Lady Cincinnatus

What Makes Us Human?

2012-01-30T22:53:00.000-08:00

By Proof

Did Descartes have it right? “I think, therefore, I am”? Or maybe Twain’s observation that “humans are the only creatures who blush…or need to”? Fairy tales and speculative fiction are awash with the theme, of what it means to be truly human. Wooden Pinocchio wants to be a real boy. Silicone and steel android Data longs to know what it is to be human, despite the irony that the longing is itself a human emotion. He is curious about what it means to be curious. Curiouser and curiouser! Strange visitors from another planet are raised by humans to embrace a code of decency and honor. Others come and fall in love... does love make us human?

And what of those who, became somehow more than human? Radioactive spider bites, bombardment with gamma radiation, mutations of the human genome…at what point can it be said that a human transcends humanity and becomes homo superior?

Now imagine having those philosophical musings, discussing and arguing the respective points over the course of ten years. College boy conundrums? Speculation at a seminary? Meditations at a monastery?
No. A discussion about...the level of taxes on...toys.

The forthcoming Avengers movie, directed by Joss Whedon and expected May 4 from Walt Disney Pictures, depicts the Marvel superhero group teaming up to save the Earth from utter destruction.

Saving the world is ordinary fare for superheroes, especially teams like the Avengers and the X-Men. But one of the biggest battles ever fought in the Marvel universe took place in the real world, a historic fight that lasted 10 years and crossed America.

The clash ended quietly in 2003, with a monumental, six-figure legal ruling by the U.S. government: The X-Men and many other superheroes simply aren’t human.

Or more precisely, they’re not dolls, which, according to the U.S. Customs Bureau, represent “only human beings.” They’re toys, which represent “animals or non-human creatures.”

What’s the difference? Gazillions of dollars.

Even though it sounds like the sort of discussion the nerds on The Big Bang Theory might discuss, this was big business.

The U.S. government waded into the “mutant or mortal” battle 19 years ago at ports in Los Angeles and Seattle after Customs officials there classified several large shipments of action figures, including the X-Men, as “dolls” instead of “toys.”

But labeling the figures as “dolls” made importing the X-Men nearly twice as expensive as they would have been as “toys,” facing a 12 percent tax rather than a 6.8 percent tax.

...Recognizing the difference between toys and dolls, international trade lawyers Sherry Singer and Indie Singh saw an opportunity to save Marvel a lot of money by getting the X-Men, along with Marvel’s other action figures, including the Hulk, Spider-Man, and Iron Man, reclassified as toys.

At this point, one is hard pressed whether to laugh or cry. To think that for ten years lawyers have been working, on both sides, and expert witnesses have been testifying whether Barbie should be taxed at a higher rate than Wolverine, reminds me of another Bizarro world I read about when I was younger.

Does the government really have a vested interest in whether or not the Human Torch is more human than torch? I know it is in the DNA of every bureaucrat to micromanage every aspect of our lives, but at some point, can't we decide that the government we have is more than we really ever needed? When our toys are categorized, not by weight, or the amount of polystyrene or paint, but by the philosophical backstory of their characters???

I suppose I could have titled this "What is a doll?" But, would that have piqued your human curiosity and caused you to read this far? And would you have had as much of a surprise making the hyperspace leap from comic book heroes to taxes and tariffs?

This is but one more illustration of the bloated bureaucracy that nibbles away at our economic freedoms and attempts to regulate every aspect of our lives. It's way past time to start taking our country back from our wooden headed, would be masters and their arbitrary rules and regulations.

Equal rights for G.I.Joe! In the meantime, before we can roll back this overly burdensome and somewhat ridiculous over regulation, I suggest that Mattel put out a comic book where Barbie, Ken and Skipper all get bitten by radioactive spiders...

The folks at Mattel can show their gratitude to me with a small percentage of the tax savings realized...

Cross posted at Proof Positive

My Official 2012 GOP Presidential Slogan. And I won't even charge a consulting fee.

2012-01-11T06:07:00.000-08:00

Okay, I've come up with the best GOP campaign slogan ever. Maybe. Okay, here it is... Pull over if you're driving. OBAMA CRIED (AGAINST BUSINESS) AND HOSTESS TWINKIES DIED. Forget jobs or a sound dollar...no deep fried Twinkies??? Come on people, what's it going to take?

"U.S. Flag 'Primes' Voters Toward Republican Viewpoints"

2012-01-04T23:01:00.000-08:00

Just a glimpse at the American flag can sway voters, even Democrats, toward more Republican voting behavior, attitudes and beliefs, a new two-year study says.

The authors, from the University of Chicago, Cornell University and Hebrew University, say the research proves the American flag has a powerful effect on voters.

"A single exposure to an American flag resulted in a significant increase in participants' Republican voting intentions, voting behavior, political beliefs, and implicit and explicit attitudes, with some effects lasting eight months," reads the study titled, "Long-Term Effects of U.S. Flag Exposure on Republicanism."

Can't say for certain that it's true, but it never hurts to display the symbol of our great country on every suitable occasion.

I've placed a small flag at the top of the sidebar. Let's turn the Internet red white and blue between now and election day.

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Merry Christmas !

2011-12-18T11:13:00.000-08:00

May the Spirit of Christmas be with you all year long!

A Gallon of Gas for a Dime? That's Nothing!

2011-12-03T11:10:00.000-08:00

By Proof

Remember when Ron Paul tried to make a big to do in one of the debates, about being able to buy a gallon of gas for a dime? That's nothing! Well, if you'd taken that dime in 1938 and bought a dime's worth of gas, today it would be a varnish deposit on the bottom of your gas can. Here's what a wise investment of a dime would have brought you:

Action Comics No. 1 sells for record $2.16m

The issue, graded at 9.0, was auctioned starting Nov. 11 online at www.comicconnect.com. The starting bid was just $1 but there was a reserve price of $900,000. Neither the name of the buyer nor seller was disclosed.

It's the first time a comic book has broken the $2 million barrier. The issue was published in 1938 and cost just 10 cents.

"When we broke the record in 2010 by selling the Action Comics No. 1, graded at 8.5, for $1.5 million, I truly believed that this was a record that would stand for many years to come," said Stephen Fishler, CEO of ComicConnect.com and Metropolis Collectibles.

That is, of course, if your Mom didn't happen to throw them all out!

...About 100 copies of Action Comics No. 1 are believed to be in existence, and only a handful of those in good condition.

Two point one six million dollars? Mom, I coulda bought you a lot of breakfasts in bed for that kinda cash!

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Eagle Stands Watch in Veteran's Cemetary

2011-11-13T14:56:00.000-08:00

This eagle was photographed atop a WWII vet's headstone at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis, MN.

The story can be found here: Saberpoint

Cross posted at Proof Positive

#OccupyAnarchy: What Lawlessness Breeds

2011-10-30T09:14:00.001-07:00

By Proof

Wall Street protesters in Zuccotti Park battened down the hatches yesterday as the early October snow turned their tents into igloos, but the close quarters also made easy pickings for one predator. A sex fiend barged into a woman’s tent and sexually assaulted her at around 6 a.m., said protesters, who chased him from the park.

“Pervert! Pervert! Get the f--k out!” said vigilante Occupiers, who never bothered to call the cops. “They were shining flashlights in his face and yelling at him to leave,” said a woman who called herself Leslie, but refused to give her real name.

She said that weeks earlier another woman was raped. “We don’t tell anyone,” she said. “We handle it internally. I said too much already.”

With all the free loaders, free lovers, free Mumia's, free lunchers and free thinkers populating the OccupyAnarchy movement, which many on the Left hope to be the anti-Tea Party, one gets the impression that one thing the ReOccupyTheWhiteHouse movement doesn't need is more bad press, so there seems to be a conscious effort to keep these kinds of attacks quiet and sweep them under a rug.

Granted, the Occupy movement has spawned a "volunteer" security force of dubious origin and efficacy: part mob, part vigilante justice. But they have neither police powers or training. And, rather than pursuing a sexual predator until he is caught and deterred from repeating his offense, he is merely chased off to continue his perverse felonies again, either at another "occupied" area of the park or in society at large.

First, I think this sends a bad message about the OccupyAnarchy view of women. "Ladies: Lay back and enjoy it. Women who are assaulted or raped should be seen and not heard." In a rational world (not the protesters' strong suit), how would it not benefit everyone for every woman raped or assaulted to give a statement to the police and a description of the perpetrator so that the criminal can be apprehended? Is the movement so inured and enamored of breaking whatever laws they choose, that they empathize with other lawbreakers, no matter how odious?

We have seen the Occupy Anarchists disrespect the police, one man infamously defecating on a patrol car, and attacking the police and even rioting in some places. Compare and contrast with the Tea Party rallies. There was a police presence there, but the only incidents I observed or am aware of, involving the police at a Tea Party rally, was when a small element of miscreants from the Left showed up to protest against the Tea Partiers, to shout them down, or damage property.

There were no tents, no soup lines and above all, no rapes, sexual assaults, refusals to obey police orders or assaults on police officers.

Is OccupyAnarchy the Left's version of the Tea Party? It's looking like it. Will OccupyAnarchy motivate anyone to vote Democrat next Fall? Well, I think they can count on the rapist and sexual predator vote!

H/T Memeorandum

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Warning: This Campaign May be Toxic to Your Political Health

2011-10-20T13:45:00.000-07:00

By Proof

Earlier this month, Claire McCaskill (D- Not the Sharpest Knife in the Drawer), disappeared with "prior commitments" (like getting re-elected) when Obama came to visit St. Louis. In Virginia and North Carolina, Democrats like Tim Kaine,former Democratic National Committee chairman and governor, Democratic state Sen. Phil Puckett, were running away as well.

