Wednesday - August 18, 2010

Time Out To Read

I’ve been chewing my way through Ken Follet’s World Without End for the past couple of days. At nearly 1100 pages it’s a pretty long read. Very interesting book. In theory it’s the sequel to his Pillars of the Earth from 18 years ago, but that’s only true peripherally. It’s set in the same town, the mythical Kingsbridge, which is somewhere in Peiper’s corner of England. 200 years have gone by since the story told in Pillars, but it’s still the middle Middle Ages in Britain so things haven’t changed a heck of a lot. Follet is a master of character development, and his stories are all very involving.

I’m at the halfway point, and what I’m noticing is not just how awful, unjust, one sided, and utterly stupid the 14th century was, but how strongly his picture of life back then seems to mirror life today. Ok, granted, things aren’t quite so bleak or violent now. We don’t have knights and barons running around raping and killing people because they feel like it. And we don’t have a poorly educated, highly selfish Church owning and running everything. But we do have an emerging class of elites who do seem to be above the law in many ways. And even though those at the top exist because of taxes and tithes on the serfs and tradespeople, they don’t seem to feel much responsibility to them. Oh, as Lord of this demesnes my little nose is out of joint because I was embarrassed because I was caught red-handed committing a horrible crime for which, as a member of the gentry, I was not punished for, but I’ll let the village starve to punish them for embarrassing me. Oh yeah? Well as prior of the cathedral my nose is even more out of joint because the peasants have found several ways to make money that don’t involve giving it all to the church or even letting me tax it to death, so I’ll do whatever I can to thwart them. Cutting off my nose to spite my face? Who cares, as long as I still have the power! Sounds awfully familiar to modern times in many ways. We don’t strictly have “privilege” these days - literally a private ledger, meaning one set of laws for the commoners, and one extra flexible set of laws for the rich - but it sure seems that way when I look at the endless scandals and corruption in government.

Pillars of the Earth eventually got me down. The first time or two that I read it, it was all about the amazement of building a massive stone cathedral using little more than hammers and ox carts, and the technology of that benighted time. After that I soured on the book, because by my third or fourth time through it I lost compassion for the lead characters, whose lives were a never ending series of death, starvation, disease, disappointments, and being screwed over by the folks in charge, mostly because they didn’t buck the system. Or couldn’t. Whatever, the story became Loserama to me, and I gave the book away. 18 years later for me and 200 years later for them, and I’m wishing the peasants had machine guns and artillery. This book’s newer more “modern” world has the beginnings of the rise of the merchant class, but society itself is still rather static. A static culture is a rotting culture, no matter how happy people may be by avoiding change and relying on “that’s how we’ve always done it”. And any progress from a static culture that does not move in a direction of more economic and personal freedom for the lower parts of society is a move towards slavery. Or serfdom. As Follet’s two books in this epoch show, there isn’t a helluva big difference. Unarmed, uneducated, landless, taxed to the edge of starvation, and kept in place by elitist “government” and knot-headed unionism (the ubiquitous and change resistant Guilds of that period), they exist to suffer for their better’s profit. If only they would rise up. If only WE would rise up.

Posted by Drew458     on 08/18/2010 at 10:47 AM   
Filed Under: • Editorials • Literature •  
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   Sunday - August 15, 2010

Education?

Remember when going to school meant you got an education?

I gave a speech at my local Toastmaster’s club about this. I remember being anxious about 4th grade. Seems that 4th grade had a hard subject called ‘Civics’. I’d never had ‘Civics’ before. It had the biggest, heaviest textbook. (good thing I lived right across the alley from the school. Back then me and my sisters went home for lunch. But that’s for another post.) You studied the Constitution, three branches of government, etc. Mom was the one who made me anxious: she didn’t like ‘Civics’ class when she was in school. She thought it was ‘hard’.

As it turned out, I found it an easy subject. We’d already covered similar subjects in Indiana history and government in 3rd grade. (I wonder what do they teach now in 3rd grade?) But… they were preaching the ‘living Constitution’ nonsense we’ve come to expect from liberals. At that time I thought it was neat. But I was thinking that the ‘living’ part meant the amendment process. I got a bit older and found out how wrong I was…

This also made it into my Toastmaster speech: my sister, two years younger than me, didn’t have ‘Civics’ in 4th grade. Ditto for my baby sister two years after her. Coincidence? A plan to dumb down the electorate? Or were the NEA ‘teachers’ just too stupid to teach the subject?

