What Motivates the Left?

Many are puzzled about the left's support for the Islamic Jihad, which would destroy them in a second if they ever gained power over the world. This article, well worth reading, from The American Thinker suggests that civilizations, like people, have self-destructive impulses and that the left is Western Civilization's destructive impulse. The left's sole purpose in existing seems to be to destroy our entire way of life and everything they do is aimed in that dirrection. They hate our religion, our economy and our values which uphold our entire way of life. An interesting theory. The key to defeating any enemy is understanding it and that includes the destructive left as well as Islamic Jihad.

My Apologies

For the last two days I am once again getting intermittent loss of service from my ISP. I am having difficulty staying on line so blogging is a little bit difficult at the moment, though I am attempting to do so. If this continues I may need a new ISP. I really don't want to change because it has been very good until just recently.

This is the Tip of the Iceberg

A 75 year old gentleman named Fred Douglas Henley walked into the voting booth on voted on Nov 8, 2005 in the local elections, as any good citizen should. There was however a little problem; Mr. Henley was dead when he voted.

The Detroit News did a painstaking review of Detroit's voter rolls and found as many as 20,000 dead people. Add in a few wrong addresses and we have quite a problem here. As you read the article, it appears that Detroit has so many problems that one has to wonder if an honest election can be held in that city.

The problem is compounded by another thing. If you ask too many questions of the wrong people and reject anyone, Jesse Jackson et al will show up screaming disenfranchisement.

What we really need is mandatory photo ID's and voter rolls constantly being compared to death records, tax records, etc to make sure they are accurate. There has to be a way to stop this fraud which, unlike the donks' claims about Ohio, can be verified (while it cannot be verified how the voting went.) Voter fraud is the biggest threat there is to Democracy and some people believe that they are so entitled to win that it is perfectly alright to cheat.

Laugh and Cry at the Same Time.

A Sudanese man was forced to marry a goat after being caught in an act of bestiality with the poor critter. I guess the punishment sort of fits the crime for the man but what about the poor goat? Who asked if she wanted to marry this guy? WHERE IS PETA WHEN YOU NEED THEM?

This is a Crime in Saudi Arabia.

I would expect something like this in a poorly written comedy making fun of Moslems. Sadly it a true story. A cassette store was closed down, the manager fired, and a business owner in big trouble because a woman entered it. No kidding.

H/T The Religious Policeman (go to the blog and read this moderate Moslem's opinion of this; it is enlightening.)

The Islamic World and Patents

Just how creative are the modern Moslems. While poking around Dr. Sanity's excellent blog, I came to a link to this amazing post on the Islamic World vs the Western World on patents and inventions.

I also appreciated this from the comments section: Slave economies never invent anything. In Islam the men are slaves to Allah and the Women and Children are slaves to men, literally. It is the only remaining slavocracy in the world.

Another commenter said that there were many Islamic inventions and gave a link so I went to check it out and just started giggling. It was his own blog (planck's constant) and it was a spoof on Islamic inventions.

I see I am going to have to add a couple more links. :-)

The Left and the Cultural War

I have on many occasions thought about doing a post on why I will not vote for a Democrat for national office (though I can and do vote for them in local elections). This is not to say that GWB has been a stellar president or that the GOP is perfect, both have serious flaws but that is the price of being human. What is important is the core principles of each party.

Up until the late 1960s the Democratic Party was a party of populists, both liberal and conservative, who believed in freedom and the American dream led by truly great men such as John F. Kennedy and Harry S. Truman. As far as I can see the change began during the 1968 Democratic convention when left-wing extremists disrupted the convention and began their move to take over the Party. Now it appears that the national Democratic Party is controlled by a socialistic group of elitists who believe in absolute power for themselves so they can create a utopian paradise here on earth where they richly reward themselves for doing so.

During the '76 election Jimmy Carter ran as a conservative, populist Democrat and won the election on that claim. Once he was in office he started governing as a liberal elitist and started driving Christians out of the Democratic Party (which had been our politcal home for many years). During the 1984 Presidential election candidate Jesse Jackson said that part of his aim was to drive the "boll weevils" (conservate Democrats) out of office and replace them with liberals.

