Education or Re-education?

When you send your kids off to school, you probably have an image in your head of children sitting at desks and working out story problems, or reading about George Washington. You worry about how they're doing in school more than what they're doing in school, right? School is a place for children to learn about math, reading, history, and science after all, so why worry? The California state Assembly is why. According to Bob Unruh, reporting for worldnetdaily, there is a plan in the Assembly to ban the use of the words "mom" and "dad" because it might ""reflect adversely' on the homosexual lifestyle choice. " Am I the only one that read that and thought, "huh?" How the hell could mentioning that you have a "mom" or a "dad" or both "reflect adversely" on anyone? Presumably, unless you were hatched in a lab, which is possible these days, we all start out with both, right? Even gay people have moms and dads, so what gives? Law makers like Sheila James Kuehl, a lesbian Democrat in the state Senate, tell you it's to protect gay rights, but this goes beyond the realm of civil liberties and crosses right over into indoctrination. The plan also calls for "a pilot program that would have forced students to learn a 'new definition' of tolerance, one that would require them to not only accept but advocate for homosexuality, bisexuality and transgenderism, according to the CRI. " So, in other words, not just to accept gays, but how to be a gay activist before they're even in high school. If you watched 20/20 last night, you may have been touched by the poor transgender kids interviewed by Barbara Walters, those poor confused kids who are just like you and me except for the fact that they would rather be girls than boys. The lesson was, "why should society tell these kids that they are boys just because they have penises? If they want to be girls, let them wear dresses and change their names." Sure, why let a pesky thing like your own anatomy get in the way of your "true inner self?" Well, not to worry, because another bill, AB 675, "would give $1 million to pay for homosexual, bisexual and transsexual activists to turn 10 public schools into "sexual indoctrination centers." Yes, California law would change so your girl child could pee in the boy bathroom, or so your boy child could put on his cheer leading skirt in the girl locker room. And people think I'm a weirdo because my kids aren't in public school. This stuff always starts on the coasts and works it's way in, but at least for now, in my own home, my kids can still call me "dad" and my wife "mom." I've said it before, and I'll say it again, schools are no longer places for education and learning, they have become places of re-education and indoctrination. Political Correctness has become a monster to large to cage, and it is eating childrens' minds. But don't worry, even though little Johnny can't read, you can find comfort in the knowledge that the school will let him pretend to be Mary.

Armageddon Pays!

Remember that loon you used to see in movies and cartoons with the sandwich board that read, "The End Is Near?" Well, he's still out there, only now he's making money with his message. In case you don't know what a carbon credit is, it is a way for big business and Hollywood celebrities to buy their way out of the guilt they feel for supposedly destroying the planet with their carbon emissions, or as I like to call it, a "scam." Consider, if you will, Blue Source, an American offset company that takes money to shoot a bunch of carbon dioxide into the ground to "bury" it. Where they do this, of course, is in depleted oil wells, because it pushes up the remaining oil for them to collect and sell, which in turn causes more fossil fuels to be burned. Burn the oil, collect the CO2, collect the oil, burn the oil, you get the point. Then, of course, there are the companies that are getting paid by their customers for doing things that either don't work or are already mandated to do, like Dupont. In an article by Fiona Harvey and Stephen Fidler for Financial Times (www.ft.com), it's reported that a Financial Times investigation uncovered "Widespread instances of people and organisations buying worthless credits that do not yield any reductions in carbon emissions" and "Industrial companies profiting from doing very little – or from gaining carbon credits on the basis of efficiency gains from which they have already benefited substantially." Well, I already knew that! What I didn't know is, "the burgeoning regulated market for carbon credits is expected to more than double in size to about $68.2bn by 2010, with the unregulated voluntary sector rising to $4bn in the same period." What does that really mean? There's a lot of money in it. People who feel scared, or guilty, or both about global warming are more than willing to fork over their hard-earned dollars and Euros to companies that promise to end the planets' suffering, and, somewhere up in Heaven, P.T. Barnum is turning to Boss Tweed and saying, "I told you so." Get enough suckers to buy into this "end of the world" garbage about global warming, and you can make a tidy profit. Get a has-been politician to make a movie about it, a rock star to issue limits on toilet paper usage, and a Democrat in the White House, and you can pave the way for a tax on carbon usage. Armageddon turns out to be a very lucrative industry for everyone but you and me, the people who have to pay for the lies.

photo from fujirockers.org

Here We Go Again...

I knew this was coming. As I was reading the news today at worldnetdaily, I happened upon a story about Rush Limbaugh suggesting the V Tech shooter was a liberal. Immediately following the story was a long list of reader comments, many of which called for Rush to be fired. Then, on the view this morning, right after defending freedom of speech for rappers, the vacuous women began a big "shame on you" pecking party on Rush, pointing out his former addiction to prescription medicine. I wasn't surprised by the character assassination or the hypocrisy, because we all know how badly they want to silence any voice from the right. They talk about freedom of speech for guys like Master P or Ice-T, but when a talk show host suggests that a crazy guy with a gun might be a liberal, well, "he must be silenced! And if he can't be, well, you don't have to listen to him because he's a junkie." What's interesting is that Rush knew this would happen, too. In an explanation of this to a caller on his show, Rush said, "Look, last week, as a means of illustrating on this show how the words of conservative talk show hosts are twisted and taken out of context, I blamed the liberals for the Virginia Tech shooting. I said the guy had to be a liberal, and I went through and I said, "You watch. There's going to be a website that picks this up, and a bunch of people are going to read it and they're going to be outraged that I would possibly say this," and they said, "Yeah, you got a guy that hates the rich. You got a guy that thinks the American culture is debauched. Who is it telling us all this and who is it doing all this? It's the liberals," and sure enough Media Matters fell for it hook, line and sinker." Well, as the title of one of his books goes, "See, I Told You So." The same people who defend racist and sexist speech in the arts want him to loose his career in shame for saying something that, at most, is insensitive to a dead guy. When Mel Gibson opens his big, fat antisemitic mouth, he just says, "Sorry! I was drunk!" and the lefties give him a pass, and he insulted an entire race. I'll say this again, for those of you who missed the last few posts. We must see the Fairness Doctrine for what it is and reject it, because free speech, even speech you find despicable, must be protected. Without it, there is no free and open debate. All of you leftie bloggers out there should be ashamed of yourselves for supporting this, for calling on Rush to be fired, because the next thing to go will be the Internet, and who knows if the Web Police will come for you, too?

