Monday, February 6, 2017
Another fake hate crime
Wisconsin: Muslim student paints anti-Muslim messages on his door, claims hate crime
Sunday, February 5, 2017
Why I'm not watching the game. Friends on mine died for that flag.
NFL players who protested during the national anthem in Week 16
No motive?
Denver mosque leaders warned Homeland Security that RTD shooting suspect “was advanced in his path of radicalization.” Feds acknowledge receiving warning, as well as photos and videos.
Excerpt: Police have said that Cummings approached Von Lanken, 56, outside Denver Union Station as he was giving directions to two women. The suspect pointed a gun at Von Lanken’s neck and told him to follow directions, and he then pulled the trigger. Von Lanken, who died on the way to a hospital, was a former police officer in Wisconsin and a church pastor in Loveland. He was married and had two adult daughters. Denver’s RTD contracts with Allied Security to provide armed guards at its bus and light rail stations. Police said they did not know of a motive for the shooting.
Capitalism
From the Net: A guy looked at my Corvette the other day and said, "I wonder how many people could have been fed for the money that sports car cost". I replied I was not sure, but it fed a lot of families in Bowling Green, Kentucky who built it; it fed the people who made the tires; it fed the people who made the components that went into it; it fed the people in the copper mine who mined the copper for the wires; it fed people in Decatur, IL at Caterpillar who make the trucks that haul the copper ore. It fed the trucking people who hauled it from the plant to the dealer, and fed the people working at the dealership and their families. BUT... I have to admit, I guess I really don't know how many people it fed. That's the difference between capitalism and welfare mentality. When you buy something, you put money in people's pockets, and give them dignity for their skills. When you give someone something for nothing, you rob them of their dignity and self-worth. Capitalism is freely giving your money in exchange for something of value. Socialism is taking your money against your will and shoving something down your throat that you never asked for.
Saturday, February 4, 2017
Call the Luddites
The Long-Term Jobs
Killer Is Not China
Excerpt: Globalization is clearly responsible for some of
the job losses, particularly trade with China during the 2000s, which led
to the rapid loss of 2 million to 2.4 million net jobs, according to research by economists
including Daron
Acemoglu and David
Autor of M.I.T. People who work in parts of the country most affected
by imports generally have greater unemployment and reduced income for the rest
of their lives, Mr. Autor found in a paper published in
January. Still, over time, automation has had a far bigger effect than
globalization, and would have eventually eliminated those jobs anyway, he said
in an interview. “Some of it is globalization, but a lot of it is we require
many fewer workers to do the same amount of work,” he said. “Workers are
basically supervisors of machines.” When Greg Hayes, the chief executive of
United Technologies, agreed to invest $16 million in one of its Carrier
factories as part of a Trump deal to keep some jobs in Indiana
instead of moving them to Mexico ,
he said the money would go toward automation.
Robots want half of
your jobs. That’s $16 trillion in worldwide wages. Can’t blame China
Excerpt: Employers could feasibly swap out machines, using
existing technology, for humans in 50 percent of today’s jobs, says a new
McKinsey report.
That’s not just low-paying work but plenty of white-collar
employment as well, and that works out to $16 trillion in wages worldwide and
$2.7 trillion in the U.S.
RPT-U.S. investors
see more automation, not jobs, under Trump administration
Excerpt: Jan 19 When U.S. President-elect Donald Trump
criticized United Technologies Corp's Carrier unit in November for its plan to
move some 800 jobs to Mexico, the parent-company made a swift decision to keep
the factory in Indiana.
Yet, the move did not translate into saving jobs. Instead,
the company decided it would move toward automation as a way to cut costs. "We're
going to make up $16 million investment in that factory in Indianapolis to automate, to drive the cost
down so that we can continue to be competitive," chief executive Greg
Hayes said on CNBC last month. "What that ultimately means is there will
be fewer jobs." ... Declining costs of technology are expected to
accelerate the growth of robotic manufacturing. Some 80 percent of companies
that plan to cut jobs in the next year expect to partially replace workers with
automation, according to a survey of chief executives by PwC released Monday.
Editor's Letter, The Week magazine. Theunis Bates
Excerpt: Some
200 years on, advances in automation continue to cause political and social
upheaval. President Trump routinely blames the disappearance of U.S. manufacturing jobs on bad trade deals and
cut-rate competition from China
and Mexico —attacks
that have struck a chord with Rust Belt voters. But that populist rage should
really be directed at the robots (see Technology). A recent study found that 85 percent of manufacturing job
losses from 2000 to 2010 were caused by automation, not outsourcing. American
firms have been steadily cutting employees and replacing them with machines
that are cheaper (they don’t need benefits) and more efficient (they don’t take
vacations). U.S.
Sex abuse of children
UK: Muslim sex abusers in Rotherham scream “Allahu akbar” as they’re jailed for “vile” abuse of girls
Excerpt: The Rotherham sex scandal, in which 1,400 girls were sexually abused by Muslim rape gangs, was bad enough. Then came shocking news that up to a million British girls were sexually abused by Muslim “grooming” gangs. Now, it’s Islamic supremacism expressed to the fullest: these same abusive men shout their “victory” cry of “Allahu akbar,” celebrating their sickening violations of infidel girls — while feminists remain silent. These Muslims remain proud and unrepentant about their vile abuse of innocent girls, perhaps because this behavior is sanctioned in the Qur’an.
Protest
Classy Progressives: Full Moon Over Chicago: Hundreds Plan to Drop Trou in Ridiculous Protest at Trump Tower
Friday, February 3, 2017
Immigrants
Louvre attack: French soldier shoots machete-wielding man
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38853841?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=New%20Campaign&utm_term=%2AMorning%20BriefExcerpt: A French soldier guarding the Louvre in Paris has shot a man who tried to attack a security patrol with a machete shouting "Allahu Akbar", police say. The man, who tried to gain entry to the Louvre's shopping centre, was shot in the abdomen and seriously injured. Reports say the suspect is an Egyptian national who arrived in France last month. Police have not confirmed this.
Thursday, February 2, 2017
Persecuted
We Must Prioritize the Persecuted
Excerpt: Upon resumption of refugee admissions, the EO promises to prioritize claims by persecuted religious minorities, a provision Trump said was designed to include Middle East Christians. To those of us who advocate for these Christians, this was heartening news. While most Western media, policymakers, and publics continue to ignore the plight of Middle East Christians, their situation is truly dire. Trump’s statement meant they were finally getting attention at the highest level of the U.S. government. To say the EO ignited a firestorm would be an understatement. The situation over the weekend was chaos. Legal challenges culminated in (to date) four court orders that put parts of the EO on hold. The EO faced mounting congressional criticism from both sides of the aisle. Protesters swamped airports to protest the restrictions and welcome newly arrived travelers. Social media exploded, too. My Twitter and Facebook feeds erupted with a mix of moralistic hand-wringing and sanctimonious virtue-signaling. Precious few actually assessed the EO on its merits. ... Under both international and U.S. law, a refugee is a person fleeing his or her home country because of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Even at the most basic, definitional level, a refugee includes a person who has suffered or is likely to suffer religious persecution. To be eligible for admission, most refugees have to demonstrate that they have a “well-founded fear of persecution” on one of the identified bases.