The eloquent and thoughtful people at The American Thinker have more to say on this and as usual, it is truly worth reading.

Another Linkless Rant

Today I saw a bumper sticker that bugged me. No it didn't say "Hillary in 08" or anything like that. It said "When there was no seperation of church and state, people died for their religious beliefs."

Fair enough.

However, the last few times there was absolute seperation of Church and State a couple million people died in Pol Pot's killing fields, millions died in Mao's Cultural Revolution, millions died in Stalin's Gulags, millions died in Hitler's concentration camps etc. etc. etc.

Absolute seperation of a religion that values life from the government is every bit as dangerous as an absolute theocracy. The churches should not control the state, but can and should serve as a check on both the state's power and actions. It's a delicate balance that must be maintained and to maintained it should be understood. The church can and should serve as brake on out-of-control state. (The German Christians should have stood up to and publicly confronted Hitler - and many did; they are now true martyrs for the Christian faith.) We should prevent unjust wars (the current war is, in my opinion, a just war, as it is the aim of the Jihadists to create a worldwide caliphate and force Sharia on every nation on earth; they must be stopped). We should speak out against genocide, slavery and any intentional killing of innocents. We should speak out against changing the moral standards that have served us well for centuries. We should speak out equally against both corporate and union greed as there is no moral difference between them. 100% consistency and utopian perfection are humanly impossible, but we must the voice that says "Enough!" when things are getting totally out of hand.

Part of it is to treat all MORAL religions with courtesy, even if you believe they are wrong. (We Christians believe that God will judge the unbelievers and we are specifically told not punish them for their unbelief. This does not mean that we pretend that they are right; it means we don't kill them, steal from them, treat them as subhuman or destroy their "holy" places.)

But back to my main point; theocracy and absolute seperation of church and state are opposite but equal mistakes.

The Story is Spreading.

I typically try to avoid commenting on the "big story" because so many others are talking about it and there is (usually) no need to say more on my part. However a lot of my co-bloggers are really taking the MSM to task over its fearful capitualation to the Islamic terrorists and it is A Big Story!!! All that they have said is important and needs to be read. Rather than comment myself, as I would then be a mere echo-chamber for these people, I will instead direct you to them.

Lone Pony seems to lead the Charge. (You go girl!!!) American Press Held Hostage by Islamic Terrorists.

Dr Sanity does her share with The Cowering, Simpering MSM. I love this line from her "This is today's cowering and simperimg MSM. Courageous in demanding it rights when no courage is required; and rationalizing, pandering wimps when integrity and conviction are needed. When intimidated by bullies, they cower; and their is no value that cannot be abandoned."

Little Miss Chatterbox has it as a sub-section of her fine article Mainstream Media Bias - Stuck on Stupid. The comments are definitely worth reading.

Crazy Politico has his take on it and he mentions that even some leftists are sickened by this in his post Great Minds Think Alike.

Armed and Christian been has doing his part by carrying several of his own cartoons. Some of them are real eye-openers. Here here and here.

This list is far from exhaustive as it seems like hundreds of blogs are hitting on this story. I just wish it would shame the MSM into fighting for the freedom that is its very lifeblood.

A Liberal Shows His RACIST True Colors

To hear some people talk you would think that all conservatives are Klansmen and liberals are the only friends that non-whites truly have. Ah but then reality sets in.

It seems that there was a man at Cornell University who was kicked out of a frat party for belligerence and racial slurs. He walked through the campus still using the slurs. When he was confronted by a small group of black men, he stabbed one of them. (The victim was treated for a punctured lung.)

Now the story says he occasionally wrote articles for Turn Left which is a leftwing magazine/newspaper in Cornell. However FrontPage Magazine reveals that he was a major player on the campus left and a regular contributer to that magazine(and appears to have an over-sized opinion of himself as well.)