In September, Democratic state Sen. Phil Puckett distanced himself from Obama after his Republican challenger started calling him "Obama's man in southwest Virginia". In southwest Virginia, House Minority Leader Ward Armstrong is having a tough political fight. One of his solutions? Stay away from Barack Obama,.

Sometimes, in politics, they talk about a politician's "coattails", how a lesser candidate can be carried into office by virtue of the fact that the top of the ticket was strong enough to draw votes for other members of the same party. More rarely, they talk about "reverse coattails", where a poor candidate drags others in his party to defeat.

Democrat politicians fear Barack's coattails in 2012. As well they should.

Cross posted at Proof Positive

The Latest from our Narcissist-in-Chief

2011-10-05T07:59:00.000-07:00

By Proof

If you were President, and had the opportunity to read to small school children, which book would you choose? If you are Barack Obama, the one about yourself!

H/T Gateway Pundit

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Rookie Mistake

2011-09-25T09:07:00.000-07:00

Ever see the Clint Eastwood, Charlie Sheen movie The Rookie? The scene where Clint Eastwood jumps a car from one parking garage to another? This wasn't quite that dramatic...

Cross posted at Proof Positive

F-16 Pilot Tells of the Suicide Mission that Wasn't

2011-09-11T08:33:00.000-07:00

By Proof

A lesser known story of yet another hero of 9/11.

Late in the morning of the Tuesday that changed everything, Lt. Heather “Lucky” Penney was on a runway at Andrews Air Force Base and ready to fly. She had her hand on the throttle of an F-16 and she had her orders: Bring down United Airlines Flight 93. The day’s fourth hijacked airliner seemed to be hurtling toward Washington. Penney, one of the first two combat pilots in the air that morning, was told to stop it.

The one thing she didn’t have as she roared into the crystalline sky was live ammunition. Or missiles. Or anything at all to throw at a hostile aircraft.

Except her own plane. So that was the plan.

Because the surprise attacks were unfolding, in that innocent age, faster than they could arm war planes, Penney and her commanding officer went up to fly their jets straight into a Boeing 757.

“We wouldn’t be shooting it down. We’d be ramming the aircraft,” Penney recalls of her charge that day. “I would essentially be a kamikaze pilot.”

A young pilot, with essentially her whole life ahead of her, gets an order that, if carried out, will almost certainly cost her her life. One that even if she survived, she'd have to live with the knowledge that she hastened the end, of a plane load of civilians, taking their lives in order to protect the lives of others and defend the United States of America. And she answered the call.

“We had to protect the airspace any way we could,” she said last week in her office at Lockheed Martin, where she is a director in the F-35 program.

Penney, now a major but still a petite blonde with a Colgate grin, is no longer a combat flier. She flew two tours in Iraq and she serves as a part-time National Guard pilot, mostly hauling VIPs around in a military Gulfstream. She takes the stick of her own vintage 1941 Taylorcraft tail-dragger whenever she can.

"Lucky" Penny was lucky indeed! A distinguished flying career for the last ten years. One that would have been cut short, save for the heroism of a group of passengers on Flight 93...

But she didn’t have to die. She didn’t have to knock down an airliner full of kids and salesmen and girlfriends. They did that themselves.

It is an honor to salute the brave men and women of our armed forces. Major Penney had "the Right Stuff". And America is better off for having her serve.

Major Penney, we humbly salute you and thank you for your service.

Cross posted at Proof Positive

All Those In Favor of Dirty Air and Dirty Water, Please Raise Your Hand!

2011-09-03T12:48:00.001-07:00

Okay, put your hands down now, you filthy conservatives who are only concerned with raping the planet! That's the picture the Left paints, isn't it? As long as you can make a buck, it doesn't matter how many streams you pollute or how dirty the air gets, because...well, I'm not exactly sure why, because no one I know likes dirty air or water. It's been said that the anti-capitalist Left became "environmentalists" so that as they destroy our nation's economy, they could say they're doing it to "save the earth".

Balderdash! Capitalism has enabled the technology to keep our emissions down and keep the environment cleaner, because we can afford to! Back in the days of the old Iron Curtain and a partitioned Germany, some of the filthiest spots on the planet were in Communist countries that did not have the wealth to afford safeguards on pollution.

Obama's recent rescission of ludicrously high standards for "parts per billion" of ozone in this country, where even the air above our national parks might not meet the standards, got me to thinking, what would individuals who want to "save the earth" be willing to give up personally to make improvements in air quality that are nearly too small to measure?

(Think: Al Gore with his limo idling outside one of his global warming speeches, so he doesn't have to get into a cold car, to drive to airport where a private jet is waiting to take him back to his mega mansion with all the lights burning while he's gone, but on a smaller scale.)

And I thought, what can a good, honest (stop laughing!) green weenie do personally to improve the environment? First thing? Unplug the 'fridge. Your refrigerator runs 24/7 and is probably the largest energy consumer in your house. Unplug it and don't buy anything perishable that will not keep unrefrigerated.

Some of you will find this to be an inconvenience. (Talk about your "Inconvenient Truths"!) You may find that you need to go to the store a little more often. Perhaps daily. But, don't drive to the store. You cannot waste what precious little ground you gained by unplugging your 'fridge, if you pollute the air making multiple trips to the store. Find a store within walking or biking distance. Or work on those calf muscles, because you're not going to let a little thing like this deter you from saving the planet, are you? Think about it!!! The WHOLE PLANET!!!! That's better! Must keep things in perspective!

Buy locally. A typical modern supermarket has a wondrous assortment of fruits and vegetables from around the globe. My last trip, I noticed some wonderfully fresh rhubarb that had been grown in Canada. DO NOT BUY IT! Do not buy anything that is not in season where you live. Some diesel belching truck brought those here and in good conscience, you must avoid contributing to that mindset.

Unplug your furnace and your air conditioner. This is a way to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the third world.
Think of those poor, benighted people burning cow chips for cooking and heat. Of course, you could fire up the woodstove or a fireplace or a barbeque grill, but you know the prodigious amounts of soot put into the air by them, so you forego them. Wrap your self in a nice quilt in the winter (so long as all the fibers were grown and sewn locally) and console yourself with the fact that you are SAVING THE PLANET. Not just a portion of the planet, but the entire freaking planet. Feel free to shake your fist at your neighbors who are oblivious to the planet's plight.

Boycott "Big Water". Daily showers are overrated. It takes power to pump that water into your household. Try digging a well. Buy water from the store if you have to (whatever will fit on the back of your bicycle) but be sure to take a reusable container. Preferably not plastic, since those are made from byproducts from the evil petroleum industry. And you can turn off your water heater, too. That also runs 24/7 for most of us, whether we're using it or not. You can get a solar shower from most good camping stores. How often you take one is up to you, but, we are saving the entire planet!!!

Sit in the dark when the sun is not shining. Living off the grid used to mean using candles and kerosene lamps to avoid using electricity. No more. Light a candle sometime, invite your friends over (if you still have any after not showering so much), and watch the smoke that comes off them. Sometimes, people who burn a candle repeatedly in one place may notice a darkening on the ceiling above it. This is pollution. Your fireplace pollutes, your candles and oil lamps pollute (and just where did you think that oil came from, hmmm?). If you live in a city where there are streetlights, petition to have them turned off. In these tough economic times, cities are on a budget, too. This will lower their carbon footprint and might even save you a little on your property tax (or your evil Republican landlord's taxes, as the case may be.) Of, course, it will be a little harder to ride your bike to the store at night, but they've got these tiny generators you can attack to your bike's wheels to power a light. Some nights, you might even want to bring it inside and treat the family to a few extra minutes of carbon free lighting?

And since I'm sure you're going to unplug your computer and sell your TV right after you finish reading this, one last thought:

A large, coal fired generating plant, generating power for 10,000 homes, puts out far fewer emissions than 10,000 homes with woodstoves, candles, and oil lamps. So much less, that you can even plug in your 'fridge, if you want, and enjoy a few of the creature comforts we take for granted. Like the glowing screen you're staring at now.

No one wants dirty air or water, but some of us realize that regulations that cripple our economy are actually counterproductive to keeping the environment clean. I think our cities can live with the same amount of ozone found naturally over our national parks. I seem to recall a story about a small Alaskan town where they actually had to introduce small amounts of pollution into their waterways to keep them in compliance with what the federal government required of them. (Please don't ask for a citation, I've slept since then!)

We have made great strides in reducing pollution in our country over the last several decades. At some point, the diminishing returns of larger and larger investments for smaller and smaller gains should provide a wake up call for the green weenies.

Sometimes good is good enough. If not, I look forward to your reports on what you are doing personally to turn it around. Hand carried, of course, on paper made locally from locally grown fibers. Because, I'm sure you want to be consistent.

Cross posted at Proof Positive

London Thugs Don't Seem So Cool When You Get A Glimpse Of Their Targets

2011-08-09T07:36:00.000-07:00

*Photo comes from www.Mediaite.com http://www.mediaite.com/online/slideshow-british-photojournalists-capture-stunning-images-of-london-riots/?pid=1069#image

Favorite Book Is Now A Fan Made Trailor

2011-07-30T14:16:00.001-07:00

I don't know if there is such a thing as "conservative fiction" but this is my all time favorite book and I think it's conservative...I mean there is the part about "hunted by the government." Enjoy. Maybe someday they'll make a real movie out of it.

My Debt Ceiling Spleen Vent

2011-07-29T09:21:00.000-07:00

First, I agree that we are completely being played. We've never had any chance at this...Boehner thought he could play Henry Clay and become known as the great compromiser. Understandable when you consider his formative political years where watching Tip O'Neill and Reagan and trying to replay their model for breaking partisan gridlock. Problem is, I don't think Tip O'Neill...while certainly a Democrat with a capital "D"... was ever an anti-American Socialist Marxist agitator.

Cut, Cap & Balance was passed and tabled as soon as it got to the Senate.

