tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-139532262024-03-07T13:51:31.012-05:00The Coalition for Corrective Cognition<b>Society foists many myths on us. These myths are propagated by prose, verse, news, song, advertising, religion, dress, print, movies, video, television, radio, the Internet, and so on. I will attempt to dispel as many of these myths as possible.</b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188910779688020025noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13953226.post-45345015412133026562014-11-15T10:00:00.002-05:002014-11-15T10:03:57.622-05:00We Reap What We Sow - Stephen Levy<div style="font-family: Arial;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Apparently the White House referred to Christmas Trees as Holiday Trees which prompted CBS presenter, Steven Levy, to present this piece which I would like to share with you. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I think it applies to many countries just as much as it does to America.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A little sanity please… </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I only hope we find GOD again before it is too late!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Steven Levy on CBS regarding Christmas<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The following was written by Steven Levy and recited by him on CBS Morning Commentary.</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">My confession:<br />
</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I don’t like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don’t think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can’t find it in the Constitution and I don’t like it being shoved down my throat …</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that’s a sign that I’m getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it’s not funny. It’s intended to get you thinking.</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In light of recent events: terrorists attack, school shootings, etc… </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I think it started when Madeleine Murray O’Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.</span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says, "thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself." And we said OK.</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock’s son committed suicide). </span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">We said an expert should know what he’s talking about… And we said okay…</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Now we’re asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don’t know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.</span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with ‘WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.’</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">It's funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world’s going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send ‘jokes ‘through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Are you laughing yet? <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">If you discard this thought process, don’t sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Steven Levy</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188910779688020025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13953226.post-25772512024821868862010-08-11T08:37:00.007-04:002010-08-11T08:51:49.618-04:00545 vs. 300,000,000<div>By Charlie Reese</div>
Charley Reese has been a journalist for 49 years
<div class="tab" align="justify">EVERY CITIZEN NEEDS TO READ THIS AND THINK ABOUT WHAT THIS JOURNALIST HAS SCRIPTED IN THIS MESSAGE. READ IT AND THEN REALLY THINK ABOUT OUR CURRENT POLITICAL DEBACLE. Please be sure to read it all the way to the end.
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">Have you ever wondered: If both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">Have you ever wondered: If all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">You and I do not propose a federal budget. The president does.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">You and I do not have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">You and I do not write the tax code, Congress does.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">You and I do not set fiscal policy, Congress does.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">You and I do not control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because the Congress created that problem. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressional representative, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I do not care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I cannot think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">If the tax code is unfair, it is because they want it unfair.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">If the budget is in the red, it is because they want it in the red.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ, it is because they want them in IRAQ If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it is because they want it that way.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">There are no insoluble government problems.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">They, and they alone, have the power.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">Tax his land, Tax his bed, Tax the table, at which he is fed.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">Tax his tractor, Tax his mule, Teach him taxes are the rule.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">Tax his work, Tax his pay, He works for peanuts anyway!</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">Tax his cow, Tax his goat, Tax his pants, Tax his coat.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">Tax his ties, Tax his shirt, Tax his work, Tax his dirt.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">Tax his tobacco, Tax his drink, Tax him if he tries to think.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">Tax his cigars, Tax his beers, If he cries Tax his tears.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">Tax his car, Tax his gas, Find other ways to tax his ass.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">Tax all he has then let him know that you will not be done until he has no dough.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">When he screams and hollers, Then tax him more, Tax him until he is good and sore.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">Then tax his coffin, Tax his grave, Tax the sod in which he has laid.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">Put these words upon his tomb, Taxes drove me to my doom.' When he has gone, do not relax, it is time to apply the inheritance tax.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
Sales Tax
School Tax
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Excise Taxes
Property Tax
Cigarette Tax
Medicare Tax
Inventory Tax
Real Estate Tax
Well Permit Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Inheritance Tax
Road Usage Tax
CDL license Tax
Dog License Tax
State Income Tax
Food License Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Gross Receipts Tax
Social Security Tax
Service Charge Tax
Fishing License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Building Permit Tax
IRS Interest Charges
Hunting License Tax
Marriage License Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Personal Property Tax
Accounts Receivable Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service FeeTax
Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Utility Taxes Vehicle License Registration Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">DO YOU STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, & our nation was the most prosperous in the world.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">We had ... no national debt, ... the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.</div><div class="tab" align="justify">
</div><div class="tab" align="justify">What in the hell happened? Can you spell 'politicians?' </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188910779688020025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13953226.post-79508615029314891422010-08-11T08:13:00.004-04:002010-08-11T08:22:50.827-04:00I'm Tired"I'm 63 and I'm Tired"
