The Verse of the Day

"EVERYTHING Obama has done has hurt America; NOTHING he has done has helped America. Not domestically. Not Internationally. ZIP ZERO ZILCH NADA NOTHING."

And you know why? It's because they hate America. America stands for everything they despise: democracy, capitalism, freedom... Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to bear arms, freedom of association...

When you put people in charge who hate America, don't be surprised when they try to destroy it.

David Peterson in comments to the Wall Street Journal Online

Psalm 109:8

"Let his days be few; and may another take his place of leadership. "

Agent provocateur

Interesting, I have not heard once the suggestion that there might be any agents provocateur out there amongst those dangerous revolutionary tea party people. Could it be that it is just too dangerous for the agents to expose themselves to the risk of those violent senior adults? Or could it be that just as I would stand out at a Berkeley anti-{insert cause of the day here} rally they might appear out-of-place? Or do you suppose it could be that the press does not wish to plant the suggestion in our minds that our Chicago politicians in charge could be so devious as to have their own planted agents hurl the epithets that they fear so much?
Like Nancy Pelosi says, she saw this in San Francisco in the seventies and it scared her. I had forgotten how the straights, the seniors, the family people, the employed, the homeowners, and the parents had rioted in San Francisco in the seventies. By the way Nancy, where were you standing when it scared you? Too close to the front of the mob? Did those policemen standing in front keeping you from destroying everything scare you?

Those seniors, family people, employed, homeowners, and parents standing out in front of "your" Capitol are trying to protect their pensions, homes, businesses, and children's futures from Representatives who represent their own interests rather than those who elected them. Representatives like you, Nancy, whose arrogance knows no bounds.

Atlanta Representative John Lewis and the Congressional Black Caucus went trolling for racial slurs in amongst the protesters last week and claim to have found 15 of them in amongst the thousands of people in front of the Capitol. Unfortunately neither of their cameras nor those of the press or anyone else managed to capture them. Next time they will place them better. Do you suppose it just might be because race wasn't the issue? Did they miss the point that the protest is over deficit spending, representatives who do not follow the will of their constituents, and ever increasing government power, and not race? Has Representative Lewis become so blind he cannot read the signs and only believes his own hype? Are his ears so closed that he doesn't even know what the protesters are really saying as he hears only the "N-word" that he wants to hear?

The (ever so less than) mainstream news has been trying to pump up the public perception of the violence of those against the non-representative actions of their Representatives. They miss one point though: those people are us, and we know what's in our hearts; and so far, it is not violence. It is simply: we want our government to leave us alone to take care of our own life, liberty, and persuit of happiness.

For Those Who Think That Giving Any Government Broader Powers Is a Good Idea.

It’s always worth remembering, however, that the vast majority of unnatural deaths in the last century were the direct result of government action – as often as not, action taken against its own citizens.
Casey's Daily Dispatch

The article goes on to state and then to quote from no less a source than the Atlantic:

While there is no comparison in the current context to what occurred in Germany, at least in the U.S. and other developed countries, that doesn’t mean that things can’t degrade, and quickly so.

With the economy in shreds, persistently high unemployment, and another hit to the national bottom line likely, almost anything is possible. Another Timothy McVeigh, or another Waco, or widespread societal upheavals are all certainly well within the realm of possibility. As is, of course, another 9/11.

With the government’s own threat assessment already in a semi-permanent state of Code Orange, it wouldn’t take much to tip things to Code Red, at which point we would witness – and experience – the consequences of the many legal changes that have been put into place since 9/11.

On that topic, the following is an excerpt from an article that Doug Casey sent over, from The Atlantic …

A Detention Bill You Ought to Read More Carefully

Why is the national security community treating the "Enemy Belligerent, Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010," introduced by Sens. John McCain and Joseph Lieberman on Thursday as a standard proposal, as a simple response to the administration's choices in the aftermath of the Christmas Day bombing attempt?

