The Great Canadian Shame

I just lost what little respect I had for Canadians.....

A passenger traveling on a bus across Canada's vast Western plains stabbed, gutted and decapitated a man seated next to him in an unexplained attack, a witness told media Thursday.

The victim had been sleeping before he was repeatedly stabbed in the chest by a man with a large knife, witness Garnet Caton told public broadcaster CBC.

The other 35 passengers and driver were jolted by "blood-curdling screams" and fled. "He must have stabbed him 50 times or 60 times," said Caton.

When Caton and two others returned to check on the victim, he said they saw the attacker "cutting the guy's head off and gutting him."

"While we were watching ... he calmly walked up to the front (of the bus) with the head in his hand and the knife and just calmly stared at us and dropped the head right in front of us."

Police then surrounded the bus and arrested the man, he said.

The other 35 passengers fled, they FLED!!!! What a pathetic collection of spineless, yellow cowards! Canada has been cowering before the political correctness alter for years. They've banned guns, embraced the incursion of militant Islamists, withdrawn their token presence in Iraq, and basically made it's citizens wards of the State. I guess when your country and it's leaders are unwilling to fight for anything, in favor of weakness and political correctness, then why would it's individuals be expected to fight for each other?

If just one passenger had a gun, he could have double-tapped this guy in the forehead and done us all a favor. Remember, when seconds count, the police are minutes away.

It's Ann Coulter Thursday!

This week Ann mocks, ridicules, and otherwise has a big time poking fun of John Edwards and his love child with staffer Rielle Hunter. What was the Breck Girl thinking? You can go on over to HumanEvents and read it.

No bottles for you

As dumb as the whole bottled-water craze is(it's just tap water), eco-nuts want to ban the plastic bottles because of their carbon footprint.....

SACRAMENTO (AP) ― Attorney General Jerry Brown on Tuesday said he will sue to block a proposed water-bottling operation in Northern California unless its effects on global warming are evaluated.


These insane environmentalists are literally running the country now. Any human activity that doesn't fit into their demented world view is subject to regulation or even prohibition by them, all in the name of the preposterous notion of man-made global warming. But even that's a charade. Their grand goal is to stifle capitalism as much as possible with onerous regulations, ridiculous fees, and costly environmental impact statements. They gleefully envision the US down on the level of any other third-world country. Like Rush says, liberals' world view is, everybody equal in misery.

Race politics

This is the stupidest, most craven form of race politics I can think of.....

US lawmakers Tuesday offered the federal government's first formal apology for the "fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity" of slavery and the legal segregation of African-Americans.

The resolution, passed in the House of Representatives by voice vote, "apologizes to African-Americans on behalf of the people of the United States, for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery" formal segregation laws known as "Jim Crow."

Lawmakers also said they were committed to rectifying "the lingering consequences" of slavery and segregation.

Congressman Steve Cohen, who introduced the resolution in early 2007, praised the move.

"This is a historic moment in the ongoing struggle for civil rights in this country, and I hope that this legislation can serve to open the dialogue on race and equality for all," he said in a statement.

"Apologies are not empty gestures, but are a necessary first step towards any sort of reconciliation between people," said Cohen, who represents the area of Memphis, Tennessee.

First, not a single person in Congress owned slaves(except maybe for klan member and democrat, Robert Byrd). They cannot apologize for slavery. If I hit you upside the head with a ball bat, would you feel better toward me if your neighbor apologized for it?

Second, not a single black person alive today remembers anything about slavery, or even knows anybody who knew a slave. Being that far removed, they cannot accept any apologies for slavery. Only slave owners can offer an apology for slavery, and only actual slaves can accept it.

Third, this Cohen character is the only white delegate representing a majority black district in the country. And he's facing a tough challenge from a black guy. This is as blatant a race pander as I've ever seen by a member of Congress trying to win re-election.

Fourth, if the treacherous democrats follow their usual M.O., they'll follow up this empty, meaningless apology with a renewed call for reparations. And with the Obamessiah in White House, and a dem majority, it'll likely get signed into law. Then run for the hills folks, because that'll be one of the greatest transfers of wealth from those who earned it to those who didn't in American history.

Fifth, have the democrats solved all the problems in the country such that they have time to waste on meaningless crap like this? I'd like to hear from just one black person who actually feels better about his/her life and future as a result of this ridiculous apology. (I mean feeling great about the future for reasons other than they'll be getting a bunch of money they didn't earn)

Out of the mouths of babes

My wife sent this story to me this morning. It perfectly illustrates why homelessness is sometimes self-induced and why handouts are unfair to those from whom the handout is taken.....

So, I was talking to this little girl Catherine, the daughter of some friends,
and she said she wanted to be President some day.

Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there with us - and I asked Catherine - 'If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?'

Catherine replied - 'I would give houses to all the homeless people.'

'Wow - what a worthy goal you have there, Catherine.'

I told her, 'You don't have to wait until you're President to do that, you can come over to my house and clean up all the dog poop in my back yard and I will pay you $5 dollars. Then we can go over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $5 dollars to use for a new house.'

Catherine (who was about 4) thought that over for a second while her mom looked at me, and Catherine replied,
Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and clean up the dog poop and you can just pay him the $5 dollars?'

And I said, "Welcome to the Conservative side".

Liberals want to take from those who've earned, and give to those who haven't. Conservatives want everybody to earn.

A perfect job to help a homeless dude get back on his feet.

Only your money can prevent climate change

Politicians will use literally any excuse to seize ever increasing amounts of your hard-earned money in the name of the completely naturally process of climate change. This time they're cleverly combining global warming and race for the tax-increase bifecta....

Climate change is no longer just an environmental issue. It’s now an issue of race, according to global warming activists and policy makers.

“It is critical our community be an integral and active part of the debate because African-Americans are disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change economically, socially and through our health and well-being,” House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., said July 29.

The report suggested implementing a “fee, tax or allowance auction on polluters,” which was meant to “eliminate the financial burden on low-income and moderate-income households.” This would pay for efforts to reduce global warming. Hoerner said that although it would cause product costs to increase, under his policy, the revenue from the “fee, tax, or allowance auction payment” would be redistributed to consumers to offset the higher costs.

There it is, the hallmark of any hideous liberal government policy....."redistribution". Race hustlers like Clyburn stay up nights thinking of new, innovative excuses to take money from the successful, productive earners in society so he can hand it over to the least productive class.....core democrat voters.

It'll be a difficult political choice for demented representatives to make between using our money to save black people or polar bears from fictitious climate change. But given that polar bears don't yet have voting rights, I imagine the poor blacks he's talking about will be the recipient of fabulous cash and prizes the rest of us pay for.

AIDS, the gift that keeps on giving

I don't wish AIDS on anybody but, if you get it from anything other than a contaminated blood transfusion, chances are you made a conscious decision to engage in reckless behavior and pretty much did it to yourself....

SAN FRANCISCO -- The United States is at the forefront of a global response to HIV and AIDS but lacks a sense of urgency when it comes to the crisis facing African Americans, according to a report released today by the Black AIDS Institute.
The report, titled "Left Behind! Black America: A Neglected Priority in the Global AIDS Epidemic," shows that the number of African Americans infected with HIV exceeds the number of people with the virus in seven of the 15 countries served by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

In some U.S. cities, the HIV rates among African Americans are close to those of developing African countries. If blacks in the United States constituted their own country, that nation would rank 16th in people living with HIV, 105th in life expectancy and 88th in infant mortality worldwide, according to the report.

While the U.S. government gives billions to help fight the global epidemic, the domestic response is so weak that the country would not qualify for its own emergency AIDS relief program, the report says.

Of all the deadly contagious diseases it's possible to contract, AIDS is probably the most preventable. That we aren't fighting it here in the US like we are in Africa is because they don't have the education and information to grasp what constitutes risky behavior. They just don't understand, at a fundamental cultural level, the concept of disease transmission. Nobody in this country can make that claim. If you get AIDS in America, you either shared a dirty needle of illegal drugs or you had unprotected sex, with an infected person. Both are bad, risky decisions people make, knowing they are bad and risky. It's very easy to not contract AIDS. Don't be a drug addict, and don't have unprotected sex.

It's not about the US ignoring blacks. It's about the US recognizing that you cannot protect people from themselves when they are determined to commit suicide. Not getting AIDS in America is easier than not getting hit by a train. Just don't put yourself at risk. It's that simple. If you are a drug addict, you make a conscious decision to remain a drug addict each and every time you shove that dirty needle in your arm. If you contract AIDS from a sex partner, then why didn't you determine their status before choosing to not use a condom?

Again, don't misunderstand me. I don't wish AIDS on anybody, and I hate it for anybody who gets it but, if you get it in America, you kind of asked for it. If Al Sharpton wants to reduce the incidence of AIDS in the black community, get them off drugs and get them to stop having unprotected sex. It's not about treatment, it's about not getting it in the first place.

Generally, I don't like to mock the religious folks, at least not the ones who don't want to fly airplanes into our skyscrapers. That said, this idea of asking God to intercede into, and alter, a process to which man willingly subjected himself, seems kind of trivial and silly.....

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Two prayer services will be held at St. Louis gas stations to thank God for lower fuel prices and to ask that they continue to drop. Darrell Alexander, Midwest co-chair of the Pray at the Pump movement, says prayer gatherings will be held Monday afternoon and evening at a Mobil station west of downtown St. Louis.
Participants say they plan to buy gas, pray and then sing "We Shall Overcome" with a new verse, "We'll have lower gas prices."

An activist from the Washington D.C. area, Rocky Twyman, started the effort, saying if politicians couldn't lower gas prices, it was time to ask God to intervene.

The group thinks the prayer is helping, saying prices are starting to fall below $4 a gallon.

That's the same logic the Indians used to explain when it rained at some point after their rain dance. They're also showing how ignorant they are in thinking politicians can directly control gas prices. God gave man the intelligence and means by which he can somewhat control his environment through his actions. I think we're supposed to try that first, then pray about it. Man invented the internal comubstion engine, the petroleum markets to fuel it, and the supply/demand/price structure that controls it. To ask God to relieve us from it's effects when we are unwilling to relieve ourselves is preposterous, and itself, makes a mockery of the serious practice of religion.

While they're at it, they may as well ask for the sun to burn a little cooler, rocks to not be so hard, and ratings for Keith Olberman's show to improve.

Scott McClellan.....democrat tool

Since his treacherous, backstabbing book has failed to sell very many copies, former WH press secretary Scott McClellan decided to attack his former employer further in the hopes of driving sales.....

Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan has dropped yet another bombshell, telling “Hardball” host Chris Matthews on Friday that the Bush administration helped “shape the narrative” of Fox News by passing “taking points” to certain members of Fox’s nighttime lineup—a point not lost on Matthews or Keith Olbermann, who pursued the story on “Countdown.”

He named O'Reilly and Hannity, who both vehemently denied taking talking points from the administration. And I believe them. Of course Matthews and Olby are every bit the unapologetic mouthpieces for the democrats. They don't even bother pretending to be journalists anymore. They baited McClellan and he not only exposed himself as a clueless dupe of the left, but a not very bright one either. What a tool!

Get well soon, Bob Novak

Chicago Sun-Times columnist Robert Novak announced Monday he has been diagnosed with a brain tumor, but says “God willing” he will be back at work soon.

Novak said he was diagnosed on Sunday with a brain tumor and will soon begin treatment at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

The TV show that introduced me to political philosophy and the differences between liberals and conservatives back in the early 80's was CNN's Crossfire with Robert Novak and Michael Kinsley, at the time. It's been pointed out by many today already but, when Ted Kennedy, the figure-head of Washington liberalism, was diagnosed with health problems a month ago, I don't remember seeing a single prominent conservative anywhere on the internet say anything bad about him. Let's see if the same class and decorum can be found on the left when one of ours is down. I doubt it but, we'll see.

I'll lift one for you tonight Bob, and here's hoping you make a speedy recovery and return to kicking liberal ass soon.

It's not pollution, it's science

I found this story over at BelchSpeak, from Ananova....

Villagers were shocked after a monkey-like piglet was born in China.

Curious locals flocked to the home of owner Feng Changlin after news of the piglet spread in Fengzhang village, Xiping township.

"It's hideous. No one will be willing to buy it, and it scares the family to even look at it!" Feng told Oriental Today.

He says the piglet looks just like a monkey, with two thin lips, a small nose and two big eyes. Its rear legs are also much longer than its forelegs, causing it to jump instead of walk.

Feng's wife said the monkey-faced piglet was one of five newborns of a sow which the family had raised for nine years.

"My God, it was so scary. I didn't known what it was. I was really frightened," she said.

"But our son likes to play with it, and he stopped us from getting rid of it. He even feeds it milk."

I was in the middle of eating lunch when I first saw this picture, and I swear, I almost tossed my left-over roast and potatos onto my keyboard. I literally gagged.

Don't tell me the Chinese aren't experimenting with chimeric species technology. But why a pig and a monkey? A cross between say....Madonna and a SlimJim meat snack would be much more interesting. My bad, they already did.......

Bush's sad spending legacy

Though GWB deserves huge credit for not allowing a single terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11, to balance that, he deserves singular blame for this.....

The next US president is expected to face a record federal budget deficit of almost half a trillion dollars.
The White House is tipped to lift its deficit forecast for 2009 to $490bn (£246bn) up from $407bn.
The budget deficit measures how much more the government is spending than it is raising through taxes.

That half trillion doesn't include war spending. War spending is off the budget books. And we sit around pondering why over half of Americans expect the government to fulfill all needs, supply all resources, and meet all demands. It's pathetic, sad, and infuriating all at the same time.

One step forward, two steps back

A disgruntled, unemployed, gun-toting, right-winger shoots up a church full of liberals.....just what we needed....

I'm sure you all saw this story over the weekend....

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Knoxville's police chief says the man accused of a shooting that killed two people at a Tennessee church targeted the congregation because of its liberal social stance.

Chief Sterling Owen IV said Monday that police found a letter in Jim D. Adkisson's car. Owen said Adkisson was apparently frustrated over being out of work and had a "stated hatred of the liberal movement."

The church is known for advocating women's and gay rights and founding an American Civil Liberties Union chapter.

Great! That's just perfect! Just when we've gotten past Obama's remark about unemployed, blue-collar people clinging to guns and religion, an unemployed blue-collar guy proves the media's meme about gun violence, conservatism, and religion going hand in hand. The MSM will be all over this one.

UPDATE: I just heard a report that the authorities might now investigate this as a "hate crime". As absurd as the concept of "hate crimes" is, it's even scarier when liberals criminalize objections to their awful agenda.

Bush's "New Deal"

Thanks to FDR, many Americans have been seduced into ignorant bliss, knowing that regardless of how stupid they are, their benevolent and loving government is there to bail them out of trouble. FDR's "New Deal" ushered in the era of the modern welfare state, which was the genesis of current government dependency, and on which far too many people depend today. Well, Bush is about to include the housing markets under this nanny-state umbrella of protection.....

World markets are poised for a major relief rally today after the US Congress met in a rare weekend session to pass the most far-reaching rescue package for America's financial system since Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal.

US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson has helped engineer the rescue of Freddie and Fannie
The emergency bail-out gives the US Treasury sweeping authority to inject capital into the giant mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which together own or guarantee half the country's $12 trillion stock of home loans.

The ceiling on the US national debt has been lifted by a further $800bn, giving the Treasury almost unlimited resources to prop up the two lenders.

In parallel, the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) is to guarantee up to $300bn of fresh mortgages for struggling homeowners trapped with soaring loan costs.


There is not one chance in a million that this disastrous bill will ever be rescinded, because you see, it places the entire mortgage market under the watchful eye and control of corrupt elected officials. Now taxes will have to be raised on those of us who are smart enough to live within our means, to pay for the stupidity and recklessness of those who aren't. And worse, now there's no downside when mortgage companies issue loans to people who can't afford to pay for them. The taxpayers should not be in the business of propping up corporations who employ bad business practices. The housing market needs to correct and that's all this is. That it's an election year and craven politicians of both parties want to buy as many votes as possible for their party explains it all.

I was complaining this morning about this bailout and McCain's cap-and-trade scheme for CO2 emissions and my wife suggested I move to Idaho or Montana where borderline anarchists like me are welcome. If the Unabomber's shack is not rented for the winter, maybe I will.

Superimpose Bush's mug on this picture of FDR creating the modern welfare state, and that'll be the only real difference between the two, since both executives will have been responsible for record increases in the size and scope of government control of and intrusion into our lives.

Another guilt calculator for your weekend enjoyment

I know I post these stupid carbon-footprint calculators regularly but, it's so much fun getting confirmation that I am a nuisance to dumb eco-libs who think we humans are ruining the Earth simply by existing. I love knowing they want us to return to the good old days of Iron Curtain communism....i.e. shivering and hungry in the darkness of our drafty, Soviet-style high-rises, reading the Daily Worker by candle-light, and standing in line to get our ration of black bread and cabbage.

This one is a global footprint calculator. Basically, it tells you that if everybody on Earth enjoyed the extravagant, wasteful lifestyle that you enjoy, how many Earths it would take to provide all those resources. So it's more or less like all the other ones that tell you what a complete and utter waste of clean air you are.

I am proud to say that if everybody lived the wild and crazy life that I live, we would need 5.4 Earths to provide all the resources we would demand. I say to you now, our little yellow friends in Asia had better pick up the pace of production because this big-spending American is in the market for not one but two wide-screen, HD TV's....yeah, and maybe some more rubber dog poo.(The rubber dog poo gag never fails to crack me up)

It's really too bad that the Earth has been cooling since 2001. With global warming now known to be the insidious hoax that it was, it's not that much fun being wasteful any more. I guess now I'll have to go back to recycling and find some other way to irritate dumb liberals. Oh well, they'll always hate my SUV, so I can take some pleasure from that.

Calculate how harmful you are to Mother Gaia and let us know in the comments thread as always.

Friday funny...the lost biblical scroll revealed

I found this over on the TimesOnline by Gerard Baker. I swear it is the funniest satirical bit on Barack Obamessiah you'll read all day. I heard that Neal Boortz read the entire thing on air this morning it's so funny. I apologize for the length but it's well worth the 5 minutes it'll take to read it....

And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores of the Great Lakes had been laid barren, that a Child appeared in the wilderness.

The Child was blessed in looks and intellect. Scion of a simple family, offspring of a miraculous union, grandson of a typical white person and an African peasant. And yea, as he grew, the Child walked in the path of righteousness, with only the occasional detour into the odd weed and a little blow.

When he was twelve years old, they found him in the temple in the City of Chicago, arguing the finer points of community organisation with the Prophet Jeremiah and the Elders. And the Elders were astonished at what they heard and said among themselves: “Verily, who is this Child that he opens our hearts and minds to the audacity of hope?”

In the great Battles of Caucus and Primary he smote the conniving Hillary, wife of the deposed King Bill the Priapic and their barbarian hordes of Working Class Whites.

And so it was, in the fullness of time, before the harvest month of the appointed year, the Child ventured forth - for the first time - to bring the light unto all the world.

He travelled fleet of foot and light of camel, with a small retinue that consisted only of his loyal disciples from the tribe of the Media. He ventured first to the land of the Hindu Kush, where the Taleban had harboured the viper of al-Qaeda in their bosom, raining terror on all the world.

And the Child spake and the tribes of Nato immediately loosed the Caveats that had previously bound them. And in the great battle that ensued the forces of the light were triumphant. For as long as the Child stood with his arms raised aloft, the enemy suffered great blows and the threat of terror was no more.

From there he went forth to Mesopotamia where he was received by the great ruler al-Maliki, and al-Maliki spake unto him and blessed his Sixteen Month Troop Withdrawal Plan even as the imperial warrior Petraeus tried to destroy it.

And lo, in Mesopotamia, a miracle occurred. Even though the Great Surge of Armour that the evil Bush had ordered had been a terrible mistake, a waste of vital military resources and doomed to end in disaster, the Child's very presence suddenly brought forth a great victory for the forces of the light.

And the Persians, who saw all this and were greatly fearful, longed to speak with the Child and saw that the Child was the bringer of peace. At the mention of his name they quickly laid aside their intrigues and beat their uranium swords into civil nuclear energy ploughshares.

From there the Child went up to the city of Jerusalem, and entered through the gate seated on an ass. The crowds of network anchors who had followed him from afar cheered “Hosanna” and waved great palm fronds and strewed them at his feet.

In Jerusalem and in surrounding Palestine, the Child spake to the Hebrews and the Arabs, as the Scripture had foretold. And in an instant, the lion lay down with the lamb, and the Israelites and Ishmaelites ended their long enmity and lived for ever after in peace.

As word spread throughout the land about the Child's wondrous works, peoples from all over flocked to hear him; Hittites and Abbasids; Obamacons and McCainiacs; Cameroonians and Blairites.

And they told of strange and wondrous things that greeted the news of the Child's journey. Around the world, global temperatures began to decline, and the ocean levels fell and the great warming was over.

The Great Prophet Algore of Nobel and Oscar, who many had believed was the anointed one, smiled and told his followers that the Child was the one generations had been waiting for.

And there were other wonderful signs. In the city of the Street at the Wall, spreads on interbank interest rates dropped like manna from Heaven and rates on credit default swaps fell to the ground as dead birds from the almond tree, and the people who had lived in foreclosure were able to borrow again.

Black gold gushed from the ground at prices well below $140 per barrel. In hospitals across the land the sick were cured even though they were uninsured. And all because the Child had pronounced it.

And this is the testimony of one who speaks the truth and bears witness to the truth so that you might believe. And he knows it is the truth for he saw it all on CNN and the BBC and in the pages of The New York Times.

Then the Child ventured forth from Israel and Palestine and stepped onto the shores of the Old Continent. In the land of Queen Angela of Merkel, vast multitudes gathered to hear his voice, and he preached to them at length.

But when he had finished speaking his disciples told him the crowd was hungry, for they had had nothing to eat all the hours they had waited for him.

And so the Child told his disciples to fetch some food but all they had was five loaves and a couple of frankfurters. So he took the bread and the frankfurters and blessed them and told his disciples to feed the multitudes. And when all had eaten their fill, the scraps filled twelve baskets.

Thence he travelled west to Mount Sarkozy. Even the beauteous Princess Carla of the tribe of the Bruni was struck by awe and she was great in love with the Child, but he was tempted not.

On the Seventh Day he walked across the Channel of the Angles to the ancient land of the hooligans. There he was welcomed with open arms by the once great prophet Blair and his successor, Gordon the Leper, and his successor, David the Golden One.

And suddenly, with the men appeared the archangel Gabriel and the whole host of the heavenly choir, ranks of cherubim and seraphim, all praising God and singing: “Yes, We Can.”

History Repeats Itself

Posted By Kevin

Vladimir Lenin, Russian Communist Leader

Barack Hussein Obama, Presidential Candidate (Also a Communist?)

Feel free to leave comment on your thoughts.  I find it difficult to not see the similarities here myself, not only in the way the poster is setup, but also in the campaign platform these two men shared.  

Hat tip: Moonbattery

Man overboard!

Boy, my wife got on a personal responsibility tirade about this story this morning. Apparently a morbidly obese man and his three equally portly kids exceeded by 200lbs, the weight limit on a water flume amusement park ride, and to nobody's surprise, got injured when their boat sank...

John D. Lenahan, 41, bit his tongue and was knocked unconscious. He was listed in stable condition Thursday night. His son John Lenahan, 15, was also knocked out and treated for a chin laceration.

The two younger children - Ronald, 14, and Julianna, 11 - were transferred to St. Mary's Medical Center and released several hours later. They suffered cuts, bumps and bruises.

Collectively this family of problem eaters tipped the scales at 900lbs. If a chain on a roller-coaster breaks and somebody gets hurt, that's one thing, but when the weight limit of a ride is clearly posted, you have an obligation to know that you and your overfed kids weigh too much. Already their smarmy lawyer was laying the groundwork for an injury suit buy saying the father was having heart trouble after the accident(no kidding! no human heart is designed to lug around the equivalent of three people). He's also throwing out the possibility of bleeding in his brain, no doubt in order to up the damages significantly when he gets in front of 12 sympathetic, gullible cretins.

If the pimply-faced teen working the ride had inquired about this families' weight, the park would have been sued for public humiliation or something. Like my wife said, they post the signs there so you can be responsible for yourself. We've all read the warnings about pregnancy, back conditions, heart conditions, height, and weight, in every que while waiting to get on a ride. Now the parks will have to start weighing the riders the same as airports are weighing flyers.

It ain't nothin' but a thang

You'll be shocked, shocked I say, to hear that another famous rapper has been busted by the cops. But not for, as you may suspect, busting a cap in somebody, kickin' women in the butt, wearing their pants too low, or having sex with underage fans on stage.....

Authorities allege the 37-year-old rapper gave the name "Troy Jones" and an incorrect Social Security number to a Scottsdale hospital in April to avoid paying $7,500 in medical expenses.

Following a hearing on Thursday, DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, rapped: "If you ever fall down, get back up."

The theft and identity theft charges come after months of trouble for Simmons, who also faces multiple charges of drug possession and cruelty to animals in Maricopa County.

This dude walks around with that much money in his pocket. Why hide his identity? And what's going on with famous, rich black guys and fighting dogs? Did he learn nothing from the Michael Vick affair? Maybe they can stick them in the same cell so they can share dog fighting and marijuana stories.

The Breck Girl, not gay after all

From van helsing over at Moonbattery, we get to mock the Breck Girl some more.

The National Enquirer has been reporting for months about Silky Pony's illicit, extra-marital affair with a campaign staffer, Rielle Hunter, pictured here, though not a single major media outlet has bothered to even investigate it. Could that be because he's a prominent democrat and still in the running for the VP slot in the Messiah's administration? To even the stupidest of democrat voters, and they are numerous, The Silky Pony's plan to become President was only slightly more popular than a hot-tamale salesman in hell. Still, his cancer-striken wife stood valiantly by his side and campaigned when her health allowed. Out on the campaign trail, meanwhile, Edwards was pursuing Ms. Hunter like an Ethiopian pursues a chicken.

If this was a republican of prominence, you would see gleeful, 24hour coverage of the story from all major news outlets, but with Silky, they remain obediently quiet so as not to draw attention away from their personal savior's, The Obamessiah, magical mystery tour of the middle east.

Meanwhile, John McCain (if you remember, he's also running for President) landed at a campaign stop on Monday, to be greeted by a single reporter and one camera.....I've got a bad feeling about this.

Not soon enough

Here's some rather good news about the main-stream media, for a change. It seems the propaganda arm of the democrat party, the New York Times, posted an 82% drop in profits from this time last year. You'd think the stock-holders of the NYT would be pitching hissy fits and demanding changes but, most of them are probably New York liberals who think that Americans refusing to read their fish-wrapper is evidence of our lack of nuanced sophistication and progressivness. We're just backwards commoners who're not cosmopolitan and worldly enough to appreciate the Times.

Unless they exchange their liberal advocacy for fair and balanced reporting(a fantasy I admit), hopefully they'll go out of business soon. Nothing pleases me more than watching the dinosaur media's dominance of American thinking die a writhing, tortured death at the hands of the free media market.

p.s. the NYT announced that because of it's dwindling reader base, it would need to raise the news-stand price. Yeah....that should bring the readers running back.

The Great and Powerful Oz (OBama)

Hello everyone, As you know I am not a very political person. I just wanted to pass along that Senator Obama came to Bagram Afghanistan for about an hour on his visit to 'The War Zone'. I wanted to share with you what happened. He got off the plane and got into a bullet proof vehicle, got to the area to meet with the Major General (2 Star) who is the commander here at Bagram. As the Soldiers where lined up to shake his hand he blew them off and didn't say a word as he went into the conference room to meet the General. As he finished, the vehicles took him to the ClamShell(pretty much a big top tent that military personnel can play basketball or work out in with weights) so he could take his publicity pictures playing basketball.He again shunned the opportunity to talk to Soldiers to thank them for their service. So really he was just here to make a showing for the American's back home that he is their candidate for President. I think that if you are going to make an effort to come all the way over here you would thank those that are providing the freedom that they are providing for you. I swear we got more thanks from the NBA Basketball Players or the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders than from one of the Senators, who wants to be the President of the United States. I just don't understand how anyone would want him to be our Commander-and-Chief. It was almost that he was scared to be around those that provide the freedom for him and our great country. If this is blunt and to the point I am sorry but I wanted you all to know what kind of caliber of person he really is. What you see in the news is all fake. In service,
CPT Jeffrey S. Porter
Battle Captain
TF Wasatch
American Soldier


FYI: I received this email today. This man is a local doing his job for our country. It opened my eyes, a lot. This in and of itself, while pathetic in his treatment of our soldiers, is not enough for a person to not vote for Obama, it just sends me scurrying to find out more intel on both candidates to make a well informed decision. He seems to tell a lot of mistruths. I am looking into both candidates now.

The federal minimum wage is bad for America

Thanks to meddling democrats, a lot of teenagers had better get prepared to lose their jobs or not get hired at all today......

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The federal minimum wage jumps 70 cents to $6.55 an hour on Thursday, the second of three scheduled increases mandated by last year’s Fair Minimum Wage Act.

The increase will affect workers in the 25 states that have minimum wages below the new national standard. A third increase, bringing the wage floor up to $7.25 an hour, is scheduled to go into effect in July 2009.

I love the tired, minimum-wage mantra that weeping liberals love to trot out about how a family of four cannot survive on current minimum wage. First of all, if all you can manage to make is minimum wage, how stupid were you for having two kids? Second, a family of four presumes two parents. If both hold full-time minimum wage jobs, that's over $27,000 a year in household income. Not like hitting the lottery but, it's a good start. Here are a few minimum wage facts to ponder:

-labor is a business resource, no different than iron ore to a steel factory, and it should be subject to the same forces of markets. When jobs are scarce and laborers are plentiful, the wages are lower. When labor is scarce, the wages likewise go up.

-minimum-wage type jobs are designed to train entry-level employees, instill good work ethics, promote personal responsibility, etc. They are not designed to support entire families.

-only about 6% of minimum-wage employees are still making minimum wage after a year of working. This means that if you work hard, demonstrate dedication and a willingness to learn new skills, your boss will see that you are a valuable employee and give you a deserved raise and ta-dah, you're no longer a minimun-wage employee. Only the most lazy, incompetent, unreliable, loafer is still making minimum wage after a year of working.

-a vast majority of minimum wage employees leave that job and move on to higher paying jobs elsewhere within 1 year. These jobs are only the first step on the job ladder, not the career job.

-businesses exist to make money, period. If Wendy's has 10 full-time minimum-wage employees working and then the wage is increased. That extra money to pay them isn't coming out of the profits of the business. One or two of those employees will get fired and the remaining 8 workers will have to do more. Minimum-wage laws cost young workers job opportunities.

-democrats pretend that they care about families trying to exist on minimum wage but, what they care about is getting re-elected. They'll smugly pat themselves on the back today, in front of CNN's cameras, for helping out the poor but, what they've done is not only make it easier to NOT work hard, NOT learn new skills, and NOT strive for something better, they've put a lot of young people out of work.

It's Ann Coulter Thursday!

This week Ann questions the media's abandonment of J.Mac this election season, when they used to be infatuated with him as a maverick, as long as he was sticking it to conservatives in Washington. Not her best article in terms of sarcasm and wit but, you can go here and read it anyway.

Katie "cupcake"....victim of sexism?

Highly paid, perky news reader Katie Couric had this to say about the state of sexism in America...

"I find myself in the last bastion of male dominance, and realizing what Hillary Clinton might have realized not long ago: that sexism in the American society is more common than racism, and certainly more acceptable or forgivable."

I think feminists who cry sexism do it as reflexively as blacks who cry racism in every situation without really knowing if there is any. They just do it because it's what they've always done. I'm not saying it doesn't exist, but I am saying it's not around every corner. And it's a stretch to expect me to believe that you are the victim of sexism when you make as much as Katie does. As for her comparison of herself to Hillary, nobody hated Hillary because she was a woman, we hated her because she was a unrepentant socialist, hellbent on the destruction of the American way of life and inserting herself as queen of America.

I checked, and Katie is the highest paid network anchor, period. Despite the rampant sexism that's been keeping her down, she's managed to eek out a $15million/year living. Katie's peers Brit Hume and Charlie Gibson make like 13 and 10 respectively.

Katie "cupcake" is fuming.....if it weren't for sexism, she'd be making even more.

The creeping nanny-State

In case you fear, as I do, the determined encroachment of the nanny-state into areas of our lives in which it doesn't belong, this should disappoint you just a little.....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush dropped his opposition Wednesday to a broad housing package aimed at bolstering the sagging economy, despite his objections to including $3.9 billion for neighborhoods hit hardest by foreclosures. The House was expected to vote on the bill Wednesday, and it could become law as early as this week.

Under the bill, the government would help struggling homeowners get new, cheaper loans and would be allowed to offer troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a cash infusion.

For you government school graduates, propping up private companies with taxpayer cash is not a proper constitutional function of government. Nor is bailing out citizens who've made poor financial decisions. By caving in to democrats, Bush has shown us that he's just as much of a nanny-Stater as they are. Give the people fabulous cash and prizes, paid for by the productive class, and they'll not only like you, they'll keep voting for you. That's the democrats' re-election mantra. Under Bush, it's also the GOP's mode of operation.

I'm sorry, if you are too dumb to figure out whether or not you can afford your mortgage payment, you are probably too dumb to be a home owner in the first place. There's too much daily responsibility involved in maintaining a home. Likewise, if you run a huge mortgage company, and you lend billions to people who you know cannot maintain the payment schedule, just because the current President urged you to, you deserve to go bankrupt.

Vive la Tour!

Sorry about the light posting. I've been watching the Tour every morning. Today it was the toughest Alpine stage in the Tour this year. Three huge mountains ending with the world's most famous cycling mountain climb....L'Alpe-d'Huez. The outcome of today's stage probably narrowed the potential winners down to 3-4 guys. If you're not watching, you should be.

Envy the evil rich

For all you dumb, wealth-envy liberals who think the evil rich don't pay their fair share of taxes, take a look at this table and then present your best argument....



These are 2005 numbers. The disproportion has increased since to the point that the bottom 50% don't pay any income taxes.

Barack Obama....like Miss Illinois

Barack Obama is a very eloquent speaker, that is when he has a script to follow. But when you get him in an impromptu interview situation the outcome tends to be a little less stellar. The Obamessiah was asked a question by a reporter about the surge in Iraq. Here's how it went down...

Reporter: "If you had to do it over again, knowing what you know now, would you support the surge:"

Obama: "No, because keep in mind that question, you wouldn't ... but keep in mind that kind of hypothetical is very difficult to know hindsight is 20-20 ... later ... but I think that what I'm absolutely convinced of is that at that time we had to change the political debate because the view of the Bush administration at that time was one that I just disagreed with."

Uuuhh, what? Miss South Carolina couldn't give a less coherent answer to that question. Seriously, this is the man with whom half of America is obsessed? He is a vapid boob and an arrogant narcissist. He makes Bill Clinton look like Ghandi. 95% of the media, 98% of blacks, most soccer moms and deranged liberal men are going to vote for this guy for no other reasons than he's mulatto and his name reminds them of their two favorite enemies of George Bush.....Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden.

If you are an Obama supporter and intend to vote for him in November, I would love to hear why in the comments thread.

Run infidels, run and hide!

WOW! The Iranian Special Forces are far better trained that I would have guessed. We infidels should cower in terror of the wrath of the Army of the all powerful and benevolent prophet Mohammed.....



Seriously? And we are to believe that Iran has one of the most powerful, well-equipped, highly trained, largest, standing armies in all the world? Remember, we were told the same thing about Iraq's Republican Guard in '91, and they folded like origami. I know a couple of Brownie troops who're tougher than Saddam's Republican Guard.

Look, I'm not in favor of invading Iran. I think that would be a disaster of epic proportions, though not militarily, just a PR disaster. The only valid reason to me for attacking Iran is if they attack Israel and Israel cannot repel them alone. That said, if our attack on Iran started at breakfast tomorrow, based on what I've seen in this clip, I'll be able to watch the highlights of our victory on FOXNews with dinner the same night, and still not miss the expanded coverage of the Tour de France at 10:00.

I think it's safe to direct our attention elsewhere, comforted in the knowledge that if and when Iran decides to act up, which they won't, but if they did, we would have no trouble at all dealing decisively with them in short order.

A Dodge Ram pick-up....jeeeeez!

Do you want fries with that?

Does someone want to tell me what's wrong with this law?

LYNWOOD, Ill. - Be careful if you have saggy pants in the south Chicago suburb of Lynwood. Village leaders have passed an ordinance that would levy $25 fines against anyone showing three inches or more of their underwear in public.

Eugene Williams is the mayor of Lynwood. He says young men walk around town half-dressed, keeping major retailers and economic development away. He calls the new law a hot topic.

The American Civil Liberties Union says the ordinance targets young men of color.

Young adults in the village, like 21-year-old Joe Klomes, say the new law infringes on their personal style. He says leaders should instead spend money on making the area look nicer.

As much as it disturbes me to agree with a grown man who wears his pants around his knees, Mr. Klomes has an excellent, though accidental, point about the proper role of government.

The only place I've ever seen guys who wear pants like this working is the french-fry vat at Wendy's, which not coincidentally, represents the pennacle of upward economic mobility for these morons. That they look like utterly stupid jackasses will certainly prevent them from attaining any other job besides gas-station attendant, Huddle-House bus-boy, or drug mule. Eventually, the fad will go away like all fads and they'll find some other retarded way to limit themselves. It is impossible to legislate away the stupid lengths to which young people will go to totally screw up their lives.

To each his own

Now before you get your shorts in a bunch because you think I'm criticizing a crazy, old man's art, that's not what I'm doing. I'm pointing out the sujbectivity when it comes to the appeal of art today. I'm pointing out that as long as the "artist" is unique in some way, has lived a difficult tortured life, and some silly rich people care about it, then you could pass off the stuff my kindergartner did 10 years ago as valuable art....

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) _ Bent over or sitting at a table, gripping a ballpoint pen, marker or crayon, Frank Calloway spends his days turning visions from his youth into lively murals — and at 112 years old, the images of his childhood are a window to another time.

Drawn on sheets of butcher paper and sometimes stretching to more than 30 feet long, the works mostly show rural agricultural scenes, with buildings, trains and vehicles straight out of the early 20th century. And his colorful creations are gaining more attention in the art world.

The works by a man who has lived about half his life in state mental health centers will be part of an exhibit this fall at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore. His caretakers have suspended sales of his artwork until after the show after finding out some of his drawings could sell for thousands of dollars.

"They are unique in that they are of a rural, agrarian South, and they speak to a time gone by," said Sara Anne Gibson, executive director of the Kentuck Museum in Northport, Ala., which hosted a monthlong exhibition of Calloway's works two years ago.

See, when you're buying art, what you're paying for is not the skill, creativity, and perspective with which the oil was applied to the canvas, or in this case crayon to paper, you are paying for how attracted you are to the story behind the person who did it, regardless of how well it was done.

My son could draw and color a train that was "better" than this one but, he's had a terrific life so far and nobody wants to pay money for a drawing by a kid who's hasn't at some point been homeless, or insane, or handicapped, or molested, or hungry, or in some other way "had it hard". I'm not saying there's anything wrong with paying a lot of money for art. It is axiomatic that anything is "worth" what ever somebody is willing to pay for it. That said, these snooty art critics and silly collectors with more money than sense, would have us believe that there's something special and superior about the art that they like. There is nothing special about any art. There is only cultish attraction to the artist and his personal story, nothing more. Yet-to-be-successful artists know this and I'll bet they act and dress in fringe ways to that critics and collectors will take notice and remark what a "tortured artist" that person is as they write a check for thousands for something a child could have drawn.

I've always wanted to take some of my kid's 1st grade artwork, have it framed, have him scribble his name left-handed in the corner, make up a story about a marginally sane, painfully shy, homeless dude who wears a beret and communicates with society through his pencil and crayon drawings because that's the only medium he had available, and see if a gallery owner would hang it up and sell it. Nutty collectors would love that back story, after which I could easily afford that wide screen down at SAM's I've had my eye on.

Paranoia Abounds!

Reported today over at Forbes, is a very compelling story of our favorite gasoline terrorista and American hater, Hugo Chavez. It seems that Senor Chavez is stopping at the Russian Wal-Mart store to purchase about $1 billion in military aircraft. Now I understand the laws of supply and demand, but think it might be a real good idea for the US government to take a long hard look at this. See you get into a real bad situation here. Follow me on this:

Chavez hates this country. We allow him to access airplanes that will give him capabilities of inflicting damage to our oil wells in the Caribbean area, as well as bullying our friends in his region. This bodes poorly for a country teetering on an economic collapse. This transaction also gives the Ruskies a much needed cash infusion that could also help fund the start of a new cold war. This timing is bad, 'cause we don't have the money to fight said war and hope to keep the balance sheets afloat. Our nation is at a dangerous place. If we don't start righting the ship asap, incidences like this could make us more vulnerable than we already are.

We stand on the precipice of a potential economic collapse that will make the "Great Depression" look like a cake walk. This country has way too many takers and not enough contributors. Our jobs are going away to other countries, as well as the ownership of our largest companies. Foreign real estate holdings in the US are up significantly. China is buying us out. I reviewed a stock prospectus recently and found it odd that the Chinese government owns a huge portion of IBM stock. This distress me greatly, because IBM is 1 of our military's biggest suppliers. Imagine how easy it is to review blueprints for new projects of your competitor when you are a stock holder. Can they be altered to fail? Could they be sabotaged? Who knows, but it is very interesting.

Chavez needs to be ousted to protect this country. China needs to be monitored, carefully and we need to pay attention to the Russians. We sure don't need them back as competition. We can't fight a multi-front war and win. That has been proven time and again in history. We can however, start positioning ourselves to take back the leadership role of the planet, one way or the other. Globally, it is scary when the oil producers hate you; the biggest export customers hate you; internal strife is at an alltime high; panic is spreading ( you can start now and avoid the rush later). We need a plan. We need action. We need leadership to step up and do their job.

Actually, what we really need is John Wayne!

"Biggie-size that Triple with cheese"

NPR famously favors open borders so they take every opportunity to tug at your heart strings by running stories of Hispanic families having a hard time. The current tale of the down-trodden Hispanics is a sad-sobbing story about the Nunez family in Toledo and their hardships, not due to any poor decisions they've made or because of their general shiftlessness but, because of the economy....

Nunez's van broke down last fall. Now, her 19-year-old daughter has no reliable transportation out of their subsidized housing complex in Fostoria, 40 miles south of Toledo, to look for a job.

Nunez and most of her siblings and their spouses are unemployed and rely on government assistance and food stamps. Some have part-time jobs, but working is made more difficult with no car or public transportation.

Nunez, 40, has never worked and has no high school degree. She says a car accident 17 years ago left her depressed and disabled, incapable of getting a job. Instead, she and her daughter, Angelica Hernandez, survive on a $637 Social Security check and $102 in food stamps.

This sounds to me like your typical family of government-encouraged moochers and sponges. Subsidized housing and food stamps, are you kidding me? They grew up with what sounds like good examples of parents but have utterly failed to do the simple things in life that are necessary to succeed. How about moving to where the jobs are? How about losing like 200lbs each so your health isn't a hinderance to employment? How about stop sponging off taxpayers because you are unwilling to take care of yourself? If they each got two minimum-wage jobs, they'd be raking in 30-40K a year, minimum.

How could a car accident have left her incapable of getting a job when she's standing upright to have her picture taken for this article? Wal-Mart is looking for greeters with exactly that skills set[standing]. But Wal-Mart is not looking for lazy, uneducated, unmotivated, degenerate, loafers....so I guess professional greeting is out.

I would remind you to click this picture to "enlarge" but, that would be redundant. How do two people get that morbidly obese on $102 in food stamps?

A Short History Lesson

Posted by Kevin

Obama is up to his usual nonsensical antics again.  He has managed to once again show his apparent lack of history knowledge and lack of political experience.

"After receiving a hailstorm of criticism for considering Brandenburg Gate for a public speech, as well as official German dissuasion, