Can you say "oxymoron"? The Obama administration is doing everything it can to insure that our upcoming generations are as left-wing as he and his cohorts can possibly make them. GIVE (Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education) expands the Clinton administrations AmeriCorps program to something approximating the Hitler Youth Corps and the Red Guard of Communist China.
The GIVE Act, which has already passed the House, will also create additional "corps" to expand the reach of "volunteerism" into new sectors, including a Clean Energy Corps, Education Corps, Healthy Futures Corps and Veterans Service Corps, and it expands the National Civilian Community Corps to focus on additional areas like disaster relief and energy conservation. There will probably also be the Attitude Corps, the Thought Corps, and the Inform on Your Family, Friends, and Neighbors Corps! The Senate is mulling over a similar piece of legislation, the "Serve America Act," sponsored by Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass.
These bills mandate volunteerism! Doesn't that smack of "involuntary servitude"... something that is outlawed by our Constitution (I assume the Constitution has not yet been rescinded by the Obama administration)? Title 18, U.S.C., Sec. 1584, makes it a Federal crime or offense for anyone to willfully hold another person in involuntary servitude. If and when it is mandated, people will do less voluntarily than they do today. The understandable attitude will be, "I was required to 'volunteer' before. I'm finished now."
The GIVE Act is popularly known as "The National Enslavement Bill", but it's not a popular title among those who wish to be the masters! Can "Cultural Re-Education Camps" be far behind for those who dare to resist?
Section 120 of GIVE discusses the “Youth Engagement Zone Program” and states that “service learning” will be “a mandatory part of the curriculum in all of the secondary schools served by the local educational agency.” This part remains in the version passed by the Senate.
Roles which will be staffed by members of the programs, labeled “Required National Service Corps,” include “criminal justice,” “environmental stewardship,” and “public safety”. How foreign does this all sound to a "free" people? Indoctrination is not the same thing as education. The goal of education has, in the past, been to teach one how to think, while the goal of indoctrination has always been to teach one what to think!
I fear for my country - and the country of my children, and their children. I love the country in which I grew up, but I now fear the government of the country in which I live. And the really strange part is... I HAVEN'T MOVED!
I'm also afraid that I'm not wrong about this!
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -- Edmund Burke (Attrib)
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Somali Pirates - Part III - "Learn From Your Mistakes"
We have an old saying in the United States - "There's no such thing as a free lunch." What that means is there is a cost for everything one does - even earning an honest living! Working for wages to acquire the things you and your family need (or just want) requires a forfeiture of family time. Threatening innocent, unarmed people at gunpoint to get that which you desire is considered a supreme act of cowardice. But then, the Somalis are well-known for their cowardly acts!
On October 3rd, 1993, Somali cowards killed 18 American soldiers and wounded 73 - American soldiers who were there on a mission of mercy! Deployed to bring food to starving Somalis, they were greeted with hostility and small arms fire.
Piracy has become big business for Somalians, who are currently hiding 17 ships of various nations, and holding over 200 seamen from those ships as hostages. Where is the International pressure? Where is the International cooperation? Where is the Toothless Tiger of the United Nations? Why is this criminal practice of piracy allowed to continue? Why have the nations whose ships have been captured, not banded together to present a united military front, telling the Somalis, "Release our ships and our people today, or tomorrow will be your last day." Where is it written that the world must coddle thieves, thugs, terrorists and other assorted ne'er do wells?
In closing, I have only this to say... Somali cowards, learn from your mistake. If you feel like a free lunch don't look for it on board a ship flying the American flag... the cost is too dear!
On October 3rd, 1993, Somali cowards killed 18 American soldiers and wounded 73 - American soldiers who were there on a mission of mercy! Deployed to bring food to starving Somalis, they were greeted with hostility and small arms fire.
Piracy has become big business for Somalians, who are currently hiding 17 ships of various nations, and holding over 200 seamen from those ships as hostages. Where is the International pressure? Where is the International cooperation? Where is the Toothless Tiger of the United Nations? Why is this criminal practice of piracy allowed to continue? Why have the nations whose ships have been captured, not banded together to present a united military front, telling the Somalis, "Release our ships and our people today, or tomorrow will be your last day." Where is it written that the world must coddle thieves, thugs, terrorists and other assorted ne'er do wells?
In closing, I have only this to say... Somali cowards, learn from your mistake. If you feel like a free lunch don't look for it on board a ship flying the American flag... the cost is too dear!
