Rosa Parks; Icon of Human Dignity

                                               
Montgomery, Alabama...December 1st, 1955, 6pm.  Christmas was approaching.  The streets of the city were festive with Christmas bells hanging from the street lights, sprites of holly decorating the store windows.  Folks getting ready to celebrate the season of Christ, who preached peace and goodwill toward men.

An attractive, rather dignified lady boarded the city bus for home.  A seamstress in a department store, she was tired after a long day of work.  As the bus moved from stop to stop it began to fill up.  The city had passed an ordinance that, when whites boarded, the first four rows of seats should be reserved for them and Blacks were to move to the back of the bus, or stand.  Never mind that the lady had African, Cherokee and Scots-Irish blood flowing through her veins; she was simply not "white enough".

When the bus driver ordered the four negroes to vacate the front four rows, three of them complied.  But the lady named Rosa was tired; tired of ten hour work days, tired of the ugliness of racial discrimination and tired of surrendering her human dignity.  She refused to move.

No doubt, beyond the affront to her dignity, were the memories of the 14-year old Emmitt Till, the kid from Chicago, who had been brutally murdered that past summer, murdered for the crime of talking to a white woman.  Perhaps there was anger as well.

Rosa Parks was a simple homemaker and seamstress.  She had no standing in her community.  She had no grand aspirations to be a social justice icon, though she had met a young minister, new in town.  She liked his message of hope; hope that America would move beyond judging a man's worth by the color of his skin.  His name was Martin Luther King.

 Rosa, on that early December evening was simply tired, tired of those whites who, through some convoluted mode of thought, decided that denigrating Blacks to a subservient class, somehow enhanced their own worth.

Rosa was fired from her seamstress job when the news hit the papers.  Her husband also lost his job.  But the courage Rosa showed on that cold city bus spread throughout the African American community in Montgomery, Alabama.  Collectively the Black community walked or shared rides to work and refused to board those city buses.  And the fire from the lady's courage began to spread throughout the South.  They would battle dogs and fire hoses and billy clubs over the next few years but the courage first sparked by Rosa parks would not be extinguished.

There's a lesson to be learned here;  a lesson for all of us.  Sometimes greatness begins with the most humble act of courage.

Remarkably, Rosa Parks lived a long and productive life.  She carried no hate for whites within her heart and spoke often about the kindness of so many whites who came to her aid.  When she died in 2005 at the age of 92 she carried in her heart that same sense of human dignity that inspired so many who came after her.

Bless you, Rosa, for shaking America's collective soul,  for waking a sleeping America and showing them the nightmare ugliness of judging a human being by the color of their skin.  Bless you for inspiring a young 20 something Black minister who carried the torch you lit across the bridges of Selma and throughout the South.

Romney Needs "Crash Course" On Socks

                                                 
I really like George Herbert Walker Bush.  I think he's probably a great guy.  War hero, youngest aviator in WWII, held numerous titles before being elected President in 1988.  Unfortunately he did two things wrong, one intentionally and one unintentionally.

The intentional faux pas was pledging not to raise taxes (read his lips), then acceding to liberal demands and raising taxes.  The second one was unintentional.  After having his approval ratings soar into the 80 percentages during the Gulf War, they quickly plunged as America entered a recession in 1991.  While campaigning for re-election in late 1992, George, while trying to "cheerlead" a consumer buying spree, walked into a department store and bought two pairs of socks.  As he smilingly walked up to the cash counter he went bonzo nuts over the price scanner.  Well, since price scanners had been out for years it became blindingly clear that George H.W. Bush, scion of immense wealth, hadn't been shopping for himself in a long, long time.  This clear revelation of rich man out of touch with working Americans was devastating, even as Bill Clinton was out campaigning on a "I feel your pain" platform.  George Bush lost, and not a little of that loss was because of two pairs of socks and a price scanner.

Sadly, Mitt Romney has the same problem, though Romney differs in that he created his wealth himself, having honorably chosen to donate his father's inheritance to charity.   I truly believe Romney is a good and decent man.  I believe he loves America and that he wants to do the things necessary to turn our economy around and ease America's pain.  And anyone who deals with cancer in the family and his wife's MS is no emotional lightweight.  Yet, as we enter mid-summer, Romney's poll numbers continue to hover around the 50% level; this in spite of Obama's horrid economic record!

I believe Mitt Romney has got to affect a course correction, and he needs to do it quickly.  Romney can never hope to compete with the honeyed words and false promises emanating from Obama's lips.  Nor  can he pander to whole swaths of the electorate by issuing government largess to special interest groups, as Obama does.  He does not hold the "emperorship" of the Obama Presidency to fore go the enforcement of laws he deems unpopular with constituents.    What Romney can do is break out of that stoic "vanilla cone" way of speaking and allow Americans to get a glimpse of his soul.

When John Kennedy ran for President, Daddy Joe, pledged tens of millions of his vast fortune to get his son elected.  But JFK knew money would never be enough.  Thus, Kennedy tromped through the poverty hovels of West Virginia and promised those Black Lung coal miners that he could make their life better.  He travelled the farmlands of Iowa and Nebraska, and though he never farmed in his life, was able to connect with farmers and small town America.

Romney has to emulate the Kennedy strategy.  He needs to play Bingo at a Senior Home in Orlando and show those old folks a trend chart of when the Social Security fund goes broke....and pledge to stop stealing those funds, used for programs that achieve some form of political gain.  He needs a sleepover in a clothing factory town in South Carolina.  He needs to counter Obama's silly boast that he saved the auto industry by explaining that bankruptcy reorganization does not require giving half the company away to unions for General Motors to survive.  He needs to do a walkthrough a few of those Staples stores he funded and mingle with a few of those 100,000 people who have jobs thanks to him.  He's got to travel to Norfolk, Virginia and explain why having the smallest ship navy in our country's history is hurting both our national security and our economic prowess.

America loves a winner.  Despite Obama's petulant cry for more tax returns most Americans gag on Obama's effort to inflame class warfare.   America does not care how rich Romney is.  What they do care about is his heart....and his soul.  Romney will need to show voters far more of himself than he has to date.  And, for god's sake, stay away from the sock table and price scanners.

My Daughter's Move

                                                     
My daughter and her family moved this past week; from a bucolic little community in Pennsylvania to Florida.  Her husband's employment necessitated the move.  I believe I'm almost as sad as they are at leaving a home where my daughter and granddaughters did a lot of growing up.  They lived on a little horse farm surrounded by pockets of wonder; open fields and forested thickets and serene tree-lined country roads.  No fast food joints or gas stations or Walmarts to spoil the view.  One could sit on their back veranda and look out on green pastures and still imagine the Swedes and Pennsylvania Dutch plowing through the black soil to yield the October harvests.  If one wished to mingle with the common folk one could drive west a few miles, to the little village that housed a little deli, an ice cream shop and a candle store.  Not far to the East, George Washington wintered his troops and used the respite to bind up the wounds of bloody revolution.

When one tired of the serenity and peace of the little village one could "park and ride" the train into New York City to have a nice dinner and attend a Broadway play.  During one of my visits my daughter and son-in-law drove me into the grand city to do just that.  It was a magical moment that I'll always treasure.

