29 April 09 - 06:06What's the big deal, its the same old shit
I scanned through H. R. 1388, the "so called" Obama Youth Program. It represents everything I dislike about government programs for youth. My disgust for the bill has nothing to do with the silly (or seemingly silly) claims that this is a proposal for a brown shirt organization to indoctrinate youth in a manner such as the German (Hitler Youth or in German Hitler-Jugend). Nor do I think this is anything like Opera Nazionale Balilla (ONB), the Italian Fascist youth organization which functioned in fascist Italy between 1926 and 1937.
That said, I will say that the bill is designed to provide funds to organize local youth groups that satisfy the requirements (which are fuzzy). The issue is the need, or lack therof, for such organizations. These organizations seem to be in competition with existing clubs and opportunities for youth.
I don't think Obama wants to be Hitler, emulate Hitler or to incorporate either Adolf Hitler's or Benito Mussolini's programs into our society. Obama is simplyu a man who has been extremely out of touch with American youth organizations and sees a need for setting up opportunities which already exist. I believe his proposal is in competition with existing organizations such as Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, Girls Scouts, Religious Youth Groups, Currently Organized Church Groups, the National Guard, school science clubs, school newspaper groups, school athletics, Rainbow Girls, DeMolay, and any number of groups which already exist.
I see nothing subversive, only the usual misguided programs that the Federal government provides. Why not support the fabric of the local churches, youth, and community organizations rather than create a competing organization. That is all that is wrong with this. It is an attempt to take away from what already exists and, as with all Federal programs, strings will be attached to produce the desired Federal outcome. That is all that I can see wrong with H.R. 1388.
The appropriation appears to be significant. Imagine what the already existing organizations could do with that kind of support, rather than competition with Federally funded organizations and programs that have yet to be invented.
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27 April 09 - 20:37A fraud by any other name?
Ever hear the expression "Hook, line and sinker"? It refers to a fishermans's line which has a hook on the end and a small weight, called a "sinker."If you think our president and Al Gore are a couple of sharp guys who really understand global warming and have our best interests at heart, don't read any more, you are immune to understanding what follows.
Our president, many many non-scientists, and some who would claim to be scientists have fallen for the global warming fraud. Sometimes I wonder if it is an honest mistake on their part, or do they have something to gain. Al Gore is probably has the most to gain. I think he gets paid to promote the fraud. There are also scientists paid federal grant money to study the fraud. No fraud, no need for grants. Or maybe they really have just been fooled.
However, not everyone is so easily fooled. Like kids.
Check this out.
HEAT OF THE MOMENT
Al Gore's global warming debunked – by kids! World Net Daily
Winners announced in 'The Sky's Not Falling' video-essay contest
Excerpt from
WorldNetDaily
Posted: April 26, 2008
2:00 pm Eastern
Al Gore's global warming philosophy has been debunked by many
scientists and studies, and now it has met the same fate at the hands
of children, in "The Sky's Not Falling" video/essay contest, sponsored by WND Books, formerly World Ahead Media....
This makes me wonder what word best describes Al Gore and others who not only accept the concept of anthropomorphic global warming without understanding it, but promote it for personal gain, such as speaking fees, government grants to study the phenomenum, etc.
Could Al Gore be a charlatan?
A couple of definitions,
Merriam-Webster - char'-la-tan - noun - one who makes false claims of identity or expertise.
Merriam Webster [charlatan]
or maybe this one,
Dictionary.com - char-la-tan [shahr'-luh-tun] –noun - a person who pretends to more knowledge or skill than he or she possesses; quack.
Origin: 1595–1605; MF It ciarlatano, equiv. to ciarla(tore) chatterer (deriv. of ciarlare to chatter; from imit. root) + (cerre)tano hawker, quack, lit., native of Cerreto, a village in Umbria, known for its quacks
Reference.com [charlatan]
Some synonyms include:
Mountebank, fraudster, con-artist, con-man, imposter, impostor, fraud, phony, phoney, fake, pretender, quack, rip-off artist, sham, grifter, cheat.
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26 April 09 - 19:44Doug Patton Column - June 6, 2005
Jerry sent me an email with a letter supposedly written by a New Brunswick, Canada woman to her local paper. In trying to locate the name of either the woman or the paper, I find that the "letter" has been around and I found it on various Canadian veteran's sites. There were some things different here and there, a quote by Reagan was rewritten, references to Jesus, the United States, Britain, Aurtralia, and Canada were variously inserted, however, the source of the letter appears to be from somewhere else.