Joining the reviled one percent
YIKES: Something STRANGE happens when Democrats leave office… By Derrick Wilburn
Excerpt: As they prepare for their exodus from the White House, the Obamas are about to join another rarified club – that of the ruling liberal elite class owning multiple ultra-expensive homes in highly exclusive communities that none in America can afford save the one-percenters. The very same one-percenters whom they rant and rail against as being the greedy, ego-centric millionaires who simply have too much. Following the likes of Bill and Hillary Clinton who (despite Hillary’s claim earlier this year that they left White House “dead broke”) somehow managed to educate their daughter at Stanford, Oxford, NYU and Columbia; acquire a $1.7 million estate in Chappaqua and a $2.85 million mansion in Georgetown) and Bernie Sanders who shortly after ending his 2016 presidential bid bought his third home –a $600,000 lakefront vacation house on Lake Champlain– Barack and Michelle have real estate designs of their own. Earlier this year it was revealed that upon his leaving the presidency the Obamas will not be returning to Chicago they will instead be moving into a $6 million, 8,200-square foot, 9-bedroom 12-bathroom mansion in Kalorama, one of the District’s most posh, desirable and exclusive neighborhoods in the heart of one of America’s wealthiest zip codes. With daughter Malia off to college that leaves just Barack, Michelle and Sasha until the younger daughter graduates high school in 2018. Nothing says “I care about climate change, energy consumption and our CO2 footprint” more than keeping an 8,200-square foot house heated and air conditioned year round …for just three people. The hypocrisy and “do as I say not as I do” hubris of all these wealthy climate change proponents is sickening. By the way, the Obama’s new home is just two doors down from Clinton campaign manager, John Podesta, who recently lost the most significant campaign of his life.
Waste
Wastebook by Senator Jeff Flake, R-Arizona
Wastefulness of tax dollars on an insane scale.
Excerpt: The National Science Foundation gave Scripps Institute of San Diego $560,000 to see how long mudskippers could walk on a treadmill. Chump change compared to other wastefulness.
Gays and Muslims
DNC boots candidate from chairmanship race for criticizing Islamic law’s discrimination against gays
Excerpt: Tolliver should have known from the outset that this would happen. It has long been established that in the hierarchy of politically correct causes, Islam trumps homosexuality. When AFDI ran ads highlighting the mistreatment of gays in Islamic law, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors issued a resolution condemning not that mistreatment, but our ads. Gay advocates such as Theresa Sparks and Chris Stedman attacked us for daring to call attention to the institutionalized mistreatment of gays under Islamic law. Tolliver said of Ellison: “His being a Muslim is precisely why DNC voters should not vote for him. Muslims discriminate against gays. Islamic law is clear on the subject, and being gay is a direct violation of it. In some Muslim countries, being gay is a crime punishable by death.” That is quite correct. But in response, instead of challenging Tolliver on the facts, which they couldn’t do in any case, the Democrats rallied around Ellison.
Baffled
Denver: Muslim carrying “Islamic writings” shoots and kills transit security officer, investigators baffled
Offended liberals from a liberal
New Rule: Stop Apologizing | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
Bad laguage warning. Worth Watching. Funny from a liberal. ~Bob
Good column by Dr. Williams
Lower Conduct Standards for Liberals. By Walter Williams, PhD
http://walterewilliams.com/lower-conduct-standards-for-lib…/
Excerpt One can only imagine the widespread media, political and intellectual condemnation of Republicans and conservatives if, after the inauguration of Barack Obama, they had gone on a violent and vicious tear all over the nation as did Democrats and liberals after the inauguration of President Donald Trump. They committed acts such as assaulting Trump supporters, setting fires and stoning police. Suppose Republicans/conservatives had carried signs that read “F—- Obama” or talked about “blowing up the White House.” The news media, instead of calling them protesters, would have labeled them evil racists, obstructionists and everything else except a child of God. The reason for the difference in treatment is simple. Republicans and conservatives are held — and hold themselves — to higher standards of behavior. By contrast, Democrats and liberals are held — and hold themselves — to less civilized standards of behavior. Let’s look at some of the history of conservative and liberal behavior. ... Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University. To find out more about Walter E. Williams and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.
Child killed? Wonder why?
Raid in Yemen: Risky From the Start and Costly in the End
Excerpt: With the crucial element of surprise lost, the Americans and Emiratis found themselves in a gun battle with Qaeda fighters who took up positions in other houses, a clinic, a school and a mosque, often using women and children as cover, American military officials said in interviews this week.