Now my lovelies are busy at making new lives in a new place.  Like strangers at a party they are feeling their way around their new environs, smiling at strangers, trying not to spill their punch, tromping threw the storms of change that life always demands.  I feel almost traitorous as I sit in the shelter of the old and the familiar as my dear ones, like the pioneers of old, attempt to settle in and make the new and unfamiliar, a place to call "home".

But my daughter is a marvelous creature; she bears within her DNA the vestiges of a grandmother who also ferried a family from pillar to post, yet always made the new place a "home".  Before long she will have cast a critical eye on the new school and will deem it acceptable or not.  She will have found the best grocery store, the nearest Target, the best place to score fresh fruit and veggies...and yes, the nearest Starbucks.

God willing I'll visit them all soon.  Being a curmudgeon I'll no doubt bitch about the heat, the plethora of "yuppies" (those class of folks who define success by the quantity of what they own, and place 'appearance' above the 'real').  But I know that home will be filled with squeals of laughter from a little girl just discovering the joy of living, the home will offer soft seats and soft hearts.  The coffee pot will always be full and I'll always be welcomed.

For now, I imagine all is chaos.  My lovelies are digging through boxes to find the coffee mugs and the TV remote and "you would think, for a home at this price, those people would have left the toilet rolls!"

I've been there and done that.  When one serves 22 years in the Air Force you learn to pick up everything and haul it somewhere else and start your life all over again.  And you do it every two or three years.  My daughter is an Air Force brat so she knows the ropes as well.

Home is where the heart is....and a little of mine is with her family this morning.  May the Palm trees sway, may the alligators already have had their breakfast and may the mosquitoes feast on the neighbors instead.  ;)

Roosevelt & The WPA

                                                   
During the Great Depression a huge swath of America was unemployed.   Nearly 30% of American workers stood idle, having lost their jobs or their farms.  As part of Roosevelt's New Deal program the Works Progress Administration (later called the Works Projects Administration) was established to provide jobs to some 20 million workers.  This program alone accounted for nearly 8% of America's GDP in 1935 and most economists will tell you that the program was a huge waste of taxpayer dollars. It was probably the first indication that modern governments simply cannot manage a large government program without incurring massive fraud, waste and abuse.

Never the less, I have to admire many of the good intentions of the WPA.  At a time when Americans were desolate, impoverished and without hope, Roosevelt gave them something to do.  Fortunately, unlike today when so many of us have come to expect a government check in the mail, Americans wanted to work to earn their check.

The WPA sent young men out into our nation's forests to build logging roads and thin our forest lands.  WPA workers built libraries and city halls and bridges and highways.  They brought electricity to rural villages in the Appalachians.  This "busy work" proved to be far more than that;  these workers were building America's infrastructure, and they were doing it for $100 dollars per month!

But some wise person, somewhere in the Roosevelt Administration, considered that man does not live by bread alone, that rebuilding America was more than concrete and wood and asphalt.  That it was vital that culture and the arts must also be championed.  Two of those programs that are dear to my heart are the Federal Arts Project and the Federal Writers Project.  The Arts Project employed our nation's artists in capturing the grandness of America, both her natural beauty and her people.  I've seen paintings of the Grand Tetons and the Grand Canyon and portraits of Okies migrating West and they are marvelous.  The Federal Writers Program was no less grand.  Several years ago I was peering through an array of old books in a used book store.  I came across a book that documented the entire history and geology of the state of California.  The book was wonderful in its detail and the writing was superb.  I later came to learn that the Federal Writers Project employed some of our finest (and unemployed) writers to write the history of each of the 48 states.  Writers also gave us perhaps our last opportunity to capture a glimpse of the previous century as they also conducted interviews with former slaves and Civil War Soldiers.  These books are now treasured by readers who come across one of them.    Such  literary luminaries as John Steinbeck, John Cheever,
Ralph Ellison, Nelson Algren and Saul Bellow participated in these projects!

So, to the numbers crunchers who cite the massive waste intrinsic to the WPA, I have to agree.  But, for  those of us who feel enriched by the many enduring works of that era, I say, at least some good came from that program.  It kept Americans busy, it gave them hope and it restored to them the pride inherit in building something lasting.  I challenge any of you to walk around your town and take a good look at your libraries and bridges and municipal buildings.  You're sure to find something that was built by those WPA workers.

I would love to see our current government employ our lost souls drawing a welfare or unemployment check toward building something for the community good, whether it be working in a day care center, helping out in the classroom, cleaning community parks or restoring older homes.  Sadly, the days of "giving" for "receiving" is no longer part of our cultural ethics.

Obama Puts "STOP" Sign In Front of Border Patrol

                                                 
                          "You Can't Check Our Paper!  We're 'Dreamers'!

Yesterday both the Border Patrol and ICE officials announced that they have been instructed by the Obama/Holder/Napolitano regime to cease and desist from checking illegal aliens.  Union reps from both organizations held a press conference yesterday to announce that they have been told not to check the immigration status of anyone...and to simply take the word of the illegal alien that he graduated high school here and that he's a "dreamer".

Both ICE and the Border Patrol said "if we're not able to check on immigration status, what is the purpose of having any immigration laws at all?  They further gave examples of felony criminals who were allowed to go free after Obama gave them a free pass.

Isn't that just wonderful?  I imagine tens of thousands of illegal Mexicans are at this very moment packing their bags down in central Mexico and heading for the U.S. border.  As long as this further enhances Obama's electoral support with Hispanics he's more than happy to sell out America.

Read it for yourself!  I can't make this stuff up...it's just too bizarre!

http://www.examiner.com/article/border-patrol-and-ice-representatives-sound-off-on-lenient-immigration-policy

Obama Will Attack Iran If He's Losing in October

                                               
Barack Obama never served a day in the military.  In fact, he and his Columbia and Harvard Alumni loathe the idea of serving in uniform.  Neither will even allow an ROTC detachment on campus.

Nevertheless if Obama is losing in October he has one huge card to play; that card will be attacking Iran.  Obama knows how much play he got out of our troops taking out Osama Bin Laden.  Hell, the way Obama puffed out his chest you would have thought he was the first one out of the helicopter!
Imagine then, how easy it would be to marionette our troops out to the Persian Gulf to flay and slay a few Iranians just about the middle of October.  Oh sure, he'll have all kinds of justifications all lined up to back his play.

Never mind that Obama refused to back the Iranian freedom-fighters who took to the streets three years ago in an effort to overthrow the Imams.  Never mind that Obama sent emissaries to Israel to tell them to back off any plans to attack Iran before they get their Nuclear Reactors going.  Obama won't allow it; he wants to save that precious card for himself, just in case America wakes up, rejects his honeyed rhetoric and decides their chances for a job sound better under Romney.

If the Anointed One is losing in the polls come October look for Obama to develop a set of gonads and mount air strikes against Iran.  There's nothing like a warring conflict to give the Commander in Chief a bump in the polls, however temporary.  Hell, he only needs to pump up his vote count long enough to get through November 6th.

Don't believe Obama would do it?  You better take a close look at how this "emperor prince" has issued edicts and executive orders to get his way.  This is a politician who learned his trade in Chicago, land of the dead and bought voter.   He'll have no qualms sacrificing a few American troops to achieve a second term.

