High School Class of 1958 vs. 2010
Scenario 1:
Jack goes quail hunting before school and then pulls into the school parking lot with his shotgun in his truck's gun rack.
1958 - Vice Principal comes over, looks at Jack's shotgun, goes to his car and gets his shotgun to show Jack.
2010 - School goes into lock down, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers.
Scenario 2:
Johnny and Mark get into a fist fight after school.
1958 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies.
2010 - Police called and SWAT team arrives -- they arrest both Johnny and Mark. They are both charged with assault and both expelled even though Johnny started it.
Scenario 3:
Jeffrey will not be still in class, he disrupts other students.
1958 - Jeffrey sent to the Principal's office and given a good paddling by the Principal. He then returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.
2010 - Jeffrey is given huge doses of Ritalin. He becomes a zombie. He is then tested for ADD. The family gets extra money (SSI) from the government because Jeffrey has a disability.
Scenario 4:
Billy breaks a window in his neighbor's car and his Dad g! gives him a whipping with his belt.
1958 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college and becomes a successful businessman.
2010 - Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy is removed to foster care and joins a gang. The state psychologist is told by Billy's sister that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy's mom has an affair with the psychologist.
Scenario 5:
Mark gets a headache and takes some aspirin to school..
1958 - Mark shares his aspirin with the Principal out on the smoking dock
2010 - The police are called and Mark is expelled from school for drug violations. His car is then searched for drugs and weapons.
Scenario 6:
Pedro fails high school English.
1958 - Pedro goes to summer school, passes English and goes to college.
2010 - Pedro's cause is taken up by state. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against the state school system and Pedro's English teacher. English is then banned from core curriculum. Pedro is given his diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.
Scenario 7:
Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from the Fourth of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle and blows up a red ant bed.
1958 - Ants die.
2010 - ATF, Homeland Security and the FBI are all called. Johnny is charged with domestic terrorism. The FBI investigates his parents -- and all siblings are removed from their home and all computers are confiscated. Johnny's dad ! is placed on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.
Scenario 8:
Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee He is found crying by his teacher, Mary. Mary hugs him to comfort him.
1958 - In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing.
2010 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison. Johnny undergoes 5 years of therapy.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was a very remarkable man who started learning very early in life and never stopped.
� At 5, began studying under his cousin's tutor.
� At 9, studied Latin, Greek and French.
� At 14, studied classical literature and additional languages.
� At 16, entered the College of William and Mary.
� At 19, studied Law for 5 years starting under George Wythe.
� At 23, started his own law practice.
� At 25, was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses.
� At 31, wrote the widely circulated "Summary View of the Rights of British America " and retired from his law practice.
� At 32, was a Delegate to the Second Continental Congress.
� At 33, wrote the Declaration of Independence .
� At 33, took three years to revise Virginia ’s legal code and wrote a Public Education bill and a statute for Religious Freedom.
� At 36, was elected the second Governor of Virginia succeeding Patrick Henry.
� At 40, served in Congress for two years.
� At 41, was the American minister to France and negotiated commercial treaties with European nations along with Ben
Franklin and John Adams.
� At 46, served as the first Secretary of State under George Washington.
� At 53, served as Vice President and was elected president of the American Philosophical Society.
� At 55, drafted the Kentucky Resolutions and became the active head of Republican Party.
� At 57, was elected the third president of the United States .
� At 60, obtained the Louisiana Purchase doubling the nation’s size.
� At 61, was elected to a second term as President.
� At 65, retired to Monticello .
� At 80, helped President Monroe shape the Monroe Doctrine.
� At 81, almost single-handedly created the University of Virginia and served as its first president.
� At 83, died on the 50th anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence along with John Adams
Thomas Jefferson knew because he himself studied the previous failed attempts at government. He understood actual history, the nature of God, his laws and the nature of man. That happens to be way more than what most understand today. Jefferson really knew his stuff. A voice from the past to lead us in the future:
John F. Kennedy held a dinner in the white House for a group of the brightest minds in the nation at that time. He made this statement: "This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligence ever to gather at one time in the White House with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."
When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe .
Thomas Jefferson
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.
Thomas Jefferson
It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.
Thomas Jefferson
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
Thomas Jefferson
My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.
Thomas Jefferson
No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.
Thomas Jefferson
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.
Thomas Jefferson
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Thomas Jefferson
To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:
I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property - until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.
� At 5, began studying under his cousin's tutor.
� At 9, studied Latin, Greek and French.
� At 14, studied classical literature and additional languages.
� At 16, entered the College of William and Mary.
� At 19, studied Law for 5 years starting under George Wythe.
� At 23, started his own law practice.
� At 25, was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses.
� At 31, wrote the widely circulated "Summary View of the Rights of British America " and retired from his law practice.
� At 32, was a Delegate to the Second Continental Congress.
� At 33, wrote the Declaration of Independence .
� At 33, took three years to revise Virginia ’s legal code and wrote a Public Education bill and a statute for Religious Freedom.
� At 36, was elected the second Governor of Virginia succeeding Patrick Henry.
� At 40, served in Congress for two years.
� At 41, was the American minister to France and negotiated commercial treaties with European nations along with Ben
Franklin and John Adams.
� At 46, served as the first Secretary of State under George Washington.
� At 53, served as Vice President and was elected president of the American Philosophical Society.
� At 55, drafted the Kentucky Resolutions and became the active head of Republican Party.
� At 57, was elected the third president of the United States .
� At 60, obtained the Louisiana Purchase doubling the nation’s size.
� At 61, was elected to a second term as President.
� At 65, retired to Monticello .
� At 80, helped President Monroe shape the Monroe Doctrine.
� At 81, almost single-handedly created the University of Virginia and served as its first president.
� At 83, died on the 50th anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence along with John Adams
Thomas Jefferson knew because he himself studied the previous failed attempts at government. He understood actual history, the nature of God, his laws and the nature of man. That happens to be way more than what most understand today. Jefferson really knew his stuff. A voice from the past to lead us in the future:
John F. Kennedy held a dinner in the white House for a group of the brightest minds in the nation at that time. He made this statement: "This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligence ever to gather at one time in the White House with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."
When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe .
Thomas Jefferson
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.
Thomas Jefferson
It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.
Thomas Jefferson
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
Thomas Jefferson
My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.
Thomas Jefferson
No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.
Thomas Jefferson
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.
Thomas Jefferson
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Thomas Jefferson
To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:
I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property - until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
More computer humor.....
Well, you might have thought that you knew how the Internet started,
but here's the TRUE story ....
In ancient Israel , it came to pass that a trader by the name of
Abraham Com did take unto himself a young wife by the name of Dot.
And Dot Com was a comely woman, broad of shoulder and long of leg.
Indeed, she was often called Amazon Dot Com.
And she said unto Abraham, her husband: "Why dost thou travel so far
from town to town with thy goods when thou canst trade without ever
leaving thy tent?"
And Abraham did look at her - as though she were several saddle bags
short of a camel load, but simply said: "How, dear?"
And Dot replied: "I will place drums in all the towns and drums in
between to send messages saying what you have for
sale, and they will reply telling you who hath the best price.
And the sale can be made on the drums and delivery made by Uriah's
Pony Stable (UPS)."
Abraham thought long and decided he would let Dot have her way with
the drums. And the drums rang out and were an immediate success.
Abraham sold all the goods he had at the top price, without ever having
to move from his tent.
To prevent neighboring countries from overhearing what the drums were saying, Dot devised a system that only she and the drummers knew. It was called Must Send Drum Over Sound (MSDOS), and she also developed a language to transmit ideas and pictures - Hebrew To The People (HTTP)
But this success did arouse envy. A man named Maccabia did secret
himself inside Abraham's drum and began to siphon off some of
Abraham's business. But he was soon discovered, arrested and prosecuted -
for insider trading.
And the young men did take to Dot Com's trading as doth the greedy
horsefly take to camel dung.
They were called Nomadic Ecclesiastical Rich Dominican Sybarites, or NERDS.
And lo, the land was so feverish with joy at the new riches and the
deafening sound of drums that no one noticed that the real riches were
going to that enterprising drum dealer, Brother William of Gates, who bought off every drum maker in the land.
And indeed did insist on drums to be made that would work only with
Brother Gates' drumheads and drumsticks.
And Dot did say: "Oh, Abraham, what we have started is being taken
over by others."
And Abraham looked out over the Bay of Ezekiel , or eBay as it came to
be known. He said: "We need a name that reflects what we are."
And Dot replied: "Young Ambitious Hebrew Owner Operators."
"YAHOO," said Abraham.
And because it was Dot's idea, they named it YAHOO Dot Com.
