Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press, or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

This Is Not The Country I Was Born In

Sorry about the lack of postage. I've been both busy as heck and sick as a dog for the last few weeks. Anyway, the workload has dropped off and I'm pretty much back to normal. So, without further ado...

Get a load of this. General Motor's CEO, Rick Wagoner, has been forced to step down at the insistence of the Obama Administration.

Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot?

And I qoute from the article: "A White House official told FOX Business that Wagoner was asked by the Administration to step down as a precondition for the company to continue to get help with its restructuring."

Again, Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot?

The government is dictating orders to a publicly-traded, publicly-owned company. What right do they have to do that? This coming on the heels of Obama insisting that those AIG executives return the bonuses that they had been contractually bound to receive. What right does the government have to do this? Answer: None. And yet they are doing it anyway. In fact, Treasury Secretary Geithner wants to expand his department's power so that it will be able to regulate "non-bank enterprises." What exactly are those? He wouldn't specify, saying only that strict government control-not oversight, but control-is the only way to save the economy.

Government control over business? That's socialism.

It gets worse. A report that was released last week by the Missouri Information Analysis Center says that anyone who is pro-gun, anti-abortion, Christian, knowledgeable about the Constitution, supported independant candidates in the last election, or displays certain historic flags, should be considered part of a right-wing anti-government paramilitary militia. I'm not making this up. You can read the actual report here.

So, in other words, if you display the slightest amout of conservative or libertarian leanings, the MIAC and Missouri Highway Patrol feel that you are a terrorist. I've read reports, which I will try to locate again, that people who have displayed the flags mentioned in the report and who have Ron Paul bumper stickers have actually been arrested in Missouri and charged with possession of anti-government materials.

This is frightening, people. Government taking control of formerly-private and public enterprises. People who disagree with the government and exercising their First Amendment Rights being labeled as terrorists and arrested. A lot of people I know who used to be apathetic about the situation are running scared. One is scared enough that he has actually expressed interest in buying a rifle and stocking up on ammunition, and he used to be one of the most anti-gun people I knew!

Times are changing, people, and changing quickly. This is not the country I was born in anymore. I want that country back. So should you.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Laughed So Hard I Almost Fell Out Of My Chair

Straight from BBC News:

The worst-case scenarios on climate change envisaged by the UN are already being realised, say scientists at an international meeting in Copenhagen.

In a statement outlining their six key messages to political leaders, they say there is an increasing risk of abrupt or irreversible climate shifts.

Even modest temperatures rises will affect millions of people, particularly in the developing world, they warn.

But most tools needed to cut global carbon dioxide emissions already exist.

More than 2,500 researchers and economists attended this meeting designed to update the world on the state of climate research ahead of key political negotiations set for December this year.

New data was presented in Copenhagen on sea level rise, which indicated that the best estimates of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) made two years ago were woefully out of date.

Scientists heard that waters could rise by over a metre across the world with huge impacts for hundreds of millions of people.

There was also new information on how the Amazon rainforest would cope with rising temperatures. A UK Meteorological Office study concluded there would be a 75% loss of tree cover if the world warmed by three degrees for a century. The scientists hope that their conclusions will remove any excuses from the political process.

Dr Katherine Richardson, who chaired the scientific steering committee that organised the conference, said the research presented added new certainty to the IPCC reports.

"We've seen lots more data, we can see where we are, no new surprises, we have a problem."

"Mass migrations"

The meeting was also addressed by Lord Stern, the economist, whose landmark review of the economics of climate change published in 2006 highlighted the severe cost to the world of doing nothing.

He now says the report underestimated the scale of the risks, and the speed at which the planet is warming.

He urged scientists to speak out and tell the politicians what the world would be like if effective measures against global warming were not taken. He said that if the world was to warm by 5C over the next century there would be dramatic consequences for millions of people. Rising seas would make many areas uninhabitable leading to mass migrations and inevitably sparking violent conflict.

"You'd see hundreds of millions people, probably billions of people who would have to move and we know that would cause conflict, so we would see a very extended period of conflict around the world, decades or centuries as hundreds of millions of people move, " said Lord Stern.

"So I think it's very important that we understand the magnitude of the risk we are running."

He said that a new, effective global deal was desperately needed to avoid these dramatic scenarios - and the current global economic slowdown was in some ways a help.

"Action is rather attractive, inaction is inexcusable. It's an opportunity, given that resources will be cheaper now than in the future, now is the time to get the unemployed of Europe working on energy efficiency."

Lord Stern's views were echoed by Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

"Business as usual is dead - green growth is the answer to both our climate and economic problems."

"I hope the whole world will join us and set a two degree goal as an ambition of a climate deal in Copenhagen," said Mr Rasmussen.


You can read the article here.

I laughed out loud when I saw this, almost fell out of my chair too. Why? Because as I sit here typing this, it is 32 degrees outside. 32 degrees. The temperature at which water freezes. In the middle of March. It hasn't been 32 degrees in the middle of March here in years!

The worst-case scenarios for global warming are now being realized. Yeah, right. And I've got a bridge I'd like to sell you.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

A pair of nunchucks, a skateboard, and an idiot. What could go wrong?



Hope his wife isn't planning on having kids...

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Of All the Problems We've Got Right Now...

...and the Attorney General decides that this should be the government's top priority?

Okay, now, please, don't misunderstand me. Voting, to me, is absolutely our most sacred right as Americans. But the VRA being under attack? Come on! The guys who are filing this suit are right. Times have changed. The 1960s was a long, long time ago.

Honestly, this is what really irks me about people like Holder. Someone does something that doesn't fit in with their agenda or political beliefs, and they cry racist. Somebody opposes one of their plans, they are labeled a racist. People vote for their opponent, they are said to have done so because they are racist. I voted against Barack Obama, so according to those people,I must be a racist (nevermind the fact that I would've voted for Conoleezza Rice in a heartbeat).

A few weeks ago, Holder called America a "Nation of Cowards" for not talking about the issue of race. There's a darn good reason for that: every time someone tries to talk about race, people like Holder jump up and shout "Racist!"

You want people to talk about the issue of race, Mr. Holder? You really want people to talk about it? Then put the race card away. Let all voices, not just yours and your friends', be heard. Let the past, and all those who suffered and died for the movement that opened the door for a man like you to rise to the position you now occupy, rest in peace.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Quickie: Anyone Else Noticing a Connection?

The Dow dropped below 7000 today. This is the first time that's happened in over a decade. This coming the same day that the Obama administration announces a plan to buy up debts and bad assets from banks and other companies, as well as investing another $30 billion in AIG.

Maybe it's just me, but has anyone else noticed that every time the Obama administration and/or Congress announces another stimulus package or bailout or something similar, the stock market tanks? Am I the only one seeing a connection here?

Think about it.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Could You Pass The US Citizenship Test?




You Passed the US Citizenship Test



Congratulations - you got 10 out of 10 correct!



I could. How about you?