I hoestly thought I had published this before. This is a column written by Doug Patton Column for publication on June 6, 2005. It was apparently also quoted by a woman in Georgia in a letter to the editor, but, again, the original core of the letters is born of this article by Patton.
First, Newsweek pulled a Dan Rather on us, running a fabricated story just because they wanted it to be true. They told the world that an American guard at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention center had ripped pages from a prisoner’s Koran and flushed it down a toilet. As a result, innocent people died when practitioners of Islam rioted in protest in Afghanistan .
Oops, said Newsweek, it seems we can’t back up our story. Oh well, it’s probably true; we just can’t prove it.
The lie heard round the world about the flushed Koran has caused convulsions in the Bush Administration and forced the Pentagon to launch an investigation of unfounded allegations contained in an unsubstantiated story. The results of said investigation are now in, and it seems there are at least five incidents of “mishandling” of the Koran at Gitmo.
Well, guess what? I DON’T CARE!
Are we fighting a war on terror or aren’t we? Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001? Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan , across the Potomac from our nation’s capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania ? Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning death that day, or didn’t they?
And I’m supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was “desecrated” when an overworked American soldier kicked it or got it wet? Well, I don’t. I don’t care at all.
I’ll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.
I’ll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime in Saudi Arabia .
I’ll care when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi tells the world he is sorry for hacking off Nick Berg’s head while Berg screamed through his gurgling, slashed throat.
I’ll care when the cowardly so-called “insurgents” in Iraq come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques.
I’ll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs.
I’ll care when the American media stops pretending that their First Amendment liberties are somehow derived from international law instead of the United States Constitution’s Bill of Rights.
I’ll care when Clinton-appointed judges stop ordering my government to release photos of the abuses at Abu Ghraib, which are sure to set off the Islamic extremists just as Newsweek’s lies did a few weeks ago.
In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave marine roughing up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I don’t care.
When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners who have been humiliated in what amounts to a college hazing incident, rest assured that I don’t care.
When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank that I don’t care.
When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being “mishandled,” you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts that I don’t care.
And oh, by the way, I’ve noticed that sometimes it’s spelled “Koran” and other times “Quran.” Well, Jimmy Crack Corn and — you guessed it — I don’t care!
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25 April 09 - 06:06Can't Wait to Retire ~ From Jerry
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A probable story about retired people and the hazards of being retired.
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Working people frequently ask retired people what they do to make their days interesting. Well, for example, the other day the wife and I went into town and went into a shop. We were only in there for about 5 minutes. When we came out, there was a cop writing out a parking ticket.
We went up to him and I said, 'Come on man, how about giving a poor tax paying citizen a break?'
He ignored us and continued writing the ticket. I called him a dumb ass. He glared at me and started writing another ticket for worn tires.
So Mary called him a poop head as he finished the second ticket which he put on the windshield with the first. Then he started writing a third ticket in response to the "poop head" comment. This went on for about 20 minutes. The more we abused him, the more tickets he wrote.
Just then our bus arrived so we ended our conversation with the policeman and went home.
We try to have a little fun each day now that we're retired.
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24 April 09 - 06:06Survivor
Thanks to Jerry, who sent me this.
TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then after that, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.
As children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool-aid made with real white sugar. And, we weren't overweight. WHY?
Why, indeed, because we were always outside, playing...that's why! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day. And, we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times,we learned to solve the problem. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms. WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers problem solvers and inventors ever.
The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.I f YOU are one of them? CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.
While you are at it, send this link to your kids so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.
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22 April 09 - 06:06Oh, I'm a red neck Texan
A rich Texan decided that he wanted to throw a party and invited all of his buddies and neighbors.
He also invited Leroy, the only Redneck in the neighborhood and held the party beside the pool on the grounds of his mansion.
Leroy was having a good time drinking, dancing, eating shrimp, oysters and BBQ and flirting with all the women.
At the height of the party, the host raised a challenge, 'I have a 10 foot man-eating gator in my pool and I'll give a million dollars to anyone who has the nerve to jump in..'
The words were barely out of his mouth when there was a loud splash. Everyone turned around and saw Leroy in the pool!
Leroy was fighting the gator and kicking its ass! Leroy was jabbing it in the eyes with his thumbs, throwing punches, head butts, choke holds, at one point flipping the alligator through the air.
The water was churning and splashing everywhere. Both Leroy and the gator were screaming and shrieking.