April Fools! Barbecue Tax Hoax

If you heard the reports that Wallonia, a French-speaking region of Belgium, had approved a tax on barbecue season to be enforced by helicopter observation, you probably flipped your lid. I know I did. The story, which can still be found at the Russian News and Information Agency Novosti website, was even reported by Rush Limbaugh as a global warming update. The tax of 20 euros was supposed to go into effect this June as a way to offset CO2 emissions, which absolute fools believe causes global warming, and many people, myself included, wondered about the green house gases emitted by the helicopters sent up to spy on people in their back yards. It seemed so ridiculous, too farcical to be true...and it was. The story was released as an April Fool's Day joke, and it worked, but why? How did we get suckered like that? Well, because it sounds like something the global warming kooks would do, that's why. I've already explained to you that people like New York Senator and Democratic Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton have been quoted in the media as being supportive of a "carbon tax." We know these people are determined to make us pay for emitting CO2, or as i like to call it, "breathing." As far out as it sounded, it very easily could have been true, so I have to take my hat off to the pranksters who brewed this one up. It doesn't embarrass me to admit that I fell for this one when I know the real joke is on people who actually believe that cooking food is causing the destruction of the planet. CO2 is what plants breathe, it's what we exhale, that's why people talk to their zinnias! It's a part of the natural world, for Pete's sake! What's outlandish is people who think the fact that I'm not dead yet is causing ice caps to melt and polar bears to die. So, you see, to me, it wasn't so unbelievable to think that there are people out there who would impose taxes on barbecues and respiration. I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet. So, if you bought this one, too, don't feel bad. Just smile, put another burger on the grill, and thank God it's not true. At least, not yet.

Pistols at Dawn

There's proof in the news today that my sister was right; an armed society is a polite society. What if, instead of gun bans, citizens were required to own firearms? One city in Georgia tested the notion, and as it turns out, crime is down. Kennesaw, GA., a small town just north of Atlanta, unanimously passed an ordinance in March of 1982 "requiring each head of household to own and maintain a gun," according to WorldNetDaily. That was 25 years ago. Meanwhile, the population has actually grown from 5,242 to 28,189 and the crime rate has dropped far below the national average. Conversely, Morton Grove, IL, near Chicago, passed a ban on firearms except for police that same year, and the population has decreased, while crime increased more than 15%. How can this be explained? Well, think about it. Would a criminal be as likely to pull a gun on someone they know is packing heat, too? When you pass someone on the highway who is driving like a jackass, do you think you'll be as likely to give them the finger once you see their gun rack? Criminals know that police are less likely to shoot them than the average armed citizen. Too much paperwork. The rest of us? Hey sorry about your luck, pal, maybe next time you'll think twice before you try to stick a desert eagle in my face. The fear has always been that vigilante justice would supplant good old law and order, as if trying to get your lawn mower back from your neighbor would turn in to a scene from the movie Tombstone, and many people believe the availability of weapons is to blame for the recent murders in Virginia, but I think if you really want to kill someone, you'll find a way no matter what. You'll be less likely to, however, if you know your target can fire back. More than that, you must remember the intent of the Bill of Rights. It's there to protect citizens from government.

Crime and Punishment

Since so many people seem to have an interest, I've decided to return to the topic. See the woman on the left? That is what a sex offender looks like. That should satisfy you perverts out there who found my site looking for spank material. For the rest of you, read on. Debra Lafave plead guilty and was sentenced on November 22, 2005 of having illegal sexual relations with a minor. This teacher, a grown woman, a married woman, had sexual relations with a student. She must serve three years of house arrest and seven years of probation. She'll also never teach again. Does that sound just to you? It sounds like a slap on the wrist to me. Now take a look at the case of a Martin County School District teacher, Shawn Trotter, who was arrested February 5th of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. No news as to whether this guy did it or not, but he was accused and arrested, which is going to ruin his life regardless. If he's found guilty, he will probably be sent to prison and tortured by guys with names like "Snake" or "Butcher." He will always be known as "that evil pervert that can't be trusted around little girls." Debra Lafave? Well, look at her. Of course she got a slap on the wrist. People see her picture and think, "Wow, lucky kid! She's so pretty! I wish I had a junior high teacher like that!" Come on. The guy who had sex with a student is going to fry, and the woman who had sex with a student is going to get her picture splattered all over the Internet and a movie deal. Now you know how the justice system works in America. If you want an easy sentence and maybe even a little sympathy, the rules are "don't be ugly" and "don't be a man."

Calling All Victims!

