Teen Tyrants

I highly recommend you all reading this article.

It puts into words exactly what I have been thinking lately about the generation coming up behind me. The riots in Britain last week were just the first warning shots....I believe there is more to come...and there will be blood spilled in this country too.

Teen Tyrants

Ford Has Done It Again!

Ford has done it again and is looking to do even better next year. This is their best single quarter in almost 20 years.

They’re CREATING jobs here in the U.S. WITHOUT Obama’s help. They’re IN SOURCING jobs back to the US from overseas (name another company doing that).


BUY FORD BUY FORD BUY FORD!

Are we raising a generation of nincompoops? - Boston.com

I've been thinking about this alot over the years. I see kids all the time who worry me with how dumb they can be...and how much they don't care.

Are we raising a generation of nincompoops? - Boston.com

Forbes Article on How Obama Thinks-MUST READ

Forbes Magazine has put out an EXCELLENT article on "How Obama Thinks".

Anyone who claims to be a conservative and to want to see The Big "O" Go in 2012...MUST READ THIS ARTICLE. It explains so much about what he thinks and why.

Read it and let me hear from you what you think.

Obama To Increase Infrastructure Spending

According to the White House, the US has about $2TRILLION dollars in infrastructure problems needing to be met. So, the BIG O is planning more infrastructure spending.
But that’s not even the fascinating part. I mean, after all it’s just more spending by the spendingest group ever to occupy Washington right? “Ho Hum.”

No, the fascinating part is the idiocy of the people advocating this to the President.

According to Mark Zandi (economic advisor to the Big O) on CBS’ “Face The Nation” the cost of this latest scheme will be passed along to businesses. "He's going to have to take some of the corporate tax benefits away to pay for it. It will be interesting to see how businesses balance that," he said.

I know how businesses will handle it. HIGHER PRICES. Corporations DO NOT PAY HIGHER TAXES…WE DO IT FOR THEM at the register.

But even THAT is not the most shocking thing said on “Face The Nation” yesterday. No, my favorite was Laura Tyson (economic advisor to the Big O) who said “The national debt is not a problem.” And that we can afford to spend MORE on infrastructure, because we’re bigger economically than we were in 1968.

So, because we’re a bigger economy than 40 years ago, we can spend more on infrastructure, regardless of the debt? Really?

This is AMAZING. These people have the President’s ear and HE’S LISTENING. Just look at this morning’s headlines if you don’t believe me.

Summer Of Recovery III

The “Summer of Recovery” marches on!

The jobs report had an INCREASE in unemployment as thousands of census jobs came to an end and those people went back to looking for work.

Meanwhile the Joe and O show are going back to Ohio to tout the economic recovery that they claim is happening everywhere in this country.

Read the story…HERE

Liberals vs. Conservatives

Found an EXCELLENT quote regarding the difference between conservatives and liberals.

It’s from a New Zealander who was commenting on the works of Ayn Rand.
“In recent times in New Zealand I have come to learn that it is easier to engage right wingers in discussions of liberty than it is left wingers.”

“Left wingers lack the ability to move from unconscious incompetence (not knowing you are ignorant on a subject) to conscious incompetence (recognizing there are knowledge deficits). That is, they exhibit strongly the Dunning-Kruger effect (aka the Homer Simpson effect) which in simple terms is that even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, they believe that their skills or knowledge on a subject are superior to everyone else.”

Well put.

Iraq: The War That Broke Us -- Not

EXCELLENT article on the Iraq War's costs versus Obama's spending.

Iraq: The War That Broke Us -- Not

Stimulus Spending Tops Iraq War Cost

Remember a while back I said that Obama is spending far more than Bush? Liberals keep telling me it's because the numbers I used don't count Iraq. Well...they're wrong. My numbers do count Iraq.

The CBO has just proven that point.

HERE

Summer Of Recovery II

So, the “Summer of Recovery” has been dealt another staggering blow.

It was a roundhouse from the graveyard followed by a 1-2 combo that has now shown the “SOR” for the glass jawed paper fighter it always was.

1st- HOUSING- Sales of new homes fell by 12.4 percent over last month’s ballyhooed figures to bring in the WORST RATE OF NEW HOME BUYING SINCE 1963. Couple that with existing home sales hitting a new 15 year low and the housing market landed one punch that felt like two.

2nd-MANUFACTURING- Orders for manufacturers fell again for July and if it hadn’t been for a 76% jump in commercial aircraft demand it would have fallen even further than it did. This was a big departure from the administration’s Midwest Manufacturing Tour rhetoric last month where VP Biden and P Obama toured factories and towns talking about the “SOR” being fueled by manufacturing.

3rd- JOBS- All year long the administration has crowed about the creation of jobs as each new jobs report talked about growth in jobs numbers. Then they kept mum all year long as those numbers were revised DOWN after each job report’s initial release.

So what does the administration have to say about all this?

The silence has been deafening.

Dr. Laura and the 1st Amendment

I am a long time fan of Dr Laura Schlessinger. I have enjoyed her radio show for years. I have read most of her books and enjoyed all that I’ve read. I agree with her moral stance on many, many issues and have sometimes felt convicted by her words when she pointed out something on the radio that I was doing at home. I have always found her to be logical and consistent in her application of her stated morals. She has served as a beacon of sanity in a sea of moral chaos that has washed over this country in the past 20 years. Her voice has been one of the loudest to call for personal responsibility and to police yourself when it comes to your morals.

A few days ago, on Larry King Live, Dr Laura owned up to having said something distasteful on air, but then bitterly declared that “I want to be able to say what’s on my mind and in my heart and what I think is helpful and useful without somebody getting angry- some special interest group deciding this is a time to silence a voice of dissent and attack affiliates and sponsors…I want to take back my first amendment rights.”

I have the utmost respect for Dr. Laura and I do NOT disagree with what she’s said about the use of the “N-word” on her program nor do I think her use of it was out of place in the discussion she was having on air that day. She made a valid point, though her delivery may have been somewhat in poor taste.

