Some of the More Hysterical Reactions To Hillary's New Ad

Hillary recently sent out a mailer raising questions about Barack Obama's anti-gun rhetoric. You can't help but laugh at some of the responses.

Click on this link to read a couple Obama supporters unbelievably petty comments on the ad.

Gitmo The "Worst In History"?

So I was glancing through my Yahoo homepage when I saw a headline saying a freed Sudanese cameraman declared Gitmo the worst jail in history.

My first thought was why in the world would Yahoo make such an obviously egregious exaggeration one of their five or six headlines? Though in retrospect I suppose I know the answer. The second thought I had flashed back to "Midnight Express".

Let's get this straight: This man is from one of if not the lowliest country in the world; a country in which slavery still exists and in which a full fledged mass genocide has been going now for years. Still it is "news" when he decides to denounce the Taj Mahal of prisons as history's worst.

I decided to do a search for info on Sudanese prisons for comparison's sake and here is what I found from the BBC:

-Firstly the Sudanese govt. has long refused any international inspection of their prisons, which is certainly not a good sign.

-The Sudan co-ordinator of Justice Africa states that "inmates are treated like slaves".

-There are no beds and no clean drinking water while many prisons lack showers or toilets.

-On top of all that there are no roofs on the prisons, so inmates are exposed to the African sun with the only relief coming from sheets.

It appears there really is nothing so ridiculous that it can't be overlooked by liberals when making America look bad is at stake.

Yahoo should really think a little harder about the intelligence of their readers before trying to pass this stuff off.

**Thanks to Weasel Zippers for linking to this post.**

Who's More Generous, Liberals or Conservatives?

Check out this ABC News video on charitable giving patterns. Would you think the compassionate liberals or the cold-hearted conservatives give more of their income to charity? How's about donating blood?
Watch and find out:

On the Bright Side....

For this week's "On the Bright Side..." I've got three cases of autistic individuals who will blow you away. You've just got to see them to believe it.

While these are uplifting stories, the sad part is that there's still people who think even the possibility of an autistic or otherwise disabled child is cause for an abortion (Heck, many of them think you shouldn't even have to have a reason). Even worse some of these people think that's a compassionate stance and that they're somehow "saving" them the pain of their existence.

Luckily the tide of public opinion has been turning against abortion as people's eyes are opened up to more and more stories like this about human resiliance.

Here's Derek Paravicini, a blind and severly autistic piano player who can perfectly play any song by ear that he's ever heard:


You'll be amazed by Stephen Wiltshire, an autistic man who can draw anything he sees from memory in amazing complexity:


And there's no way I can go without adding the story of the now infamous J-Mac, the autistic high-school basketball manager who the coach decided to put in in the last quarter of the last game of the season:

Immigration Tensions Rise Around The World

Turns out it's not just "bitter" gunslingers and bible thumpers that are uneasy with generally unrestricted immigration from third-world countries.

This past month has seen several stories in international papers about growing frustrations with lax immigration policies. Americans would be smart to pay attention as these countries are are the "progressive" models that stateside liberals strive so much to emulate.

From the UK's Daily Mail we read:

Almost two-thirds of British residents fear race relations are so poor that tensions are likely to spill over into violence, the BBC has found.
Of 1,000 men and women polled, 59 per cent said the UK had too many immigrants and almost half - 49 per cent - wanted foreigners to be encouraged to leave.

and:

The findings are very close to those of other recent polls. Earlier this month, a YouGov survey found four-fifths of the population - 83 per cent - considers there is an "immigration crisis".

That poll, carried out for Channel Four's Dispatches, found 69 per cent of the population thinks special treatment of immigrants causes British people to "lose out".

Another Daily Mail article states:

One in every five murders or manslaughters in England and Wales is committed by a foreigner, police figures revealed.

In one area of London, the figure is one in three.

This is despite the fact that foreigners represent only around one in 16 of the general population.

Among the most high-profile cases was that of Roberto Malasi, an 18-year-old Angolan asylum seeker who shot dead a 33-year-old woman as she cradled her baby niece at a christening in south London.

Malasi went on the run and two weeks later stabbed to death an 18-year-old pastor's daughter who he felt had "disrespected" him.

From Canada's Globe and Mail we read:

A majority of Canadians say their country bends too much in trying to make visible minorities feel at home, even as voters pat themselves on the back for being a welcoming society.

According to the poll, 61 per cent of those surveyed believe that Canada makes too many accommodations for visible minorities. In Quebec, 72 per cent of those surveyed feel that way.

So there's nothing uniquely American about our hesitancy to open our doors and entitlement rolls to just anybody. On the contrary we take in more immigrants every year than the rest of the world combined.

Conservatives Are Happier Than Liberals

As I've noted before, conservatives have reported being happier than liberals in each of the past 35 years that such data has been collected by the General Social Survey. If it was just "most" years then there might be room for argument on the merits, but 35 straight years? Nope. Sorry, there's no arguing here.

Today this article in the Economist goes into detail about why this is the case.

They question Arthur Brooks, a Syracuse professor, regarding his book "Gross National Happiness". He finds that parenthood and religiosity are both strongly correlated to happiness and are more likely among conservatives.

He also goes on to hypothesize that conservatives are more likely to be optimistic about the future and feel more in control of their lives. Liberals on the other hand tend to associate themselves with one victim group or another and are depressed as such.

These findings were also recently reinforced by the finding that gun-owners were happier than their unarmed peers. Gun-owners are also more likely to consider themselves self-sufficient and in control of their own destinies.

This all makes perfect sense to me, but some people still can't get over the idea of conservatives as "bigoted", "intolerant", "angry", etc.. Projection anybody?

Professor Brooks also found that liberals are quite a bit more likely than conservatives to say that they not only don't like opposite points of view, but that they don't like the PEOPLE who hold those views.

This also makes sense as you don't read about liberal speakers being hit with pies, shouted down, or physically attacked. Last week an unhinged Bush basher actually punched a wheelchair bound girl during a protest. These stories are rather familiar to conservatives, but don't often make it into the mass media.

Think we're going to see any marches against liberal intolerance anytime soon?

What's the funniest about all of this though has been the comments by liberals on the Economist website and sites like Digg regarding this article.

One reader brought up the "fact" that people in Mexico and El Salvador are happier than American. That seems highly unlikely considering how many of them are trying to move here. This happy liberal reader's handle was "jeff666". Go figure.

Another happy liberal reader writes: The verdict is in and you're guilty as charged: Conservatives are happier for two reasons: 1. Because secretly they don't give a shit about America and 2.) You're just too stupid to see when something is wrong. You know. Like Iraq. All you motherfuckers thought that was a great idea. And look how well that went.

Another compassionate, happy liberal writes: So are Down's Syndrome people(happy)

More: "I don't have to be married and go to Church to be happier..
I'm quite fine with the occasional Vegas trip and hooker motif!",

"This could just as easily have been titled "Why stupid people are happier than smart people."

"Bottom line, conservatives are more likely to lie and imitate a happy person."

Roseanne Barr Calls For Rioting At Democratic Convention

It's unlikely anybody noticed, but Roseanne Barr has joined Air America Radio Network. Well she's wasted no time in reminding us all why liberal radio is doomed to failure (All emotion, no reason).

In a recent segment she opined that Democrats should recreate the Chicago riot of 1968 at this year's convention in Denver. She said she would participate and would also spend some of her own money to make it happen.