I report; You decide.

Posted by Christopher     on 08/15/2010 at 08:44 AM   
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   Saturday - August 14, 2010

Move along. No bias here. Nothing to see.

From the Washington Post:

This is the how Steven Pearlstein starts off his ‘Business News’ article:

As a general rule, whenever you hear special-interest groups using near-hysterical language to warn that some proposal will destroy jobs, snuff out innovation and end free-market capitalism as we know it, you can generally assume that progress is being made.

Huh? This is ‘news’? This is nothing but hyperbole and Pearlstein’s opinion masquerading as a news article.

However, he is correct. We can indeed assume that ‘progress’ is being made: destroying jobs, snuffing out innovation, ending free-market capitalism (as an aside, I’ve never lived under ‘free-market’ capitalism. I’m 50+ yrs old. I’d like to try such capitalism before I die.) is indeed ‘progress’ according to the Social Leftist-Statist neo-journalists like Pearlstein.

You can go read the rest of the article which is basically about ‘net neutrality’. I’ve never had a problem with the net being neutral. It isn’t broke. Leave it alone. It doesn’t need an ‘ObaMessiah’ fix.

“Progress just means bad things happen faster.”
–Granny Weatherwax, Witches Abroad

Posted by Christopher     on 08/14/2010 at 08:54 PM   
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   Monday - August 02, 2010

Illegal Immigration: yet another Government-created problem

I’ve been thinking alot about illegal immigration and the political causus belli that has resulted in a President suing a State.

What, exactly, is the problem with illegal immigration? When you get to to the root of the problem, it is money. Money to pay entitlement ‘benefits’ to illegals and their children.

I’ve been reading a lot of history, specifically 19th century history. Illegal immigration wasn’t a problem. Legal immigration was, because of the potential to change the voting public. But back then, ‘illegal immigration’ didn’t burden States or the Fed. Why?

This is where the Government created the problem.

Back then, nobody had claim on another’s property. Now, thanks to Government entitlements, they do.

Would I really care if somebody slipped over the border if I wasn’t REQUIRED to pay for him/her/their healthcare? NO!

But why am I required to pay for them? Government!

When our forefathers and mothers were crossing the Plains, they didn’t claim a ‘right’ to anything except protection for Indian depredations. We know how well the Gov’t discharged that task.

My point is that you don’t have a ‘right’ to the fruits of another’s labors. Healthcare? You don’t have a ‘right’ to the doctor’s services.

In fact, so many current social controversies could be laid to rest if we just agreed that you don’t have a right to another’s labor.

Homosexual rights? Since when did the Federal government give marriage special privileges and tax advantages. Wasn’t true before 1900.

This is a work-in-progress. I really believe most of our problems can be traced to trusting to Washington DC to solve our problems.

This is also my first attempt at posting an editorial on BMEWS. Short, sweet (maybe), and definitely needs work.

Posted by Christopher     on 08/02/2010 at 11:08 PM   
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   Monday - May 31, 2010

Memorial Day…some history

I’m embarrassed to say that I’ve learned much about Memorial Day this year. In my defense I’ll claim we have too many holidays for too few good reasons. Memorial Day is not one of those holidays. There is a good reason for it.

Memorial Day started out as Decoration Day.

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.

A caller to the Rush Limbaugh show last week got me interested in this. The caller was an old veteran who was promoting Memorial Day poppies. He said that 50 years ago everybody would have a poppy and now…? Rush seemed to know what the caller was talking about but didn’t explain it. Poppies? I had to look up Memorial Day and poppies.

In 1915, inspired by the poem “In Flanders Fields,” Moina Michael replied with her own poem:

We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.