But her statements on Larry King make no sense from a moral standpoint. She wants the ability to say what she wants to say, the way she wants to say it, but doesn’t want anyone else to be able to do the same when it comes to her? It’s hypocritical and not the sort of thing I expect from Dr Laura.

Yes, she is under attack, but these kinds of attacks are nothing new to Dr Laura. She’s been fighting these battles for 30 years or more. Groups on the left of the political spectrum have long hated her and seek any opportunity to attack her and silence her if possible. Gay groups like GLAD and PFLAG have repeatedly called for boycotts of her sponsors and their products based on her comments about homosexuality. The NAACP has protested her views regarding the dissolution of the black family. The NOW has protested her views on abortion. All of these groups have gone to her sponsors at one time or another and asked them to stop their sponsorship of her show. As a result of their efforts, her show is not getting the ratings it once had. Her sponsors are not as willing to back her as they used to be. Her show and her livelihood have suffered because of these things.

That’s what I think she means by taking back her 1st Amendment rights. Right now, she’s under constant scrutiny by forces aligned against her and she’s tired of being a target. She’s tired of the battle. I understand that, but she needs to realize that her behavior here is hurting her credibility and undermining her character. She would never recommend to a caller that they hold themselves to a lesser standard than they do others. She would never recommend that a caller do what feels good to them and say “to hell with what is right and wrong”. And if freedom isn’t for everyone under the law, it is not TRUE FREEDOM.

My advice to Dr Laura, who has given so much advice to others, is simple. Take a break. Breathe in, breathe out and get your mind right. Then go take on the day.

Social Security Is In Trouble

In response to a question about Social Security President Obama just yesterday insisted: "So here’s the thing. Social Security is not in crisis."

Actually Mr. President, here’s the thing… it is.

For the first time, Social Security is going to have to dip into the so-called “Trust Fund”. This year, 2010, Social Security is going into its “Trust Fund” for $41 Billion dollars. This is 7 years ahead of when it was projected to have to do so. And they’re saying that in 5 years it’s projected to have to do this more often to meet demand. How is that not a crisis?

But Paul Krugman, Keynesian Economist extraordinaire says not to worry…the Social Security Trust Fund holds $2.5 TRILLION dollars from surpluses that SSA ran for the past 25 years. According to Mr. Krugman, those surpluses were being put into a special account and “the program won’t have to turn to Congress for help or cut benefits until or unless the trust fund is exhausted…” which should be sometime in 2037 according to him.

Actually Mr. Krugman, there is no special account on which the SSA can draw.
By LAW, Social Security has to lend any surplus revenues to the US Government, which puts it in as part of the general fund and issues an IOU to the SSA for the amount. In the past 25 years, Social Security has contributed $2.5 TRILLION dollars to the operating budget of the United States Government. A government, by the way that is running record deficits.

That means that in order to give the SSA $41 Billion dollars this year, the government will have to BORROW another $41 billion from investors. That’s right, in order to pay back social security money it borrowed, the government will now borrow AGAIN, thus increasing the deficit by $41 billion dollars.

And you’re telling me that the President and/or Mr. Krugman are unaware of this?
Having read the remarks of both Mr. Krugman and President Obama, I find that I either must question their intelligence or their integrity. It’s one or the other, either they’re uninformed or they are liars.

Russians To Fuel Iranian Nuke Plant.

I have found another great example of exactly WHY we should not trust the Russians to do the right thing when it comes to nukes.

The Russians have agreed to provide more fuel to the Iranians, despite the fact that Iran will not stop enriching Uranium. This deal comes AFTER we've signed the latest nuclear non-proliferation and reduction treaty with the Russians.

For God's sake, someone get Obama OUT OF OFFICE before he kills us all!

Read the story HERE.

The Liberal Media

Craig Steiner makes an excellent point HERE.

Economic Recovery is Slowing...again.

Yeah…so…here’s another story pointing out exactly what I was saying about the supposed “Summer of Recovery” a couple of weeks ago.

We're not in an actual recovery...and in fact it's probably going to begin to get worse again before it gets better.

Eight Problems with the New START - Mitt Romney - National Review Online

Excellent Article by Mitt Romney on what's wrong with our new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russia.

Eight Problems with the New START - Mitt Romney - National Review Online

Once again Ford is kicking ass and taking names.

Ford has exceeded wall street expectations quarter after quarter and are looking ahead for 2011 to be a super strong year for them.

Ford has taken market share from Toyota after the safety recalls.

And I would like to remind you that FORD was the ONLY American car company not to be taken over by the government.

BUY FORD, BUY FORD, BUY FORD!

The National Debt: by the Numbers

The National Debt: by the Numbers

According to the Treasury Department, as of yesterday the national debt is $13 TRILLION, 242 BILLION, 893 MILLION,842 THOUSAND,328 DOLLARS and 75 CENTS.

$42,671 is the amount every man, woman and child owes.

$119,462 is the amount owed by each individual TAX PAYER, since not every man woman and child is paying taxes, those of us who are left that DO pay taxes owe this much each.

$109 trillion, 634 billion, 473 million, 478 thousand 879 dollars- this number represents our unfunded liabilities including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and Prescription drugs…the American TAX PAYERS are on the hook for $990,768 EACH to fund them as of right now. (If you do it by every man woman and child…everyone’s share is $353,897 bucks.)

In November, vote against EVERY BIG GOVERNMENT CANDIDATE YOU CAN FIND.

Source: www.usdebtclock.org

Joe Biden's "Summer of Recovery"

Joe Biden keeps saying that the recovery is well underway and that the summer of 2010is the “Summer of Recovery”. He and other Dems are flying all over the country touting the successes of the administration and how they have saved, created or recovered millions of jobs.

Really? Seriously? How about we do a quick reality check by the numbers?

3,653,822- That’s how many jobs need to be created in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois and Michigan to return to pre-recession unemployment levels. Leading the charge in unemployment before the recession began? California, Michigan and Illinois. So a return to pre-recession levels means they'll still have high unemployment.