Oh For the Good Ole' Days

Many of my co-workers are unhappy because things are not like they were when their parents and grandparents were our age. In the late '40s until about 1970 it seemed like America was on a roll and could do no wrong. A highschool graduate could be married and own a house before they were 21 and look forward to a life of affluence. People thought it would only get better and better.

Sadly, it was not to be.

I refer to that time period as a hyperprosperity. It was a period that is probably unique in our history, a golden age so to speak. It's not likely to come back in such a manner.

It was caused by a convergence of three things, that simultaneously went right for America, allowing us to briefly go into abnormally high prosperity.

1. After WWII almost the entire industrial world was in ruins, but America, and a couple of other countries, came through intact. For a few years we had the world's only functional economy and the rest of the world was depending on us. Of course things were going to be good. When the rest of the world's economies caught up it hurt us and slowed us down because we now had competition.

If there is another war of that scale, I doubt that America will be unscathed this time.

2. It was a generation that survived the Great Depression and won WWII. They believed nothing was impossible and had a CAN-DO attitude, an understanding of sacrifice, and the discipline brought on by hardship. We baby-boomers had it way to easy and as a results we lack all of the above. (However, I believe this is the one that can be revived and restored, but it will take work and a massive change in attitudes.)

3. The Baby Boom. A lot of children being born is good for any large-scale economy. I don't know, however, if it is possible or wise to create another such baby-boom. (There are Christians on both sides of that argument and I don't want it here.)

America is going to prosper, and be a great nation for a long time, but that particular golden age is gone and not coming back. Any political program designed to bring it back is doomed to fail. I wonder what can bring on a new golden age.

We had it so good then that we don't realize that we really don't have it all the bad today. In many ways we are richer and better off than the Americans of that golden age, but we just don't realize it because it is no longer easy to enter the middle class right out of High School. We need to compare our lives, not only to 50 years ago, but also the rest of human history and rest of the human race. We say America is going to hell in a handbasket while the rest of the world is beating down the door to get here and get a piece of our prosperity.

We do need to make it as good as possible and we can still have a good life. It just won't happen the same way it happened 50 years ago.

Call the National Enquirer !!!!

Proof that Bigfoot exists!!!

I wonder if they have photos of the Alien Base on the moon too.

Actually what he describes is not even in the area of the American Northwest but Malaysia. I am open minded to the possiblity of other species existing, they certainly do, but I seriously doubt that there are any large primates wandering around the Pacific Northwest. If these huge apelike creatures do exist in Malaysia, it has nothing to do with our Bigfoot myth. However, I do find the idea of ten to twelve foot tall manlike creatures a bit hard to believe.

Some Moslems Have Had Enough

and it is not America or Western Civilization that they have had enough of. A growing number of European Moslems are finally telling the Jihadist Imams what they can do with themselves. They came to Europe to be free and now they are being harrassed and hounded by the same people they came to Europe to get away from. They have now formed a network and, risking their lives in the process, are begining to philosophically challenge the militants. It isn't much but it's a start.

It's about time. Now let's see if they can make a difference.

H/T to Egyptian Sandmonkey

Feeding the Homeless is Discrimination

Ah France. The country where anything can happen and probably will.

Serve food to the hungry homeless and have your soupline shut down. Why?

Unsanitary conditions? Nope.

Food is tainted? Nope.

Serving pork soup and pork sandwiches? Bingo!!!!

Because Moslems (and Jews) will not eat pork serving pork to homeless people constitutes discrimination and is illegal.

Only in France. I hope this does not give the ACLU any ideas.

Hungry people need to be fed and if the food available is pork, then let pork be served. If someone refuses to eat because of their religious beliefs, that is their fault and no one elses'. Even the head of the French Union of Islamic Organizations opposes closing these homeless soup kitchens for this reason.

Instead of criticizing the Soup Kitchens who serve pork, I must ask the Moslems who are worried about their homeless not having a place to eat a simple question. Why do you depend on Christian Benevolence? Where is yours?