If you were flipping back and forth between the major network news programs as I was yesterday, you probably noticed Brian Williams and Katie Couric asking a lot of questions about where to assign blame for the murderous rampage at Virginia Tech. Did the police warn people soon enough? Did they respond soon enough? Could it have been prevented by the faculty? Did any student know something that could have warned us all? Who can we blame for this terrible tragedy? How about the guy with the GUN? No, no, no. Too easy. Not complex enough. He was just "troubled." In fact, he's a victim, too. He's a minority, and racism probably drove him to it. The National Korean American Service and Education Consortium, an L.A. based civil rights organization, is afraid that mentioning the killer was from South Korea could have a negative impact on Asian-Americans. I hope it will give them some comfort, at least, that I don't hold it against them. After all, it was just one guy, not the entire continent of Asia. Still, Oprah wants to know, Charles Gibson wants to know, can we blame the cops, maybe the university, or, hey, maybe even ourselves? We wouldn't want to focus to much on the shooter, that would be insensitive. If you ask me, the headline should be, "Hero Cops Stop Murderous Rampage," but since we don't want to blame the guy with the gun too much for fear of being unPC, well, go ahead, blame the cops, blame the school, blame the evil "system." I'm telling you, though, it won't work; if you dig into their personal lives, I'm sure somewhere you'll find that they are all victims, too. Maybe if we all one day can claim to be victims, we won't have a need for prisons, because no one will ever have to be responsible for their own actions. Being a murderer will just be a "lifestyle choice." Being a thief will just be "suffering from a disease." Think about it.

The Fat Tax

The health Nazis have had a lot of success over the past few years at making your mind up for you. They started with public smoking bans, which they say had to be put into place for the protection of others. It was a hard sell, at first, because they had to convince a whole nation that someone smoking a cigarette in a bar (a place where people go to consume an unhealthy amount of liquor, listen to music at levels that could damage your hearing, and attempt to engage in sexual relations with total strangers) will make everyone else unhealthy. They got their way, though, at least in most places, and now they're even going so far as to only portray smokers as villains in cartoons and movies. Imagine this conversation...."Mommy, is Uncle Mike a bank robber?" "No, honey, of course not, why?" "Well...he smokes, and only bad people smoke, right?" Then they decided to go after motorcycle enthusiasts who choose not to wear helmets, because, after all, it's for your own good. Besides, there were accidents that cost tax payers a lot of money, so if you pay taxes, it affected you, too. Of course, many motorcyclists claim that helmets actually impair their vision and hearing while riding which increases accidents, but that didn't matter. The health Nazis are here to make sure you make the right decision by making it law. Then they won another battle in New York City by eliminating trans-fats. The grease police are walking around Manhattan now telling everyone what they can and can't eat. Think it will stop there? Don't bet on it. Since not everyone quit smoking and drinking alcohol, they just applied "sin" taxes on the products, and they'll do the same with food, just wait. In the not to distant future, you will pay $20 for a bacon double cheeseburger at McDonald's because of their new fat tax. After all, these fatty foods contribute to heart disease, and that means tax dollars spent on grease-induced heart attacks, right? How about $5 on a candy bar? If you can't control your fat kid's eating habits, government will tax you on it. It's time to draw a line in the sugar, folks. Tell the health Nazis that it's not the responsibility of government to keep you healthy. If we don't, who knows what they'll decide is bad for us next?

Never Forget

I got the picture on the left from a very good friend of mine in South Carolina. It was sent as a chain letter, and I don't believe in chain letters, but I did send this to some of you, because I think it's a powerful image. Since this came as a forward in my e-mail, I don't have any information on the artist, where this sculpture is or was, or even if it is in memorial to anything in particular, but when I saw it, I immediately thought of September 11, 2001. There's nothing wrong with moving on, or letting wounds heal, or with any way we as individuals and as a country deal with the memory of that dark day, but we should never, never forget. Remember, always, that there is evil out there waiting for us to turn our backs on it. Remember that we have a war to wage and win. Remember that many human beings lost their lives to cowards in dirty nightshirts that day because America stands for something. Remember these things, and also remember that there are heroes and angels. Remember that God is just. Remember 9/11.

The Fairness Doctrine and Free Speech

If you are clapping because Don Imus was fired and dreaming of the day when Rosie O'Donnell hits the unemployment line, just remember there are people who are gunning for Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannitty, too. Thanks to the Reagan Administration and a veto by Reagan himself in 1987, the Fairness Doctrine was put in the grave, but there are many people out there who insist it be resurrected simply because they disagree with certain people's opinions. Rush Limbaugh's radio program reaches a lot of listeners, and this scares people on the left because they aren't just listening, they're becoming true believers. AM talk radio is just about the only place where you get a right wing perspective (don't shake your head at me, Al Franken, you know it's true, ), and these shows are continually growing because, not only are they virtually the only forum for conservatives, they are actually entertaining. They are also not always politically correct, which infuriates the left, the people who sold everyone on this tortured language we all have to use now to avoid getting sued or fired, and that's the ammunition they think they have. Still, it isn't so much about being "fair," or "PC," the Fairness Doctrine is about shutting the mouths of people who have a lot of influence and making sure there is only one opinion to be heard, and to me, that sounds like state-controlled media. Very unAmerican, wouldn't you say? It also flies in the face of free enterprise when government tells you what you are allowed to say, or that you must take valuable airtime away from your own message and give it to an opponent. Radio and television are private industries that get money from selling airtime, after all...that's what got Don Imus fired. His advertisers no longer wanted to be associated with him, so they yanked their ads, which cost MSNBC money. They stopped airing his simulcast, and CBS radio feared the same thing, so they canned him, too. Rush Limbaugh's advertisers can make that same judgement if they choose, they don't need a Federal law to gag him, because if he goes over the line, consumers will let them know. Freedom of speech is one of the most important parts of the Bill of Rights because once you silence people on the air or in print, you open the door to tyranny, and it's already knocking, ready to come in. Let Imus make fun of whomever he chooses, let Rosie claim the president is responsible for 9/11, and let the consumers decide if they want to buy that garbage. It's not government's place to shut them or anyone else up just because I disagree, and I would never support a law that claims otherwise. Remember, what people can't change with votes, they can change with their wallets and purses. I don't want to wake up in a country where I get sent to prison because I didn't let Al Gore comment on my blog. Still, in the interest of "fairness," I allow and encourage anyone to comment, because after all, free and open debate is one of our greatest national treasure. Enjoy it. Employ it. Defend it.