$500,000 dollars-That’s how much money was spent by the government PER JOB CREATED to open a battery plant in Michigan. Michigan needs 439,313 jobs created to reach pre-recession unemployment. At that spending level, that means theoretically the government would need to spend $219 billion, 656 million, 500 thousand dollars for Michigan ALONE to reach pre-recession unemployment levels which were already higher than most of the US!

3.5 million-This is the number of jobs the administration claims it has saved or created. But this is not based on any real world data. It’s based on a math formula that the administration uses to “PROJECT” the number of jobs that “SHOULD” have been created by stimulus spending. It's phony baloney numbers tricks that anyone can do. In fact, I project that in the year 2525 my descendants will create 1 billion new jobs…so I’ve just increased employment by saving or creating 1 billion jobs!

680,000-The actual number of jobs as counted by “Recovery.gov” that have been created since the recession began. And even THIS number is higher than the actual number shown by labor statistics.

4 out of 5-This is the number of PUBLIC SECTOR jobs created by stimulus spending. If Recovery.gov’s 680,000 number is to be believed, that means the government has swollen by 544,000 jobs.

137.8 Million- This was Obama’s projected number for overall employment in December 2010. Actual overall as of July 1st was around 130.4 million…which means Obama has to create 7.4 million jobs by December in order to live up to his employment promises of last year and the campaign of 2008.

To further check reality for Joe and company….without numbers…

We’re running record deficits, record unemployment, record bank failures, record foreclosures, record spending and soon will hit record taxes as the codes change on January 1, 2011.

If this is the summer of recovery Joe, I’d hate to see what the winter of our discontent will look like come January.

Re-Founding America

Glenn Beck, whom I like a lot, constantly harps on the notion of "Re-Founding" America should she fall. And while I too would like for us to start over again, I’m not sure that “Re-Founding” an America is likely…or even possible.

The founding of our country is a great example of “right place, right time”. The confluences of events and fortunes that brought this country into existence and that then kept us sheltered during the critical early years of our Republic are not likely to happen again anywhere else on this planet including here in North America.

A constitution is a tricky thing to have to create…even ours was incredibly difficult. We like to think that all of the founding fathers got together and just put it into effect, but it didn’t happen that way. It took much debate, much compromising, much planning and even more politicking to get all 13 colonies to sign off on it. More than once our country was in jeopardy of losing everything because some didn’t like certain things about the way the government would be structured. And even after it was ratified by all 13 colonies, it took revisions and interpretations by Presidents, Congressmen and Judges to make it work.

The brilliance of the founders’ design of the constitution as a “government of laws and not of men” is unquestionable, but it was neither our founders nor the government they created that kept European powers from meddling in our affairs. It was the relatively insular nature of our continent, and difficulty of communication that kept European powers at bay and allowed us to grow into who we are. It’s why Britain lost the Revolution and later the War of 1812. It’s why Napoleon eventually sold us Louisiana. Britain had learned during the Revolution and France during the Haitian crisis that sustaining supply lines and coordinating military campaigns in the new world were nigh impossible and extraordinarily expensive even when it could be done.

Today, no such situation could exist on this world. There is nowhere we can’t get to or communicate with that it isn’t 10,000 times faster to do so than was possible during that time in history. Mechanized warfare makes it possible for a reasonable sized army and navy to bring troops to any section of the world and keep them supplied and on the move in a way never conceived by even the greatest military minds of the 18th-19th century. A burgeoning country today would be sitting ducks to outside forces. This is a scenario that has been played out in multiple places the past 20 years. For examples one need no further than to look at former Soviet Satellite states that have been born, crushed, re-born and swept up again since the fall of the Soviet Union.

But, for the sake of argument, let’s say that for some reason we do have to “re-found” America after a collapse of our economy and government. That means you first must address the fall of the current American Republic brought about either by force of military arms or death by suicide from internal issues.

If we are overrun militarily by an invading country …like say China…then you must deal with an occupying government. The continental United States has not been successfully invaded since the War of 1812. We have not been occupied since the Revolution. We have no real concept of what either of those things would mean for us. We cannot imagine the depravities and oppression that would be forced upon us by an occupying force. Our government and its protections would be out the window. The rule of law would become the rule of the occupier. In order to re-establish or “re-found” America it would mean having to force another government out of this country, and be able to keep them out while we rebuild. If the country has been ravaged by war and our military broken, this task will be next to impossible to achieve even with insurrections and guerilla fighting. Think about it for a second. In World War II the French Resistance was unable to oust the Germans without receiving help from an outside and organized military effort. A brutal enough occupier would be able to squash rebellion with the blood of millions. (The modern notion liberals have that you can never extinguish a guerilla war is ludicrous, the Romans did it, the Spanish did it and we did it in the Philippines.)

Now, let’s say that our government falls for internal reasons (that is to say without another country doing anything militarily) a colossal stock market crash or debt crisis akin to the one happening in Greece, only with no bailout in sight. You would see what you saw in Greece on a larger scale and more intense. Mass panic, riots, widespread disease, mass starvation, hoarding, looting, murder, rape, gang/militia rule and a destruction of both infrastructure and industry would be the start. With nothing to pay them, the army either disbands or gets lead to a coup over the current government. We would be ripe for the picking by any foreign government with an eye toward our resources, or an internal tyrant who longs for power and has influence over a large militia. Trying to re-establish a government on this continent under those conditions would be more difficult than we can even conceive right now.

Furthermore, outside our borders, the world would fall into chaos as governments we prop up were overthrown. Economies that rely on us as their customers would face ruin. What little stability exists in the Middle East would quickly evaporate. It is entirely possible that a limited nuclear exchange between Israel and Iran would set off a powder-keg of wars that would end up destroying much of the world and its population. And there would be NOTHING that WE could do about any of it.

I say the line must be drawn; America MUST NOT FALL in the first place. The risk is too great. The damage will be too big to be undone in this generation or 20 generations from now.

America is still the last best hope of freedom in the world. If we don’t make it work here…there is no hope for the future.

Funny!

No link here...just the image.

Ford Model T - 100 Years Later

Because I love Ford...and because most of you who read this will probably like learning more about history.

Captured: The Pacific and Adjacent Theaters in WWII – Plog Photo Blog

I'm posting this for those of you who I don't see on Facebook.