She then conceived of an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial day in honor of those who died serving the nation during war. She was the first to wear one, and sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit servicemen in need. Later a Madam Guerin from France was visiting the United States and learned of this new custom started by Ms.Michael and when she returned to France, made artificial red poppies to raise money for war orphaned children and widowed women. This tradition spread to other countries. In 1921, the Franco-American Children’s League sold poppies nationally to benefit war orphans of France and Belgium. The League disbanded a year later and Madam Guerin approached the VFW for help. Shortly before Memorial Day in 1922 the VFW became the first veterans’ organization to nationally sell poppies. Two years later their “Buddy” Poppy program was selling artificial poppies made by disabled veterans. In 1948 the US Post Office honored Ms Michael for her role in founding the National Poppy movement by issuing a red 3 cent postage stamp with her likeness on it.

Artificial poppies to wear on Memorial Day are still being made by disabled veterans. That’s what the caller was promoting. I unfortunately don’t remember if it was the American Legion or the VFW. Regardless, get a red poppy to wear today.

Sorry, should read my own post, eh? It was the VFW. I was trying to remember what the caller said.

Saturday at work our supervisor got on the intercom to ‘thank all veterans this Memorial Day weekend…’

Faux pas? Ignorance? Who knows? I quietly went to him and reminded him that Memorial Day honors those who died in service to their country. It does NOT honor veterans. Veteran’s Day is observed for those like myself. And I don’t even count myself as a veteran: I never saw combat. To me a veteran has been in combat. I did serve six years in the Navy and was honorably discharged. I served, but I’m not a veteran.

My supervisor was man enough to get back on the intercom and correct himself. He added that we should all pray for those who’ve lost husbands, fathers, sons, daughters, during the current war.

And finally, I just have to include a link to Mark Steyn’s website today. The article is not written by Mr. Steyn but is an excerpt from one of his books. It’s an article about the creation of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. (Note: not the Battle Hymn of the Democracy)

Posted by Christopher     on 05/31/2010 at 12:14 PM   
Filed Under: • Editorials • History • Holidays • Patriotism •  
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   Tuesday - March 30, 2010

Do You Miss Me Yet?

In a word, yes.

I disagreed with GWB on several issues; Prescription drugs, Immigration ‘reform’, signing McCain-Feingold…

But he did serve, even if it was in the Reserves. Good enough!

One thing I will never do again: I will NEVER vote for a male Presidential candidate who has not done military service. Not that I voted for Obama, but in ‘92 I did vote for Clinton. Why? Because George H. W. Bush said ‘Read my lips...” and promptly raised taxes.

Also, never will I vote for a candidate who comes from a dysfunctional ‘family’. First Clinton, now Obama. The country has enough problems with government-run dysfunctional families. We can’t survive electing the resulting human debris to office.

Go GWB. Reservist perhaps. But being qualified to fly an Air Force fighter means you have brains.

Something Obama has yet to demonstrate.

Picture courtesy of The Jawa Report.

Posted by Christopher     on 03/30/2010 at 06:55 AM   
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   Tuesday - March 16, 2010

Today in History… and other fun stuff

Vilmar reminds us that today is the anniversary of Rachel Corrie’s claim to fame: death by bulldozer. (Google the moonbat yourself if you don’t know/remember)

However, as I reminded Vilmar in a comment on his post, today is also the birthday of James ‘Father of the Constitution’ Madison (also our fourth President)

This evening I was innocently opening the bills in preparation for paying them. The phone bill contained a surprise:

You are Included in a Class Action Settlement Involving Your DSL Service

I hate class-action lawsuits. How dare they include me without my permission! This is just a way for liberal lawyers to attack capitalism. If we ever get any tort reform, part of that should be the outlawing of class-action lawsuits. But I digress. What was the lawsuit about?

A proposed Settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit alleging that AT&T failed to deliver DSL Service to its customers at the speeds promised.

It goes on to state that their records show that my DSL service was not affected. However, if I believe it was I can submit a claim for a one-time payment of…

Wait for it…

$2.00!

I get a whopping $2.00. How much did the lawyers get? And how much will my DSL service go UP PER MONTH as a result?

When I signed up for DSL, AT&T offered three different speed plans. I chose the middle one (don’t ask, I don’t remember the speeds) which I’ve had no complaints about. I WILL complain if my rates go up as a result of this ‘settlement’.

