...

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 12-22-2010

2010-12-22T19:36:00.000-06:00

I sat here trying to think how to start this post. What did I want it to say? How long did I want it to be? I wasn't sure how to begin. I turned on some Christmas music to help get me in the right frame of mind to write a Christmas Wednesday Hero post, but it wasn't really helping. I mean, how do you properly thank a group of people who have given up everything in their lives to serve you and protect people all over the world with just a single post on a silly blog? Many of these Men and Women haven't seen their friends and families in months and many won't be seeing them for many more months. How do you thank them? They are away from home during the time of year when everyone should be together. How do you thank them for that? Some of them will never see their home or loved ones again because they laid down their life for a complete stranger. How do you thank them for that? I guess the better question would be are we able to thank them enough?

To all those who have completed their service, the ones who are serving, the ones who have payed the ultimate sacrifice and those who may have never served but help those who have and are, Thank You and Merry Christmas.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Monty Python can teach us alot about the DADT repeal...

2010-12-22T17:25:00.001-06:00

Brain Shavings treats this one with impeccable logic.

And the START treaty is a surprise in what way?

2010-12-20T22:00:00.003-06:00

There are some who may be a bit taken aback at the unilateral nature of the START treaty.

But for those of us who were actually paying attention, it's no surprise at all:

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 12-8-2010 SSgt Brent Schneider

2010-12-15T22:01:00.000-06:00

SSgt. Brent Schneider
From Amarillo, Texas
2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment
January 26, 2005

A Green Country military mom is especially proud of her soldier son. He's on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan, and now he's been honored for his bravery under fire with a Silver Star.

It's not his first medal.

For a mother with a son in a war zone, Lisa Wheat is pretty cool, calm and collected.

"I'm comfortable because I know the training he's had. He's had excellent training. And I just have all of the confidence in the world in him," Lisa Wheat said.

You can read the rest of the article here and the Stars & Stripes piece here.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 12-8-2010: Operation Darkhorse Heroes

2010-12-08T20:44:00.002-06:00

This Weeks Post Was Suggested By Cindy

By now I'm sure you've all heard about 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines "Darkhorse" and the heavy casualties they've taken since being deployed to Afghanistan in September. Almost 20 causalities in October and November. Below is a list of the 3/5 Darkhorse Marines that I was able to find. If I've missed anyone please let me know. I'm not able to profile them all individually, but you can go here to find more information on these men.

Marine Sgt. Ian M. Tawney
Marine Lance Cpl. James D. Boelk
Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph C. Lopez
Marine Lance Cpl. Alec E. Catherwood
Marine Lance Cpl. Irvin M. Ceniceros
Marine Pfc. Victor A. Dew
Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph E. Rodewald
Marine Lance Cpl. Phillip D. Vinnedge
Marine Cpl. Justin J. Cain
Marine Lance Cpl. John T. Sparks
Marine 1st Lt. William J. Donnelly IV
Marine Lance Cpl. James B. Stack
Marine 2nd Lt. Robert M. Kelly
Marine Lance Cpl. Randy R. Braggs
Marine Lance Cpl. Brandon W. Pearson
Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew J. Broehm
Marine Sgt. Matthew T. Abbate
Marine Cpl. Derek A. Wyatt
Marine Pvt. Colton W. Rusk
Marine Sgt. Jason D. Peto (died on December 7)

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

A Warning to All Veterans:

2010-12-04T10:40:00.001-06:00

Please give wide distribution -- Warning to All Veterans
WARNING TO ALL VETERANS More Info

WARNING TO VETERANS

Forwarded by Kevin Secor, VSO Liaison, Office of the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

An organization called Veterans Affairs Services (VAS) is providing benefit and general information on VA and gathering personal information on veterans. This organization is not affiliated with VA in any way.
http://www.vaservice...g/us/index.html

VAS may be gaining access to military personnel through their close resemblance to the VA name and seal. Our Legal Counsel has requested that we coordinate with DoD to inform military installations, particularly mobilization sites, of this group and their lack of affiliation or endorsement by VA to provide any services.

In addition, GC requests that if you have any examples of VAS acts that violate chapter 59 of Title 38 United States Code, such as VAS employees assisting veterans in the preparation and presentation of claims for benefits, please pass any additional information to Mr.Daugherty at the address below.

Michael G. Daugherty
Staff Attorney
Department of Veterans Affairs
Office of General Counsel (022G2)
810 Vermont Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20420

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 12-1-2010

2010-12-01T22:04:00.001-06:00

his Weeks Post Was Suggested By Steve

Cpl. Ira H. Hayes
3rd Parachute Battalion, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines, 1st Headquarters Battalion, HQMC
January 12, 1923 – January 24, 1955

Ira Hamilton Hayes, participant in the famous flag raising on Iwo Jima, was a Pima Indian, born at Sacaton, Arizona, on 12 January 1923. In 1932, the family moved a few miles southward to Bapchule. Both Sacaton and Bapchule are located within the boundaries of the Gila River Indian Reservation in south central Arizona. Hayes left high school after completing two years of study. He served in the Civilian Conservation Corps in May and June of 1942, and then went to work as a carpenter.

