"She Walks By Night"

                                               
My mom's birthday comes up next week.  Every year around this date my memories of mom intensify, though she is ever-present in my mind always.  This morning I was reading the news and learned of another military casualty in Afghanistan.  I tried to imagine the sorrow of the young man's parents as the chaplain sat them down to bring them the terrible news.  It brought back memories of my mother's concern during my first tour in Vietnam.

At the time our little hometown had only 5,000 people but we seemed to suffer an inordinate number of casualties for such a small burg.  Our town had first erected a huge board in the local park that listed each town resident serving in Vietnam.  However, when President Johnson stepped up the war, when we had 565,000 Americans serving in Vietnam, even the big 12 foot by 12 foot sign was not large enough to accommodate all of the locals serving in the war.  They then replaced it to list only those who had died in Vietnam.  That sign turned into something of a horror for local mothers.  The names of boys who had just graduated from high school the previous year were now appearing on that sorrowful "death board".

My turn to go to Vietnam came five days before Christmas in 1968.  My big country family honored me by having a big Christmas dinner for me, knowing I would not be there with them that year, and having driven by that big "death board" dozens of times, were fearful that it might be my last Christmas.

Not long after my arrival in Vietnam I began to receive letters from family members, offering news from home, but also expressing their concern that my mother had become a "night walker".  It seems that my mother had begun a period of restlessness and regularly left the house in the late evening to take a walk in an effort to relieve her tensions.  I learned later that she was often stopped by patrolling police, curious as to why a woman would be walking the city streets so late at night.

When you're 20 years old you feel immortal.  Though I had several confrontations with the thoughts of not returning from Vietnam I was insulated somehow from that grim reality, as were most young men just concluding their second decade of life.  The incoming mortars and rockets seemed always destined to fall somewhere else.

But I look back now and I can more readily understand my mother's fears.  She knew so little about a war zone 10,000 miles away on the other side of the world.  But she drove by that "death board" daily and must have experienced great fear and worry for my safety.  Each night the evening news brought real world firefights into our living room as Satellite technology made the horrors of war all too real.  Each day the paper reported a list of war casualties.  Before we would be done with that war 55,000 American graves would be dug and half a million more would come home, limbs and minds lost in the madness of conflict.

Our current war is not reported on now as prominently as was the Vietnam War.  The current war is "old news" and Americans have now become accustomed to turning away from real news.  They are more enamored by what Tom and Katie are doing, what Justin Bieber is up to, or whether Miley is cool with the way things are going.  Americans today are more interested in the political war of words than the deathly conflict being waged in the mountains of Afghanistan.

But there are thousands of mothers even today walking the darkened streets of evening, worried for a loved one, fearful that their loved one might be coming home in a coffin, most often in the dark of night so as not to offend the sensibilities of those who might find the costs of war a bit too precious.

Thanks, mom.  Thanks for worrying...and for caring....and Happy Birthday.

Don't Blame Obamacare On The Supreme Court

                                             
If anyone is looking for blame for Obama's win with the Supreme Court yesterday they need to go and look in the mirror.   The fault lies in you, and I blame the failure of Conservatives to govern conservatively when they had the chance for much of our current woes.

First, let's all remember that it was George Bush who nominated Justice Roberts to the Supreme Court. Yes.  That George W. Bush who enacted the Prescription Drug Bill but failed to budget for the costs.  The same George Bush who led us into two extremely costly Middle East wars....and failed to budget for it.

And how about those Congressional Republicans who controlled both houses of Congress from 2001 to 2005?  Does anyone wish to google our deficits during those years?  While not nearly as onerous as the deficits accrued since the Democrats took control of Congress following the 04 elections our "old school" Conservatives personified "RINO" (Republican in Name Only).  The pork flowed profusely during the RINO years.

All of the Conservative failures resulted in the "perfect storm" for Democrats to take control of Congress in 2006 and the White House in 2008.  Americans were war weary and tired of fighting Muslim Wars and they were sick and tired of politicians, specifically Republicans, who spoke out of both sides of their mouths.

Result?  A laxity of purpose and a rebelliousness set in among Conservative Independents who said "let's try something else".  They did.  They elected a Socialist who lied and posed as a political moderate who, upon being elected, began pandering and throwing money at any radical and perverse interest group that could support his political aspirations.

In the 2010 mid-term Congressional elections voters were alarmed sufficiently with the Obama/Reid/Pelosi regime to attempt to put a halt to radical socialism.  Thus, voters sent 89 Tea Party candidates into office in an effort to stop the madness.  Sadly, it was too little, too late.  By that time liberals had already rammed through a $1 trillion dollar pork laden stimulus bill that did nothing for the economy but generously rewarded their liberal left supporters.  Following that madness they passed a 2,300 page $10 trillion dollar Obamacare bill that further rewarded government tit-suckers.  Since 2006 the liberals have succeeded in creating an entitlement class of Americans who love getting something for nothing.