Posted by Christopher     on 03/16/2010 at 09:19 PM   
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   Saturday - February 27, 2010

the us supreme court MUST order a retrial … says the Times of London. I say, FUCK YOU Times!

It’s late, I’m tired and I had shut down about two hours ago. I need to be off this damn thing, BUT ....

I made the mistake if reading a Times editorial while having a snack before going upstairs.  Nothin’ like something to piss one off to wake one up.

RCOB ....  Commit a crime in my country and pay the price.  Of course in this case the prisoner is not only Brit says the Times, she’s also a minority member.
Ah, must be why she got the death penalty.

Look, till tonight I knew nothing of this case.  It’s too much and too late for me tonight to go and research it. I’ll leave to others and do it as well tomorrow or Monday.

So here’s the editorial. All of it.

February 27, 2010
Undue process

The US Supreme Court must order a retrial for the Briton who stands on death row

Friends must sometimes agree to disagree. Britain forbids capital punishment; the United States supports it. But above all, good friends must honour their word. An Anglo-American agreement requires Britain to notify the US if it takes legal action against an American citizen, and for the US to do the same if a Briton is to stand trial in America.

So the case of Linda Carty — who was born in St Kitts, which qualifies her as a British citizen — is especially galling. Carty now waits on death row in Texas. In a last attempt to avoid her becoming the first black British woman to be executed in more than a century, the British Government has now presented an amicus brief to the US Supreme Court urging it to reconsider the case.

Carty’s story raises disturbing questions on several levels. First, the case represents a gross abuse of British trust. The British Government — quite rightly — seeks to defend any Briton who stands accused of a capital crime abroad. Other countries may kill their own citizens if they must; where possible we try to prevent them from killing ours. But the Texan authorities made no attempt to discover Carty’s nationality when they arrested her, and the same lack of curiosity and responsibility afflicted the lawyer they appointed to represent her. Hence Britain was effectively precluded from involvement in the case until the death penalty had already been issued.

And speaking of trust, wanna tell us about that muslim slug t binmanmoohamed you rescued from Gitmo and who is now suing YOU guys?  And the documents made public in spite of our intel agencies requesting otherwise. But oh no. Our guys were only trying to cover up torture. And binman isn’t even a Brit. Never ever was.

It is impossible to be certain of Carty’s innocence. But the original trial was clearly a farce. Carty faced the death penalty because her three co-defendents testified against her to avoid execution themselves. Meanwhile, Carty’s lawyer conducted a woefully inadequate defence. He talked to his client for just 15 minutes, blaming her for refusing to talk to him until he “bribed her with a bar of chocolate” — an extrememely unlikely version of events given that Carty is allergic to chocolate. It is also alleged that the lawyer neglected to visit St Kitts even though he had been granted funds by the court to do so. Had he bothered, he would have discovered that the island’s prime minister was willing to testify on Carty’s behalf.

Outrage at the nature of the legal defence provided for Carty extends far beyond critics of the death penalty. Baker Botts, a law firm that has often represented the Bush family, has taken up the case pro bono. Michael Goldberg, the defence attorney now representing Carty, is a supporter of the death penalty. He was simply appalled by the abuse of justice.

America’s execution policy is becoming a source of ridicule. Last autumn Romell Brown lay strapped to the gurney for an hour, sobbing while his executioners failed to find a suitable vein to adminster a lethal injection. In time, it is to be hoped that the United States reconsiders its outdated attitude towards justice and mercy.

More urgently, America should consider its responsibilities to its allies. When the US needs British support, it makes a great deal of the special relationship. British soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq die every month serving the Anglo-American alliance. But friendship cuts both ways. The Supreme Court must demand a retrial. And America should remember that it owes Britain the obligations of trust as well as Carty the right of justice.

America has a responsibility to its citizens BEFORE any responsibility to you or the UK where a crime is done in our country. You don’t like it? Screw you. Go start another war with the Krauts.