<div style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: smaller; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-VARIANT: normal">by Robert A. Hall</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I'm 63. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I've worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven't called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there's no retirement in sight, and I'm tired. Very tired.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth" to people who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I'm tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to "keep people in their homes." Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I'm willing to help. But if they bought McMansions at three times the price of our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the left-wing Congress-critters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them with their own money.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I'm tired of being told how bad America is by left-wing millionaires like Michael Moore, George Soros and Hollywood Entertainers who live in luxury because of the opportunities America offers. In thirty years, if they get their way, the United States will have the economy of Zimbabwe, the freedom of the press of China, the crime and violence of Mexico, the tolerance for Christian people of Iran, and the freedom of speech of Venezuela.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family "honor"; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren't "believers"; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for "adultery"; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur'an and Shari'a law tells them to.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I'm tired of being told that "race doesn't matter" in the post-racial world of Obama, when it's all that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college admission and graduation standards for minorities (harming them the most), government contract set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of violence and fatherless children that hurts minorities more than anyone, and in the appointment of U.S. Senators from Illinois.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I think it's very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less arrogantly of an all-knowing government.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I'm tired of a news media that thinks Bush's fundraising and inaugural expenses were obscene, but that think Obama's, at triple the cost, were wonderful; that thinks Bush exercising daily was a waste of presidential time, but Obama exercising is a great example for the public to control weight and stress; that picked over every line of Bush's military records, but never demanded that Kerry release his; that slammed Palin, with two years as governor, for being too inexperienced for VP, but touted Obama with three years as senator as potentially the best president ever. Wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions or switching to Fox News? Get a clue. I didn't vote for Bush in 2000, but the media and Kerry drove me to his camp in 2004.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I'm tired of being told that out of "tolerance for other cultures" we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and mandrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in America, while no American group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore's, and if you're greener than Gore, you're green enough.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off? I don't think Gay people choose to be Gay, but I sure do think druggies chose to take drugs. And I'm tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I'm tired of illegal aliens being called "undocumented workers," especially the ones who aren't working, but are living on welfare or crime. What's next? Calling drug dealers, "Undocumented Pharmacists"? And, no, I'm not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic, and it's been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion. I'm willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person, who can speak English, doesn't have a criminal record and who is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military.... Those are the citizens we need.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I'm tired of latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear the uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their entitlement-handicapped kids near a recruiting station, trashing our military. They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second decisions under life and death circumstances, and bad mouth better people than themselves. Do bad things happen in war? You bet. Do our troops sometimes misbehave? Sure. Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty years and still are? Not even close. So here's the deal. I'll let myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims, who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia, because the girls were Christian. Then we'll compare notes. British and American soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from in fear.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I'm tired of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption. Read the papers; bums are bipartisan. And I'm tired of people telling me we need bipartisanship. I live in Illinois , where the "Illinois Combine" of Democrats has worked to loot the public for years. Not to mention the tax cheats in Obama's cabinet.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">Speaking of poor, I'm tired of hearing people with air-conditioned homes, color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans didn't have that in 1970, but we didn't know we were "poor." The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I'm real tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and actions. I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination or big-whatever for their problems.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">Yes, I'm tired. But I'm also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I'm not going to have to see the world these people are making. I'm just sorry for my granddaughter.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188910779688020025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13953226.post-65013696296360893792010-03-26T17:12:00.009-04:002010-03-27T03:18:44.307-04:00Simple Solutions to Prison ProblemsWe are AMERICANS! We can solve ANY crisis!<br>Here are some ideas I have for reducing the cost of maintaining prisons:<br>Idea #1:<ol><li>Order a whole lot of body bags<li>Remove everything that's not bolted down from the mess hall<li>Maybe 'accidentally' leave some silverware laying around - guards can be so careless ...<li>"Invite" problematic inmates to the "picnic in the mess hall night"<li>Invite all of a problematic inmate's "best" friends (you know, the guys in that 'other' gang, to the dance too). Mix it up with lots of inmates from different gangs<li>Let them all stay and enjoy themselves for at least two days<li>Use the body bags to clean up the mess<li>Voilà! No more prison overcrowding! Reduced expenses all around!</li></ol>Idea #2:<ol><li>Some inmates are very violent
<li>It can take 6-8 guards to shackle him and escort him to his one hour of sunlight each day<li>Guards make around $40K - $50K per year (or more), plus training, plus riot gear, plus hazard pay. That's a lot of money to spend on these ungrateful violent offenders!<li>It takes each guard at least three hours to help the inmate get some sun.<li>They have to shackle the guy, wait for him to have his one hour of "fun in the sun", escort him back to his cell, and then do it all over again for the next guy. Those cages in the sunny yard aren't cheap either.<li>If there are lot of these guys, they have to hire scores, if not hundreds, of highly trained guards to make sure each inmate is not "deprived" of his "right" to sunlight. Heaven forbid we should mention any of the things of which he deprived his victims.<li>Each inmate's one hour of "fun in the sun" costs taxpayers thousands of dollars.