To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson "when the majority of Americans can vote themselves generous benefits, to be paid for by others, you have essentially killed the Democratic Republic."  That is the monster we have now created.

Now, in the days to come we'll read the rants on message boards across the land, lamenting the emergence of an almighty, all-controlling federal government intent to control every facet of your personal life.  Pay them no mind.  As we have seen in every election 50% of these "keyboard cops" are too damned lazy to get out and vote the radicals out.  They will moan and cry that their vote means nothing; and indeed they're right!  Because they stay home those 30 million votes that might make a difference come November never get reflected on a voter ballot!  That's sad because the electoral process is our last chance to turn this country around!

If you are truly fearful of the direction this country is going, look hard in the mirror!  Then, don't wait; go out and now and register yourself as a voter for the elections in November.  Study the issues and candidates which best reflect your views.  Then get off the couch, push back from the damn computer keyboard and get your ass to the polling booth!

Failing that, stay away from mirrors!

SB1070; Emperor Obama Throws Snit Fit, Plots Arizona Revenge

                                                 

Emperor Barack Obama was angry yesterday.  He didn't get all that he wanted from the Supreme Court on its ruling on SB 1070, the Arizona Immigration Law.  Obama was said to be so furious that he didn't get the Supreme Court to bow to his wishes on Open Borders and Blanket Amnesty that he immediately picked up the phone and called the Director of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.

Screaming invective against the rogue state of Arizona into the phone, Obama instructed Napolitano to coordinate actions with Attorney General Eric Holder to cease all Federal Immigration cooperation with  all seven of Arizona's law enforcement agencies, city, county and state.

Under the 287G program the federal government had pledged to train and coordinate enforcement actions with respect to illegal immigration with the states.  The Feds had pledged to allow state law enforcement agencies to act as surrogate immigration officers which gave the state's authority to arrest and hold illegal immigrants until ICE could respond and receive these invaders into federal custody.

That all changed yesterday.  Lost in the headlines of the Supreme Court ruling coverage was Emperor Obama's immediate edict to refuse to cooperate with any of the Arizona's law enforcement agencies.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/obama-admin-ends-immigration-enforcement-program-following-high-court-ruling/

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/06/26/obama-piles-on-arizona-after-supreme-court-immigration-ruling.html

http://www.examiner.com/article/obama-suspends-ice-cooperation-with-arizona-law-enforcement-after-scotus-ruling

Obama's executive order to cease arresting illegal immigrants and his refusal to receive illegals from Arizona arrests severely restricts Arizona's capability to restore order in a state that has born the brunt of  Mexico's alien invaders.


If anyone doubted Obama's "Chicago Style Thug" training they should clearly have no doubts now about just how Obama operates.  Obama carries within his soul a deep hatred for America's centuries old tradition of honoring both civil and contract law.  He is bound and determined to turn America into a nation of citizens beholden to a socialist state.  He has shown that repeatedly by side-stepping Constitutional checks on Executive power and Arizona has been at the forefront of the battle line between those who opt to sustain an America where the rights of the individual are paramount.

Obama's thuggery in yesterday's actions on 287G illegal immigration enforcement should send shivers up our collective spine.

Illegal Kids; Are They All "Valedictorians" and "Dreamers"?

                                               
Don't you just love how our open borders politicians use the flowery language of adoration to promote the latest "Dream Act?"  Since Obama began his Hispanic pandering campaign a couple of weeks ago he is quoted as saying we simply cannot deport all these "dreamers" and "valedictorians".

I say "wow!"  I didn't know these million plus illegal youth group were such model citizens!  For example, when Romney suggested that he would approve citizenship for illegal kids if they chose to volunteer for the military or a national service corp the illegals balked, derided the very suggestion that they should have to offer any sacrifice for citizenship.  Thousands of illegal kids left school in the Las Vegas area to stage a protest against Romney upon his arrival in that city.  "Dreamers?"

We have a school nearby here in Phoenix that is 90% Hispanic.  The school has been vandalized over 30 times this year alone, with millions of dollars in damage.  "Valedictorians?"

Until the courts forced a closure, the Tucson Unified School District was allowing an Hispanic Ethnic Studies program that taught Hispanic students the sciences of white hate.  The curriculum consisted of the most radical "hate whitey" programs ever existing in the nation.  "Dreamers?"

In Phoenix and Los Angeles and Fresno and Stockton the high schools serve as a "training ground" for indoctrination into latino gangs who wreak havoc on any efforts to teach and who are the primary dealers for drug sales in the school system.  "Dreamers?"

Last year I published an essay by a California teacher who lamented the degradation of the Los Angeles school districts as latino students absolutely refuse to learn english and disrupt the classroom when she tried to teach those in her class who wished to learn something.

Just about every week in Phoenix latino teens celebrate the summer by commandeering a vacant house, bringing in gallons of liquor and plenty of crystal meth and pot and literally destroy that home overnight.  The party usually culminates in a shooting or two just to insure a good time is had by all.  "Valedictorians?"

So the next time a liberal politician begins advocating for a free pass for illegal kids (the Democratic Dream Act proposed by Reid and Pelosi defined "kids" as illegals up to the age of 47; Obama has defined it as a 30 year old), and they begin their speech by talking about "Dreamers" and "Valedictorians",  you should know that this is balderdash.  The current crop of illegal youth are much like the one we gave amnesty to last time; they have little allegiance to America save what they can collect through America's generous social service programs.

All across our nation high school SAT scores have declined year over year.  Basic reading and writing skills have declined as well.  The level of violence in our schools has exploded.  Is all this attributable to illegal Hispanics?  No.  But when you have two generations of illegal kids who, raised by Hispanic criminal parents who have failed to integrate into the American mainstream, when you have to ignore the education of American kids to teach five million illegal kids how to speak English you have a problem.

While I will readily admit there are some good, hard working kids out there who are suffering because of the illegal acts of their parents, they are in the minority.  A politician's greatest gift is the gift of falsehood and generalization.  We do not have millions of Hispanic "Valedictorians".  We do not have millions of "Dreamers" unless you mean the dream of getting something for nothing.

The right thing to do is to offer these kids a four year tour in the military or two years of a national recognized community service group, then grant citizenship.  If they can't give something to their newly adopted country then we don't need them here.

Illegals Say "NO" To Military Dream Act

Now that Obama has circumvented Congress, and the Constitution, I am reprinting an earlier blog which addressed the reaction to the Republican proposal to allow citizenship with military service.


One of the problems I've had with the illegal invasion has been the total lack of loyalty to a country from which they are deriving billions in social service benefits.  Even the "legalized through amnesty" Mexicans have no love for America as they demonstrate by exporting billions of American dollars back to Mexico each year.

The Obama/Reid/Pelosi regime have been at the forefront of support for Open Borders, Amnesty and a proposed Dream Act, initially written for Mexican born kids, but expanded to cover those all the way to age 47.  As with previous "amnesties", not much is expected from these illegal youth.

Conservatives believe that proposals such as the Dream Act only serve as a future magnet for further invasion since the expectations that, once they are here illegally, they will eventually get amnesty.  As we have learned the hard way, any form of amnesty leads to even larger waves of illegal invasion.

Both of the leading Republican candidates for President recently proposed that illegal youth opt to serve four years of military service in order to "earn" their citizenship.   I proposed this option in an earlier blog last year.  I also offered the idea that, in lieu of military service, these illegal youth serve in the Peace Corp or some other meaningful community service program. It is imperative that we demand some form of loyalty commitment to this country if we are ever to get a handle on this.

Well, the other night during the Presidential debate, both Gingrich and Romney proposed a Military Dream Act that would award citizenship to any youth here illegally who chose to serve in the military.

What was the reaction from the illegal community?

Well, yesterday, a Miss Hidalgo was interviewed on CNN and, with huge crocodile tears, cried that it was unfair for to have to serve in the military.  I quote:  "Why should I have to waste four years of my life serving in the military?" As she shed a river of tears she said she should be able to be awarded minority scholarships, in-state tuition breaks and Pell grants to attend school.

Does anyone find this troubling?  How many of our young Americans have "wasted" their years in service to their country?  But God help if we ask someone who has lived here illegally, partaken of every health, education and welfare program to ever think of giving something back to their country.

CNN just announced that a huge illegal immigration rally is scheduled in Nevada today in protest of both Gingrich and Romney's proposal that they be required to serve to attain citizenship.

I say to them:  "Go to Hell...and go back to Mexico!

"Only One Dream Act Feasible"

Over the last few years the Dems have been hugely successful in pecking away at the social status quo.  Witness the CHIPS (Children's Medicaid) health care program for children was their first inroads into national health care.  Once the liberals get their foot in the door all is lost.  Note how the CHIPS program was expanded to older and older children, just as Obama care does now; your 25-year old "kid" can still ride out on your health care program.

That "foot in the door" was also relevant to gays in the military; once Clinton got "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" approved I knew back in 1994 that gays serving openly was inevitable.

Now we have the Open Borders/Amnesty liberals once again poking their foot in the door to widen the potential for legalizing illegal aliens.  That first "foot shove" comes in the form of the Dream Act.  The Dream Act supporters will paint you a sad picture of children smuggled illegally into the country, educated, medicated and fed at American taxpayer expense, even into college, then in career limbo because they cannot produce a legal document which authorizes their living here.

According to the Dream Act, illegal "children" would become citizens if they attended college or served in the Peace Corp or the military services.  Of course the Dems don't want you to know that those "children" can be eligible for the program even though they are nearing 40!  Lest you think this is a small group of people the pool of "candidates" for this program is in the millions!

As I said previously, the Dream Act is simply the "foot in the door" for legalizing the large illegal population, which I believe when all heads are counted, is really in the 20 to 30 million range, and not the 12 million illegals Homeland Security will have you believe.  Hell, California alone, with it's welcoming programs, probably has that many.

So okay, let's show some compassion folks...and I've got just the answer.  Any Dream Act candidate must serve in the U.S. military for four years.  (None of this college and Peace Corp Crap).  The military is an outstanding institution for instilling in our military men and women, teamwork, self discipline and love of country that is severely lacking in Latino kids today.  Let them serve four years and give them immediate citizenship upon completion of those four years of military service.

So the next time you hear the liberals proposing the Dream Act, the next time they trot out "poor English-Only Juan or Juanita" who are in life and career limbo, tell them fine; prove you love this country and that you're loyal to it!  Want American citizenship?  Earn it!  If they refuse, they don't need to be here, send em home to Mexico.

Please, folks.  Write your congressmen and senators and let them know the Dream Act should only be passed under the condition that every swinging one of those "poor illegal children" serve in the military service.  If that happens, I'll be there to welcome these new citizens to America and I'll be proud of them!
And hopefully, I won't be seeing this anymore:

And just maybe the kids of the "Dream Act" kids won't be saying this to teachers in the classroom:

http://justcommonsense-lostinamerica.blogspot.com/2011/03/illegal-invasion-is-on-its-way-to-you.html

Man Without A Country: Me

 

In light of Obama's announcement yesterday to legalize a million illegals, and since he has decided to circumvent Congress as well as the Constitution, all in the name of political favor, I am reprinting my earlier essay on a nation that has turned upside down, where right is wrong and wrong is right...and favored:                                                                                                         

Do any of you remember the famous story, "Man Without A Country"?  Written by Edward Everett Hale, it is a story about a fictional character, Philip Nolan, who curses the state of the U.S. and is subsequently tried for treason and exiled from the United States.  The story was in all of our elementary school textbooks when I was in school.

We now see modern day examples of people who have given up on their country.  Mexicans did it "en masse" as fully ten percent of the Mexican population have deserted their country and invaded ours.  Rather than stay and fight to right the wrongs of their society, Mexicans have opted to surrender to the corrupt politicians and violent drug lords...and leave.  Ironically, they bring with them, the same lack of  backbone, the same lack of moral compunction, that contributed to the downfall of their mother country.  They have learned that they can attach themselves like leeches to a dying American life form and hurry along our demise.  Through identity theft, criminal activity, drug smuggling, gaming our social services and through their anchor baby ruse they are sapping the last drops of life from the America that once was. AND THE LEGAL HISPANIC CITIZEN REFUSES TO STAND UP AND CONDEMN IT.

American blacks are not much different.  Since the Great Society programs of the 60's American blacks have largely chosen to play the "victim card" and use their race as an excuse to be an unproductive burden on society.  Though they make up only 12% of the U.S. they consume 40% of every welfare dollar.  70% of all black families are one parent households.  Black women abort their children at five times the rate of whites.   Blacks have used the "victim card" for almost fifty years now to explain away explosive crime rates in their "hoods", to explain away their 70 percent high school drop-out rates, to explain why they make up 50 percent of the prison population.  And they are led by some of the most corrupt leaders you'll find anywhere in the world.  White hating Louis Farrakhan, white baiting  Jessie Jackson, tax cheats like Charlie Rangel and Al Sharpton, corrupt politicians like Maxine Waters.  These black leeches rest in the arms of their victimhood spurred on by liberal politicians who derive their power by keeping blacks dependent on a welfare check and food stamps and free medicaid...and allowing the "victim" lie to continue into perpetuity.  AND THE PRODUCTIVE BLACK COMMUNITY(WITH THE EXCEPTION OF BILL COSBY AND THOMAS SOWELL) REFUSES TO CONDEMN THIS

How about the Whites?  Are they our savior?  Hardly.  Whites make up 50 percent of the American populace and 40 percent of welfare recipients.  Having had a good look at how so many blacks and hispanics were getting free rides, millions of them have now joined the great American federal gravy train.
It is far easier to draw food stamps and an unemployment check than it is to take a job "below their station".

How about the American populace in general?  How are they doing as "citizens"?  Well, 60 percent of them are too lazy to go out and vote.  More than that have no clue about how our country is being run.  Now that the national draft is over fewer than five percent of the American populace choose to serve their country in national service such as the military or the Peace Corp.   52% of them pay not a dime in income taxes, thus they have little interest in how tax payer money is spent.  Even those who do have jobs, and pay taxes, are too focused on the X-Factor and Glee and Facebook to care one iota about our country, much less care about doing something about it.  THEY ARE LIKE BLIND MICE, SO FOCUSED ON THEIR TOYS THAT THEY CAN'T TAKE THE TIME TO STAND UP FOR THEIR COUNTRY.

While it might take awhile, America is also a country in the midst of collapse.  The only thing preventing an immediate American collapse has been the strong foundation that was built by earlier, more hard working, more moral generations of Americans.  But the foundation is crumbling and we shall see in the next decade or two the total collapse of American society.  

I've tried mightily over the last year to wake up a few people through this blog.  I've failed.  Last year I wrote of the real possibility of a second Civil War, fought not for race but for economic justice and the end of the government gravy train.  The Tea Party presented the smallest flame of hope that America was rising again; rising to stamp out corruption, to stomp the hell out of whining "victim-hood", to end the Mexican invasion, and to give a swift kick in the ass to those who sit on their ass and do nothing.

I'll continue my crusade.  Like Don Quixote, I'll continue to mount my hump-back steed and swing at the windmills of injustice.  I can honestly attest that I have no "dogs in this fight".  I'm 63 years old and I can ride it out until I'm dead...and America, and me will not matter anymore.  But, like an old woman, staring at a picture of herself in her youth, I am saddened by knowing how grand America once was..and what she has now become.

I am truly a man lost in his own country.  Were I ten years younger I think I would just exile myself to a charming little village in some distant land...and tell America to go to hell.   But I gave 22 years of my life fighting for my country so I guess I'll just keep swinging at windmills till I have no more strength to do so.

Hair Care For Codgers

                                                 
God is truly cruel to old men.  Just when we think we have our stuff together emotionally, when we reach senior status we begin to experience a whole host of weird physical changes.  Our libido diminishes, our chest settles around the belt line and our pecs turn into man-boobs.

But by far the most irritating is what happens to our hair follicles.  While we begin to lose that majestic head of hair on top it begins to sprout in the most unlikely of places.  Our eyebrows begin to take on the image of a bird's nest which invariably makes us look angry all the time.  As if that were not enough, great bursts of hair blossoms begin to sprout out of our ears and all along the ear line.  Not satisfied with these atrocities, our bodies then begin to send some kind of super-serum to our nostrils that result in a forest of nose hair exploding from our nose holes.

While young men might spend an inordinate amount of time devoted to the care of their hair with their special shampoos and mousses we old guys have to devote an equal amount of time just trying not to look like some mutated version of a hairy ogre!  And it takes real diligence to keep these wild hair sprouting under some measure of control.  I have often failed to keep a regular maintenance effort and when I do I begin to notice little kids keeping their distance when they see those birds nest eyebrows that seem to grow with wild abandon.  When I find hearing conversation difficult, or find myself cupping a hand over my ear to hear something on television, I know it's time to break out the scissors and root out those hair blooms from my ears.

The hair on my head is no longer a problem.  Since I have little on top anymore every couple of months or so I just pull out an old pair of hair clippers and mow it all off.  I have long past the time when a "comb-over" would fool anyone so I choose not to.

But, keeping all the rebel hair outbreaks elsewhere on my body is a burden that is truly hard to bear.  Maybe I should just go to the store and buy some of that Rogaine that supposedly allows men to keep their hair a bit longer.  I tried that Rogaine when I was younger and the only result was a loss of hair.  Maybe I'll just spray Rogaine in my ears and up my nose and get the same results!

"Plastic People, Plastic Lives"

                                                     
In the 1965 movie "The Graduate" a family friend pulls new college grad Dustin Hoffman over at a pool party for a little "tet a tet" on career advice.   "One word, Benjamin", he coos "Plastics".  How right he was.

Our world is now drowning in plastic.  From garden rakes to "personal vibrators" America has embraced plastic.  In one form or another plastic is the real fabric of our lives.  It encases our cell phones and tablets, it forms the housing for our kitchen appliances, it encircles us as we drive our automobile down the road and it even serves as packaging for all our modern toys.

Remember those wonderful glass soda and milk bottles that somehow made the contents infinitely more tasty?  Nearly gone.  Now we have plastic bottles and settle for the inferior taste of our drinks because plastic is more profitable for manufacturers of these goods.  And when we're ready to discard the refuse this plastic is carried away to a landfill where it has a 1,000 year after life.  In various areas in the vast Pacific we now have floating landfills, thousands of acres of floating refuse.

As with most of our nation's problems the liberal ecological nazi's tend to attack the problem at its least impactful point.  California has now banned plastic shopping bags.  They launch their ecological wars against plastic shopping bags using plastic IPADs and Droid phones, delivered to them in hard plastic packaging.  Beyond silly.

One, if he or she so chooses, can live exclusively in a world of plastic.  Our manufacturing "masters" can deliver to us plastic furniture, plastic baseball bats, plastic dinnerware and plastic windows.

Over the weekend my local cable provider opened up the pay cable channels in an effort to tease us into subscribing.  As I was punching the remote and looking over all the movies I have failed to see in the last five or ten years I found one of those R (X?)- RATED channels that was showing "Housewives From Outer Space".  The movie exists solely for the purpose of showing lots of tits and ass.  Because I have long ago abandoned my desire for porn I was watching the "action" from a purely clinical standpoint.  What was fascinating to me was the plethora of "plastic tits" on display.  Virtually every one of these "actresses" were sporting plastic bags inserted into their chest wall.  I found this phenomenon highly unappealing and I just can't see why any male would either!  Each and every one of these young women also wore an ugly scar just beneath the lower breast fold.  Madness!

I suppose the next great leap in medical technology will be the implant of a huge plastic tube into men so that they can boast about a 12-inch penis.  Perhaps the Hormel company with its expertise in manufacturing foot-long frankfurters will jump into the "male enhancement" fray!

Then, our embracing of plastic will truly be complete!

:)

A Blossoming of The Senses, The Soul And The Grace of Forgiveness

                                                 

I've read time and again that when one loses one of their five senses nature takes over and enhances one or more of their alternate senses in order to compensate.   Case studies prove that when one loses their sight, their hearing improves beyond that which existed before.  Deaf people are often characterized as having superior observation skills to better cope with their new "natural world".  That would certainly indicate that, when all senses are functioning, we are probably not using our god-given sense to their full capability.

Can one even imagine what the superior state of the human being would be if we could use all of our senses to our full capabilities?  Life would most likely be one constant five dimensional spectacular!  It would certainly make 3-D movies look drab indeed!

I've often wandered about marvelous people who seemed to have a supremely developed "sixth sense"; that marvelous capability to sympathize, empathize and fully feel, within themselves, the pain and suffering of others and rush in to provide aid and comfort.  It seems that the souls of these people just blossom outward and upward and rain blessings upon those who most need it.

I think of a Martin Luther King who witnessed the oppression and injustice of his brethren.  Despite the hundreds of death threats he bravely led a crusade for political and social equality.  In the face of hate he offered love.  When his cause was most in threat he plodded on, all the while maintaining the dream of "someday".

I look at the life of Mother Theresa who might have chosen the life of quiet rectitude, sheltered by a collective nunnery, choosing instead to live amidst dire poverty and disease.  How could one have lived in the realm of ultimate despair and persevere?  It seems incredible that one could live...and thrive when confronting the demons of death and disease.

I don't suppose many of us are capable of a refinement of the soul so profound.  Perhaps our creator's acceptance of this frailty is his greatest gift to us.  He seems to ask only that we do our best.

Our scientists have proved that we are capable of doing far more with our physical senses, yet God, like a loving parent, says to us "just do your best, my child".  I can't imagine a greater grace than the grace of forgiveness.

Naked Economics

                                             
Most of us who took Economics in college during the last forty years undoubtedly remember Paul Samuelson's classic texts for both Econ 101 and Econ 102.  The books were marvelous; they somehow were able to bridge the gap between boring gruel and enlightened learning.  I really appreciated the effort Samuelson made toward keeping me interested enough to actually grasp the foundations of economic thinking.

Most of us who have long since left our college years feel no inclination to return to those classic Samuelson's texts to refresh their knowledge of economics.  But if you're wishing you could understand what's been happening in our economic world during the past few years you just might really enjoy Charles Wheelan's "Naked Economics, Undressing the Dismal Science".  

Charles Wheelan is a former correspondent for the Economist magazine so has learned to cull "education speak" from his writings, thus making his writing pleasurable to the casual reader.  He now teaches at the Harris School for Public Policy at the University of Chicago but don't hold that against him.  The reader will, at times, accuse Wheelan of promoting either liberal or conservative economic views, by turn.  That's a sure sign that you're getting at "the truth" of things and Wheelan certainly delivers.

If you're looking for charts and graphs and ice-cold economic theory in Wheelan's book you'll be disappointed; there's not a single up or down arrow.  What you'll find instead are some brilliant examples of hard world realities about such manner of subjects as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the myths associated with a nation's labor pool.

In the first chapter Wheelan recounts how Coca Cola came to claim a huge market share in Eastern Europe following the collapse of the Berlin Wall.  Yes, it is funny as hell and if you're not hooked into the book by the time the Coke story is revealed you're just not interested in books, period.  Wheelan's book is chock full of real world examples that make the study of economics fun!  Yes, I said fun!

So folks, if you're befuddled by all of the acronyms and confusing metrics you hear in news reports, if you would just like to more clearly understand the cyclic movement of those George Washingtons in your wallet, if the only bubbles you know come from bath suds and bubble gum you'll appreciate Mr. Wheelan's book.

"So We'll Go No More A- Roving"

                                               
                   

So We'll Go No More a-Roving So we'll go no more a-roving So late into the night, Though the heart be still as loving, And the moon be still as bright. For the sword outwears its sheath, And the soul outwears the breast, And the heart must pause to breathe, And love itself have rest. Though the night was made for loving, And the day returns too soon, Yet we'll go no more a-roving By the light of the moon. -- George Gordon, Lord Byron

Ray Bradbury passed away this week.  Thankfully, his books live on.  Bradbury was one of those unique writers who could present poetry as prose.  Though he was largely known as a writer of Science Fiction he was far more than that.  Bradbury was far more concerned about the human factor in man's adaptation to the whirlwind changes of science and that was what makes his work so special.

Whether Bradbury was writing about robotic Grandma's or electronic houses he always interjected into his tales the cautionary warning of man's temptation to abandon the humane in pursuit of "progress".  

Ray Bradbury was born before radio or TV and thus had to rely on classic literature for his entertainment. Thank God, for some of the most elegant words in print today belong to a man who learned his literature well.   The poem "So We'll Go No More A Roving", by Lord Byron, serves as the inspiration for a Bradbury tale about man's trek to Mars, a planet that 75 years ago remained a mystery.  Bradbury, rather than focusing on the scientific, chooses to explore the ramifications of the human impact of settling two distinct worlds.  

I first discovered Ray Bradbury as a young man.  So I was drawn to his writing of a child in high excitement as he prepares to leave earth for life on another world.  He was able to equate that high level of  excitement that a child in 19th century America might have felt as his parents set off in covered wagon in St. Louis as they headed west in exploration of new horizons.  

Ray was able to tell his tales, whether they be chilling or reflective, in a marvelous elegance.  Yes, he was inspired by Whitman and Byron and others, but the words were his alone.  While most writers might write  

a chilling tale of childhood by saying "Evil Is Coming", Bradbury anoints it with a title like "Something Wicked This Way Comes" and he's got you in the palm of his hand, spinning out a tale that will leave you with goose bumps in the middle of summer.

Readers even today are enraptured by Bradbury's "The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit", "The Illustrated Man", "I Sing The Body Electric", "The Sound of Thunder" or "The Day It Rained Forever".  

I'm going to miss Ray Bradbury but thankfully we can still "go a roving" through all the magical places he created for us over the years.

Wisconsin Whiners Wince, Weep, With Walker Win

                                                   
Well, I watched the people of Wisconsin last night give the collective finger to greedy public employee unions.  One CNN reporter at the losing camp was trying to do an on site report was bullied and roughed up by the whining losers.  About ten minutes later that same reporter began an interview of one of the labor union losers but the guy was crying so hard he was almost incoherent.  The only phrase clear enough to hear was "boo hoo...democracy died tonight".    So very trendy of the greedy union leftists; when an election doesn't go their way they run about and cry crocodile tears.  Really pitiful scene.  Looked like a kid in a supermarket throwing a tantrum at mama for denying him the candy bar.

And who doesn't remember the democratic contingent of the Wisconsin statehouse running over to Illinois and going into hiding to prevent a bill already approved by a Republican majority.  That bill, presented to the statehouse by Governor Scott Walker, mandated that Union hogs would be required to pay 5.5 percent of their health care costs and a few percent more toward their piggish retirement plans.

Last night the people of Wisconsin played "mommy" and bitched slapped those selfish brats, telling them enough is enough; we're tired of paying the bill for your cushy retirement and Cadillac health care plans.

Governor Scott Walker's only crime was to carry out the promises he made to the people of the state during his run for Governor.  Unlike other gutless politicians, Walker kept his promises.  In less than a year, by cutting out the piggish public union waste, eliminated a $4.5 billion dollar deficit and turned it into a $150 million dollar surplus.  In doing so he was able to increase spending on education while reducing property taxes for homeowners.

As usual, when leadership is critical, President Obama failed to appear in the state to support the unions.  He was in the area all week.  He flew over Wisconsin twice, once for three fundraisers in Minnesota, and then back again to Chicago where he raised more Obamacash.   But, Obama chose to run and hide when the going got tough.  The Unions are now fuming and there was a lot of punditry last night saying big labor is not going to show up for Obama after he failed to show up for them.

Never mind; the real bravery last night came from the people of Wisconsin.  Democracy didn't' "die" last night, democracy was re-born....and a little fiscal discipline was in evidence too.  As those piggish laborites bawled that their "allowance" has been cut a little, the good people of Wisconsin showed the rest of us how it's done!

Will the people in bankrupt Illinois and California take note?  Time will tell.

"And There Was No One Left To Speak For You"

                                                        Attorney General Eric Holder


First they came for the smokers, commandeered $25 billion dollars in tobacco money, promising to use it for tobacco use prevention, and used it instead for liberal causes.

Then they came after those who consumed fast food,  demanded calorie counts be posted on restaurant menus, and demonized anyone who enjoys a hamburger and fries

Then they came after soft drink makers and restricted your serving to 12 ounces

Then they came after the states for enforcing our nation's illegal immigration laws

Then they came after the Tea Party who were protesting Obamacare and government mandating how we are to manage our health care

Then they sued the state of Florida for mandating I.D. before a voter can cast a ballot

Then they allowed Black Panther thugs to drive away Americans from the voting stations

Then they demonized a "white hispanic" while ignoring the thousands of murders committed in urban black ghettos.

Then they demonized businessmen and those who have achieved success in the American tradition

Then they demonized Christianity and demanded the removal of crosses and Stars of David and all references to a "divine being".

Then they mandated that religious organizations set aside their moral opposition to birth control and abortion and, in fact, mandate that these institutions pay for the killing of babies through their medical coverage.

Then they came after the owners of property and savers and demanded that accumulated wealth be "re-distributed" to those who elected not to save and not to work.

Then they came after your Social Security and Medicare contributions and demanded it be re-distributed to Medicaid and given to those who refuse to work and refuse to contribute.

Then they came after you and demanded that you pay higher taxes to pay for unionized public employees to secure their electoral support.

And there was no one left to speak for you because you sat back and ignored all the warning flags...and a free America was no more.

"God" No Longer Welcome At Military Funerals

                                                   
Last year one of President Obama's politically correct Veterans Affairs administrators deemed the Cross of David and the Christian Cross as obscene and not to be tolerated at military funerals.  First to implement the new policy was Arlene Occassio of the Houston Veteran's Cemetery.

Ms. Occassio issued an edict that, here to fore, all references to God, or Jesus shall be banned from military burial ceremonies.  She also banned the twice a day chiming of the chapel bells at the Houston National Veterans Cemetery and ordered the chapel closed and the Star of David, the Christian Cross and the Bible be removed from the facility.  She converted the Chapel into a storage facility and limited its use to a meeting facility for cemetery employees.

As if this were not enough, Ms. Occassio also ordered all ministers presiding over military burials to refrain from using phrases referring to God during the ceremony itself.  Ministers were told not even to use the words "God Bless" during any part of the ceremony.  Further, the term "God" or any reference to Him are not allowed to be printed on condolence cards passed out during the ceremony.

So, here we have the burial of a veteran.  A veteran who gave some portion of his life so that Americans may exercise their rights to religious freedom.  A veteran who served so that Americans may freely express their 1st Amendment rights of free expression.  All for naught now because a political liberal, a champion of the secular, has issued an edict, thus denying his family the right to honor his passing in the tradition of their religion.

Last week the U.S. House of Representatives passed a law introduced by Congressman Ted Poe of Texas.  It would prevent Obama's secular VA Administration from interfering with the religious rites of families honoring veterans with a religious burial.

The law now goes to the Democratically controlled Senate where its passage is still in doubt, lest the secular be offended by a cross, a Star of David...or a bible.

Conservatives Afraid of Obama, Acorn and Black Panthers?

                                                   
 I'm still confused about how voters could be intimidated enough by a passel of Black Panthers to turn around, leaving the voting station and so easily surrender their most basic American right.  I'm referring of course to the 2008 election when a Black Panther goon squad stood outside polling stations swinging clubs and looking tough to prevent voters they didn't like from voting.  After doing three tours in Vietnam, and serving my country for 22 years I'd be damned if anyone could turn me away from something I fought to preserve.

In typical fashion Obama's Attorney General Eric Holder refused to prosecute, even after a whistle blower from the Justice Department testified that Holder was part of a political cover up and the quashing of the investigation.

The radical political group Acorn also did their best to throw the election to Obama.  Fortunately their voter fraud was so widespread that they were caught red-handed and were de-funded.  Obama's campaign had given millions to this group and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi had even thrown several more millions in Acorn's direction as part of the 2009 Stimulus (read pork) plan.  When the dust settled Acorn was caught signing up dead people, illegal aliens and even making up fake names for the voter registries.  No one knows how many tens of thousands of votes went to Obama who weren't even eligible to vote!

For this campaign Obama cannot run on his record so he has elected to instigate class and race warfare.  He embraced Trayvon Martin as his imaginary son but didn't even mention the 19 year old Black that invaded an old couple's Oklahoma home, raped the 86 year old woman and killed her 90 year old husband.  Obama can't defend the 20% Black unemployment rate so he must incite blacks to "go get Whitey".

So, you can expect even more cadres of Black Panthers at the voting stations this year.  I'm just wondering how many homeless and unemployed conservatives and independents will be scared away from the voting booth by these thugs.

Dozens of state governments are trying to implement voting laws that require voters show identification to vote.  These states are under fire from Obama, Holder, Pelosi and Reid and are threatening lawsuits to stop the states from mandating the showing of I.D.

They are saying requiring a citizen to show I.D. discriminates against "poor people".  Never mind that these same "poor people" are required to show ID to drive a car, get on an airplane, buy liquor and cigarettes, check out a library book or sign up for an electric utility!

We all know the game the Democrats are playing.  They'll scare anyone who gets a government check into voting for them.  They'll demonize any state that requires voter ID.  They'll cast a pall on anyone who owns a home and has a little savings in an investment account.  They'll play the race card too!

Yes, Obama and company will have his political armies deployed throughout this nation to gain any edge he can.

Will the American people have enough guts to resist the lies?  Will they have enough courage to walk past those menacing thugs and go vote their conscience?  Time will tell.  But if I encounter one of those club wielding thugs someone's going to get a painful proctology exam!