Abraham's cousin, Joshua, being the young Gregarious Energetic Educated
Kid (GEEK) that he was, soon started using Dot's drums to locate things around the countryside. It soon became known as God's Own Official Guide to Locating Everything (GOOGLE)
And that is how it all began.
but here's the TRUE story ....
In ancient Israel , it came to pass that a trader by the name of
Abraham Com did take unto himself a young wife by the name of Dot.
And Dot Com was a comely woman, broad of shoulder and long of leg.
Indeed, she was often called Amazon Dot Com.
And she said unto Abraham, her husband: "Why dost thou travel so far
from town to town with thy goods when thou canst trade without ever
leaving thy tent?"
And Abraham did look at her - as though she were several saddle bags
short of a camel load, but simply said: "How, dear?"
And Dot replied: "I will place drums in all the towns and drums in
between to send messages saying what you have for
sale, and they will reply telling you who hath the best price.
And the sale can be made on the drums and delivery made by Uriah's
Pony Stable (UPS)."
Abraham thought long and decided he would let Dot have her way with
the drums. And the drums rang out and were an immediate success.
Abraham sold all the goods he had at the top price, without ever having
to move from his tent.
To prevent neighboring countries from overhearing what the drums were saying, Dot devised a system that only she and the drummers knew. It was called Must Send Drum Over Sound (MSDOS), and she also developed a language to transmit ideas and pictures - Hebrew To The People (HTTP)
But this success did arouse envy. A man named Maccabia did secret
himself inside Abraham's drum and began to siphon off some of
Abraham's business. But he was soon discovered, arrested and prosecuted -
for insider trading.
And the young men did take to Dot Com's trading as doth the greedy
horsefly take to camel dung.
They were called Nomadic Ecclesiastical Rich Dominican Sybarites, or NERDS.
And lo, the land was so feverish with joy at the new riches and the
deafening sound of drums that no one noticed that the real riches were
going to that enterprising drum dealer, Brother William of Gates, who bought off every drum maker in the land.
And indeed did insist on drums to be made that would work only with
Brother Gates' drumheads and drumsticks.
And Dot did say: "Oh, Abraham, what we have started is being taken
over by others."
And Abraham looked out over the Bay of Ezekiel , or eBay as it came to
be known. He said: "We need a name that reflects what we are."
And Dot replied: "Young Ambitious Hebrew Owner Operators."
"YAHOO," said Abraham.
And because it was Dot's idea, they named it YAHOO Dot Com.
Abraham's cousin, Joshua, being the young Gregarious Energetic Educated
Kid (GEEK) that he was, soon started using Dot's drums to locate things around the countryside. It soon became known as God's Own Official Guide to Locating Everything (GOOGLE)
And that is how it all began.
space shuttle pics
After next year, we will not see this again.
I fear that we have surrendered our destiny as a country. We kill the program and China launches a space vehicle. I guess this will be a chinese century.
Depressing
I fear that we have surrendered our destiny as a country. We kill the program and China launches a space vehicle. I guess this will be a chinese century.
Depressing
Monday, February 14, 2011
The fall of a strongman
The attempt to establish a post-colonial order of kings and strongmen to replace the British and French colonial rule over the Arab Muslim world was doomed from the start. Some of the kings were overthrown by native officers who had been trained by the British and the French to fight their wars. The officers who overthrew them became strongmen themselves.
The recently deposed Ben Ali was a Tunisian officer trained in French and American schools, who had helped push out the French and his predecessor. Egypt's Mubarak was an Air Force officer who replaced Sadat, who replaced Nasser-- all members of the Free Officers Movement which overthrew the Egyptian monarchy. Saddam Hussein took power in a coup against the coup led by army officers which had deposed the King of Iraq. Syria's Assad was an Air Force officer who took power after a long series of coups by army officers that it would take too long to list. If you're seeing a pattern here, congratulations and welcome to the Middle East.
The only Middle-Eastern Arab countries which held onto their monarchies, were either oil rich enough to spread the wealth to the important families and retain only a weak military to avoid the risk of being overthrown by their own army while relying on US protection (e.g. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE) or so small and deliberately apolitical to avoid attention (Jordan, Morocco). The rest ended up with military strongmen, some backed by the US, some backed by the Soviet Union. The Soviet backed strongmen usually unveiled some poorly thought out version of Arab Socialism. The US backed strongmen just stuck to taking a cut of everything and packing it away in foreign banks.
But there was a ticking time bomb underneath these pyramids of wealth and misery. Islam.
The recently deposed Ben Ali was a Tunisian officer trained in French and American schools, who had helped push out the French and his predecessor. Egypt's Mubarak was an Air Force officer who replaced Sadat, who replaced Nasser-- all members of the Free Officers Movement which overthrew the Egyptian monarchy. Saddam Hussein took power in a coup against the coup led by army officers which had deposed the King of Iraq. Syria's Assad was an Air Force officer who took power after a long series of coups by army officers that it would take too long to list. If you're seeing a pattern here, congratulations and welcome to the Middle East.
The only Middle-Eastern Arab countries which held onto their monarchies, were either oil rich enough to spread the wealth to the important families and retain only a weak military to avoid the risk of being overthrown by their own army while relying on US protection (e.g. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE) or so small and deliberately apolitical to avoid attention (Jordan, Morocco). The rest ended up with military strongmen, some backed by the US, some backed by the Soviet Union. The Soviet backed strongmen usually unveiled some poorly thought out version of Arab Socialism. The US backed strongmen just stuck to taking a cut of everything and packing it away in foreign banks.
But there was a ticking time bomb underneath these pyramids of wealth and misery. Islam.
The kings had been nothing more than British puppets. The strongmen that replaced them were the apex of a new praetorian guard. Despite whatever philosophies they brought to the table, sooner or later they tried to become kings as well. Syria's Assad passed power on to his son. Saddam was preparing his sons to oversee his own dynasty. In Egypt, Mubarak is trying to do the same thing. But they have no tradition and no history on their side. Their rule is a farce in which they call themselves presidents and prime ministers, and go through the pretense of holding elections, but function like absolute monarchs. An unbalanced situation that eventually implodes.
The strongmen depend on army backing, but the armies of the Arab world are split drastically between an elite officer corps and the soldier who is treated like sheep dung. The officers and the secret police run the country, but when a mob gathers, it's up to the soldiers to hold them back. If the soldiers choose not to, then it's time for the strongman to get on a plane and escape the country. (This is essentially what also brought down the Soviet Union.) As an alternative, the strongman will leverage support from tribal structures, appointing loyalists to top positions in the bureaucracy and the military. (This is what kicked off the initial insurgency in Iraq.) But that too is a balance. Elevating one family, alienates another family. The tribal power structure has its own enemies built in. Those maneuvers for power can cause the incredible chaos so common after the fall of a strongman.
The Arab world may hold elections, but it is a long way from accepting notions such as equality, open access or guaranteed freedoms. Its rulers will occasionally sign on to UN covenants on women's rights or religious rights, without ever taking them seriously. The idea that one man is just as good as another, regardless of his family or religion, is a completely alien one to them. A woman being just as good as a man is not even a conversation starter. The Middle East still mostly consists of peasants from feudal backgrounds lorded over by a small elite. Bring democracy and human rights to the Middle East? You might as well walk into 12th century Europe with a copy of the Constitution and expect not to be beheaded.
So what happens when a strongman is overthrown? Either he will be replaced by one of the coup leaders who will become the new strongman. If not he will also be overthrown. Or he will be replaced by an oligarchy which will eventually come to be dominated by its strongest and most ruthless member who will become the new strongman. (That is how Iraq ended up ruled by the House of Saddam.) As you can see there really isn't an alternative here. It's the strongman or nothing.
But there is a seeming alternative. A different power structure than a corrupt dictator and his thugs. One based not on power, greed and family-- but religion. Islam.
Most of the 'reformers' are usually fighting for either a takeover by the local socialist party or the local Islamist party. The general public will join in the stone throwing and the looting, without necessarily taking sides. Often the socialists and the Islamists will actually cooperate to bring down the dictator. Then one will take power and begin killing the other. Western media rarely bother to report this, either out of ignorance or due to propaganda. They treat most of the crowd scenes as popular uprisings, which they are but not in the sense that the people will get to decide one way or another. Only that they get a chance to take part in the brief spurt of violence before being ordered to go home.
The Islamists promise a system based on Allah's law. Rule by moral clerics instead of greedy officials. Traditional values, benefits for families and teddy bears not named Mohammed for everyone. It's a scam of course. The Islamist takeover means another strongman or oligarchy. Except instead of being named General Saddam Hussein, he'll be known as the Ayatollah Khomeini. The differences are minimal. The ruling families will still sock away money in foreign banks. Loyalists will still be appointed to top positions. The bureaucracy will go on abusing and blackmailing the public. The police will still be vicious thugs. And law will be promulgated by Imams or Muftis or Mullahs, but it will still be the law that those at the top want.