Here's her words: I mean I think somebody’s profiting by keeping us all divided and making us feel like oh my God we don’t even know what to believe what we’re reading what’s true. But you know, we have a lot of power and there is a Democratic Convention in Denver in just a short time and we should a bunch of us go there and repeat the Democratic Convention from Chicago. Like, let’s just cause a bunch of trouble. Let's wrest back our government from what, six or seven you know guys like McCain and Romney and Bush from the top. Let’s just go take it. It’s ours. Nobody gives it to you, you just go take it. Let’s meet in Denver and let’s do it.


Soooo... her reasoning for the rioting was to "take back" the country from Bush, Cheney, Romney, etc.. How flaunting your lunacy - and at a Democratic convention nonetheless- would further that goal though is beyond me.

And we thought they couldn't go any lower than adding Jerry Springer to the rotation. Gooooooooo Dems!

Democrats and Islamic Fundamentalists Make the Same Error

Here's a little parody video called "Arab Girls Gone Wild" that should serve to remind people how we can bend and make concessions to Muslim sensibilities until we're blue in the face, but still never meet in the middle.

The reason I say in the title that Democrats and Islamic fundamentalists make the same mistake is this: They both favor "compulsory virtue", an oxymoron if I've ever heard one. Of course virtue by definition cannot be forced, yet we're constantly bombarded from the Left with instance that welfare is a necessity for a "moral society", that reducing carbon emissions is a "moral imperative", "diversity" trumps fairness in the classroom and the workplace, etc..

It's not enough for Islamic fundamentalists to preach the virtue of female modesty. Instead they pass laws REQUIRING it and often punishing the disobeyers with violence or even death. Even in Europe we have seen women beaten or killed by family members for their immodesty.

I'm all for virtue in environmental issues, treatment of the less fortunate, female modesty, etc., but all that goes out the window when you decide you're going to impose that on somebody.

Congratulations! You Can Keep Your Money Now.

Whether you were aware of it or not, until the middle of last week you weren't working for yourself, but instead the federal government. The nearly four months worth of wages prior were what it took to pay your cumulative taxes.

April 23rd was this year's National Tax Freedom Day. Depending on what state you live in your specific date may be earlier or later.

Below is a graph of Tax Freedom Days over the past 26 years. Notice the very clear incline during the Clinton years(1992-2000) and a very dramatic decline after the Bush tax cuts took effect. (Click on the picture for a closer look)

The 60's Are Over and They Were a Disaster. You're Not Saving the World, You're Just A Mess.

In trying to dismiss the fact that Barack Obama launched his political career at the home of an ultra-radical domestic terrorist, I've heard it said several times that this was simply a "right of passage" and not reflective of him.

Just how depraved does an organization have to be to have a "rite of passage" that runs through the home of a couple that saluted Charles Manson, told hippies "kill your parents", and still waxes nostalgic over it all?

They're elite Democrats, that's what they do...seriously.

In a somewhat related vein you might remember gonzo journalist extraordinaire Hunter Thompson's incredibly twisted earthly exit back in 2005. He shot himself while on the phone with his wife and while his son and grandson were in the house with him. A real stand-up guy.

Anyways, something stuck out to me about his bizarre funeral. It wasn't just that Johnny Depp threw a $2.5 million funeral complete with blow-up sex dolls and a 15 story tower (made to look like a fist clenching a peyote button) to shoot Thompson's ashes into the sky before an invite-only crowd, but that John Kerry was there. John Kerry? As in the Democrats' last idea of leadership material?

You have to wonder, if Kerry had won would he still have attended? A "Mission Accomplished" banner was a little much, but how would a picture of an American president look with Blow Up Betty floating in the background?

Historian Doug Brinkley spoke of Thompson:

"He's got more friends than anyone else I know," Brinkley (Historian Doug) continues, counting off names like George McGovern, Sandy Berger and former president Jimmy Carter and his family. Thompson introduced Billy Carter to Heineken, according to Brinkley.

Last summer, Thompson also became friends with then-presidential candidate John Kerry. At a campaign stop in Colorado, Brinkley recalls, Kerry said, "I'm here to announce today my candidate for vice-president is Hunter S. Thompson." "

Unfortunately for millions of everyday Democrats across the country the elites of their party are still so helplessly lovestruck with 60's nostalgia that they refuse to grow up and recognize depravity as depravity.

Let's take a few Democrats from the absolute top of the heap and see if we can't find a pattern:

BARACK OBAMA-
*His former "mentor", Frank Marshall Davis, was an avowed Marxist and member of the Communist Party of the United States.

*For the past 20 years he has attended and given significant financial support to a church in which the pastor - a former muslim and black nationalist - has now been heard to have denounced "Amerikkka" in the harshest of ways.

*His wife, an Ivy League graduate making over $350,000 a year, languished for twenty some years before pride in her country surfaced.

*He has a cordial relationship with a man who once bombed our Pentagon and regrets that he "didn't do enough".

*Some of his enthusiastic volunteers were seen on the news with a flag bearing the likeness of the murderous Che Guevara hanging in their office.

*His campaign's official blogger flies the Communist Party flag at his apartment and publishes his work in a "revolutionary Marxist journal".

*His campaign's technology advisor recently created a video with a gay Jesus getting hit by a bus. He also hopes to advance the idea of "digital communism".

JOHN KERRY-
*Met with Vietcong officials in Paris while American troops were still fighting in Vietnam.

*Accepted donations from the designated Albanian terrorist group the KLA. (The leader of the KLA, know as "Snake", was later a guest at the Democratic National Convention)

BILL CLINTON-
*Pardoned 16 Marxist Puerto Rican terrorists who organized over 100 bombings in the U.S., killing six and injuring 130. Some of the terrorists even threatened the judge in their trial.

*Pardoned two domestic terrorists associated with the subversive Weather Underground. One participated in a string of bombings and the other aided a bank robbery that left one guard and two police officers dead.

*Invited terrorist sympathizer and unlikely billionaire Yasser Arafat to the White House.

*His wife did pro-bono work defending two Black Panthers in their trial for torturing and murdering one of their members for "disloyalty".

JIMMY CARTER-
*Has met with on friendly terms with socialist dictator Hugo Chavez.

*Invited genocidal dictator Robert Mugabe to the White House.

*Met North Korean leader Kim il Sung and assured the U.S. that North Korea didn't have weaponized nuclear ambitions (Oops)

*Met with communist dictator Fidel Castro.

*Met with Yasser Arafat.

*Recently traveled to Syria and embraced leaders of the terrorist regime Hamas against strong warnings by the State Department.

*Will surely have done something else despicable by the time I finish typing this.


There is an undoubtable pattern here of association with, sympathy for, or at the very least a lack reasonable animosity towards the most anti-American of sentiments. How this pattern either doesn't register with or doesn't bother the majority of Democrats who vote for these people escapes my comprehension.

Sure Republicans can be seen with the like of Chinese leaders and Saudi princes who are surely not good guys. The difference here -and it's a huge one- is that in the case of a Saudia Arabia or a China there's an unquestionable economic advantage for all Americans when such relationships are normalized and cordial. There are few if any benefits to friendliness with Castro for instance or Robert Mugabe.

I've heard it said that a liberal is one so open minded that their brain falls out. I think we can make a case.

On the Bright Side....

“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.” Viktor Frankl


For those of you who haven't already seen it, this week's shot of positvity comes from a 25 year-old girl from Ireland named Sophie Merry. Now electronic/dance music isn't really my thing, but no matter what your musical tastes you can't help but be impressed by the show she puts on here. It's a refreshingly happy dance that matches the music wonderfully. Watch the whole thing (3:42) because it gets better as it goes. This is what someone doing something almost perfectly looks like.

Too Perfect: Gun Owners Have More Money and Are Happier Than Non-Gun Owners

It's almost become a law of the universe that any time there's a nugget of liberal "common sense" everybody thinks they know, it turns out to be wrong.