Un-American
Let’s be clear: a significant number of Americans, both on and off America’s college campuses do not believe in other people’s right to give speeches with perspectives and ideas they oppose. The boss noticed how frequently the term “un-American” is thrown around these days in the debates about immigration law. Physically attacking people because they have different beliefs is about as un-American as it gets. Jim Geraghty, Morning Jolt
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
How not to get Killed in a Car Wreck
How not to get Killed
in a Car Wreck
Few things excite a teenager as
much as getting a driver’s license. It is, as they say, a “rite of passage” in
our society. It marks the start of adulthood. It’s the opportunity for a kind
of independence that didn’t exist back before the automobile, when most kids
lived on farms and it was often a long walk into town. It’s the chance to get a
job on your own. Driving is fun, even if you are only driving around your town.
And few things frighten the teen’s
parents and grandparents as much as that new driver’s license. Why the
different viewpoints on this major milestone?
Currently, the annual death toll
in car accidents is around 32,000. That number has been dropping, due to safer
cars, better enforcement of drunk driving laws, seatbelt use and other factors.
But a dropping number will be no comfort to your family if you are one of the
32,000 dead this year or next year. Despite the decline in deaths, you still
have a lot better chance of being killed in a car wreck then you do of winning
the lottery. Sad, I know, but there it is.
A website entitled Teen Car
Accidents (www.car-accidents.com/teen-car-accidents.html)
says: “Each Year over 5,000 teens ages 16 to 20 Die due to Fatal injuries
caused (by) Car accidents. About 400,000 drivers age 16 to 20 will be seriously
injured. The risk of being involved in a car accident (is) the highest for
drivers aged 16- to 19-year-old than it is for any other age group. For each
mile driven, teen drivers ages 16 to 19 are about four times more likely than
other drivers to crash.” The risk is even higher in the first year the teen is
driving, because of lack of experience. And having other kids in the car increases
the risk, as the driver is more likely to be distracted, to drive recklessly to
show off, or to clown around.
That’s why some states have wisely
adopted graduated licensing. New teen drivers must have an adult driver with
them for a period of time, can’t drive with other kids in the car, and/or are
limited in the hours they drive. Such rules cut down on the number of weeping
parents burying dead children.
Every one of those 5,000 dead kids
last year didn’t think it could happen to her or to him. That may be why teens
are less likely to use seatbelts than older drivers.
The only good news for you is that
boys are more likely to crash than girls, I guess because they like to show off
and drive faster, drive without seatbelts and drink and drive. Of course, even
that doesn’t help you if you are riding in a car with a boy at the wheel.
Everyone alive is at risk of dying
every minute. An airplane could fall out of the sky on you—it’s rare, but it
happens. The trick is to do everything you can to reduce your risk, just like
smart soldiers in a war dig a fox hole to hide in every time they stop moving,
just in case.
You cannot completely eliminate
your risk of dying in a car wreck. You can be the safest driver in the world,
and some drunk in a truck can crash into you. I’ve been in five accidents in my
life (so far), all because the other driver made a mistake. Lucky no one was
hurt badly in any of them.
You can, however, greatly reduce
your risk of dying in a car crash, if you follow some simple rules.
1. Never speed. Never ride with
someone who speeds. Yes, any driver can get careless, especially in a low speed
zone, and exceed the limits. Grandma and I have had speeding tickets. It’s
especially hard to remember in the 25-mile-an-hour neighborhoods, where the
limit is for the safety of kids who may be playing in or near the street, not
for the driver, and it feels like you are creeping along. But you wouldn’t want
to live your life knowing you had killed a child by speeding. And high speed is
a factor in a large number of fatal car crashes.
2. Always wear your seatbelts.
Require anyone who rides with you to wear them. While it’s not true that a cop
has “never unbuckled a dead person,” a lot more of the people killed in car
wrecks aren’t wearing seat belts than are. Lack of seat belts is another a big
factor in crashes where people die.
3. Never drink and drive. Never
ride with a driver who has been drinking, smoking pot or doing drugs. Impaired
drivers account for a large number of crashes. They have done tests where they
have a driver do an obstacle course in traffic cones. Then they have him drink
a couple of beers and do the course again. The drinking driver always does
worse, but often thinks he is doing better! That lack of judgment makes the
risk worse.