"Obama Sees Signs of Economic Progress" (Reuters)
And, what would we expect him to say? "I see the entire country going down the tubes, and I haven't the slightest idea what to do about it?" Perhaps, but that would require him telling the truth - an act with which he is entirely unfamiliar.
In Chapter 1 of 'Acting Presidential for Dummies' it plainly states, "Never let the people see you sweat. Especially if you are The Messiah... The One! Put on those rose-colored glasses, and view the world not as it actually is, but as you think it should be! Thy serfs will change it for You!"
An AP headline shouts"Obama Has Hundreds of Important Jobs Still Open". Could Obama have run out of tax-dodging incompetents - but loyal supporters - to reward with political plums already? Limiting ones acquaintances to politicians, terrorists, tax dodgers and white-collar criminals certainly can leave one at a loss when it comes to filling important cabinet-level and directorship positions. The Freedonian Government (Duck Soup, Marx Bros, 1933) administered by President Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx) was better organized and more capable!
I could be wrong about this... show me!
In Chapter 1 of 'Acting Presidential for Dummies' it plainly states, "Never let the people see you sweat. Especially if you are The Messiah... The One! Put on those rose-colored glasses, and view the world not as it actually is, but as you think it should be! Thy serfs will change it for You!"
An AP headline shouts"Obama Has Hundreds of Important Jobs Still Open". Could Obama have run out of tax-dodging incompetents - but loyal supporters - to reward with political plums already? Limiting ones acquaintances to politicians, terrorists, tax dodgers and white-collar criminals certainly can leave one at a loss when it comes to filling important cabinet-level and directorship positions. The Freedonian Government (Duck Soup, Marx Bros, 1933) administered by President Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx) was better organized and more capable!
I could be wrong about this... show me!
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Somali Pirates - Part II
The Somali Pirates are not a baseball team... they aren't even a romanticized version of swashbuckling seamen on deck beneath billowing sails... but rather, they are thieves and thugs! Their successes should be an embarrassment to the shipping countries of the entire world, and to the naval forces of those countries patrolling the shipping lanes of the Indian Ocean.
The gravity of the situation was compounded by the thugs' use of the Maersk Alabama's Captain as a bargaining chip for both financial reward and freedom. There are several problems arising from this single act of piracy:
1. Piracy itself is a violation of the United Nations Maritime Law (International Maritime Law) which was signed by 150 nations.
2. Merchant vessels are currently prohibited from arming themselves, which makes them relatively easy targets for the Somali sea thieves.
3. Although 150 nations signed the UN's Maritime Law in 1982, there are only about a dozen countries providing naval patrols along the shipping routes. Another fine example of the effectiveness of the United Nations. This extremely limited response should be a major embarrassment to the United Nations.
4. Four Somali thieves - with a hostage in a lifeboat - are holding a ship of the line from the United States Navy at bay, while the thugs try to negotiate their way out of the problem they have created for themselves. This must be an embarrassment for the US Navy, if not for your doesn't-have-a-clue President! There are a couple of ways of looking at it:
a. The USS Bainbridge and the USS Halyburton have been instructed not to attempt a rescue of the freighter's Captain for humanitarian reasons. These would include bringing the power of a US Naval Destroyer to bear on four ingnorant, thieving natives in a lifeboat, or accepting that the pirates would, as threatened, kill their hostage should any rescue attempt be made.
b. These four Somali thugs are extremely threatening to the US Navy combat vessels, and the ship's Captains are afraid that the thugs will sink their ships ... yeah - right.
c. The entire standoff is to preserve the life of the Maersk Alabama's Captain. This one is my personal choice - simply because if it were not for his presence on that lifeboat, it would have already been converted to a deathboat!
My suggestion would be to send 5 Navy Seals over the side after dark, and simply have them kill the pirates, and rescue the hostage, in one single synchronized movement. End of standoff, and everybody except the bad guys goes on about their business. But, perhaps that's an oversimplification of how to deal with thugs.
I could be wrong about this... but not as wrong as choosing to let this standoff go on for an extended period. Kill 'em all, and let God sort 'em out!
The gravity of the situation was compounded by the thugs' use of the Maersk Alabama's Captain as a bargaining chip for both financial reward and freedom. There are several problems arising from this single act of piracy:
1. Piracy itself is a violation of the United Nations Maritime Law (International Maritime Law) which was signed by 150 nations.