<li>I have a better idea: Put each such inmate into a drug-induced coma. Cost of medications: $250 per year.<li>Stick really large needles in his thighs, calves, arms, neck, and head, and suspend him from the ceiling (so he doesn't get bed sores and save on the cost of beds), catheterize him, give him a colostomy bag, and give him an IV drip to keep him "calm".<li>Wait until he is done with his life sentence by dying, or at least until everyone he knows is dead.<li>Use one of the body bags from idea #1 to finish the job.</li></ol>Idea #3<ol><li>Arbitrarily and accidentally burn down one or two prisons a year. It would be like winning the lottery!<li>Since the inmates are all locked up, they might have trouble escaping the conflagration. Aww ...<li>If someone is waiting in prison before his trial for stealing $22 worth of costume jewelry and gets caught in such a fire, too bad.<li> Wouldn't this be a "better" deterrent to others to keep them from committing even the smallest crime?<li>I think this would be a much better deterrent than just the fear of being locked up and being taught how to be a better criminal by your prison butt buddies.<li>Oh yeah, buy some more body bags.</li></ol>Idea #4<ol><li>Fire all the logistics people at the prison that have to play slumber-party mix-n-match with the members of each gang to keep them from rooming together and killing each other.<li>On the other hand, maybe we should stop worrying about whom you get for a room mate. Maybe Darwin and his "survival of the fittest" theory is the right idea!<li>Take all the money that we save (after having reduced the number of inmates and prisons) and give it to the schools.<li>If the schools had all the money they needed to hire good teachers and do their job well, we might never have to build another prison, ever!</li></ol>Just some thoughts.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188910779688020025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13953226.post-32550809510155496002008-11-01T22:32:00.008-04:002008-11-01T22:54:16.217-04:00Apparently I Am a Bad American<div class="tab" align="justify">Apparently, I AM A BAD AMERICAN!</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I am the Liberal-Progressive's Worst Nightmare.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I am an American.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I buy American and believe in American products.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I believe the money I make belongs to me and my family, not some Liberal governmental functionary, whether he or she is a Democrat or a Republican!</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I am in touch with my feelings and I like it that way!</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I think owning a gun doesn't make you a killer; it makes you a smart American.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I believe that if you are selling me a Big Mac, do it in English.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I believe everyone has a right to pray to his or her own God, whenever, wherever, and however they want.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">My heroes are John Wayne, Babe Ruth, Roy Rogers, and Willie G Davidson that makes the Awesome Harley Davidson Motorcycles.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I don't hate the rich. I don't pity the poor.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I know wrestling is bogus and I don't waste my time watching or arguing about it.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I've never owned a slave, or was a slave, I haven't burned any witches or been persecuted by the Turks, and neither have you! So, shut up already.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I believe if you don't like the way things are here, go back to where you came from and change your own country! This is AMERICA! We like it the way it is!</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">If you were born here and don't like it, you are free to move to any Socialist country that will have you.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I want to know exactly which church is it where the Reverend Jesse Jackson preaches, where he gets his money, and why he is always part of the problem and not the solution. Can I get an AMEN on that one?</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I also think the cops have the right to pull you over if you're breaking the law, regardless of what color you are. And, no, I don't mind having my face shown on my driver's license. I think it's good.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I'm proud that 'God' is written on my money.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I think if you are too stupid to know how a ballot works, I don't want you deciding who should be running the most powerful nation in the world for the next four years.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I believe the President of the United States should put his hand over his heart and say the Pledge of Allegiance and should have no reservations about wearing American flag pins on his lapel.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I dislike people standing in intersections trying to sell me stuff or guilt me into making 'donations' to their cause. Get a Job and do your part!</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I believe that it doesn't take a village to raise a child; it takes two parents, a man and a woman.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I believe 'illegal' is illegal no matter what the lawyers think.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I believe the American flag should be the only one allowed in AMERICA!</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">If this makes me a BAD American, then yes, I'm a BAD American. We want our country back! We NEED GOD BACK IN OUR COUNTRY! WE LIVE IN THE LAND OF THE FREE ONLY BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE. FREEDOM IS NOT FREE!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188910779688020025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13953226.post-29365221828572430672008-08-07T00:42:00.004-04:002008-08-07T01:04:22.180-04:00A Citizen of the world?<div class="tab" align="justify">During his recent speech in Berlin, Barack Obama tried to ingratiate himself to the foreign crowd by claiming loudly that he was “a citizen of the world.” The problem is that Obama’s self-proclaimed global “citizenship” appears to go way beyond just a rhetorical device to gain favor with a European throng full of pie-in-the-sky utopians.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">It seems that the Democrats’ would-be president of the United States of America believes that the rest of the world’s problems are more important than the interests of Americans, especially when it comes to how we live our lives and determine where our money is spent. While attempting to garner the support of his party’s leftist base, Obama proclaimed, "we can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK."</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">And now he’s putting <i>your</i> money where <i>his</i> mouth is. A bill he has sponsored in the U.S. Senate, the "so-called" Global Poverty Act (S. 2433), would raise the amount of American tax dollars allocated to the United Nations’ redistribution efforts to $845 billion. That’s $2,500 from every American taxpayer. He is doing this at a time when many of the citizens of the United States are already struggling just to make ends meet.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">And if you think taxes and energy costs are high now, wait until Obama’s global energy and production taxes are made law by the Nancy Pelosi/Harry Reid-run Democrat Congress. Is this what Pelosi meant when she said, "I’m trying to save the planet! I’m trying to save the planet!"?</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">Senator Obama and the Democrats don’t seem to understand that American prosperity is a result of the hard work of American citizens in a free market economy. The American people are already the most generous in the world when it comes to global aid.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">Help us show Barack Obama that Americans don’t need foreign approval to lead their lives as they see fit, and that he ought to remember that he is running for president of the United States, not of the World. Make a contribution today to provide Republican candidates with the resources they urgently need to tell voters about the Obama Democrats’ "plans" for America. The future of America, with a government makes its own citizens its first priority, may depend on it.</div>
<p>Sincerely,
<p>Robert M. "Mike" Duncan
<br>Chairman, Republican National Committee