4. Don’t let yourself be
distracted by talking on a cell phone (even hands free) or, worse, texting
while driving. Don’t ride with someone who does. There are studies that say the
distraction of cell phones make you drive as badly as someone who has been drinking.
Near where we lived in New Jersey ,
a four-year-old girl was killed by a driver on a cell phone who wasn’t paying
attention and slammed into her mother’s van. Imagine him having to look in the
mirror every morning knowing he killed a little girl because he thought his
call was so important.
5. Don’t drive if you are tired.
Pull over and take a nap, or get someone else to drive. Fatigue causes a lot of
accidents too. We had a neighbor in Madison who fell asleep at the wheel one
morning. He died. So did the mother and little boy he hit head on.
6. Try to only drive or ride in
safe cars. That can cost money, but funerals are expensive, too. Make sure the
breaks, tires and other safety features are well maintained. A newer car with
safety features like airbags is better. A larger car may not be “cool,” but
it’s safer. Being dead doesn’t make you popular either.
It’s hard to tell a friend,
especially a boyfriend, that you won’t ride with him because he speeds, or
drinks or drives carelessly or has an unsafe car (or, maybe, all four!). It can
hurt if he (or she) gets mad or teases you about it. But having your head go
through a windshield at 80-miles-per hour can hurt a lot worse. Having your
face scared for life in a car wreck will hurt for life.
7. If it’s raining hard, and you
come to a large puddle—a flooded section of the road—don’t try to drive through
it. The water can rise very rapidly, stalling out your car, leaving you to wade
out looking stupid while you car gets ruined from flood waters. Yes, I know
from experience.
Looking stupid and a ruined car
are not the worst things that can happen. Every year, some people are in
stalled cars in a flood, get out and are swept away and drowned. Talk about
wrecking your weekend.
Of course, rain, ice and snow are
likely to cause crashes, and require extra care when driving. “Extra care” can
be taken by not driving in them at all, unless absolutely necessary.
Nothing can remove all risk of car
accidents. But if you follow these rules, you are much more likely to live to
an age to worry about your own kids or grandkids driving their first car.
(Maybe by then the cars will fly and you’ll be twice as worried.)
Excerpt From:
Advice for my Granddaughter: For When I’m
Gone
http://www.amazon.com/Advice-Granddaughter-When-Im-Gone/dp/147004238X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417188860&sr=1-1&keywords=Advice+Granddaughter+Robert+A+Hall
Advice for Boys: From an Old Marine by Robert A. Hall
All royalties go to charity.
Random Thoughts for February
Random Thoughts for February,
2017. By Robert A. Hall
Feel free to post or forward.
2017, huh? And I'm not quite finished with the 1990s.
People are looking forward to Trump ending Political
Correctness. I wish I was hopeful. Weasels are survivors.
I count on Karma. But I'm always willing to lend it a hand.
Turns out money can't buy wisdom, either. Or class.
From my friend Larry Greenberg: As much as there is a
cognitive war against Israel, there is a similar war in the United States by
those who would make us into a multicultural mélange of tribal entitlements.
I wonder what the murder rate is in "Sanctuary
Cities" vs. the rest of the country? It has to be at least triple, begging
the question, "Sanctuary for who?"
I'm often at odds with the laws of physics, leading to
cursing at inanimate objects.
Hillary claimed she was the most transparent person in politics.
Wikileaks may have made it true.
Everyone likes message fiction if they agree with the
message. Everyone likes celebrities who take a political stance if they agree
with the stance.
If I wasn't on Facebook, how would I know about all the
miracle cures now popping up?
Why are people loyal to NFL teams? If money beckons, no team
is loyal to their fans.
Politically, if your side does "X," you dismiss it
as a distraction, witch hunt, blown out of proportion, or at worst
"Everyone does it." If the other side does "X," you cite it
as making them unfit to govern, undermining the Foundations of Democracy,
blatant corruption or at best an example of why no one should vote for them. It
doesn't matter which side you are on, how serious "X" is or what the facts
are.
I think we should have a nationwide poll between Obama and
Trump, asking the question, "Whose sneer is more sincere?"