2. Merchant vessels are currently prohibited from arming themselves, which makes them relatively easy targets for the Somali sea thieves.
3. Although 150 nations signed the UN's Maritime Law in 1982, there are only about a dozen countries providing naval patrols along the shipping routes. Another fine example of the effectiveness of the United Nations. This extremely limited response should be a major embarrassment to the United Nations.
4. Four Somali thieves - with a hostage in a lifeboat - are holding a ship of the line from the United States Navy at bay, while the thugs try to negotiate their way out of the problem they have created for themselves. This must be an embarrassment for the US Navy, if not for your doesn't-have-a-clue President! There are a couple of ways of looking at it:
a. The USS Bainbridge and the USS Halyburton have been instructed not to attempt a rescue of the freighter's Captain for humanitarian reasons. These would include bringing the power of a US Naval Destroyer to bear on four ingnorant, thieving natives in a lifeboat, or accepting that the pirates would, as threatened, kill their hostage should any rescue attempt be made.
b. These four Somali thugs are extremely threatening to the US Navy combat vessels, and the ship's Captains are afraid that the thugs will sink their ships ... yeah - right.
c. The entire standoff is to preserve the life of the Maersk Alabama's Captain. This one is my personal choice - simply because if it were not for his presence on that lifeboat, it would have already been converted to a deathboat!
My suggestion would be to send 5 Navy Seals over the side after dark, and simply have them kill the pirates, and rescue the hostage, in one single synchronized movement. End of standoff, and everybody except the bad guys goes on about their business. But, perhaps that's an oversimplification of how to deal with thugs.
I could be wrong about this... but not as wrong as choosing to let this standoff go on for an extended period. Kill 'em all, and let God sort 'em out!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Outrageous Taxes Levied on Smokers and Drinkers
As of April 1st, 2009, Oregon State taxes on cigarettes increased by 59¢ per pack, and Federal taxes added another $1.01 per pack! This means that a pack of cigarettes will have a median price of about $6.00 per pack. Federal taxes on loose bulk tobacco, the kind used by the "roll your own" crowd, jumped from $1.09 per pound to $23.48 per pound! Statistically, this will create a new "class" of person. The working-class, low-income person is, statistically, far more likely to be the user of tobacco products, than are the middle- and upper-income persons. Assuming that "statistic" (I have not heard an exact percentage) is accurate, the new class will be the "well-to-do" working-class, lower-income person, who, regardless of the cost will refuse to surrender their tobacco habit, thereby making him or her the envy of his or her working-class neighbors. There's also an additional 50¢ per bottle tax on alcoholic beverages. This has been referred to as a "sin tax" for years, but it is, in fact, a pleasure tax. Tax those things that people enjoy, and you will reap greater profits for the Government than if you taxed things like cauliflower, vasectomies, or root canals! Certainly not everyone enjoys either or both of the aforementioned "sins", but enough people do enjoy them to make it very profitable for the Government. "So what?" you say "I don't smoke or drink, so it's no skin off my nose!" Well what do you enjoy? Fishing? Already taxed via "license fees". Boating? Already taxed via "registration fees". If you look at it from a practical standpoint, permits and fees are nothing more than a means of taxing people who enjoy certain activities. The "bowling fee" is probably coming soon, along with "golf permits", "softball licenses" and "Frisbee fees". Neither the Federal nor State Government "owns" the wild game of the USA, but the State sells you a "hunting license". Suppose that deer you just shot wandered over from one of the neighboring states just this morning? Does Oregon have the right to charge you a license fee to shoot a non-resident animal from the state of Washington or California? It's not like Oregon had anything invested in the maintenance of that animal. It's wild game! "Wild" implies that it belongs to nobody... "hunting license" is just a Government euphemism for another tax. And those "game tags"... one more tax!
The Obama administration seems to believe that we can be taxed into prosperity by adopting a more European tax standard - like 40+%. If that works so well, why are the Europeans experiencing the same kinds of difficulties the USA is having? We are not the Europeans!!
We are the United States of America, and there is no apology necessary for our ability to succeed in a free-market economy or to overcome adversity! Most Europeans envy us our successes, many resent us - not because we acted "superior", but because they felt inferior after we saved their collective asses in WWII. Yet even those that resent us still respect American technology, American creativeness, Americas willingness to help, and our military power.
Personally, I refuse to support his taxes, and smoked my last cigarette at 2pm, on April 3rd 2009! So far, so good.