<div class="tab" align="justify">P.S. Powerful leftist forces will spend whatever it takes to elect Barack Obama and Democrats up and down the ticket to force their radical utopian agenda on America. Help us make sure they don’t succeed by making a contribution of whatever amount you can afford to the RNC today. Thank you.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188910779688020025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13953226.post-49966264148684802362008-03-13T12:09:00.003-04:002008-03-13T12:15:05.267-04:00True Rednecks<div class="tab" align="justify">We have enjoyed redneck jokes for years. It's time to take a reflective look at the core beliefs of a culture that values home, family, country and God. If I had to stand before a dozen terrorists who were threatening my life, I'd choose rednecks to back me up. Tire irons, squirrel guns and grit -- that's what rednecks are made of. This is a group with which I am proud to associate. Ya'll know who <i>you</i> are.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">You might be a redneck if: It never occurred to you to be offended by the phrase, 'One nation, under God.'</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">You might be a redneck if: You've never protested about seeing the 10 Commandments posted in public places.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">You might be a redneck if: You still say ' Christmas' instead of 'Winter Festival.'</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">You might be a redneck if: You bow your head when someone prays.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">You might be a redneck if: You stand and place your hand over your heart when they play the National Anthem.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">You might be a redneck if: You treat Viet Nam vets with great respect, and always have.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">You might be a redneck if: You've never burned an American flag.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">You might be a redneck if: You know what you believe and you aren't afraid to say so, no matter who is listening.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">You might be a redneck if: You respect your elders and expect your kids to do the same.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">You might be a redneck if: You'd give your last dollar to a friend.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188910779688020025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13953226.post-27201384114559421302008-02-22T16:26:00.006-05:002008-02-22T16:36:06.264-05:00In election 2008, don’t forget Angry White ManGary Hubbell<br>
February 9, 2008
<p>
<div class="tab" align="justify">There is a great amount of interest in this year’s presidential elections, as everybody seems to recognize that our next president has to be a lot better than George Bush. The Democrats are riding high with two groundbreaking candidates — a woman and an African-American — while the conservative Republicans are in a quandary about their party’s nod to a quasi-liberal maverick, John McCain.</div><p>
<div class="tab" align="justify">Each candidate is carefully pandering to a smorgasbord of special-interest groups, ranging from gay, lesbian and transgender people to children of illegal immigrants to working mothers to evangelical Christians.</div><p>
<div class="tab" align="justify">There is one group no one has recognized, and it is the group that will decide the election: the Angry White Man. The Angry White Man comes from all economic backgrounds, from dirt-poor to filthy rich. He represents all geographic areas in America, from urban sophisticate to rural redneck, deep South to mountain West, left Coast to Eastern Seaboard.</div><p>
<div class="tab" align="justify">His common traits are that he isn’t looking for anything from anyone — just the promise to be able to make his own way on a level playing field. In many cases, he is an independent businessman and employs several people. He pays more than his share of taxes and works hard.</div><p>
<div class="tab" align="justify">The victimhood syndrome buzzwords —“disenfranchised,” “marginalized” and “voiceless” — don’t resonate with him. “Press ‘one’ for English” is a curse-word to him. He’s used to picking up the tab, whether it’s the company Christmas party, three sets of braces, three college educations or a beautiful wedding.</div><p>
<div class="tab" align="justify">He believes the Constitution is to be interpreted literally, not as a “living document” open to the whims and vagaries of a panel of judges who have never worked an honest day in their lives.</div><p>
<div class="tab" align="justify">The Angry White Man owns firearms, and he’s willing to pick up a gun to defend his home and his country. He is willing to lay down his life to defend the freedom and safety of others, and the thought of killing someone who needs killing really doesn’t bother him.</div><p>
<div class="tab" align="justify">The Angry White Man is not a metrosexual, a homosexual or a victim. Nobody like him drowned in Hurricane Katrina — he got his people together and got the hell out, then went back in to rescue those too helpless and stupid to help themselves, often as a police officer, a National Guard soldier or a volunteer firefighter.</div><p>
<div class="tab" align="justify">His last name and religion don’t matter. His background might be Italian, English, Polish, German, Slavic, Irish, or Russian, and he might have Cherokee, Mexican, or Puerto Rican mixed in, but he considers himself a white American.</div><p>
<div class="tab" align="justify">He’s a man’s man, the kind of guy who likes to play poker, watch football, hunt white-tailed deer, call turkeys, play golf, spend a few bucks at a strip club once in a blue moon, change his own oil and build things. He coaches baseball, soccer and football teams and doesn’t ask for a penny. He’s the kind of guy who can put an addition on his house with a couple of friends, drill an oil well, weld a new bumper for his truck, design a factory and publish books. He can fill a train with 100,000 tons of coal and get it to the power plant on time so that you keep the lights on and never know what it took to flip that light switch.</div><p>
<div class="tab" align="justify">Women either love him or hate him, but they know he’s a man, not a dishrag. If they’re looking for someone to walk all over, they’ve got the wrong guy. He stands up straight, opens doors for women and says “Yes, sir” and “No, ma’am.”</div><p>
<div class="tab" align="justify">He might be a Republican and he might be a Democrat; he might be a Libertarian or a Green. He knows that his wife is more emotional than rational, and he guides the family in a rational manner.</div><p>
<div class="tab" align="justify">He’s not a racist, but he is annoyed and disappointed when people of certain backgrounds exhibit behavior that typifies the worst stereotypes of their race. He’s willing to give everybody a fair chance if they work hard, play by the rules and learn English.</div><p>
<div class="tab" align="justify">Most important, the Angry White Man is pissed off. When his job site becomes flooded with illegal workers who don’t pay taxes and his wages drop like a stone, he gets righteously angry. When his job gets shipped overseas, and he has to speak to some incomprehensible idiot in India for tech support, he simmers. When Al Sharpton comes on TV, leading some rally for reparations for slavery or some such nonsense, he bites his tongue and he remembers. When a child gets charged with carrying a concealed weapon for mistakenly bringing a penknife to school, he takes note of who the local idiots are in education and law enforcement.</div><p>
<div class="tab" align="justify">He also votes, and the Angry White Man loathes Hillary Clinton. Her voice reminds him of a shovel scraping a rock. He recoils at the mere sight of her on television. Her very image disgusts him, and he cannot fathom why anyone would want her as their leader. It’s not that she is a woman. It’s that she is who she is. It’s the liberal victim groups she panders to, the “poor me” attitude that she represents, her inability to give a straight answer to an honest question, his tax dollars that she wants to give to people who refuse to do anything for themselves.</div><p>
<div class="tab" align="justify">There are many millions of Angry White Men. Four million Angry White Men are members of the National Rifle Association, and all of them will vote against Hillary Clinton, just as the great majority of them voted for George Bush.</div><p>
<div class="tab" align="justify">He hopes that she will be the Democratic nominee for president in 2008, and he will make sure that she gets beaten like a drum.</div>
<p>
<i>Gary Hubbell is a regular columnist with the Aspen Times Weekly.</i></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188910779688020025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13953226.post-59699947148311058472007-11-09T12:51:00.000-05:002007-11-09T13:43:37.284-05:00How Long Does the USA Have?<div class="tab" align="justify">This is the most interesting thing I've read in a long time. The sad thing about it, you can see it coming.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I have always heard about this democracy countdown. It is interesting to see it in print. God help us, not that we deserve it.
How Long Do We Have?</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh , had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier:</div>
<blockquote>'A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government.<br>'A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.<br>'From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.</blockquote>
<div class="tab" align="justify">'The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years.'</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">During those 200 years, democratic nations progress through a cycle that the famed political analyst William Tyler termed "The Cycle of the Body Politic".</div>
<ol>
<li>From bondage to spiritual faith/trugh
<li>From spiritual faith/truth to great courage
<li>From courage to liberty/freedon
<li>From liberty/freedom to abundance
<li>From abundance to selfishness
<li>From selfishness to complacency
<li>From complacency to apathy
<li>From apathy to fear
<li>From fear to dependence
<li>From dependence back into bondage
</li></ol><p>
<div class="tab" align="justify">Professor Joseph Olson of Hemline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota , points out some interesting facts concerning the 2000 Presidential election:</div>
<p>Number of States won by:
<br>Gore: 19
<br>Bush: 29</p>
<p>Square miles of land won by:
<br>Gore: 580,000
<br>Bush: 2,427,000</p>
<p>Population of counties won by:
<br>Gore: 127 million
<br>Bush: 143 million</p>
<p>Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by:
<br>Gore: 13.2
<br>Bush: 2.1</p>
<div class="tab" align="justify">Professor Olson adds: 'In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of this great country. Gore's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government welfare...' Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the 'complacency and apathy' phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the 'governmental dependency' phase.
If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegal and they vote, then we can say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188910779688020025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13953226.post-85317947103362197112007-08-16T16:46:00.000-04:002007-08-16T16:59:42.699-04:00What It Means to Be an AmericanThis is a very good letter to the editor. This woman made some good points. For some reason, people have difficulty structuring their arguments when arguing against supporting the currently proposed immigration revisions. This lady made the argument pretty simple.
<p>NOT printed in the Orange County (CA) Register ... Newspapers simply won't publish letters to the editor which they either deem politically incorrect (read below) or which does not agree with the philosophy they're pushing on the public. This woman wrote a great letter to the editor that should have been published.
<p>New Immigrants
From: "David LaBonte"
<p>My wife, Rosemary, wrote a wonderful letter to the editor of the OC Register which, of course, was not printed. So, I decided to "print" it myself by sending it out on the Internet.
(signed) Dave LaBonte
<p>Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the Orange County Register:
<p>Dear Editor:
<br />So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should tear down the Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren't being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry.
<p>Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like Mr. Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind of immigrant any longer. Back in 1900, when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to the United States, people had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in New York and be documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times. They made learning English a primary rule in their new American households and some even changed their names to blend in with their new home.
<p>They had waved good bye to their birth place to give their children a new life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate into one culture.
<p>Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor laws to protect them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity. Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought along side men whose parents had come straight over from Germany, Italy, France, and Japan. None of these 1st generation Americans ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from. They were Americans fighting Hitler, Mussolini, and the Emperor of Japan. They were defending the United States of America as one people. When we liberated France, no one in those villages was looking for the French-American or the German-American or the Irish-American. The people of France saw only Americans. And we carried one flag that represented one country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were. It would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be an American. They stirred the melting pot into one red, white and blue bowl.
<p>And here we are in 2007 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by playing with a different set of rules, one that includes the entitlement card and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's not what being an American is all about. I believe that the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900's deserve better than that for all the toil, hard work, and sacrifice in raising future generations, to create a land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life. I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those waving foreign country flags.
<p>And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of Liberty, it happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the immigration bill. I wouldn't start talking about dismantling the United States just yet.
(signed) Rosemary LaBonte
<p>
<p>MAY GOD BLESS AMERICAAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188910779688020025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13953226.post-18409224465067764932007-07-23T20:53:00.000-04:002007-07-23T20:56:44.970-04:00Come Join the TeamI own my own Internet Business. Come see me at <a href="http://dmyers4.ordermygift.com">The-Team</a>!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188910779688020025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13953226.post-73841873170225619892007-02-27T17:49:00.000-05:002007-02-27T18:03:54.574-05:00Proud to Be WhiteSomeone finally said it. <p>There are African-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Asian-Americans, Arab-Americans, Native-Americans, etc, and then there are just Americans. <p>You pass me on the street and sneer in my direction. You call me White-boy, Cracker, Honkey, Whitey, or Caveman, … and that is OK. <p>But, when I call you Nigger, Kike, Towel head, Sand-nigger, Camel Jockey, Beaner, Gook, or Chink … you call me a racist. <p>You say that whites commit a lot of violence against you, so why are the ghettos the most dangerous places to live? <p>You have the United Negro College Fund.
You have Martin Luther King Day.
You have Black History Month.
You have Cesar Chavez Day.
You Have Yom Hashoah.
You have Ma'uled Al-Nabi.
You have the NAACP.
You have BET & Miss Black America. <p>If we had WET (White Entertainment Television) or White Miss America … we would be racists. If we had a White Pride Day … you would call us racists. <p>If we had a White History Month … we would be racists. <p>If we had any organization only for whites to "advance” OUR lives, we would be racists. <p>We have a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a Black Chamber of Commerce, and then we just have the plain Chamber of Commerce. Who pays for that? <p>If we had a college fund that only gave white students scholarships … You know we would be racists. <p>There are over 60 openly proclaimed Black Colleges in the US, yet, if there were "White colleges,” THAT would be racist. <p>In the Million Man March, you believed that you were marching for your race and rights. If we marched for our race and rights, you would call us racists. <p>You are proud to be black, brown, yellow, and orange, and you are not afraid to announce it. But, when we announce our white pride … You call us racists. <p>You rob us, carjack us, and shoot at us. But, when a white police officer shoots a black gang member, or beats up a black drug-dealer who is a threat to society and running from the law … You call him a racist. <p>I am proud, but you call me a racist. <p>Why is it that only whites can be racists?