More on the Olympic Scores

Brainster's Blog has informed the world that I am doing this, so I guess I better update it for today. (Thank you Brainster).

Again a gold medal is worth 5 points, a silver medal is worth 3 points and a bronze medal is worth 1 point. Most sheets only list the total number of medals won by each country. The number in parenthesis is the rank by simple medal count.

5:00 PM EST Feb 19, 06

1. (1) Germany 18 medals 7g 7s 4b 60 pts
2. (3) USA 13 medals 7g 4s 2b 49 pts
3. (3) Russia 13 medals 6g 2s 5b 41 pts
4. (2) Norway 16 medals 2g 7s 7b 38 pts
5. (6) Austria 10 medals 4g 5s 1b 36 pts
6. (3) Canada 13 medals 2g 6s 5b 33 pts
7. (8) South Korea 7 medals 3g 3s 1b 25 pts
8. (7) Switzerland 8 medals 2g 2s 4b 20 pts
9. (8) Italy 7 medals 3g 0s 4b 19 pts
10. (11) Netherlands 6 medals 2g 2s 2b 18 points
11. (13) France 5 medals 3g 0s 2b 17 points
12. (11) Sweden 6 medals 2g 1s 3b 16 points
13. (8) China 7 medals 1g 2s 4b 15 points
13. (15) Estonia 3 medals 3g 0s 0b 15 points
15. (14) Finland 5 medals 0g 2s 3b 9 points

It looks like Germany is headed for the overall gold with America and Russia duking it out for overall silver and bronze, but we still have a ways to go. Norway, Austria, and Canada are still contenders as well.

Just Invite Big Brother Into Your Home

Houston's police chief wants to put up surveillance cameras. In some places this is a good idea. But perhaps he goes just a little too far. It may not be a bad idea to put such cameras up in parking gargages, parking lots, or even the hallways of buildings in high crime areas, but he also wants to put them in, or at least very near, the homes of people who call the police too often.

I would agree to put them in public areas as needed, and put them in places such as the hallways of apartment buildings if they have the consent of the people who live in that building as well as the landlord. In or near a person's home should only be done with that person's permission.

The chief's response: I know a lot of people are concerned about Big Brother, but my response to that is if you are not doing anything wrong, why should you worry about it?

I can think of several reasons. Most of them are quite good ones.

Different Olympic Score Part II

Giving 5 points for a gold, 3 points for a silver, and 1 for a bronze, here are the points rankings as of 2:41 PM EST on Feb 18 '06 for the top ten teams. The rank by simple medal count is in parenthesis.

1. (1) Germany 15 medals 6g 6s 3b 51 points
2. (4) USA 12 Medals 7g 4s 1b 48 points
3. (3) Russia 13 medals 6g 2s 5b 41 points
4. (2) Norway 15 medals 2g 7s 6b 37 points
5. (6) Austria 8 medals 3g 4s 1b 28 points
6. (5) Canada 11 medals 2g 4s 5b 27 points
7. (7) Switzerland 7 medals 2g 2s 3b 19 points
8. (10) France 5 medals 3g 0s 2b 17 points
9. (8) Italy 6 medals 2g 0s 4b 14 points
9. (9) China (PR) 6 medals 1g 2s 3b 14 points

Our Youth are Missing Out?

I just recieved some news which, while not catastrophic, is troubling. There used to be a hobby shop in Lansing Michigan that was the size of small department store. When I used to play AD&D, (before the 3rd edition disgusted me to the point of no longer playing) I would spend nearly a third of my discretionary income there. I also bought rocket supplies, gifts, models and other things as well as RPG stuff. Today I learned that it is no longer there. (I have not lived in Lansing for some time.)