Unemployment for the disabled rose after the American's With Disabilities Act, we had an export surplus during the Great Depression, mandatory bike helmet laws rang in an increase in bicycle-related head injuries,the top 25 most charitable states turned out to ALL be "red" states, etc...(Click here for an exhaustive list)

Now, after Barack Obama let slip what every liberal is thinking about those "bitter", gun owning, churchgoing, know-nothings; that too has met it's factual refutation.

The Wall Street Journal had a precious article yesterday citing the massive data collected by the General Social Survey. As liberal luck would have it gun owners are just as educated as non-gun owners and actually have 32% higher incomes than their un-armed counterparts.

The Journal went on to point out that they're happier as well: "In 2006, 36% of gun owners said they were "very happy," while 9% were "not too happy." Meanwhile, only 30% of people without guns were very happy, and 16% were not too happy."
They suggest that perhaps part of the reason gun owners are happier is because they have a greater sense of self-reliance.

They made a point to stress that gun-owners don't simply care about themselves though. Gun owners were more likely to donate to charity, donate blood, and more likely to strongly agree that they would "endure all things" for the one they loved.

You would think liberals would be demoralized after consistently seeing their preconceptions go up in smoke- oh that's right they are.

Sex Changes For Kids Now

Via Conservative Grapevine, in this almost unbelivable story you'll read about a doctor at Children's Hospital in Boston who is, with the help of horomone injections, intentionally delaying the onset of puberty in children until they can definitively choose what gender they want to be.

It seems almost every day you get another little peek at the brave new world that progressives envision, or at the very least necessarily have no rationale for stopping.

When I was a kid I wanted to be a star athlete when I grew up. Does this mean I got screwed out of steroid and growth horomone therapy? Where's John Edwards when I need him?

PETA Wants You To Grow Your Meat

No that's not another tasteless junk-mail headline for insecure men, but instead the literal aim of a new PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) initiative.

They are offering a $1 million prize to whoever can create a meat product grown in a laboratory and indistinguishable from it's naturally derived counterpart. The product can only use starter cells taken from an animal and no more.

Apparently this has caused an uproar in the PETA ranks particularly among the food purists who abhor messing with nature. These are the same people who push organic foods and shun genetically/hormonally enhanced meat.

While the PETA campaign might draw some attention I don't think it's going to be the catalyst in any development. I would imagine that while a million bucks is nothing to sniff at, such a product would be worth hundreds of times that. If it can be made then I assume somebody is already on their way to making it.

So what do you think? Do you have a problem with lab produced meat or does it turn your stomach?

Or do you wanna wrap yourself in it like this girl just to spite PETA?

Think Somebody Is Trying To Send Them A Message?

I guess Earth Day festivities took a bit of a hit yesterday in Edmonton, where the cold weather kept people home. Naturally the main thrust of the event was to combat supposed man-made global warming.

This is not the first time a global warming event was got a chilly reception.

In '04 Gore gave a much ballyhooed speech in New York City on one of the coldest days in the city's history. And in February of last year a House hearing on global warming was canceled due to a blizzard.

Then there was also the story last year where a pair that set out for the North Pole to "bring attention to global warming" had to turn back after encountering temperatures as low as 100 degrees below zero. One of the pair had to have three toes amputated due to frostbite. Not surprisingly she blamed the cold weather on the "unpredictability" wrought by global warming.

Perhaps the big man upstairs wants to send a message that misleading people for political power and self-aggrandizement doesn't sit so well.

Here's a nice little clip about the hype:

On the Bright Side...

“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.” -Viktor Frankl


Last weekend I also had a post called "On the Bright Side.." with a couple impressive stories of perserverance and achievement. I think I'm going to make it an every Saturday thing because as I said before, people are way too negative about way too much lately.

So enjoy three great ones from Britain's Got Talent:








I guess this last guy, Paul Potts, won the whole thing last year and got to perform for the Queen. The first guy, Andrew Johnston, is in this years season presently.

John Wayne Doesn't Play That "Progressive" Crap

Some of you might have heard clips of this before, but it's worth hearing again.

Listen as a tipsy John Wayne reacts to liberal student shenanigans at Columbia University. He saw way back then that the left was squelching debate and called on decent men to stand up to them.

How do you think he'd react today upon hearing that conservative speakers around the country are shouted down, dis-invited, and several times have been assaulted at college campuses just because liberal students can't bear to have their worldview challenged?

Did Obama Flip Hillary Off?

You obviously can't say for sure whether it was intentional, but it looks, in this video, like Obama purposely scratches his face with his middle finger during a pause in remarks about Hillary.

Whether he meant it or not it sounds like the crowd thought he did.

Turns Out Bill Clinton Pardoned Two Members of the Weather Underground

Barack Obama got hit pretty hard in the debate Wednesday night over his relationship with former radical Leftist and Weather Underground member Bill Ayers- and rightfully so.

There's no reason to have any cordial association with such a man regardless if he's your neighbor or even your in-law. Obama has shown himself to be at best a push-over who can't muster the courage to assert himself if for no other reason than to improve his prospects or at worst a radical sixties retread with an extreme agenda.

What didn't come up Wednesday was the fact that Bill Clinton pardoned two members of the Weather Underground in his final hours in office.

He pardoned Linda Evans, imprisoned for her participation in several bombings and Susan Rosenberg who participated in a bank robbery that left two police officers and a guard dead.

How's about next election the Democrats just don't even consider nominating anybody with sympathetic ties to radical terrorists? Is it really that hard? It speaks volumes about the elite of the Democratic Party that they can't come up with any candidates with semi-clean records.

You will recall that their last candidate, John Kerry, met with North Vietnamese communists in France while American soldiers were still dying. During his campaign in 2004 he also met with a member of the known Albanian terrorist group the KLA and gladly took his campaign contributions.

And of course there's former Democratic President embracing Hamas leaders this weekend in Syria against strong objections from the State Department.

This has to really eat away at everyday Democrats who still hold some semblance of patriotic sentiment.

The Man Who Made Me a Conservative

About six-and-a-half years ago I was just out of college and pretty much politically ambivalent. If anything I leaned Democrat just because my family and community did. I even voted for our abysmal, current Democratic governor in 2002 over what I then saw as his correct position in opposition to school vouchers.

Though my years in the school district might have eventually done the job without him, I can credit my conversion to conservatism largely to one man: Thomas Sowell.

I recall I was flipping through our local newspaper and came across the uncharted territory of the "Opinion" section. I must have been bored because I set in to an article by Dr. Sowell.

I don't recall the topic, I just remember that it made so much sense I read it several times. To make a long story short I've read every article since, as well as the majority of his books. He is, in my opinion, the most formidable living American intellectual and a national treasure.

Read today's Thomas Sowell article and you'll see how his no-nonsense style and knack for attacking politically incorrect issues with common sense can open eyes.

Then I strongly urge you to watch this series of short (5 min.) "Uncommon Knowledge" interviews with Dr. Sowell called "Facts and Fallacies". You won't be disappointed:

Part 1: Feminist Rhetoric vs. Reality

Part 2: Lying With Income Statistics

Part 3: Problems With College Professors

Part 4: Soaring Tuition

Part 5: Black Crime Rates

Does This Cancel Al Gore Out?

Check out the graph below and notice the total absence of correlation between levels of carbon in the atmosphere and temperatures over the past nine years.


The violet line is the observed temperature change from the UK's Hadley Climate Research Unit. The blue line is the observed temperature change from NASA's MSU satellite. The green line is the observed CO2 level.