The Lemmings of Global Warming

The temperature in Grand Rapids, MI maybe 10 degrees below the norm for this time of year, but the global warming kooks are still going to protest in the cold to support more government control of your life, according to Ben Kolker of the Associated press. Those of us who remember this past winter, those of us who are geared up for a huge and unseasonal storm this weekend, and those of us who still have the power for individual thought would say that this is, as the French say, "stupid." It's actually getting colder, so why not rethink this whole global warming bunk? In their defense, one of these kooks, Lisa Locke, associate director of the West Michigan Environmental Action Council, said, "I think that's an easy excuse, but if we're really reasonable about it, we're not talking about individual weather on individual days," Locke said. "We're talking about something much larger, on a global scale, which science has been tracking for decades." Really, Lisa? Decades? Then why couldn't my local weather forecaster, a meteorologist, give me an accurate prediction for the last seven days? Even with his Super Doppler 7000 radar, he's still really only guessing. So, what's the rally for? Well, they want congress to know that they care. They care so much, in fact, that they want congress to cut emissions by 80 percent in less than 50 years. Do you know how government is supposed to do this? Let me share it with you, in case you missed the last few rants on this bunk called global warming. The global warming alarmists like Al Gore want us all to pay more taxes, carbon taxes, taxes on the kind of car you drive, whether or not you barbecue with charcoal, they want to take your money to plant trees, billions of trees that won't absorb all of this carbon until the fifty years are up, providing they survive. Well, let these kooks go to their rally, let them shake hands with the mayor and share their kids' pictures of the poor, doomed polar bears, another media hoax. My family and I will be inside, warmed by a fire that will be emitting plenty of carbon into the air to keep the kooks warm.

At Least He's Not In Rehab...

I wasn't going to bring it up, because there are already enough people talking about it, but now that Imus has been fired, I may as well put in my two cents worth, so here goes. Look, I never even listened to the guy, but I know what shock jocks are and what they do, so I'm sure this wasn't his first brush with controversy. That's why people listen to them. The name says it all, they shock people by saying things you can't say in the locker room, let alone on radio. Plenty of people are arguing on the AM call-in shows as to whether or not what he said was racist, so I'll not tackle the issue. Personally, I can understand, even if it isn't racist, how being called a "nappy headed ho" would ruffle some one's feathers, but here's why I'm even bothering to address the issue; this is proof that if you don't like what people are saying, you can shut them up by getting them fired. Under the same line of thinking, maybe Rosie O'Donnell should be fired, too. If Imus likes, he can always take the issue to the ACLU and debate "freedom of speech" in a court of law, but, frankly, I think they'd tell him to go fly a kite. You see, to some people, freedom of speech only goes as far as political correctness, i.e. whether people can sue you over it or not, which is why everyone who gets caught by the pc watchdog press must quickly apologise and go into rehab. "I didn't mean it! That wasn't me! I'm a drunk!" Sure. It would be more honest if these people apologised by saying, "sorry I'm a bigot," not "sorry I said it." Having said that, I still believe that, as Americans, everyone has the right to be a hateful moron and say so. I, as an American, have the right to think they are human garbage and say so by turning off the radio, but I won't boycott or call on anyone to be fired just because I disagree with them. Let the ratings speak for themselves, that's what I say. If I'm aloud to say it, I mean. The bottom line, people, is that our Bill of Rights guarantees you the right to be a moron and say stupid things other people may be offended by, even Rosie, even Imus. Yes, the right to have opinions, especially unpopular ones, the right to speak freely, even speech you hate, should be respected, because you never know when the times will change and the things you say become unpopular or illegal. Frankly, I've worked in places over the years where every person there could have been fired for being offensive, but then I guess it just depends on how thick your skin is as to whether or not you take it up with the HR department. Imus is a big mouth and a jackass, and I can't say i feel too sorry for him, but I have to give him this...at least he didn't check into rehab like the other celebrity freak shows.

Does justice matter?