America’s execution policy is becoming a source of ridicule? To whom?  To anyone that counts?  And even if it does. F---Off. Ridicule over the DP is not exactly the number one worry of most of us I would guess and I think I guess correctly.
Or, maybe we should follow you ass wipes at the Time and the libtard left. Sure.  We can see how well the UK has done crime wise since you banished the DP
and disarmed your citizens. And turned your country over to the EU or damn near close enough.

OK, now I’m shutting this thing off.
Good night and Cheers to everyone.  Except the Times.  Jerks!

MONDAY MORNING

I just realized I skipped this bit when I did this post last week.

Romell Brown lay strapped to the gurney for an hour, sobbing

And we’re suppose to care about that?  Hey Times idiots, anyone wonder if his victims were sobbing too?
F$~#in Jerks!

Posted by peiper     on 02/27/2010 at 01:41 PM   
Filed Under: • Crime • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Editorials • UK • USA •  
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   Tuesday - February 23, 2010

schools which make girls wear skirts may be breaking the law under new laws re. umin rights.

The Mad Hattie Littlejohn refers to here is Harriet Harman, also called Harperson.  She of total equality for all and even where there is no inequality, she will find it so that she can then make it equal.  She is a left wing loony tune and I can’t quite make up my mind who is worse. The former deputy PM, John Prescott or Ms Harperson.  She is a wack job people.  She ugly too but that isn’t important.  One of those white folks born to wealth who want to play Robbin Hood with other people’s money. Wants ta be one of the common folk to show how inclusive she is. Bah.  Lyndon does a much better job of describing the pin head. Seeing her name usually sets Lyndon off so I hope he’s out there right now.

RICHARD LITTLEJOHN
The Daily Mail
Feb. 23 ‘10

Now mad Hattie’s making skirts illegal

Conclusive evidence that the world has gone stark, staring mad comes from the Equalities and Human Rights Commission , which has announced that schools which make girls wear skirts may be breaking the law - by discriminating against transsexuals.

You couldn’t make it up. A 68-page report on the rights of transsexuals says ‘requiring pupils to wear gender-specific clothes is potentially unlawful’.

It states: ‘Pupils born female with gender dysphoria experienced great discomfort being forced to wear stereotypical girls’ clothes - for example, a skirt.’

This guidance arises out of Harriet Harman’s lunatic, flat earth Equalities Bill, which is due to become law in the autumn.

Local authorities will have to take into account the effects of their policies on minorities.

I’ve no idea how many transsexual pupils there are at your average school. But I wouldn’t have thought all that many.

There was a boy at my school who was rumoured to like dressing up in his mother’s frocks and high-heels, but the headmaster felt no inclination to adapt the uniform accordingly.

Surely any transsexual’s sensitivities could be accommodated by a pair of slacks, without making skirts a criminal offence.

Just imagine the time and money wasted drawing up a 68-page report - that’s right, sixty-eight pages - into the rights of transsexuals. The U.S. Constitution runs to only six pages, and that includes a bill of rights for everyone.

Millions upon millions of pounds are wasted on this kind of institutionalised insanity every year.

Of course, minorities’ rights should be respected but not at the expense of criminalising the normal behaviour of the majority.

If this Bill becomes law, it won’t be long before this ‘guidance’ is tested in court.

This is where a demented obsession with ‘diversity’ becomes a tyranny. We are now ruled by maniacs who think the wearing of skirts should be made illegal.

LITTLEJOHN

Posted by peiper     on 02/23/2010 at 09:35 AM   
Filed Under: • CULTURE IN DECLINE • Daily Life • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Editorials • Stoopid-People • UK •  
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   Tuesday - February 16, 2010

PAT CONDELL ON THE GEERT WILDERS TRIAL. TRIAL? NO. KANGAROO COURT

I’ll leave it to other to comment. Condell speaks for all of us on this subject.

As many already know, Geert Wilders is on trial in the freedom smashing suck up to muzzies home of the Dutch. RIP Netherlands.

Posted by peiper     on 02/16/2010 at 03:59 PM   
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   Monday - February 01, 2010

Inequality in Britain isn’t down to class but brains. But the left wants to make it something else.

Maybe Ms. King from my previous post should read this. Bet she hasn’t.  She more then likely reads the Guardian and believes it all.  (for folks in USA, the Guardian is a very far LEFT paper.)