Despite all that, or maybe because of it, the Islamists are still inevitable. Islam manufactures a group identity that may be paper thin, but it still more solid than recently manufactured national identities for regional Arabs who are expected to see themselves as Egyptians, Syrians, Jordanians or Iraqis. Islam bridges tribal identities better than strongmen do. Its rulers will ultimately still reward their own families and favor their own tribes, but the process will take place under the guise of Islam.
When Mohammed invented Islam, he took existing beliefs and laced them up into a grand tribal identity. Islam is the meta-tribe, less a religion than a makeshift political system based on tribal alliances with the convenient sanction of a deity. Islam expands by creating a two-tier system that puts non-Muslims on the bottom, and encourages Muslims to wage constant war against them. None of this makes for a stable system, but it does make for a very volatile and expansionistic one. Arabs who will not die for Saddam or Ben Ali or Mubarak, will die for Islam.
The Islamists may not take over in Tunisia this time, but they will take over sooner or later. There and all across the Muslim world. (If it happened in militantly secularist Turkey with its army, then it really can happen anywhere.) Dictators will come and go, and eventually the local Islamists with funding from Saudi Arabia or Iran will put together a proper show and take over. And eventually the people will go tired and try to throw them out, as is happening in Iran. It's the natural political cycle of a region with no true national identities, no real principles of government, no law and no commitment to anyone outside the family.
We could slow down or even avert the process, by pushing Westernization and cutting the legs off Saudi Arabia and Iran. But we aren't about to do it. We could at least stop sending them money by the barrel, but we aren't about to do that either. And that's the real problem, not Ben Ali or Mubarak. Calling for the regimes to respect democracy and human rights just undermines whoever is in power. It does not lead to them being replaced by anything better. To do that, the entire culture would have to change. And that isn't happening.
The strongmen will fall. And the media will act like it's Romania in 1989, rather than just part of the cycle of coups in a system that cannot have anything better than tyrants of one sort or another. Eventually Islamists will come to power and wage war against us. It's up to us whether they win or not.
http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2011/01/fall-of-strongmen.html
The strongmen depend on army backing, but the armies of the Arab world are split drastically between an elite officer corps and the soldier who is treated like sheep dung. The officers and the secret police run the country, but when a mob gathers, it's up to the soldiers to hold them back. If the soldiers choose not to, then it's time for the strongman to get on a plane and escape the country. (This is essentially what also brought down the Soviet Union.) As an alternative, the strongman will leverage support from tribal structures, appointing loyalists to top positions in the bureaucracy and the military. (This is what kicked off the initial insurgency in Iraq.) But that too is a balance. Elevating one family, alienates another family. The tribal power structure has its own enemies built in. Those maneuvers for power can cause the incredible chaos so common after the fall of a strongman.
The Arab world may hold elections, but it is a long way from accepting notions such as equality, open access or guaranteed freedoms. Its rulers will occasionally sign on to UN covenants on women's rights or religious rights, without ever taking them seriously. The idea that one man is just as good as another, regardless of his family or religion, is a completely alien one to them. A woman being just as good as a man is not even a conversation starter. The Middle East still mostly consists of peasants from feudal backgrounds lorded over by a small elite. Bring democracy and human rights to the Middle East? You might as well walk into 12th century Europe with a copy of the Constitution and expect not to be beheaded.
So what happens when a strongman is overthrown? Either he will be replaced by one of the coup leaders who will become the new strongman. If not he will also be overthrown. Or he will be replaced by an oligarchy which will eventually come to be dominated by its strongest and most ruthless member who will become the new strongman. (That is how Iraq ended up ruled by the House of Saddam.) As you can see there really isn't an alternative here. It's the strongman or nothing.
But there is a seeming alternative. A different power structure than a corrupt dictator and his thugs. One based not on power, greed and family-- but religion. Islam.
Most of the 'reformers' are usually fighting for either a takeover by the local socialist party or the local Islamist party. The general public will join in the stone throwing and the looting, without necessarily taking sides. Often the socialists and the Islamists will actually cooperate to bring down the dictator. Then one will take power and begin killing the other. Western media rarely bother to report this, either out of ignorance or due to propaganda. They treat most of the crowd scenes as popular uprisings, which they are but not in the sense that the people will get to decide one way or another. Only that they get a chance to take part in the brief spurt of violence before being ordered to go home.
The Islamists promise a system based on Allah's law. Rule by moral clerics instead of greedy officials. Traditional values, benefits for families and teddy bears not named Mohammed for everyone. It's a scam of course. The Islamist takeover means another strongman or oligarchy. Except instead of being named General Saddam Hussein, he'll be known as the Ayatollah Khomeini. The differences are minimal. The ruling families will still sock away money in foreign banks. Loyalists will still be appointed to top positions. The bureaucracy will go on abusing and blackmailing the public. The police will still be vicious thugs. And law will be promulgated by Imams or Muftis or Mullahs, but it will still be the law that those at the top want.
Despite all that, or maybe because of it, the Islamists are still inevitable. Islam manufactures a group identity that may be paper thin, but it still more solid than recently manufactured national identities for regional Arabs who are expected to see themselves as Egyptians, Syrians, Jordanians or Iraqis. Islam bridges tribal identities better than strongmen do. Its rulers will ultimately still reward their own families and favor their own tribes, but the process will take place under the guise of Islam.
When Mohammed invented Islam, he took existing beliefs and laced them up into a grand tribal identity. Islam is the meta-tribe, less a religion than a makeshift political system based on tribal alliances with the convenient sanction of a deity. Islam expands by creating a two-tier system that puts non-Muslims on the bottom, and encourages Muslims to wage constant war against them. None of this makes for a stable system, but it does make for a very volatile and expansionistic one. Arabs who will not die for Saddam or Ben Ali or Mubarak, will die for Islam.
The Islamists may not take over in Tunisia this time, but they will take over sooner or later. There and all across the Muslim world. (If it happened in militantly secularist Turkey with its army, then it really can happen anywhere.) Dictators will come and go, and eventually the local Islamists with funding from Saudi Arabia or Iran will put together a proper show and take over. And eventually the people will go tired and try to throw them out, as is happening in Iran. It's the natural political cycle of a region with no true national identities, no real principles of government, no law and no commitment to anyone outside the family.
We could slow down or even avert the process, by pushing Westernization and cutting the legs off Saudi Arabia and Iran. But we aren't about to do it. We could at least stop sending them money by the barrel, but we aren't about to do that either. And that's the real problem, not Ben Ali or Mubarak. Calling for the regimes to respect democracy and human rights just undermines whoever is in power. It does not lead to them being replaced by anything better. To do that, the entire culture would have to change. And that isn't happening.
The strongmen will fall. And the media will act like it's Romania in 1989, rather than just part of the cycle of coups in a system that cannot have anything better than tyrants of one sort or another. Eventually Islamists will come to power and wage war against us. It's up to us whether they win or not.
http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2011/01/fall-of-strongmen.html
A Black man's point of view.
A BLACK MAN, THE PROGRESSIVE'S PERFECT TROJAN HORSE
By Lloyd Marcus
As millions of my fellow Americans, I am outraged, devastated and extremely angry by the democrat's unbelievable arrogance and disdain for We The People. Despite our screaming "no" from the rooftops, they forced Obamacare down our throats. Please forgive me for using the following crude saying, but it is very appropriate to describe what has happened. "Don't urinate on me and tell me it's raining." Democrats say their mission is to give all Americans health care. The democrats are lying. Signing Obamacare into law against our will and the Constitution is tyranny and step one of their hideous goal of having as many Americans as possible dependent on government, thus controlling our lives and fulfilling Obama's promise to fundamentally transform America .
I keep asking myself. How did our government move so far from the normal procedures of getting things done? Could a white president have so successfully pulled off shredding the Constitution to further his agenda? I think not.
Ironically, proving America is completely the opposite of the evil racist country they relentlessly accuse her of being, progressives used America 's goodness, guilt and sense of fair play against her.. In their quest to destroy America as we know it, progressives borrowed a brilliant scheme from Greek mythology. They offered America a modern day Trojan Horse, a beautifully crafted golden shiny new black man as a presidential candidate. Democrat Joe Biden lauded Obama as the first clean and articulate African American candidate. Democrat Harry Reid said Obama only uses a black dialect when he wants.
White America relished the opportunity to vote for a black man naively believing they would never suffer the pain of being called racist again. Black Americans viewed casting their vote for Obama as the ultimate Affirmative Action for America 's sins of the past.
Then there were the entitlement loser voters who said, "I'm votin' for the black dude who promises to take from those rich SOBs and give to me."