Finally Leroy strangled the gator and let it float to the surface like a dead goldfish.
Leroy then slowly climbed out of the pool. Everybody was just staring at him in disbelief.
Finally the host says, 'Well, Leroy, I reckon I owe you a million dollars.'
'No, that's okay.. I don't want it,' said Leroy.
Confused, the rich man asked, 'Well, Leroy, is there anything you do want?'
Leroy said, 'Yes sir, I want the name of the sumbich who pushed me in the pool!
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21 April 09 - 06:06It was a wonderful day...
This is fiction, but what a concept...
One day, long, long ago, there lived a woman.
This woman did not whine, nag, or bitch.
But it was a long time ago,
and it was just that one day.
The End
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20 April 09 - 00:01Lisbon Flood Update
The flood is starting to recede, but a friend sent some pictures yesterday of the flood in Lisbon, ND, my home town. The first picture is Ross Cole and John Otterson. Know them both. They are now "town fathers" and pillars of the community. You can see a bit of one fo the dikes behind them, but the next picture gives you an idea what has to be done to stop the flood from hurting people'shomes. In this picture you can see the middle bridge of three that are in town, the Fifth Avenue bridge, and you will note it is under water. This is not good.
You can see City Hall in the lower right hand corner of the picture. That is where they have the meeting room for the city council, the police station, and the fire Trucks. The dikes built to the left of this building are across North Dakota Highway 27, on both sides of the bridge, and are on the streets as well. It looks like the dikes are holding.
The last little picture is of my nephew's and brother's funeral home, Armstrong Funeral Home, which is about a half block from the river on the upstream side of the Lisbon Dam. Armstrong Funeral Home has been in this location for over 30 years (over 50 years in the community) and prior to that Lozier Funeral Home was on the same site as in the picture.
The flood waters have been on Main Street before (from what I have been told), but the waters are higher this time than ever on record. 
In this last picture you can see the water surrounding the North Bridge and the dam. There has always been a dam in Lisbon, creating a small lake, and until the late 1920's the drop from the dam provided power for the Lisbon Mill (or as it was often known by it's many other names).
I saw water pushing the girders of the North Bridge when I was attending Lisbon High School in the sixties and have seen water high on the fifth avenue bridge as well. The underwater bridge thing is definately new, but it is heartening to see that the fight is being won.
This is what you do when you live in a small town in North Dakota. You do what you have to do.
Later.
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19 April 09 - 06:06Little girl, would you like some candy?
A little 10-year-old girl was walking home, alone, from school one day, when a big man on a black motorcycle pulls up beside her. After following along for a while, he turns to her and asks,
"Hey there, do you want to go for a ride?"
"NO!" says the little girl as she keeps on walking.
The motorcyclist again pulls up beside her and asks,
"I will give you $10 if you hop on the back."
"NO!" says the little girl as she hurries down the street.
The motorcyclist pulls up beside the little girl again and says,
"I’m feeling generous today! I'll give you 20 Bucks "and" a big bag of candy if you will just hop on the back of my bike and go for a ride with me."
Finally, the little girl stops and turns towards him and screams out...
"Look Dad, You’re the one who bought a Honda instead of a Harley! So ride it by yourself!"
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17 April 09 - 21:50Isn't change wonderful?
Instead of being an uninformed "pain in the ass", why not join me and be an informed "pain in the ass." A while back I pointed out how you could actually go to government websites and determine things such as "creating 2.5 million new jobs" over the next two years will not really cover those entering the job market for the first time and now it is certainly apparent that it will not cover the 10% of Americans out of work that want to get back into the workforce. Now, let's see who pays the taxes and what is reality as our new president does not seem to be overly concerned with being totally truthful when laying
things out to us peasants.
Obama has not really said he wants to "raise taxes" so much as he indicates that people who have more should pay more of "their fair share" of the taxes. The implication is that the burden of taxes is then taken from those who are poorer, who, now unfettered by the burden of unfair taxes can have a better quality of life. Ah, yes, what a great philosophy. Equalize the wealth to make everyone a bit more, what is the word I am looking for, oh yes, . . . average.
Let's see, Bush was a Republican and ran things for the tax years from 2001 through 2008. Let's go to the "National Taxpayers Union" website and see who has been paying taxes during those years. Check this National Taxpayors Union link and notice the following from the Bush years.
Tax year 2000 - $27,682 Average Aggregate Gross Income for the last year of Clinton.