I won’t post all of this here but it is an interesting editorial. 

It has been claimed by many that the Brit PM and his party I should add, have been playing the class thing as though those less fortunate in lower incomes say, are there mostly because they are not being given the opportunities to better schools, jobs etc.  The process didn’t start with the PM I don’t think although Lyndon can fill that in for me.  I think the former street brawler who was the Deputy PM under Tony Blair, John Prescott, had a lot to do with that. Long story I’ll muddle if I try and go into all of it. 

Then we have Harriet Harman (referred to as Harperson) the minister of equality. She wants everything to be equal and everyone to be included.
She comes from a very posh very wealthy background, I have read.  What is it about rich folks who want to fit right in there and be one of the poor?
Being on good terms with ppl is fine but when you go so far as to try and drop your natural accent exposing a good education and start talking less posh just to “fit in with working class folks” well, says a lot doesn’t it?  I can not think of a conservative that would think that way. Least I hope not. Seems to be an affliction of the left.

By far the best predictor for income and status is your IQ at 10 or 11, rather than your social class,

By Alasdair Palmer

The National Equality Panel, set up by the Government to examine inequality in Britain, published its findings last week. And surprise, surprise: it found that there is a lot of inequality in Britain. People from poorer backgrounds do not usually achieve as much as people from richer ones.

That this is a basic fact of life in the UK is certainly true – although it is not true, as the NEP report claims, that we are significantly more unequal than most other Western countries. The differences are marginal. Even in the places it cites as egalitarian utopias, Sweden and Denmark, it is still the case that who your parents are has a very significant effect on how your life works out.

Indeed, no country anywhere comes close to the egalitarian ideal of ensuring that everyone, irrespective of their background, has exactly the same chance to succeed. And there is a very straightforward reason: people everywhere care more about themselves and their immediate families than they care about everyone else. We all devote our efforts and ingenuity to promoting our own and our families’ interests rather than those of “society as a whole”; when the two conflict, we prioritise the former. That’s why every attempt to achieve a society in which each person is treated in exactly the same way not only requires state coercion of the most extreme kind, but also always ends in abject failure.

SOURCE

Posted by peiper     on 02/01/2010 at 11:16 AM   
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   Thursday - January 14, 2010

One From Carol

No, I haven’t forgotten you. And you send me great emails. I’m just utterly behind on them again. As usual. So let me put up your latest.

Remember Lee Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from its death throes?  He’s now 82 years old and has a new book, ‘Where Have All The Leaders Gone?’. He was, and still is, a brilliant businessman. Often we need to be reminded of Iococca’s words. They’re just as true today as it was when his book first came out.

‘Am I the only guy in this country who’s fed up with what’s happening? Where the hell is our outrage with this so called president? We should be screaming bloody murder! We’ve got a gang of tax cheating clueless leftists trying to steer our ship of s! tate rig ht o ver a cliff, we’ve got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can’t even run a ridiculous cash-for-clunkers program without losing $26 billion of the taxpayers’ money, much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, ‘trust me the economy is getting better..’

Better? You’ve got to be kidding. This is America , not the damned, ‘Titanic’. I’ll give you a sound bite: ‘Throw all the Democrats out along with Obama!’ You might think I’m getting senile, that I’ve gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore..

The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs ... While we’re fiddling in Afghanistan, Iran is completing their nuclear bombs and missiles and nobody seems to know what to do. And the liberal press is waving ‘pom-poms’ instead of asking hard questions. That’s not the promise of the ‘ America ‘ my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I’ve had enough. How about you?

I’ll go a step further. You can’t call yourself a patriot if you’re not outraged. This is a fight I’m ready and willing to have. The Biggest ‘C’ is Crisis! (Iacocca elaborates on nine C’s of leadership, with crisis being the first.)

Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It’s easy to sit there with thumb up your butt and talk theory. Or send someone else’s kids off to war when you’ve never seen a battlefield yourself. It’s another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down.