Just as the deceived Trojans dragged the beautifully crafted Trojan Horse into Troy as a symbol of their victory, deceived Americans embraced the progressive's young, handsome, articulate and so called moderate black presidential candidate as a symbol of their liberation from accusation of being a racist nation. Also like the Trojan Horse, Obama was filled with the enemy hiding inside.
Sunday, March 21, 2010, a secret door opened in Obama, the shiny golden black man. A raging army of democrats charged out. Without mercy, they began their vicious bloody slaughter of every value, freedom and institution we Americans hold dear; launching the end of America as we know it.
Wielding swords of votes reeking with the putrid odor of back door deals, the democrats landed a severe death blow to America and individual rights by passing Obamacare.
The mainstream liberal media has been relentlessly badgering the Tea Party movement with accusations of racism. Because I am a black tea party patriot, I am bombarded with interviewers asking me the same veiled question. "Why are you siding with these white racists against America 's first African American president?" I defend my fellow patriots who are white stating, "These patriots do not give a hoot about Obama's skin color. They simply love their country and oppose his radical agenda. Obama's race is not an issue."
Recently, I have come to believe that perhaps I am wrong about Obama's race not being an issue. In reality, Obama's presidency has everything to do with racism, but not from the Tea Party movement. Progressives and Obama have exploited his race from the rookie senator's virtually unchallenged presidential campaign to his unprecedented bullying of America into Obamacare. Obama's race trumped all normal media scrutiny of him as a presidential candidate and most recently even the Constitution of the United States .. Obamacare forces all Americans to purchase health care which is clearly unconstitutional.
No white president could get away with boldly and arrogantly thwarting the will of the American people and ignoring laws. President Clinton tried universal health care. Bush tried social security reform. The American people said "no" to both president's proposals and it was the end of it. So how can Obama get away with giving the American people the finger? The answer. He is black.
The mainstream liberal media continues to portray all who oppose Obama in any way as racist. Despite a list of failed policies, overreaches into the private sector, violations of the Constitution and planned destructive legislation too numerous to mention in this article, many Americans are still fearful of criticizing our first black president. Incredible.
My fellow Americans, you must not continue to allow yourselves to be "played" and intimidated by Obama's race or the historical context of his presidency. If we are to save America , the greatest nation on the planet, Obama's progressive agenda must be stopped.
Lloyd Marcus (black) Unhyphenated American, Singer/Songwriter, Entertainer, Author, Artist & Tea Party Patriot
2010 Lloyd Marcus - All Rights Reserved
SHARE THIS WITH AMERICA ! ! ! !
Lloyd Marcus is one of the strongest voices in the Tea Party movement
Thursday, February 10, 2011
sad but true.....
I am a cynic, After seeing what I have seen, it is hard for me to see the good natures of people especially of those 2 regimes *sigh* and I have absolutely no faith in the presidents foreign policy. I borrowed this from Wirecutters website(http://ogdaa.blogspot.com/2011/02/sadly-true.html A very good website.
Throwing our allies under the bus......
The article below is from Human Events.
Dr.Sowell nails the problem real well.
The problem is Barack Hussein Obama.
Obama not only wants to tear America down.
He wants to destroy her allies.
While everyone's attention seems to be focused on the crisis in Egypt, a bombshell revelation about the administration's foreign policy in Europe has largely gone unnoticed.
The British newspaper The Telegraph has reported that part of the price which President Obama paid to get Russia to sign the START treaty, limiting nuclear arms, was revealing to the Russians the hitherto secret size of the British nuclear arsenal. This information came from the latest WikiLeaks documents.
To betray vital military secrets of this country's oldest, most steadfast and most powerful ally, behind the back of the British government, is something that should set off alarm bells. Following in the wake of earlier betrayals of prior American commitments to put a nuclear shield in Eastern Europe, and the undermining of Israel and calculated insults to its prime minister, this pattern raises serious, and perhaps almost unthinkable, questions about the Obama administration's foreign policy.
Dr.Sowell nails the problem real well.
The problem is Barack Hussein Obama.
Obama not only wants to tear America down.
He wants to destroy her allies.
While everyone's attention seems to be focused on the crisis in Egypt, a bombshell revelation about the administration's foreign policy in Europe has largely gone unnoticed.
The British newspaper The Telegraph has reported that part of the price which President Obama paid to get Russia to sign the START treaty, limiting nuclear arms, was revealing to the Russians the hitherto secret size of the British nuclear arsenal. This information came from the latest WikiLeaks documents.
To betray vital military secrets of this country's oldest, most steadfast and most powerful ally, behind the back of the British government, is something that should set off alarm bells. Following in the wake of earlier betrayals of prior American commitments to put a nuclear shield in Eastern Europe, and the undermining of Israel and calculated insults to its prime minister, this pattern raises serious, and perhaps almost unthinkable, questions about the Obama administration's foreign policy.
One of Barack Obama's first acts as President of the United States was to fly to Russia and try to get a deal with the Russian government by welshing on an existing American commitment to put a nuclear shield in Eastern Europe.
Obama's glib rhetoric about how he was pressing "the reset button" on American foreign policy treated the ongoing international commitments of the American government as something that each new administration is free to disregard.
Nations that ally themselves with the United States, and who cooperate in many ways to oppose the threat of international terrorism, do so at the risk of their own national safety and even survival. To make America's reciprocal commitments to them contingent on the whims of each new administration is to make other nations have to think twice about allying themselves with the U.S.
Since the fight against international terrorism requires not only information about terrorist activities and networks from other countries' intelligence services, but also cooperation from other countries' financial institutions, in order to block terrorists' transfers of money to finance their deadly activities.
This is in addition to other nations' direct military involvement in the fight against terrorists in Afghanistan, Iraq and other places, current and prospective-- not to mention providing military access through their lands when needed.
But doing such things invites retaliation from the terrorists and from the leading international sponsor of terrorism, Iran, which may in a very few years have nuclear weapons.
Glib talk about setting the reset button on American foreign policy raises the question whether any alliance with the United States can be relied on beyond the term of a particular administration. To nations that have to think in terms of their own national survival, four years is a very short time.
It is also a very short time in the life of the United States of America. To alienate our allies and embolden our enemies because of one administration is a dangerous gamble in an international jungle where nuclear bombs may soon be in the hands of some of the most reckless nations on the planet.
The Obama administration's response to the current crisis in Egypt likewise threatens to make being an ally of the United States less attractive.
Whatever the merits or demerits of the advice that Barack Obama has been giving Hosni Mubarak, for the President of the United States to be publicly lecturing the president of another sovereign nation on almost a daily basis insults that nation, not just its leader.
Even in the worst days of the dictatorship in the Soviet Union, neither Stalin nor his successors publicly told the leaders of the satellite nations in Eastern Europe what to do. There is no question that Eastern European leaders were puppets of the Soviet Union, but Soviet leaders had the good sense not to say so to the whole world. Yet Obama makes allies look like they are puppets.
Countries like Egypt, that have once lived under colonial rule, are especially resentful of being publicly lectured by Western nations. Nor will the Obama administration's lecturing of Egypt endear us to other nations contemplating the down side of being an ally of the United States.
Elections have consequences........and we are still paying for 08
Obama's glib rhetoric about how he was pressing "the reset button" on American foreign policy treated the ongoing international commitments of the American government as something that each new administration is free to disregard.
Nations that ally themselves with the United States, and who cooperate in many ways to oppose the threat of international terrorism, do so at the risk of their own national safety and even survival. To make America's reciprocal commitments to them contingent on the whims of each new administration is to make other nations have to think twice about allying themselves with the U.S.
Since the fight against international terrorism requires not only information about terrorist activities and networks from other countries' intelligence services, but also cooperation from other countries' financial institutions, in order to block terrorists' transfers of money to finance their deadly activities.
This is in addition to other nations' direct military involvement in the fight against terrorists in Afghanistan, Iraq and other places, current and prospective-- not to mention providing military access through their lands when needed.
But doing such things invites retaliation from the terrorists and from the leading international sponsor of terrorism, Iran, which may in a very few years have nuclear weapons.
Glib talk about setting the reset button on American foreign policy raises the question whether any alliance with the United States can be relied on beyond the term of a particular administration. To nations that have to think in terms of their own national survival, four years is a very short time.
It is also a very short time in the life of the United States of America. To alienate our allies and embolden our enemies because of one administration is a dangerous gamble in an international jungle where nuclear bombs may soon be in the hands of some of the most reckless nations on the planet.
The Obama administration's response to the current crisis in Egypt likewise threatens to make being an ally of the United States less attractive.
Whatever the merits or demerits of the advice that Barack Obama has been giving Hosni Mubarak, for the President of the United States to be publicly lecturing the president of another sovereign nation on almost a daily basis insults that nation, not just its leader.