The reason. Hobby stuff just does not sell that much any more. I was building stuff with "Lincoln Logs" and "Tinker Toys" before I knew how to read. When I was 7 or 8 my erector set was my favorite passtime; today you can't give them away. When I was a little older I loved my Chemistry set, now our local hobby store sells one or two a year, usually to honor students who need them for their studies and they have to be special ordered. I was one of several in my class who owned a microscope (which I still have), and a lot of kids I know don't even have an interest in them. I also owned a 300x telescope which I gave away about 15 years ago. None of this was unusual as a lot of my playmates and friends had them. When I was 12 or 13, we built model rockets from scratch; today they are prebuilt -- just plug in the engine and lauch. I don't even know too many kids who like to build model cars or airplanes (and they really don't sell that well, mostly to adults). Now Legos were quite popular for a while but they too have begun to fade.

I love computers, but I think we have to lay a lot of the blame for this on the computer and the home video game. I wonder what is going to inspire our next generation of engineers, scientists and astronauts.

It even hurts sports. A nearby town has discontinued little league baseball due to lack of interest (they couldn't get enough kids to fill 2 teams, even though there are quite a few children there.) Are there going to be any American-born ballplayers in the big leagues 30 years from now? (And the "experts" blame obesity in kids on McDonalds - not inactivity.)

I used to think my parents were crazy when they said we spent too much time watching TV and not enough time doing things. Now I think that maybe they are on to something. Fortunately there will always be a few kids who break the mold and make things and do things, not just play video games and therein is our hope. We cannot allow computers to become our sole hobby, nor the only hobby of the young.

I'll Take New Mexico

Space tourism is revving up, though only for short sub-orbital hops, not journeys to an orbital Hilton (as seen in 2001 A Space Odyssey).

Space Adventures, the company that sent Dennis Tito and others to the ISS is building a space port for comerical sub-orbital flights in the United Arab Emirates. In view of the current situation in the Middle East, I have to be skeptical of that choice.

Their rival, Virgin Galactic is building theirs in New Mexico. If I can ever afford $100,000 to spend a few minutes in zero gravity, I think I'll buy American and take New Mexico.

It Made Me Happy

Friday I saw something that I had not seen since April of '05, though prior to that I took it for granted.

OVERTIME!!!! :-D

It was only a few hours, but finally a decent paycheck. Thank God for small favors.

Today's Headlines (Detroit News)

The closing of automotive plants in Michigan is a racist plot. Well that's not what the article in today's Detroit News says, but it makes quite a note of the fact that a bigger percentage of the black community is being badly hurt by these plant closings than the white community.

Excuse me! The pain of unemployment and watching your job fade away is the same regardless of your skin color. The black community is getting hit harder, not because of a racist plot, but because of the percentage of that community working in the auto industry. This is an economic and cultural problem, not a race problem.

A Different Olympic Score

All of the rankings of Nation Olympic teams that I have seen only count the medals, thus a nation with 3 bronze medals is equal in rank to a nation with 1 gold and 2 silvers (they both have a total of 3 medals.) But what if you give more for gold and silver? In High School track and field they used to give (and I assume they still do) 5 points for finishing first, 3 for second place and 1 for 3rd place.

Using such a scoring method lets look at the top teams who have 3 or more medals as of 9:46 PM EST on Feb 15th.

Medal Count
1.Norway 11 medals (1 g, 5 s, 5 b)
2. Russia 9 medals (4 g, 3 s, 2 b)
3. USA 8 medals (5 g, 2 s, 1 b)
3. Germay 8 medals (4 g, 2 s, 2 b)
5. China 6 medals (1 g, 2 s, 3 b)
6. Austria 5 medals (2 g, 2 s, 1 b)
7. Canada 4 medals (1 g, 1 s, 2 b)
7. Italy 4 medals (1 g, 0 s, 3 b)
7. Finland 4 medals ( 0 g, 2 s, 2 b)
10. Sweden 3 medals (2 g, 0 s, 1 b)
10. Netherlands 3 medals (1 g, 2 s, 0 b)
10. South Korea 3 medals (1 g, 1 s, 1 b)

Now rank by the value of their medals using points for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd as we did in track and field. (gold = 5 points, silver = 3 points, bronze = 1 point)

1. Russia 31 Points
2. USA 27 Points
3. Norway 25 Points
4. Germany 24 Points
5. Austria 17 Points
6. China 14 Points
7. Sweden 11 Points
7. Netherlands 11 Points
9. Canada 10 Points
10. Italy 8 Points
10. Finland 8 Points
10. South Korea 8 Points

This isn't important. It is just an observation at how different the rankings look if one considers the ranking of the medal as well as the number of medals.