A close reading of the bill suggests it would allow the U.S. military to detain U.S. citizens without trial indefinitely in the U.S. based on suspected activity. Read the bill here, and then read the summarized points after the jump.

According to the summary, the bill sets out a comprehensive policy for the detention, interrogation and trial of suspected enemy belligerents who are believed to have engaged in hostilities against the United States by requiring these individuals to be held in military custody, interrogated for their intelligence value and not provided with a Miranda warning.
(There is no distinction between U.S. persons--visa holders or citizens--and non-U.S. persons.)

It would require these "belligerents" to be coded as "high-value detainee[s]" to be held in military custody and interrogated for their intelligence value by a High-Value Detainee Interrogation Team established by the president. (The H.I.G., of course, was established to bring a sophisticated interrogation capacity to the federal justice system.)

Any suspected unprivileged enemy belligerents considered a "high-value detainee" shall not be provided with a Miranda warning.

The bill asks the President to determine criteria for designating an individual as a "high-value detainee" if he/she: (1) poses a threat of an attack on civilians or civilian facilities within the U.S. or U.S. facilities abroad; (2) poses a threat to U.S. military personnel or U.S. military facilities; (3) potential intelligence value; (4) is a member of al Qaeda or a terrorist group affiliated with al Qaeda or (5) such other matters as the President considers appropriate. The President must submit the regulations and guidance to the appropriate committees of Congress no later than 60 days after enactment.

To the extent possible, the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Team must make a preliminary determination whether the detainee is an unprivileged enemy belligerent within 48 hours of taking detainee into custody.

Full article here.

All together now, let's repeat the refrain:
"It Can't Happen Here".

Socialized Medicine is Slavery

Doctors are not servants of their patients, they are traders like everyone else in a free society and they should bear that title proudly considering the crucial importance of the services they offer.

Ayn Rand(1905 - 1982)

Normal

"The adjuration to be normal seems shockingly repellent to me; I see neither hope nor comfort in sinking to that low level. I think it is ignorance that makes people think of abnormality only with horror and allows them to remain undismayed at the proximity of normal to average and mediocre. For surely anyone who achieves anything is, essentially, abnormal."

Psychiatrist Dr. Karl Menninger

Mencken Nails It Again

“The legislature, like the executive, has ceased, save indirectly, to be even the creature of the people: it is the creature, in the main, of pressure groups, and most of them, it must be manifest, are of dubious wisdom and even more dubious honesty. Laws are no longer made by a rational process of public discussion; they are made by a process of blackmail and intimidation, and they are executed in the same manner. The typical lawmaker of today is a man wholly devoid of principle – a mere counter in a grotesque and knavish game. If the right pressure could be applied to him he would be cheerfully in favor of polygamy, astrology or cannibalism."


H.L. Mencken writing in the American Mercury, May 1930

Sorry I haven't been posting ...

...I've had other things on my mind and have been stretched a little too thin.

Mother is in Emory Eastside Hospital in Snellville again for a flare-up of her congestive heart failure and has been for about ten days. She is doing a lot better now after the did a thoracentesis and removed most of the water from her lungs. The rest they are trying to remove with Lasix®. Personally, I wish they had done a paracentesis also as that really made the difference last time.

I truly believe the culprit to be Bernoulli. His principle combined with the constant high humidity this winter and her oxygen have caused the moisture in the air to precipitate out into her lungs. The water in her lungs and abdomen is pressing on her heart which like the jaws of an alligator only has muscles to contract and nothing to extend save the relaxation of tension.

My mother is 89 years old. Will they still be allowed to treat us when we are 89?

Unemployment and Wife Beating

According to Senate majority leader Harry Reid, unemployment is a major cause of wife beating and spousal abuse. Funny, I always thought the media blamed the Super Bowl. At least until statistics disproved that theory.

Now Fred Thompson made the joke that we all have thought and many said - This ought to be be fair warning to Mrs. Reid after November's coming election.