CLICK ON IT FOR A CLOSER LOOK


This graph was included in a letter to the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change from a group that includes a Nobel Peace Prize recipient. The letter challenged the panel to acknowledge that there "is no observational evidence in measured data going back 22,000 years or even millions of years that CO2 levels (whether from man or nature) have driven or are driving world temperatures or climate change."

You can read the letter here, because you know you won't hear about it on the news.

Kick the Butt, Pass the Bong

In sort of a follow up to the last post about government issued medical marijuana below, I looked into California's marijuana program.

I came across a "Frequently Asked Questions" section on their official site and found that they allow minors to receive and smoke medical marijuana with parental consent.

Now were these same minors to receive and smoke cigarettes (usually filtered by the way) from their parents a misdemeanor would have been committed.

Anybody else find this kind of surprising given California's stridency in anti-smoking legislation? In some municipalities they've even banned smoking in public parks and homes.

Uh-oh, I foresee another advocate standoff brewing.

Surprise Surprise, Pot Smokers Not Paying Their Debts

In a story that could just as easily be from The Onion, Canadian news is reporting that two-thirds of citizens receiving government issued marijuana are delinquent in their payments for it. One would imagine the checks they did get had Cheeto fingerprints and smelled of patchouli.

Really? Nobody foresaw this?

Even your local, corner drug dealer, working with a 6th grade education, knows better than to take IOU's from a user.

But such is the inevitable progression of socialism. Once people begin to expect cradle-to-grave support from the government, you're gonna have a hard time getting them to take any responsibility whatsoever, even for their weed.

Viva socialized medicine!

On The Bright Side...

One of my all-time favorite quotes/passages is this one from Viktor Frankl:

“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.”

I wish kids memorized this one in school like the Gettysburg Address or the Kama Sutra... whatever they're teaching these days.

Too many people today are getting caught up in the gloom and doom alarmism about the economy and such, while forgetting they're in control of their own lives, not to mention already in the greatest country in the world.

Here's two clips of people that beautifully illustrate that life is what you make of it:




The second clip you're going to have to click on, but it's well worth it.
Watch this very inspiring clip of a rock 'n' roll group made up of senior citizens here.



....................................................................................

Liberals Tripping Over Each Other

Among today's progressives no designation warrants more self-righteousness than "advocate" (though "green" is gaining ground).

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "If you would lift me up you must be on higher ground." That truism certainly isn't lost on today's progressives.

Riding the gravy train of dispersed costs and concentrated benefits, advocates have found themselves wielding a surprising amount of power and influence. So what happens when progressive advocates' interests collide?

Two recent stories give us a preview of things to come as one area of advocacy (environmentalism) splinters into smaller sects with bigger illusions of self-importance.

In California it's the tree-huggers versus the solar power advocates. Here in Wisconsin it's the wind power advocates versus the Audobon Society.

This story from the left coast tells of a conundrum where a hybrid driving environmentalist is being forced to cut down his long established trees because they'll block 15% of the sun to his neighbor's proposed solar panels.

Apparently California was already so nutty back in 1978 that they put a law on the books saying solar panels trump trees.

Back here in Wisconsin super clean wind farms are meeting harsh opposition because they claim the lives of too many birds. It's unlikely that the birds will win this one though as global warming concerns supercede all others ("You're just helping some birds while I'm saving the world.")

Who knows, maybe if the global warming fanatics step on enough toes we'll see a backlash of critical analysis of the costs and the facts. We can only hope.

Pssst Barack...Your Liberalism's Showing

I've always known that Barack Obama was teeming with elitist liberalism just under the surface. Up until now however, the closest glimpse we got came not from him, but via his wife in her "first time in my adult life I'm truly proud of my country" line.

No longer. On Friday, Obama told a group of elite San Francisco liberals that small town residents in the Midwest "cling to guns or religion" because they are "bitter" about their lot in life.

This is big news and will hopefully sour independent voters on him. As for the self-described Obamaniacs, I doubt this makes even a blip. What he said is classic liberal boilerplate and they're no doubt wondering what the fuss is all about.

There's several layers of stupid in Obama's gaffe, but what sticks out most for me is the way in which he referenced religion. We already know Obama's stance on guns: he doesn't like them and thinks there should be less of them. So by using "guns" and "religion" interchangeably it's almost impossible to deny an implied negative connotation for both.

For someone who has talked and written extensively about his "faith" doesn't it seem unlikely that he'd feel the need to explain it in others? It sounded less like religion was a part his life and more like it was a peculiarity. Call me crazy, but I think Obama's religiosity has been at least partially strategic.

For a more in depth take I suggest checking out this well done article on Politico that lists 12 reasons why this was such a huge mistake.

Lottery Jackpot Winner On Welfare 3 Years Later

There's a t-shirt out there that says: "We’ll solve poverty the day after we solve laziness and stupidity."

That's obviously oversimplifying, but read this story and tell me it doesn't reinforce that sentiment a bit.

I guess a man in the UK won a 5 million pound (roughly $10 million) lottery only three years ago and is already on SKINT and BENEFITS; two of Britain's welfare plans.

Stories like these should give pause to those who think all the chronically poor need is more money thrown their way. Different people have different priorities and do different things with their money, therefore it should not surprise anyone that they end up with differing degrees of wealth.

"If you always do what you've always done you'll always get what you always got." Hence the rich keep getting richer and the chronically poor stay poor. Good habits are why over 80% of all the millionaires in America made their money during their lifetime as opposed to inheriting it. So don't envy them, emulate them.

Who's Supposed To Be Watching Jimmy Carter?

Note to our liberal friends: Whoever was supposed to make sure Jimmy Carter didn't do something mind-numbingly retarded is in big trouble.

He got out of the country again and he's making a huge mess.

WORST. PRESIDENT. EVER.

"Organic" Food Not All It's Cracked Up To Be

Just when I thought "green" was becoming a religion they go and do something reasonable.

I was very surprised to come across this article today in the "green content" section on MSN.

The article lists 6 myths about organic foods along with explanations. I simply assumed the article would be glowing with praise for the organic movement, but was taken aback to find a somewhat pessimistic take on it all.

Here are the 6 myths with my own cliff-notes explanations:

MYTH #1 ORGANIC FOOD IS ALWAYS BETTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
Inefficient methods use twice the resources.

MYTH #2: IT'S MORE NUTRITIOUS
Studies go both ways. No proof found.

MYTH #3: IT TASTES BETTER
Taste tests show only organic apples to score better.

MYTH #4: YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE AS CAREFUL ABOUT WASHING IT.
E. coli - the worst culprit, is equally present on any produce.

MYTH #5: YOU'RE SUPPORTING SMALL FARMS OR ECO-COMPANIES
Industry largely owned by mega-companies and produce is often imported adding to eco-impact.

MYTH #6: IT'S BETTER FOR YOU
Ingredients are ingredients, regardless of how they were grown.

They did go on at the end to say that organic livestock may be treated better and that your chances of getting Mad Cow Disease, although already infinitesimal, are nil with organic beef.

Personally I've never sought out any foods because they were "organic" and have generally thought the phenomenon to be as much about the vanity of the consumer as about the environment. Nonetheless it's heartening to see that some in the media are not above critical thinking on environmental issues.

Democrats Are Blocking Their Own Border Control Bill

In a move that's almost hard to believe, Democrats in Congress are now refusing to vote on a border security bill that they themselves wrote. A whopping 49 Democrats were co-sponsors of a bill (called SAVE) beefing up the number of border patrols, outfitting them with better body armor,and expanding the social security verification system.