You can read more about Cpl. Hayes here.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

(ed Note: Ira Hayes was also the subject of a famous Johnny Cash song:

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 11-24-2010

2010-11-24T21:27:00.001-06:00

This Weeks Post Was Suggested By Beth

PFC Chance Phelps
19 years old from Dubois, Wyoming
3 Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force
April 9, 2004

"I don't think anything can prepare you for two young men standing in the living room telling you your son’s been killed," said Gretchen Mack, mother of PFC Chance Phelps. "It's just surreal. They were crying." The last time she had talked her to son was a few days before his death. "He said, 'Mom, I'm fine.' He sounded great. It was really good to be able to talk to him. It made us feel better."

PFC Phelps was KIA while battling insurgents just outside of Baghdad, Iraq.

Friends recall Phelps as a fun-loving, hard-nosed kid. "He was big but didn't throw his size around to intimidate people", said Jarod Estey. "He was probably the toughest kid I knew growing up in grade school. He was probably the biggest kid, too — well-built and strong. But he was real easy going. He always had a smile on his face."

"He was very in tune politically," said his mother. "He knew what he wanted for this country. ... He told me after 9/11, 'I absolutely have to go. I've got to do something.'" But joining the military isn't anything new for the family. His father, John Phelps, is a Vietnam veteran. And his sister, Kelley, works at the Pentagon and is engaged to an Army sergeant.

"He had an unusual amount of zest," said his mother. "He just possessed this quality that he had to be in the thick of things all the time. He was very, very positive, very funny. ... His main thing in life was making people laugh."

You can read more here.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Gottwalt Finds His Niche...

2010-11-17T21:51:00.003-06:00

From a press release:

ST. PAUL –Rep. Steve Gottwalt, R-St. Cloud, has accepted an
appointment to chair the House Health and Human Services Reform
Committee.

Gottwalt, who recently won election to a third term, has served on
House HHS committees and other key HHS groups as a member of the
minority. He sponsored numerous reform-minded initiatives and said his
new leadership position will give him a chance to advance common-sense
solutions. The state estimated his Healthy Minnesota Plan bill could
save more than $110 million over two years, while paying hospitals and
providers better and providing coverage to low income Minnesotans.

“The need for true reform in HHS could not be more clear,” Gottwalt
said. “We face significant budget challenges in the upcoming session
and I am eager to get to work on sustainable solutions. We are in great
need of a new approach. Our current approach to HHS services is making
many promises we cannot keep with money we do not have. I am honored to
serve as chair of this important committee."

They couldn't find a better fit for the position.

Congratulations, Steve...and congratulations, Minnesota!~

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 11-17-2010; SSgt Salvatore Giunta

2010-11-17T21:48:00.000-06:00

This Weeks Post Was Suggested By Cindy

SSgt. Salvatore Giunta
25 years old from Ceder Rapid, Iowa
173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team

Yesterday, SSgt. Salvatore Giunta became the first living recipient of the Medal Of Honor since the Vietnam War.

From the official citation:

Then-Specialist Salvatore A. Giunta distinguished himself by acts of gallantry at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a rifle team leader with Company B, 2d Battalion (Airborne), 503d Infantry Regiment during combat operations against an armed enemy in the Korengal Valley, Afghanistan on October 25, 2007. When an insurgent force ambush split Specialist Giunta’s squad into two groups, he exposed himself to enemy fire to pull a comrade back to cover. Later, while engaging the enemy and attempting to link up with the rest of his squad, Specialist Giunta noticed two insurgents carrying away a fellow soldier. He immediately engaged the enemy, killing one and wounding the other, and provided medical aid to his wounded comrade while the rest of his squad caught up and provided security. His courage and leadership while under extreme enemy fire were integral to his platoon’s ability to defeat an enemy ambush and recover a fellow American paratrooper from enemy hands.”

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Veteran's Day, 2011...

2010-11-11T19:47:00.003-06:00

A few musings...

First, I would like to dedicate this post to current veterans of the war on terror, including my son, Doug:

Going back to Vietnam, I would like to thank my friend Lonnie from my forum home, who wrote the following poem:

ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER PLACE, ANOTHER WAR

We are old men now, graying, grandparents,
those of us who are still alive.

We are black and white and yellow and red
and every shade in between
We are crippled, some in body, some in mind,
all in soul
We bled and we died and we came home where
we bled and died some more
We came home to an indifferent
and uncaring nation
And we left more than blood
in a far and distant land

We are old men now, graying, grandparents
those of us who are still alive.

We watch our sons, our daughters return
from yet another far and distant land
We watch and weep, weep bitter tears
for a generation, a youth lost
But also tears of joy, tears for a nation,
a new beginning, tears for yellow ribbons
on the Central Boulevards of Hometown, USA

It was a long time coming, our welcome home
Through misty, half-closed eyes, we remember,
and imagine, imagine we see our own names,
just a faint imprint, a ghost-like image,
but our own names on those signs

We see the names and the ribbons
on the Central Boulevards of Hometown, USA
and we remember another time,
another place, another war.