Captured: The Pacific and Adjacent Theaters in WWII – Plog Photo Blog

Russians Spying in US

Not to say I told ya so...but I told ya so.

Now, 11 people have been busted by the FBI for spying for Russia.

Not to sound like a broken record, but we need to be paying attention to RUSSIA. They are actively trying to usurp our power, and influence our policies.

Out of Touch: 5 Reasons Obama Is the Same as Bush, Clinton - US News & World Report

Out of Touch: 5 Reasons Obama Is the Same as Bush, Clinton - US News & World Report

The 8 People In The Picture

All 8 of these people are largely forgotten by American History textbooks. In fact during all my years of public school education on American history…only 2 of these people were ever mentioned, much less pictured. So I will tell you (briefly) who they are and what they did.

From Left To Right:

Top Row:

Jim Bridger: mountain man, trapper and scout.

An unusual ability to survive in extreme conditions, his conversational grasp of several native languages and a keen mental map of most of the west made Bridger near invaluable in the western movement of Americans. He walked the Rockies from Southern Colorado all the way to the Canadian border and back again. Found a way to shorten the Oregon Trail by 61 miles through what’s today known as Bridger’s gap. He was an explorer and reportedly the first white man to view the Great Salt Lake in Utah and the Geysers in Yellowstone. If you go out west, you’ll find his name on a bunch of things like bridges, trails, schools, mountain views and passes. But I found that if I asked locals about him, most just shrug saying they don’t know much about him.

Jim Bridger was not mentioned in one single history textbook I ever read in school. I know, because I used to look for his name. I only knew his name because I had a Johnny Horton record as a kid and it contained a song called “Jim Bridger”. It wasn’t till I went out west in 2001 that I even saw his name in print. I bought a book about him in used book store in Wyoming. He IS mentioned in “Inglourious Basterds” by Lt. Aldo Raines. Raines was supposedly a descendant of Bridger, maybe that at least inspired a few more people to look into him.

Buffalo Hump: Comanche Chief, leader of the Great Raid of 1840.

I don’t think most people have a grasp of the level of fear and anger at the Comanche that existed in Texas well into the 20th century. Buffalo Hump is one of the reasons for that. A fierce warrior and eventual war chief of the Penateka band of Comanche, Buffalo Hump lead a raid on Texas in 1840 that stretched from the Llano Estacado in North West Texas all the way to the city of Linville on the Eastern coast of Texas. The raid was organized as a response to the Council House Fight where Comanche chiefs were murdered by the U.S. Government while under the white flag of truce. Vowing to make whites pay for their treachery, Buffalo Hump and his war party scarred the Texas people for generations to come with their raid.

Buffalo Hump wasn’t ever mentioned in anything, much less a textbook when I was a kid. He had passed into obscurity after surrendering to the whites and leading his people onto the reservation. In fact, the Comanche were never mentioned outside of John Wayne movies as far as I could tell. The last tribes to be broken were far more prevalent in textbooks.

The Comanche and Buffalo Hump had a slight resurgence several years ago because in 1995, Larry McMurtry wrote a book as a prequel to his famous Lonesome Dove series. Buffalo Hump was a character in the book and suddenly interest in the Comanche began to rise for a time. So what history had forgotten, fiction brought back to life for me and other McMurtry fans who are not just readers but…well…nerds. If you want to learn more about the Comanche, I recommend “Comanches: The Destruction of a People” by a guy named Fehrenbach. It’s a very thorough book on the history of the Comanche.

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain: College Professor and later Civil War General.

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain saved the Union during the Civil War. During the battle of Gettysburg, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and the 20th Maine held the Little Round Top. From their vantage point, they could see the entirety of the Union line…and the Confederates knew it, so they attacked. In a desperate pitched battle, the 20th Maine held the hill against wave after wave of Confederate infantry attack. Then, low on ammunition and nearly at the breaking point, in a final desperate move Chamberlain ordered a counterattack where his left wing crashed into the Confederates while the rest of the 20th made a frontal assault. It worked. The Little Round Top held, and the Confederacy was forced to withdraw to their original lines. Chamberlain and his men had saved the Union Army from a defeat at Gettysburg, which may have changed the whole war’s outcome.

Chamberlain shows up in Ken Burns’ remarkable documentary on the Civil War. He is also heavily featured in the movie “Gettysburg” based on Jeff Shaara’s book “The Killer Angels”. I know he is taught in Maine history courses…but outside of those places and unless you’re interested in the Civil War, you probably don’t know him. But, if you love this country …then you should be thankful he was where he was on July 2nd 1863.

Kit Carson: frontiersman, scout and Indian Fighter.

Kit Carson is one of those figures in history that did everything. He helped John C. Fremont to map vast areas of the Great Northwest which opened up the west even further to white settlement. He was a hunter, trapper and trader par excellence. He tried to start a war with Mexico over California not long before there was an actual war between the US and Mexico. He led Union troops during the Civil War. He fought the Comanche and the Kiowa Indians in the southwest. Like I said… he did a lot.

Kit Carson is probably the best known among the 8 men pictured here and one of the two names I mentioned that you could learn in history class. He is one of the names that are synonymous with the old west, though I have found that most people have no idea what exactly it was that he did. Most people I polled around my office believe he was a gunfighter, others have never even heard his name. And that’s a shame, especially considering so much is named after him, including the Nevada state capital, Carson City.

Bottom Row:

Charles Goodnight: Cattle Baron, Inventor of the chuck wagon.

Charles Goodnight was a cowboy’s cowboy. He started out as a cowboy in Texas, eventually fighting the Comanche raiders while with the Texas Rangers. He (along with his partner Oliver Loving) was the first man to drive cattle north from Texas to the railroads starting the true era of the cattle drive as more people followed. As part of that first journey, Goodnight constructed a special wagon to haul the food and equipment required for the men to eat on the drive, the first chuck wagon.