Even in the worst days of the dictatorship in the Soviet Union, neither Stalin nor his successors publicly told the leaders of the satellite nations in Eastern Europe what to do. There is no question that Eastern European leaders were puppets of the Soviet Union, but Soviet leaders had the good sense not to say so to the whole world. Yet Obama makes allies look like they are puppets.
Countries like Egypt, that have once lived under colonial rule, are especially resentful of being publicly lectured by Western nations. Nor will the Obama administration's lecturing of Egypt endear us to other nations contemplating the down side of being an ally of the United States.
Elections have consequences........and we are still paying for 08
Introduced the offspring to shooting sports
I took my son to the range to shoot the 22 rifle bolt action I had given him a year ago. I had to wait until he turned 8( range wouldn't let him shoot until he is 8 years old for liability reasons. curse all bottom feeding lawyers) This was the highpoint for him, he had an eventful day, daddy checked him out school a bit early and he accompanied me to my work on my off day to take care of a couple of things relating to one of my jobs that I do. After having fun crawling on airplanes, I took him to the range, he did well for his first try at something bigger than bb'guns. I was the proud daddy;)
Boeing 777 is Ford Tough.....
this problem was not caused by wind OR airplane....just pilot having an PIO(pilot induced oscillation)
Watch this in full screen mode for the full effect. It shows how well the average modern airplane is built.
More Airplane stuff
Boeing 747 first flight on February 9, 1969 )
Boeing 727 first flight on February 9, 1963
I know the 747 shown is in the museum at Everett Field in Seattle, I'm not sure about the 727
though. Going to the museum and seeing the planes being built is a real treat. If you have an opportunity, it is worth a look.
lets piss away more money..........its is only the taxpayers money...
Let's see. We're $14 trillion in debt. There are trillion dollar deficits as fad as the eye can see and Jug Hussein Ears wants to throw $53 billlon down a rathole for high speed rail.
What makes these idiots think that high speed rail is gonna work? We have to subsidize Amtrak fer chrissakes. High speed rail will be Amtrak on steroids.
Sarah Palin nailed it when she said that high speed rail will be a "bullet train to bankruptcy".
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is calling for a six-year, $53 billion spending plan for high-speed rail, as he seeks to use infrastructure spending to jumpstart job creation.WTF? I thought that $900 billion porkulus bill was supposed to be for "infrastructue spending". Where did all of that money go?
An initial $8 billion in spending will be part of the budget plan Obama is set to release Monday. If Congress approves the plan, the money would go toward developing or improving trains that travel up to 250 miles per hour, and connecting existing rail lines to new projects. The White House wouldn't say where the money for the rest of the program would come from, though it's likely Obama would seek funding in future budgets or transportation bills.We don't have the money. We're broke. High speed rail is a liberal wet dream. Yannow what high speed rail runs on? Electricity. And what do Obungler and his liberal minions want to do about electricity? No coal plants. No nuke plants. Solar, wind, and unicorn piss is gonna provide the electricity needed for electric cars and high speed rail. Also Poof! PFM!
What makes these idiots think that high speed rail is gonna work? We have to subsidize Amtrak fer chrissakes. High speed rail will be Amtrak on steroids.
Sarah Palin nailed it when she said that high speed rail will be a "bullet train to bankruptcy".
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Media influences
I am a student of history and I suspected this for many years, I wonder what would have happened of the same media that we have today and during the Vietnam war was around during WWII, how different it would have turned out. The same media will protest and use our laws and system against us wouldn't survive the tender mercies of our enemies, in WWII the Germans would have put them in concentration camps and the Japanese would have beheaded them.
GENERAL VO NGUYEN GIAP
General Giap was the brilliant, highly respected leader of the North Vietnam military. The following quote is from his memoirs currently found in the Vietnam war memorial in Hanoi :
"What we still don't understand is why you Americans stopped the bombing of Hanoi . You had us on the ropes. If you had pressed us a little harder, just for another day or two, we were ready to surrender! It was the same at the battle of TET. You defeated us!
We knew it, and we thought you knew it.
But we were elated to notice your media was helping us. They were causing more disruption in America than we could in the battlefields. We were ready to surrender. You had won!"
General Giap has published his memoirs and confirmed what most Americans knew. The Vietnam war was not lost in Vietnam - it was lost at home. The same slippery slope, sponsored by the US media, is currently underway. It exposes the enormous power of a biased media to cut out the heart and will of the American public.
A truism worthy of note:
Do not fear the enemy,
for they can take only your life.
Fear the media,
for they will destroy your honor ! ! !
PETA strikes again...
This from GOChttp://www.grouchyoldcripple.com/
PETA Versus Bikers
Tony sent me this.Johnstown, PA (GlossyNews) – Local and state police scoured the hills outside rural Johnstown, Pennsylvania, after reports of three animal rights activists going missing after attempting to protest the wearing of leather at a large motorcycle gang rally this weekend. Two others, previously reported missing, were discovered by fast food workers “duct taped inside several fast food restaurant dumpsters,” according to police officials.Another fine use for duct tape.
“Something just went wrong,” said a still visibly shaken organizer of the protest. “Something just went horribly, horribly, wrong.”Maybe for you it did. Duct tape 2 PETA 0.
The organizer said a group of concerned animal rights activist groups, “growing tired of throwing fake blood and shouting profanities at older women wearing leather or fur coats,” decided to protest the annual motorcycle club event “in a hope to show them our outrage at their wanton use of leather in their clothing and motor bike seats.” “In fact,” said the organizer, “motorcycle gangs are one of the biggest abusers of wearing leather, and we decided it was high time that we let them know that we disagree with them using it…ergo, they should stop.” According to witnesses, protesters arrived at the event in a vintage 1960′s era Volkswagen van and began to pelt the gang members with balloons filled with red colored water, simulating blood, and shouting “you’re murderers” to passers by. This, evidently, is when the brouhaha began.Throwing water balloon at bikers. What could possibly go wrong?
“They peed on me!!!” charged one activist. “They grabbed me, said I looked like I was French, started calling me ‘La Trene’, and duct taped me to a tree so they could pee on me all day!”Ooops! Sacre bleu!
“I…I was trying to show my outrage at a man with a heavy leather jacket, and he…he didn’t even care. I called him a murderer, and all he said was, ‘You can’t prove that.’ Next thing I know he forced me to ride on the back of his motorcycle all day, and would not let me off, because his girl friend was out of town and I was almost a woman.”It just keeps getting better!
Still others claimed they were forced to eat hamburgers and hot dogs under duress. Those who resisted were allegedly held down while several bikers “farted on their heads.”Not biker farts! Oh, the humanity!
Police officials declined comments on any leads or arrests due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, however, organizers for the motorcycle club rally expressed “surprise” at the allegations.We're shocked!
“That’s preposterous,” said one high-ranking member of the biker organizing committee. “We were having a party, and these people showed up and were very rude to us. They threw things at us, called us names, and tried to ruin the entire event. So, what did we do? We invited them to the party! What could be more friendly than that? You know, just because we are all members of motorcycle clubs does not mean we do not care about inclusiveness. Personally, I think it shows a lack of character for them to be saying such nasty things about us after we bent over backwards to make them feel welcome.”Kumbaya!
When confronted with the allegations of force-feeding the activists meat, using them as ad hoc latrines, leaving them incapacitated in fast food restaurant dumpsters, and ‘farting on their heads,’ the organizer declined to comment in detail. “That’s just our secret handshake,” assured the organizer.So now the PETA dudes are members if the biker group.
Darwin at work.
Political corectness and Fort Hood
Let's start by stating the most obvious conclusion to be drawn from the re cent report by Sens. Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins concerning the Fort Hood massacre: Unless we expunge it from our national discourse, political correctness gets Americans killed.
On Nov. 5, 2009, Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an American citizen, a radicalized Muslim, a psychiatrist and, in the words of the report, "a ticking time bomb," shot up a soldier readiness center on America's largest active-duty Army base, killing 12 military personnel and one civilian, and wounding 32 others. It was a direct assault on the armed forces of the United States by a self-proclaimed "Soldier of Allah" (written on his business cards) who shouted the Muslim incantation Allahu akbar before opening fire.
It's hard to imagine a clearer example of the asymmetrical warfare a free and welcoming country fights against cowardly opponents who refuse to abide by the laws of war, but there it was.
In any other war, someone like Maj. Hasan would never have gotten close to the Army, never have been handled with kid gloves, and never been promoted.
What was the Army thinking? That if we could just get our enemies to like us, all this unpleasantness will soon be over?
America bent over backward after 9/11 to assure Muslims that we weren't at war with Islam. Our country offered the hand of friendship to people like Maj. Hasan -- ignoring his radicalism, his praise of suicide bombers, his sympathy for Osama bin Laden and his belief that his religion, as the report notes, "took precedence over the US Constitution he swore to support and defend as a US military officer . . . Hasan's statements about the primacy of religious law occurred as he was supporting a violent extremist interpretation of Islam and suggesting that this radical ideology justified opposition to US policy and could lead to fratricide in the ranks."
He certainly was right about that.
Did anybody, from the fruit-salad brass to our crack intelligence services, do anything about it? Of course not.
Lieberman and Collins put their fingers on the problem: "Despite Hasan's overt displays of radicalization to violent Islamist extremism, Hasan's superiors failed to discipline him, refer him to counterintelligence officials or seek to discharge him. One of the officers who reported Hasan to superiors opined that Hasan was permitted to remain in service because of 'political correctness' and ignorance of religious practices."
It couldn't be much clearer than that.
Since the Clinton administration, the military has been subjected to an unprecedented assault on its core values, its traditions and its honor. It's become a laboratory for social experiment as its desk-jockey officer corps clamber up the greasy pole of promotion -- and, just as in civilian life, getting people like Maj. Hasan promoted in the name of the dubious virtue "diversity" was one such path.
It's time for that to stop. If anybody should be in the business of clear-headed threat analysis, it's the US military. "Political correctness," which literally seeks to make certain speech unthinkable, should have no place in a free society.
On Dec. 8, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed a joint session of Congress. We all remember his famous opening: "Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy . . ." But the words that followed were what rallied Americans:
"As commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense, that always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people, in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory . . . We will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us."
The men and women of our armed forces are fully prepared to die on the battlefield, when we ask them to. What we should never do is ask them to die on the altar of political correctness.
On Nov. 5, 2009, Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an American citizen, a radicalized Muslim, a psychiatrist and, in the words of the report, "a ticking time bomb," shot up a soldier readiness center on America's largest active-duty Army base, killing 12 military personnel and one civilian, and wounding 32 others. It was a direct assault on the armed forces of the United States by a self-proclaimed "Soldier of Allah" (written on his business cards) who shouted the Muslim incantation Allahu akbar before opening fire.
Lieberman: Zeroes in on Army's blindness to Hasan's radicalism.
In any other war, someone like Maj. Hasan would never have gotten close to the Army, never have been handled with kid gloves, and never been promoted.
What was the Army thinking? That if we could just get our enemies to like us, all this unpleasantness will soon be over?
America bent over backward after 9/11 to assure Muslims that we weren't at war with Islam. Our country offered the hand of friendship to people like Maj. Hasan -- ignoring his radicalism, his praise of suicide bombers, his sympathy for Osama bin Laden and his belief that his religion, as the report notes, "took precedence over the US Constitution he swore to support and defend as a US military officer . . . Hasan's statements about the primacy of religious law occurred as he was supporting a violent extremist interpretation of Islam and suggesting that this radical ideology justified opposition to US policy and could lead to fratricide in the ranks."
He certainly was right about that.
Did anybody, from the fruit-salad brass to our crack intelligence services, do anything about it? Of course not.
Lieberman and Collins put their fingers on the problem: "Despite Hasan's overt displays of radicalization to violent Islamist extremism, Hasan's superiors failed to discipline him, refer him to counterintelligence officials or seek to discharge him. One of the officers who reported Hasan to superiors opined that Hasan was permitted to remain in service because of 'political correctness' and ignorance of religious practices."
It couldn't be much clearer than that.
Since the Clinton administration, the military has been subjected to an unprecedented assault on its core values, its traditions and its honor. It's become a laboratory for social experiment as its desk-jockey officer corps clamber up the greasy pole of promotion -- and, just as in civilian life, getting people like Maj. Hasan promoted in the name of the dubious virtue "diversity" was one such path.
It's time for that to stop. If anybody should be in the business of clear-headed threat analysis, it's the US military. "Political correctness," which literally seeks to make certain speech unthinkable, should have no place in a free society.
On Dec. 8, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed a joint session of Congress. We all remember his famous opening: "Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy . . ." But the words that followed were what rallied Americans:
"As commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense, that always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people, in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory . . . We will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us."
The men and women of our armed forces are fully prepared to die on the battlefield, when we ask them to. What we should never do is ask them to die on the altar of political correctness.
More Budget woes............
President Obama's calls for a five-year freeze on discretionary spending, as well as Republican demands to turn back the budget clock to 2008 spending, will save "peanuts" and do nothing to turn around the country's "sacrosanct" entitlement culture, one head of the president's deficit commission said Sunday.
Former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson, who was appointed by Obama along with former Bill Clinton chief of staff Erskine Bowles to lead the president's panel for reducing the nation's debt, said leaving Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid on auto pilot will crush the U.S. economy.
"I'm waiting for the politician to get up and say, there's only one way to do this, you dig into the big four, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and defense. And anybody giving you anything different than that, you want to walk out the door, stick your finger down your throat and give them the green weenie," Simpson said on CNN's "State of the Union."
Simpson, whose deficit reduction proposal was rejected in December by a supermajority of the 18-member panel appointed to propose debt reduction recommendations to a stalled Congress, said anyone claiming that fixing entitlements is the same as privatizing Social Security is strictly out for political gain.
"These jerks who keep dragging that up are lying. We never suggested that. We're talking about doing a hideous thing, to change the retirement age to 68 by the year 2050. And hear people howl and bitch about that. Well, what do they care about their kids or their grandkids?" he asked.
"If you don't do anything with Social Security when you waddle up to get your check in the year 2037, you'll get 22 percent less," he added.
Simpson has been a rare -- if not, distinctive -- voice in the effort to include entitlements and defense spending in talks on reducing the size of the annual budget and decreasing the nation's $14 trillion-plus debt.
That debt level is expected to reach a congressionally imposed limit by April, and without approval to lift the ceiling, the country will default. While Republican leaders in the House say they won't allow that to happen, they are tying new budgetary processes to any debt increase.
"If the president wants our help to pay off his debts, he's going to have to begin the process of cutting up the credit cards. In other words, we need major spending cuts and major spending reforms," Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, the No. 4 Republican in the House, said Saturday in the Republican radio address.
Hensarling added that where the president wants to increase "investment" or "stimulus" spending by the government, Republicans have started cutting -- by getting rid of the health care law, voting to end taxpayer funding of presidential campaigns, cutting the congressional budget and earmark process and proposing billions in spending cuts for the remainder of the fiscal year.
Simpson calls that tiddlywinks.
"The next time you hear any politician, in the range of my lovely voice, mellifluous voice, croaking -- if you have a career politician get up and say, 'I know we can get this done; we're going to get rid of all earmarks, all waste, fraud, and abuse, all foreign aid, Air Force One, all congressional pensions,' that's a sparrow's belch in the midst of a typhoon. That's about six, eight, 10 percent of where we are," Simpson said.
The former senator said defense spending also can no longer be a sacred cow. Simpson said the panel asked the Defense Department about cutting contractors and learned that the Pentagon doesn't even know how many contractors it has.
"It's something between 250,000 and a million. So our proposal is to cut 250,000 contractors out of the game," Simpson said.
He added that Americans are just as guilty as lawmakers for allowing the budget to get out of hand.
"They sent these people in Washington to bring home the bacon. ... They elected these people who could get them the dam, who could get them the new money, who could get them the downtown redevelopment, who could get them more and more and more, and they re-elected them every time," he said.
"Let me tell you, that commission, I respect every one of them completely and we all agree that deficit denial is dead as a dodo bird. And if they want to keep playing the violin, well, deficits mean nothing, well, I'll buy the drinks," he added.
Tribute for Ronald Reagan
This is for a man that gave us pride in being Americans again after the malaise of the Jimmy Carter years, where having pride in America was somehow wrong. President Reagan understood what made us unique in the world. I was honored to be in the service while he was President. I was in Germany when the wall fell and the Unification of Germany was at hand. I saw all the Trabbi's swarm the autobahns crammed with Osters coming over to see the West. President Reagan made us proud to be Americans.
Freedom is precious and 1 generation away from extinction
President Reagan
Freedom is precious and 1 generation away from extinction
President Reagan
Monday, February 7, 2011
Civility
this I got from Old NFO(http://oldnfo.blogspot.com/. This ties in with my own personal experience. I have noticed that civility is rare commodity in this day and age. I had a similar incident at a convenience store in Riverdale, I was in line to get a diet dew and a munchie. A young urban youth walked to the front of the line cut off a lady fixing to buy some cigarettes, looked at everybody, mouthed off a couple of cuss words then commented that " y'all ain't gonna do sh*t about it". An older black gentleman walked up to the youth and the young man spouted off" whatcha gonna do, yous an old niggaz" The older gentleman proceeded to coldcock the kid. He then turned to the stunned cashier, paid for the kids purchase and walked out. The rest of us were stunned by the events we had witnessed.
I work in the aviation field and I have heard rumblings from some of the people that are on the airplanes that fly. I remember when flying was a big deal, people would dress up to fly. Now we have people that get a ticket to fly and they show up wearing flip-flops and super casual clothes( I'm being generous in the description). People would be in their best behavior when they fly. I have heard of some of the noveau rich that fly in our planes got kicked off because they have really bad attitudes and caused major problems by their demands on the flight crew. When we fly we have to dress business casual at the minimum because we represent the airline. I have seen the damage done to the interior of some of the planes and I wonder how can people cause wanton destruction to the interior of an airplane. Maybe I am a throwback to a forgotten era, I can't stand wanton destruction and mayhem for mayhem sake.
An educated populace is the best defence against a tyrannical gov't
ci·vil·i·ty
[si-vil-i-tee]
–noun, plural -ties.
1.
courtesy; politeness.
2.
a polite action or expression: an exchange of civilities.
3.
Archaic . civilization; culture; good breeding.
Origin:
1350- 1400; Middle English civilite
Middle French <>
Today, in my opinion, civility is a lost art...
Coming back from Japan I had an interesting conversation with the purser on the 777; she been a flight attendant for almost 30 years, lots of it on overseas routes. What started the conversation was a line for the bathroom, a young pregnant Japanese lady and a rude Chinese man.
We were calmly (well more or less) waiting our turn, the bathroom finally came open, and the young Japanese Lady went to step in, only to be rudely pushed aside by the Chinese man with a comment that none of us understood.
The purser happened by at that point and I said something to her about it, and asked that the Chinese speaking flight attendant come and say something to the Chinese man. The flight attendant (female) showed up, and was obviously nervous about confronting this guy.
We asked her to talk to him about pushing to the head of the line and what he said to the Japanese Lady and the rest of us. He finally comes out of the bathroom, she politely asked him why he pushed in ahead of the line. His comment back to her was obviously rude and crude as she blushed and started to bow.
At this point a couple of us 'cornered' the guy against the overwing door and he suddenly got real passive... We told the FA to tell this guy that kind of crap does NOT fly in the US, nor on a US airplane, and WE weren't going to put up with his attitude. She did so, and this guy didn't move from his seat for the rest of the flight.
Any Hoo... I end up standing in the galley talking to the purser, and she tells me it's getting worse every day. Not only the Chinese, who apparently don't believe in lines and routinely push to the front/insult anyone who blocks them; but younger people who 'demand' service, trash the airplane, drink everything they can get away with, play porn videos on the airplanes, etc.
She said it is almost routine to have an incident on every flight now, and said most of the flight attendants have ceded control of the cabins to unruly passengers, rather than get into a knock down drag out in the aisles.
So... this morning I have to go get food (that I forgot on the way home)... Lots of RABID football fans out, some of them either getting an early start on the boozing or just never quit from last night.
I grab what I need, I'm heading for a checkout line and I stop to let an older man with a cane go ahead of me. This punk (I'm not gonna say what I REALLY thought of him), goes around BOTH of us to jump the line.
The older man says to him, excuse me, but you cut in front of us; the punk responded that he didn't give a s**t HE had things to do and we were too slow...
And proceeded to unload his basket, ignoring us completely. We just kind of looked and each other with a what can you do expression...
And then the punk's buddy shows up, and goes to push around us...
I move over and tell him we are already in line and he can wait, he makes a smart ass comment to me and goes to push around me, when the older gent turns around lets loose with a string of invective like I haven't heard in 30 years!!!
He calls both the punks everything in the book and then some, and says if punk #2 tries it, he's gonna shove his cane so far up his ass he's gonna be choking on the tip...
And he's holding the cane like he's ready to perform that act! Punk #2 wanders off to another line, we turn back around and the cashier is about to blow a gasket trying to keep from laughing...
I look down and the old gent's sleeves are pulled up and I see tattoos on both arms, so I ask him what branch? Turns out he's a retired USMC Gunny, retired in the early 70s and he's NOT a fan of the younger folks either.
He also said he 'should' have given the first punk a piece of his mind! He told me he's seen a real downturn in both civility and politeness in the last 20 years, and really the ONLY place it's still in effect is on military bases, since the kids who are in the military still get civility drummed into them in boot and in dealings with others on base.
In retrospect, I can only agree with him... It seems like the gun culture IS truly the only polite culture left!
In other news, this is the 100th anniversary of Ronald W. Reagan's birth.We could really use somebody like him right now, and I don't see anybody waiting in the wings that even comes close...
Sigh...
I work in the aviation field and I have heard rumblings from some of the people that are on the airplanes that fly. I remember when flying was a big deal, people would dress up to fly. Now we have people that get a ticket to fly and they show up wearing flip-flops and super casual clothes( I'm being generous in the description). People would be in their best behavior when they fly. I have heard of some of the noveau rich that fly in our planes got kicked off because they have really bad attitudes and caused major problems by their demands on the flight crew. When we fly we have to dress business casual at the minimum because we represent the airline. I have seen the damage done to the interior of some of the planes and I wonder how can people cause wanton destruction to the interior of an airplane. Maybe I am a throwback to a forgotten era, I can't stand wanton destruction and mayhem for mayhem sake.
An educated populace is the best defence against a tyrannical gov't
ci·vil·i·ty
[si-vil-i-tee]
–noun, plural -ties.
1.
courtesy; politeness.
2.
a polite action or expression: an exchange of civilities.
3.
Archaic . civilization; culture; good breeding.
Origin:
1350- 1400; Middle English civilite
Middle French <>
Today, in my opinion, civility is a lost art...
Coming back from Japan I had an interesting conversation with the purser on the 777; she been a flight attendant for almost 30 years, lots of it on overseas routes. What started the conversation was a line for the bathroom, a young pregnant Japanese lady and a rude Chinese man.
We were calmly (well more or less) waiting our turn, the bathroom finally came open, and the young Japanese Lady went to step in, only to be rudely pushed aside by the Chinese man with a comment that none of us understood.
The purser happened by at that point and I said something to her about it, and asked that the Chinese speaking flight attendant come and say something to the Chinese man. The flight attendant (female) showed up, and was obviously nervous about confronting this guy.
We asked her to talk to him about pushing to the head of the line and what he said to the Japanese Lady and the rest of us. He finally comes out of the bathroom, she politely asked him why he pushed in ahead of the line. His comment back to her was obviously rude and crude as she blushed and started to bow.
At this point a couple of us 'cornered' the guy against the overwing door and he suddenly got real passive... We told the FA to tell this guy that kind of crap does NOT fly in the US, nor on a US airplane, and WE weren't going to put up with his attitude. She did so, and this guy didn't move from his seat for the rest of the flight.
Any Hoo... I end up standing in the galley talking to the purser, and she tells me it's getting worse every day. Not only the Chinese, who apparently don't believe in lines and routinely push to the front/insult anyone who blocks them; but younger people who 'demand' service, trash the airplane, drink everything they can get away with, play porn videos on the airplanes, etc.
She said it is almost routine to have an incident on every flight now, and said most of the flight attendants have ceded control of the cabins to unruly passengers, rather than get into a knock down drag out in the aisles.
So... this morning I have to go get food (that I forgot on the way home)... Lots of RABID football fans out, some of them either getting an early start on the boozing or just never quit from last night.
I grab what I need, I'm heading for a checkout line and I stop to let an older man with a cane go ahead of me. This punk (I'm not gonna say what I REALLY thought of him), goes around BOTH of us to jump the line.
The older man says to him, excuse me, but you cut in front of us; the punk responded that he didn't give a s**t HE had things to do and we were too slow...
And proceeded to unload his basket, ignoring us completely. We just kind of looked and each other with a what can you do expression...
And then the punk's buddy shows up, and goes to push around us...
I move over and tell him we are already in line and he can wait, he makes a smart ass comment to me and goes to push around me, when the older gent turns around lets loose with a string of invective like I haven't heard in 30 years!!!
He calls both the punks everything in the book and then some, and says if punk #2 tries it, he's gonna shove his cane so far up his ass he's gonna be choking on the tip...
And he's holding the cane like he's ready to perform that act! Punk #2 wanders off to another line, we turn back around and the cashier is about to blow a gasket trying to keep from laughing...
I look down and the old gent's sleeves are pulled up and I see tattoos on both arms, so I ask him what branch? Turns out he's a retired USMC Gunny, retired in the early 70s and he's NOT a fan of the younger folks either.
He also said he 'should' have given the first punk a piece of his mind! He told me he's seen a real downturn in both civility and politeness in the last 20 years, and really the ONLY place it's still in effect is on military bases, since the kids who are in the military still get civility drummed into them in boot and in dealings with others on base.