After eight years of dissent being racist, I'm looking
forward to it being patriotic again.
I've been working on my genealogy (a sign of old age I
suppose) in MyHeritage, one of those sites that finds matches for people in
your tree with those in other trees. One of my ancestors, according to another
tree, was buried the year before he died. Tough way to go. Note that if you do
this to pay attention. I find hundreds of bad dates. People who died before
they were married, people who died before their kids were born, etc. Often you
have to make your best guess as to which site is correct.
Insults are the arguments of the cognitively impaired.
Not only is tomorrow not promised, but if you have a
tomorrow, the health, happiness, family, friends, shelter, food and clothing
you have today are not promised either. Be grateful for today and the good
things in it.
Anyone can chose well among good options. It takes
leadership and strength to chose well among bad options.
How many years until the progressives decide that Heroin use
is a "human right" that the taxpayers must pay for? Ridiculous you
say? Impossible? Think of all the untouchable, not-to-be-questioned rights
there are now that you would have said ridiculous and impossible to twenty or
thirty years ago.
We cancelled the Madison
paper a while back. Instead I get a weekly from local towns, plus The Orange
Street News, a monthly put out by a 9-year-old girl in PA (news of her town,
but at least straight news), and read the net. We made the mistake of buying
the Sunday paper on January 19. Big front page story with banner headline about
Obama's legacy of hope. Why don't they just fire the reporters and print only
press releases from Democrat politicians (national, state and local) and
talking points from progressive mouthpieces like Paul Krugman? Save money with
little change in focus.
Which is "The Party of No" now?
For eight years, Obama has taken the side of thugs, traitors
and terrorists. A big reason the country got Trump.
All progressives are at heart Hegelians. (Hegel argued that,
“The State is the Divine idea as it exists on earth”)
No wonder all those Democrat reps boycotted Trump's
inaugural. Recall all the Republicans who boycotted Obama? Me neither. If they
had done so the Double-Standard Media would have eviscerated them.
Every day in every weather, an older woman in a motorized
wheelchair goes by our house twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon,
on her way to escort her young niece to and from the school bus stop. Saw her
go by in freezing rain the day I wrote this. That's courage. And courage is
love.
On the news they interviewed an anti-Trump protester. She
said she would "rather live under Stalin than Trump." The reporter
asked if she knew that Stalin had killed 60 million people. She said that under
Stalin the USSR
population had increased 1.6%. Anyone who protested Stalin as she protested Trump
would, of course, have been sent to the Gulag or shot. That kind of stupid you
can't fix.
Good description of conservative philosophy from Columnist
Josh Hammer: Stand for moral clarity and oppose moral relativism. Support rule
by neutral law and oppose rule by capricious men. Support national
sovereignty and oppose outsourcing that sovereignty to transnationalism.
Support the separation of powers and oppose the modern despotic
presidency. Support federalism and oppose the centralization of power in Washington , D.C.
I read Trump only used the word "I" three times in
his inaugural speech. Hardly up to standard--Obama used it a dozen times
ordering breakfast.
Remember back during the Bush administration how concerned
Democrats were with the National Debt? In fact a guy named Obama said, "The
problem is, is that the way Bush has done it over the last eight years is to
take out a credit card from the Bank of China in the name of our children,
driving up our national debt from $5 trillion for the first 42 presidents - #43
added $4 trillion by his lonesome, so that we now have over $9 trillion of debt
that we are going to have to pay back -- $30,000 for every man, woman and
child. That's irresponsible. It's unpatriotic." During Obama's eight
years, $9 trillion was added to the debt, with hardly a peep from Democrats.
Want to bet that starting now, Democrats will be concerned with the National
Debt again?
We should apply the pre-existing condition requirement to
car insurance. If you hit a tree, you call to get insurance and they can't turn
you down for the pre-existing condition of the accident.
Music can move me to tears--the Marines Hymn, Highland
Cathedral, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, Scotland the Brave, Weep ye by
Athol--but often whisky is involved too.