On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes. A hell of a mess, so here’s where we stand:

• We’re immersed in a bloody war now with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving.  But our soldiers are dying daily.
• We’re running the biggest deficit in the hi! story of the world, and it’s getting worse every day!
• We’ve lost the manufacturing edge to Asia , while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs.
• Gas prices are going to skyrocket again, and nobody in power has a lucid plan to open drilling to solve the problem.  This country has the largest oil reserves in the WORLD, and we cannot drill for it because the politicians have been bought by the flea-hugging environmentalists.
• Our schools are in a complete disaster because of the teachers union.
• Our borders are like sieves and they want to give all illegals amnesty and free healthcare.
• The middle class is being squeezed to death every day.

These are times that cry out for leadership. But when you look around, you’ve got to ask: ‘Where have all the leaders gone?’ Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, omnipotence, and common sense? I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the point..

Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo? We’ve spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened. Everyone’s hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping the government will make it better for them.  Now, that’s just crazy ... deal with life.

Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when ‘The Big Three’ referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen, and more important, look what Obama did about it!

Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debit, or solving theenergy crisis, or managing the health care problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry.

I have news for the Chicago gangsters in Congress. We didn’t elect you to turn this country into a losing European Socialist state. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bonehead on NBC or CNN news will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don’t you guys show some spine for a change?

Had Enough? Hey, I’m not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here.  I’m trying to light a fire. I’m speaking out because I have hope - I believe in America . In my lifetime, I’ve had the privilege of living through some of America ‘s greatest moments. I’ve also experienced some of our worst crises: The ‘Great Depression,’ ‘World War II,’ the ‘Korean War,’ the ‘Kennedy Assassination,’ the ‘Vietnam War,’ the 1970’s oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years since 9/11.

Make your own contribution by sending this to everyone you know and care about. It’s our country, folks, and it’s our future. Our future is at stake!!

I’m not bothering to check this out with Snopes. I don’t care if it’s actually from the old man himself. “Fake but accurate” sometimes works, and this is a darn good message.

Posted by Drew458     on 01/14/2010 at 05:16 PM   
Filed Under: • Editorials • FREEDOM •  
• Comments (3) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Monday - January 11, 2010

Newt Gingrich … Crush the Left!

I know that of late many cons are a tad upset with Newt but gosh, he sure does know how to nail down a subject and inspire a crowd.
And who among us would disagree with his thoughts on the 9th cir.court?

Some of you might have seen this, but perhaps many more (like me?) are seeing and hearing this for the first time. And it’s worth it.

H/T Jim Miller

Here’s one of the comments left at YT.  Seems a few ppl are feeling the same but I haven’t kept very well up to date on the topic of Newt.

I have not had much problem with his knowledge, only his loyalties. He always says the right thing. He seldom does the right thing. Much like Obama’s speech last week sounded like Reagan, he has no intention of doing anything to move us away from the grip of the globalists who are in control and destroying our liberties.

Posted by peiper     on 01/11/2010 at 08:52 AM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Editorials • Politics • USA •  
• Comments (5) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Saturday - January 02, 2010

AN UNHEEDED WARNING.  HOW MANY MORE.  HERE’S SOME FOOD FOR THOUGHT.

A very short post and for more by this columnist go to:

TIMES ONLINE

UNHEEDED WARNING

Spare a thought, if you have any left this morning, for Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, the former chairman of the First Bank of Nigeria, and the father of the man who tried to blow up an aircraft over Detroit.

Repeatedly, he tried to warn the US authorities that his son might be involved in something dodgy. Repeatedly, they ignored him. And I think we all know why. I bet his first approach was by e-mail. “Dear SURNAME,” he may have written, following the apparent custom of his countrymen. “I am MR MUTALLAB, the former CHAIRMAN of the FIRST BANK OF NIGERIA and I write to inform you that . . .” Click. Straight into the CIA spam bin.

Pity that modern Cassandra, the Nigerian banker who actually has something important to say. Maybe there are hundreds of them. Screaming into cyberspace via Hotmail. Forever ignored.

Hugo Rifkind
The Times, London.
Jan. 1, 2010

Posted by peiper     on 01/02/2010 at 07:01 AM   
Filed Under: • Editorials • Terrorists • UK • USA • War On Terror •  
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