</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188910779688020025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13953226.post-1130974650965531592005-11-02T18:14:00.000-05:002005-11-02T18:39:31.063-05:00When does Life Begin?<div class="tab" align="justify">A fertilized egg in a Petri dish is NOT life. It lacks many things in order to become a life, not the least of which is a womb, be it human or artificial. Because the fertilized egg does not have all of the things that it needs in order to mature, it cannot be considered human, nor does it have rights. Such a collection of cells is just that.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">There is a special sanctity to the womb, especially the human female womb. This is a special place created by God whose sole purpose is to incubate and allow life to begin. A fertilized egg <i>inside</i> of a womb is MUCH different than one outside. The one inside has all the pieces necessary to become life. It has rights. It is a real person. To remove such cells from their life-giving place is akin to removing a living adult to a place without oxygen. It is no different than leaving a child to starve in place where no food is available. This is what makes induced abortion so abominable. The embryo, which is in a place where it has everything it needs to mature, is forcibly removed from it safe harbor and deliberately terminated. </div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">Too much emphasis is placed on the fertilized egg. An egg’s fertilized status is not at issue; it is its <i>environment</i> that matters: Does it or does it not have everything that it needs to become a living, breathing individual? Once all the pieces are in place, separating any one of them from the others is murder. </div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">Stem cell research on fertilized eggs should be allowed as long as the eggs being used for medical research and development have never been in a place where they had all the things necessary to become a person. An apple seed on your kitchen counter is no more an apple tree than a fertilized egg in a Petri dish is a person. Once the seed is planted, then all the necessary elements for it to mature are in place and it should be nurtured and cared for with all the respect that any living thing deserves.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188910779688020025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13953226.post-1130094351132751862005-10-23T14:58:00.000-04:002005-10-23T16:04:42.380-04:00The World is NOT a Giant Ashtray<div class="tab" align="justify">Why does it seem to me that smokers think the entire world is their own personal ashtray? Even though there are two polished silver standing ashtrays just outside the door where I enter work each day, cigarette butts are still scattered all around. Does smoking destroy a person's ability to aim or their concern about litter? A co-worker of mine who smokes has a decided proclivity for dragging me outside with him for his smoke breaks. One day while outside for a "smoking-break-meeting", I watched a maintenance person with a large broom spend several minutes cleaning up the mess of butts littered all around the ground. My smoker buddy hits the can pretty often, but there is no excuse for not hitting it 100% of the time. If you miss, Pick It UP And Try Again! Other butts are far away from the ashcans, as if the smoker thought he had some God-given right to scatter butts where he may. Maybe someday science will be able to tell us why smokers think they can scatter their ashes and butts anywhere they want.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify"><h3>Designated Smoking Areas (DSA's)</h3> <h4>Restaurants</h4>Although many laws have been passed regarding who, what, where, when, and how smokers can indulge themselves, there is much more to be done. No DSA should be in a path traveled by non-smokers. One restaurant, which I no longer frequent, has its non-smoking section in the BACK, its DSA up front. The hostess gladly escorts me <i>through</i> the smoking section (which I am trying to avoid) to get me to my non-smoking section. Public access walkways and non-smoking sections should all be placed where there is NEVER a requirement to walk through a DSA.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify"><h4>The Work Place</h4>Many DSA's are right next to entry doors, requiring non-smokers to pass through the trash and second-hand smoke to get to their destination. Let's change the law to require that DSA's be at least 50 feet away from public access walkways. Make the smokers stand far away from everyone else while they poison themselves. This area should be definitively marked off and strategically located so that even wind-driven second-hand smoke is not a factor.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify"><h4>Medical Campuses</h4>In the same way that there is zero-tolerance for smoking on the grounds of public <i>school</i> campuses, a zero-tolerance smoking ban should also be in place for entire <i>medical</i> campuses. There should be no such thing as a DSA anywhere on, in, or around medical facilities. In the same way that the school principal has to cross the street to smoke, so should the heart surgeon. It has been proven that second-hand smoke exacerbates many medical conditions. Sick or injured people coming to a medical facility should have the right to hygienic environs, free of all known toxins. Smoking in these locales should not be permitted under any circumstances.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify"><h4>Special Accommodations for Smokers</h4>While at Fort Knox several years ago picking my son up from basic training, I noticed a sign in one of their "Designated Smoking Buildings" (DSB) that said "The Ground Is Not A Giant Ashtray". The DSB was a metal bus-stop-like enclosure painted military green. Every DSB I saw was at least 100 feet from any other building, and they were spotless. This means that anyone who wanted to smoke on base had to go out of their way to find a DSB and had to clean up after themselves. A laudable effort. I would discourage all companies from building shelters, lean-to's, out-buildings, or anything of the like to accommodate smokers. Paint a simple circle on the ground, downwind from all buildings, and require that smokers stand there to smoke in rain or snow or dark of night. Maybe if we make smoking ever more inconvenient, we can even save some lives while we clean up the trash too.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188910779688020025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13953226.post-1123856262186513072005-08-12T09:46:00.000-04:002005-08-12T10:24:05.740-04:00America, Homosexuality, and Sodom and Gomorrah<blockquote><p>And the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and <em>they shall keep the way of the LORD</em>, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him." And the LORD said, "Because the cry of <em>Sodom and Gomorrah</em> is great, and because <em>their sin is very grievous</em>, I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know." And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD. And Abraham drew near, and said, "Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" And the LORD said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes."</p><p>Genesis 19:17-26 (KJV, emphasis added)."</p></blockquote><div class="tab" align="justify">The Lord promised Abraham and Lot that they would be preserved because of their righteousness. There are many places in scripture where the Lord tells us that if we are righteous, then He will permit us to remain in his Promised Land. If we are not, we will be destroyed. Let's read on in Genesis.</div>