We are old men now, graying, grandparents
those of us who are still alive.

Lonnie Henderson
May 29, 1991

With respect to the Korean war, I'd like to honor my Uncle; Gerard Gravel. My father, Leo Pusateri, Sr., served during World War II; and my grandfather, Tony Pusateri, served in World War I.

As a member of the Patriot Guard, I had the honor last Sunday of standing in the flag line of a Veteran's parade at the local V.A.

I stood there, flag in hand, in awe and tears, as Veterans from all walks of life, from WWII to Korea, to Vietnam, to the current wars, walked, rode in vehicles, and/or were pushed in wheelchairs. I shed tears as Blue Star mothers, military wives, and their children and grandchildren walked with pictures of their soldiers and homemade posters in hand.

When all had finally passed, it was the Patriot Guards' turn to walk in the parade. I stood there, flag in hand, and watched as my Patriot Guard friends (most of whom were veterans) assembled to walk the route. One of them turned to me, and asked, "Aren't you gonna walk?" I told him, "Sir, I never wore a uniform. I wouldn't feel right." He replied, "You go ahead and walk with us. It's an honor."

So I walked the route, in the company of heroes.

An honor, indeed.

The Kos-Kids Death Wish...

2010-11-10T19:33:00.004-06:00

I received this in my email box yesterday morning:

Mnred,

On Friday, I sent you an email about how the Blue Dogs, even after losing half of their members in the 2010 elections, were trying to oust Nancy Pelosi as the leader of Democrats in the House. Apparently, the Blue Dogs want to bring their special brand of magic--caving to Republicans, and then losing to them anyway--to the entire House Democratic caucus.

A couple of hours after I sent you that email, Speaker Pelosi fought back, and announced she would run for re-election as House Democratic Leader. She did so because of the overwhelming support she received from progressive members of Congress and tens of thousands of members of the Daily Kos community in the face of the Blue Dog threat.

The leadership battle is on now, and both sides are trying to round up as many supporters as possible. The Blue Dogs have Wall Street on their side, so it’s imperative we let Nancy Pelosi--and all House Democrats--know the grassroots are firmly on her side.

Sign the petition showing your support for Nancy Pelosi as House Democratic Leader. I should have an opportunity to deliver the signatures to her personally later this week, so she will know you've got her back.

So, after the drubbing the democrats took in both the U.S. House and the State houses, they keep on coming back for more?

In the words of George W. Bush, "Bring it on."

That is all.

Some Disconcerting News in the Blogosphere...

2010-11-10T19:27:00.003-06:00

Since the inception of this blog, I've utilized blogrolling.com to provide links to blogs that I find interesting, and or the blogrolls that I'm part of.

Now today I found that blogrolling will cease operation after April 11, 2011.

It was a great service, and will be missed. I hope that some other service can take up the slack before then.

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 11-10-2010

2010-11-10T19:21:00.000-06:00

This Weeks Post Was Suggested By Kathi

Capt. George Vujnovich
95 years old from Queens, New York

66 years after he was instrumental in the rescue of almost 500 bomber pilots who had been shot down over Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia, Capt. George Vujnovich was finally awarded the Bronze Star in October.

You can read the rest of Capt. George Vujnovich's story here.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Lori Swanson's ACORN Problem

2010-10-27T22:10:00.007-05:00

Lori Swanson's current political ads portray her as the squeaky clean- girl next door type, pure as the wind-driven snow, as American as Mom & apple pie. But as this video by A.G. Republican candidate Chris Barden illustrates, Swanson is anything but. Abuses of her office include funneling $250,000 to the election fraud kingpin, ACORN, among other abuses. This video, running a bit over 14 minutes, is more than worth the watch:

After 40 years of 1-party rule in the office of Minnesota Attorney General, it's time for a change.

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 10-27-2010

2010-10-27T21:53:00.000-05:00

GySgt. Carlos Hathcock
May 20, 1942 – February 23, 1999

Carlos Hathcock was a United States Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant sniper with a service record of 93 confirmed kills. Hathcock's record and the extraordinary details of the missions he undertook made him a legend in the Marine Corps. His fame as a sniper and his dedication to long distance shooting led him to become a major developer of the United States Marine Corps Sniper training program. He was honored by having a rifle named after him: a variant of the M21 dubbed the Springfield Armory M25 White Feather.

You Can Read More About GySgt. Hathcock Here

You can watch an interview with Gunny Hathcock
Here
Here
and Here

I have to say that it's kind of sad that the best source of info I could find on Gunny Hathcock was on Wikipedia. There should be a lot more sites honoring this man.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

On Living Under a Rock.

2010-10-19T19:32:00.005-05:00

Congressional RINO, U.S. representative Ahn "Joseph" Cao (LA), is either completely disingenuous, has been living under a rock for the past two years, or is just plain dense (emphases mine):

New Orleans Republican Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao is hedging his bets when it comes to who he’ll support for speaker.

The first-term Republican, who represents a solidly Democratic district, speaking told a local NBC affiliate he would “weigh those two names” — referring to House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

“I have not heard of their platforms,” Cao said, according to the New Orleans Times Picayune. “I have not read what they're looking for with respect to the country.."

So many RINOs, so little time.

The Chamber of Commerce is a Radical Right Wing Group..

2010-10-09T20:24:00.004-05:00

At least, according to Barack Hussein Obama. From an email I received from Mitch Stewart at BarackObama.com (emphases mine):

"This is a threat to our democracy...And if we just stand by and allow the special interests to silence anybody who's got the guts to stand up to them, our country's going to be a very different place."

That's what the President just said about the Chamber of Commerce, a right-wing group spending $75 million to beat Democrats this fall, and reportedly taking money from foreign corporations -- some even owned by foreign governments.

These groups are trying to buy our elections, backing candidates who want to tear down everything that makes the middle class strong in this country: things like Medicare, Social Security, even the minimum wage.

So now the Chamber of Commerce is an extreme right wing radical group??

What's next, the Jaycees?

A Plea From Our Chiseler-In-Chief...

2010-10-07T21:00:00.005-05:00

A letter I received in an email; supposedly penned by "The One," himself... (with comments by yours truly, in bold)...

Leo --

I come into this election with clear eyes.
(Translation: "I see the ass-whoopin' that's a-comin'")

I am proud of all we have achieved together, but I am mindful of all that remains to be done.
(Translation: "I'm not, by any stretch of the imagination, finished with my quest to destroy this country").

I know some out there are frustrated by the pace of our progress. I want you to know I'm frustrated, too.
(Translation: "I actually wanted single payer socialized medicine by now").

But with so much riding on the outcome of this election, I need everyone to get in this game.
(Translation: "Hey--all you mind-numbed footsoldiers--where the hell are you now?")

Neither one of us is here because we thought it would be easy. Making change is hard. It's what we've said from the beginning. And we've got the lumps to show for it.
(Translation: "It's hard bein' a pimp")

The fight this fall is as critical as any this movement has taken on together. And if we are serious about change, we need to fight as hard as we ever have.

The very special interests who have stood in the way of change at every turn want to put their conservative allies in control of Congress. And they're doing it with the help of billionaires and corporate special interests underwriting shadowy campaign ads. (George Soros and the SEIU are of course, excepted).

If they succeed, they will not stop at making our work more difficult -- they will do their best to undo what you and I fought so hard to achieve.
(Yes, bringing back our nation from the brink of destruction will take some time).

There is no better time for you to start fighting back -- a fellow grassroots supporter has promised to match, dollar for dollar, whatever you can chip in today.
(Hmmm... a perusal of the donation site doesn't say just who that "fellow ~~traveller~~ err.. ~~astroturf~~ err.. grassroots supporter" is. Talk about 'shadowy.')

Please donate $3 -- and see who wants you to re-commit to this movement.
(Personally, I wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire, but I digress)

Now-- this is where "The One" desperately pines for the "Glory Days:

I know that sometimes it feels like we've come a long way from the hope and excitement of the inauguration, with its "Hope" posters and historic crowds on the National Mall.

I will never forget it. But it was never why we picked up this fight.

I didn't run for president because I wanted to do what would make me popular. And you didn't help elect me so I could read the polls and calculate how to keep myself in office.

You and I are in this because we believe in a simple idea -- that each and every one of us, working together, has the power to move this country forward. (Yes, forward, forward toward that train wreck up ahead)

We believed that this was the moment to solve the challenges that the country had ignored for far too long.

That change happens only from the bottom up. That change happens only because of you.

So I need you to fight for it over the next 26 days. I need your time. I need your commitment. And I need your help to get your friends and neighbors involved.

If you bring in a new donor today, your $3 donation will become $6. And our Vote 2010 campaign will have twice the resources to make important investments like putting staff on the ground, providing materials for volunteers, and turning out millions of voters come Election Day.

Please donate $3 -- and renew your commitment today:

https://donate.barackobama.com/OctoberMatch

If we meet this test -- if you, like me, believe that change is not a spectator sport -- we will not just win this election. In the years that come, we can realize the change we are seeking -- and reclaim the American dream for this generation.

Thank you for being a part of it,

President Barack Obama (pbuh, Hmm-Hmm-Hmm)

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Once universally loved, "The One" is now reduced to begging for attention and relevance like a two-bit bum brandishing a squeegee.

Gotta love it.

A Tale of Two Fails...

2010-10-06T21:41:00.001-05:00

I love omens...

A Tale of Two Rallies...

2010-10-03T19:32:00.004-05:00

Take a look at this post, showing the stark difference in attendance between the Glenn Beck 8/28 rally and the communist-inspired astroturf rally that happened this past Saturday. By all accounts (on the left), this rally was predicted to outnumber and outflank the Restoring Honor rally.

Meh.

The enthusiasm gap continues.

The left's days of running (and/or ruining) this nation are truly numbered.

A Brit's Take on the Ground Zero Mosque..

2010-10-03T18:52:00.001-05:00

Sometimes it takes someone standing outside the forest to speak the most sense to those inside of it:

(h/t Jihad Watch)

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 9-29-2010

2010-09-30T21:58:00.000-05:00

This Weeks Post Was Suggested By Lt. Schneider

Cpl. Brian Downard

Brian Downard was 23 years old, a father, a country music fan, and a corporal of Marines. He joined the Marine Corps in July of 2005, and would do two deployments to two different scenic locales. The first was to Iraq, where he served from November of ’06 to April of the following year. While in Iraq, Brian suffered a concussion from an IED strike while patrolling. Undeterred, Brian stayed in the Marines and deployed to Burma in 2008 when Marines and sailors with the Essex Amphibious Readiness Group provided humanitarian assistance operations to aid the cyclone-stricken country. He would eventually leave the service just last July, after four honorable years of service.

One month after separation, he discovered that he had testicular cancer, and a very aggressive strain at that. The cancer spread quickly to his muscles and fatty tissues, and Brian suffered so greatly with the pain that they put him on morphine. He was released from the VA to enjoy his last days with the love from his mom and his 7-year-old son Jesse.

You can read the rest of Cpl. Downard's story here.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Don't Think There Can Be Any Question...

2010-09-23T19:35:00.003-05:00

Who the pro-business candidate for MN 15-A House. Representative Steve Gottwalt just recently received the Guardian of Small Business Award from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).

Representative Steve Gottwalt Earns Guardian of Small Business Award

St Paul, MN, September 21^st, 2010- The state’s largest business group in terms of entities, the National Federation of Independent Business is pleased to announce that Representative Steve Gottwalt of St. Cloud has earned the Guardian of Small Business Award for the 2009-10 session. “Representative Gottwalt is a strong supporter of small business at the Capitol and we really appreciate that” said Mike Hickey, State Director of NFIB/MN.

Rep. Gottwalt understands the vital role small businesses play in our state’s economy and realizes how many jobs are created by small business each year. He made many votes in support of small business including voting against a large tax increase several times in our already high tax state, supported legislation to expand the Small Employer Flexible Benefit Plan Law to more small businesses and importantly individuals, and opposed a measure to raise the cost of Health Savings Account plans to mention a few. Representative Gottwalt made many other votes in support of small business and he is a real friend. We are happy to announce that he has earned the Guardian of Small Business Award

Way to go, Steve~!

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 9-22-2010

2010-09-22T19:57:00.000-05:00

This Weeks Post Was Suggested By Mike Golch

Lt. Ronald Markiewicz

The year is 1971. A Lieutenant in the United States Army by the name of Ronald Markiewicz is serving near the Laotian border. He is a helicopter pilot. In March of that year he is sent out to fly two missions. The first one was to resupply a group of Vietnamese Marines and pick up wounded service members. The second mission was to allow troops to recover the crew of a downed helicopter. One both occasions he faces anti-aircraft fire and is wounded each time.

Fast forward to 2010 and Lt. Ronald Markiewicz finally received the Silver Star and a Distinguished Flying Cross. The awards he earned 39 years ago.

All Information Was Found On And Copied From ArmyTimes.com

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Memo to John Hinderaker

2010-09-19T14:17:00.005-05:00

Castle lost. O'Donnell has won. Get over it. Despite your elitist leanings, an ordinary citizen with the right ideas and principles CAN not only win, but no doubt govern a hell of a lot better than the current crop of monkeys we have in Congress, Mike Castle, included.

So what if she 'dabbled' in witchcraft over a decade ago. We have a full-time witch holding the gavel in the House of Representatives right now.

So instead of crying in the sandbox and threatening to take away all the toys, instead of trying to satisfy your insatiable desire to say, "told you so," at any cost, get behind and support the candidate who will advance the conservative cause.

Read this, and grow up.

That is all.

Sign Her Up...

2010-09-18T22:52:00.002-05:00

Run her against Nancy Pelosi... at least she makes more sense.

Hypocrisy: Thy Name is Barack Hussein Obama

2010-09-18T12:51:00.008-05:00

In his weekly ~~radio address~~ propaganda diatribe, the President of the United States and Hypocrite in Chief Barack Hussein Obama pointed his bony finger of hypocritical indignation at the Republican Party regarding the ~~First Amendment Death Knell~~ Campaign Finance bill now stalled in the U.S Senate.

In his address, Obama whines:

Now, the special interests want to take Congress back, and return to the days when lobbyists wrote the laws. And a partisan minority in Congress is hoping their defense of these special interests and the status quo will be rewarded with a flood of negative ads against their opponents. It’s a power grab, pure and simple. They’re hoping they can ride this wave of unchecked influence all the way to victory.

What is clear is that Congress has a responsibility to act. But the truth is, any law will come too late to prevent the damage that has already been done this election season. That is why, any time you see an attack ad by one of these shadowy groups, you should ask yourself, who is paying for this ad? Is it the health insurance lobby? The oil industry? The credit card companies?

Conspicuously missing from the oh-so-pure-as-the-wind-driven-snow President's laundry list of bogeymen are his own merry band of corruptive contributors.

SEIU, anyone? George Soros, anyone?

Excuse me, Barack- do you have any modicum of intellectual honesty and/or decency in any sector of your corrupt psyche? Must every word that comes out of your mouth be one of prevarication and blatant hypocrisy?

But then again, how could a sorry sot like yourself have gotten elected in the first place.

My bad-I should have surmised.

Sorry to interrupt, Mr. President.

Please carry on with your golf game.

Barack Obama in Hell...

2010-09-18T09:23:00.000-05:00

From an email:

One day in the future, Barack Obama has a heart-attack and dies.
He immediately goes to hell, where the devil is waiting for him.
"I don't know what to do here," says the devil. "You are on my list, but I have no room for you. You definitely have to stay here, so I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I've got a couple of folks here who weren't quite as bad as you. I'll let one of them go, but you have to take their place. I'll even let YOU decide who leaves."

Obama thought that sounded pretty good, so the devil opened the door to the first room.

In it was Ted Kennedy and a large pool of water. Ted kept diving in, and surfacing, empty handed. Over, and over, and over he dived in and surfaced with nothing. Such was his fate in hell.

"No," Obama said. "I don't think so. I'm not a good swimmer, and I don't think I could do that all day long."

The devil led him to the door of the next room.

In it was Al Gore with a sledgehammer and a room full of rocks. All he did was swing that hammer, time after time after time.

"No, this is no good; I've got this problem with my shoulder. I would be in constant agony if all I could do was break rocks all day," commented Obama.

The devil opened a third door. Through it, Obama saw Bill Clinton , lying on the bed, his arms tied over his head, and his legs restrained in a spread-eagle pose. Bent over him was Monica Lewinsky, doing what she does best.

Obama looked at this in shocked disbelief, and finally said, "Yeah man, I can handle this."

The devil smiled and said .. . . . .

(This is priceless...)

"OK, Monica, you're free to go."
Read more at Psycmeistr's Ice Palace.

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 9-15-2010

2010-09-16T19:58:00.001-05:00
Pvt. Daren A. Smith
19 years old from Helena, Montana
3rd Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry)
December 13, 2007

Pvt. Daren A. Smith was born in Butte, Montana and lived there until he reached middle school, when he moved to Helena. He graduated from Helena High School in 2006 and completed a semester at the University of Montana-Helena College of Technology. He joined the United States Army in March of 2007 and was deployed to Iraq on November of that year.

Pvt. Daren A. Smith died on December 13, 2007 of non-combat related injuries. His funeral was held on a cold 20-degree Winter's day but that didn't stop hundreds of mourners from his hometown lining the streets to honor him.

"He was the kind of guy who would do anything for you," said a friend of Pvt. Smith. "He was just a great guy."

All Information Was Found On And Copied From MilitaryCity.com

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
Read more at Psycmeistr's Ice Palace.

Strange Days, Indeed...I Guess You Can Fight City Hall, After All.

2010-09-14T20:48:00.004-05:00
Who would have known that a 30 second soundbite of a February 19, 2009 broadcast, on of all places, MSNBC, could have so changed the political landscape:

This election cycle is by far the strangest in my 50 years on this earth. I've seen a lot of infighting among different factions in the democrat party before, but never in my lifetime (well, at least since the election of Ronald Reagan) have I seen such infighting among Republicans.

Don’t get me wrong. Since Bush 41 infamously broke his “Read My Lips” pledge, movement conservatives have had plenty of beefs with the establishment of the GOP. But with seemingly no where else to go, and assuaged by the constant assurances by the establishment that their concerns would eventually be addressed (but that they just had to veer to the left in order to get elected by ‘independents’), movement conservatives patiently waited election cycle after election cycle while their agenda was perpetually back-burnered by the increasingly arrogant and increasingly statist Old Guard of the Republican Party. Movement conservatives, the driving force behind the landslide elections of 1994 when Republicans took over the majority, and again in 2002, when Republicans added to their majorities in the mid-term elections (a feat rarely witnessed in the annals of U.S. History), were constantly taken for granted as RINOs like John McCain, Lincoln Chaffee, Mike Castle and Susan Collins constantly ‘reached across the aisle’ (read: capitulated); resulting in increasing government intrusions, and the rendering of the size of government to behemoth status.

Then along came 2006, with both houses reverting to democrat control, culminating into the mother of all wakeup calls- the election of Barack Hussein Obama in 2008.

But then came Santelli.

Suddenly, it wasn’t just your traditional conservative activists who were screaming that the sky was falling. More and more ‘Joe Sixpack’ Americans were opening their eyes and recognizing the multi-trillion dollar rhinoceros of unsustainable debt that was precariously perched upon their dining room tables, waiting to eat themselves and their progeny alive.

Curiously, Folks like Ron Paul and Sarah Palin weren’t looking so much like whacked out extreme nutjob outsiders anymore.

More and more people (especially college-aged kids) were tuning in to the Constitutionalist message and turning out en masse at their local caucuses and political gatherings. The organization demonstrated by the Ron Paul factions at these functions was nothing less than stunning, and something that the Republican establishment were ill-equipped and ill-prepared to deal.

From Searchlight Nevada, to Dover, Delaware, to the Jersey shore, to Boston Massachusetts, to Washington D.C., gathering after gathering of people who previously were content to merely sit on their couches and gripe were now an active force to be reckoned with, and have made it clear that they shall NOT be ignored. No longer will blind trust be extended such that just because there’s an R next to an elected official’s name, that that official will necessarily be a worthy steward of their precious liberties. Going one step further on the old Reagan ‘Trust, but verify“ policy during the glastnost and perestroika days of the Cold War, to Tea Party activists, with respect to their elected officials, the catch phrase has necessarily become “To hell with trust; we want verification.”

What we’re witnessing today, despite the screaming and gnashing of teeth of the Establishment is yet another revolution; here to date unlike any other seen. Unlike the Reagan revolution, this movement is not led by a central figure. Unlike the Republican Revolution of 1994, this revolution is not led by a small coterie of a party establishment; rather, this revolution has as its focal point a general awakening; a collective, bottom-up realization that the liberties we have enjoyed for the past two and a half centuries as Americans are unbelievably fragile; and must be defended not only from enemies who wish to destroy them from without, but also from those who wish to destroy them from within, up to and including Republicans themselves.

In every sense of the word, we are now entering uncharted waters; a very real brave, new world, the likes of which have not been navigated since the dawning of the American Revolution. For far too long Americans have slumbered and/or stewed in the notion that “You can’t fight city hall.” But if the election of Barack Hussein Obama and the ensuing events that have taken place even into this very evening have taught us anything, it is that ordinary Americans can not only fight City Hall, they can win.
Read more at Psycmeistr's Ice Palace.

Separated at Birth?

2010-09-09T22:26:00.003-05:00

George Soros and Simon Bar Sinister (from Underdog)
Read more at Psycmeistr's Ice Palace.

Regarding the Koran insanity (Part II)

2010-09-09T21:37:00.002-05:00
It appears now that the good pastor has called off "International Burn a Koran Day" (at least for now).

This is welcome news. Sacred symbols of religions ought not be desecrated.

I just hope Obama and the rest of the world are as indignant the next time a loser artist wants to place a crucifix in a jar of urine; or the next time another idiot wants to smear a painting of the Blessed Virgin Mary with elephant dung.

But since Christians don't fly jetliners into buildings on purpose, nor blow themselves (and others) up in crowded market squares, that probably won't happen.

On second thought, maybe acts of wanton violence and savagery do pay.
Read more at Psycmeistr's Ice Palace.

Regarding the Koran insanity...

2010-09-08T20:56:00.005-05:00
Just a few random thoughts regarding the big to-do being made regarding the Gainesville, FL idiot pastor of a church of 30 followers for (gasp-) burning a Koran.

My question is thus: Why?

I mean, what is the interest of the lamestream media in hyping this story? Are they hoping for a self-fulfilling prophecy, praying against hope for Islamic-initiated carnage resultant from the hype, providing fodder for the next news cycle?

Does this scenario sound vaguely familiar?

If nothing else, this kerfuffle has made it abundantly clear that in over two centuries of covering news, the Fourth Estate has yet to rise above its genetic tendency toward yellow journalism.

That being said, if any unrest arises from this non-event that does result in death or mayhem, it will ironically be those same lamebrains in the media who unnecessarily stirred the pot that will make excuses for those who practice the mayhem.

You see, the leftist media can't seem to bring itself to hold the same level of accountability toward Muslims with respect to inflicting pain, suffering and mayhem commensurate with their Western counterparts.

The fact that we don't hold the 'Arab Street' to the same moral standards of behavior nor assume ability for rational thought commensurate with the rest of humanity only enables their sub-human animalistic behavior.

So why does the leftist media not only attempt to stir up but actually appear to relish Islamic-inflicted mayhem?

Something tells me that it's about a little bit more than merely trying to stir up fodder for the next news cycle.

As a matter of fact, Jamie Glazov seems to provide the best answer.

To paraphrase an old Arabic/Chinese proverb, any enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Nuff said.
Read more at Psycmeistr's Ice Palace.

Welcome to the Idiocracy

2010-09-08T19:02:00.002-05:00
If you've never seen the movie "Idiocracy" you should.

This movie envisions a future society void of intelligence due to the phenomenon that stupid people bred at twice the rate of intellectuals, effectively dumbing down society in the process.

Which brings me to this story:

Low-literacy adults to increase 25% by 2031: report

CBC News
The number of Canadian adults with low literacy levels will increase 25 per cent in the next two decades, creating a "literacy dilemma" if the problem isn't addressed immediately, a new report says.