Now it comes time to actually put the bill to a vote and 33 of those same Democrats that co-sponsored the bill are refusing to sign off on it. Nancy Pelosi is spearheading the effort to bury this bill.

Democrat voters should hang their heads in shame, because this is about as low as they can sink.

Here is the full article at Investor's Business Daily


..

McCain Voters Have Better Musical Taste

Okay, maybe that's a tad bit subjective, but a new poll of 27,000 likely voters and radio listeners has found John McCain to have a definitive edge among those considering themselves classic rock fans.

Obama had the edge among fans of 80's and 90's rock and alternative music.

Making McCain's popularity among classic rock fans more impressive is the fact that 30% of respondents identified themselves as Democrats versus only 22% Republicans.

Makes sense to me. If a general theme could be drawn from 90's and alternative rock it would be: "Everything sucks." This, coincidentally, is the general theme of the modern Democratic party.

I left 80's rock out of that equation because it's quite a bit more upbeat (the Reagan effect naturally). Still, when compared to the classic rock of say Led Zeppelin, 80's rock may sound good, but ultimately lacks substance. This, coincidentally, is the general theme of Barack Obama's campaign.

Obama's Pastor Also Former Muslim and Black Nationalist

While I would imagine that not much more damage can be done by Obama's church affiliation, there's still some juicy side-notes popping up.

It turns out,according to the New Republic, that Reverend Jeremiah Wright was formerly a Muslim and black nationalist. This obviously makes his marching with Louis Farrakhan and meeting with Mohmar Qadaffi slightly more interesting.

Here's an excerpt from the article:

"After many lectures like this, Obama decided to take a second look at Wright's church. Older pastors warned him that Trinity was for "Buppies"--black urban professionals--and didn't have enough street cred. But Wright was a former Muslim and black nationalist who had studied at Howard and Chicago, and Trinity's guiding principles--what the church calls the "Black Value System"--included a "Disavowal of the Pursuit of Middleclassness.'"

The way it is worded almost makes it sound as like "former Muslim and black nationalist" was a part of the selling point for Obama. Do you agree?

Didn't Know About Planned Parenthood's Parentage? What else don't you know?

I imagine most politically engaged people have at one time or another thought to themselves: "If only everybody was as familiar with the things I know, then they'd all be liberal/conservative/libertarian etc.."

I'll admit I largely feel the same and think I've done a pretty good job of putting it into practice via successful debate. Whether I nudge someone over towards the conservative side or not I'm almost always guaranteed to pull out a fact that my counterpart "can't believe" until the point where I produce proof.

The difference for those on the liberal side is that whether they believe it or not nearly every card (or fact in this case) in the argument for contemporary liberalism is already on the table. There's little a liberal can tell you that you haven't heard a hundred times before. There's a reason of course.

For starters most Americans have spent 17 or more years in schools where the teachers are generally more liberal than their parents, the textbooks and curriculum are almost exclusively written by liberal academics, and even the books in the library are chosen by librarians who happen to belong to one of the most radical unions in America.

Then it's off to college to instructors even more radically liberal, and a student culture where the only thing less cool than being a conservative is being a virgin.

Apart from all this (and family of course) the main sources of information about the outside world are newspapers, television, and to a degree movies - all mediums largely delivered through a liberal filter.

So basically there's no excuse for any of the "inconvenient truths" that animate liberals NOT being widely disseminated in the public domain.

Anyways, I bring this up in response to the story about numerous Planned Parenthoods accepting donations with the specific goal of aborting black babies. The story's serious enough in itself, but the political junkie in me can't help but wonder how many outspoken liberals are even aware of Planned Parenthood's parentage - in particular that it's founder Margaret Sanger referred to blacks as "human weeds" and saw abortion as a way to cleanse the population of it's lesser members (She would have preferred wholesale sterilization, but settled for abortion).

Honestly, how many people today do you think know about the eugenics movement and it's link to abortion? Do you think if the word "eugenics" was as often associated with abortion as "back alley" and "coat hanger" that it might take a few folks down a notch?

Likewise I'd venture a guess that 9 out of 10 college students today could tell you that JFK was a Democrat, but less than 1 in 10 know MLK was a Republican.

I'd also bet that if asked who "outed" Valerie Plame the majority response would be "Scooter Libby" not the confirmed culprit and Bush critic Dick Armitage. Don't even bother asking about Sandy Berger.

Well read conservatives are filled with all these little tidbits so I decided to make a quick list of "Did you know?" questions guaranteed to burst a few liberal bubbles:

Did you know that...

-Americans spend more money on taxes than on housing and health care combined?

-The polar bear population is not facing extinction and is actually growing?

---More than twice as many people move from Canada to the U.S. as move from the U.S. to Canada every year? This despite the fact that WE HAVE ALMOST TEN TIMES AS MANY PEOPLE and they have "free" healthcare.

--Four times more people have been killed by their own governments in the past century than have died in all international wars combined ?

--Ann Coulter has been to roughly 67 Greatful Dead shows?

-The unemployment rate was 5.4% in Nov. '96 when Bill Clinton was re-elected largely on his handling of the economy. Today the unemployment rate under Bush is only 5.1% yet it's all doom and gloom? (Can you say media bias?)

-Universal Healthcare in New Zealand actually requires banning immigrants who are too fat (They cost too much you see)?

-Less than 50 of the roughly 200 countries in the United Nations are democracies?

-The global polar bear population has grown five times larger than it was in the
1970's.

-The United States already admits more legal immigrants each year than all other countries in the world combined.

-In '06 Democrats in Congress had over six times more money personally invested in military-related companies than their Republican counterparts?

-Despite what Michael Moore may have you believe, regular Cubans go to hospitals that look like this?

-Hardly discriminated against, 140 women graduate from college today for every 100 men?

-The editorial boards of both the New York Times and the Washington Post wrote in favor of drilling in ANWR all the way back in the late 80's.

-In the unregulated U.S., carbon output fell 1.3% in '06 while it rose .4% in progressive Europe?

-There is much more forest coverage in the United States today than there was in 1920?

-Handgun crime rose %40 after handguns were banned in the UK?

-Multi-national companies (or "sweatshops" to some) on average pay twice the average local wage?

-The government never injected blacks with syphilis during the Tuskegee Experiment.

-Only 1.5% of oil company stocks are held by corporate directors and officers, while 43% are held by mutual funds and 27% of that by institutional funds (teachers,police officers,firefighters).

--A person could live for a whole year on the corn it takes to make enough ethanol to fill one SUV tank?

-The Pilgrims tried collectivism for their first two years here and only abandonded it after they nearly starved to death?

-Under their universal healthcare system the average wait for surgery or theraputic services in Canada was 18.3 weeks in '07?

-George Bush fired only 8 U.S. attorneys while Bill Clinton fired 93?

-Minorities are more likely to be rejected for home loans by minority-owned banks than traditionally white banks?

-The federal government spends over $23,000 per household? (Did you pay your "fair share"?)

-Whites do not have the highest household income in the United States? (Asians do)

-Palestinians have more rights in Israel than in any Arab country?

-More people were killed in Southeast Asia during the first three years of communist "peace" than were killed in the 13 years of war prior?

-Contrary to the "rich get richer, poor get poorer" narrative, from '96-'05 people in the bottome fifth of income earners saw a 91% increase in income while the top 1% had an income decline of 26% ?

-Man of the people Fidel Castro controls a fortune estimated at $900 million while the average Cuban makes less than $20 a month ?

-In '04 the average earnings of the top 10 athletes and entertainers was almost double the average earnings of the top 10 earning CEO's?

-Hurricane Carter was never exonerated, wasn't anywhere close to being the champion at the time of his arrest, and is still in all likelihood guilty of murder?