<blockquote><p>And there came two angels to Sodom at even. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom, and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. And he said, "Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways." And they said, "Nay; but we will abide in the street all night." And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, "Where are the men which came in to thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may <em>know</em> them." And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, And said, "I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man. Let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes. Only unto these men do nothing, for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof." And they said, "Stand back." And they said again, "This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge. Now will we deal worse with thee, than with them." And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door. But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.</p><p>Genesis 19:1-10 (KJV, emphasis added)</p></blockquote><div class="tab" align="justify">The men of Sodom sought these new visitors to Lot's house to have sex with them. Lot begged them not to do this evil because they had come to his house for protection. Then the angels asked Lot about all the members of his household and told them to get out of the city. Lot inquired of the Lord and asked (almost rhetorically) if He would also destroy the righteous along with the wicked. The Lord promised Lot that if he could find even ten righteous men in the city then he would not destroy the city. Lot could not find even ten righteous men in the city. Lot left Sodom with his family, and the Lord destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone from heaven. So complete was this destruction that today we have only an idea of where these two cities might have been.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">Today we live in a Promised Land. America is a place reserved for the righteous and for those who believe in God. As such was it conceived and founded. It is a place set apart where there is freedom of worship; it is a place where the true gospel of Jesus Christ can be taught without fear of reprisal. It is because of the few righteous that America has not yet been destroyed. We must return to God because God will not be mocked. Just as the inhabitants of the Promised Land were conquered and destroyed by the Israelites, so will we be destroyed if we do not obey God's laws.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">Homosexualilty is a sin, plain and simple. Gender is part of God's eternal plan; it is not a choice for us to make. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Homosexuality was a sin 5000 years ago and it is still a sin today.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">God will not allow us to remain in the Promised Land if we do not keep his commandments. Slowly but surely we are removing Him from every aspect of our lives: our schools, our government, and our personal lives. This must change if we are to survive as God's chosen people in His Promised Land.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188910779688020025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13953226.post-1122681164174955262005-07-29T19:40:00.000-04:002005-07-29T20:21:29.326-04:00Who Saved the Cat?<center><u>Tiggy, the Firefighters, and the Vet - A Parable</u></center>
<div class="tab" align="justify">When the firefighters pulled Tiggy from the basement of our burned up, smoked out, water-logged home, she was a lifeless jumble of bones in a sack of feline fur. For all intents and purposes she was dead, unable to save herself from drowning in eight inches of water because of smoke inhalation. The firefighters worked hard on her and got her mostly breathing on her own. We rushed her to the vet, fearing the worst. The vet immediately put her in an oxygen tent (a cage with a plastic door) and began treating her aggressively with corticosteroids and antibiotics. We visited her every day. It was heartbreaking. We had no idea what to expect. When we went to see her on the third day, she was blind, had no use of her front legs, and did not know who we were. The vet said she had suffered an "unknown amount" of neurological damage and that even if she did survive, that her life might not be worth living. We briefly considered putting her down, believing it might be best for all concerned. We quickly discarded that idea in favor of taking her home and nursing her back to health as best we could. Death was not an option. She was a member of our family.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">The next morning Tiggy seemed to have regained some of the strength in her front legs. Though still totally blind, she seemed anxious to examine her New World. We let her exercise her new legs for a few minutes several times each day, for that seemed what she wanted most. It was soon evident that she was getting stronger and that some of her eyesight was coming back too! Though we were not hopeful for a full recovery, she made amazing strides in the months that followed. Less than a year later she had full use of her limbs and eyes. She did not return completely to her former self, however. Her personality changed, mostly for the better. She was cuddlier than before, often sleeping at my side. She was quieter than before. Sometimes, as she sat in early afternoon sunbeams, her head would gently shake and bobble like one of those toy dogs in a car's rear window, as if contemplating the mysteries of the world. She spent many of her days like any ordinary cat, content to sleep on the back of the couch from whence she could survey her domain.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">Now the $64,000 question: Who saved Tiggy? Did the firefighters save her? Did the veterinarian save her? The answer, I believe, is that they <i>both</i> saved her. Both the firefighters and the veterinarian played very different, but <i>equally vital</i>, roles in saving Tiggy's life. She would have died if either one had not done their part. The secret to preserving Tiggy's quality of life was to have both the firefighters <i>and</i> the veterinarian do their respective parts, in concert, in order, each one with their own distinctive talents, knowledge, and abilities. If either had failed to do their job, Tiggy would have died. If either one had tried to do the other's job, Tiggy would have died. If there had been two sets of firefighters or two veterinarians, instead of one of each, Tiggy would have died.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">Men and women are like veterinarians and firefighters. Their roles and responsibilities are very distinct from each other, yet <i>equal in importance</i>. Many good things are lost if either one shirks his or her duty. Good things die when either partner is missing or tries to do the other's job. When they work together, each performing his or her own role, miracles occur. Tiggy is my living proof.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188910779688020025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13953226.post-1120525965694825102005-07-04T20:49:00.000-04:002005-07-30T20:22:24.496-04:00A Cure for Loneliness<div class="tab" align="justify">One of my all-time favorite songs is "All by Myself" by Eric Carmen. The melody is based on Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 (in C Minor Opus 18 II Adagio Sostenuto). It a beautifully melancholic piece that exudes all sorts of sad emotions. It is easy to see why Carmen loved it so and put words to it. One part in particular always touched me:</div>
<blockquote>Living alone, I think of all the friends I've known,
<br>But when I dial the telephone, nobody's home.