In retrospect, I can only agree with him... It seems like the gun culture IS truly the only polite culture left!
In other news, this is the 100th anniversary of Ronald W. Reagan's birth.We could really use somebody like him right now, and I don't see anybody waiting in the wings that even comes close...
Sigh...
Culture changes
I got this from American Mercenaryhttp://randomthoughtsandguns.blogspot.com/
I had a little sidebar conversation with FeminizedWesternMale in the comments of my previous post. He thought that I was talking about something more than just "white privilege" in that post. I was not, but now I am taking the time to go over with broad strokes some bigger issues. I'm not going to talk about race (there is a huge difference in the culture of Russians, French, and Canadians even though they are all "white" races), I am going to talk about culture and civilization. It takes time for a culture to change, adopting new ways and abandoning old mannerisms. Culture is what makes a civilization flourish or flounder.
It is important to remember that everyone is descended from barbarians, and everyone is only three generations away from becoming barbarians again. But culture and civilization go hand in hand. The Celts no longer paint themselves blue and rush into battle naked. The Norse don't get into long boats and go viking across the North Atlantic. Slavery exists only in the darkest parts of the world. The Chinese empires outlasted the Roman Empire by centuries even with a rigid caste system. Freedom as an ideal has little to do with the success of a civilization, but everything to do with the success of individuals therein. Culture has everything to do with how long a civilization lasts. Great Zimbabwe was a flash in the pan. The Aztecs and Mayans sacrificed themselves to death (an extreme oversimplification but very likely).
So in the culture wars you have to take a long view. But you also have to accept that everything changes. If I had to pinpoint what is an asset and what is a detriment to culture it would consist of the following.
Bribery must not be an accepted practice.
Honesty as an honored public virtue.
Rule of Law enforced impartially, giving an equal protection under the law.
Hard work is viewed as admirable.
Success is celebrated, not punished.
If you have those things as a part of your culture then you will likely prosper. Every successful modern civilization has these things. If you don't mind living in a bronze or iron age civilization you can screw with a few.
On the opposite side of things you see the fall of empires. The Roman empire became corrupt and rotted from within. A corrupt Senate unable to control the finances, the continual degrading of the currency, eventually the Empire tried to contract itself and cut expenses. By then it was too late. You see the British Empire fade into the dustbin of history due to over extension of military expenses and "rule from afar". A stratified society doesn't do well in the modern world.
But the lasting effects of the Roman Empire, and the British Empire, have given the world all the building blocks necessary for success. The Chinese were able to maintain a stable society for centuries by instilling the teaching of Confucius into each public administrator to maintain harmony.
It is too late for the American Empire to stop the decline. In less than five years our debt payments to China will pay for 100% of their current military spending. It took our ancestors two hundred years to create the greatest lending nation on earth. In 1980 the US was the largest lending nation on the planet. By 1990 the US was the greatest debtor nation on the planet. Two hundred years of progress, a civil war, two world wars, and then ironically a decade of peace happened to sow the seeds of decline.
We can argue about the policies of the Reagan administration, but in the end the balanced budget passed in 1986 failed to stop deficit spending and as a result the national debt increased to where we are today. The Democrats under Tip O'Neill became addicted to spending, and the "Republican Revolution" of 1994 only provided a temporary reprieve from an ever growing debt. When the Democrats took over Congress in 2006 they spent like the Republican interlude had never happened. Like Rome before us the continual devaluation of the currency to provide bread and circuses heralds the decline of the American Empire.
I alternate between despair and hope for this nation. The lessons of history are merciless. The best you can do now is fight for reform, prepare for collapse, and network with like minded individuals. Unfortunately I must remember that the decline of an empire may last for generations before the fall. And out of chaos a singular leader can found an empire. Shaka Zulu, Ghengis Khan, Alexander, and of course their empires crumbled when they were no longer around to hold them together by cult of personality.
How would you like to live in a world where,
Bribery is just the cost of getting things done.
Honesty is a quaint notion, something for the little people.
The Law is used as a club to beat those who aren't properly connected.
Hard work is for suckers.
Success is punished, so hide your success away from the eyes of others and the taxman.
Places where this is the norm are not fun places to live, unless you happen to be one of the well connected elite. And it is true that civilizations that follow this model can last for thousands of years, such as Egypt. Egypt was able to keep it up for so long because their civilization offered a better alternative to what else was out there so the people put up with it. Except for those Hebrews who decided it was better to follow a stuttering prophet out into the wilderness.
I hope that I've made a better link between culture and civilization, and how neither culture nor civilization are about race. I could get into the genetics of it much deeper to prove my point, but I do not believe that this is necessary.
I had a little sidebar conversation with FeminizedWesternMale in the comments of my previous post. He thought that I was talking about something more than just "white privilege" in that post. I was not, but now I am taking the time to go over with broad strokes some bigger issues. I'm not going to talk about race (there is a huge difference in the culture of Russians, French, and Canadians even though they are all "white" races), I am going to talk about culture and civilization. It takes time for a culture to change, adopting new ways and abandoning old mannerisms. Culture is what makes a civilization flourish or flounder.
It is important to remember that everyone is descended from barbarians, and everyone is only three generations away from becoming barbarians again. But culture and civilization go hand in hand. The Celts no longer paint themselves blue and rush into battle naked. The Norse don't get into long boats and go viking across the North Atlantic. Slavery exists only in the darkest parts of the world. The Chinese empires outlasted the Roman Empire by centuries even with a rigid caste system. Freedom as an ideal has little to do with the success of a civilization, but everything to do with the success of individuals therein. Culture has everything to do with how long a civilization lasts. Great Zimbabwe was a flash in the pan. The Aztecs and Mayans sacrificed themselves to death (an extreme oversimplification but very likely).
So in the culture wars you have to take a long view. But you also have to accept that everything changes. If I had to pinpoint what is an asset and what is a detriment to culture it would consist of the following.
Bribery must not be an accepted practice.
Honesty as an honored public virtue.
Rule of Law enforced impartially, giving an equal protection under the law.
Hard work is viewed as admirable.
Success is celebrated, not punished.
If you have those things as a part of your culture then you will likely prosper. Every successful modern civilization has these things. If you don't mind living in a bronze or iron age civilization you can screw with a few.
On the opposite side of things you see the fall of empires. The Roman empire became corrupt and rotted from within. A corrupt Senate unable to control the finances, the continual degrading of the currency, eventually the Empire tried to contract itself and cut expenses. By then it was too late. You see the British Empire fade into the dustbin of history due to over extension of military expenses and "rule from afar". A stratified society doesn't do well in the modern world.
But the lasting effects of the Roman Empire, and the British Empire, have given the world all the building blocks necessary for success. The Chinese were able to maintain a stable society for centuries by instilling the teaching of Confucius into each public administrator to maintain harmony.
It is too late for the American Empire to stop the decline. In less than five years our debt payments to China will pay for 100% of their current military spending. It took our ancestors two hundred years to create the greatest lending nation on earth. In 1980 the US was the largest lending nation on the planet. By 1990 the US was the greatest debtor nation on the planet. Two hundred years of progress, a civil war, two world wars, and then ironically a decade of peace happened to sow the seeds of decline.
We can argue about the policies of the Reagan administration, but in the end the balanced budget passed in 1986 failed to stop deficit spending and as a result the national debt increased to where we are today. The Democrats under Tip O'Neill became addicted to spending, and the "Republican Revolution" of 1994 only provided a temporary reprieve from an ever growing debt. When the Democrats took over Congress in 2006 they spent like the Republican interlude had never happened. Like Rome before us the continual devaluation of the currency to provide bread and circuses heralds the decline of the American Empire.
I alternate between despair and hope for this nation. The lessons of history are merciless. The best you can do now is fight for reform, prepare for collapse, and network with like minded individuals. Unfortunately I must remember that the decline of an empire may last for generations before the fall. And out of chaos a singular leader can found an empire. Shaka Zulu, Ghengis Khan, Alexander, and of course their empires crumbled when they were no longer around to hold them together by cult of personality.
How would you like to live in a world where,
Bribery is just the cost of getting things done.
Honesty is a quaint notion, something for the little people.
The Law is used as a club to beat those who aren't properly connected.
Hard work is for suckers.
Success is punished, so hide your success away from the eyes of others and the taxman.
Places where this is the norm are not fun places to live, unless you happen to be one of the well connected elite. And it is true that civilizations that follow this model can last for thousands of years, such as Egypt. Egypt was able to keep it up for so long because their civilization offered a better alternative to what else was out there so the people put up with it. Except for those Hebrews who decided it was better to follow a stuttering prophet out into the wilderness.
I hope that I've made a better link between culture and civilization, and how neither culture nor civilization are about race. I could get into the genetics of it much deeper to prove my point, but I do not believe that this is necessary.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)