This is the other name I mentioned as having been learned in US History courses in public schools. He and Loving were both attached to their cattle driving trail “The Goodnight-Loving Trail”. My favorite story about him was outright stolen by Larry McMurtry in Lonesome Dove. In his old age, a young reporter said that people referred to Goodnight as a “man of vision” and wondered what Goodnight thought about that. Goodnight replied “Yes Sir. It’s a hell of a vision.”

Judge Roy Bean: Only Law West of the Pecos.

Judge Roy Bean is a larger than life character from the old west. A man who wandered into a west Texas town and declared himself a judge, Bean was a self made man from the word go. From a dirt poor family in Kentucky, Bean bounced around the west getting in fights and generally making trouble, even to the point of being hanged by some friends of one of his dueling partners. Eventually, after finding a Law book he wound up in a small town in Texas, where he setup a saloon/courtroom and held court over the Pecos district of Texas. The Texas Rangers had him legitimated as a Justice of the Peace and he became known for his unusual antics including saying “may God have mercy on your soul” at the end of marriages he performed. He once accidentally caused a small stock market panic when he flagged down the train of railroad speculator Jay Gould and invited him to dinner. News reports had assumed that Gould’s train had crashed killing him, and the New York Stock Exchange panicked for a bit.

Even though he was a colorful character and actually set some legal precedents, Bean too eventually passed into obscurity as the west marched onward into history. In his later years though, he contributed vast sums of his money to the poor in and around Langtry, and guaranteed that the schoolhouse would have plenty of wood for their heaters in winter.

Samuel Walker: Texas Ranger, Inventor of the Colt Walker pistol.

When the Indian wars were just getting started good the Comanche Indians were some of the finest light cavalry in the world and they slaughtered whites in just about every conflict. Samuel Walker helped to change that trend when he outfitted his rangers with a revolver built by Samuel Colt from Samuel Walker’s specifications. The Walker Colt was a game changer on the frontier. The new gun could kill from a decent distance, had a bullet large enough to kill a horse (literally) and could fire 6 rounds instead of just 5. Suddenly the Indians found themselves at a disadvantage as one Ranger could theoretically kill 6 Indians (or their horses) in a melee. By 1847, all mounted forces in the Texas Republic were carrying them in hostile territory, but Samuel Walker never really got to see that, he died in battle during the Mexican War. The legend is he died with 2 of his Walker Colts blazing away.

Samuel Walker is still taught about in Texas History curriculums…but outside of there he is a virtual unknown even though his contribution to the shaping of America was profound. For starters, it made the Texas Rangers a more effective force vital to the protection of settlements in the west. The Walker Colt also paved the way for the later .45 Peacemaker which many claimed tamed the American West and broke the backs of the plains Indians. (They’re wrong by the way, ask me why some time and I will tell you.)

William Holland Thomas: Cherokee Indian Chief and White Man.

Ever wonder why some Cherokee Indians were sent to Oklahoma along the “Trail of Tears” while some remained in Western North Carolina? It’s because of William Holland Thomas.

At around 15 years old, William Holland Thomas signed a 3 year contract with US Congressman Felix Walker to clerk at a trading post in western North Carolina. He got room, board and $100 out of the deal and Walker got a clerk at his store. Thomas moved in and quickly became familiar with the Cherokee living in that area. He learned their language and was adopted by Chief Yonaguska.

Around 1820, Felix Walker could no longer afford to keep the store open or to pay William, so instead he gave the boy a set of law books. Since there was no “bar exam” at the time, anyone who studied law could become a lawyer and that’s what William did eventually becoming the lawyer for the Cherokee tribes in North Carolina. He is the guy who negotiated successfully on behalf of the North Carolina Cherokee in the Treaty of New Echota. He secured the land rights of what is today the Eastern Band of Cherokee. For this, Yonaguska had his adopted son made Chief just before his own death. As chief and legal representative, Thomas labored on behalf of the Cherokee in Western North Carolina throughout the 1840’s and 1850’s, constantly trying to get them recognized as citizens.

During the Civil War he formed a Confederate Legion of Cherokee, the only man in NC to form a legion of any kind. He and his legion fired the last shot east of the Mississippi at the end of the war by capturing Waynesville, after Lee had surrendered nearly a month before.

You probably don’t know Thomas, unless you’ve seen “Unto These Hills” the outdoor play in Cherokee, NC. He is mentioned there, and in the Cherokee Museum his legion’s flag is still hanging. I didn’t even realize he was real until I went there. I had read Charles Frazier’s book “Thirteen Moons” which has a protagonist whose life story is very much like Thomas’s. I was surprised to find out he wasn’t fiction.

So there you go, 8 people who played a role in shaping this country (or at least part of it) and have been largely forgotten by history. And it makes me wonder…who else is out there, who gave us this country and who has been forgotten?

Obama Claims US Govt In Charge Of Oil Spill

Yeah...right. The only reason he's saying the Feds have been in charge since day one is that he thinks the latest BP solution (the mud thing) will work.

Read the story HERE

Healthcare to cost $115 Billion more than projected.

Surprise Surprise, Health Care Is Going To Cost More Than Projected.

According to the latest estimates of the Congressional Budget Office, the OBAMACARE plan will cost $115 Billion more than they estimated previously.

This figure came as a result of Republican Jerry Lewis of California’s call for a review of the numbers before a vote could be made. The Dems made sure that the vote happened while they were still able to claim $140 billion in savings, which is now all but wiped out by these new numbers.

I will also maintain that this is just the first of such revisions that will be coming down the pike for this monstrosity of big government programs.

While I’m sure much hay will be made of this politically on Fox News…on my Yahoo Homepage, which includes news reports from multiple sources, in multiple countries…this story doesn’t appear at all. Gee…I wonder why?

Arizona and Immigration

I know that everyone and their mother have weighed in on this immigration reform law that is getting Arizona boycotted by the likes of San Francisco. So likely you’ve heard some of what I’m going to say here in my bullet points, but there was a fact or two in here that I haven’t seen mentioned on ANY news network, not even FOX NEWS.