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper says the Duke boys are innocent, and I'm not talking about those reckless drivers from Hazzard County. For over a year, three athletes from Duke University were accused of rape, kidnapping, and sexual offense by a troubled stripper on medication and a prosecutor turned persecutor, without a shred of evidence. They were vilified in the media mercilessly...at least until somebody pointed out the tiny little fact that none of it was true. Why was this such a big deal, not just around Durham, but around the country? Simple. Race. They were rich white guys, and she was a poor black girl. It just had to be true, didn't it? Why would she lie? Well, we don't know, really, but it doesn't matter. As relieved as I am for these boys, I wonder if it will matter much to the people out there who almost seem disappointed that they were exonerated, the people out there who are grumbling, "Well, it could've been true. They could've done it." Why was everyone so willing to believe it when the very basis of our legal system demands proof of guilt, the presumption of innocence, and a fair trial before a jury of one's peers? Because the accusation matters more than the truth, that's why. Rape is heinous enough on its' own, and racism is worse, but if you put the two together, it's like a knockout blow from Sonny Liston in the first round. It's even worse when you're a rich white guy, because, for some reason, people think you should be punished just for that, as if all rich white guys get their wealth by squashing the little guy and breaking the law. Even in a case where any girl is raped by any guy, the accuser is believed in an instant, and even when it's proven false, the poor shlub is ruined for life. It doesn't have to be true, it just has to be awful. Rape is a horrible act of personal terror in which one employs sex as a weapon , and we all feel a great deal of sympathy for the victim, even when it never happened. Add on, or even just imply that race was involved, and the accused may well be as hated as Hitler before the trial even begins. Even when the Attorney General holds a press conference, says not just that the charges have been dropped, but that these young men are innocent, that no DNA or any other evidence was collected to show otherwise, and says the accused are deserving of apologies, it doesn't matter to some people. The accusation matters more than the truth. Anyone who ever thought, "boy these kids are gonna get it, we're not gonna let them get away with it, their money and status can't save them," are either feeling very embarrassed or have conceived some conspiracy theory in their heads because, for what ever reason, they needed to believe the lie. Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong went out of his way to make people believe it, and now he owes David Evans and his teammates an apology. He'll probably be disbarred on top of that, but again, will it matter? These young men are going to carry this around with them for life, so although, after 395 days of defending themselves and finally being pronounced innocent of all charges, they may be wondering, as I am, will they ever be forgiven for the things they didn't do? Justice was served...but will it matter?

Republic of Wal-Mart

Like most Americans, you probably have a profound nostalgia for good ole' Main Street, the family-owned hardware store, and the cannons in front of the grand ole' City Hall. Me, too. Unfortunately, Beaver Cleaver grew up, sold the business, and now it's a trash-filled lot that is sometimes used as overflow parking for the annual labor day parade. Hey, it's not Wal-Mart's fault. How many times did you look in your wallet and think, "hmmm...well, I guess i don't mind paying $2.13 a pound more for meat to support the local butcher," or look at your watch and think, "well, little Tina needs a hair-cut, I have to go to the bank, get dinner, and get my prescription filled...I guess I have time to go to four or five places just to save Main Street." No, you didn't. You went to that big place on the outskirts of town that used to be a corn field so you could save time and money. Didn't you? Hey, me, too. I wish I could be a "buy American, support local business" kind of guy, myself, but I will pay less for the cheap crap made in Communist China, mostly because it's convenient and cheap. Sorry, I gotta be me. We ought to be realistic, folks, the Main Street you grew up with is gone. Think of this; all Wal-Mart needs is a school and a fire department, and they are Main Street. That's right, at my Wal-Mart, I can do my banking, get a hair-cut, do my taxes, buy hardware, get a sandwhich from Subway, buy my Levi's, get a new DVD, have a family portrait taken, get a flat tire repaired, and buy my groceries. What the hell do I need Main Street for, except as a way to get to Wal-Mart? Imagine this, too, if you will....Every Wal-Mart in the the next fifty years builds huge apartment complexes on top of their stores, maybe even has a factory built right next door to manufacture those plastic bags, a police station in the basement, and a beautiful new park next door to it all, and Presto! The City of Wal-Mart! Heck, I'd like to be the Mayor of Wal-Mart. It'll be great, just think. In a few short decades, we'll have completely eliminated the need for townships and villages entirely. Everyone, to one degree or another, will work for, buy from, and live in Wal-Mart. You'll meet strangers in the aisles, saying, "So, where are you from," and you'll respond, "Well, we're originally from Automotive, but we moved to Housewares last month because we heard the school district is better." They'll say, "Oh, I have a cousin from Automotive," and so on. Maybe after one hundred years, Wal-Mart will be so big, a North American Union will be possible with Mexico and Canada....The People's Republic of Wal-Mart. And we can all be proud of ourselves, because we made it possible by buying cheap crap from China that you have to bring back to customer service every other day. Are you as excited as I am, folks?

Iran Gives West The Finger

If Mahmood looks confident, it's because he's pretty sure that after a year of fiddling around with the atom with no real opposition, he can pretty much get away with anything. Consider, if you will, that 15 British Sailors were captured in Iraqi waters without a single shot fired, and while the rest of the West is dancing around the issue, the Royal Navy and Marines are playing ping pong and making apologies to the Iranians. Somehow, Tony Blair getting red in the face and saying, "you'd better knock it off, or we'll shake our fingers at you some more," didn't scare Mahmood very much. The Russians were so sure we were going to attack the Iranians on the 6th of April, they tried to warn the world...but we didn't attack. These "sanctions" the U.N. has in place didn't seem to worry Mahmood, either. That's why the Iranians have announced that they're putting in 3,000 centrifuges in Natanz, and, just to show us how little our threats mean to them, announce today as the "national day of nuclear energy." Iran is now the high school kids speeding down the highway past us, the cop with the flat tire, and they are giving us the finger and laughing. "What are you going to to about it, Smokey?" Well...nothing, I guess. We went to war against Saddam for this kind of thing, I say, "What the hell are we waiting for, let's roll!" You say the military is spread out too far? I say we have plenty of Tomahawks and submarines, more than enough for what we need. I don't want to invade Iran, I just want to bomb them until their capacity to wage war is no more threatening to us and the Israelis than a slingshot.There's a reason we name our warships "Ronald Reagan" and "Chester Nimitz." I say it's time for "Reagan" to send another message to the Iranians, and it should be something Mahmood will understand, something like, oh, I don't know....a bomb in his lap. Trust me, people, it's the only thing Ahmadinajad understands, because the Western civilization is no more than a flea to him, and one that is easily scratched right off. Next time he gives us the finger, I say we cut it off.