From Inside Iran

A blog everyone should be reading right now, in view of the current situation, is Regime Change Iran which is written by Iranian dissidents. It has a lot of news from inside of Iran, including a lot that our oh-so-reliable MSM refuses to report. I am not going to comment on any specific stories, but simply encourage you to go and read what these people have to say.

At Least It's Not Bad News.

The Good News: GM is going to upgrade 5 Michigan plants spending half a billion dollars to make the improvements.

The "Eh - Whatever" News: The upgrades will create 200 new jobs. I guess it's better than eliminating more jobs but $2.5 million in investment per job created? This won't hurt our economy, but it won't help it a whole lot either.

Still I guess we should be grateful for 200 more jobs at GM. I understand that they are more concerned about saving the company than creating jobs (which makes sense: No company = No jobs) but I would expect such an investment to create a few more.

Are We Up to Something?

There is a buzz around the net that the Pentagon is drawing up a plan of attack against Iran's nuclear program. Actually I think it has probably been studied for some time and it's just now become public.

I was just at AB Freedom blog and read his post on this and then just now read the same story at WorldNetDaily. It looks as if the USA may be getting serious about Iran. Hold on to your hats! This may be a bumpy ride.

I would rather use submarine and ship missles rather than risk the lives of bomber pilots but I must assume our generals and admirals know what they are doing.

Another Friend Starts a Blog

My old roommate has started a blog of his own. It's called The Prayer Corner. It's a little different from most blogs but I think that is a good thing. He hasn't done much yet but drop by and say "Hi!" to him.

Today Could Have Gone Better

This afternoon I was driving out to see my parents, who live 11 miles away in the country. As I hit the last stop light in town my car stalled and would not restart. I felt like an idiot standing there looking at my car trying to figure out what was wrong while cars drove by me. Finally I realized I was right across the street from a auto repair shop who had 2 signs; one said "Open" and the other said "Towing Service." One sign was correct, it was open, but the other was not exactly correct - as they had just sold their truck. They called another wrecker service who towed me back to my place. At least the price was not bad by local standards ($45 for just over a mile). It looks like I have to replace my starter.

:-(

Oh well.

A Song to Think About

In the early 80s I bought an LP (remember those?) by a Christian singer named Mark Heard called Victims of the Age. While it said little about redemption it said much about Christian conduct and our attitudes toward our fellow believers and unbelievers. My favorite song on the album was Everybody Loves A Holy War. I see it now in Islam's Jihad against the west and left's "jihad" against President Bush, but I think we too need to take this message to heart. I forget who said it, but the words were "He who fights a monster must take heed not to become a monster himself." In the struggle with those who hate us, we must not become like them.

The lyrics to this worthwhile song can be found here.

A Radical Atheist Tries Something

Now at least one Atheist is trying to say that is illegal to claim that Jesus even existed. In a trial that was Quixotic at best, Luigi Cascioli of Italy tried to bring criminal charges against a Catholic Priest for saying that Jesus really existed. Not that He was the Son of God, but that He even existed! Fortunately the judge had the sense to throw the case out, but Mr. Cascioli is not done yet. He plans to take this to the European Court of Human Rights to put the Church itself on trial. He sounds like he has taken a few lessons from Stalin, Hitler, Lenin etc.

This bothers me on many levels. Is a court of law a proper venue for such a discussion? Why does this man hate religion so much? This would outlaw evangelism, or even ... just so many things. I am really troubled by this.

I call this persecution. I wonder if he will prosecute Moslems too.

Also mentioned in USA Today and Yahoo

Hillary in 2008?

Check out this little "Song and Dance".

http://www.michaelhodges.com/missing.html

Thank you to my younger brother who e-mailed the link to me.

Sometimes You Should Miss Work

I rarely miss work; in fact I think the hold the shop record for going the longest time with no tardys or absences (a little over 7 years.) I have worked days when I was so sick I could barely stand.

Recent events in Lansing Michigan now have me reconsidering whether or not that is a good thing to do. An employee at a decent Lansing restaurant failed to report an illness and worked, spreading an illness to over 400 costumers and co-workers.

It was at an Italian restaurant named "Carabbas" (I have been by it but never in it - a co-worker told me the food, service and atmosphere were all excellent). This excellent establishment has had its reputation badly damaged because of one inconsiderate employee working while contagious with an illness. Many people will refuse believe it was not the food that made them sick.

I may have to reconsider my policy of never missing work if I can at all. I really don't like the idea of infecting my co-workers.

The story is over three days in the Lansing State Journal

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Maybe He Would Be Happier if the Plot Had Worked

The "warrantless" wire-taps, or related programs stopped a terrorist attack in LA. Apparently South-east Asian Muslims were to use shoe-bombs to take over a plane and fly it into US Bank Tower in LA. Good information allowed the plot to be busted up.

I can't help but shake my head in disbelief at the reaction of LA's mayor to this disclosure.

"I'm amazed that the president would make this on national TV and not inform us of these details through the appropriate channels," said the mayor, a Democrat.

From Yahoo News Service.

It's a Good Thing We Have Bloggers

If it were up to the Eloi that control the MSM we would have never known just how silly the cartoons that upset the Islamic world really were. None of the major networks and very few newspapers published them. Yet many, if not most, Americans have seen them thanks to the blogosphere.

As this article in the American Thinker points out, they may talk about respect for Islam but the real reason is good old-fashioned cowardice. The murder of Theo Van Gogh at the hands of Mohammedan kooks left a chilling message, and in spite of all the liberal media's talk of the courage to tell the truth; they are terrified of actually being murdered by these people. While I understand this fear, it is surrending their freedom, and ours, to these monsters.

They say there is war and peace. There is a third option, and that is Surrender. They have chosen the third option.

If a Moslem chooses to kill me, then my spilt blood will shout of the name of the Son of God. I will never surrender the truth to these lies. I have always believed that if you are not willing to die for something, then you don't truly believe in it. That includes your country, your faith, your family, and the Truth itself.

Not a Good Day to Blog

Between Blogger acting up, my ISP being intermittent, and me not feeling well, the last couple days just haven't been blogged. Hopefully the problems have been solved.

True in 1784, True Today.

In 1778 a Spanish Playwright wrote a satire on Islam called The Marriage of Figaro but it was not performed until 1784 due to threats from the Muslim Community. His response to that is valid even for today. Read the Response.

H/T American Thinker

This is a Very Bad Idea

A tree is supported by its roots and if the roots are unhealthy, the tree is going to be unhealthy. This is common sense.

Tax-payers, individual and corporate, are the root of the tree of tax revenues. A tax base is supported by tax-payers, be they individuals paying income and sales taxes or businesses paying business and corporate income taxes. If these two are not making money there will be no taxes collected, thus no revenues. Michigan needs more businesses and our people need to make more money.

A cut in business taxes would improve businesses which would have a few positive effects. More businesses means more employers, thus more income tax, and simply more businesses, thus more business tax, as well as less welfare and unemployment compensation, thus cutting costs.

It's not going to happen in Michigan.

As far as ergonomics goes, that is another issue for another time and should not even be in the same article. (You have to read carefully to see that ergonomics and taxes were seperate bills, but this article wants them connected in our minds.)

A Sad Anniversary

Today is the 23rd anniversay of the needless death of the greatest female vocalist (IMHO) of the 20th Century.

Could you imagine one of today's singers walking on a stage wearing a dress that completely hid her figure and showing only her hands and face. She would pick up a microphone and simply sing, pouring every bit of herself into every note and word. She didn't do anything sexy or seductive (though her voice could be very seductive); she didn't have to wiggle her bottom at the camera because her voice alone would do the work.