Pastor Matt at our church used this portion of Washington 's Farewell
Address in a sermon. Well worth thinking about: " The unity of government which
constitutes you one people is also now dear to you. It is justly so, for it is
a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your
tranquility at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of
that very liberty which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee that,
from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken,
many artifices employed to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth;
as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of
internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though
often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment that you should
properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective
and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and
immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as
of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its
preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a
suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon
the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from
the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various
parts. For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens,
by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to
concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you in your
national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any
appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of
difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political
principles. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the
independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint
efforts of common dangers, sufferings, and successes."
There is no cure for the past, but every person on Earth
shapes the future. Some in large ways, some small. Some for good, others for
ill. We knew an elderly relative-by-her-first-marriage to my wife, Bonnie, Aunt
Louise. She was quite old, lived in a nursing home with few possessions, had
had to give up her little dog, was bent with osteoporosis, and mostly blind.
And she was one of the happiest, upbeat people I have ever met. It was a joy to
be with her. And her happiness, positive attitude and faith shaped everyone she
came in contact with. That is power to shape the future for good.
Obama and Hillary will still tell lies. But it won't matter
as much.
As we see after the election, the liberals are revolting.
The anti-Trump protesters burned a limo owned by a Muslim
and injured the Hispanic driver. Jim Geraghty: They said if Trump were elected, gangs of thugs in the
streets would attack immigrants… and
they were right!
Confirmation Hearing serve two useful
purposes. They allow senators to grandstand for the press, and to score points
for their side with the base.
I hear there's a family story that when Jim
Mattis was born, he slapped the doctor back.
Incompetence is the father of chaos.
My new Facebook Friend, Mallam Mohamad: Am a spiritual
helper live in northern part of Ghana and am helping like if you need
leadership, money, luck about business or work, marriage issues, protection,
lotto number, jobs, love spirit, high spirits, husband and wife issues, visa to
abroad, witchcraft, disease, and others you can call or whatsupp me on++*********
oh OK or********** oh ok. and all your problems will be resolved.
Slavery is illegal, but I suppose the left would have no
problems if you established a "sanctuary city" for slave holders.
Did you hear that Disney is remaking "Lady and the
Tramp"? Lady will now be a transgender pit bull who self identifies as a
poodle. Tramp is a former junkyard dog and disillusioned Trump supporter who
was enlightened by the Women's March on Washington
and is seeking a new career as a sensitive lapdog, if only someone will give
him a safe space.
I have friends I keep on my mailing list and on Facebook
just to stay up to date with the ever-changing liberal talking points.
To receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, shouldn't you
have done something, however small, to advance freedom and not to advance the
state which takes freedom away?
A president can do great damage pushing "alternative
facts." For example, the president might state as a fact that, "If
you like your plan, you can keep your plan," while pushing a bill that
makes thousands of plans illegal. Or he might state as a fact, "If you
like your doctor, you can keep your doctor" when every one knows if you
loser your plan, you often have to change doctors. Or he might state as a fact,
"your premiums will go down" when pushing a plan that covers many
more people and requires extended coverage for things like birth control,
knowing that all these things will cost more, not less. Or he might state as a
fact," Benghazi
was caused by a video," when he knew from the get-go it was a terrorist
attack." Or he might state as a fact, "I ended the war in Iraq ," when he knew ISIS
was gearing up to enlarge and spread the war. Yes, alternative facts can be a
problem. Especially if the media isn't coving for you.
If hypocrisy was bullshit...oh, wait, hypocrisy IS bullshit.
One of the features of getting old is that I know
advertising slogans and jingles for products and businesses that no longer
exist. I can still sing the jingles for Robert Hall Clothes which went out of business
in 1977.
I'm an inveterate list-maker. Maybe too much so. My
granddaughter, Britnye, recently asked me, "Grandpa, do you put, 'Make a
list' on your to-do list?"