There's an outside chance that I could be wrong about this... about the same chance that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has of becoming the Grand Ayatollah of Iran!
The Obama administration seems to believe that we can be taxed into prosperity by adopting a more European tax standard - like 40+%. If that works so well, why are the Europeans experiencing the same kinds of difficulties the USA is having? We are not the Europeans!!
We are the United States of America, and there is no apology necessary for our ability to succeed in a free-market economy or to overcome adversity! Most Europeans envy us our successes, many resent us - not because we acted "superior", but because they felt inferior after we saved their collective asses in WWII. Yet even those that resent us still respect American technology, American creativeness, Americas willingness to help, and our military power.
Personally, I refuse to support his taxes, and smoked my last cigarette at 2pm, on April 3rd 2009! So far, so good.
There's an outside chance that I could be wrong about this... about the same chance that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has of becoming the Grand Ayatollah of Iran!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Somali Pirates Operating Unchecked By International Naval Forces
A very confusing day in the media - "Pirates Capture US Freighter" ... oops, correction: "American Crew Retakes Freighter From Pirates" ... no, wait a minute: "American Freighter Captain Held By Pirates". There must be a story there somewhere, although the media has done an excellent job of obscuring it.
So, what's new about this particular story of piracy on the high seas? Nothing really. The Somali pirates "attacked" the huge freighter with their little rubber boats. Why were they able to do so, successfully? Because on their little rubber boats they had fully automatic assault weapons, RPGs and rocket launchers. Little did they know that the fearless crew of the ship they were attacking had been trained to defend themselves against pirate attacks at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy... using fire hoses! Now, I don't know about you folks, but if I were forced to confront armed pirates, a fire hose would not be my weapon of choice! What do you call a man who brings a fire hose to a gunfight? The loser!
I don't suppose anybody has considered narrowing the shipping lanes to a manageable width, like say ... 10 miles wide, and then have ships of the international naval contingency every 25 miles (or so) along that Indian Ocean route beginning about 400 miles outside Somali waters?
Or, alternatively, arm those merchant ships to the point that an attack would be foolish beyond belief! Twin .50s fore, aft and amidships, with shoulder-launched heat-seeking missiles at each station. Perhaps that would inspire the pirates to have second thoughts about their chosen field of endeavor.
I could be wrong about this, but it's highly unlikely!
So, what's new about this particular story of piracy on the high seas? Nothing really. The Somali pirates "attacked" the huge freighter with their little rubber boats. Why were they able to do so, successfully? Because on their little rubber boats they had fully automatic assault weapons, RPGs and rocket launchers. Little did they know that the fearless crew of the ship they were attacking had been trained to defend themselves against pirate attacks at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy... using fire hoses! Now, I don't know about you folks, but if I were forced to confront armed pirates, a fire hose would not be my weapon of choice! What do you call a man who brings a fire hose to a gunfight? The loser!
I don't suppose anybody has considered narrowing the shipping lanes to a manageable width, like say ... 10 miles wide, and then have ships of the international naval contingency every 25 miles (or so) along that Indian Ocean route beginning about 400 miles outside Somali waters?
Or, alternatively, arm those merchant ships to the point that an attack would be foolish beyond belief! Twin .50s fore, aft and amidships, with shoulder-launched heat-seeking missiles at each station. Perhaps that would inspire the pirates to have second thoughts about their chosen field of endeavor.
I could be wrong about this, but it's highly unlikely!
Friday, April 3, 2009
"AMERICAN UNEMPLOYMENT REACHES 8.5%" - OFFICIALLY
Unemployment in the USA in February of 2009 was at 8.1% - it is now 8.5%. If you think .4% isn't a big deal, then you don't realize that the .4% equates to 633,000 workers. As of the end of March 2009 we have 13,200,000 unemployed American workers! That's THIRTEEN MILLION TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND idled Americans, not counting the underemployed and those who have consumed their entire unemployment benefit entitlement.
How does our government respond to this American employment crisis? By issuing 138,000 work permits to foreign workers!
How does our government respond to this American employment crisis? By issuing 138,000 work permits to foreign workers!
Wondering how that happened? There are primarily two organizations supporting such inequities - the Soros Foundations Network, and the Carnegie Corporation. What is most interesting about that, is the fact that both organizations are captained by immigrants. Properly documented immigrants, who have personally benefited from the freedom to capitalize on their abilities - a freedom that American tradition has afforded to them. Their way of saying "Thank you, America", is to support amnesty for 12 million illegal aliens with an $18,000,000 war chest and the best lobbyists and lawyers (and politicians?) that money can buy. There goes another 12 million American jobs ... or 3 million jobs and 9 million more welfare recipients. Who are these multi-millionaire ingrates? George Soros, Head Monkey In Charge of the Soros Foundations Network, and Vartan Gregorian, President of the Carnegie Corporation - which works to establish an open-borders policy for the USA.
It is the old adage brought to reality - money talks! Well, with all those unemployed americans, "we the people" don't have much money, so we can either howl at the moon, or complain to our elected officials - which is redundant. Our elected officials have plenty of money! Millionaires have no idea of what it requires from the working class to provide even the basic necessities for a family of 5 - and 40% of our Congress are millionaires several times over.
I will not be surprised, in the near future, to see massive demonstrations against a myriad of irresponsible government policies. Should these demonstrations be improperly recieved by our government, and if the government response is unsympathetic to the plight of the American people, it is not unimaginable that things will get extremely nasty shortly thereafter.
What would I recommend you do about it? Contact ALL your elected representatives, from the City Council to your State Legislature by email, postal letter, FAX and/or telephone and register your dissatisfaction with the path our government is presently on. Or, you could just remain complacent ... and, by that complacency, you become COMPLICIT in the destruction of our country!
I could be wrong about this ... on second thought ... not a snowballs chance!
It is the old adage brought to reality - money talks! Well, with all those unemployed americans, "we the people" don't have much money, so we can either howl at the moon, or complain to our elected officials - which is redundant. Our elected officials have plenty of money! Millionaires have no idea of what it requires from the working class to provide even the basic necessities for a family of 5 - and 40% of our Congress are millionaires several times over.
I will not be surprised, in the near future, to see massive demonstrations against a myriad of irresponsible government policies. Should these demonstrations be improperly recieved by our government, and if the government response is unsympathetic to the plight of the American people, it is not unimaginable that things will get extremely nasty shortly thereafter.
What would I recommend you do about it? Contact ALL your elected representatives, from the City Council to your State Legislature by email, postal letter, FAX and/or telephone and register your dissatisfaction with the path our government is presently on. Or, you could just remain complacent ... and, by that complacency, you become COMPLICIT in the destruction of our country!
I could be wrong about this ... on second thought ... not a snowballs chance!
Unusual Situation - Interesting Solution
Today there was an online Associated Press news article heading proclaiming, "Shelters slowly adapt to help transgender homeless". In the body of the story, it goes on to explain,"From Phoenix to New York, shelters have fine-tuned policies to recognize preferred gender over birth gender, as they balance the needs of their mainstream clients with those of an unconventional segment of the homeless."
Excuse me? Somewhere along the line I apparently failed to get the memo declaring that personal choice overrides chromosomal, anatomical, and hormonal determination of gender? It must be wherever the memo that said we get to select our skin color disappeared to... perhaps they're both hanging out with the one that requires us to ignore all proof to the contrary of what we personally believe!
Getting back to that AP article - "Having seen few such cases, however, and with limited space that winter night, she wasn't sure where to place the transgender woman. The shelter has space for homeless men and women but not anyone in between."
"Anyone in between?" Perhaps because in nature, there is nothing "in between" male and female. There is an overlap of genders in hermaphrodites, but that really isn't "in between"... it's more of a biological confusion of gender. Anatomically speaking, perhaps people in this category would be more correctly called "intersexual", and if scientific gender examination provides indeterminate results then the choice should be left to the parents (IF they choose to make that selection for their child, within 6 months of the date of birth), or to the individual upon reaching his/her majority if such selection has not been previously made for them. I arbitrarily say "6 months" to insure that such actions are taken prior to the individual psyche developing a personal preference. This would allow the individual to progress through their life in a "more natural" gender identity, and hopefully, avoid gender-related psychological crises later on in their life.
This is one I really could be wrong about. But, thankfully, it's a fight in which I, personally, have no dog ...
Excuse me? Somewhere along the line I apparently failed to get the memo declaring that personal choice overrides chromosomal, anatomical, and hormonal determination of gender? It must be wherever the memo that said we get to select our skin color disappeared to... perhaps they're both hanging out with the one that requires us to ignore all proof to the contrary of what we personally believe!
Getting back to that AP article - "Having seen few such cases, however, and with limited space that winter night, she wasn't sure where to place the transgender woman. The shelter has space for homeless men and women but not anyone in between."
"Anyone in between?" Perhaps because in nature, there is nothing "in between" male and female. There is an overlap of genders in hermaphrodites, but that really isn't "in between"... it's more of a biological confusion of gender. Anatomically speaking, perhaps people in this category would be more correctly called "intersexual", and if scientific gender examination provides indeterminate results then the choice should be left to the parents (IF they choose to make that selection for their child, within 6 months of the date of birth), or to the individual upon reaching his/her majority if such selection has not been previously made for them. I arbitrarily say "6 months" to insure that such actions are taken prior to the individual psyche developing a personal preference. This would allow the individual to progress through their life in a "more natural" gender identity, and hopefully, avoid gender-related psychological crises later on in their life.
This is one I really could be wrong about. But, thankfully, it's a fight in which I, personally, have no dog ...
Thursday, April 2, 2009
The Epitome of Ignorance and Poor Judgment!
It seems your President and First Lady did a marvelous job of embarrassing our country upon meeting with Queen Elizabeth II of England. I have never experienced that opportunity myself, but my peasants' understanding of the protocols is:
1. Upon meeting the Queen, women curtsy and men bow. One does not shake hands with the Queen unless she offers her hand first. Then the handshake should be brief and light of touch. One does not squeeze the hand of the Queen!
2. One does not lay hands upon the Queen at any time (other than perhaps to remove her from immediate danger).
3. All persons granted an audience with the Queen are fully briefed on protocols prior to the meeting. In the case of your President and First Lady, they should have been briefed twice - once by his protocol staff, and once by the Queen's attendants.
Those are the main protocols. I would deign to suggest two more:
1. The President of the United States of America should not give the Queen of England a crappy Ipod as a gift. It shows little thoughtfulness, and even less respect for Her Majesty!
2. The President of the United States of America should not refer to the Queen of England as "Your typical white Grandmother."
The fact that the Queen is primarily a figurehead ruler, she is, nonetheless, The Ruler of a great nation that is - or at least was - one of our staunchest allies. The lack of class and buffoonery displayed by your President should be an embarrassment to us all! And this right on the heels of presenting her Prime Minister with 25 DVDs of American movies ...
From the Cleveland (OH) Leader: "The list of offenses is quite long. First, Obama is said to have cancelled a planned, podium-to-podium news conference with Brown, and also recently removed a bust of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill from the Oval Office. Adding further insult to the PM's visit were the cheap and thoughtless gifts that the President gave Mr. Brown and his family." The article goes on, "Brown clearly took care in choosing his gift for President Obama, presenting him with a pen holder crafted from the timbers of the 19th century British warship HMS President. The HMS President's sister ship, the HMS Resolute had previously provided the wood for the Oval Office's desk. Therefore the PM's gift was clearly not a last minute thought."
Perhaps your President believes, deep down, that our British friends are too white for him to show any respect.
Queen Elizabeth is too gracious to publicly display any feelings of insult to, or intrusion upon, her person. I, on the other hand, am not. But then, I still call a terrorist a terrorist - they are neither 'misunderstood allies,' nor 'friends-in-waiting.'
I could be completely wrong about this... and Barack Obama could be the Imperial Wizard of the KKK! The chances of either are pretty slim.
1. Upon meeting the Queen, women curtsy and men bow. One does not shake hands with the Queen unless she offers her hand first. Then the handshake should be brief and light of touch. One does not squeeze the hand of the Queen!
2. One does not lay hands upon the Queen at any time (other than perhaps to remove her from immediate danger).
3. All persons granted an audience with the Queen are fully briefed on protocols prior to the meeting. In the case of your President and First Lady, they should have been briefed twice - once by his protocol staff, and once by the Queen's attendants.
Those are the main protocols. I would deign to suggest two more:
1. The President of the United States of America should not give the Queen of England a crappy Ipod as a gift. It shows little thoughtfulness, and even less respect for Her Majesty!
2. The President of the United States of America should not refer to the Queen of England as "Your typical white Grandmother."
The fact that the Queen is primarily a figurehead ruler, she is, nonetheless, The Ruler of a great nation that is - or at least was - one of our staunchest allies. The lack of class and buffoonery displayed by your President should be an embarrassment to us all! And this right on the heels of presenting her Prime Minister with 25 DVDs of American movies ...