D.O.A. (Dead On Arrival)

And likewise, ANYTHING that comes out of the Republican controlled house is D.O.A.

What shocks me is why the Tea Party doesn't understand that. Anything that Boehner and the Republican-held House does is D.O.A. Anything. Period. So both sides are making a huge mistake. Boehner thinks he can deal with a bunch of reasonable Democrats. He's wrong. And the Tea Party thinks it has any influence in what actually happens in this debt ceiling debate--the President and the Dem controlled Senate will eventually do exactly what they want to do. Obamacare Episode II.

If anything, I think our side shouldn't even be uttering the word Boehner or plan. We should be doubling down our messaging--Repeat over and over that the Dems will do whatever they want because they hold 2 branches of government. Repeat all the bad things that will happen as a result of their spending spree. Repeat how important it will be in 2012 to make sure the Dems DO NOT get 2 branches of government ever again because we see what they do with that spending power. Then take back congress and pass cut, cap and balance. Democrate Power = You Are Poorer. I mean how hard is it to come up with a slogan like that and then repeat ad nauseum like the Dems do?

But instead, we attack Boehner, split our team right down the middle, and the Left will do exactly what they would have down all along--Never let a crisis go to waste and probably allow Obama to invoke the 14th Amendment for yet another stunning executive power grab. And then what? The tea party can say how right they were about Boehner not being 100% pure in principle. Boy, that's going to feel like a win for the Tea Party.

Sic Transit Gloria Americanus?

2011-07-23T13:00:00.000-07:00

By Proof

I wasn't planning on writing about this today, but the fading glory of our space program moves me to write. In 1977, Jerry Pournelle wrote about the "2007 expedition to Ceres". The old Buck Rogers TV show spoke of the "last of NASA's deep space probes in 1987". The last?? when was the first???

Robert Heinlein spoke of the expectation that many of us had growing up of the inevitability of space travel. In 1949, he wrote in the preface to "The Man Who Sold the Moon":

" (the stories)...are of the "What-would-happen-if" sort, in which the "if", the basic postulate of each story, is some possible change in human environment latent in our present day technology or culture. Sometimes the possibility is quite remote; sometimes the postulated possibility is almost a certainty, as in the stories concerned with interplanetary flight."

Did you get that? In 1949, R.A. Heinlein considered interplanetary flight "almost a certainty".

How did we get from the first Model A Ford to the first walk on the moon in forty two years and from the first walk on the moon to the last flight of the shuttle program in exactly the same time?

And perhaps, more importantly, how do we get back?

Cross posted at Proof Positive

"Fast and Furious" Weapons Found at Valley Crimes

2011-07-02T12:59:00.000-07:00

PHOENIX - Weapons linked to a questionable government strategy are turning up in crimes in Valley neighborhoods.

For months the ABC15 Investigators have been searching through police reports and official government documents. We’ve discovered assault weapons linked to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ controversial "Fast and Furious" case strategy have turned up at crime scenes in Glendale and Phoenix communities.

More guns sales ineptly handled by BATFE are showing up at crime scenes on this side of the border. The story and the reporter repeatedly talk about this as a "strategy".

This was hardly a "strategy". At best it was a tactic, so poorly thought out and ineptly implemented as to assure its failure from the beginning. The architects of this clusterfumble are trying desperately to cover their tracks and find a scapegoat they can blame this on. Remember when the White House couldn't remember or find out who hired Craig Livingstone ? Good luck finding the fingerprints of anyone high enough up the food chain to be truly responsible for the "Fast and Furious Foul-up" on this

In other news, the BATFE plans to let children play with matches as part of a "strategic" plan to watch children get hurt. Eric Holder could not be reached for comment.

Update: There's a Petition to Fire Holder here.

H/T Memeorandum
Cross posted at Proof Positive

Was this Keith Olbermann's idea? Just askin' the question...

2011-06-02T05:38:00.000-07:00

Barack Obama's "Peace" Prize Explained

2011-05-21T15:42:00.000-07:00

By Proof

"Here's a piece of Israel for the Palestinians, and a piece for Egypt, and a piece for Jordan and a piece for Syria and a piece for Lebanon... "

Update: Lest anyone should think that this old joke originated with me, it didn't. Sadly, we used to tell it about Soviet dictators.

Cross posted at Proof Positive

It seemed appropriate today...

2011-05-20T08:58:00.000-07:00

All that Glitters is not Presidential

2011-05-18T08:20:00.000-07:00

By Proof

Eggs at Sarah Palin, Breitbart and the Tea partiers, pies at Ann Coulter, and now, confetti at Newt. Must all liberals act like petulant two year olds?

Pretty sloppy security to let this guy pull who-knows-what out of his bag in front of a presidential candidate!

BTW, I'm sure no one is editorializing, but "Anti-gay event"? Please!

H/T Memeorandum

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Bible Verse o' The Day

2011-05-02T08:45:00.000-07:00

"For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another." (Galatians 5:13- 14)

A thought on the royal wedding...

2011-04-29T05:29:00.000-07:00

It's not occurring in a mosque. They were permitted to say Jesus Christ and ring bells. I think it was a good day in Great Britain.

I'm Redecorating!!

2011-04-28T15:45:00.001-07:00

Sometimes you just have to. Let me know your thoughts.

Happy 400th, King James Bible!

2011-04-24T12:06:00.001-07:00

By Proof

I wasn't sure which day would be best to post it, but 2011 is the 400th anniversary of the publication of the "King James" Bible, and Easter Sunday is probably as good a day as any! I bought a facsimile edition some years back, which will give you some idea of what was new four hundred years ago:

To see a larger version, click here.

Although much of the majestic language and beauty of the KJV was borrowed from earlier translations, the King James Bible was an is a faithful translation of the original languages and has helped preserve the Word of God to this day.

Here's to the next 400 years!

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Inflation Actually Near 10% Using Older Measure

2011-04-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

By Proof

Welcome Back, Carter!

John Melloy in CNBC's Fast Money:

After former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker was appointed in 1979, the consumer price index surged into the double digits, causing the now revered Fed Chief to double the benchmark interest rate in order to break the back of inflation. Using the methodology in place at that time puts the CPI back near those levels.

Inflation, using the reporting methodologies in place before 1980, hit an annual rate of 9.6 percent in February, according to the Shadow Government Statistics newsletter.

Since 1980, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has changed the way it calculates the CPI in order to account for the substitution of products, improvements in quality (i.e. iPad 2 costing the same as original iPad) and other things.

Backing out more methods implemented in 1990 by the BLS still puts inflation at a 5.5 percent rate and getting worse...

If the Misery Index = Unemployment rate + Inflation rate, then, with 10% inflation and unemployment over 9% (17 if you figure in those who have quit working, are underemployed or ran out of benefits) , then Obama's is close to, if not higher than Jimmy Carter's 19.72!

H/T Memeorandum

Cross posted at Proof Positive

"Women Fading Once More into Political Background"

2011-04-09T13:15:00.001-07:00

By Proof

No. Seriously! That headline was in my local dead tree paper this AM! This, I thought, I gotta see!

Ruth Marcus in what the Washington Post titled: Are women in politics making two steps forward, one step back?, starts off with a look at the bad old days:

At fancy Washington dinner parties decades ago, it was the custom for men and women to part ways after the meal. The men stayed at the table for brandy, cigars and Serious Talk; the women, as Katharine Graham recounted in her autobiography, retreated “to powder their noses and gossip.”

She goes on to wax eloquent about Hillary and Geraldine Ferraro:

Absent the phenomenon of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton would have been president — and the arc of gender politics would have taken on a far rosier hue. In 1984, when Ferraro was tapped to be the vice presidential nominee, there were only 24 women in Congress, including two senators. Today, there are 88, including 17 senators (the most senators ever). The overt sexism that Ferraro encountered — questions about whether she could bake muffins or, alternatively, pull the nuclear trigger — is inconceivable today.

And then, (cue the "Jaws" music) it gets really sinister:

On the other hand, the number of women in Congress fell this past year, although slightly. Perhaps more alarming, according to the Center for American Women and Politics, the number of women in state legislatures, a breeding ground for national politics, dropped by 81, a full percentage point.

(emphasis mine)

OMG! The number of women in Congress fell slightly!!! And in state legislatures, it was a full one percent!!!!!! Retreat to your fainting couches! Run to your kitchens and bake cookies! The Women's Movement is doomed!!!

2008 brought us the second, serious woman vice presidential candidate and the second female Secretary of State*. There are at least three women being talked today about as potential presidential candidates in 2012, and at least two of them would probably settle for veep, if push came to shove. So why the, if you'll pardon the pun, hysteria?

So, if 81 is one percent, then there are still over 8,000 women in the fifty states' legislatures. In 2010, you had numerous women running for the US Senate. In California, one of the nation's largest states, you had two women running for the same Senate seat and a woman running for governor. 2010 just wasn't the Year of the Conservative Woman.

I think Ms. Marcus' angst is a tad premature. She concludes her column:

The Ferraro aftermath notwithstanding, it’s unimaginable that, sometime in the next 27 years, there won’t be a woman elected president. Or is it?

Ruth: There's a possibility that in the next 19 months a woman will be elected president. Save your gloom and doom at least until the 2012 primaries are over.

*Okay. Technically it was 2009, but the stage was set in 2008.

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Petraeus Awards Soldier's Medal to Medic in Afghanistan

2011-04-05T19:33:00.000-07:00

By Proof

I just heard this story on the local news tonight. Pvt. Montez was being honored here in California, for an incident on his very first patrol in Afghanistan.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – The Commander of International Security Assistance Forces, Gen. David Petraeus, visited Camp Nathan Smith Dec. 20 to present a Soldier from 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division with the Soldier’s Medal, for an act of heroism.