Tax year 2001 - $28,528 Average Aggregate Gross Income for the first year of Bush.
Tax year 2002 - $28,654 Average Aggregate Gross Income for the second year of Bush.
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Tax year 2006 - $31,987 Average Aggregate Gross Income for the sixth year of Bush (end of compilation)
Next
Tax year 2000 - Those below the average AGI for the last year of Clinton paid 4% of the taxes.
Tax year 2001 - Those below the average AGI for the first year of Bush paid about the same.
.
.
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Tax year 2006 - Those below the average AGI for the sixth year of Bush paid 3% of the taxes.
We will look at this site more in the future, but a statistician could say that between 2000 and 2001 the Average Aggregate Income went up while those in the lower 50% paid a share 25% less than the share of taxes paid when Clinton left office. The fact is that 97% of taxes are paid by the upper half of the incomes in the United States.
One last piece of information, those of you that want to mull this over can. The top 10% of incomes in the United States pay 70 percent of the taxes. Of course Obama wants to nick those making over $250,000 for more. Why not, they are paying over half the taxes already.
By the way, veterans, back from the war? Need to get some medical attention? Hurt in combat or just hurting because of combat? Obama thinks things should change for you. He thinks you should pay for your own medical care. No more free ride for you at the VA medical system if Obama gets his way.
Isn't change wonderful?
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17 April 09 - 00:08That sinking feeling...
LISBON, N.D. - Fargo Forum - April 16 2009 - After a hectic day Wednesday in the city of Lisbon, last night “actually was pretty calm,” said Kevin Baumgard, area flood engineer for the city with the Army Corps of Engineers.
Yikes!
I just had a friend of mine ask if I had heard of the flooding in my home town of Lisbon, ND. I had not. I will need to call my family tomorrow and see what is happening. The flood is a record level, about 3 feet more than the record from the late 1990's and about 5 feet higher than anything I ever saw.
Eastern North Dakota towns are familiar with this flooding. It is the result of the hydrology of the area. Water is saved during the winter in the form of snow and is released in the spring in the form of water. My sister in law told me that there was rain last fall that did not fully drain, but captured as ice followed by a snowy winter. Then comes spring! There is the snow melt and very little of it can be absorbed by the saturated ground.
Now the kicker. The Sheyenne River is a tributary of the Red River which runs North. The Sheyenne drains downstream of Fargo but it meanders all over the place in Fargo so they will be having flooding all over again. Also, upstream Sheyenne effects downstream flow on the Red and since the Red River runs North, it is running toward areas in Canada on it's way to Hudson Bay that can still be frozen and not flowing freely. This slows the flow and increases the flooding problem.
Hope everyone is all right, it sounds like the school is being opened as a shelter. Last week my sister in law said the water system had been compromised so I guess they are drinking bottled water or boiling.
Since I predict a few years of global cooing based on sunspot activity the flooding may persist in my home town as the snows follow the lower temperatures. Should be interesting for a while.
Yikes!
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15 April 09 - 23:06Give the Pres a grade...
This site MSNBC Vote Site allows you to grade President Obama in a "school grading" system which means A, B, C, D, F. I voted. Once you vote you get to see the result. I have included the result after I voted below for you to look at.
This is not a scientific survey (as pointed out by MSNBC), but it is interesting to see the result. I have heard the title "Great Divider" given to Obama. It is obvious that nobody thinks he is an average president.
The fact is that this type of division of opinion is exactly what you try to get when you design a survey. (I took a ton of statistics courses years ago.) You want people to be passionate about their answer. There are no wishy washy results here.
By the way, the survey might not be scientific, but it is still highly representative of opinion when this type of data is collected. The data is being collected from people like you and me. Middle to upperclass working people who own computers and know how to use them. It is true that there are possibly a large number of people who might give Obama an "A" that did not vote. You figure out if they are like you or if they are not.
I will tell you right now, I am a conservative, consider myself a critical thinker, and I am constantly at odds with my wife over political issues since she is liberal, doesn't bother to think about politics, because she is a Democrat and that is the party she inherited from her parents in Pennsylvania. Both of our viewpoints are valid in the United States and, indeed, many other countries of the world.
I just wish some of the children of the present could have seen the United States before it was lost. By the time people like me die off there will no longer be a problem, because they children of the present will be wondering the same thing about the children of tomorrow.
Enjoy your life in the best country in the world, and the seven other planets of the solar system. (I can no longer include Pluto, since the demotion from planet status)
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13 April 09 - 06:06The war that never was...