Gore "Gross Alarmist," Says Dr. Grey

In an article by the Associated Press this morning, Dr. William Grey, a leading hurricane forecaster, was quoted as saying of Al Gore, "He's one of these guys that preaches the end of the world type of things. I think he's doing a great disservice and he doesn't know what he's talking about." See? I'm not the only one, and this is a guy who knows a thing or to about climate study. This is a guy who, when he says a hurricane is coming up the mouth of the Mississippi River, New Orleanians listen to. I have yet to hear if Mr. Gore has commented on this, but I'm guessing he probably just shrugged his shoulders and held up his Oscar for An Inconvenient Truth. Of course, after Hurricane Katrina, the global warming kooks blamed global warming and predictd that 2006 would be an even worse hurricane season...which never happened, because El Nino came along and clipped the heads of off these things before they could ever form. I, personally, as one who lived in New Orleans for a great deal of my adult life, am more inclined to listen to Dr. Grey, but you go ahead and pop that Gore propganda into your DVD player and space out to the actual facts. Anyway, Dr. Grey believes ocean circulation patterns are to blame for the past few stron hurricanes, not man-made global warming, and as a person who has been the leading forcaster for hurricanes for 24 years, I'm inclined to agree, but such people as MIT proffessor Kerry Emanuel of MIT still argue the point. These doomsday scientists have been on our cases for so long, it's almost hard to remember when it all started. First, they told us to use plastic bags, because they could be recycled and would save trees. Then, they told us the plastic bags weren't getting recycled, and at least the paper bags are biodegradeable. They told us to switch form the old-fashioned Edison lightbulbs to compact flourescents, then back again because they contain mercury components and pollute the Earth. In Belgium, they're imposing a tax on barbecues because of the CO2 output, to be enforced by carbon-spewing helicopters flying over peoples' backyards. Oh, and by the way....EVERY TIME YOU BREATH, you exhale CO2, which trees need to breathe. Al Gore says you need to change the way you live and is asking a carbon tax to be levied on us, but is refusing to change his own usage habits. Have you had enough, yet, folks? Dr. Grey is right, but it's worse than that. Mr. Gore is not just a "gross alarmist," he's a hypocrite and a fraud, and if you are still determined to believe these kooks, even after everything I've tried to share with you on this site, then there is no hope for you. Wake up, people, it's people like William Grey who are looking out for you, not the global warming pseudo-scientists and their guilt-tripping entourage.

Pelosi and the Logan Act of 1799

Speaker of the Blouse Nancy Pelosi cuddled up with some big-time scumbags this week despite the wishes of the President and was called "brave" by the Syrian dictators that support cowardly terrorists. I don't know about brave, but the word "bold" comes to mind. Now, it isn't at all unheard of for law makers to break the law, but it is pretty foolish, when in the middle of two wars, to ignore U.S. code that strictly prohibits such interference in international policy. Bold, indeed , is the word that comes to mind when the Speaker (or anyone else for that matter) feels herself to be so powerful, so untouchable, that she would circumvent the wishes of the president and the law of the land in order to appease the anti-war kooks on the far left. This makes her more of a rogue agent than a servant of the people, and it makes her a stooge for the very people that want us and the Israelis dead. While it's true that no one has ever been prosecuted under the Logan Act, this is very dangerous, and illegal, so pay attention. Here's the law, for those of you who don't know it:

§ 953. Private correspondence with foreign governments.
Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
This section shall not abridge the right of a citizen to apply himself, or his agent, to any foreign government, or the agents thereof, for redress of any injury which he may have sustained from such government or any of its agents or subjects.
18 U.S.C. § 953 (2004).

Now, this was passed into law in 1799, so before you start shouting things about freedom of speech and the constitution, you should know that this was passed by the Adams administration, the very people who wrote the constitution, so I think it's safe to assume they knew what they were doing. Historically, of course, this act was used mostly as a warning, a kind of strong-arm political "don't you dare," but in 1803, there was an indictment, and had it not been for the Louisiana Purchase, who's to say that one Kentucky Farmer might not have gone to prison under the act? I know, times have changed, but the law has not, and for good reason. This kind of "diplomacy" sends mixed messages to the enemy, and we can't have that.

Now, I'm not saying that the Speaker of the Blouse should be in jail right now with only dog food and water for sustenance. Three years is a long time, and I hear the dog food has poison in it these days. Besides, George Bush would never dare invoke the act. Still, instead of coming off of the plane looking like the cat that ate the canary, she should be hiding her shame under that ridiculous babushka. She has, like it or not, broken a federal law under the Logan act, and not so she could make nice with these killers and show them all how highly we think of ourselves, but to further her own political career. When our men and women are dying at the hands of terrorists, it is unconscionable to go and shake hands with and make phony promises to a nation that is a known enemy to ourselves and our allies. When you think about it, maybe three years and some dog food would clear her mind a little, huh?