<br>Hard to be sure, sometimes I feel so insecure,
<br>And love so distant and obscure, remains the cure.</blockquote>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I believed this for a long time, that love was the cure for all that ailed me. Having come from an family that failed in its attempts to love me unconditionally, I was in constant search for feeling, for meaning, for something that would grab my heart and rip it out with such fervor that I would finally realize that feelings are good and that I really was alive, not just existing, not just the brunt of someone's idea of a cruel joke. I believed that "love" would make me FEEL something. I tried many things: porn, self-gratification, masochism, gentlemen's clubs, anything to try to make myself feel something. Nothing worked. Luckily I stayed away from drugs and alcohol. Being obsessive-compulsive, I believe that drink would have ruined me completely.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">The truth is, in fact, the love is NOT distant and obscure, and worse yet, even if you were able to find it, it turns out it's NOT the cure either. The idea of "love", as defined by society, is a mythological panacea. Having taught us that we are not responsible for our own actions (more on that in a later article), society would have us believe that something other than our own minds and our own selves is responsible for our happiness. Society hopes to convince us that happiness, joy even, is found in things, in other people, in any noun that is defined outside of ourselves.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">True happiness, the "Cure" as Eric Carmen calls it, is not found far away and is not intangible. The cure is inside of us each one of us. It is up to us to determine how miserable or felicitous we want to be. If we live our life waiting or hoping for some external influence to change us, then we are living a wasted life. Each one of us has control over our own thoughts, feelings, ideas, perceptions, interactions, emotions, and self-worth. Discard the bad. Hold fast to that which is good. Choose to adopt the positive and divorce yourself from that which is self-deprecating. </div>
<center>The cure is inside.</center>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188910779688020025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13953226.post-1120008870335795452005-06-28T20:36:00.000-04:002005-07-29T20:19:58.506-04:00No Matter What, We Still Get to Choose<div class="tab" align="justify">A lady friend of mine, let's call her Candice, recently renewed a friendship with an estranged girlfriend, let's call her Julie. Candice had been working for a long time to build up the courage to get herself out of a bad situation. She wanted to clean up her act, go back to church, and leave her less than desirable way of life.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">She and Julie talked of renting apartment together as a way of helping them both get out of bad situations. Shortly after renewing their friendship, Julie talked (read: blabbed, gossiped) about Candice's problems with other members of the church. Some (at least one) of these church members apparently judged Candice as being unworthy to belong to their group, and took an immediate dislike to her.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">Now Candice feels that all her hard work and good intentions are for naught. Those feelings are very understandable. I would most likely feel the same way myself if someone betrayed my confidences. Candice feels like everyone at the church will be staring at her and thinking the worst of her. If she ever does go back to church, it will be with extreme trepidation, even though it is, in fact, what she wants more than anything else in the world.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I am familiar with the people of this religious community. I have known many of them since they were babes in their mother's arms. They are not mal-intentioned or mean-spirited. They have their own problems. It goes without saying that none of them are perfect either. Candice suffering from the delusion that everyone in the congregation will be looking down their noses at her. She is imagining a worst-case scenario of what these people are going to be thinking of her, and then reacting to that mythology as if it were the truth.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">The truth of the matter is that most people are so concerned with themselves that they don't have time to worry about anybody else's problems. Another truth is that Candice still has the freedom to choose her actions for herself. She can choose to ignore the lies in her head and go to church anyway to get the spiritual nourishment that she so desires.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188910779688020025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13953226.post-1119751814528700752005-06-25T21:54:00.000-04:002005-07-29T20:24:03.500-04:00Whom Are We Trying to Impress?<div class="tab" align="justify">There is a large billboard by which I pass on a common route home. It is an advertisement for a Kawasaki Jet-ski. It says, in big bold letters: "Impress the Mermaids".</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">Now, I am not ordinarily in the business of trying to impress anyone, much less mythical beings. The way I see this ad, it seems to be trying to tell me that it is important what other people think of me based on my material possessions. This is, in my estimation, probably the poorest of all reasons to want to own anything.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">We should not concern ourselves about what other people think about us (loved-ones excepted). Since we have no control over what they think of us, regardless of what we own, say, or do, what makes us think that a new jet-ski will garner their approval? No matter what you say, do, think, or own, some people will be impressed, others will be offended, and many others just won't care. We should not consider how others may react to us when making decisions, no matter how large or small. We cannot take upon us the responsibility of trying to control what other people think. When we try to impress, that is exactly what we are attempting.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">The myth that society has propagated onto us is that if we own "cool" stuff, that people will like us, accept us, girls will flock to you, guys will magically turn into cavalier gentlemen, and all your myriad problems will be erased from the consciousness of everyone who has ever known you. Pay attention to the next toothpaste commercial you see. What is it really telling you?</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">The use of this myth in our society promulgates conspicuous consumerism by playing off of what Maslow's refers to as "Love" in his hierarchy of needs. "If you buy our product, people will love and accept you." Nothing could be farther from the truth. The acceptance of our own self <em>by</em> our own self is the most important acceptance to which we can aspire. If we learn to be accepting of ourselves, we will no longer feel the need to create a façade in the hopes that others will love us for it.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188910779688020025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13953226.post-1119723884840242992005-06-25T13:58:00.000-04:002005-07-30T20:09:01.676-04:00Why is there no Joy in Mudville?<div class="tab" align="justify">In the famous poem, Casey at the Bat, by Ernest L. Thayer, the final line has always given me pause.</div>
<blockquote><p>Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright.
<br>The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light.
<br>And, somewhere men are laughing, and little children shout,
<br><strong><i>but there is no joy in Mudville</i></strong> -- mighty Casey has struck out."
</p></blockquote>
<div class="tab" align="justify">And just why is there no "joy in Mudville"? Did the people of fictional Mudville, even in 1888, hold one member of their hometown baseball team responsible for how they felt about themselves? This must have been quite a burden on Casey, to know he was the holder of the state of mind and happiness of all the people of his town.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">I propose a more accurate, possibly a little less iambic-pentameterly correct version, of the last few lines, as follows:</div>
<blockquote><p>Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright.
<br>The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light.
<br>And, somewhere men are laughing, and little children shout,
<br><strong><i>But still there's joy in Mudville, even though the man struck out.
<br>
<br>The residents of Mudville are not a silly lot,
<br>They do not wander aimlessly seeking what is not.
<br>'Cause long ago they found that joy was not found in a game,
<br>But in the soul of everyman, his own joy he can claim.</i></strong>
</p></blockquote>
<div class="tab" align="justify">As early as 1888, and probably as early as Cain and Abel, we have been taught, by society, in one form or another (usually surreptitiously and unconsciously), that the way we feel about ourselves is somehow dependent on things other than ourselves. Admittedly, the residents of Mudville were disappointed in the performance of their star player at a seemingly critical moment, buy this disappointment is a far cry from Casey's unexpected failure being the cause of draining all the joy from each member of the Mudville community.</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">Is the way we feel about ourselves dependent on the clothes we wear? The amount of money we make? The kind of car we drive? On someone else's (supposed) opinion of us? On some imagined circumstance over which we have no control?</div>
<div class="tab" align="justify">We get to <span style="color:#ff0000;"><em>choose for ourselves</em></span> if we have joy. We should not depend on or use any external circumstance as a measurement of how we feel inside.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188910779688020025noreply@blogger.com0