BUT: Now a spokesman for Senator Reid has taken Senator Thompson to task because, Senator Reid was the child of abusive parent(s).

But here comes the big one: Statistically, the common factor for abusers is ... child of abusive parents.

I'll repeat, "Watch out Mrs. Reid. You've got a problem."

This Is So Wrong On So Many Levels

Danny Williams,Premier of the Canadian provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, is in Miami. No, that's not wrong, Miami is filled with Canadians in the wintertime. No, he is there for heart surgery. In an interview with The Canadian Press, Williams said he went to Miami to have a “minimally invasive” surgery for an ailment first detected nearly a year ago.

I thought we were to believe that Canada's health care system is so much better than ours. Well no, the officially allowed procedure up there is to bisect the breastbone and chest and operate through that opening. He decided that he preferred the sound of having merely a laproscopic set of incisions under the arm and the operation being done that way. He thought it might be less uncomfortable and have a better success rate.

But he did make it clear through a spokesman that he was not going to the United States in order to go to the head of the line in getting treatment for his heart condition. Do you mean that there is a waiting line for treatment for heart failure? That is certainly what that statement implies.

I have many times spoken and written of the Canadians seeking treatment for prostate cancer here in the Atlanta area, something that Canada considers a waste of resources; but I admit I am tickled at the prospect of all the Obama-supporting fat school teachers I encounter on a daily basis waking up to discover that joint replacement surgery is a luxury and therefore not covered by government health care.

We can't abandon our health care system - Where would the poor Canadians have to go to get care?

Now for something a little more gloomy.

From Stella Concepts, one of my favorite Silver advisors; something quite different and good.

A Little Gift For All You New Hope-Solebury Class of 64 People.

Yep, that's our Kim. You can really see it just before she starts singing.
An interview with Kim about Bird.

The State of the Obama Speech - 1/27/2010

I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I

Me Me Me Me Me Me Me Me


To put it in perspective, here is the wonderful word count program Wordle's relative word count. The program normally ignores pronouns and articles, but in this case he wanted us to see just how the word I fit in, so someone substituted the word hedgehog for every instance of the word I.

How Much Is A Trillion?

One million seconds is 12 days.
One trillion seconds is 32,000 years.

An Awww! Moment

Good Luck? Good Grief.

On my way out the door to a special overtime job yesterday evening, my supervisor wished me "Good luck". It was casually said, a greeting really. But it struck me odd. I am good at what I do - and it isn't luck.
"Good grief", I replied, "or good skill or good job. Good God. Good night. Or even Good riddance; but not good luck."
Little of our lot in life is really luck. Most, good or bad, is the result of our decisions and our actions. Little of our adversity is luck either - most of it is the result of the self-serving actions of other men - most recently the Government providing impediments to our good actions in the named of the so-called "Public Good" which is neither truly benefiting all mankind equally nor good for us as a people.
But one thing it is not ... is Luck.

Good Day.

The Pollution Al Gore Never Talks About

Tank 7120
Originally uploaded by luxomni

I really should explain that what you are seeing is steam (not smoke and fire) when we are just barely out of a fog.
It is reflecting the High Pressure Sodium light. HPS is getting to be a pollution - it is everywhere. Look around at night little patches of red-orange everywhere. See the orange glow of cities.

I don't remember the first time I saw High Pressure Sodium light. I do remember the first time I saw low pressure sodium (which is even redder). That was in 1967 lighting a parkway in Dallas, TX. It looked so strange - especially from the air. This red strip through town.

By 1967, mercury vapor had been around for a while, but even then most street lighting was incandescent. When you did see a mercury vapor light, it was unique and people took notice. High Pressure Sodium street lighting began three years later, in 1970. In the following 40 years it became omnipresent. No one notices any longer even though there are bright orange skyglows over every city and town in the nation - perhaps the world.

Perhaps over the generations we will evolve to adapt to HPS, but to this generation, orange just does not seem to be the way the night should be.