Last week Obama pointed out that we are not at war with Muslims. A stupid statement to say the least. There is an issue with radical Muslim extremists which causes some spillover into the lives of mainstream Muslims I am sure, but we have never been at war with Muslims. I do not respect extremists in any religion because I consider the extremism explanation as a crutch; by that I mean something that gives the extremist an excuse in their to foist themselves on those who are either helpless or surprised by their lack of civility. "God made me do it." Yeh, right.
I also have a problem with what I perceive to be some issues with so called Muslim holy books that I have been told give justification to the extreme Muslims to do their dirty work. Make no mistake, there are organizations that claim to hang their hat on Christianity such as the KKK or radical Christians who attack abortion clinics and personnel. These folks are just as wrong in my opinion, but not a numerous.
I do have one other concern about Obama's statement. Why did he say it? Do Muslims believe we are at war with them or do they believe that they are at war with us? I am always concerned by confused thinking.
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11 April 09 - 18:54Light at the end of the tunnel?
More news.
Obama sees signs of economic progess
WASHINGTON (
Reuters) Apr 11, 2009 - President Barack Obama said on Friday. . . ,"We're starting to see progress. . . . What we're starting to see is glimmers of hope across the economy, . . ."
Let's hope the glimmer of light Mr. Obama sees is not just a train coming toward us.
Later.
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11 April 09 - 06:06Two-Cow Explanation of Political Inclinations
I wish this was a joke, but it is really too true!
A CONSERVATIVE: You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. So what?
A LIBERAL: You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. You feel guilty for being successful. You vote people into office who tax your cows, forcing you to sell one to raise money to pay the tax. The people you voted for then take the tax money and buy a cow and give it to your neighbor. You feel righteous.
A SOCIALIST: You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.
A COMMUNIST: You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. The government seizes both and provides you and your neighbor with milk.
A FASCIST: You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. The government seizes both and sells you and your neighbor the milk.
Easy enough to understand now.....
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10 April 09 - 01:17The great "explainer"?
I am glad that Turkey has accepted Anders Rasmussen (I wrote about him previously in my Wilder Entry which discussed the incident when Grep Wilder published 12 cartoons that offended Muslims all over the place. The fact that they took offense is not the issue, that was a reasonable reaction to the cartoons, however, the official Muslim responses and behaviors as a result were ridiculous (definition of ridiculous means "subject to ridicule").
Muslims all over the place demanded aplologies from Wilder and expected Rasmussen to step in and force a retraction or apology or something. Rasmussen took the side of free speech and refused to take action against Wilder or diminish in any way his right as a Danish citizen to do what he had done.
The vociferous Muslims, at least the ones being sought out by the press (or those Muslims who sought the press) did not understand free speech.
Now the latest...
ANKARA, April 4, 2009 (
Reuters) - Prime Minster Tayyip Erdogan said on
Saturday Turkey had dropped its opposition to appointing Dane Anders
Fogh Rasmussen as the next head of NATO after U.S. President Barack
Obama answered Ankara's "objections"....
I don't know what the hell Obama said, or even why it was his place to step into the affairs of Denmark, but I am realloy scared to find out. I saw where Obama was called the "great divider" and he also seems to me to be "the great appeaser".
For some reason, I don't think Obama and I share all of the same basic principles when we are "hanging out" as Americans in our great country founded on "whatever." Sometimes appeasing involves twisting the truth, and sometimes twisting the truth comes a little to close to lieing for my taste.
Anyway, see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. Hang in there America!
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09 April 09 - 06:06Still waiting for the "Porkulus Package" to kick in
Before traveling off to Europe (where the natives love him) our president indicated that he is satisfied the the "Pillars of Recovery" are in place. No mention of what those pillars may be, but I think they may be in the "porkulous package" passed by the Democrats. I can't remember if there weren't three or so Republicans (maybe one from Pennsylvania, one from Maine, and one from a state near where gay marriage is now the rage). Don't remember for sure.
Anyway, does anybody know what these pillars might be? I hear a lot of talk from Washington (White House as well as the Hill) and they seem to be more of the same hollow phrases. Even though this is the worst recession I have seen in my 58 years, there are similarities with the recession of the 80s. The difference is that Reagon explained how his strategy was designed to end the recession. Really don't know if what he did worked, but it did not involve a trillion dollars in spending.