By 2031, more than 15 million Canadian adults — three million more than today — will have low literacy levels, the Canadian Council on Learning says in the report released Wednesday.

"Unless some action is taken to reverse this trend, the literacy dilemma we are facing can translate into profound challenges for Canada's social well-being and economic prosperity," the council warned.

With low literacy skills, a person can deal "only with simple, clear material involving uncomplicated tasks," the council said.

Adults who meet the minimum threshold for understanding and using information from text, such as news stories, editorials, poems and fiction, are considered to have low literacy. They aren't considered illiterate. The number of Canadians considered illiterate is "actually very small," the report said, without being specific.

The report cited research showing adults with low literacy levels have more health problems, earn less and live shorter lives than other adults.

"In order to maintain a healthy population and to stay competitive in a global environment, Canada must address these issues today — not 20 years from now," the council said.

The number of adults with low literacy will rise in Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, the council predicted in the report, titled the Future of Literacy in Canada's Largest Cities.

The rise will be greatest in Ottawa (80 per cent, to 500,000 adults), followed by Toronto and Vancouver (64 per cent, to nearly 3.2 million and 1.3 million, respectively), and Montreal (20 per cent, to more than 1.8 million.)

Although their numbers will increase, adults with low literacy will make up a smaller proportion of the population in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver, and a larger proportion in Montreal.

"These new numbers challenge the popular belief that the state of literacy in Canada will improve over time given Canada's growth in post-secondary graduates," said Dr. Paul Cappon, chief executive of the Canadian Council on Learning.

Driving the changes in literacy levels are two growing populations, the report found: low-literacy immigrants and senior citizens, who tend to experience "learning loss as they age."

The CCL, whose mission is "to be a catalyst for lifelong learning across Canada," did not offer specific solutions to the country's literacy levels.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/ca...s#ixzz0yy4HmLsC
While this is a story about Canada, the United States is going down the same path.

The insistence of feel-good-ism and self-esteem über alles will bear its ugly fruit in the not-too-distant future.

After all, the dumber the voter, the more likely they are to vote democrat.
Read more at Psycmeistr's Ice Palace.

Mark Dayton & Brick Tamland: Separated at Birth?

2010-09-08T18:16:00.007-05:00
Minnesota Gubernatorial Candidate Mark Dayton, and Brick Tamland, from the movie Anchorman:

The similarities are positively eerie.

That is all.
Read more at Psycmeistr's Ice Palace.

Wednesday Hero Blogburst 9-8-2010

2010-09-08T18:04:00.001-05:00
This Weeks Post Was Suggested By Mike

Pvt. Barney F. Hajiro
93 years old from Waipahu, Hawaii
442nd Regimental Combat Team

On September 16 Mr. Hajiro will turn 94 years old. His family immigrated from Japan during WWI and he had to drop out of school and work to help support his family. After Pearl Harbor was attacked he was drafted in the United States Army. In March 1943, he volunteered to join the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, composed of Nisei (second-generation Japanese Americans) like himself. He was shipped to Europe in 1944 first to Italy then to France where, over ten days in October, Pvt. Hajiro repeatedly distinguished himself in battle by exposing himself to enemy fire while assisting an allied attack. On October 29, 1944 Pvt. Hajiro single-handedly destroyed two German machine gun emplacements before being shot in the shoulder and wrist partially paralyzing his left arm. For his actions he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. In 1948 he was awarded the Military Medal by the British government, in 2000 was was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Bill Clinton and in 2004 he was awarded the Légion d'honneur by France. Barney F. Hajiro is the oldest living Medal Of Honor recipient.

From his Medal Of Honor Citation:

For The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Private Barney F. Hajiro, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty while serving with Company I, 3d Battalion, 442d Regimental Combat Team, attached to the 36th Infantry Division, in action against the enemy on 19, 22, and 29 October 1944, in the vicinity of Bruyeres and Biffontaine, eastern France. Private Hajiro, while acting as a sentry on top of an embankment on 19 October 1944, in the vicinity of Bruyeres, France, rendered assistance to allied troops attacking a house 200 yards away by exposing himself to enemy fire and directing fire at an enemy strong point. He assisted the unit on his right by firing his automatic rifle and killing or wounding two enemy snipers. On 22 October 1944, he and one comrade took up an outpost security position about 50 yards to the right front of their platoon, concealed themselves, and ambushed an 18-man, heavily armed, enemy patrol, killing two, wounding one, and taking the remainder as prisoners. On 29 October 1944, in a wooded area in the vicinity of Biffontaine, France, Private Hajiro initiated an attack up the slope of a hill referred to as "Suicide Hill" by running forward approximately 100 yards under fire. He then advanced ahead of his comrades about ten yards, drawing fire and spotting camouflaged machine gun nests. He fearlessly met fire with fire and single-handedly destroyed two machine gun nests and killed two enemy snipers. As a result of Private Hajiro's heroic actions, the attack was successful. Private Hajiro's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon him, his unit, and the United States Army.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Read more at Psycmeistr's Ice Palace.