-Since the General Social Survey began in 1972 Republicans have reported being happier than Democrats of equal income levels EVERY SINGLE YEAR? (Where's the hatred and bigotry?)

-The "rich" carry more of the tax load now under Bush than they did under Clinton?

-The infamous Katherine Harris of the Florida 2000 election fame actually ordered a statewide recount, but Al Gore fought against it.

-PETA kills thousands of animals every year?

-Every one of the top 10 individual donors to 527 groups in the '04 election supported Anti-Bush or Democratic-allied groups? (Party of the rich anybody?)

-Slavery existed among the American Indians long before Europeans settled here?

-That dirty looking Che Guevera guy on your shirt personally executed dozens if not hundreds of people ?

-Contrary to reports of "disenfranchisement" and a stolen election blacks in Florida voted in greater numbers than ever before during the 2000 election?

-There has been no observable global warming for the last nine years despite growing carbon output?


And that's a short list....

Absolutely Not Buying Any More of Their Vodka

In the absolut stupidest marketing move ever check out the new ad campaign for Absolut Vodka in Mexico:



For the same price I'd suggest Three Olives brand, or even save some money and go with the Smirnoff.

Socialists Do The Darnedest Things

For any of you that have somehow managed to square universal healthcare with your notion of limited government, property rights, and liberty in general, I direct your attention to New Zealand.

You may recall back in November of 2007 that a British couple were denied residency by New Zealand immigration officials on the grounds that they were too fat. If your neighbor's health is your responsibility then it logically follows that you should have some control over who gets to be your neighbor (or countryman in this case) right? And the tangled web continues...

Today we hear that an elementary school in New Zealand has barred students from bringing cake to celebrate their birthday. Why? Due to new government guidelines for healthy eating.

New CPR Standards

Was it just me or did anybody else feel slightly relieved when they announced that mouth-to-mouth is no longer considered necessary in CPR?

Had To Add This

Did We Say Profiteering Was A Bad Thing???

Don't tell the anti-war activists, but according to the Associated Press in the last reported year ('06) Democrats in Congress had over six times more money personally invested in military-related investments than congressional Republicans.

That's an inconvenient truth that could only slightly be explained away by spilling yet another inconvenient truth in that 7 of the 10 richest senators and congressmen are Democrats.

Party of peace, party of the little guy...meh.

Hey, there's nothing wrong with making money or investing in our defense, but I know of at least one group where that won't get any...uhhh support:

Third Graders Plotting Murder

Few things bother me more than seeing bad parenting in action. Perhaps it's true that many parents of past generations were a little too distant and overly stern, but it's my opinion that the pendulum has since swung way too far towards parents who are obsessed with being "cool".

I can't count the number of times I've cringed while overhearing parents of all ages swear freely around their children. Those same parents also seem to be the same ones who will bend over backwards to accomodate said childrens' demands, no matter how ill advised or inappropriate.

Today I got a huge helping of "Whoa!" on the bad parenting front. The whopper being the story of nine third graders who planned (rather thoroughly) to subdue and stab their teacher. The students went so far as to bring a steak knife, duct tape, and handcuffs to school while also delegating tasks like covering the windows and cleaning up the blood. This was supposedly in retaliation for a scolding one student received for standing on his chair.

There is so much wrong here, but the first question that jumps out at me is "Aren't these kids scared of what their parents would do to them?". For me, as a child any punishment I got at school was secondary to what I would get at home. Disrespect towards a teacher was out of the question. Had I plotted possible murder I probably wouldn't be here writing this now. These students, like so many today, were at the very least not afraid of their parents' consequences enough to factor that in.

The second question that jumps out at me is "How entitled do you have to feel and how unaccustomed to rejection/discipline to you have to be to think stabbing someone is an equal reaction to it?" Sure there's some nutty kids out there, but a group of nine that all agreed to this idea???

The blame for this can be evenly split between schools and parents. In today's schools self-esteem and self-righteousness are overflowing while consequences are pathetically lacking - particularly for students who receive the waaaaaayyy overutilized "special education" label as some of these kids apparently did. They can plot a somewhat sophisticated assualt plan and probably know every song on the pop charts by heart, but they can't remember how to add? Sounds convenient. The "special-ed" label comes with more money from the state and federal government for schools so it's no wonder it's so outrageously abused.

These "special-ed" students then find themselves largely immune to punishment due to their designation. In one case at the high school where my father taught somebody stuffed a paper in the gas tank of the assistant principal and lit it on fire in an attempt to blow up his car. The student was caught when the fire blew out and the paper was found to have his name on it. Unfortunately the student could not be expelled because...you guessed it: Special-Ed.

The "Terrible" Economy: A Self-Fulfilling Cliche

I would strongly suggest reading this article by Professor John Lott.

He points out just how much our perceptions are driven by the media. He uses the example of today's economy and how it is repeatedly referred to as in a "recession" (which it is demonstrably not). Going back to the Clinton years he finds that when the economy did go into an actual recession there was little media attention at all paid.

It should be surprising -though it's not- that he found upwards of 40% more articles mentioning "recession" in a period of healthy growth (4.9%) last year than he found in three months of recession leading up to the 2000 election. There is little explanation other than in 2000 Al Gore was running on the Clinton economic record and the media dared not burden him with the truth.

He goes on to quote Ben Stein as saying: “The actual economic conditions are not that bad. I think if we have a recession, if we have a serious recession a great deal will lie at the media’s feet.”

Considering that consumer confidence numbers are at a 16 year low despite the fact that the economy has been far worse several times in the last 16 years, I think he's absolutely right.

Bowling Lefty

Barack Obama was in Pennsylvania on Sunday trying to show that he was a regular guy, but succeeded -in my mind- in doing the opposite. For a "down to earth" campaign stop Obama bowled a game at the Pleasant Valley Recreation Center.

Now I'm a pretty bad bowler who's probably gone twice in the last five years. If I crack 130 that's a great game for me, but on the other end there's little excuse for dipping below 100. Barack Obama bowled a 37.

Maybe it seems like nitpicking, but that score is just too low to go without comment. In the exact opposite spirit as was intended Obama showed that he is so far removed from the average guy that he apparently has never handled a bowling ball before.

And in an extra bit of useless irony: he bowls lefty...

**UPDATE** Watch this video where Mary Katherine Ham tries her hardest to bowl a 37 - the only rule: No intentional gutterballs.

Interesting Amateur Ad

From Hot Air via Conservative Grapevine here's an amateur mash up ad that's choppy, but still conveys an interesting contrast between Barack Obama and John McCain:

Self-Sorting: A Sordid Story of Sorts

Surely to the surprise of many an angst ridden college student it appears the United States is not the only country in the world where people are sometimes discriminated against because they are different.

Across Mexico giganté street rumbles are brewing and they're not over turf, drugs, or even soccer. No, the coming clash is about music. Specifically the "Metalheads", "Punks", "Rockabillies" and the "Gangsters" want to run the "Emo" kids out of town (info on "Emo"). One particular city saw over a thousand people go on an Emo beating spree while riot police had to be called in.

Aside from the obvious pointlessness of the violence, I find this worth commenting on because I often get the impression that people think harmony, togetherness, and general uniformity among people is the natural order of things. When our workplaces, college campuses, etc. don't look like we imagine them because one gender is better represented in a certain field or different ethnic groups have different test scores there's no shortage of people clamoring for a "solution".

Good luck. People have been separating themselves for as long as we've been around and for as many reasons as there are stars. Not only is every person different, but every little difference leads to different prospects. Thomas Sowell pointed out way back in 1984 that "A whole industry exists to determine the statistical profile of people who view given television programs..". Given that, we shouldn't be surprised when distinction like race, gender, or even musical preference occasionally put people at odds.

March Madness By the Dollars

Here's an interesting link that uses the NCAA tournament bracket to compare schools by the median income of their graduates. It goes to show just how much education does pay off. My Boilermakers make it to the Sweet 16, but then have the misfortune of running up against Duke. That's okay. Hey Blue Devils: All the money in the world can't buy you your reputation back after your faculty and President sold out the Lacrosse team in front of the whole country before the evidence was in.

Is All Fair For The Fairer Sex?

In my new April '08 issue of Fast Company magazine a particular statistic jumped out at me and sparked some questions. It was: "Women make over 80% of all purchasing decisions across every brand category."

Now I'm familiar with laws of the cosmos like women love to shop, dogs chase cats, socialism is unsustainable, etc. but an 80-20 split between the sexes far exceeds what would have been my estimate (probably 60-40). So anyways a few questions it raised for me were:

1."Can women really be considered disadvantaged or submissive yet still control the vast majority of consumption?"

2. "Though the 'women make 78 cents for every dollar men make' claim is terribly misleading, wouldn't that even further widen the 80-20 gap between spouses in terms of an input vs. consumption ratio? (For instance a couple with yearly budget expenditures of $40,000 would hypothetically have roughly $22,470 of that contributed by the man and $17,530 contributed by the woman? The 80-20 split would dictate that she decides how $32,000 is spent while he only decides on $8,000. So she controls 183% of the amount she contributes while he controls only 36% of what he contributes. It ends up working out then to a 84-16 split.)

3.How can "gender equity feminists" sleep at night?

I realize there's a ton of factors to consider here and my point isn't to argue that women have it made or anything. I will however, argue that these statistics suggest at the very least that women today aren't victims of society in any general sense despite what many a liberal will have you believe. This isn't an unimportant point to make considering that women are covered under affirmative action and therefore entitled to preferential treatment. Just saying....

UPDATE: Check out this great article somewhat on the subject.

My Top 15 Favorite Blogs

The hardest working man in blogging, John Hawkins, listed his top 40 blogs this morning. Here's a top 15 list I threw together.

15. Mises Economics Blog
14. The Dartmouth Review
13. Ace of Spades HQ
12. Free Market Cure
11. IMAO
10. Hot Air
9. Boots and Sabers
8. Iowahawk
7. Redstate
6. The Corner (National Review)
5. Rachel Lucas
4. Scrappleface
3. Instapundit
2. Right Wing News
1. Little Green Footballs

Can We Say We Told You So?

Via Conservative Grapevine this story in the Washington Times is a big one that will predictably be buried.

Since the Vietnam War, where we won on the ground yet lost the battle of public opinion, many conservatives have claimed defeatist news coverage emboldens our enemies to fight longer and harder.

It would appear now that our logic has been verified by Harvard researchers in a study published in the National Bureau of Economic Research. Turns out there are measurable increases (7 to 10 %) in attacks on civilians and U.S. troops in Iraq following measurable increases in both negative U.S. media coverage of the war and negative statements by politicians. Further bolstering these findings is the fact that attacks increase more sharply in areas with higher exposure to international news.

I don't expect you'll hear a whole lot more about this story so why not pass it on and make sure it makes the rounds.

Absolutely Pointless Activism

Here's some anti-war protesters in all their strange glory.

That link goes to a story about some anti-war protesters in Illinois who ran through a church on Easter Sunday squirting fake blood on themselves and attendees.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall when some of these genius plans are hatched:

Lefty: Dude, you doin anything with your family over Easter?

Moonbeam: How many times do I have to tell you, the family is just a construct of the ruling elite to prop up the whole patriarchal machine.

Lefty: I guess that's a "no".

Moonbeam: I'm dropping by to get my laundry, but after that I'm outtie dude. I don't care about their stupid God or their commercial holiday. Baaaaaaaa baaaa! Idiots.

Lefty: So what are we gonna do?

Moonbeam: Let's really show 'em man. Let's wake some people up to what's really happenin dude. Let's hit 'em in their comfort zone.

Lefty: Huh?

Moonbeam: In church dude, in church! They can't ignore us when we've got them all together. This is our chance to show them how right we are.

Lefty: Dude church is like early and you haven't been up before noon since you graduated.

Moonbeam: This is different man. This is important. We can squirt water with red food coloring all over them so they think about blood and war and stuff. They can't turn away, can't deny it. It'll be brilliant.

Left: I've got some Halloween masks we could wear to hide our faces.

Moonbeam: Are you stupid? We don't wanna marginalize ourselves.

Should The Government Withhold Your Mortgage From Your Paycheck?

First take a moment to read this article by Professor Walter Williams. I dug it up from 2003, but the theme is just as pertinent if not more today.

He brings up a hypothetical situation where the government begins withholding your mortgage from your paycheck so you don't mess up and get foreclosed on. After all, if us taxpayers are going to bail out people who can't live within their means, we've gotta make sure they can't do it again right?

Such an idea might find a lot of supporters today as foreclosures hog the news. If you're anything like me though you'd say, "It could probably help a lot of people, but it's none of the government's business." Professor Williams agrees and notes that the constitution simply doesn't grant such a power.

Some people can't wrap their head around that kind of thinking though. They're of the impression that the mere possibility of helping people trumps all other concerns. Slap those people if you see them. If they complain tell them it was for their own good, and then they're stuck. After all if they say "Who are you to decide what's good for me?" then you've made your point.

Again hypothetically, Prof. Williams raises the prospect of government mandated exercise. There's no question that exercise is good for you so a mandate would just spread the good right?

This one really hits home because I own a gym. How big of a boon would it be for me if say everybody was mandated to have a gym membership? I'd be rolling in it, just ask a corn farmer. It may sound nice, but these pesky things called principles lead me to again say "It's none of the government's business." and of course it's not.

The "general welfare", the "common good" or the interstate commerce clause in this case all made perfect sense in their original contexts, but have since been perverted beyond recognition.

Perhaps one of the most compelling cases for conservatives and libertarians to hold their noses and vote for John McCain is that the Roberts court appears to want to clarify some very big issues of contention. Right now it's the right of individuals to bear arms, but if we're lucky who knows, maybe we can clear up "general welfare" and "interstate commerce" before they sneak in every nook and cranny of our lives. A strong conservative majority on the court would make that much more realistic.

The Tide Is Changing (And it's colder)

From one of the most unlikely places (the left-leaning NPR) we hear that ocean temperatures are actually cooling . One of those things you'd think we'd want to know about before enacting legislation to put American industry at a huge competetive disadvantage with other countries who will ignore any emissions caps.

NASA scientist Josh Willis reports the findings, but predictably downplays any conclusions that may be drawn from it: "There has been a very slight cooling, but not anything really significant," he says. "Global warming doesn't mean every year will be warmer than the last. And it may be that we are in a period of less rapid warming."

WAIT A MINUTE. I thought the whole man-made global warming argument hinged on the notion that growing carbon buildup (still only 38 parts per 100,000)is creating a greenhouse effect that traps heat on the Earth's surface. If carbon dioxide is the key factor and MORE CARBON = MORE BUILDUP = MORE HEAT TRAPPED, then how is it possible to have one year be cooler than the last, particularly when we know conclusively that man's annual carbon output is growing every year?

It would seem to me that this necessarily proves carbon isn't in itself enough to effect the climate. Is my logic off?

Obviously I'm not a scientist, but I am a realist and it's clearer every day that people are rushing to judgement on the global warming issue. And speaking of rushing to judgement watch the video in the post below, you'll see what I mean...