Let's take a sounding here. Our gross domestic product (GDP, all the money we made and spent in this country in a year) is around $11,000,000,000,000 or 11 quadrillion dollars. We are going to prime this pump with $1,000,000,000 divided by $11,000,000,000,000 as a percent or 0.01% (one onehundredth of 1%). We are throwing a penny after a hundred dollar bill.
Seems sorta like a drop in the bucket.
But I am not an economist. Just a guy with a calculator and a definition of GDP waiting to find out what the "Pillars of Recovery" are supposed to be.
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08 April 09 - 06:06We just like to hang out I guess...
This week Barack Obama spoke for me in Turkey. He was pleased to tell them (and I paraphrase) that the people in the United States are not of a particular religion, we are just a bunch of people that like to hang out together and believe in similar stuff.
Oh, Really!
Aparently Obama was absent from school the days they went over the origins of the United States. Hmmmm, yes, it's coming back to me now. Puritans, Pilgrims, various persecuted Christian groups, mostly from England made the early trips. A lot of Catholic Spaniards, Irish, and Italians saw their way over in the early years of the repubic. There were Chinese, misunderstood at first, but respected for their ethics and hard work. Then there were the Jews, welcomed here, pretty much, at least more than they were elsewhere. Africans were basically imported, and the vast majority of them became strong bible thumping Christians with a strong faith that is unequalled in the standard protestant Christian churches. Even Obama attends a Christian Church.
Our founding fathers were Quakers, Methodists, Presbyterians, and often Masons. The Masons is a fraternal organization that requires belief in God (which God is not specified) to become a member. At the time of George Washington that God was pretty much the Judeo-Christian God. These men borrowed heavily from their Christian background to form a nation of laws, but a nation based on Judeo-Christian beliefs.
So when you hear the president say that we are a bunch of people that like to hang out together with common values and beliefs, remember where they came from. If you see Obama, you might remind him.
Later.
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05 April 09 - 06:06The disease of certain death.......
This is a joke, actually a kind of funny joke.
A man wakes up after some special tests in a private room at the hospital, and the phone by his bed rings.
"This is your doctor," says the voice on the phone. "I can't come into your room right now due to the results back from the lab. I'm sorry to report that you have an extremely contagious deadly disease known as G.A.S.H."
"G.A.S.H?" replies the man. "What in the hell is that?"
"It's a combination of Gonorrhoea, AIDS, SARS, and Herpes," explains the doctor.
"My gosh, Doc!" screams the man in a panic, "what are we going to do?"
"Well, we're going to put you in isolation and give you a strict diet of pizza, pancakes, quesadillas, and pita bread," says the doctor matter of factly.
"Will that cure me?"
"Well, no, not really," says the doctor, "but it's the only food that will fit under the door."
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03 April 09 - 20:29A quick take on "Taken"
I was really taken by the movie "Taken" last weekend.
Quickly, Liam Neeson plays the father of a seventeen year old daughter, Kim, played by Maggie Grace. Neeson's character spent his career as a public servent in one of the secret agencies of the government. He is respected by his peers and demonstrates through the movie how well trained, cunning, smart, fast, motivated and well prepared such a person can be when their only daughter is kidnapped.
When we left the movie Marla made the comment, "that was sure a short movie." The movie was 91 minutes according to the IMDB summary. That is on the short end for a movie, but seemed much faster.
See this one if you get the chance. I liked it.
BTW, most of the movie took place in Paris. Paris, France.
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02 April 09 - 06:06What is propoganda?
Propoganda is something that was very much a word of my youth. It basically means "information", but it extends to mean "directed information" or "information that is intended to sway your thinking".
We are not going to talk about it much now, but it is an inconvenient truth that the basic theory of propoganda is that repetition helps to sell the theme of the information.
Hammer the theme home.
Wasn't it Chicken Little that kept saying, "The sky is warming, the sky is warming."
Better take cover. However, that is only an example of how we hear repeated information and after a while, we believe it is true, whether it is or not. Propoganda does not imply untruth, although it is something that should be suspect. All information should be checked out. Don't take my word for it, look it up!
Later we will discuss or read some discussions of propoganda from others. This is one of those things that fascinates me.
Let's propogate that thought throughout the populace. Make it true! Perception is reality, that is, if you can create a perception in people it becomes their reality. They may not know anything about anything, but they can be led to believe through repetition. Do I need to repeat that?
That is what scares me. Making something true merely by repeating it.
That's how you train a gerbil, isn't it?
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