The Soldier's Medal is the highest award a soldier can receive for actions not related to combat. It’s awarded to any soldier who distinguishes himself or herself by heroism not involving actual conflict with an enemy.

Pvt. Marcus Montez, a medic assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, said he had no idea that his very first patrol in Afghanistan would end with the life of an Afghan girl in his hands.

On the afternoon of Nov. 17, Montez and his squad were conducting a foot patrol through Shurdamn District in Kandahar City, said Sgt. April Luikart, medic assigned to HHC, 1BCT, 4th Inf. Div. During the patrol, they came across a distraught Afghan woman with a lifeless infant in her arms.

“The child’s mother had given up hope that her little girl would survive,” said Luikart. “She was already being consoled by her fellow villagers for the loss of her child.”

Without hesitation, Montez sprang into action, conducing Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation on the infant, said Luikart. He cut a necklace from around the child’s neck that had been obstructing her airway and began methodically performing CPR.

"The timing of the team and Montez’s exemplary actions led to the child being brought back to life,” said Capt. Jared Headley, patrol leader, assigned to HHC, 1st Special Troops Battalion, 1BCT, 4th Inf. Div. “This situation undoubtedly helped build upon our relationship with the Afghan community.”

What was extraordinary about these events is that Montez was the least experienced Soldier in the patrol said Headley. It was his first mission in Afghanistan, and his first time on patrol.

Private Montez: We salute you and thank you for your service.

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Quotes (plural) O' The Day

2011-03-25T13:04:00.000-07:00

"The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." ~Luther

"The devil...the prowde spirite...cannot endure to be mocked." ~Thomas More

Obama Launches Military Offensive -Anti-War Left: "Ooh, look! Shiny!"

2011-03-19T14:57:00.001-07:00

By Proof

Characterize it however you like, but Barack Obama just launched a military offensive against the sovereign state of Libya. Without a declaration of war from Congress.

Let me say up front, I don't have a problem with that. He is the President. Sometimes, Presidents must take swift and decisive action (stop laughing!). And though Obama's actions here have not been all that swift, or all that decisive, at least he has finally done something!

Side note: When the French are leading the military action and America is providing only support, who looks more like the leader of the Free World? Barack Obama or Nicolas Sarkozy?

What I'm wondering now, is whether or not the hypocritical Left (but I repeat myself) will denounce Obama for this in the same way they denounced Bush. They have pretty much given Obama a pass on the continuing war in Afghanistan, even as American casualties rise. (Whatever happened to reciting the names of fallen soldiers on TV, printing them in Doonesbury?) Obama has given de facto blessing to George Bush's Gitmo policy and now, launches a military offense against yet another nation that has, as the Left is wont to say, "not attacked us". (At least, not lately!)

I sincerely hope that the French and the British, with our help, can bring peace and stability to Libya. Maybe even plant the seeds for a fledgling democracy.

And I'd also like to see whether or not all the criticism of George W. Bush was just window dressing, as a means of gaining power for the Left or if there is anyone who will stand on principle on the Left, no matter how misguided.

Cross posted at Proof Positive

"I'm Giving up Hope"

2011-03-14T07:14:00.001-07:00

By Proof

Gasoline is creeping up to $4.00 a gallon here in California, and the lines are getting longer at the pump, but I may have the following engraved and mounted on my dashboard, to remind me just how much worse things could be.

Millions of people spent a third night without water, food or heating in near-freezing temperatures along the devastated northeastern coast..."I'm giving up hope," said Hajime Watanabe, 38, a construction industry worker, who was the first in line at a closed gas station in Sendai, about 60 miles north of Soma. Just then, an emergency worker came over and told him that if the station opens at all, it would pump gasoline only to emergency teams and essential government workers.

"I never imagined we would be in such a situation" Watanabe said. "I had a good life before. Now we have nothing. No gas, no electricity, no water."

He said he was surviving with his family on 60 half-liter bottles of water his wife had stored in case of emergencies like this. He walked two hours to find a convenience store that was open and waited in line to buy dried ramen noodles.

And those are the lucky ones...

H/T Weasel Zippers

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Through A Glass, Darkly

2011-02-25T06:10:00.000-08:00

Providence Is Sending Wisconsin A Bit Of A Cool Down

2011-02-20T07:08:00.000-08:00

Am I the only one who is finding it REALLY ironic that of all the areas of the United States, Wisconsin if about to get a back-handed slap from God in the form of a winter storm. Heh.

Gallup Poll: Reagan the Greatest President

2011-02-18T22:10:00.000-08:00

By Proof

PRINCETON, NJ -- Ahead of Presidents Day 2011, Americans are most likely to say Ronald Reagan was the nation's greatest president -- slightly ahead of Abraham Lincoln and Bill Clinton. Reagan, Lincoln, or John F. Kennedy has been at the top of this "greatest president" list each time this question has been asked in eight surveys over the last 12 years.

Reagan beats Lincoln and Washington! Oooh! The trolls with Reagan Derangement Syndrome are going to have some 'sploding heads!

Obama came in seventh, because, there's no accounting for taste! And Jimmy Carter is only ahead of Eisenhower and George H. W. Bush alphabetically!

H/T Memeorandum
Cross posted at Proof Positive

Question O' The Day

2011-02-16T10:30:00.001-08:00

If I am to believe the left and the liberal media and Egypt is now such a bastion of liberty and freedom and America is still a horrible capitalist mecca then why wouldn't Ms. Lara Logan go to the nearest Egyptian hospital after being attacked? Why is it that she "...returned to the United States on the first flight the next morning."

It Arrives!

2011-02-14T05:37:00.000-08:00

Obama Refers to Himself as "The Gipper" -video

2011-02-11T20:26:00.000-08:00

By Proof

I think he meant "Gypper". He must have misread the teleprompter!

Is there no end to this guy's self delusion and self aggrandizement?

H/T Rob Port
Cross posted at Proof Positive

Obama Compared to JFK...and Found Wanting

2011-02-09T16:26:00.000-08:00

By Proof

Rush Limbaugh, on his show yesterday, played a montage of the fawning MSM comparing Obama in his speech to the US Chamber of Commerce, to JFK.

E.J. DIONNE: It was a John F. Kennedy sort of "ask, uh, what you can do for your country" speech!

CONNELL McSHANE: A JFK moment...

LARRY KUDLOW: ...stealing a page from JFK.

JOHN HARWOOD: A JFK-style challenge to businesses...

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: ...a Kennedy-like call to action!

MARK CRUMPTON: ...hearken back to President Kennedy!

CHRISTINE ROMANS: ...sounded like JFK!

Then, he played clips from President Kennedy, whose policies are diametrically opposed to whatever Obama has done the last two years or proposes doing for the next two (or, God forbid, six!)

"Every dollar released from taxation, that is spent or invested, will help create a new job and a new salary, and these new jobs and new salaries can create other jobs and other salaries, and more customers and more growth for an expanding American economy."

JFK called for across the board tax cuts to create new jobs and more growth. Obama doesn't want to release dollars from taxation, he wants as many of them as he can get his hands on.

"If government is to retain the confidence of the people, it must not spend more than can be justified (give or take a trillion) on grounds of national need or spent with maximum efficiency."

If JFK were delivering this speech today, he would have to pause there for a laugh.

The final and best means of strengthening demand among consumers and business, is to reduce the burden on private income, and the deterrence to private initiative which are imposed by our present tax system, developed as it was, in good part, during World War II, to restrain growth, exerts too heavy a drag on growth in peacetime.

Does that sound anything like Obama to you? Me neither!

When consumers purchase more goods, plants use more of their capacity, men are hired instead of laid off, investment increases and profits are higher. Corporate tax rates must also be cut to increase incentives and the availability of investment capital. The government has already taken major steps this year to reduce business tax liability and to stimulate the modernization, replacement, and expansion of our productive plant and equipment.

That sounds suspiciously like a jobs program to me! Or we could raise taxes on business to make them "pay their fair share", even if in reality those taxes are added to the cost of the products you buy, as a hidden tax on the consumer, which is a regressive tax on the poor.

I was twelve years old when Kennedy ran for president. That didn't stop me from supporting him. I still have the Kennedy for President button I wore in grade school. Hearing him again reminds me of how far the Democrats have fallen in the last two score and ten years.

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Just incase you missed it...

2011-02-07T06:00:00.000-08:00

Things that make you go hmmmm.

2011-02-03T06:21:00.001-08:00

New "Eat Like An American" Thread: Red State BBQ, Lexington Kentucky

2011-01-27T09:56:00.000-08:00

So, I've been trying to come up with ways to spice up my blog and I had an Ah-ha moment while eating lunch. Today I launch the "Eat Like An American" or "Eat Like A Liberal" thread. Think of it as Diners, Drive-ins and Dives meets a conservative blogger. So we start off the food fun-ness with Lexington Kentucky's Red State BBQ...

Perfectly buttered and toasted bun....yummy.
Cooked-all-day-in-the-bbq-pit chicken...mmmmm.
Homemade cole slaw...nice.
Tangy and sweet, southern style sauce....yum-o.
Fresh cut pickles and onions to place atop your pile of bbq...excellent.

Restaurant named in honor of conservative red state of Kentucky....priceless.

I Don't Understand

2011-01-21T06:19:00.001-08:00

Celebrating the Hero Heterosexual White Male

2011-01-12T10:01:00.000-08:00

Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

2011-01-09T07:56:00.000-08:00

Quoted from Gateway Pundit:

The media and democrats want us to focus on the nation’s “caustic political climate”after the tragedy yesterday. Maybe they should start with President Obama.
He may be the worst offender.
** Obama: “They Bring a Knife…We Bring a Gun”
** Obama to His Followers: “Get in Their Faces!”
** Obama on ACORN Mobs: “I don’t want to quell anger. I think people are right to be angry! I’m angry!”
** Obama to His Mercenary Army: “Hit Back Twice As Hard”
** Obama on the private sector: “We talk to these folks… so I know whose ass to kick.“
** Obama to voters: Republican victory would mean “hand to hand combat”
** Obama to lib supporters: “It’s time to Fight for it.”
** Obama to Latino supporters: “Punish your enemies.”
** Obama to democrats: “I’m itching for a fight.”
If the media really wants to improve the “caustic political climate” they may want to start at the White House.

Welcome To 2011

2011-01-05T06:47:00.000-08:00

*Picture from www.drudgereport.com

"According to a study released by the Bay Area Center for Voting Research, Detroit is the most liberal large city in America"*

2011-01-03T09:55:00.000-08:00

Detroit In Ruins. A picture collage.

*That headline is a quote from the "Detroit" page of Wikipedia

Cellist, Inspiration for "Rosie the Riveter", Dead at 86

2010-12-30T11:09:00.000-08:00

By Proof

From a Washington Post story:

"Geraldine Doyle, 86, who as a 17-year-old factory worker became the inspiration for a popular World War II recruitment poster that evoked female power and independence under the slogan "We Can Do It!," died Dec. 26 at a hospice in Lansing, Mich."

"Rosie the Riveter", who, in this famous poster, was neither named "Rosie" or a "riveter", has symbolized to this day a "can do" attitude on behalf of women everywhere. No shrinking violet need apply. No fainting couch needed for Ms. Riveter!

...One day, a photographer representing United Press International came to her factory and captured Mrs. Doyle leaning over a piece of machinery and wearing a red and white polka-dot bandanna over her hair.

In early 1942, the Westinghouse Corp. commissioned artist J. Howard Miller to produce several morale-boosting posters to be displayed inside its buildings. The project was funded by the government as a way to motivate workers and perhaps recruit new ones for the war effort.

Smitten with the UPI photo, Miller reportedly was said to have decided to base one of his posters on the anonymous, slender metal worker - Mrs. Doyle.

For four decades, this fact escaped Mrs. Doyle, who shortly after the photo was taken left her job at the factory. She barely lasted two weeks.

A cellist, Mrs. Doyle was horrified to learn that a previous worker at the factory had badly injured her hands working at the machines. She found safer employment at a soda fountain and bookshop in Ann Arbor, where she wooed a young dental school student and later became his wife.

Ms. Doyle spent just two weeks in a factory but sixty nine years symbolizing the strength of the American woman.

Rest in peace, Ms. Doyle.

H/T Memeorandum

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Freudian Projection

2010-12-28T08:11:00.000-08:00

There seems to be so many examples of the left participating in "Freudian projection" - that is possessing a hidden trait in oneself that one sees in others - that it makes me think that Savage is right when he states that liberalism is a mental disorder. Take for instance this little nugget of information that my friends at the Bluegrass Institute unearthed. Makes one almost draw the conclusion that our government monopolized public school system and cultural propaganda is churning out kids too stupid to join the Army. Yet liberals scream and cry about the military being the only option for poor dumb kids. No. It seems that public schools would be the only option for poor dumb kids.

"The Associated Press says a new study from the Education Trust shows that nearly one in four who tries to join the US Army lack the minimum academic skills required for enlistment.

That already sounds pretty bad, but it looks a lot more serious when you learn that the Army says only about one in four individuals aged 17 to 24 are even qualified to take the service’s test battery. The rest are either physically unfit, a high school dropout, or have a criminal record."

Van Jones: The Left's "Pretended" Green Crisis

2010-12-22T11:37:00.001-08:00

By Proof

Van Jones Admits Left is ‘PRETENDING’ Need for Regulations in Green Movement

Environmental Adviser to President Barack Obama, and infamous 9/11 Truther, Van Jones was caught in another candid moment last month.

Demonstrating that his intellectual landscape is very sparse or barren*, he says the only way to get "innovation" up on clean energy is to push the "dirty stuff" down. I wonder if any one ever asked him to defend the notion that "innovation" somehow thrives in an atmosphere of heavy regulation, high taxes and licensing? Generally speaking, don't sets of iron clad rules tend to militate against "innovation"?

He then goes on to say, there are only three ways to accomplish getting more clean energy and less dirty energy. Somehow, "innovation" didn't make the cut!

1) "Regulate (them) hard". Businesses complying with endless government regulations have far less time, money and talent that could be devoted to innovation (the missing way) in cleaner energy.

2) "Tax them real hard". Businesses with less capital have less capital for R&D. Higher taxes can change the viability of the company, where it may have little to no budget for R&D just to survive. And transferring that money to the government will make clean energy possible faster? Ask Jimmy Carter, whose Department of Energy, to date, hasn't created any. How much money has this agency chewed through since the 1970's? Maybe the government hasn't thrown enough money at the problem yet? Sheesh!

3)"Or you make them buy permits" Which, in reality, is no different from #2. Why should the fiction of whether it is a license or a tax decrease the cost of doing business to the company that is so burdened?

In reality, a good socialist like Van Jones knows only two ways to deal with what he paints or perceives as a problem: Increased government regulation, or increased taxes (Or both). But, taxation itself can be another means of government regulation. If the government taxes you more heavily to do "A" than "B", you tend to do "B". If given a tax break to do something by a certain date, people will alter their (or their business's) behavior to comply with the whim of government regulation or tax code.

In essence, the government has only one way to regulate business and that is through coercion. The full force of the federal government will enforce whatever regulations they pass and collect whatever taxes and fines they levy.

If Van Jones would ever step away from the ivory tower he is currently living in, he might have taken note of the fact that the old Soviet block countries, where government regulation and enforcement reigned supreme, the pollution was their court's hand maiden. Gross pollution was the mark of the old Soviet block, because the people weren't free to make their own choices. Bumbling bureaucrats were in charge of everything and they had no fear of their customers "taking their business elsewhere". There was no elsewhere.

Also overlooked are efforts currently underway by the "old dirty" companies to advance "green energy". ExxonMobil is currently studying hydrogen powered vehicles. Their efforts are not primarily altruistic, but the possible twofold matter of their economic survival. One, the discovery of a safe, affordable and virtually pollution free means of transportation would bring tremendous profit to whomever perfects it. Secondly, they have a vested interest in the transition to this new methodology, since having thousands of ExxonMobil stations through the interstate highway system selling tree shaped air fresheners and sodas may not be a viable business plan in the foreseeable future.

So, Mr. Jones: Please tell us how increasing the taxes or regulations on a company like ExxonMobil increase the likelihood of them perfecting what you would term a "greener" technology?

No, what you really want is more state control over companies in this country and more control over its people. Raising taxes on ExxonMobil is passed through the company in the form of higher costs and resulting higher prices to the consumer. If the consumer has to spend an inordinate amount of time struggling to keep himself and his family intact, he has less time to contemplate what his government is doing to him. And keeping people broke is a sure way to help keep them powerless, in both senses of the word.

* We also allow for the possibility that his positions are simply more dishonest pretense to advance a different agenda.

H/T Memeorandum

Update:The website on the wall behind him, is from The Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University

Cross posted at Proof Positive

A Bad Case of Writus Interruptus

2010-12-13T06:49:00.000-08:00

To all my loyal Lady Cincinnatus readers, I apologize for my bad case of writus interruptus that I have been experiencing since the election. I promise in the days ahead to begin my regular posts and might even redecorate the place. It has just been a matter of a busy schedule and no room in my head for leisurely political commentary. Please stay tuned. Thank you to Proof for adding some life to the blog while I've been away.

India Outraged Over TSA Pat Down of Indian Diplomat

2010-12-10T10:47:00.000-08:00

By Proof

LA Times has the story of the "sari with the fringe on top*":

— Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed concern Thursday that India's ambassador to the U.S. was patted down by a TSA agent in Mississippi.

India's foreign minister called last week's pat-down of Ambassador Meera Shankar unacceptable. Shankar had attended a conference at Mississippi State University and was catching a flight to Baltimore from Jackson-Evers International Airport.

Witnesses told the Clarion-Ledger newspaper in Jackson that Shankar was told she was singled out for additional screening because of her sari, which drapes across the body and is worn by many Indian women.

*My apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein
H/T Rob Port

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Elizabeth Edwards, R I P

2010-12-07T22:08:00.000-08:00

Elizabeth Edwards died today.

(Reuters) - Elizabeth Edwards, a best-selling author and the driving force behind her husband John Edwards's political career before it was destroyed by his infidelity, died on Tuesday at age 61. Edwards died of cancer on Tuesday morning at her home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina surrounded by her family, they said in a statement.

"Today we have lost the comfort of Elizabeth's presence but she remains the heart of this family. We love her and will never know anyone more inspiring or full of life," they said.

Edwards was first diagnosed with breast cancer and treated in 2004. In 2007, the cancer returned and spread to other parts of her body. She wrote two best-selling books, "Resilience" and "Saving Graces," about her long battle with cancer and the scandal surrounding her husband, a wealthy trial lawyer who served as a U.S. senator from North Carolina and twice ran for president.

This came as somewhat of a shock. I heard a story on the radio yesterday that said she was stopping treatment and had perhaps only weeks to live. I thought about what must go through one's mind when told you had but weeks to live. Turns out, it was only hours.

I don't want to say anything to take away from what this dear lady suffered, but her husband, John, has been a sleazebag for as long as I can remember. I knew he was lying scum long before news of his affair or illegitimate child came out.

Elizabeth's fault, if she had one, was in showing loyalty to someone who did not deserve it. After all the embarrassment and suffering, may she rest in peace.

H/T Memeorandum

"11 Foreign Countries Wage War Against Arizona and American Sovereignty"

2010-11-28T14:18:00.000-08:00

By Proof

Maggie's Notebook has this video about the potential interference of adjudicating Arizona's border enforcement law by foreign nations and the seeming complicity of Eric Holder and the oxymoronically named Obama justice department.

Though the video's headline speaks of "impeaching" Obama. I am not ready to go that far. But it does seem as if the only way to rid ourselves of this biased and perhaps incompetent Attorney General Eric Holder is to fire his boss.

Cross posted at Proof Positive

77 Year Old Mexican Rancher Killed Standing up to Cartel

2010-11-26T10:44:00.001-08:00

By Proof

This is an amazing story.

The story began in the morning of Saturday November 13, when a group of armed gunmen went to deliver an ultimatum to Don Alejo Garza Tamez: He had 24 hours to turn over his property or suffer the consequences.

Using the diplomacy he had acquired over nearly eight decades of life, Don Alejo flatly announced that not only would he not be surrendering his property, but that he’d be waiting for them.

When the men had left, Don Alejo gathered his workers and ordered them to take Sunday off, he wanted to be alone.

He dedicated the rest of Saturday to taking stock of his weapons and ammunition and creating a military fortress style defense strategy for his home.

Seventy seven years old and a man to be reckoned with, Don Alejo was ready to fight or die defending his property and his way of life.

The night of Saturday the thirteenth was long and restless, much like his past hunting adventures; Don Alejo woke early. Shortly after 4 a.m. the motors of various trucks could be heard entering the property from a distance.

Marines who investigated the scene could only imagine how it was that morning: armed men, their impunity secured, confident they’d soon be owners of yet another property. Nobody, or almost no one, could hold out against a group of heavily armed gunmen. Only Don Alejo.

The trucks entered the ranch and took up positions surrounding the house. The gunmen got out of their trucks, fired shots in the air, and announced they came to take possession of the ranch. They were expecting the terrified occupants to run out, begging for mercy with their hands in the air.

But things didn’t go as expected. Don Alejo welcomed them with bullets; the entire army of gunmen returned fire. Don Alejo seemed to multiply, he seemed to be everywhere. The minutes would have seemed endless to those who had seen him as easy prey. Various gunmen were killed on sight. The others, in rage and frustration, intensified the attack by swapping out their assault rifles for grenades.

When everything finally fell silent, the air was left heavy with gunpowder. The holes left in the walls and the windows attested to the violence of the attack. When they went in search of what they had assumed was a large contingent, they were surprised to find only one man, Don Alejo.

The surviving gunmen did not take over the ranch. Thinking the military would arrive at any moment, they decided to run. They left behind what they thought were six corpses, but two of their gunmen had survived.

Shortly after, the Marines arrived and methodically reconstructed the events. A lone rancher, a man who worked a lifetime to be able to enjoy the fruits of his labor such as his ranch, had defended it to his death.

Here is one man, willing to give up his life to defend what was rightfully his. Compare this to our current border situation where we put up signs miles from the border warning US citizens to keep out, letting thieves and criminals and, yes, the drug cartel, take virtual possession of land that is ours, because the government has neither the will, nor the cojones of a Don Alejo to stand up and refuse to be intimidated by threats of violence.

Whoever our next president is in 2013, let's send him (or her) a copy of what Don Alejo Garza Tamez was willing to do to protect his home and ask when we are going to find the cojones to do the same?

Read more at Pat Dollard

Cross posted at Proof Positive

"Flag Boy" Gets Motorcycle Escort to School

2010-11-15T17:37:00.000-08:00

By Proof

Just saw this on the news. This was amazing! An impromptu Fourth of July like parade to the Denair Middle School this AM!

More at
Fox 40 KXTL

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Mr. Boehner, Your First Test. Oh Hell No.

2010-11-12T07:02:00.000-08:00

Message to Mr. Boehner

Don't even think about making Fred Upton chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. In 2007 Upton, together with Jane Harman (D-CA) sponsored a bill to phase out the 100 watt incandescent light bulb by 2012, closing lightbulb plants across the nation and forcing us to buy bulbs that are full of mercury, only manufactured in China and cause headaches and eye problems.

Oh hell no.

What did you do today...for freedom?

2010-11-11T13:27:00.000-08:00

You Can Learn A Lot From History

2010-11-11T05:45:00.000-08:00

Mounting Threats

2010-11-08T05:32:00.001-08:00

An Open Letter to John Boehner

2010-11-05T23:02:00.001-07:00

By Proof

Congressman Boehner: Congratulations! A lot of hard work has gone into giving Republicans a majority in the House of Representatives. And while you have stated that the President sets the agenda in Washington, you are in a unique position to set the tone.
I would start with a number of gestures that are not solely symbolic. I would either call a press conference or sit down for an interview and set out a few objectives. First, I would announce that my intention would be to meet with the House Security Chief and ask for a smaller plane than Ms. Pelosi used, and that your intent was to use it less frequently.
Second, I would announce plans to reduce the number of junkets taken by Republican members of the House. If possible, I would announce this while President Obama and his entourage are still in India.

Good government leads by example. Obama gave lip service to sacrifice and then wastes millions. Arrogance and haughtiness have been the hallmarks of the last two years. A little humility and frugality will go a long way.

Lead by example. Don't compromise your principles. Remember that you are more beholden to the Constitution and the American people than you are to the party.
Do this and in 2012, we'll send you some more help to do it.

Good luck!

Cross posted at Proof Positive

In Honor of Barry and Michelle's Excellent Adventure to India...

2010-11-05T00:10:00.000-07:00

By Proof

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Dia de los Muertos Democrats - November 2nd.

2010-11-02T08:51:00.001-07:00

By Proof

What a fantastic coincidence that Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, should occur on ~~November 2nd~~ election day*.
Perhaps we should rename it "Dia de los Muertos Democrats" in their honor?

H/T Western Hero

Cross posted at Proof Positive

*Dia de los Muertos, I have been reminded, always falls on November 2nd.

Vote As If Your Future Depended On It

2010-11-02T08:17:00.001-07:00

Virginia Puts the Lie to Obama's Lameness

2010-10-31T23:33:00.000-07:00

By Proof

Lame. [leym] lam·er, lam·est, verb, lamed, lam·ing, noun
–adjective
1. crippled or physically disabled, esp. in the foot or leg so as to limp or walk with difficulty.
2. impaired or disabled through defect or injury: a lame arm.
3. weak; inadequate; unsatisfactory; clumsy: a lame excuse.
4. Slang . out of touch with modern fads or trends; unsophisticated.

Now that we have thoroughly discussed President Obama's "drove the economy in the ditch" analogy, let's take a look at how Republican "drivers" are making out in states where they are still "behind the wheel". From the Washington Post:

President Obama and other Democrats are going around the country making the same argument as party leaders made in Virginia last year: If you elect Republicans, they'll drive the car right back into the ditch.
Virginians overwhelmingly ignored that advice, and a year later many say they have few regrets and are generally pleased - if not ecstatic - about what Republicans have done.

Excuse me, but did she say "ecstatic"??

Voters are crediting republican Gov. Robert F. McDonnell with coming up with deep budget cuts and even ending the fiscal year with a small surplus, without the tax increase that former Gov. Kaine had recommended.

..."This state hasn't gone backwards," said Steven Herborn, 55, of Chesapeake. He has supported candidates in both parties over the years but wants Republicans to take over Congress next week.

...And more than a dozen independent voters in Virginia who backed Obama in 2008 said in interviews that they didn't think the state had moved backward under McDonnell and Republicans in the past year. A few who didn't vote for him still gave him credit for working hard and focusing on the right priorities.

Sounds like a case of "Who are you going to believe? Me, or your own lying eyes?"
The Democrats' lack of traction with with their message, combined with a disastrous economy and double digit unemployment caused Virginians to look at the results of their politicians and not the rhetoric.

How bad is it for Democrats in Virginia? They're losing retired government workers!

Mary Kay Rieg, 60, a retired federal employee from Alexandria...enthusiastically backed Obama in 2008, hoping he'd bring a new brand of post-partisan politics to Washington.

She's been so disappointed that next week she plans to vote against Rep. James P. Moran Jr., a 10-term incumbent, for the first time and cast her ballot for Republican Patrick Murray instead.

"President Obama came in under very special circumstances, and those circumstances called for restraint," she said. "And Democrats have not shown restraint."

That's not to say that the election will be a cakewalk or that there are no problems to overcome. Yet, these are encouraging signs that Tuesday's election might be like the punchline to a lawyer joke:

What do you call 100 lawyers on the ocean floor?

A start.

H/T 2H9

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Happy Halloween Weekend! 1928 Time Traveler?

2010-10-29T06:04:00.000-07:00

Ode To Kentucky Politics

2010-10-28T06:30:00.001-07:00

Demagogues-R-Us

2010-10-27T11:36:00.001-07:00

By Proof

Barack Obama, in typical liberal fashion, was less than completely honest the other day when he made this statement about government funding:

Obama was meeting in a backyard conversation with neighbors, but in addition to fielding questions, he suggested a few things to ask Republicans on the campaign trail. Specifically,
"What are you going to cut. There's this deafening silence."

Deafening silence. My first thought was, he didn't speak to any conservatives I know! Since at least the days of Reagan, the conservative movement has been rife with suggestions on how to cut the federal budget.

Upon further reflection, I decided that one major obstacle to frank and honest public discourse is the demagoguery of Democrats and other liberals.

When Republicans wanted to give more money to school lunches in the form of grants to the states, thus taking it out of federal control, Democrats demagogued this issue by saying that Republicans wanted to "cut school lunches". More money = cuts. Got it!

When Newt Gingrich proposed allowing people to direct the investment of a mere two percent of their Social Security retirement (some might actually call that "choice") it was demagogued as "privatizing Social Security", privatization implying a takeover instead a supplement or complement.

Back in 19955, when Republicans suggested a cut back in support for public television, the issue was (and is again) being couched as "Republicans hate Sesame Street", or "Republicans hate Big Bird". Never mind the fact that the Muppets, a division of the Disney empire, have garnered huge financial rewards via licensing, toys, books, movies, clothing, DVDs, etc. In the demagogues' mind, moving Big Bird away from the public trough is to "hate" Big Bird.

In the wake of the Juan Williams debacle, the wisdom of public funding for such a slanted media outlet comes again to the forefront, and still the demagogues trot the Muppets out as if Republicans hate children.

In the arts, if a chocolate smeared Karen Finley or a Robert Maplethorpe of bullwhip fame, or Andres Serrano (Piss Christ), (or most recently, a picture of Christ receiving oral sex from another man), provokes public outrage, Demagogues-R-Us march out their legions to decry those Philistines who want to eliminate funding for the "Arts". You know...ballet and symphony orchestras.

Maybe the "deafening silence" you hear, Mr. President, is the result of decades of lies, smears and innuendo heaped upon conservatives by the demagogues in your own party? Perhaps if the party of Demagogues would sit down and rationally and calmly discuss the matter, the budget could be cut in ways that the vast majority of the American people would find acceptable.

It is not just the art that is obscene, Mr. President. It is the spending.
And the demagoguery that defends it.

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Watch This And Then Go Vote

2010-10-27T07:01:00.000-07:00

Quote O' The Day

2010-10-26T05:40:00.000-07:00

"What does that mean? In 2009, the US spent about $665 billion on its military, the Chinese about $99 billion. If Beijing continues to buy American debt at the rate it has in recent times, then within a few years US interest payments on that debt will be covering the entire cost of the Chinese military. This summer, the Pentagon issued an alarming report to Congress on Beijing’s massive military build-up, including new missiles, upgraded bombers, and an aircraft-carrier R&D program intended to challenge US dominance in the Pacific. What the report didn’t mention is who’s paying for it.

Answer: Mr and Mrs America.

By 2015, the People’s Liberation Army, which is the largest employer on the planet, bigger even than the US Department of Community-Organizer Grant Applications, will be entirely funded by US taxpayers. When the Commies take Taiwan, suburban families in Connecticut and small businesses in Idaho will have paid for it." ~Mark Steyn

Congress Hard at Work

2010-10-23T20:41:00.000-07:00

By Proof

Rep. Barbara Lambert, D-Milford and Rep. Jack F. Hennessy, D-Bridgeport, play solitaire Monday night as the House convened to vote on a new budget.

Remember when Bill Clinton said he'd worked harder than he'd ever worked to try to keep his promise on tax cuts? Looks like the latest crop of Democrats are following in his footsteps. At least we're not paying these clowns, are we? Are we???

No, no, no Barbara! Black ten on red Jack!

More at Allied Liberty News

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Has Great Britain Gone Over To The Dark Side?

2010-10-23T06:21:00.000-07:00

I know I'm a bit late with the video below, however if you haven't seen it yet, I'd **WARN** you not to actually watch it unless you enjoy seeing little kids get blown to bits. And actually, I was waiting for the banning of the smell of frying bacon part. But I'd like everyone to guess and take the poll--What did Great Britain Ban? Answer in the comment section. I'll give you a hint. It wasn't the video that shows the little kids getting blown to bits.

Juan Williams Hammers Last Nail Into NPR

2010-10-22T21:19:00.001-07:00

By Proof

Another schadenfreude moment:

Mr. Williams goes through a litany of things liberals have said on NPR without losing their jobs. As they say on Sesame Street, Can you say...double standard?

Kudos to Bill O’Reilly for giving him a forum to air his grievances.

Via American Glob

Cross posted at Proof Positive

New NPR Logo

2010-10-22T08:06:00.000-07:00

-dedicated to former employee Juan Williams

By Proof

Cross posted at Proof Positive

NPR: Thought Police

2010-10-22T06:08:00.001-07:00

Ah. So, we now learn that Juan Williams has always been a thorn in the side of NPR. And according to NPR, it is expected that proper political analysts must, "give his own analysis – while carefully choosing his words on any given subject."

And if those words are not chosen carefully enough for p.c. muslims and NPR, then you'll be fired...or just fitted with an electro shock collar. The electro shock collars just haven't come in yet.

NPR also goes on to whine that, "NPR's values emphasize fact-based, objective journalism" except when the "fact-base" relates to the real unease of a modern plane boarding caused by 19 muslims who flew planes into buildings that sent almost 3,000 innocent men, women and children to a fiery, violent and hellish death all in the name of Allah (peace be upon him).

And I just wonder what percentage of NPR funding comes from tainted terrorist or sharia compliant funding? Just wondering...

My New Favorite Website

2010-10-20T12:46:00.001-07:00

Brought to you by the People's Cube.

It Got Nasty

2010-10-19T13:51:00.000-07:00

Early Hate Crime Quote O' The Day

2010-10-13T13:26:00.000-07:00

"So an arrest was made of all who confessed; then on the basis of their information, an immense multitude was convicted...for hatred of the human race."

--Tacitus's Account of Nero's Persecution of Christians, Annales, 15, 44.2-8 (Tacitus lived from c. AD 56-c. 120; he wrote the Annales after AD 100; he was not a Christian, and is regarded as one of Rome's greatest historians)

Heh.

2010-10-12T07:08:00.000-07:00

Your Taxes Are Going Up in January- No Matter What

2010-10-11T19:47:00.001-07:00

By Proof

I heard this on the radio this afternoon. By neglecting their duties to the American people and putting off until after the election, making a hard decision on extending any of the Bush tax cuts, the Democrat controlled Congress deprived the IRS of sufficient time to calculate and implement those reduced tax rates. By law, the very sunset law that Democrats insisted upon when the Bush tax cuts were implemented, your taxes must go up.

Lets recap: The Democrats forced a sunset provision onto the Bush tax cuts, insuring that if they were not extended by 2010, your taxes would go up.
The Democrats failed to extend them. Therefore, the Democrats are responsible, doubly responsible for making your taxes go up.

Pelosi and Reid have been in charge of Congress since 2007. They've had three years to extend any or all of them. They Did Nothing.

The Obama administration and the Democrats have controlled all three branches of government for 22 months. They Did Nothing.

How can we reward the Democrats for our taxes being raised this January? We can show Democrats our appreciation for higher taxes this November, by making them all civilians and thus subject to all the laws they have passed.

Your your appreciation. Show them the door.

Video via Flopping Aces

Cross posted at Proof Positive

A Bellwether Race

2010-10-11T09:32:00.000-07:00

Karl Rove on Obama's "Baseless Lie" -Video

2010-10-10T12:36:00.000-07:00

By Proof

Karl Rove was fired up this AM on Fox News Sunday. I saw this live (well, time delay for the Left Coast) and Gateway Pundit had the video.

“Have these people no shame? Does the president of the United States have such little regard for the office that he holds that he goes out there and makes these kind of baseless charges against his political enemies?”

The charge made by Obama is doubly hypocritical when you consider how the Obama campaign went out of their way NOT to verify the sources of their overseas funding in 2008 in their Internet fund raising.

Update: Just found the offending video in question over at Say Anything

More at Gateway Pundit

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Kent State Shooting Revisited: New Tape Analysis

2010-10-09T10:38:00.000-07:00

By Proof

It's not always what you don't know that gets you in trouble, but the things that you "know" that aren't true. For years the meme has stood that innocent, unarmed, college student anti-war protesters were gunned down in cold blood without any provocation. New evidence and analysis of a forty year old audio tape seems to indicate the sound of repeated gunfire preceding the horrific incident.

A noisy, violent altercation and four pistol shots took place about 70 seconds before Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on antiwar protesters at Kent State University, according to a new analysis of a 40-year-old audiotape of the event.

For those of us old enough to remember those days, this certainly puts a different light on an American tragedy.

More at Cleveland.com

H/T Memeorandum

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Obama Turns Down IBM Offer to Eliminate Fraud and Waste...for Free

2010-10-09T09:07:00.000-07:00

By Proof

Getting rid of waste and fraud in health care is not the President's first priority. Control is.

Mort Zuckerman, a Democrat, can hardly be accused of being partisan in his criticism of Barry O. It's almost as if having the government take control of the health care system was more important to Obama than reforming it! Of course, reducing fraud and waste would alleviate some of the "crisis" that caused the government to intervene in the first place.

H/T John Lott
Cross posted at Proof Positive

Listen To Those That Know The Sound Of Approaching Tyranny

2010-10-07T11:30:00.001-07:00

Guess The Title Of New School Rap Curriculum: Old Dead White Men

2010-10-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

What inner-city kids in Oklahoma are learning about President James Monroe, America's fifth president and last to be considered a founding father,

“White men getting richer than Enron./ They stepping on Indians, women and blacks./ Era of Good Feeling doesn’t come with the facts.”

What they should really be learning,

President James Monroe fought in the American Revolution. He served in the Continental Congress as an anti-Federalist delegate to the Virginia convention in consideration of the U.S. Constitution. Monroe opposed ratification on the grounds that it gave too much power to the federal government. Monroe studied law under Thomas Jefferson. He is best known for the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 that stated the United States would not tolerate further European involvement in the Americas.

Gina Elise of Pinups for Vets Vies for Pepsi Refresh Grant

2010-10-02T13:24:00.000-07:00

Some of you may remember our very first Friday Night Babe, the lovely Gina Elise of Pinups for Vets. In her words:

"...Pin-Ups For Vets is in the running for a $50,000 Pepsi Refresh Grant that will allow me to do a U.S.A. Veterans and Military Hospital Tour! These visits have brought so much laughter and many smiles to our Nation's heroes who are enduring long hospital stays.

Voting starts today and goes until the end of the month! The top ten organizations will receive their requested grant. Please mark your calendars to vote everyday!