There will never be another Karen Carpenter. She was dissed by the magazines like The Rolling Stone because she was non-political and simply sang to entertain. Her songs were songs of love and friendship. She kept her life, and pain, private - she died on the very day her divorce from her husband was to be final. Some singers had a larger vocal range but none of them had her quality of voice. There are very few who can even hold a candle to her.

Fortunately her work survives and is still doing quite well considering nothing new has been recorded since 1980.

But I often wonder if MTV hasn't ruined music. It used to be that you just heard their voice and that alone would carry them and they generally concentrated on their voice. Now with music videos the girl (or guy) has to be uber-sexy, dressing and behaving in a manner that detracts from the song they are singing, especially if they concentrate more on their body than the song. Would a one-time superstar like Mama Cass even really stand a chance today? Karen Carpenter was not ugly (until anorexia ravaged her appearance) but she was no beauty queen either. Yet her voice was unequaled and carried her to astonishing heights.

I remember you Karen and will never forget you. RIP

Her brother, Richard Carpenter, has four daughters (and a son), and maybe one of them will approach their legendary aunt in talent. He is being very coy about their talent but I don't know if that's because it isn't there or if he is simply protecting his daughters from his sister's fate.

Server Problems

My server is giving me problems right now so my connection to the net is erratic. Their office told me yesterday that it is a technical problem with their entire ISP so I am frequently without service right now.

:-(

A Family Album

Here is another good laugh courtesty of the Right Place.

Good for a Laugh (2)

If this guy had died doing something this dumb he would have qualified for a Darwin Award. A Utah man actually called the police to complain that someone had stolen his marijuana. Then he did something even dumber. Read the story.

When I was a Burger King manager I had an employee who was 16 yrs old and out cruising with some friends. They went to an isolated gas station/convencience store to get cigarettes (which in itself is illegal) and while they were there they decided, on the spur of the moment, to rob the place. They drove away with their loot and after they had gone several miles they realized they had forgotten to get the cigarettes so they WENT BACK to buy them. They went into the store while the county sheriff's deputies were there investigating. Needless to say, we had to find an employee to replace him.

A Nuclear Future?

When I was 18 (more years ago than I care to admit) I joined the Navy and entered the nuclear field. About half-way through it, I was getting a physical to go with my attempt to get into Annapolis and they decided my blood pressure was too high to even stay in the Navy so they sent me home. I did not finish Nuclear Power School but I got about 2/3 of the way through the classroom phase of the training. When I entered the Navy in 75 Nuclear Power was considered the wave of the future.

Then a few years later Jane Fonda terrified the American people with her anti-nuclear propoganda film, The China Syndrome. This was followed curiously close by a scary sounding, but non-catastrophic "accident" at Three Mile Island (It was a just a few short weeks after the movie was released.) I know enough about reactors to doubt that it was an accident because amongst other things, multiple safeguards had to fail simultaneously. The nature of what happened, combined with the coincidence of timing with the movie, and the failure of multiple safeguards lead to me then to believe, and I still believe, that somebody did this on purpose. I cannot prove it but circumstantial evidence points in that direction.

This led to a serious slowdown of the US nuclear reactor program. I believe that this has resulted in higher energy costs and a greater dependence on foreign fuel because we use petroleum products to produce power at a lot of generators when we could be using nuclear power.

Now President Bush wants to take a second look at nuclear power and I say go for it. This editorial by University of Michigan Flint Campus proffessor Mark J Perry gives reasons why we need to move away from natural gas and toward "clean coal burners" and nuclear power. I know nothing about clean coal burners so I cannot comment on them but I believe reactors can be made safely and run safely if they are run right. Seven states are asking for licences to build reactors and I hope Michigan soon follows suit.

Yes reactors can be dangerous if not handled properly. That is why you let proffessional technicians and engineers run, who know what they're doing, handle them.