Is America on the mend?

The blogger at Classical Values thinks so. He cites the fact that we now have a fifty year supply of shale gas, shale oil is set to dramatically rise in production (we now produce 72 percent of our oil needs, up from fifty percent a decade ago), manufacturing in America is on the increase, we have better demographics than any other economic power, and we have the American spirit!
The link: http://classicalvalues.com/2011/10/america-is-on-the-mend/

Around the blogosphere tonight

"Nine of the ten amendments which constitute the Bill of Rights use the words “no”, “nor”, and/or “not”, all preventing the government from depriving individuals of their life, liberty and property."
The link: http://www.gaypatriot.net/2011/10/31/in-increase-in-government-power-necessary-to-achieve-equality/

Herman Cain is interviewed by Greta Van Susteren tonight and tells her that the gesture he made was holding his hand up to his chin, telling a woman she was about the same height as his wife, who comes up to his chin.
The link: http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/cain-details-gesture-led-sex-charge

Remember when Clarence Thomas socked it to Biden and the judiciary committee? It is worth watching again:
found here: http://althouse.blogspot.com/2011/10/high-tech-lynching-herman-cain.html
Update: A commenter at Althouse writes: "I do think that that's significant, that (apparently) the Cain allegations were made around the time that they allegedly occurred. Recall that not only did Ms. Hill sit on her allegations, but she followed Justice Thomas to another job, specifically requesting to work with him, after the alleged events would have occurred."

Do Democrats "own" minorities?

The rightscoop has a video of Rush Limbaugh commenting today on the left's attempt to smear Marco Rubio and Herman Cain. Limbaugh alleges that the left believes they own minorities, and when one rises to the top on his own self-reliance and individual achievements, the left will stop at nothing to win the war.
The video link: http://www.therightscoop.com/rush-on-cain-smear-blacks-and-hispanics-getting-too-uppity/

United States Defunds UNESCO!

Wow! This is big! Go Hillary and Barack! (I never thought I would write that sentence)! Kudos also to Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Chair of the House Foreign Affairs committee, who demanded the action from the Executive Branch. Today the State Department announced that it will not make its scheduled $60 million payment to UNESCO in November, because of its vote to seat Palestine today as a full member. Two US laws prohibit funding. We fund UNESCO to the tune of $80 million per year. We fund the United Nations to the tune of $7.7 billion per year, so this is a start, but just a drop in the bucket.
The link: http://www.therightscoop.com/us-defunds-unesco-over-palestinian-vote/

Sex, liberals' fear of a conservative black man, liberty, and faith.

Here are three videos about Herman Cain. The first is Cain speaking today at The National Press Club, answering the "false" charges that he sexually harassed two women while CEO of The National Restaurant Association. The second is the inimitable Ann Coulter giving her perspective on the allegations. The third is Cain being asked to sing today at the end of his appearance at the National Press Club. He does. He sings about God's amazing grace, how God gave him liberty, and how Jesus looked beyond his faults and saw his need. It brought tears to my eyes, because I so identified with and appreciated his testimony.

"It's not what you have. It's what you're able to give."

The University of Colorado is in its sixth straight losing season. However, one of its players has figured out that "It's not what you have. It's what you're able to give." Brian Lockridge, at age 15, finally gave up on trying to live with his divorced parents, and lived with two other families. The second one emphasized community involvement. Brian began to develop purpose. He currently volunteers playing the piano at Boulder Community Hospital, cooking meals and volunteering with homeless people, and volunteers in Spanish with Spanish-speaking children in an after-school program. The link: http://www.denverpost.com/cu/ci_19202689

Rosen: Bursting the Occupiers bubble

Mike Rosen is a Denver talk radio host who is very knowledgeable about financial matters. He has written a piece for The Denver Post Bursting the Occupiers bubble. Though he surely cannot expect any of the Occupiers to read it, I hope my readers will. It is a comprehensive exploration of the reasons for the 2008 financial meltdown.
the link: http://www.denverpost.com/rosen

Occupy Jupiter!

Dr. Sanity just couldn't resist. She has been taking a break from blogging, but she posted this one, entitled The Universe is soooooo unfair!

"For all those brilliant and virtuous Occupiers out there, remember that the struggle against reality is a bittersweet, neverending battle; but the fight for social justice goes on--even to Infinity and Beyond!"

Her link: http://drsanity.blogspot.com/2011/10/universe-is-sooooooo-unfair.html

Cain facing questions Monday about alleged sexual harassment of two women in the 1990s

Herman Cain will be facing some questions at the National Press Club in Washington tomorrow about a Politico story that two women in the 1990s complained about being sexually harassed by Cain. Politico says both women were paid in "five figures" to leave the National Restaurant Association, where Cain was the CEO, and the agreement called for them not to talk about the alleged incidents.
The Politico story is here: http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=9BF98DF6-86A6-4B3B-BB63-1E4E3AA9FD97

Rocket days

In America children get to stay out of school on snow days. In Israel, children are kept home when Islamic jihadists launch long range rockets from Gaza into Israel.
The link is here: http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/10/islamic-jihad-bombards-southern-israel-with-longer-range-grad-rockets.html

Christian student murdered in a school in Egypt

Did Egyptian Muslims murder a 17-year-old Christian student this month because he was wearing a crucifix? This blog post says that is the case: http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/10/egypt-muslim-students-murder-christian-classmate-for-wearing-a-crucifix.html

Should the anthrax vaccine be tested on children?

This blog explores the issue: http://bluestarchronicles.com/2011/10/24/obama-administration-wants-to-try-anthrax-vaccine-on-our-children/

Prison for freedom of expression in Europe

"European countries are taking political correctness to its most absurd extent. Here is a blog post about a proposed new law in Austria: "It is about extreme toughening of so-called incitement. Anyone who “makes contemptible or attempts to make contemptible” members of a certain group will in future be sentenced to up to two years in prison.

Thus, crimes purely of opinion are punished with prison, as in a dictatorship, even if the things expressed are the absolute truth.

And so, completely indeterminate terms like “make contemptible” are entered into the criminal code as crimes.

This damages the principle of equal treatment, since one may continue to make many groups contemptible, because they are not listed. It is permitted to make contemptible, for instance, entrepreneurs, farmers, priests, the rich, aristocrats, students, families, capitalists, Rotarians, fraternities, teachers, or Freemasons, but not groups defined by race, skin color, language, religion (including the most obscure sects), philosophy, citizenship, ancestry, national or ethnic origin, gender, handicap, age, or sexual orientation (camouflage word for homosexual).
Found here: http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2011/10/end-of-freedom-of-expression-in-europe.html

George Will attacks Romney

George Will is getting a lot of publicity for writing a scathing column attacking Mitt Romney as a "recidivist reviser of his principles, waffler, straddler, and seeming to lack the courage of the absence of his convictions." "A straddle is not a political philosophy; it is what you do when you do not have one." "Who expects difficult reforms from Romney, whose twists on ethanol make a policy pretzel?"
Will's whole column is here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/mitt-romney-the-pretzel-candidate/2011/10/28/gIQAPEQ8PM_story.html
Here is one analysis of Will's assertions: http://patterico.com/2011/10/29/is-george-will-right-about-mitt-romney/

Cain deflects the name-calling

Herman Cain deflects the nasty name-calling being flung at him by the heroes of the left.

Which one is your favorite?

Some recent jokes from late night t.v. comedians:

“The New York Times reports that Moammar Gadhafi spent his last days hovering between defiance and delusion, surviving on rice and pasta. In other words, Gadhafi spent his last days as a sophomore in college. That’s what I did.” –Conan O’Brien

“A bank in Washington was robbed by two men in George W. Bush masks. Luckily, right afterwards two guys in President Obama masks came and bailed the bank out, so everything is fine.” –Conan O’Brien

“President Obama was back in Los Angeles today, where he will appear on the ‘Tonight Show’ with Jay Leno, to highlight the one job that was saved during his administration.” –Conan O’Brien

“It seemed that after he was killed, Gadhafi’s body was stored at a commercial freezer at a shopping mall. It’s one thing to hunt a guy down and shoot him twice in the head, but then to drag him to the mall? Come on, guys hate that.” –Jay Leno

“The guy who killed Gadhafi was wearing a New York Yankees cap at the time. So, for at least one Yankees fan, it turned out to be a pretty good October.” –Jay Leno

“Yesterday on CNN, Joe Biden said he hasn’t made up his mind about whether he’ll run for president in 2016. Which raises the question: ‘Who was raising that question?’” –Jimmy Fallon
Lifted from the Flopping Aces blog: http://floppingaces.net/2011/10/30/sunday-funnies-159/

The latest on global warming

Flopping Aces blog quotes a co-author of the latest global warming study:

Prof Judith Curry, who chairs the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at America’s prestigious Georgia Institute of Technology, said that Prof Muller’s claim that he has proven global warming sceptics wrong was also a ‘huge mistake’, with no scientific basis.

…She said this affair had to be compared to the notorious ‘Climategate’ scandal two years ago.

Like the scientists exposed then by leaked emails from East Anglia University’s Climatic Research Unit, her colleagues from the BEST project seem to be trying to ‘hide the decline’ in rates of global warming.

In fact, Prof Curry said, the project’s research data show there has been no increase in world temperatures since the end of the Nineties – a fact confirmed by a new analysis that The Mail on Sunday has obtained.

http://floppingaces.net/2011/10/30/global-warming-study-claims-there-is-warming-or-does-it-co-author-refutes-conclusion/

Tebow mocked for praying

A Detroit Lions player does a mock prayer after tackling Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow, who is a dynamic, Christian young man. I won't play it here, but you can see the video here: http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/Tim-Tebow-mocked-as-Detroit-Lions-defeat-Denver-Broncos-103011
By the way, if you want to see great satire of sports t.v. commentators, go to The Onion. They have a couple of guys who are actually funny, and they also did a Tebow video, which did not mock his religion.

Bad idea

It is not a good idea to try to push a Colorado cop off his motorcycle, as this Occupy Denver thug found out yesterday.
Found here: http://tv.breitbart.com/occupydenver-thugs-knock-motorcycle-cop-to-ground/

I'm confused: aren't the Saudis friends? Where's Obama?

A member of the Saudi royal family has offered $900,000 and a prominent Islamic cleric $100,000 to anyone who captures an Israeli soldier. They want to be able to free more terrorists, like the one thousand they got back when Hamas recently freed one Israeli soldier. Any word from Obama?
One link: http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2011/10/savage-saudi-prince-pledges-900000-to-jihadi-who-kidnaps-israeli-soldier.html
Another link: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/saudi-royal-offers-900-000-reward-for-capture-of-israeli-soldiers-1.392666

"Workshops" and "support"

Two concepts that earn scorn from writer Steven Pressfield are "workshops" and "support." He asks, "What better way of avoiding work than going to a workshop?" "They ought to give out PhDs in resistance!"

He adds that getting "support" from friends and family is "nice, but when the ship sails all they can do is stand on the dock waiving goodbye!" "The more energy we expend seeking support from friends and loved ones, the weaker we become, and the less capable we become at handling our business!"

from The War of Art

Don't give up!

From The Onion:

WASHINGTON—Overwhelmed by the frustration of being utterly unable to solve any of the numerous difficult problems it faces, a worn-out nation finally broke down Thursday morning and begged its smart people to please just fix everything now.

Of course, as usual with The Onion (regrettably), there is some unfortunate language.
Read the whole thing here: http://www.theonion.com/articles/nation-finally-breaks-down-and-begs-its-smart-peop,26450/

Humanism versus fundamentalism: Individual freedom versus having a fixed role in a group

Steven Pressfield tackles some controversial subjects in The War of Art. One is humanism versus fundamentalism. He is on the side of humanism. He says humanists look forward, co-creating the world with God, while fundamentalists look backward, studying their sacred texts, in "inverted creativity." The fundamentalist is consumed with Satan and the temptation to sin. I wonder if there is not a third alternative to humanism and fundamentalism, though I don't know what it would be called.

Another topic Pressfield tackles is individual freedom versus the lack of freedom involved in being a member of a tribe or clan. He writes that we are programmed, because of hundreds of years of evolution, to be members of tribes or clans. The individual has been emasculated and dislocated. We know how to function in the tribe or clan, but we do not know how to function as autonomous, free individuals. He says the artist has a core of self-confidence. Do you have that? He quotes someone who says we are free only to the extent of our self-mastery. Are we ready for freedom? Do you know who you are? Do you know why you are here?

"BOB"

Please watch all the way through the credits. It is the story of my life.

BOB from Jacob Frey on Vimeo.

found at the Poor Farm, where there is very good analysis of the Fast and Furious scandal, which may become the Watergate of our time (though no one was killed in Watergate).
The link: http://crazedpw.blogspot.com/

The War of Art

Steven Pressfield wrote a short, but powerful book in 2002 called The War of Art. No, that's not a typing error: it is not

The Art of War,

it is The War of Art. It is about overcoming the blockages that keep us from honoring the gifts God has given us.

The book is divided into three parts. The first part is all about the many manifestations of "resistance," the word Pressfield uses to define our enemy, the negative forces that keep us from realizing our unique God-given gifts: self-sabotage, self-deception, self-corruption, and many more.

The second part is about developing a battle plan; what Pressfield calls "turning pro:" committing to the task, discipline, patience, endurance, acting in the face of fear and failure.

The third part is achieving victory: connecting with the Divine source of our talent.

I will write more about this book, after I re-read it and decide what his most unique and relevant ideas were for me. I want to honor the gifts God has given me, but most of the time I am my own worst enemy.

"Obama lectures, talks down to, insults; while preaching unity, civility, and tolerance"

Victor Davis Hanson notes that while calling for civility, President Obama has been regularly demonizing people.

"Lecturing, demonizing, and caricaturing are not just symptoms of narcissism or being socially dense, but are also a revelation that Obama feels that he can say almost anything he wants, with the expectation — always borne out in the past — of few consequences."

To see a partial list of Obama's targets, go here: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/281286/obama-s-target-list-victor-davis-hanson?pg=1

"Regulatory Capture"

The Washington Post reports that

"Despite frosty relations with the titans of Wall Street, President Obama has still managed to raise far more money this year from the financial and banking sector than Mitt Romney or any other Republican presidential candidate, according to new fundraising data."

TigerHawk, who works on Wall Street, thinks he knows why: "regulatory capture." He writes:

At this point, Wall Streeters really do not like Barack Obama. It has been a long time since I have met one who still actually supports him. But the extent of the pain of Dodd-Frank depends on regulations that have yet to be written by executive branch agencies that report to the White House. The big financial firms know that their future profitability requires that President Obama influence those regulations, and he is exploiting that for all it is worth.

This, loyal readers, is "regulatory capture" in action.

The TigerHawk link: http://tigerhawk.blogspot.com/

The WaPo link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-has-more-cash-from-financial-sector-than-gop-hopefuls-combined-data-show/2011/10/18/gIQAX4rAyL_story.html?hpid=z1

Libya: "The Islamists have won."

Andrew McCarthy writes in the National Review about "Our Libyan Adventure."

"When the Islamists finally began seizing territory, which they could not have done without NATO, they raided weapons depots. In Qaddafi’s Libya, his regime controlled the materiel; once the “rebels” swept in, weapons started going out — to other Islamists, like al-Qaeda in Northwest Africa and Hamas in Gaza.

And now that the Islamists have won, the first order of business, naturally, was to install sharia — Islam’s politico-legal framework that oppresses non-Muslims, women, homosexuals, and apostates. To install sharia, by the way, is the reason jihadists engage in violence — it is the prerequisite for Islamizing a society. On Sunday, before a crowd still giddy over Qaddafi’s murder, Transitional National Council leader Mustafa Abdul-Jalil proclaimed, “This revolution was looked after by Allah to achieve victory.” Allah will thus be honored, he elaborated, by making sharia the “basic source” of Libyan law. Polygamy for men has already been reestablished, and lenders have been banned from collecting interest on loans. Happy democracy!"

The link to the McCarthy article: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/print/281414

How did this history get so twisted?

Neo neocon refers her readers to Wikipedia for some history of the Republican Party. Then she decides to take on Joy Behar:

"And then there's Joy Behar, who notes that "the Republican Party hasn’t been black friendly over the many centuries in this country." It would be hard to find a more Orwellian comment anywhere, and if Behar isn't even aware of the actual history of the Republican Party and its noble fight against slavery and racism, than we can add abysmal ignorance to her resume.

For those of you who, like Behar, may have slept through the entire American history curriculum, here's a teeny introduction:

Founded in Northern States in 1854 by anti-slavery activists, modernizers, ex-Whigs and ex-Free Soilers, the Republican Party quickly became the principal opposition to the dominant Democratic Party and the briefly popular Know Nothing Party. The main cause was opposition to the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise by which slavery was kept out of Kansas. The Republicans saw the expansion of slavery as a great evil.

But perhaps Behar knows all that, to give her the benefit of a doubt she doesn't probably deserve. And perhaps this is her reasoning, somewhat akin to Finney's twistings: the Democrats in the South who were actually the racists for lo nigh those "many centuries" were really closet Republicans, and the Republicans were really closet Democrats."

The link to neo neocon: http://neoneocon.com/2011/10/29/the-lefts-view-of-the-racist-right-and-the-problem-of-herman-cain/
The Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_%28United_States%29

Shivering Occupiers

The weather forecast for this weekend calls for cold temperatures and snow in New York. Andy at Ace of Spades predicts it will not be long before #OccupyWallStreet becomes #reOccupyMomsBasement. He also thinks some faith in Global Warming™ is about to be tested.
http://ace.mu.nu./

One major blogger not yet persuaded (but, Cain is POPULAR)

Ace of Spades on the dearth of tangible reasons to support Herman Cain:

I don't remember Cain saying a single thing I noted as interesting or persuasive. Not a single statement I'd call quotable. I can't remember anything he's said, except he said it in a folksy and/or angry manner.

It's possible that I'm wrong on this, and just missed it.

On the other hand, it's possible that the point of my challenge is correct, and those supporting Cain will have difficulty coming up with any tangible reason to support him.

One of us is wrong, I think. So let's figure out who.

It is quite possible, as I said, I'm wrong. Maybe I missed all this great conservative stuff Cain was saying. It's completely possible.

ace.mu.nu.

His "place:" the White House!

This video below is the kind of crap MSNBC specializes in. The "place" Herman Cain knows he is qualified to occupy is the White House! Here is Ace of Spades:

Here's a very odd bit of "analysis." The black man we're talking about has been director of a Federal Reserve Bank, a CEO, and now aspires to be President.

That's the "place" he knows he's supposed to be in? He's internalized racism so much, his ego has been so reduced by white racism, his sense of self-worth so diminished, that he now sees himself as the President of the United States of America?

Black men who "know their place" in our society know that place to be Commander in Chief?

to read more of Ace: http://ace.mu.nu./

Staying ahead of terrorist tactics

Have you heard of Israel's Iron Dome program to intercept rockets being fired at Israel? It seems to be effective: http://strategypage.com/htmw/htada/articles/20111027.aspx

Taxing and soothing

I really enjoy the writing style at IMAO. Here are Frank J.'s comments about proposed tax changes: "Rick Perry has now come up with a bold new tax plan filled with bold tax flavors. Instead of 9-9-9, we have 20/20 which is a 20% flat tax on income and a 20% corporate tax. Of course, those add up to 40, while Cain’s plan only adds up to 27… if that’s how you judge these things. I have no idea.

I do like the filing taxes on a postcard idea. That should stimulate the economy, though at the same time there will be a ton of job losses with IRS agents, tax accountants, and people who make income tax related software. Growing pains I guess.

Mitt Romney has offered no new tax plan — those are scary — but he will try and soothe the economy with his confident, presidential looking smile."

Found here: http://www.imao.us/index.php/2011/10/nuke-the-news-2020-vs-9-9-9-not-waiting-and-what-nasa-is-up-to/

Horrors: We may be in for a new era of self-reliance!

President Obama in San Francisco:

Here's ABC News, reporting on the speech the president gave in Fog City: "At a million-dollar San Francisco fundraiser today, President Obama warned his recession-battered supporters that if he loses the 2012 election it could herald a new, painful era of self-reliance in America."

Read the whole thing here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203687504577000010887443168.html?mod=djemBestOfTheWeb_h

The RadicAlphabet

found this on the wonderful IMAO blog: http://www.imao.us/index.php/2011/10/imao-reader-theater-the-radicalphabet/

Lobbyists are raising millions for Obama

Lobbyists are some of Obama's best friends, according to the New York Times. Read the whole thing here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/28/us/politics/obama-bundlers-have-ties-to-lobbying.html?_r=1

Analyzing Obama's decision to leave Iraq

Michael Totten analyzes Obama's decision to leave Iraq. "Iraq today is less violent than Mexico, one of the most heavily touristed countries in the world."
Read the whole thing here: http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/96703/iraq-withdrawal-victory-iran-surge?page=0%2C1

Headline grabbing with good intentions

I believe that Obama thinks (rightly?) that most Americans fall in one of two groups: uninformed, or getting what information they do have from his friends in the media. Accordingly, he has become expert, aided by media cheerleaders, in manipulating the headlines and top news stories. It is not crucial to him whether or not his proposals have any chance of becoming legislation. What matters is that the people hearing the news come to believe that he is on their side and trying hard to come up with good ideas. I wonder if he has a full time group of people in the White House who brainstorm ways to grab headlines. Daily we read, or see, or hear him coming up with more good intentions. He is going to be a formidable opponent.

Here's one vote for Jon Huntsman's daughters!

A very nice spoof on Herman Cain's campaign manager's video blowing smoke into the camera.

Ayres and Obama: a falling out?

Fast-talking, hand wringing and waving radical leftist professor Bill Ayres is invited to do a teach-in with members of Occupy Chicago. The interesting part to me comes at the end of the video, where Ayres talks about Obama using drones to kill poor helpless terrorists, one of whom was an American citizen. Looks like Ayres and Obama are no longer buddies.

Rumsfeld's friends and enemies

Recently I met a young man (at least he was considerably younger than I) who wore a cap saying he was a retired veteran. I thanked him for his service and told him I have been reading Rumsfeld's Known and Unknown. He immediately rolled his eyes. I asked him what specifically he didn't like about Rumsfeld. Rather than give me a specific, he said things like, "If his lips are moving, you know he is lying." I pressed him further for one specific. He grudgingly admitted Rumsfeld was a good fiscal manager, but "too political, and not enough of a vigorous advocate for the welfare of the troops."

I suggested to the man that he might want to read Rumsfeld's book. He said he had already read it twice. I doubted the veracity of that claim, because if he had read it, he would surely know that there are no people in the world Rumsfeld admires and appreciates more than the people who volunteer to be in the U.S. military. It always takes me aback when I encounter a military or ex-military person who is a lefty.

A man of action, like Rumsfeld, is going to have enemies. It is clear, though, that Rumsfeld kept excellent records of his stands on every conceivable issue of controversy. Known for sending memos with the frequency of "snowflakes," Rumsfeld documented everything. People whom he respected and appreciated included Bush and Cheney, several generals and diplomats, Presidents Jerry Ford, Ronald Reagan, and Harry Truman. One who was absolutely not respected by Rumsfeld was Senator John McCain. Though he respected them, Colin Powell and Condi Rice were not among those who came in for much praise in the book.

Rumsfeld on "Gitmo"

Everyone (well, all bloggers, anyway) has heard about "Gitmo," the Department of Defense's prison for the most dangerous terrorists at Guantanomo Bay, Cuba. You hear the words Gitmo or Guantanamo, and you think "waterboarding," right? How many people do you think were waterboarded there? Two? Forty? Two hundred? The correct answer would be zero! Our military never received permission from Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to waterboard anyone, he writes in his book Known and Unknown. In his book he gives a vigorous and completely persuasive defense of Gitmo.

President George W. Bush, a man whom Rumsfeld describes as a man of convictions, who also had the fortitude to stick by his convictions, was under seige by the media, Senators Clinton, Kerry, Durbin, Obama, and others of their ilk throughout his presidency. Remember the New York Times discounted ad on "General Betrayus?" Obama promised to close Gitmo on the first day of his presidency. It remains open nearly three years later. However, it served Obama's purpose of creating a bogeyman for him to rail against, just like he has been railing against bankers and people who fly corporate jets (to attend fundraisers for Obama). Scapegoating others is a magnificent tactic to keep people from looking at your own performance.

Creating special privileges in the name of equal rights

Thomas Sowell says it is all about whose ox is being gored; that is, special privileges go to those groups who are in vogue at the moment:

Women can say anything they want to men, or blacks to whites, with impunity. But strong words in the other direction can bring down on students the wrath of the campus thought police — as well as punishments that can extend to suspension or expulsion.

Read the whole thing here: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/281153/media-and-bullying-thomas-sowell

Jindal wins re-election in Louisiana

Did you even know Louisiana was having an election? Jindal won 66% to 18%!

Read about it here: http://sweetness-light.com/archive/jindal-wins-louisiana-re-election-66-18

Can we have honest debate in America?

Juan Williams writes:

Americans across all political, social and racial lines tell me they resent this political straitjacket. They know that if they speak their mind, admit their fears, hopes, feelings, they risk being told they are not a good Republican or not a good Democrat. They fear being told they are not a good Christian for their views on abortion; not a good Jew for their views on Israel; not a good black man if they question President Obama; not a good Muslim if they condemn Islamic terrorism without any qualification. At every turn, people fear being told they are lacking in principle for simply avoiding political boxes and opening themselves to listen to the other side of an issue and engage in honest debate.

People are fed up with pledges that enforce far right or far left orthodoxy and being told they lack a spine when they listen to the other side of an argument or call for a political compromise to reach a solution.

Read the whole thing here: http://thehill.com/opinion/columnists/juan-williams/189265-opinion-lessons-learned

Perry announces his 20% flat tax

Jim Hoft posts tonight about Rick Perry's 20% flat tax proposal. This is getting interesting! The details are here: http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2011/10/governor-rick-perry-unveils-20-flat-tax-plan/

Swing Vote

Tonight, after a day of kids jumping on trampolines and swinging on ropes, I watched a movie with the kids. That's something I haven't done in a very long time. I watch The Simpsons with them, but that's about it. Tonight's movie starred Kevin Costner in The Swing Vote. I enjoyed it right up until the ending. A Presidential election (Kelsey Grammer as the Republican, and Dennis Hopper as the Democrat) comes down to one vote in Texxico, New Mexico. Kevin Costner is an alcoholic man who gets to cast the deciding vote. Both presidential candidates get real as the movie comes to the climax. Costner finally behaves in a way that gives his parentified daughter something for her to be proud of him.

That explains it!

found at The House of Zathras: http://www.houseofzathras.com/?p=5355

Humility in understanding the mind of God

Ya think? Peter Wehner wonders if it isn't time for Rick Perry and his wife to exercise a bit of humility.
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/10/14/perry-burning-bush-fait/

Why?

Usually I lay the morning newspapers on the "island" in the kitchen. The kids quickly go right to the comics section, and do not comment on any of the headlines. Today was different. First, Jon yelled, "What? Obama is bringing home all the troops from Iraq! Why is he doing that?" Later, Greg discovered the same headline and asked "Why? Is he surrendering to the terrorists?"

I told the boys it is always hard to know for sure why Obama is doing something, because we have learned that what he says and what he does are two different things. I told them I thought it might have something to do with Obama wanting to be reelected next November. The people who voted for him in 2008 liked it when he promised to end our involvement in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and now it will appear to those voters that he is following through on his promises.

In his book Known and Unknown Donald Rumsfeld points out that he thought America should have emphasized that the war was about freedom and liberation from the thug rule of Saddaam Hussein. Instead, Bush emphasized building democracy. Rumsfeld points out that in America women did not even get the right to vote until well into the twentieth century, and blacks were denied full guarantee of voting rights until 1964, not to mention enduring a long history of slavery, which was only abolished after a bloody civil war that saw hundreds of thousand of Americans killed. Iraq, according to Barack Obama, goes back to the "cradle of civilization," with no history of implementing democracy.

In the minds of boys, however, terrorists are to be fought and defeated. No ifs, ands, or buts.

Appropriate hiding places

Khadaffy being found and then pulled out of this sewer pipe seems appropriate, doesn't it? Remember when Saddaam Hussein was found in a "spider" hole? Rumsfeld told Bush in a phone call that he was pretty sure they got him, and not one of his body doubles, when they also found $750,000 in American currency on him!

Oops!

found here: http://www.theospark.net/search?updated-max=2011-10-19T20%3A15%3A00%2B01%3A00&max-results=35

Hope!

Enjoy this young homeschooled student reciting the Presidents and even doing some presidential math!

Keep Cool With Coolidge And Garrett from sippican cottage on Vimeo.

found at the American Digest blog: http://americandigest.org/mt-archives/grace_notes/something_wonderful_this_1.php

"Everyone's son!"

The Denver Post is reporting today, in a story written by Washington Post reporter Ernesto Londono, that Israel gave back to Hamas 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, who had been living in solitary confinement in a dark pit for five years. The response of Hamas? "A spokesman for the Hamas military arm suggested that the group would continue to seek opportunities to kidnap Israeli soldiers."

Well, Duh! Why a one-to-one-thousand ratio? Why give such a resounding victory to Hamas? Why put at risk other Israeli soldiers? I am going to read some blog posts, and will update this post if I learn anything.
The link: http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_19143692

Update: Barry Rubin links to this powerful piece by Yassi Klein Halevi:

What would you do, campaign activists challenged opponents, if he were your son? “He’s everyone’s son,” sang rocker Aviv Gefen. One day I passed a rally for Gilad in a park in downtown Jerusalem. Several counter-demonstrators were holding signs opposing surrender to terrorism. “I happen to agree with you,” I said to one of them. “But don’t you feel uneasy protesting against the Shalit family?”

“We’re not protesting against the Shalit family,” he replied. “We’re protesting to save future victims of freed terrorists. Those victims don’t have names yet. But they could be my son or your son.”

Every debate over Gilad ended at the same point: your son. And so I tried, too, not to think of Gilad’s extraordinary parents, Noam and Aviva. Even when denouncing the government they spoke quietly, incapable of indignity. The best of Israel, as we say here, reminding ourselves that the best of Israel is the best of anywhere.

For more than a year the Shalits have lived in a tent near the prime minister’s office. When I walked nearby I would avoid the protest encampment, ashamed to be opposing the campaign. This past Israeli Independence Day, though, I saw a crowd gathered around the tent, and wandered over. “GILAD IS STILL ALIVE,” banners reminded: It’s not too late to save him. Inside the tent, Noam and Aviva were sitting with family and friends, singing the old Zionist songs. I wanted to shake Noam’s hand, tell him to be strong, but I resisted the urge. I didn’t deserve the privilege of comforting him.

I wanted to tell Noam what we shared. As it happens, my son served in the same tank unit as Gilad, two years after he was kidnapped. I wanted to tell Noam that that was the real reason I couldn’t bear thinking about his family. That in opposing the mass release of terrorists for Gilad, it was my son I was betraying.

The Arab world’s challenge is to shift from a culture that sanctifies honor to a culture that sanctifies dignity. Honor is about pride; dignity is about human value. Hamas may have upheld its honor; but Israel affirmed the dignity of a solitary human life.

How is it possible, Israelis ask themselves, that so-called progressives around the world champion Hamas and Hezbollah against the Jewish state? Perhaps it’s because we’re too complicated, too messy: a democracy that is also an occupier, a consumerist society living under a permanent death sentence. Perhaps those pure progressives fear a contagion of Israeli ambivalence.

For all my anxieties about the deal, I feel no ambivalence at this moment, only gratitude and relief. Gratitude that I live in a country whose hard leaders cannot resist the emotional pressure of a soldier’s parents. And relief that I no longer have to choose between the well-being of my country and the well-being of my son.

The link: http://www.tabletmag.com/news-and-politics/80719/everyone%E2%80%99s-son/

Update two: I have another question. If Jews understand this action to save "everyone's son," then why do they not understand that the same God, whom they worship, gave His Son for the salvation of everyone who repents of sin, believes in Him, and asks for His forgiveness?

Lip reading so the protesters can understand

I don't know who needs to get a life more, this lip reader, or I! He made me laugh, so I'm posting this. Now I want to see one on Obama. (Actually, there is one, but it is even less appropriate than the Romney one, so I won't post it here.)

It is this blog's fault that I saw this: http://jadedhaven.wordpress.com/2011/10/17/mitt-romney-stuff-the-ice-chest/

Here's a blogger who thinks the OW protesters in New York are great!

On the other hand, the blogger at The Burning Platform thinks the OW people in New York City are just great! Read his posts here: http://www.theburningplatform.com/

F.B.I. funds contract to monitor talk radio on the internet

The community organizing going on among leftists is right down the alley of the Moonbattery blog. He won't miss anything:

When leftists take over the government, every aspect of it becomes a tool to promote leftism. For example, the FBI is now devoting energy to recording what is said on the conservative bastion talk radio:

If you call a radio talk show and get on the air, you might be recorded by the FBI.

The FBI has awarded a $524,927 contract to a Virginia company to record as much radio news and talk programming as it can find on the Internet.

Needless to say they won’t be listening in on PBS. There’s no need for Big Government to record itself.

The link: http://moonbattery.com/

Biden's son, Bloomberg's live-in girlfriend, George Soros: who could be more appropriate hosts for the Occupiers?

The OW group (Occupy Whatever?) in New York is being hosted by the crony capitalists they think they oppose. The blogger at Moonbattery has all the details:

Ground Zero for the alarming communist show of force currently calling itself Occupy Wall Street is Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan. As noted previously, this park is owned by Brookfield Office Properties, whose parent company Brookfield Asset Management received a $135 million “green energy” loan of the crony capitalist Solyndra variety from the Obama Administration. Now it turns out that Joe Biden’s lobbyist son was involved in brokering this apparent payoff.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Brookfield is a preferred stock of none other than Obama backer and far left financier George Soros.

New York’s Mayor for Life Michael Bloomberg has deliberately allowed the situation to fester rather than attempting to maintain law and order, obviously as a result of this billionaire Bolshevik’s leftist political inclinations. Lo and behold, his live-in girlfriend sits on the board of Brookfield Properties.

The link: http://moonbattery.com/?p=3382

A free man

Alphozo Rachel says what he, and I hope many others believe. Does Herman Cain have to "put chains on his brain?"


Found here: http://thecampofthesaints.org/2011/10/14/the-righteous-rant-of-the-day-its-time-to-put-the-chains-on-your-brain-mr-cain/

"not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God"

Smitty at The Other McCain blog give us four suggestions about how to react to what he sees as the death throes of Progressivism:
1. Avoid being drawn solely into the moment.
2. Don't lose sight of compassion.
3. Don't expect it to end soon.
4. Yawn at appeals to foolish authority.

The link to the flesh of his insights is here: http://theothermccain.com/2011/10/17/they-truly-hate-liberty/

Smitty also links to a blog where I found this video of JFK saying that "the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God." That blog is here: http://markinspokane.blogspot.com/2011/10/sad-state-of-conservative.html

Here is one of the paragraphs at today's post at the blog Ordered Liberty:

Without that understanding, it becomes very hard not to fall into tyranny. Virtually every modern society that has abandoned that premise has eventually moved away from the notion of individual rights and toward the twin notions of social engineering and government control. Freedom for its own sake is license. Freedom bounded by custom & tradition grounded in the Judeo-Christian experience & the concept of the rule of law is ordered liberty. And ordered liberty is the only kind of freedom that doesn't eventually degenerate into tyranny or chaos.

Now that's my kind of evil corporation!

An evil corporation may be evicting the Ground Zero Mosque. Maggie's Notebook blog, quoting Newsmax and the New York Post, tells us that Con Edison raised the rent of a substation on the property from $2,750 to $47,437 per month, and threatened eviction if the back rent of $1.7 million was not paid by October 4. A Judge has issued an order preventing the utility company from ending the lease before a November 17th hearing.

Link to Maggie's Notebook is here: http://www.maggiesnotebook.com/2011/10/ground-zero-mosque-evicted-maybe-gzm-owes-1-7m-back-rent/

Some occupiers also have more comfortable residences elsewhere.

If you click on the image you might see someone who also has a home at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Just sayin'.

All the cleverness of this image belongs to this blog: http://www.thelookingspoon.com/index.php/2831-wheres-waldo-obama-at-occupy-wall-street

Is that clear?

You knew the cartoons would soon be forthcoming.

I found this one here: http://www.brutallyhonest.org/brutally_honest/2011/10/all-we-are-saying.html

We haven't yet played all our "sanction" cards against Iran?

My blogging friend Innominatus goes right to the point on Iran:

So Iran tried to arrange a hit on the Saudi and Israeli ambassadors. And our response is... wait for it... More sanctions. What? We're still holding sanction cards we haven't played yet? Iran has been building nukes, threatening their neighbors, funding the Hezbos, stirring up the Shiite insurgency in Iraq (which got a bunch of our troops DEAD), ridin' around on motorcycles killin' their own people, yadda yadda. And we haven't hit 'em with every single stinkin' sanction imaginable? How much must a country misbehave before we go "all in" on sanctions?

The link: http://innominatus87.blogspot.com/2011/10/midweek-miscellaneous-musings.html

Timeless sex appeal

One of the blogosphere's best satirists is Manhatten Infidel. In his latest post he ranks the top five sexiest mass murderers ever. Che, of course, comes out on top. You might be surprised to find out who comes in at number three.

Che’s ever present image on t-shirts is testament to his timeless sex appeal. Women frequently squeal at just the mention of his name. “His vacant stare, the scraggly beard, the ruthlessness, his obstinate, narrow and dogmatic views, his willingness to kill at the drop of a hat - he reminds me of Al Gore” said a woman.

The link: http://manhattaninfidel.com/2011/10/17/che-voted-sexiest-mass-murderer-ever/

A suggestion for the Cain campaign

David Foster writes a brief but cogent post at Chicago Boyz comparing Obama the blamer with Cain the problem-solver, and he hopes that Cain will emphasize those differences as he campaigns.

The poisonous nature of so much of today’s political discourse is in large part due to the climate of blame-casting encouraged by Barack Obama. Given any difficult situation whatsoever, it is clear that Obama’s primary instinct is to use it as an opportunity to demonize a selected group. The man has remarkably little interest in problem-solving. Despite his faux reputation as an intellectual, there is nothing of the scholar or analyst in him. It’s all about speech-making…”the use of his vocal chords is to him inseparable from thinking, as Freud and Bullitt wrote about Woodrow Wilson…and the speeches, especially these days, are usually mainly about an attack on a targeted group.

A strong contrast is offered by presidential candidate Herman Cain..a man who has lived in an environment of problem-solving….ballistics problems for the US Navy, programming problems while getting his CS degree, marketing and production and management problems at the pizza company. You can’t solve trajectories or write code or make and sell pizzas by seeking out someone to blame.

The link: http://chicagoboyz.net/archives/25351.html

A Compassionate President

Not long after 9-11-2001 President Bush asked Don Rumsfeld to come to the White House for a rare meeting just between the two of them. After talking about defense issues, the President asked Rumsfeld how his son Nick was doing. Nick had been battling addiction problems. Don was unable to speak, the emotions choking up on him. The President got up out of his chair and came over and put his arm around him. Rumsfeld's close friend Dick Cheney had told the President about the suffering Don and his wife Joyce had been enduring over their beloved son's struggles.

from Rumsfeld's book Known and Unknown

Report them to the government!

Blogger Doug Ross has filled out a report of an environmental violation to the EPA on the Occupy Wall Street protesters..

For his full report go here: http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2011/10/reporting-occupywallstreet-toxic-dump.html

God Bless America!

Ever since watching a video recently on Ann Althouse's blog, I have been singing God Bless America every day. Kate Smith's version is surely the best. What I saw on Althouse, however, was one of the Phelps gang from Westboro Baptist Church singing God Hates America, Land of the Fags! Have you seen that? It is utterly repulsive. Let's watch and listen to Kate Smith. And, yes, there is a minor actor named Ronald Reagan in this video.
I found the video here: http://www.israpundit.com/archives/31462?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4d078e57bb39ba8d%2c

Bullies

October is National Bullying Prevention month. Eleven-year-old son Jon, ten-year-old son Greg, and seven-year-old daughter Sara have all been victims of bullying at their new school in New Mexico. Unfortunately, the bullies in each instance have been "Mexicans," so some prejudice is developing. My strategy is to get each child to realize that the children who have been friendliest to them have also been "Mexicans."

A Denver Post article claims that bullying is the most common form of violence in the United States. Colorado has spent $9 million on a three-year "Bullying Prevention Initiative," which reviewers say has reduced bullying by about ten percent. A grant to a Shakespeare touring group has been popular with students, who, in discussions after performances of Twelfth Night identify and discuss bullying that is portrayed in the play.

Here is a link to the Denver Post article: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_19118336?source=rss

9-11 2001 Part Three: The nation gears up for war

On September 14, 2001 President Bush asked Rumsfeld to open the cabinet meeting with a prayer. Not one to wear his religion on his "sleeve," Rumsfeld did open the meeting with a prayer. That prayer can be found in his book Known and Unknown.

On that same day a joint session of Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists:

authorizing the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for the attacks on September 11, 2001. The authorization granted the President the authority to use all "necessary and appropriate force" against those whom he determined "planned, authorized, committed or aided" the September 11th attacks, or who harbored said persons or groups. The AUMF was signed by President George W. Bush on September 18, 2001.

Only one member of Congress voted against the Authorization: Barbara Lee of California.

Rumsfeld became increasingly uneasy with the war being called The War on Terror. He wanted it to be called something like The Struggle Against Islamic Extremists. He knew this was not going to need to be just a military war. It needed to involve all agencies of government, and all the people of the United States.

The conservative blogosphere has remained true to that goal.

Neither do I!

Coyote Blog asks:

Do you remember back in the late 70′s, when the economy sucked, and no private entity would fund new technologies like computer startups Apple and Microsoft, so the government had to step in to provide the needed investment? Yeah, neither do I.

Link: http://www.coyoteblog.com/

Key feature of Obamacare eliminated

President Obama has "pulled the plug" on a key feature of Obamacare: long term insurance for nursing home care and home health care for disabled people. Read the whole story here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/14/obama-health-care-law-class-program-cut_n_1011451.html

Getting in bed with "The man"

"Occupy protesters? Don’t look now, but you just got in bed with The Man!" The California Teachers Association has joined the California Occupiers. So what? Here's what:

"It’s spent over $210 million in the course of the last decade to influence California state government — more than “big oil”, “big tobacco”, and “big pharma” combined. The results? Defeats for school voucher propositions, teacher accountability measures, and paycheck protection for educators. Not to mention that California — formerly a national leader in the classroom — now ranks among the bottom five American states in most education metrics."

Read more here: http://cfif.org/v/freedom_line_blog/11665/occupy-protests-so-anti-establishment-theyre-now-joined-by-one-of-the-nations-most-powerful-special-interests/

Obama's reelection strategy

Charles Krauthammer is out with a column on Obama's scapegoating efforts.

This is about scapegoating, a failed administration trying to save itself by blaming our troubles -- and its failures -- on class enemies, turning general discontent into rage against a malign few.

Read the whole thing here: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=46856

The Occupiers have their marching orders.

A Proposed Separation Agreement

A blogger at i Own the World proposes that leftists agree to a Separation Agreement. They get to keep and fund the United Nations, the ACLU, liberal judges, wind, solar, and biodiesel energy. We get to keep smelly oil and gas, capitalism, the Bible, and hot Alaska hockey moms.
Read the whole thing here: http://iowntheworld.com/blog/?p=99184

A devastating critique of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

A new book has been published. It is entitled The Delinquent Teenager Who was Mistaken For the World's Top Climate Expert. The delinquent teenager is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. You can read an extensive excerpt here: http://www.amazon.com/Delinquent-Teenager-Mistaken-Climate-ebook/dp/B005UEVB8Q/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1318551567&sr=8-4#reader_B005UEVB8Q

Is Hillary Implicated in Fast and Furious?

Is Hillary Clinton implicated in Fast and Furious? That is the question being asked today after Clinton attorney Lannie Davis has entered the fray with a post at The Huffington Post. Two blogs that are doing a great job analyzing this scandal are linked to here: http://confederateyankee.mu.nu/archives/322542.php
and here: http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/2011/10/here-he-comes-to-save-day-mighty-mouth.html

I had not thought about the fact that since this involves another country, the Department of State may have had some involvement.

"Plastics"

Is this not among one of the best one-worders in movie history? And, is Dustin Hoffman not one of the best actors in movie history?
found in the comments section of this blog: http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/018085.html#comments

Rumsfeld and 9-11-2001 Part two

The plane that had hit the Pentagon had taken off from Dulles, and was flying west to L.A., when it was hijacked.

Rumsfeld advised President Bush that this was now about self-defense, not retribution, and we needed to teach the terrorists by our actions that such attacks would not lead them to accomplish their insane goals. A strong offense would be the only way to go. Bush concurred, and wanted to destroy the enemy. Actions and inactions by previous administrations had given Islamic terrorists the impression that we were vulnerable. President Bush spoke to his top officials from SAC near Omaha. Bush insisted that the government rebound quickly and take the battle to the terrorists.

The leaders of Iran and Saudia Arabia expressed condolences. Only one regime, Saddaam Hussein's in Iraq, spoke out in favor of the attacks. President Bush gave a speech from the White House, announcing that the cost of state support of terrorists had just gone up.

At the end of "the longest day of my life," Rumsfeld called his top Pentagon people together for an assessment meeting about eleven p.m. His public information officer asked him if he had talked with Joyce, his wife of 47 years. He knew that Joyce had been taken to an Air Force Base for a briefing, but no, he had not talked to her at all. "You Son of a Bitch!" replied the female information officer. Rumsfeld admitted, "She had a point."
from Known and Unknown.

Rumsfeld and 9-11-2001 Part one: the attack

In 2001 Rumsfeld gave a speech about the nation's number one adversary: the Pentagon! He wanted to transform our nation's defense to enable us to be more agile, more able to deal with unpredictable threats, but the bureaucracy was entrenched. He warned in 2001 that a shocking event may soon remind the people of America of the importance of a strong and effective national defense.

On September 11, 2001, Rumsfeld says, "the world passed from one period of history to another." He was in his office in the Pentagon, watching televison reports of the planes flying into the World Trade Center, when a "tremor" shook his building. He left his office and soon found himself in heavy smoke. The chaos intensified. He headed down the stairs out into the fresh air, which soon filled with smoke. He got to the scene before the official first responders. He turned back to his office to see what information was available. On the way he picked up a piece of metal from "whatever hit the Pentagon." He spoke briefly with the President, who was in the air. The smoke in his office became heavy. He went down to a communications hub in the basement. General Dick Myers joined Rumsfeld in the Command Center, and they discussed raising the threat level. Later they moved again to a room that had less smoke. Combat jet fighters were in the air over Washington D.C. The Secret Service recommended President Bush stay away until they could get a clearer picture of the threat. Rumsfeld got on the phone with Dick Cheney, who told him Bush had given orders that jet pilots were to take down planes that appeared to be ignoring warnings not to descend into the D.C. area, if necessary.

from Known and Unknown

Condi Rice's emphasis on consensus did not serve President Bush well.

When George W. Bush's close confidant Condi Rice was National Security Advisor, Donald Rumsfeld made a number of constructive suggestions to her as to how she could conduct meetings more efficiently and effectively. She favored a "bridging approach," and consensus, that ironically led to disharmony among the Defense and State Departments. Rumsfeld thinks it reflected her academic background, where, as Provost of Stanford, she learned techniques that worked in the academic arena, but did not serve the best interests of President Bush or our country.

Bye, bye whiners!

"Occupy Denver" protesters, vocal supporters of Obama's class warfare campaign, were removed from the park near the state capitol early this morning. A Colorado blogger took her camera to the area, and was not allowed in the press conference with the Colorado State Patrol, but was able to record the 99 percenters who shouted "Shame!" and the ever-original "Power to the People!" 23 of the loudest and most obnoxious Occupiers were arrested, and the park has not been reopened.
As usual,the COMPLETE COLORADO blog is on top of the story: http://completecolorado.com/

Update: The blogger's name is Kelly Maher.

Update two: Here is a link to a blogger who points out the costs associated with getting the park cleaned up after the Occupiers, deployment of cops, property damage, and theft. He believes a better name for them is Narcissist Invaders.
http://www.peoplespresscollective.org/2011/10/occupy-denver-steals-services-destroys-property/

Inventor, or exploiter?

The blogger at Market Ticker says that there is another technology giant who deserves much more praise than Steve Jobs. Dennis Ritchie died recently at the age of 70. Who was he? He was the man who invented the C programming language and spearheaded the development of Unix. He is the reason why virtually every website on the planet exists!
The blogger, on the other hand, characterizes Jobs as an exploiter:

Steve Jobs? Oh sure, he "gave you what you wanted." But he did it, and turned Apple into a household name with massive profits, by exploiting child and near-slave labor to the point that their contract factories in China have had to put nets up so you can't commit suicide by jumping off the buildings!

Read the whole thing here: http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=195912

Willpower: Do you have enough of it?

Blogger John Hawkins is very impressed with a book entitled Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength." In the blogpost he lists what he thinks are the best quotes from the book. The link is here: http://rightwingnews.com/quotes/the-best-quotes-from-willpower-rediscovering-the-greatest-human-strength/

Curiouser and curiouser!

This video features a March 2011 interview with Obama saying he heard on "the news" about Fast and Furious, then a Congressional Hearing in May 2011 in which Attorney General Holder says he just heard about it in "the last few weeks." Well, I guess from March to May qualifies as a "few weeks," but who knew first, Obama or Holder? Or, did they both know at the same time, because they agreed on the plan before it was initiated? How did Obama know in March that Holder knew nothing about the plan? Doesn't that indicate that he had talked with Holder about it before his March interview?

Pass it on!

Dear Democratic Party Contributor:

Our records show that you have not yet made your contribution to President Obama's Reelection Campaign Fund. The good news is, it's not too late for you to do so. It is very important that you send your contribution in as soon as possible, and forward this to everyone in your e-mail address book. If you break the chain, bad luck will befall you in less than a week.

To find out what happens to those who did or did not break the email chain, go here:

He knows best.

An audio has surfaced in which Obama the campaigner tells a group in San Francisco that his plan is that anyone who wishes to build a coal plant will be bankrupted. A graph on this You Tube video says we get 49% of our electricity from coal plants. And what do you think is going to happen to our electricity bills?
video found here

"He didn't discover anything!"

With my three youngest children now living for most of each month in New Mexico, I have been having long conversations with each of them, trying to understand what they are learning in school, and what experiences they are having. Yesterday Sara told me she learned all about Christopher Columbus in her second grade class.

"Christopher Columbus thought it was America, but it was the Indies. He found some gold, so he chopped off the Indians' hands and gave the gold to the King and Queen. Then he went back a second time and again he chopped off the Indians' hands and this time he put them in prison, too! He found a piece of wood and floated to land, then he and his brother ran a map shop together. He didn't discover anything. Everybody already knew the Earth is round!"

You can rest assured that our children are being taught all the politically correct versions of history. Tonight Jon told me that last year at his school here in Colorado he learned all about Muslims but was not taught anything about Islam or jihad. Not one word about Islamists wanting to kill Jews or persecute Christians!

Update: Tonight (October 17, 2011) I spoke with Sara. She told me she finally gave her presentation to the 2nd grade class today on her "investigation" into the adventures of Christopher Columbus. She said he actually did discover America, but he thought it was the Indies, which Sara thinks is somewhere in South America. "That is why Indians are called Indians," she said.

You asked for it!

Blogger Joshua Topolsky says the "intelligent assistant" in the new iPhone 4S says some weird things. For example, the blogger typed in "I need to hide a body," and here is what happened next:
Found here: http://thisismynext.com/2011/10/12/siri-weird-things-iphone-4s/

"What could go wrong?"

Oh, great! Scientists have gone into an ancient burial plot in London and extracted bacterium from the teeth of the skeletons buried there in medieval times when 50 million people were killed by the Black Plague. The scientists have reconstructed the genetic code of the bacterium. As the blogger at Neatorama writes, "What could go wrong?"
Story here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15278366

Missing the mark

Two extremes dominate our political parties today: mindless budget-cutting, and politically motivated redistribution. Neither is what we need. Joel Kotkin writes here that what we need is "a tax and policy regime that stops favoring financial insiders and instead focuses incentives on the grass-roots hard work and ingenuity that have long been America’s greatest economic asset."

Swing-state benefits

One feature of being a swing-state is that you get lots of visits from politicians. Obama, for instance, will be making his second visit to Colorado in less than one month on October 25. He is going to host two fundraisers at the Pepsi Center. According to today's Denver Post, for the thirty minutes in which Obama will actually be in the restaurant, you can choose to spend $5,000 per person for dinner, or $10,000 for dinner and a photo. Then the President goes to another restaurant in the Pepsi Center, while you are being served your 5 or 10 thousand dollar dinner. For $35,800 dollars you can be part of a "small clutch" and get a more "candid" photo with the President. Does that mean Candid Camera will be there?

Meanwhile, outside the Pepsi Center I wonder if the usual cadre of homeless people will be there sleeping on the ground or on benches. Somehow, I believe they will be magically removed from the scene, don't you? Then, as soon as Obama gets his money, he will return to bashing the rich for not paying their fair share. Is this a great country, or what?

Are we making Afghanistan safe for Sharia Law?

This post in The American Thinker points out that more than half of Afghan girls are married before the age of fifteen. It tells the story of an 8-year-old Afghan girl who was married off to a local policeman for cash. The post also cites from the Islamic scriptures the accounts of the Prophet Muhammad marrying a six-or-seven-year-old girl named Aisha.

"I am reading the Bible, and it says that whoever denies God in public, God will also deny him, so what can I do?"

What is it like to be a Christian family in Iraq? What happens to the children? Read the article at this link: http://www.aina.org/news/20111011184125.htm

September 2011 persecution of Christians by Islamists: a partial list

"Hudson New York" is a website that compiles and provides details in a monthly list of Islamic persecution of Christians around the Muslim-dominated areas of the world. In September, 2011, for example, the site lists persecution of Christians in Egypt, Pakistan, Indonesia, Tunisia, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Philippines, Nigeria, and Syria. The blog endeavors:

1. To document that which the mainstream media does not: habitual, if not chronic, Muslim persecution of Christians.
2. To show that such persecution is not "random," but systematic and interrelated—that it is ultimately rooted in a worldview inspired by Sharia Law.

Accordingly, whatever the anecdote of persecution, it typically fits under a specific theme, including hatred for churches and other Christian symbols; sexual abuse of Christian women; forced conversions to Islam; apostasy and blasphemy laws; theft and plunder in lieu of jizya; overall expectations for Christians to behave like cowed dhimmis [second-class citizens]; and simple violence and murder. Often it is a combination thereof.

Because these accounts of persecution span different ethnicities, languages, and locales—from Morocco in the west, to India in the east, and even throughout the West, wherever there are Muslims—it should be clear that one thing alone binds them: Islam—whether the strict application of Sharia, or the supremacist culture born of it.

To read about the September persecutions, go to this link: http://www.hudson-ny.org/2491/muslim-persecution-of-christians-september

"Weakness is provocative."

The news of the day is that Iran has been caught (job well done, to those who caught them!) in a plot to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador by bombing a restaurant in Washington, DC along with bombs at the embassies of Israel and Saudi Arabia. In his book Known and Unknown Donald Rumsfeld over and over again warns that "weakness is provocative" and that "even the perception of weakness is provocative."http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Mike's America outlines what he believes are the reasons why Iran felt embolden to try to pull off such an attack at this time: http://mikesamerica.blogspot.com/2011/10/obamas-weakness-invites-iranian-acts-of.html

What signal are we giving to Iran?

Image found here

Reconciliation, or Division?

Before I took my current job three years ago, I had Sundays free. I attended Colorado Community Church in Aurora, Colorado. I loved it. It is interracial, led by a wonderful pastor named Robert Gelinas. Robert is an adoption advocate and an advocate of reconciliation. He has a blog in which he refers to himself as a Jazz Theologian. You can read his blog here: http://blog.beliefnet.com/jazztheologian/. As you can imagine, the music at his church is outstanding, but so is his preaching, and many other things about the church.

However, Robert currently is linking to a post written by someone named Lisa Sharon-Harper entitled Why Do African-Americans Vote for Democrats? The article is snarky and sarcastic, as well as misleading and incomplete historically. She is answering Herman Cain. You can read it here: http://blog.beliefnet.com/jazztheologian/2011/09/why-do-african-americans-vote-for-democrats.html

As an old guy, I remember history differently than the above author. The first President I remember who sought to do something about civil rights in my lifetime was Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower. In fact, he mobilized troops to integrate a high school in Little Rock, Arkansas, despite the opposition from Arkansas's Democrat Governor, Orville Faubus. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 would have never passed without the leadership of Republican Senator Everett Dirkson of Illinois, who made sure members of his party supported it with their votes, while many Democrats voted against it. Of course, there would never had been the civil rights progress without leaders such as Martin Luther King, who mobilized so many people to protest discrimination peacefully, that politicians of both parties could no longer ignore the issue. All King wanted was for his children to be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin.

In this present century I watched President George W. Bush appoint the first African-American Secretary of State, Colin Powell, and then Bush appointed the second, Condi Rice, to succeed Powell. I saw Bush decry "the soft bigotry of low expectations," and push for No Child Left Behind, education reforms opposed by teachers unions, who are a key element of the Democrat Party. The Democrat Party tries to appeal to us as members of hyphenated groups or unions. The Republican Party appeals to individuals to follow the American Dream of equal opportunity, and if people follow that dream, they realize the dignity that comes from individual effort and character content, not the dependency that comes from government handouts to favored groups.

True, the Democrats nominated for President a man whose father was black and mother was white, and he campaigned successfully for the Presidency using the catchy slogan of "Hope and Change." Unfortunately, he has turned out not to be a reconciler, but a divider, presently campaigning for re-election by pitting Americans against one another, using tactics he learned as a community organizer in Chicago, while sitting 20 years in a church led by the America-hating preacher "Reverend" Wright.

Holder has been issued a subpeona

Representative Issa has issued subpeonas to Eric Holder and other top justice department officials. They can be found here: http://michellemalkin.com/2011/10/12/fast-and-furious-update-cranking-up-the-pressure-plus-doj-gets-the-misfit-politics-treatment/

Gore and McCain thumbs down; Cheney thumbs up

If Donald Rumsfeld doesn't think much of a person, he usually confines his remarks about that person to one sentence or less in his memoir Known and Unknown. For example, Al Gore: "lecturing and wooden." John McCain: "a man with a hair-trigger temper and a propensity to fashion and shift his positions to appeal to the media."

It seems clear so far in the book that his favorite person in public life was Dick Cheney.

Torture is okay now?

I know, this report comes from the New York Times, and it quotes the UN, so it is doubly suspect for bias, but if true, it is disturbing. How can we turn people over to people who will torture them, if Obama is against torture?

"Suspects are hung by their hands, beaten with cables and in some cases their genitals are twisted until they lose consciousness in detention facilities run by the Afghan intelligence service and the Afghan national police, according to a study released Monday by the United Nations here.[...]

The report found evidence of “a compelling pattern and practice of systematic torture and ill-treatment” during interrogation in the accounts of nearly half of the detainees of the intelligence service, known as the National Directorate of Intelligence, who were interviewed by United Nations researchers. The national police treatment of detainees was somewhat less severe and widespread, the report found. Its research covered 47 facilities sites in 22 provinces. “Use of interrogation methods, including suspension, beatings, electric shock, stress positions and threatened sexual assault is unacceptable by any standard of international human rights law,” the report said."


The link: http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/10/10/un_report_afghan_security_forces_routinely_abuse_detainees

When Christians protest...

"At least 25 people were killed in Cairo when government troops crushed a demonstration of Coptic Christians over an attack on a church. It was the worst violence Egypt has seen since the fall of Hosni Mubarak.

The protest was aimed at Egypt's new military leaders, blaming them for failing to protect the Christian community from attacks by radical Islamists, such as the partial demolishing of a church in Aswan province last week.

The military drove armored personnel carriers into the crowd to disrupt the protests, reportedly crushing some demonstrators in the process. Demonstrators accused the military of working in tandem with Muslim counterprotesters. Hundreds were injured.

In addition to decrying violence against the Christian community, the demonstrators were also demanding a swifter transition to democracy. The ruling military council has set Nov. 28 as the date for the start of parliamentary elections, but has not yet set a date for new presidential elections."

The link: http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/1012682

Women's Liberation in Pakistan

RAWALPINDI:

In a first for the garrison city, sixty masked men carrying iron rods barged into a girls’ school in Rawalpindi and thrashed students and female teachers on Friday.

The gang of miscreants also warned the inmates at the MC Model Girls High School in Satellite Town to “dress modestly and wear hijabs” or face the music, eyewitnesses said.

Fear gripped the area following the attack and only 25 of the 400 students studying in the college were present on Saturday. The school employs 30 female teachers.

A police official of the New Town Police Station, asking for anonymity, told The Express Tribune, “We were under strict instructions to do nothing

Link to the story here: http://tribune.com.pk/story/269918/dress-modestly-masked-men-enter-girls-school-thrash-students/

This blog reminds us that Rawalpindi is the headquarters of the Pakistani Armed Forces, and makes a guess as to what the security forces were doing during the attacks: http://www.neptunuslex.com/2011/10/10/police-is-investigating-the-matter/

Making us human?

Since reading Jill Bolte Taylor's My Stroke of Insight, I have been writing and thinking about the 100 trillion cells that are housed in the human body. Guess what? They are not all human! Only about one in ten are human; the rest are "microbes, primarily bacteria, but also viruses, fungi, and a panoply of other microorganisms."

"Equipped with super-fast new DNA decoders, scientists are accelerating the exploration of this realm at a molecular level, yielding provocative insights into how these microbial stowaways might wield far greater powers than previously appreciated in, paradoxically, making us human."

"Some equate these microbial inhabitants to a newly recognized organ. Acquired beginning at birth, this mass of fellow travelers might help steer normal development, molding immune systems and calibrating fundamental metabolic functions such as energy storage and consumption. There are tantalizing clues they might help shape brain development, influencing behavior."

"Doctors have even begun microbiota "transplants" to treat a host of illnesses, including a sometimes-devastating gastrointestinal infection called C. difficile, digestive system ailments such as Crohn's disease, colitis and irritable bowel disorder, and even in a handful of cases obesity and other afflictions, such as multiple sclerosis.

Advocates of the research urge caution, noting that most of the work so far has involved laboratory animals or small numbers of patients, many hypotheses remain far from proven and nothing has zero risk."

Source for this story here: http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_19078292

A liberal bully

Did you remember that for a time Nelson Rockefeller was the Vice President of the United States? Yep, Ford appointed him and Congress approved, after the resignation of Nixon. Rumsfeld describes him as a liberal bully in Rumsfeld's book Known and Unknown.

Known and Unknown

Donald Rumsfeld doesn't dwell too long on any subject in his book Known and Unknown. The narrative moves forward quickly. The reader has to pay attention, or Rumsfeld will move on to another subject before you know it.

Billy Graham has been mentioned a couple times so far in the book. He was one of a small circle of people Nixon gathered together on the eve of one of Nixon's primary victories to discuss who should be the Vice President running mate. Graham recommended a Christian U.S. Senator from Oregon, Mark Hatfield, but Nixon went with Spiro T. Agnew, Governor of Maryland, though Agnew had not been adequately vetted. It soon turned out that Agnew had been involved in some crooked deals in Maryland, and had to resign the Vice Presidency. When Nixon died, Graham gave a eulogy at his funeral.

That reminds me. Have you seen videos of Westboro Baptist Church preacher Fred Phelps angrily telling Billy Graham that he is going to Hell and that the Westboro people will picket his funeral when he dies? They are available on You Tube, but I did not want to display them here on this blog, because they are vile. Ann Althouse also has recent footage taken by her husband, Meade, of the Westboro people picketing in Wisconsin. Phelps and his congregants seem particularly angry that Graham preaches that God loves us. They happily sing God hates America, to the tune of God Bless America. I am sure they do not see the irony in their freedom to sing their hateful songs in America.

I guess I just have to admit I am a political junkie, because I find Rumsfeld's book riveting. He has been a pivotal figure to many of the significant events of the last half of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st, and he write with candor and clarity. He writes about all the major events, but also gives us tidbits of interesting information never before written about. For example, when Nixon appointed him Ambassador to NATO, before leaving for Brussels, his sixteen-year-old daughter wanted to get her driver's license. Guess who taught her to parallel park? A man named Richard Cheney, who was Rumsfeld's assistant in many of the jobs Rumsfeld took on!

Early in his career, Rumsfeld learned to be wary of the media. Columnist Jack Anderson, syndicated in practically every newspaper in America, wrote a column about Rumsfeld in which the only two words that were accurate were the spelling of Rumsfeld's name! When Rumsfeld confronted Anderson, Anderson did not write a column correcting his errors, because he was afraid some newspapers would drop his column, which he had inherited from his predecessor, Drew Pearson.

Go for it, Democrats!

I wholeheartedly encourage Obama and the Democrats to embrace the "Occupy" movements taking place in cities across America. George Soros' MoveOn.org and some unions have done so. Rich Lowry opines that this movement is the "Left's Pathetic Tea Party." He contrasts the Right's Tea Party with the Left's:

The Right’s tea party had its signature event at a rally at the Lincoln Memorial where everyone listened politely to patriotic exhortations and picked up their trash and went home. The Left’s tea party closed down a major thoroughfare in New York City — the Brooklyn Bridge — and saw its members arrested in the hundreds.

Read Lowry's piece here: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/279057/left-s-pathetic-tea-party-rich-lowry

Tom Maguire writes that the "Occupy" movement is the perfect metaphor for Obama:

With no goals the protestors become the perfect metaphor for Obama, a Progressive Adrift. But can they get behind just one sensible goal and rally themselves and the nation to their cause? No way. If they pick one hobbyhorse to ride, the protestors are implicitly rejecting twenty others. For example, if they limit themselves to calling for more taxes on the rich, they are implicitly turning their back on gay marriage. Can't have that! But calling for taxes on the rich and a push for gay marriage risks abandonment of everyone on death row. Can't have that! But a push for taxes, gays, and death row inmates means that Gaia will be left to choke on greenhouse gasses. Can't have that!

The link to Maguire is here: http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2011/10/occupy-this-blog.html