• Let’s be honest for just a moment. Who is trying to sneak into this country illegally through Arizona? Is it white men? Is it white women? Is it black men? Is it black women? No…it’s none of those people. It is Mexicans coming across that border. Then why should we question anyone other than someone of Hispanic origin for this matter? I’m tired of us apologizing for common sense.

• Yes, many of them are trying to get better lives for their families. Yes, many of them are hard working and contribute to the economy of the United States. But NEITHER OF THOSE THINGS MAKES THEM ANY LESS ILLEGAL.

• Know where the kidnapping capital of the world is? Mexico City, Mexico. Know what city is in second place? Phoenix, Arizona. That’s right, Phoenix Arizona where the drug cartels and crime syndicates that came from Mexico have been spending their time. Last year, there were 370 kidnapping cases in Phoenix ALONE. Now, can you guess who the majority of the kidnapping victims are?

• ILLEGAL ALIENS comprise the majority of people kidnapped in Arizona. They are kidnapped and held for ransom until their family back in Mexico pays. If they don’t pay (or if they don’t pay fast enough) the drug lords cut off the victim’s hands, feet or head as an abject lesson to OTHER families to pay up when asked. In some south Texas towns these severed remains have been thrown into busy nightclubs as warnings to those inside.

• There are already federal immigration laws on the books where the punishment for being an illegal alien is spelled out in black and white (AND FTR are MUCH less severe than Mexico's handling of illegal aliens). While Congress is constitutionally obliged to pass uniform laws for naturalization (18th century English for immigration), it is the EXECUTIVE branch that is in charge of enforcing such laws. But the plain fact is that President Obama has stated multiple times in the past few days that his administration don’t PLAN to do anything meaningful about immigration reform.

• While we’re on the subject of federal authority over immigration…. In as much as the federal government has the obligation to provide for the LEGAL method of immigration, NOWHERE does the US Constitution talk about those who were here illegally or how that should be handled. And NOWHERE does it PROHIBIT states from acting on behalf of its citizens to deal with illegal immigrants coming across their borders. Which means the 10th AMENDMENT* applies and that Arizona has the RIGHT to enact its own laws regarding this matter.

If the state legislature is called upon to protect the safety and promote the general welfare of its citizenry under their constitution, Arizona is right in what it is doing.

*“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.”

GM and the Bailout

General Motors
I saw an ad yesterday where the CEO of GM (Whitacre is his name) was saying that they had paid back their entire bailout loan plus interest, ahead of schedule. He goes on to say that GM was moving forward from there trying to be the great American car company it could be.

I didn’t believe it. So, I did some checking.

GM paid back the money to the government, by borrowing more money from the government. That’s right! They paid back their $6.5 Billion with interest by getting it from OTHER bailout money. Not only that, but GM was actually given $52 BILLION in bailout money. So this $6.5 billion they keep touting…is like 12% of what they owe the government. They don’t mention ANY of this in the ad. Not one word is said about the other $45.5 BILLION or that the money they paid back came from another pool of TARP money given to them by the Government.

But my favorite part is that when asked about why they are touting this as repayment in full, GM said “A year ago, no one thought we’d be able to repay this much.”

Pardon my French, but so the hell what? Because no one thought you’d do this much, you’re saying it’s okay to LIE about paying back your loan? Where are your ETHICS?

I hope Ford BURIES these guys for YEARS to come.

Just Added

I just added a new link to this site for a guy named Craig Steiner from out in Colorado. He has done a GREAT job of doing research into some heavy hitting issues on the economy.

I particularly enjoyed his article about the myth of the Clinton Surplus. He does a fantastic job of explaining how the surplusses of the Clinton era, NEVER existed. (Read it HERE)

Two Stories About Ford

One HERE talking about Ford having the HIGHEST quality rating among consumers.

And one HERE talking about Ford's growing profits and demand for Ford cars going up.

Go Get Em FORD!

"John Adams" book review

Last year, on my summer vacation I read “American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson” by Joseph Ellis. It was a biography of the “Sage of Monticello” that dissected not so much the politics or history of the man but his seemingly bipolar personality. It discussed at length how often he would say one thing and then do another as it suited his purposes. And while the book went forward at a good clip and was insightful and entertaining, the more I read the less I cared for Jefferson and the more I came to like his friend and sometimes political rival John Adams.

That’s why a month ago I picked up a copy of “John Adams” by David McCullough. It is a monster biography (Over 600 pages) that covers Adams’ life from cradle to grave by using personal papers and letters written by Adams, his wife Abigail, their children, friends and relatives. Through McCullough’s work I found that John Adams was a giant of the revolutionary age who did so much in service of his country and was so prolific in his writings both personal and public that a couple of hundred pages could NEVER contain him.

Yet, despite the prolific nature of the man and his family, Adams is one of those figures who get glossed over in history class. Very little attention is paid to him in textbooks. They might say he was a signer of the declaration. They might say he was President for a while. But other than that, Adams is a largely forgotten figure of history for the average student. In fact, even after having grown up in his home state of Massachusetts’, I knew very little about him. I am ashamed to admit that a lot of what I knew was gained in a classroom viewing of “1776: The Musical” in Miss Olsen’s 8th Grade History class in Billerica, MA. (I’m not kidding.)

This book gave me an acute lesson in Adams that was fascinating. There are so many things I didn’t know about the man as to be laughable. I didn’t know he was the lawyer who defended the British Soldiers accused of the Boston Massacre. I didn’t know it was Adams who got the funding and oversaw the building of our first Navy. I didn’t know that after being an ambassador to France, he left on his own (that is without approval of congress) and went to Holland to secure much needed loans from the Dutch. I didn’t know that after the war he had been minister to the court of St. James (England) even after having been marked for hanging during the revolution. There were many surprising turns of events in Adams’ life that while wholly remarkable and noteworthy are nonetheless seldom studied by the average survey of American History classes.

But the real surprise in the book was his wife, Abigail Adams.

I had never thought or heard much about Abigail Adams. In a sense, I knew they were a power couple (I got that from the musical). What I did not know was in how many ways and on how many topics Abigail was the perfect complement to John himself. In a time when women were largely overlooked by society, she carried on the business of the household while John spent his time away on the nation’s business. And when she went to Europe during John’s ambassadorships, her keen insights on people and steadying influence on his humor helped John accomplish great things for the fledgling United States. All through their life together she was an island of tranquility in the chaotic seas of early American independence.