Please repost this link below on your Facebook/Twitter/Blogs. I appreciate it so much! Please help Pin-Ups For Vets make a difference for our hospitalized Veterans in all 50 states!
Here is the link to vote: http://www.refresheverything.com/votepinupsforvets"

Pinups for Vets does some really fine things for our wounded vets. Buy a calendar or at least click the link (or both) to support a worthy cause.

More at Proof Positive

It Has Been A While

2010-09-29T12:45:00.000-07:00

since I've posted a celebration of the heterosexual white male. So, here you go.

Picture is from this site http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2010/03/18/captured-blog-the-pacific-and-adjacent-theaters/#more-1547

And This Just Made Me Laugh

2010-09-27T09:15:00.001-07:00

Christ of Abyss

2010-09-27T08:13:00.000-07:00

I just liked this picture...

Get Ready For November

2010-09-25T11:43:00.000-07:00

Scary Stuff At About 7:20

2010-09-25T08:41:00.000-07:00

Conservative Women Unleashed

2010-09-25T08:06:00.000-07:00

And on that note, yes I'll be attending my very first all girls concealed carry permit party. Got to love livin' in a red state.

Colbert: Only Terrorists Have Bigger Bombs*

2010-09-24T22:24:00.000-07:00

By Proof

Humor is a subjective thing. Not everybody laughs at the same jokes. Not everyone agrees on who's funny. How else could you explain Jerry Lewis, Pauly Shore and early Adam Sandler?

That brings us to Steven Colbert testifying before Congress. Let me say up front that I've never been impressed with Colbert's shtick. I heard the audio of portions of his testimony on Levin's show this afternoon. And while Levin mildly chuckled a couple of times, I didn't. Colbert bombed. Big time.
I later saw portions of the video, with people seated, staring stone faced behind him, also not laughing. I could relate to them. The closest thing to a laugh, was when Colbert mocked Congress for not reading legislation by saying that, like them, he hadn't read it either. That might have been funny if it were not true and indicative of the rot in our nation's capitol. Not really a laughing matter.

It was supposed to be a hearing about immigration and this buffoon is doing jokes about nicknames for gay Iowans. Frankly, it was disgusting. Not the lame gay joke, but the fact that this clown was wasting the time of what ought to be a serious body of people going about the serious business of this country.

That is not to say that legislators must be perpetually dour. I enjoy a good joke as much, if not better than the next man. But, having this court jester testify at a Senate** hearing was the joke. And it wasn't funny.

If the current crop of Congress Critters can't comprehend that. Let's send them home where they can make all the gay Iowan jokes they want. Just not at our expense.

*Closed Captioning for the Humor Impaired: Figurative bombs. It's an colloquial phrase.

**It has been pointed out to me that this was a House hearing. Maybe it was all the comparisons to Al Franken that caused me to make the mistake. Or maybe it was that my Givead*mn was broken concerning this clown and Congress?

Cross posted at Proof Positive

"Mourning in America" Ad

2010-09-22T20:12:00.000-07:00

By Proof

I heard the audio on this on the radio today:

It's a sad, but great take off on Reagan's "Morning in America".

via American Glob

The Dissident Frogman IS BACK!!! And So Am I.

2010-09-20T13:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the week long MIA hiatus and big thanks to Mr. Proof Positive for his steadfast blogging and for holding down the Lady Cincinnatus fort while I was away. I'll give you a hint of my doings. Think 10th amendment, think federalism, think state's rights and think nullification. And I leave you with the quote o' the day from my second favorite blog man and first favorite of French heritage - Mr. Dissident Frogman.

"Thus, anyone who reduces — and excuses — modern Islamic terrorism as the result of unheard yet legitimate grievances following the reestablishment of the State of Israel, the foreign policy of the USA or even the unpredictably variable length of Western womenfolk's skirts, is primarily showing his ignorance of both English language and History."

Allen West's SSN Revealed By Opponent

2010-09-20T12:00:00.001-07:00

By Proof

Could it be because he's black?? Sorry! I was just channeling some of my liberal acquaintances there! In the Democrats-Have-No-Shame, Dirty Tricks department, Allen West's Democrat opponent has dug up a five year old tax lien against Mr. West, which has since been resolved, which they published along with his Social Security number!

Didn't the Dems do something similar when Michael Steele, then Lt. Governor, was running for office in Maryland?

BALTIMORE -- Federal prosecutors have opened an inquiry into allegations that two Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee employees illegally tapped into Lt. Gov. Michael Steele's credit history.

Maybe the canard about how unfriendly the Republican Party is to black candidates would evaporate if the the supposedly liberal, Liberal Democrats would stop violating the privacy of any conservative black who runs for office and stop assassinating the character of conservative blacks like Clarence Thomas?

I suppose that's too much to ask for!

H/T Riehl World View
Cross posted at Proof Positive

HOPE 1.0

2010-09-18T11:51:00.000-07:00

by Proof

You should go out and buy the October 4th issue of National Review for the cover art alone!

Christine O'Donnell Wins N J Delaware Primary

2010-09-14T21:21:00.000-07:00

by Proof

Tea Party conservative candidate Christine O'Donnell has apparently won the ~~New Jersey~~ Delaware* primary to represent Republicans in this November's Senate race. Per Fox News:

With all precincts reporting, O'Donnell beat Castle 53-47 percent.

O'Donnell's win stands as the latest sign of Tea Party strength but also the latest test of whether that movement helps or hinders the Republican Party, with an open seat and perhaps a GOP Senate majority at stake.

This should make for an interesting general election. Be sure to support the candidates of your choice these next few critical weeks!

Cross posted at Proof Positive

*Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!

President Announces Major Cutbacks in Government Workforce

2010-09-13T21:25:00.000-07:00

by Proof

The President announced Monday layoffs of at least half a million government workers by early next year and laid out plans to help them find new jobs in private employment.

The President further suggested that as many as one in five government employees may be redundant. As has been pointed out, the speed and scope of the coming cutbacks were astounding.

Oh, and did I mention that the President in question is a tad more conservative than Barack Obama? It's Raul Castro, President of Cuba!

Yes. The People's Paradise of the Western Hemisphere has discovered that it cannot any longer afford to pay hundreds of thousands of people to do nothing at government expense.

I heard long ago a statement that has stuck with me, first in the context of third world countries and more recently of our own:

Government employment is hidden unemployment.

Looks like Michael Moore's home away from home is going to undergo some drastic reforms. Maybe they could teach Washington a thing or two?

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Lady Cincinnatus

What Makes Us Human?

My Official 2012 GOP Presidential Slogan. And I won't even charge a consulting fee.

"U.S. Flag 'Primes' Voters Toward Republican Viewpoints"

Merry Christmas !

A Gallon of Gas for a Dime? That's Nothing!

Eagle Stands Watch in Veteran's Cemetary

#OccupyAnarchy: What Lawlessness Breeds

Warning: This Campaign May be Toxic to Your Political Health

The Latest from our Narcissist-in-Chief

Rookie Mistake

F-16 Pilot Tells of the Suicide Mission that Wasn't

All Those In Favor of Dirty Air and Dirty Water, Please Raise Your Hand!

London Thugs Don't Seem So Cool When You Get A Glimpse Of Their Targets

Favorite Book Is Now A Fan Made Trailor

My Debt Ceiling Spleen Vent

Sic Transit Gloria Americanus?

"Fast and Furious" Weapons Found at Valley Crimes

Was this Keith Olbermann's idea? Just askin' the question...

Barack Obama's "Peace" Prize Explained

It seemed appropriate today...

All that Glitters is not Presidential

Bible Verse o' The Day

A thought on the royal wedding...

I'm Redecorating!!

Happy 400th, King James Bible!

Inflation Actually Near 10% Using Older Measure

"Women Fading Once More into Political Background"

Petraeus Awards Soldier's Medal to Medic in Afghanistan

Quotes (plural) O' The Day

Obama Launches Military Offensive -Anti-War Left: "Ooh, look! Shiny!"

"I'm Giving up Hope"

Through A Glass, Darkly

Providence Is Sending Wisconsin A Bit Of A Cool Down

Gallup Poll: Reagan the Greatest President

Question O' The Day

It Arrives!

Obama Refers to Himself as "The Gipper" -video

Obama Compared to JFK...and Found Wanting

Just incase you missed it...

Things that make you go hmmmm.

New "Eat Like An American" Thread: Red State BBQ, Lexington Kentucky

I Don't Understand

Celebrating the Hero Heterosexual White Male

Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

Welcome To 2011

"According to a study released by the Bay Area Center for Voting Research, Detroit is the most liberal large city in America"*

Cellist, Inspiration for "Rosie the Riveter", Dead at 86

Freudian Projection

Van Jones: The Left's "Pretended" Green Crisis

A Bad Case of Writus Interruptus

India Outraged Over TSA Pat Down of Indian Diplomat

Elizabeth Edwards, R I P

"11 Foreign Countries Wage War Against Arizona and American Sovereignty"

77 Year Old Mexican Rancher Killed Standing up to Cartel

More Video on "Flag Boy" Impromptu Parade

"Flag Boy" Gets Motorcycle Escort to School

Mr. Boehner, Your First Test. Oh Hell No.

What did you do today...for freedom?

You Can Learn A Lot From History

Mounting Threats

An Open Letter to John Boehner

In Honor of Barry and Michelle's Excellent Adventure to India...

Dia de los Muertos Democrats - November 2nd.

Vote As If Your Future Depended On It

Virginia Puts the Lie to Obama's Lameness

Happy Halloween Weekend! 1928 Time Traveler?

Ode To Kentucky Politics

Demagogues-R-Us

Watch This And Then Go Vote

Quote O' The Day

Congress Hard at Work

Has Great Britain Gone Over To The Dark Side?

Juan Williams Hammers Last Nail Into NPR

New NPR Logo

NPR: Thought Police

My New Favorite Website

It Got Nasty

Early Hate Crime Quote O' The Day

Heh.