Pelosi Endorsed By the Enemy

Well, Madame Speaker, you've done it. You've reversed the "Pinocchio Effect." He wanted to be a real boy, and apparently, you want to be a puppet. You win. I suppose it comes as no great shock to the nation that you have sided with the enemy, but it wouldn't hurt if you told us all why. Is it because you hate the president so much that you are willing to go out of your way to seek votes outside of your own country as a matter of protest? Do you believe that you can garner significant support from the terrorists to at least become the first " Madame Vice- President?" You have proven yourself to be a buffoon, a dupe, and you don't even know it. All your trip to the middle-east did was let the Arabs know that there are people out there who hate the Jews just enough to let the war smoulder so it can be forgotten about.
Khaled Al-Batch, of the Islamic Jihad, expressed hopes that she would continue winning elections, according to Worldnetdaily. Apparently, she understands the region better than President Bush, which, in Islamo-speak, means, we will KILL you if you don't do what we want. Read this quote carefully. "Abu Abdullah, a leader of Hammas' military wing in the Gaza Strip, said the willingness by some lawmakers to talk with Syria "is proof of the importance of the resistance against the U.S."
"The Americans know and understand they are losing in Iraq and the Middle East and that their only chance to survive is to reduce hostilities with Arab countries and with Islam. Islam is the new giant of the world." Again, from WND. Do you know what this means? The Arabs watch CNN, too. They know that there are a lot of people against the war, and they are biding their time. This is something that hasn't been said, but it's about time, and I hope you people are ready. It's sad, but true.
THIS IS A WAR AGAINST JEWS! It's not the first time, may not be the last time, but make no mistake, this is a war against Israel. The Speaker of the Blouse said she believes the road to Damascus is the road to peace, and all we have to do to get it is to make the Israelis give up the Golan Hieghts. And then something else, and something else, and so on and so forth, it will never end. What really saddens me is that a U.S. Representative like Nancy Pelosi would get into bed with these killers. The Democrats claim to be multi-cultural, but when it comes to Judaism, there is no one, other than Joe Lieberman, who is willing to take a stand. This is Important, America, so stay awake....the fate of Israel is our own. Doubt it not. When Terrorist groups like Hammas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad start siding with U.S. representatives, like Nancy Pelosi, who wish only to remove ourselves from an uncomfortable position, then you know who you must vote for. Terrorists favor Pelosi. Who will you support?

Why Faith Scares The Faithless

If you have ever tried to have an intelligent discussion about religion with someone who believes in nothing, you've probably heard this before: "Don't you think it's arrogant to think that your religion is the one true way?" You have to give these people credit for trying, I suppose, because the supposed argument is that anything you say must be tainted with an offensive show of superiority and self-righteousness, and you are probably a hypocrite, to boot. It can be an effective tool in an argument, to make your opponent look like a smug bombast, but it denies the truth behind what faith really is.
What really makes you want to strangle the person who asks this question is since they have no belief in anything, they fail to see that the question is ...well, idiotic. Read it again. "Don't you think it's arrogant to think that your religion is the one true way?" That's what faith is! Not just "think," but "believe," or "know to be true." I don't know about you, but I have never met a Jewish person who said to me, "You know, I'm Jewish, and all, but I can't help but think that maybe the Hindus are on to something," or a christian who said, "Yeah, I worship Christ, but I'm probably going to pray to Allah tonight, just to be on the safe side." It doesn't happen. Everyone, whether Muslim or Jew, Christian or Buddhist, believes they are right and all else are wrong. As it turns out, there actually is such a thing as a stupid question, so unless you are a complete boob, this one should never be asked.
As my mom once said to me, "for the non-believer, no proof will ever be possible, but for he who believes, no proof will ever be necessary." Even the "enlightened" secular humanists out there can probably wrap their minds around those sage words, so why does faith scare them? It's a simple question of rationalisation and moral relativism. No one likes to believe what they are doing is wrong, especially if they enjoy it, and people really hate being told what they're doing is wrong. They say to themselves, "Wait a minute...according to this moral code, here, what I'm doing is a sin...but I don't feel sinful...and I don't really appreciate being judged by all of these people...how dare they? Judgemental bastards! Hey, I know...since I like what I'm doing, it can't be sinful, therefore there is no such thing as sin, therefore there is no God! Yeah... that's how I'll play it!" Right. If it feels good, do it, there are no consequences, it's just another "lifestyle choice." Just ask Charles Manson about his "lifestyle choice." I'm sure he's got a rationalisation, too.
What's funny is, as soon as you tell one of these people that you're a person of faith, they're immediately on the defensive. They automatically start making judgements about you. You're a christian, so you must hate homosexuals, course language, alcohol (and people who drink it), people of all other faiths, and, because you're so intolerant, you think everyone who's not you is going to Hell. Plus, since no one is perfect, that automatically makes you a hypocrite! Don't you just love how they think? Tell them you're a Christian, and their brain sends a signal to the mouth that's almost uncontrollable to shout with a contorted face, "YOU HATE ME! THAT MAKES YOU A HYPOCRITE, YOU CHRISTIAN! I HATE YOU, TOO, SO THERE! " Being lectured by one of these clowns is like listening to a fish describe land, but once you understand what you're dealing with, you begin to see the patterns. Do you see now how a person like Rosie O'Donnell can spew out the garbage she does about Christians being as dangerous as radical Islamo-fascists?
They already want to jump into the ring and start swinging before you even knew there was a bout scheduled. So, how do you beat them? Kill them with kindness. Ask them what they really know about you and what you personally believe. Tell them you're willing to teach them if they are willing to learn, and that you're open to friendly debate. Tell them you will pray for them. If that doesn't work, and they still want to make you out to be Ghengis Khan simply for believing in something, well...then, I guess you can tell them to go to hell. Psst! Just kidding, Mom, I would never....