And she was no less prolific a writer than John and in some ways more valuable. All through the book, in quotations pulled from the myriad letters McCullough used for research, Abigail offered the most insight into John and the American people’s states of mind in ways that her husband could not. An astute observer, opinionated, pioneering, well read, well mannered, steadfast, and hearty Abigail maintained relationships with her husband, siblings, parents and children for many years with a prolific outpouring of letters to all of them. And as if that weren’t enough she corresponded with several of the prominent names of history including Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Rush. In short, Abigail Adams was a remarkable woman who deserves much more acknowledgement than she has received over the years.

I won’t bore you further with my version of the details of the Adams’ life. McCullough does a much better job than I ever could of revealing who they were. And that’s part of the reason this book won the Pulitzer Prize. McCullough has an easy way with words while being thorough in detail, a combination of traits that historical writers seldom seem to have. His writing is easy going almost to the point of being conversational in tone and conveys the mood of the situation about which he is writing better than any current writer (non-fiction or fiction) that I can name.

I very much liked this book and recommend it to anyone looking to gain insight into this country’s founding, one of our greatest founding fathers or just daily life in that period of history.

5 Stars out of 5.

Health Care and National Defense

Everywhere on television, I keep hearing bad news about the health care bill. I see where the Heritage Foundation says the Health bill will double the national deficit and drive our debt up by huge numbers. I also see where people are bemoaning the fate of insurance companies as the new government system will cripple the existing systems. This bill is also almost guaranteed to break the back of an already ailing American economy as businesses close, doctors run for the hills and health care tanks. I agree with 100% of those assessments of this bill.

But I haven’t heard anyone else mention one of my concerns… I think this bill and its subsequent economic effect is a risk to our national defense.

Nobody likes to talk about National Defense anymore. We have the greatest military in the world right now. No one, the world over, doubts that. Current thinking says there is no one who is militarily a serious threat to us anymore. Not even the Chinese with their HUGE standing army doubt our military abilities. But having the greatest military in the world requires funding on par with the greatest military in the world and with budget deficits reaching the trillions, the debt soaring through the double digit trillions… we will NOT be able to sustain that for much longer.

How long before we can no longer maintain our national defense program and its networks of intelligence and early warning? There is precedence for this question. What I am describing happened at the end of the cold war as funding was drastically cut across the board for intelligence and other DOD spending because there was no more Russian threat. The results were the rampant growth of terrorism with little or no warning for major attacks on US soil including 09/11.

How long before we fade out as a superpower and the world becomes increasingly unstable without the American military presence? Right now, we’re the big kid on the block. We’re the one the world can turn to when the shit hits the fan. What will happen when we can’t be global police anymore?

One lib I know said “Well, Britain used to be a world power and look at it, it is just fine.” But Britain’s power waned under the protection of the U.S. nuclear umbrella. Britain ceased to be a naval power while the United States’ Navy became the predominant Navy in the world. With a connection deeply rooted in our common ancestry, the United States has basically guaranteed the safety of Britain and frankly ALL of Western Europe for 60 years. If our power fades, who will help even the odds for them? Better yet, who will do it for us?

God help the United States.

Getting God back into our government

If our country is to regain its prominence and prosperity then we the governed need to consider getting God back into our government. We should feel comfortable asking those that want to govern us what their spiritual beliefs are and to let that be a real guide as to how we choose to vote. We should feel comfortable asking about their moral beliefs. I think it’s safe to say that our govt has veered away from a moral anchor that comes from a foundation of God.

I know religion in politics is a polarizing topic but that doesn't mean it isn't an important one that shouldn't be discussed. Religion to me are your core spiritual beliefs and what guides you as to right and wrong on a moral level. Politics to me is the practical governing of the collective populous and your surroundings but for this conversation let’s say it’s our local, state, and federal govt.

Since our govt makes the laws we as a society live by, why wouldn't you want those people in govt to make those laws based on their moral beliefs? Before you say because those in govt are worthless pieces of crap remember that you elected them to be there! Think about that the next time you go to vote.

Religion always has and always should be in the practical governing of this country. This country was formed because of people looking for religious freedom. There is no way to separate religion and politics, nor should it be attempted. There is NOTHING in our founding documents stating we should not have religion in politics. It does state that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the exercise thereof...” What I read there is that the govt can’t adopt an official religious denomination but I also read that there is total freedom to draw strength and guidance from it as well. We are governed by our peers in a representative form and since that be the case we can’t ask those that govern us to not draw their opinions from their religious (moral) beliefs.

Laws should be based in morality. We create laws to protect each other and to maintain civility. It is morally wrong to kill someone so we make laws against murder. It's morally wrong to be a thief so we make laws against stealing. The point is we govern ourselves based on our collective perception of right and wrong. That perception is formed from our beliefs. One of the primary ways we gain our beliefs is from our religion. Since the majority of the people in this country claim a Christian faith it is only natural that the law of the land would be influenced by Christianity. To ignore religion in the process of making laws is not realistic. I dare say it's not ethical to do so either.

If a politician can leave his/her religion at the door when he enters congress, White House, etc, then I certainly don't want anything to do with them. If they can check their morality at the door then that means they will have the ability and inclination to make immoral laws.

George Washington had two quotes that seem to speak to this quite well. They are “Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.” and the other is “It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.”

Ask yourself if those that we have elected govern us with God or the Bible... If the answer is no maybe we should change who's governing us?

The Sharon Statement of 1960

(This was "Adopted in Conference, at Sharon, Connecticut, on September 11, 1960." by William F Buckley and others. I changed 1 word...from international to domestic. It is amazing how much of this still applies 50 years later.)

IN THIS TIME of moral and political crises, it is the responsibility of the youth of America to affirm certain eternal truths.