Hilarious Commercials I'd Never Seen

Here's five funny Ameriquest commercials that I'm pretty sure I've never seen on TV. Anybody else seen them?

Obama Admits That Welfare May Have Worsened Erosion of Black Family

In his morning speech, Barack Obama made a statement that has been historically considered sacreligious among Democrats. Here's what he said:

"A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one’s family, contributed to the erosion of black families – a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened."

The belief that welfare equals compassion and is the height of morality has been taken as gospel among Democrats since the 1960's. He didn't make this a theme, but nonetheless I'm glad he let it slip. Considering that he's proposing $800 billion in new spending (much on social programs), it will be interesting to hear him reconcile the two stances.

Perspective on the Invective: Global Warming Firebrands Must Contend With Inconvenient Facts

Pretend you're playing a game of Red Rover with 100,000 of your closest friends or rushing the field after a big Michigan football win. Now envision 38 people trying to stop either crowd in their mad dash. How do you think they'd do?

Why this exercise? Turns out carbon dioxide, the alleged culprit behind global warming and such annoying additions to today's daily language as "carbon footprint" and "carbon neutral", makes up only 38 out of every 100,000 particles in the atmosphere.

But this carbon is supposedly trapping heat near the Earth that would otherwise disperse into space right? That's what they say, but think about it and tell me if that doesn't sound ridiculous. There's a lot of climate scientists who think so too.

Just last month they held the 2008 International Conference on Climate Change in New York, where hundreds of climate scientists skeptical of the hysteria gathered to compare evidence that we're barking up the wrong tree.

The founder of the Weather Channel, John Coleman, has actually suggested suing Al Gore and his travelers for duping the public, specifically by advocating the purchase of carbon credits (from a company he is a part of).

Wisconsin's very own Reid Bryson, known as the father of scientific climatology, has also come out strongly against those who take man-made global warming as religion. Bryson says: “...there is no credible evidence that it is due to mankind and carbon dioxide. We’ve been coming out of a Little Ice Age for 300 years. We have not been making very much carbon dioxide for 300 years. It’s been warming up a long time.”

I'm not a climate scientist, but it seems to me that until people are as familiar with statistics like the 38 parts per 100,000 as they are with stories about castaway polar bears, we can't honestly say "the debate is over".

The "Obama's Preacher" Video

Sure you've probably already seen it or will soon on TV, but for those of you who haven't here go:
It's the minister (Jeremiah Wright) at Obama's church giving a sermon that is not only over the top, but also demonstrably contrary to reality in some cases. For instance he makes the claim that Obama's not rich (he lives in a $1.3 million house), that he's not privileged (he graduated from Harvard and married a Princeton grad), and that he's not white (technically he's as white as he is black).

The greater issue however, in my mind, is the fact that Obama would choose to belong to a church like this for some 20 years without leaving. Intelligent people of any color could find a handful of things in this clip alone to tune this guy out for good.

Some have opined that since Obama was raised by a white mother and followed a course few blacks relate to(Ivy League), that membership in this church is his attempt to re-connect with his "blackness". That is all well and good for the first month or maybe even the first couple years, but 20 years suggests that he has either bought into this church's viewpoint or has been afraid to walk away from it. Both of those options are problematic, particularly when you hope to become the most powerful person in the world.

Was I off?

Mr. Smith's Money Goes to Washington (and suburbs)

Four of the top five fastest income and job growing counties are suburbs of Washington D.C.. Anybody want to venture a guess why?

Forbes has an article this morning listing the "5 Best Places to Get Ahead" in the U.S.. They decided this by figuring together both recent income and job growth in the respective cities while excluding any cities with median incomes below $75,000 (pretty steep in my mind).

Anyways, though they didn't comment on it really, I found it very telling that four of the top five best places to get ahead were in the Washington D.C. metro area.

Stafford County, VA., Calvert County, MA., Loudoun County, VA., and Charles County, MA.. are the four in that order.

When you have a $3 trillion federal budget running through Washington it's inevitable that a lot of government employees, contractors and lobbyists will benefit handsomely from that largess. But it runs contrary to common sense that it would be booming while the rest of the country is in an economic slowdown.

Keep that in mind next time you hear politicians discussing rolling back the across the board tax cuts now in place.

An Interesting Cartoon From the Past

This short cartoon is from 1948 and it was made to explain the superiority of America and capitalism over other forms of government. It features a snake-oil salesman named Dr. Utopia who comes to town offering different "isms" in a bottle. The moral of the story is that people shouldn't let themselves be taken in by people offering "utopia" via communism, socialism, fascism, etc. and should resist people who push class warfare. Sound familiar?

Wayyyyy Over the Top Public School Moonbattery in Illinois

Via Rachel Lucas this story is almost hard to believe, but sadly the direction we're heading. Deerfield is only about 45 minutes away from my little corner of the world (Kenosha,WI)

Read this and tell me that public schools haven't gone way past inclusiveness right to anything goes moonbat advocacy.

Earth Day Hypocrisy

I found it kind of funny that in yesterday's mail I received an Earth Day product catalog. It was made up of 38 pages of innocent tree and included products like the 10 Reasons to Plant a Tree bookmark. One reason that didn't make the top 10 was: "So we can send out tens of thousands of unsolicited 38 page catalogs filled with non-biodegradable plastic trinkets and paper goods without conscience." (The number one reason was: "Trees provide shade to keep us cool". Seriously)

The log in their eye

Free speech has always been conditional on the left and here's an ironic example .

The link is to an article on the Daily Kos criticizing what they call "progressive" blogs apparently banning posts by Hillary supporters. The post includes a poll in which Kos kids can vote on whether they agree with such practices or not. The irony is that up until 3:45 (when I voted) a full 41% of Kos readers actually agreed with the Hillary supporters being banned. They're not as "forward thinking" as they imagine themselves I guess.

Here's just one of the Kos kids' comments to this blasphemous article:

She, and all her supporters, should be banned. If she loves McCain so much she should aske for a spot as his VP and get the hell out of the Democratic party.

by nisleib on Mon Mar 10, 2008 at 06:51:13 AM PDT

California: Perhaps the sun is getting to their heads

If you're ever trying to coax a friend from the emotional bonds of liberalism it's good to start by referencing California.

The term "Parisian Determinism" has been used to describe the phenomenon in which ideas (always bad) fashionable in Paris become fashionable in the United States roughly twelve years later. But Paris is far away and twelve years isn't soon enough to get people riled up. Instead I think we should concentrate more on "Californian Determinism".

While just as shortsighted as French logic, bad ideas from California run the risk of spreading through the states faster than you can say "veggieburgers".

Of particular interest today is the unanimous ruling by a California appeals court that threatens to outlaw homeschooling in the state and criminalize parents who resist.

The ruling in effect bars any homeschooling not done directly by a certified teacher. A whopping 160,000 students stand to lose out if this is upheld. One of the judges was quoted as saying parents could be criminally prosecuted for failing to comply.

Wisconsinites should take particular notice of this as our courts recently shut down a successful e-school network after a similar challenge. California's move will no doubt embolden WEAC to set their sights on Wisconsin homeschoolers as a whole.

Do we really want to be in the same boat as California? This is the same California which a few months back passed a bill ridding future textbooks of any references to "mom and dad" or "husband and wife" lest non-traditional families be discomforted. It was also ordered that students be allowed to use the bathroom and locker facilities of whichever gender they "identify" with.

You can't make this stuff up. What you can do though is let people you know in on these little reported developments and ask them to do the same. As much as people in Wisconsin may be split on politics, I think we can all agree that California is the last place we should be emulating.