Operation Praying Mantis

Okay, obviously MI6 decided not to heed my advice and send in 007 to fix this current hostage situation between Iran and the UK, and apparently Ethan Hunt and the IMF team are out to lunch, as well (sigh). I guess Downing Street is still trying to engage in "direct talks" with the Iranians, according to Tariq Panja of the Associated Press, as "both sides share a desire for an early resolution to this issue through direct talks." Really? Both sides? I don't think so. All the Iranians want is to embarrass the Brits in front of the world while winking at the U.S. as if to say, "Go ahead...make my day." They want to be legitimised by the U.S. and make it that much harder for us to flex our muscles in the gulf. Fine. We've still got a few good plays left in the book, and they came straight from the Gipper.
The Iranians probably remember April 18, 1988 pretty well. Hopefully, so do George Bush and Tony Blair, because the events that took place on that day are the only thing that people like Ahmedinajad understand; brute, military force. When the USS Samuel B. Roberts hit an Iranian mine in the gulf that day, injuring ten sailors and blowing a huge hole in the vessel, President Reagan and Adm. William J. Crowe, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, new just what to do...Sink the Iranian Navy, and cripple their oil platforms. Imagine the conversation....
Rear Adm. Anthony A. Less: Mr. President, we're in range. What are your orders?
President Reagan: Kill Them. (and, of course, it ended up as a huge embarrassment to them)
I know, I have a tendency to over-simplify things, but let's face it, folks, all of this talk is getting us no where with them. We need strong, decisive action, because all of this talking is making us look weak to the Arab nations. Heck, we don't even have to be as heavy handed as Reagan, we could take Newt Gingrich's approach: bomb the only refinery they have, let them sink into the stone age, and wait for the people of Iran to remember how lousy it was to have to use oxen instead of Peterbuilts. We owe the same resolve to our captured allies as we do to our boys in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Diplomacy" to Khameni sounds like "blah, blah, blah." Iran will only listen when it hears "BOOM!" If we're going to bring Tommy home with any kind of honor, and if we are serious about keeping their dirty little hands off of the atom bomb, we have to act like we still have he power to do more than wag our fingers at the enemy.

Wrong Again, Chicken Little

The Global Warming kooks are at it again, folks, and now they say it's even worse than the last time they predicted Armageddon. I discovered in the online edition of The Scotsman today that we have 50 years tops, and then we're all toast. "Ooooohhh, wow," some of you might be thinking, "it's 2000 scientists that all agree with each other! That's a really big number, maybe there's something to this..." There is. It's called a tax on carbon output on each and every person in the "whirled" community. It's a government slush fund. It's a scary bedtime story by a bunch of guys in lab coats nodding at eachother as to what might be happening based on 100 years of data. So, why isn't it working? The Independent also ran a story today that says while 80% of Britons feel global warming is a threat, half of them are not planning on changing their lifestyles. I can here them now; "So what? The sun is hotter. What do you want me to do, shoot a water pistol at it?"

Good point, Tommy, but there are other sides to the story. Perhaps you've never heard of the Croll-Milankovitch Hypothesis. You see, the Earth's orbit around the sun (GASP!) may not be static. Here's an excerpt from "The Orbital Forcing Model," which I discovered at http://astro.temple.edu/~andy/Contents/Research/orbitalforcing.htm

"Beginning with the orbital forcing variables as summarized by Berger (1988); Fischer & Bottjer (1991); De Boer & Smith (1994) and House (1995), herein it is assumed that the fundamental orbital forcing signal is the precessional signal (Anderson & Goodwin, 1990; 1992). The strength of this signal is directly related to the degree of eccentricity of the Earth’s orbit. As eccentricity increases and summers occur near perihelion (in the precessional cycle) insolation at high latitudes reaches a maximum (Fig. 1 Precessional hot summers.jpg). If those summers occur in a hemisphere with large areas of continent at high latitude then high insolation values may trigger the melting of accumulated continental glacial ice. When summers occur near aphelion with high eccentricity (Fig. 2 Precessional cold summers.jpg), the resulting long series of cool summers may trigger renewed build up of high-latitude, continental glacial ice. Principles relating orbital forcing to glacial ice volume were first articulated in 1864 by James Croll (1821-1890) and reinforced by Milutin Milankovitch in 1941. "

That's a lot of mumbo-jumbo, I know. What it means is....(drum roll, please) Sometimes the Earth is closer to the sun during its' orbit, which makes it seem a little hotter. Sometimes the Earth is farther away from the sun at certain points in its' orbit, so it seems a little colder. But what, folks, that's not the best part! The best part is, there were probably about 2000 scientists who agreed with this hypothesis back in 1941! Yeah, and I'll bet you could find a hundred more theories supported by 2000 more scientists, talk about a consensus! Just one thing, though, folks...science isn't consensus. Science is fact. If you and I agree that the world is flat, that doesn't make it so. You need proof, which no one has, just evidence, and I think we can all remember what Mr. Barnum said about that.

There must be something in human nature that makes us all wish we were living in a real-life, doomsday, end-of-times movie, because we keep doing this to ourselves. Remember Haley's Comet? Remember global cooling? Remember the o-zone? Remember Y2K? It must be that innate part of ourselves that needs to think we're heroes, that we're saving someone or something. I don't know. I've discovered, as Billy Joel once sang in The Angry Young Man, "that surviving is a noble fight. I once believed in causes, too, had my pointless point of view, and life went on no matter who was wrong or right." Sage words, Bill.

So look, here's my plan. Let's pay a bunch of scientists to aver that leprechauns are responsible for depleting the wetlands around Louisiana. Get enough of them to say it, and maybe Katie Couric will pick up on it. Then we'll have people all over the world begging congress to do something about the leprechauns. If enough people believe it, it'll be true, right? Just one question...after we solve that question, what should we do with the other two wishes?