WE, as young conservatives believe:

THAT foremost among the transcendent values is the individual's use of his God-given free will, whence derives his right to be free from the restrictions of arbitrary force;

THAT liberty is indivisible, and that political freedom cannot long exist without economic freedom;

THAT the purpose of government is to protect those freedoms through the preservation of internal order, the provision of national defense, and the administration of justice;

THAT when government ventures beyond these rightful functions, it accumulates power, which tends to diminish order and liberty;

THAT the Constitution of the United States is the best arrangement yet devised for empowering government to fulfill its proper role, while restraining it from the concentration and abuse of power;

THAT the genius of the Constitution - the division of powers - is summed up in the clause that reserves primacy to the several states, or to the people in those spheres not specifically delegated to the Federal government;

THAT the market economy, allocating resources by the free play of supply and demand, is the single economic system compatible with the requirements of personal freedom and constitutional government, and that it is at the same time the most productive supplier of human needs;

THAT when government interferes with the work of the market economy, it tends to reduce the moral and physical strength of the nation, that when it takes from one to bestow on another, it diminishes the incentive of the first, the integrity of the second, and the moral autonomy of both;

THAT we will be free only so long as the national sovereignty of the United States is secure; that history shows periods of freedom are rare, and can exist only when free citizens concertedly defend their rights against all enemies…

THAT the forces of domestic Communism are, at present, the greatest single threat to these liberties;

THAT the United States should stress victory over, rather than coexistence with this menace; and

THAT American foreign policy must be judged by this criterion: does it serve the just interests of the United States?

Jim Bunning: None In, None Left On

Just read this on American thinker. You need to read it, then start calling your congressional representatives and tell them to take advantage of what Jim Bunning has done for them.

Jim Bunning: None In, None Left On

WAY TO GO FORD!

I’ve been keeping you all abreast of what’s going on in the car industry for about a year now. Well, 2009, Ford showed a $2.7Billion Profit WITHOUT TAKING GOVERNMENT BAILOUTS…while GM and Chrysler continued to sink even after their government bailouts and the cash for clunkers program.

Not only that but FORD is ADDING jobs to their rolls in the coming months. GM and Chrysler are NOT.

Ford has done a BANG UP JOB in 2009 and I’m glad they are succeeding.

Read the articles, then tell your friends to BUY FORD, BUY FORD, BUY FORD!

FORD JOBS STORY
FORD PROFITS STORY

Breitbart.tv » 132: The Number of Times Obama Refers to Himself in One Speech

In a recent speech in Ohio (Jan 22nd) Obama refers to himself 132 times. Here's a copy of each "I" with a counter to go along with it.

Breitbart.tv » 132: The Number of Times Obama Refers to Himself in One Speech

Hollywood Hypocrisy (final Edition)

In all the hoopla of the last few days, did anyone else notice that the Chinese Government pulled the movie “AVATAR” out of many Chinese theaters?

The official line from Chinese Authorities is that “AVATAR” was taking up too much market share, and a biopic about Chairman Mao needed to be shown.

In my opinion, the real problem is that the movie shows the forced removal of indigenous peoples, a military industrial complex that runs a state by fear and restriction of information and the natural will of oppressed people to resist such brutal tactics from a government that uses those tactics. The Chinese government fears a movie like this might incite the population to rally against the government. The government is afraid that it shows too much of THEIR true character to the people and were forced to remove it from theaters or risk an unsettled populace.

But that’s old news. The Chinese do that kind of stuff all the time.

No, I’d like to point out the fact that I haven’t heard ONE WORD from the Hollywood left about this. Not ONE WORD has come from Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Barbra Streisand, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, or even James Cameron himself talking about the Chinese government’s censorship over an arguably masterful film full of social commentary.

If the Hollywood Leftist Elites believed their own hype as deeply as they claim to do, if they believe in that (straight from Hollywood) line they vomit all the time about not agreeing “with what you say but defending to the death your right to say it”, then why hasn’t anyone in Hollywood, including James Cameron or the movie’s distributors called for the COMPLETE REMOVAL of the movie from EVERY THEATER in China?

Has Hollywood lost its will to fight for “Free Speech”?

Nah…that can’t be it, they are free speech's (self proclaimed) greatest champion.

It must be because the Hollywood support of communism/socialism conflicts with their much ballyhooed moral outrage over censorship.

Or it could be that they are closet capitalists seeking to earn the money that can be gained from the world’s fastest growing economy while downing American corporate capitalism.

Either way Hollywood…beware ….your hypocrisy is showing.

An Apology

I would like to apologize for that last post (now deleted). The thinking was convoluted to say the least. I will redraft it and try to get it to make more sense.

Thanks,

Wade

The Massholes Get Something Right!

I’m glad Scott Brown won.

As a former resident of the Commonwealth I can unequivocally say it’s about time. After almost 60 years of that seat belonging to a Kennedy, it’s nice to see the Massholes do something right for a change.

Massachusetts was founded on rebel principles. It was founded because people were tired of the same old same old from governments and kings. It was founded because they believed that the rights of man were God given, not government given. It was leaders like Samuel Adams, John Adams, Paul Revere and the Sons of Liberty who first stood up to a government taxing the people to death for its own ends and its own gains. I was beginning to think they had forgotten that tradition.

Yesterday took a big step towards my believing in revolutionary Mass again. They elected a man who is different than what they’ve had. A man who will (hopefully) put the rights of the individual back on center stage in this country. A man who will not bow to the pressures of liberal democrats and their left wing agenda. A man who was not a Kennedy.

Scott Brown has a HUGE opportunity to show Massachusetts at its revolutionary best. To paraphrase another Kennedy, “Ask not what Brown can do for you, but what Brown can do for your country”.

Don’t let us down Scott!

Stimulus Update #2

An update to my question about whether anyone else on the left would admit that the stimulus money for road projects hadn't really done anything of note.

The White House did...well sort of...read it here.

Stimulus Money For Roads, Doesn't Affect Unemployment.

Almost a year after Obama’s promise of new jobs being formed by government spending on roads and highways, the Associated Press has found that the money has done NOTHING to help unemployment.

Okay…so if EVEN the Associated Press has found it out…why can’t the White House admit it?

Read the AP story…here.