From the Cleveland (OH) Leader: "The list of offenses is quite long. First, Obama is said to have cancelled a planned, podium-to-podium news conference with Brown, and also recently removed a bust of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill from the Oval Office. Adding further insult to the PM's visit were the cheap and thoughtless gifts that the President gave Mr. Brown and his family." The article goes on, "Brown clearly took care in choosing his gift for President Obama, presenting him with a pen holder crafted from the timbers of the 19th century British warship HMS President. The HMS President's sister ship, the HMS Resolute had previously provided the wood for the Oval Office's desk. Therefore the PM's gift was clearly not a last minute thought."
Perhaps your President believes, deep down, that our British friends are too white for him to show any respect.
Queen Elizabeth is too gracious to publicly display any feelings of insult to, or intrusion upon, her person. I, on the other hand, am not. But then, I still call a terrorist a terrorist - they are neither 'misunderstood allies,' nor 'friends-in-waiting.'
I could be completely wrong about this... and Barack Obama could be the Imperial Wizard of the KKK! The chances of either are pretty slim.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
"States Rights" Is What Keeps America Free... Along with the 2nd Amendment
At last count, 30 states had reminded the Federal Government that the feds could not dictate to them, and that they were sovereign powers within the united structure. The only thing better than that would be if all 50 states perform that same act of sovereignty. Now, don't make the mistake some people have and confuse a declaration of sovereignty with secession. There has been no act of secession by any state .... yet.
What are "States Rights"? The first ten amendments to the Constitution are collectively known as "The Bill of Rights", and the Tenth Amendment proclaims: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
As you can see, although it doesn't jump right out at you, that short sentence says that unless it is specified in the constitution as a Federal power, that power, by default, belongs to the States, or the people! Of course, the Constitution isn't worth the paper it's written upon if we, the people, don't insist on its application in all government affairs. If we do not "protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic" we deserve to wear the yoke and chains of socialist enslavement!
We have a definite and obvious threat to all our founding documents in Washington D.C. - a left-wing, socialist administration (which was put there primarily by a complacent "silent majority"), coupled with a left-leaning, socialist-inclined Congress. Disaster is imminent when there are no checks and balances between the legislative and the executive branches of Government.
The President's Cabinet consists primarily of tax dodgers, inexperienced incompetents heading critical Federal functions (CIA, Treasury, Homeland Security, etc.) and those who embrace the "One World" fantasy. As much as you may like to believe in the "One World" concept, it is nothing more than a fantasy. We are not all brothers and sisters riding this big blue marble. There are many millions of people around the world who either envy, resent, or simply hate the United States for reasons frequently beyond our understanding. Reasons - real or imagined - which reinforce their desire to bring about our failure and/or demise as a Democratic Republic. Remember that our individual reality is based on how we personally interpret what we see going on in our world. Reality has nothing to do with what the person on either side of us, or the person standing across the street from us sees - reality and truth are individual concepts!
As a "Conservative-Traditionalist" this is the basis of my reality:
1. The United States has accomplished more in 233 years than any other culture has in 2,000+ years, yet our left-wing Government wants us to emulate the great left-wing socialist countries of Europe. (Yeah... that makes sense, considering how successful they've been! Without our assistance, Europe would have been a territory of Germanys Third Reich for the past 60+ years! And their socialized health care works well too... for those who live long enough to actually get some medical care.)
2. Our foundational documents - the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution of the United States of America - and the ideals and well thought out philosophies contained therein, are responsible for the aforementioned success, and have stood us in good stead since their creation. (I believe in the axiom, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it", and that protecting those ideals and philosophies is a personal responsibility, and one well-worth fulfilling.)
3. I see no need, nor any Constitutional authority for any Government - Federal or State - to create "hate crimes". Relatively few crimes are committed out of a sense of love, or even mild fondness. The crime is in the act, not in the motivation or thought behind it. All true "crimes" are already covered by a myriad of Federal and State laws, and local ordinances. Why would "hate crimes" not fall under the existing category of "crimes of passion":
What are "States Rights"? The first ten amendments to the Constitution are collectively known as "The Bill of Rights", and the Tenth Amendment proclaims: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
As you can see, although it doesn't jump right out at you, that short sentence says that unless it is specified in the constitution as a Federal power, that power, by default, belongs to the States, or the people! Of course, the Constitution isn't worth the paper it's written upon if we, the people, don't insist on its application in all government affairs. If we do not "protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic" we deserve to wear the yoke and chains of socialist enslavement!
We have a definite and obvious threat to all our founding documents in Washington D.C. - a left-wing, socialist administration (which was put there primarily by a complacent "silent majority"), coupled with a left-leaning, socialist-inclined Congress. Disaster is imminent when there are no checks and balances between the legislative and the executive branches of Government.
The President's Cabinet consists primarily of tax dodgers, inexperienced incompetents heading critical Federal functions (CIA, Treasury, Homeland Security, etc.) and those who embrace the "One World" fantasy. As much as you may like to believe in the "One World" concept, it is nothing more than a fantasy. We are not all brothers and sisters riding this big blue marble. There are many millions of people around the world who either envy, resent, or simply hate the United States for reasons frequently beyond our understanding. Reasons - real or imagined - which reinforce their desire to bring about our failure and/or demise as a Democratic Republic. Remember that our individual reality is based on how we personally interpret what we see going on in our world. Reality has nothing to do with what the person on either side of us, or the person standing across the street from us sees - reality and truth are individual concepts!
As a "Conservative-Traditionalist" this is the basis of my reality:
1. The United States has accomplished more in 233 years than any other culture has in 2,000+ years, yet our left-wing Government wants us to emulate the great left-wing socialist countries of Europe. (Yeah... that makes sense, considering how successful they've been! Without our assistance, Europe would have been a territory of Germanys Third Reich for the past 60+ years! And their socialized health care works well too... for those who live long enough to actually get some medical care.)
2. Our foundational documents - the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution of the United States of America - and the ideals and well thought out philosophies contained therein, are responsible for the aforementioned success, and have stood us in good stead since their creation. (I believe in the axiom, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it", and that protecting those ideals and philosophies is a personal responsibility, and one well-worth fulfilling.)
3. I see no need, nor any Constitutional authority for any Government - Federal or State - to create "hate crimes". Relatively few crimes are committed out of a sense of love, or even mild fondness. The crime is in the act, not in the motivation or thought behind it. All true "crimes" are already covered by a myriad of Federal and State laws, and local ordinances. Why would "hate crimes" not fall under the existing category of "crimes of passion":
"Usage: When any feeling or emotion completely masters the mind, we call it a passion; as, a passion for music, dress, etc.; especially is anger (when thus extreme) called passion. The mind, in such cases, is considered as having lost its self-control, and become the passive instrument of the feeling in question." Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
Hatred and rage are simply anger in extremis - at the far negative end of the "love-hate continuum".
4. The use of the word "homophobe". Along the same line as "hate crimes" homophobe is a misnomer in most instances. I would suggest that word be replaced by homocontemnor, one who finds homosexual behavior to be contemptible or viewed with great disdain. Although homosexual behavior was once tolerated in some ancient societies, it is generally regarded as sexually deviant behavior in the American culture.
5. Our Government, in its passage of legislation, rarely reflects the expressed will of "we the people", but, rather, the expressed will of corporations and other moneyed interests. Essentially, we have "the best government that money can buy." We need to resurrect our Constitution, and replace our legislators in a manner that best serves the people of our once great nation. This is supposedly taken care of at the voting booth... but that only happens when every eligible voter actually votes! We are at that juncture in history where personal and collective indecisiveness and complacency will destroy us from within our own borders.
6. Tax abuse by our Government is rampant. We can tell there are few Jews in our Government by the proliferation of PORK! "Pork" another euphemism for the euphemistic "earmarks" that Barack Obama pledged to eliminate if he was elected as our President. "Earmarks" are nothing less than uncontrolled Government waste of our tax dollars. Yet one of his first actions was to rubber stamp an Omnibus Spending Bill with around 9,000 various cuts of swine in it! Is it the will of the people that failed banks and corporations be "bailed out" with our tax dollars? No, it's not - 74% of the people are against such actions, but our Government - in its infinite wisdom - has chosen to ignore what we the people want.
7. As for the Second Amendment, it pretty much speaks for itself... and in plain English. An armed people are a free people - citizens - an unarmed people are more properly called "subjects".
I could go on for a very long time about the insufficiencies of our current government, and I may do that in a future posting, but, for now this seems sufficient.
There is a possibility that I could be completely wrong about this... but I'm not an illegal alien who doesn't read and comprehend the English language. I was born and raised in this country, and educated - as opposed to indoctrinated - in that language. I consider myself fortunate to have received my education while the youth of our country were still being taught HOW to think, instead of WHAT to think... as they are today.
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