Get the collection! My
“Random Thoughts” from 2008 through July, 2013 are collected in this book: The Old Jarhead's Journal: Random Thoughts on Life, Liberty
The Old Jarhead’s
Journal is a collection of Random Thoughts on politics and life and
Conservative Political Essays, mostly published on the author’s blog, including
the essay “I’m Tired” which went viral on the Internet in 2009, “The Hall
Platform,” “This I Believe,” and “Why I’m a Republican.” While they will be of
interest to conservative thinkers, they are collected here in book form as a
service to readers who wish to give a copy to favorite liberals and watch their
heads explode. All
royalties are donated to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund.
*****
Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam Veteran who served five
terms in the Massachusetts State Senate. He is the author of The Coming Collapse of the American Republic.
http://www.amazon.com/Coming-Collapse-American-Republic-prevent/dp/1461122538/ref=sr_1_5?s=booksandie=UTF8andqid=1304815980andsr=1-5
For a free PDF of Collapse, e-mail
him at tartanmarine(at)gmail.com. Hall’s eleven books are listed here: http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-book-published.html.
His blog of political news and conservative comment is www.tartanmarine.blogspot.com.
Infest?
Rashid Khalidi Worries that Jews Will ‘Infest’ the Trump Administration
Excerpt: The famous Columbia professor repeatedly used a Nazi-era metaphor to depict Jews as vermin. Rashid Khalidi is unapologetic. The longtime Columbia University professor last month said repeatedly that supporters of Israel would “infest” the Trump administration — language that evokes the imagery and metaphors of the Nazis. But for all the on-campus sensitivity seminars and trigger warnings that dominate our age, don’t expect an apology in this case. Apparently, no language, even if it is dehumanizing and deeply rooted in historic anti-Semitism, is out of line in condemning Israel. Professor Khalidi is well known as Columbia University’s professor of modern Arab studies.
Extreme?
Do They Never Tire? By Kevin D. Williamson
Excerpt: [Gorsuch is] “extreme”? Gorsuch sits on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. He was confirmed to that post unanimously. If he is an “extremist,” then Senate Democrats confirmed a right-wing extremist to one of the nation’s highest courts without a single vote against him. Why would they do that? Why would Senator Obama have done that? The word “extremist” of course no longer means anything. It is something like what George Orwell said of “fascism.” … “Fascism,” he wrote, had come only to mean “something not desirable.” I do sometimes wonder, sincerely, at what appears to me to be a genuine lack of self-respect on the Left. No one believes Chuck Schumer helped put a right-wing extremist on a federal court, and no one believes Gorsuch is an extremist. But the ritual incantation must be made, because that is what is demanded.
Judges
Messrs. Rivkin and Grossman acclaim the virtues of textualism in a judge (What Kind of a Judge is Neil Gorsuch?).
Juxtaposed with Super Bowl week, it ought to be apparent why such a
philosophy is the only appropriate attitude and methodology for a judge,
certainly one in an appellate position.
Imagine
that on the last play of the Super Bowl with time running out, trailing
by four points, Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan lofts a pass to Julio
Jones in the end zone. Jones catches and holds onto the ball but with
only one foot clearly in bounds. According to Rule 8, Section 1,
Articles 3-4, the on-field referee calls the play incomplete, thus the
Patriots win the game and championship. But wait! In the final two
minutes, there is a mandatory review. The off-field review ref overrules
the play and declares a legal catch, thereby giving the championship to
the Falcons. His reasoning? The NCAA rule legalizing a catch with one
foot in bounds is “more just.” Patriots fans are outraged and march on
NFL headquarters to burn Mr. Goddell in effigy. Falcons supporters
accept the win with sheepish confirmation bias.
The
judgment of the appellate ref is final, but is based on what he thinks
should be the case over the clear text in NFL rules. If this is wrong in
football, why isn’t strict application of the Constitution and laws as
they are written and enacted the proper way to judge a case and to
evaluate a Supreme Court nominee?
Yours truly,
Larry Greenberg
Skokie IL
Friendly Fire
Air Force base: 1 killed, 1 injured in New Mexico trainingAir Force base: 1 killed, 1 injured in New Mexico training
Troops who loses their lives in training should receive the same honors as those who die in combat. (As is the case in Tom Kratman's "Desert of Peace" series) ~Bob
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