UPDATE:  Wonder of Wonder, even more evidence that Obama has got his "war arrow" all ready just in case he's down in the polls.    http://news.yahoo.com/obama-aide-tells-israel-iran-attack-plan-paper-061444925.html

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Let's Have "Transparency" For All

                                                 
The Obama campaign has been conducting a marathon call this past week for Romney to release more years of his tax returns.  I agree!  Though I don't care a whit about how much Romney earned over the last thirty years, nor do I care if he kept some of his money in foreign accounts (how many of you wouldn't like to hedge a little currency with the Fed printing worthless greenbacks for the last four years!), if it will ease anyone's mind I believe Romney should release more tax returns.

Now, turnabout is fair play.  I would like Obama to release his college transcripts.  I don't care about his grades.  I just want to know why he has spent over $2 million dollars in legal fees to keep those records sealed.  I would also like to know if he gamed our college scholarships by claiming a foreign student exemption, or if he conducted himself acceptably during this turbulent college years.

When I was commissioned an officer in our armed forces I had to meet a host of requirements.  Two of the more important ones were swearing an oath to protect and defend the constitution of the United States and to turn over my college transcripts to prove I was a graduate in good standing from an acceptable institution.  If I was required to show my transcripts as a humble military officer why is Obama exempt from doing so when assuming the highest office of the land?

While we're all celebrating a real orgy of transparency I want Obama to turn over to Congress all internal documents associated with Fast and Furious so that Brian Terry's parents can see who's responsible for his death.

On a final note:  Mr. President.  Please take the time to re-read our Constitution.  Pay close attention to the references to "checks and balances among the three branches of government."  They were included to preclude the emergence of an "emperor" who decrees which laws he chooses to enforce and which he chooses to ignore.  It's fascinating reading....and you might learn something!


http://www.fas.org/sgp/obama/presidential.html

Note to Readers:  If you believe this blog serves a purpose, if you believe it lends a bit of rational sanity to some of the national insanity, I urge you to sign up as a follower and subscribe to it by email, in the "subscribe to" box on this page.   There is no cost or obligation on your part. If I do not see an increase in interested subscribers I will end this blog sometime in the coming months.  Thanks.

Daron Sutton Now Working At Men's Warehouse

                                               
Okay, folks.  The mystery has now been resolved.  All of Phoenix (and half of Milwaukee) have been wondering where in the world is Daron Sutton, of late, the play by play broadcaster for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Sutton reportedly balked (excuse the pun) at wearing sports shirts in the broadcast booth.  He far preferred business suits and told Diamondback bigwigs what they could do with their Sedona-Red sports shirts.   Accordingly, the Diamondback front office announced that this fit of rebellion justified a suspension.  Thus, Sutton has now done a "Howard Hughes" on us and, heretofore, cannot be found!

Then, yesterday, as I was strolling through the mall I lingered to admire a white "ice-cream suit" adorning a headless mannequin in the Mens Warehouse window.  Then, I peered into the store and saw good old Daron measuring the pant cuffs of a gent buying a MW business suit.  I almost didn't recognized Daron as he has now grown one of those George Zimmer beards (I guarantee it!).

I then saw Daron take a step back from the gent and exclaim "that suit fits you like a glove!..."I think you've hit a "home run" with that selection!".

Just then another gent stepped out from the dressing room, clad in a potential new suit, and began the slow walk down the aisle.  Daron then improvised a "play by play",  remarking that the gent had "good arms" for that suit.  Daron then asked the fellow to hike his leg and perform a "high kick" to see if the fit of the pants were just right.  "Fantastic!", cried Daron..."your new suit will be a big hit!".

It was heartening to see good old Daron now gainfully employed.  He certainly looked like a happy man, all decked out in formal business attire.  His suit was a tastefully tailored charcoal gray number, his shoes were florsheim lace-ups and he was sporting a terrific looking.....Sedona-Red necktie!


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What Government Didn't "Build"

                                                 
My daughter is a businesswoman.  I haven't talked with her this week but I suspect she was none too pleased to hear President Obama say that she didn't build her business herself.

About ten years ago she and her husband had saved a little money and decided to open a beauty salon.  She went to the local, state and federal powers that be and filled out the many reams of government paperwork to secure the proper licenses and established the proper tax structure.

After the marathon of government paperwork my daughter then bought an existing salon.  Since she did not have sufficient capital to fully establish the business my daughter and son-in-law took out a second mortgage on their home, thus putting themselves at great risk in order to achieve her own version of the American dream.

After they purchased the business they invested hundreds of hours of sweat equity to clean and paint and install all of the equipment themselves.

They laid out hundreds of dollars for the various utility deposits, contacted the local paper to set up an advertising account and began the process of recruiting workers for the business.

Finally opening day came!  The first phase of their dream had begun.  For the past ten years my daughter has worked more than twelve hours a day, six (and sometimes seven) days a week.  She does her own bookkeeping, managing customer accounts, employee payroll and tax accounts and files all of the county, state and federal tax documents, while forwarding nice fat checks to each level of bureaucracy.  She stands on her feet twelve hours a day giving perms and manicures and pedicures.  She works as hard as anyone I know.

Then, last week President Obama said she didn't' build that business herself.  To him, it didn't matter that my daughter put her entire life savings at risk,  No matter that she would have lost her home if the business had failed.  No matter that she has worked 60 hours per week for ten years to insure the business succeeds.  No matter that she must wade through acres of government paperwork just to keep the business going.  No matter that she has paid in hundreds of thousands of dollars in county, state and federal taxes.  No, Obama suggests that government has been her "equal partner" in this endeavor.

I guess my daughter, were she given the chance, would ask Obama "will you buy me another house if I lose this one?  "If my business had failed would government reimburse me for the loss of my life savings?"  "While you are feeling sorry for those who put nothing at risk while collecting a welfare check, where's the compassion for me who risked everything?"  "Can you promise me that paying Obamacare premiums for my employees that I can still stay in business?".  "Since I file taxes much like the average taxpayer, how can you say I can afford to pay higher taxes just because my "gross income" (not my profits) is more than $200,000 dollars?"

Final question, Mr. President:  "Since you're my "partner" will you be there to catch me if your policies further weaken the economy and put my business at risk?"

She's waiting for an answer Mr. President....you have a hundred days to give her an answer.

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Gay Men Join Welfare Queens To Amp Up Medicaid Freebies

                                       15- KID WELFARE MOM: "SOMEBODY OWES ME!"

                                       
                                           http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3e41prVDv4


http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/07/17/156868446/deciding-on-truvada-who-should-take-new-hiv-prevention-pill


Obama's army of welfare queens have been waging war on conservatives for the latter's opposition to funding multiple abortions as as means of birth control, free birth control pills under Obamacare, etc.  Conservatives, while opposed to killing unborn children except in cases of the health of the mother, or incest, are not opposed to women using birth control pills.  They just think those who use them ought to have to pay for them.

Obama needs those welfare queens to go to the polls next November so he recently issued an edict that all health care providers must pay for free birth control for the masses.  No sweat; the rest of us can pay the bills through higher medical premiums.

Today we just learned that gay men now want to take a new pill that might ward off Aids should they choose to participate in risky sex practices.  It seems that the new drug called Truvada has just been approved by the FDA and will go on sale soon.  Cost of the preventative drug is $1200 dollars per month and there is a growing outpouring of support among the gay community that the taxpayer should foot the $14,000 annual bill for any gay man who wishes to take it.  Apparently Obama agrees; during an Aids conference this week the government indicated they are willing to incorporate these costs into the Medicaid program.  For those of you who don't know; Medicaid has no co-payments and is fully funded with your tax dollars.  So, beginning in 2014 you can begin to pay about three times what you pay now in medical premiums and pay again for a Medicaid program that rewards the jobless, the clueless and those who enjoy risky behavior.

Note to Gays; a dozen prophylactics will run you $5.00.  Hell, I'll even vote for medicaid to pay for them.

Anyone working on a drug for extreme nausea brought about by the explosive socialization/communization of America?  I'm going to need one soon.

Sexual Turn-ons; Erotica or Pornography?

                                                 
Yesterday Turner Classic Movies was showing the 60's era flick "Sex and The Single Girl".  Produced to capitalize on Helen Gurley Brown's best selling book of that era, the film was a comedy and absolutely no graphic sex was shown.  Yet, there is one scene in that movie that I consider one of the most erotic scenes I've ever seen on screen.  Tony Curtis, pretending to be a patient, is attempting to seduce Natalie Wood, a therapist.  Without a single grope, without a single attempt at nudity, the two actors are able to gin up some serious heat, just with gesture, facial expression, tone of voice, and breathing patterns.  Wow!

That got me to thinking about why I prefer erotica to pornography.  When I was younger I watched my share of pornography.  As with all porno, the scenes are graphic and leave nothing to the imagination.  Sadly, they are also mechanical and demeaning.  Perhaps worse, they are boring after the first five minutes; there are only so many things that can be done to and with the human body and, after the first titalation of nudity, the action becomes boring.  Erotica, on the other hand, leaves much to the imagination; it presents a blank slate of erotic possibilities, with you as the creator!

I don't know how you folks feel about pornography but I'll take the erotic over the pornographic every time.  In addition to Sex and The Single Girl, the following films contain scenes that are extremely sexy without an iota of nudity and hyper "friction":

In Hitchcock's "North By Northwest" watch the verbal foreplay between Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint in the club car of the train bound for New York.  Pure magic!

"The More The Merrier":  Another comedy, this time starring Joel McCrea and lovely Jean Arthur.  The scene between McCrea and Jean Arthur on the steps outside Arthur's apartment are steamy, and achieved by words, his hand brushing down her arm, a dance of kisses down her neck.  Arthur's ability to portray attraction and resistance simultaneously seals the deal on this highly erotic moment.

The original "Thomas Crown Affair" with Steve McQueen and Faye Dunnaway.  It's the chess scene.  The erotic magic is achieved with the eyes, a flick of tongue over the lips and Dunnaway's fondle of the Knight chess piece which leaves McQueen dry-mouthed, trying to muster up a single drop of spit in order to swallow.  Erotic beyond belief.

In "Charade"the lovely Audrey Hepburn spends much of the film trying to seduce an older Cary Grant.   She uses her beauty and those dancing almond eyes to lure him in.  During one moment of Grant's resisting Hepburn, frustrated, says to Grant "you know what's wrong with you?"..."what", grunts Grant.  "Absolutely nothing!", she purrs.  Movie magic!

Frank Capra's "It's A Wonderful Life".  About half way through the movie, Jimmy Stewart, after having his dreams of adventure and a new career dashed repeatedly by life's circumstances, has dropped by Donna Reed's home.  Reed's character is deeply in love with Stewart.  She is longing for him to make his move and commit to her.  He's so attracted to Reed that he can't think straight but knows if he succumbs he'll be stuck in Bedford Falls for the rest of his life.  They are sparring in the parlor when a out of town caller interrupts the conversation.  The caller wants to speak to both of them so they move close to each other, each leaning an ear toward the ear piece.  As they talk to the caller there are all kinds of physical things happening to them, totally apart from the conversation.  Finally, Stewart slams the phone down, grabs Reed by the arms, jerks her violently to him and protests again his need to get away and not be tied down to her, even by love...Reed bursts into tears and Jimmy puts a kiss on her that is somehow both brutal but needy and tender, all at the same time...next scene...the two are married.  Erotica in the most unlikely place, while Mother is watching from the top of the staircase!

I'm sure most of you have your own ideas of movie magic.  But I'll bet that most of you prefer erotic scenes that "leave a little room for you" than the mechanistic and exploitive nature of pornography.

The Dark Knight Massacre; Victim Of It's Own Success

                                               
It is the height of irony that the real villain of the Dark Knight massacre is The Dark Knight Rises.  Thank the producers of this movie.  Thank Stallone and Van Damme and Arnold and all those who participate in producing television and movies that cheapen life and that make the most heinous violence both exciting and common.

Blame this massacre on every American parent who allows their children to watch extremely violent video games.  News reports indicate children from age 3 months to age 6 were attending the midnight showing of this violent movie.  Blame those parents for bringing their children to a movie that exposes them at a tender age to the cinematic slaughter of human beings.

Blame Hollywood for dimming the line between good and bad; condition viewers to believe that violence by both "good" and "bad" is a good and necessary thing.  Blame a culture that feeds an addiction for greater and more horrific realms of violence to boost theatre adrenaline.

Blame the toy makers for putting profit over responsibility, allowing our young ones to worship the "icons of action", to be marketed at Toys R Us or given away with little Johnny's Happy Meal.

Blame the stark graphics in the autopsy rooms of all the many CSI's for the slow but constant cheapening of the human, devoid of soul, in favor of the corpse that holds no human values.  Teach the kid that a human corpse is no more frightening than a slab of beef hanging in a meat locker.

I have never been to one of these action movies.  When they appear on my TV screen I hit the remote immediately.  While we had a few violent movies in theaters when I was growing up, they were few and far between and parents didn't take their six year olds to midnight showings of 'violence orgies".

At this point, when the news is most likely freshly distorted, we don't know much about the shooter...except this:  the fellow who committed these heinous acts has seen all of Van Damme's and Arnold's and Stallone's work.  He has no doubt played his share of combat gaming.  He is "combat trained" having spent his entire youth being exposed to "virtual violence"

For now we know that at least a dozen are dead and dozens more injured.  That's a high price to pay for our culture's addiction to virtual nirvana.

Sad, Damned Sad.

Where's Obama's Anger; Where's Sharpton's Anger?

                                             

A couple of months ago when Trayvon Martin was shot Al Sharpton jumped on a plane and headed for Florida to lead a march against the "White Hispanic" that shot him.  That same week Barack Obama trotted out to the Rose Garden and said "If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon".

On July 16th 300 Black thugs "flash mobbed" a Walmart store in Jacksonville, Florida.  They destroyed the security system, tossed merchandise all over the store and stole thousands of dollars of merchandise.

I haven't heard a word from Obama and Sharpton.  Are these also "your" kids?  If they are you're not doing a very good job in parenting.

For three years now we've seen an explosion of these Black "flash mobs" all over the U.S.  Chancing safety in numbers they enter a convenience store or a retail store in large numbers, then steal and plunder.  I've never heard Sharpton or Obama condemn this behavior.  Rather, I hear both lament the tragedy of Black poverty and poor education and offer the idea that we must throw more money to these thugs.

The real tragedy is this Black thuggery is fostered by liberal government programs that provide welfare and food stamps to three generations of Blacks who absolutely refuse to get a job and support themselves.

But what else can Obama or Sharpton do?  They derive their power by providing easy excuses for ignorance and a pursuing a gangsta lifestyle.


http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-07-17/news/os-flash-mob-robbers-walmart-20120717_1_trashes-mob-walmart

A 2nd Civil War is brewing as Americans are losing their patience with thugs and deadbeats living off their hard earned tax dollars.

Obama Re-Election Means A 2nd Civil War

                                                   
I just read historian Arthur Herman's essay arguing that America is on the brink of a second Civil War.  "It's the Makers versus Takers", he says.  Readers who regularly read my blog may remember that I offered the same argument in my blog of last year "The Second Civil War".  As with Herman, I said the next Civil War will be an economic one, rather than a test of the legality of slavery.  This war becomes even more inevitable as Obama amps up the race and class warfare strategy in order to win a second term and continue converting America to a socialist state.

Obama is playing a dangerous game indeed as a "perfect storm" of circumstances are gathering to insure a war of "takers and makers" erupts amidst a violently divided America.  Most of those who criticize the inaction in Congress to get anything done fail to see that inaction in D.C. simply reflects the mood of America.  The D.C. miasma is simply a symptom of two distinct and competing sentiments about the direction in which our country is moving;  those who believe it is the "people" that drive societal success and those who embrace big government as their master and caregiver.

Obama is succeeding in winning the war of words.  A smooth orator, he is able to demonize anyone who rejects the government as their master.  As Emperor, he has chosen to ignore the Constitution and expand his powers far beyond those designated him under law.  He used the power of the government purse to reward unions and the perennial government tit-suckers.   Just this week Obama issued an edict that he would no longer enforce the 20 year old Welfare to Work law passed in 1994.  To garner the Hispanic vote he has opted not to enforce our immigration laws.  Obama's Orgasmic government spending programs have already pushed us into federal bankruptcy; the only thing staving off the inevitable is the free printing of worthless greenbacks.

All of the above set the stage for the "perfect storm" of a breakdown of American society.  If anyone lends any credence to biblical warnings, Barack Hussein Obama is as close to the Anti-Christ as anyone we've seen in our history and he has already set in motion the foundation of our national destruction.  Here's my prediction:  The first skirmishes in the second Civil War will begin in 2014.  This date coincides with many of the "doomsday pay-fors" that come due for Obama's programs.  This is the year that America begins paying for Obamacare.  Your insurance premiums are levied an additional 2.8 percent tax, there are additional surtaxes on the sale of a home, if you need a medical device you'll pay an additional 3% tax above and beyond city, county, state and federal taxes already levied.  There are dozens more taxes and fees in store for you.  Your medical premiums will also soar as you will be expected to pay for the 30 million tit-suckers who are getting a free ride on the Medicaid program.  Oh, the jobs market will be worse and all the while you'll be paying higher taxes to pay for interest on the government debt.

So, once the full weight of the Obama tax and debt burden fall on the "minority working class" the first signs of rebellion will occur.  Understand, just as the first Civil War took years to bubble up, the second Civil War will also.  Guess what?  It's already brewing;  societal tensions are already rising and here are the factions:

1)  Ten percent of the America right wing maniacs hates Obama for a variety of reasons; he is Black, they believe he is Muslim, or they just hate the guy personally.

2) Ten percent of the liberal left are outright communists/socialists and want nothing less than the destruction of American capitalism.  They have always been angry that they have been unable to destroy our system and are ready to wage war to achieve their aims.

Note:  It is the actions of the extremists on both sides that are fueling the current divisiveness in our society.

3)  Fifty percent of America is a polyglot of people who currently make no waves in protest of America's destruction; they are either collecting a government paycheck, employed by the government or just too fat, dumb and happy watching reality TV to care what the government is doing.

4)  Ten percent of Americans are scared as hell.  They look at the extremists on both sides and believe them to be freaks.  They work hard to try and affect political change but are rowing against the massive tide of citizen ignorance.  They fear that the "masses" are swallowing Obama's honeyed words as easily as the German's swallowed Hitler's pronouncements.

5) Twenty percent of America represent the criminal element.  They are the White, Black and Latino retards who dropped out of school, spend their time ingesting drugs, listening to rap music and committing robbery, rape, murder and drug selling to finance their gangsta lifestyle.   Their families are without any sense of morality, abort babies as a form of birth control and game the welfare system to support them.

Beginning in 2014 you will begin to see these factions begin to clash.  First you'll see the criminal element (group 5)and the government welfare gamers begin to step up their life of crime as the government inevitably begins to cut freebie entitlements because our bankers, the Chinese, threaten to call their loans.  Group 2 will take advantage of this unrest to enter the fray and further disrupt societal peace.  Groups 5 and 2 will be met head on by Group 1, since they are just itching for a chance to "gun up" and "take the trash out".

All of a sudden you're going to see 40% of the American populace at war with each other.  Anyone remember Watts and the riots in Detroit?  The next explosion of violence will make those two wars look like a summer picnic.

As with the first Civil War, the second Civil War will find the remaining 60% of Americans aligning themselves with the warring factions who best represent their own personal interests.   At some point either one, or both factions will have to embrace some basic principles, specifically some form of organizational ethics.  They will be force to do so to survive.  My guess is that one faction will fight for a return to the traditional values of America.  The opposition (Groups 2 and 5) will probably prove the weaker foe since, by their very nature, they do not subscribe to ethics or rules or human values.

 At that point America will officially enter a major Civil War.  It will be chaotic and violent and it will be even bloodier than the one 150 years ago.  The first Civil War lasted four years and cost 600,000 lives.  This one will be worse because we will not have the artificiality of two governments to guide the action.  Don't think for a minute the government, at any level, has enough troops to maintain the peace.

Don't believe any of this?  Google "Henry Clay, The Great Comprismiser".  Henry Clay worked for two decades before that first Civil War broke out.  He spent much of his life warning against a Civil War.  No one believed him either.

I hope I'm wrong....but....do you want to bet your life that I'm wrong?  If you do vote Obama in November.  After all, you believed in his promises of hope and change in 2008.  You believed in his beautiful soaring rhetoric without ever looking at the "man behind the curtain".  Do so again at your own peril.


 A Post Script:  Now that Obama has bought himself a second term with your tax money, he and his liberal minions are claiming a huge mandate to expand the socialist agenda.  Obama, now free from worry about winning any future elections, has now emerged as a full fledged liberal socialist.  This liberal hubris may accelerate the first stages of the 2nd Civil War.

Microsoft/Gates File Divorce Papers With MSNBC Radicals

                                                 

Well, the news is out!  Bill Gates at Microsoft finally decided he too had reached his "gag factor" with MSNBC.  Yesterday Microsoft announced that they'll be divorcing themselves from the left wing radicals and perverts over at MSNBC.  Microsoft announced that they want to develop their own news website using more "objective" news sources and abandon the left wing propaganda machine that MSNBC had become.  Being a businessman I'm sure Gates didn't appreciate losing over $7 billion dollars over the past decade with MSNBC because of "viewer drought".

I can just imagine what that Microsoft board meeting must have been like as they decided to cut the cords with Moonbats Spouting Nothing But Crap (MSNBC).   The MSNBC talent pool could not be something that stirred excitement.

Chris Matthews; he of the loudmouth who can't do an interview without interjecting in the middle of answers, screaming liberal invective and slobbering over Barack Obama.  Remember it was Chris who said "I'm getting chills down my leg" as he watched Obama take the oath of office.

Rachel Maddow:  She seems far too busy projecting a macho lesbian butch image to do any real news reporting.  When she does the news is presented as left wing editorial.

Larry O'Donnell:  Spent his entire career being paid to pimp left wing politicians.  By far, the most socialist of the MSNBC socialists;  Hosts a show called "The Last Word" but never lets anyone but him have the last word.

Ed Schultz:  A big fat liberal who's show "ED" sounds like a Viagra commercial.  Erectile Disfunction is probably big Ed's smallest problem.

Al Sharpton:  Hosts a show called "Politics Nation"; a show meant to crucify "Whitey" for all the ills of Black Americans.  MSNBC, by giving Sharpton his own show, rewards tax felons.  Sharpton still owes the IRS millions of dollars after his attempt to hide income fails.  The show often requires replacement hosts as Sharpton must leave at a moments notice to attend a protest march against "Whitey".

Joe Scarborough; Co-hosts "Morning Joe", a left wing show that parades out a host of liberals to pimp all the liberal causes.  MSNBC pays Scarborough well to serve as the "token Uncle Tom Republican" who is not Republican at all.  Never allows a show to conclude without mentioning his short Congressional career.  Is a pure toady for the liberal elite.

So, Bill Gates finally severed ties with the liberal elite and said it was time for Microsoft to abandon the propaganda business and return to the news business.  One of the caveats tied to the deal is that Microsoft must continue to carry MSNBC reports for the next two years.  Not to worry, Microsoft said they intend to supplement MSNBC reports with "real news" from real news sources.

When the Microsoft money stops flowing to MSNBC I suspect many of these liberal propagandists will be looking for work.  Have no fear; they've been pimping adoration of Obama for four years.  Obama will likely give them a job.  After all, he's had them in his pocket all along.

Pride In The Dust

                                                 
In the 1930's the Midwest began experiencing severe dust storms.  Farmers, not following soil erosion prevention practices, suffered the loss of millions of tons of top soil over a thousand mile span of Middle America.  On April 14th 1935, Black Friday, a storm of storms rolled across the prairies and buried the lives of the last holdouts.

The other day I was watching American Experience on PBS.  This episode was called "Surviving The Dust Bowl".  Survivors of this tragedy offered testimonials of the time.  As part of a family of Okies myself I was drawn like a bee to honey to these folks as they spoke in the language of my family.

They told tales of bank foreclosures and the day to day travails of trying to put a meal on the table.  They lamented the loss of a farm that had been in their family for generations.  They prayed to God and they prayed for rain.

What struck me about these people was the sense of guilt they felt for having failed, as if they ought to have been strong enough to fight even the harshest that mother nature could throw at them.  One old fella's story led me to tears.  He told about his Dad struggling to keep his family fed.  One day a government agent came around and told him that President Roosevelt had begun a relief program that would have the government help the farmers out with a few dollars a month and maybe a box of flour  and cooking oil.  That old farmer was amazed that anyone would offer him something that he hadn't earned.  His pride was such that he just couldn't see living off the charity of the taxpayer...and he refused the government offer.  He was just one of thousands who likewise refused Roosevelt's offer.

As I watched the man's son, his throat constricted, speak about a father's pride more than 60 years ago I was struck by the contrast of Americans then, and of so many today.  That farmer of long ago had been bred by multiple generations of Americans who had braved poverty and hardship in the building of a mighty empire.  Neither nature, nor need, nor abject poverty could rob them of their pride.

Today, when American poverty is defined by having only one large screen television, only one cell phone and only one late model car, where half of America pays not a dime of income tax, and half of America collects some form of government check, where a plethora of minimum wage jobs are below their class, their exists a dearth of pride....and a willingness to take what you can get, whether earned or not.

It seems to me that pride was lost in the dust somewhere along the way....these days we are far more likely to burst forth with the crocodile tears and, rather than picking ourselves up from our bootstraps, we curse those who do.

I wonder who's worse off; those farmers drowning in the dust bowl....or those today who drown themselves in false pity.

Sad.  Damned Sad.

Arizona Republic Continues Censoring The News

Okay, I've written about this before.  I've cited hundreds of examples where the ultra liberal Gannett corporation, who owns the Arizona Republic newspaper, is manic about protecting their editorial stance  in favor of illegal immigration/open borders and amnesty.

To do so Gannett and the Arizona Republic have taken proactive steps to censor any crime news where the suspect is identified as Hispanic.  I'm not the only one that decries this practice; thousands of Arizonans have given up their subscriptions to the newspaper because they clearly see this censorship.  Here's one of tens of thousands of news stories that are censored in the editorial favor of The Arizona Republic.  It's not news as it happens every day in this newspaper.  What cowards!  They hide behind the protections of the Constitution while censoring the news.  See if you can see the censorship in the following news reports; one by Channel 15, Phoenix, the other by The Arizona Republic:

GLENDALE, AZ - A reward of up to $1,000 is being offered for information on a suspect who held up a Glendale Checksmart employee at gunpoint on June 25.

Police say the man approached the employee as she was opening the business near Glendale and 54th avenues around 7:40 a.m. and threatened her with a handgun.

She was then escorted by the suspect to the back room to where the safe was.

After removing the money, the suspect fled in an unknown direction either on foot or by skateboard, according to police.

The suspect is described as an Hispanic male, 5 foot 6 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds and having facial hair. He was wearing a hat, sunglasses, and a gray hoodie and sweatpants.

Anyone with information can contact Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS (480 948-6377), or via the website at silentwitness.org.

Read more: http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_west_valley/glendale/reward-offered-in-glendale-armed-robbery-case#ixzz20i0G2EE5




And now the Republic's version:

Police are offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to a suspect that they said held up a CheckSmart business in Glendale in June.

Police said that in the early morning hours of June 25, a man with a gun confronted an employee at the payday-loan and check-cashing business at 5402 W. Glendale Ave.

The man escorted the employee to the backroom where a safe was located. The suspect fled with the cash on a skateboard or on foot.

The suspect is about 5-foot, six-inches tall and 150 pounds with facial hair police said. He was wearing a hat, sunglasses and gray hooded sweatshirt and sweatpants.

Police released surveillance video of the robbery and asked anyone with tips to call Silent Witness at 480-948-6377.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2012/07/14/20120714PNI0714-met-glendale-arizona-checksmart-robbery-reward-brk.html#ixzz20i21EndP


Anyone note that one little bit of information extracted from the police report?  Just one word left out.  Gannett does this all over the U.S. and The Arizona Republic censors the news in favor of Hispanics every single day.  I've seen liberal newspapers like the NY Times and the Washington Post print their point of view.  However, until now, I've never seen a newspaper that puts their readers at risk by leaving out a key piece of info that might aid in capturing the criminal.  Really sad.




The Republic, by withholding suspect identification info, is saying to Arizona 'we don't care if this guy ever gets caught, or who gets hurt while he's on the loose; we're not going to print anything that casts a negative light on Hispanics.

"Daron Sutton Has Been Bery, Bery, Good To Me"

                                             
Last April and again a couple of weeks ago I wrote blog entries on Daron Sutton, the suspended Arizona Diamondbacks play by play baseball announcer .  In last year's blog I decried Sutton's "too formal" speaking style for calling a baseball game.  I also politely asked him to dial down his manic screams when announcing a home run in the 8th inning when the home team is losing by half a dozen runs.  None of that is the point of concern today.

In 18 months I've probably written five blogs on the subject of baseball.  The majority of my blogs concern illegal immigration, the horrid national debt, the breakdown of contract law under Obama, the lack of courage and conviction of our liberal elites, etc.   However, it would seem that many of you are far more concerned about a sub-par baseball announcer than you are about our country going into the toilet.

Those interested in Daron Sutton have been googling "Daron Sutton" and are led to my blog because the Arizona Diamondbacks are being frugal in releasing any further information after announcing his suspension.  Ole Daron is rapidly climbing my "most read" blog list these last weeks.  Oh, he hasn't begun to penetrate the 4,000 plus page views I received for "The Late Great State of California", about that states complete surrender to the illegal invasion, but he's certainly getting his share of attention at my blog site.

I guess I shouldn't complain; a page view is a page view, after all.  Perhaps I should paraphrase Sammy Sosa's old saw "Baseball has been bery, bery good to me".  But, I'm not.  I would be far more satisfied if Americans were paying more attention to their government than they are to baseball announcer.

Perhaps if I copied ole Daron's style and scream about it a bit louder I might get the attention of an apathetic America.

Sad, Damned Sad.

Obama Says His Biggest Weakness; "Not Enough Storytelling"

                                                   
Yesterday CBS/NPR host Charlie Rose interviewed President Obama.  As usual, all the softball questions were asked and answered.  Perhaps the softest was "Mr. President, what do you see as your biggest weakness?".  Obama first smirked, then postured with a intensely concerned look on his face, then said, "I've come to learn that it's not just getting policy right"..."I don't think I've done enough "storytelling".

At that I almost choked on my meatloaf.  Is there anyone on the planet that thinks Obama needs to have made a few more speeches?  First of all, when you count all those Rose Garden speeches, the press conferences and the thousands of speeches he has uttered over the past 3 and one half years how could anyone come to the conclusion that the Anointed One has not done enough "storytelling".  Secondly, Obama has been in campaign mode for his entire Presidency, which leaves little time to lead.  Accordingly, he allowed Reid and Pelosi to drive the liberal agenda as he played golf, vacationed at Martha's Vinyard or Hawaii and flitted around the country making political speeches!  He usually hangs around Washington just long enough to sign a liberal bill and get another photo op.

No Mr. President, your weakness is not failing to make enough speeches or "storytelling" as you call it.  Your weakness is that you constantly underestimate the intelligence of the American people as you assert "if they only understood what I'm doing, they'd support me".  Mr. President, has it ever occurred to you that it is you who don't understand?  We understand what you are doing and we damn well don't like it!

Let us add; we have had enough of your "storytelling"; the "storytelling that said Obamacare would reduce medical premiums even as they are going up 10% a year.  We are tired of your "storytelling" that if you spent a trillion dollars of taxpayer money in a pork-laden stimulus bill that you'd keep unemployment below 6%.  We've been over 8 percent for your entire term.

Mr. President, you've done more than enough "storytelling"; we now have a "story" for you come November 6th.

God! Quantum Physics, Parallel Universes And The Afterlife

                               

                                             

Okay, I just spent a few hours watching a PBS series on Quantum Physics.  Now, for you "Glee" and "America's Got Talent" people, this may not hold your interest.  You may want to leave now and go read about what Miley and Justin are doing.  But for me, this Quantum Physics thing had me glued to my seat, not so much because of the science, but because of what QP offers in the way of explaining the meaning of our existence and the strong indication that we indeed live on elsewhere once we depart our current world.  Sound far-fetched?  Not really.

If you could travel back, say 300 years, and try to explain microwaves or computer science or, hell, even the effects of bacteria in our environment, you'd find Isaac Newton, the smartest guy on the planet, baffled and disbelieving of what we now know.

Now, try to imagine what we still have to learn about our world, even in an age of accelerated discovery.  I offer this comparison because of some of the most baffling discoveries physicists have made just in the last 75 years....and what that may mean about the existence of a 'creator'..or whether there is life after death, and if there is, where we go to when life in this "dimension" is finally over!

Try to stay with me here, because I won't, and can't get too technical, nor will I get you bogged down in the intricacy of science.  However, to even discuss the possibility of parallel universes, and an afterlife, one has to, at least, understand why quantum physicists today are actually providing the means for understanding how parallel universes are possible, and even probable!

Remember Newton's theory on gravity?  Remember your science lessons about Maxwell's advances in explaining electro magnetism?  Remember Einstein's E=MC2?  All of those smart guys helped to explain some of the basic tenets of science, and how our world operates.  They all offered predictable "reactions" for every "action".  We had a better understanding of how our planet interacted with other forces in the universe and this led to great advances across the entire field of discovery.  This was all solid science at the level of the atom.

Then something amazing happened!  Scientists in the 1920's and 1930's began to go inside the atom and discovered protons and neutrons.  But, more importantly these new scientists began to examine what was happening inside the atom!  They found that there were many chaotic and unpredictable "reactions" for every "action".  STAY WITH ME FOLKS!

These new sub atomic discoveries eventually, over the next century, led to the study of quantum physics and the "string" theory.  Again, I'm not going to bog you down in physics; suffice it to say that quantum physicists have now confirmed that the laws of physics, at the sub atomic level, is extremely chaotic and unpredictable, and that we are essentially, at this moment, blind to other dimensions that exist parallel to the "plain" we are currently occupying!  What does that mean to us, the "Joe Blows" of life?  Well, now physicists are saying that "alternate dimensions" are not only possible, but are very likely "probable".  In other words, it is very likely that we mortals, upon departure from this physical world, are very likely transported to another physical dimension, a world parallel to the one we are now accustomed to occupying.

What does all this mean?  Well, let's go back to my first paragraph.  If Isaac Newton was indeed the most brilliant man of his time, and knew far less than today's 6th grade science student, imagine what we don't yet know about our world (or worlds).  Our Quantum Physicists have opened the door a crack; they've proven the likelihood that parallel worlds most likely do exist.  They even go as far as to propose the possibility of time travel (another dimension) and that "matter" (Us!) in some form, lives on beyond the grave.

I find all of this fascinating, especially with regard to how physics and spirituality meshes with the age old belief in our divine creator.  In an age of ever-increasing skepticism about God, wouldn't it be interesting for those who worship science over religion come to learn that the two are not mutually exclusive?

By the way, I just checked Amazon to see what is being said of Quantum Physics on spirituality, religion and alternate dimensions.  There are no less than 296 books available, many offered jointly by religious and science experts.  I guess I'm late in learning about this after all!

While I've written before of having communication with my loved ones who have passed on, and believe deeply in an afterlife, I'm pretty sure "heaven" is not streets paved with gold.  However, I do believe we do indeed have a "creator" and I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that my loved ones who've passed may indeed by just a quantum leap away...and very near indeed!

"God" Bless Us All.

Why Is Obama So Angry These Days?

                                               
Somebody needs to tell President Obama to dial back the "angry militant black" posture he's been presenting for the last few weeks.  He looks almost exactly like those Black Panthers wielding clubs in front of that polling station in 2008.    That's not a good sell if he hopes to have any chance of victory in November; after all, it was Obama himself who promised to bring a new degree of civility and transparency to Washington D.C.  For that promise, Obama was able to elicit support from a large portion of those Independent voters who got him elected.  Now that he has failed to deliver on that promise he seems to have reverted to the Black militancy that drew crowds to him in Harvard Square a decade and a half ago.  While that militancy may play well to 20 somethings who've never had to meet a payroll, or scrape up the dough to pay their tax bill, it certainly doesn't sit well with a hurting middle America.

I'm wondering what in the hell Obama has to be so angry about.  He largely got what he wanted from the Supreme Court on immigration.  That decision largely ties the hands of all state law enforcement agencies in enforcing our immigration laws, thus securing Obama's Open Border/Amnesty program for somewhere between 12 and 30 million illegal invaders.  Too, Obama was able to intimidate the Chief Justice of the Court sufficiently for Chief John Roberts to re-write the Obamacare appeal and secure a Socialized Health Care system for generations to come.  Even the Eric Holder problem and "Fast and Furious" went away as soon as Obama declared "executive privilege" to make sure the Obama/Napolitano/Holder bumblings never saw the light of day.  Brian Terry's parents will just have to wait a few more years to find out why their son was killed by a federal gun-running operation.

Someone needs to tell Obama that it's the American people who are...and should be angry.  We continue to suffer from a depressed housing market, 15% real unemployment and steadily rising costs of food, gas, government fees and health care.

Perhaps Obama is frustrated with the polls which continue to show an erosion of support as November gets ever closer.  Perhaps the Annointed One is upset that he no longer enjoys the unanimous cult worship that he so desperately aspires too.  I don't know the answer but those sneers, jowly snarls and angry black man poses do him little good in Iowa and Ohio and Eastern Pennsylvania.

Perhaps he'd be better off returning to his beloved corrupted metropolis of Chicago in November.  I hear he would fit right in with the hip-hop crowd on the South Side.

Daron Sutton; Enough Already!

                                               
Last Spring of 2011 one of my blog entries was about how Daron Sutton drives me crazy.  I have to turn down the sound when watching Diamondbacks games because he irritates the hell out of me.  He speaks in a professorial tone, forego's contractions and sounds like one really bad history professor I once had.  Rather than an easy smile his countenance is always a furrowed brow as he first comes on the air and pontificates "he's Mark Grace and I'm Daron Sutton".    What's wrong with "Hi folks, Mark Grace and Daron Sutton here and we're coming to you from.....where the Diamondbacks are hoping to end a three game losing street at the hands of the weakest hitting team in baseball".

Sutton's professorial meanderings are not the worst of it.  In order to "spice up" the game he'll raise his voice to screachingingly loud decibels just to describe a routine double play.   If someone hits a home run Sutton's screams shake the TV speakers and has me running for the mute button.

But that's not my bitch today; my complaint today is that I write on a wide variety of subjects, some political, some personal, and some on a great diversity of subjects.  Yet, my Sutton blog, written over a year ago, continues to accumulate viral level page views and now ranks as the 5th largest page view count in the 18 month history of my blog.  Why?  Because the Diamondback back office is keeping a tight lid on why ole Daron has been suspended.

Derrick Hall; please come clean.  If it wasn't Sutton's reluctance to wear the Sedona Red shirt that got him suspended, if it wasn't Sutton's weird criticism of you and the Upton matter, why don't you just come out and tell the Sutton fans what it was.  Perhaps then, I'll get fewer angry emails from the Sutton blog written eons ago.

I must admit though; I am greatly enjoying the conventional "game calling" being performed by Mr. Schulte.  Hell, he has even manage to curb some of Gracie's silliness.  Last night when Montero got hit in the toe by a sinking fastball Gracie spewed "call a toe (tow) truck!"  Greg Schulte graciously ignored the terrible pun and the game went on.  Thanks Greg.   :)

Mayberry Loses Their Sheriff

                                                     
Mayberry is mourning this morning.  The humane Sheriff who let moonshiners out of jail to go and get their crops in is gone.  The small town law enforcer who delivered babies, kept Barney in check and often took the afternoon off to take Opie fishing has turned in his badge.

When I was a kid I attended my Boy Scout meetings on Tuesday nights, then ran home after, to make sure I didn't miss a minute of The Andy Griffith Show.  Having no father at home myself, Andy served as my surrogate dad.  When he told Opie that the pain of an ass-whooping was better than the pain of surrendering your milk money...and your pride, I listened.  When Opie talked of running away from home Andy didn't yell and stomp and demand; instead he told Opie how hard the road would be and how much he and Aunt Bea would miss him.  Opie stayed.  When Opie killed that mother bird Andy didn't raise his voice; he simply took Opie upstairs and pointed out the window at the baby bird in the nest...that was all Opie needed to see.  When Opie claimed a tin man who wore a strange utility belt and hung out in trees Andy trusted him enough to believe him.

Andy was a Sheriff who wore no gun.  He chose instead to keep the peace with the devices of love and respect for his fellow man.  He was so attuned to human motivation that he could "arrest" a Scrooge-like man at Christmas, drawing him from the darkness into the warm circle of family and friends.

Andy could have belittled Barney and made a fool of him every week of the year.  Instead he chose to let Barney learn from his mistake-prone life.  Time and again he showed Barney a degree of patience and of love seldom seen in life or on screen.

Andy Griffith was a man of many talents.  His first claim to fame was a comedy record called "What It Was, Was Football".  The sketch related what football would appear to be if someone who had never seen it played came out from a remote hicksville and had to describe it.  It was hilarious.  A testament to Griffith's talent, he said he wrote it in his mind while traveling by car to a second show where he didn't want to repeat the same performance on the same day.  Griffith then found acclaim on Broadway in "Destry Rides Again" and "No Time For Sergeants", which would succeed later as a movie.

Andy could have been one of America's finest dramatic actors.  All one need do is watch Elia Kazan's "A Face In The Crowd".  Griffith portrays a really nasty human being and commands the picture so dramatically that he seems to literally leap from the screen and into your lap.  Comparisons to Brando began to circulate in Hollywood after the film was released.

But, just about that time, Griffith was offered the TV role of a small town North Carolina sheriff.  He took it and the rest is history.  He surrendered the fame that might have come from the finest of dramatic performances in favor of being America's most beloved dad and friend...and sheriff.

I guess my favorite Andy episode was when Opie's teacher told Andy that Opie needed to do better in math.  Andy then began to think in real terms of Opie's future; he contemplated Opie failing to meet college grade standards, worried about not being able to pay for Opie's attendance at a university, and began to come down pretty hard on Opie to forego "play" and do his homework.  Then, Andy seemed to take a step back and allow his "heart" rather than his "head" to rule; you could see Andy's face soften, light up in the spirit of love and hug his son.  "You just do the best you can do, Op"..."that'll be fine with me.  Andy instinctively knew that being a little boy was important too!

That's all Sheriff Andy ever asked from anyone in Mayberry.  He recognized human frailties and chose not to harshly judge them.

Mayberry now needs a Sheriff....and the old fishing hole is a lonely place indeed.

The Declaration: Abort Ur FB For 10 min. & Read This

 
If you can break away from the inanities of Facebook and texting and sexting your friends, if you can put down your gaming console and abandon your IPOD for ten minutes, take the time to read this just once in your life.  Then ask if you, as a citizen, have maintained faith in the principles of this document:                                        

The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers. He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance. He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power. He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation: For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury: For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies: For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation. He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends. We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.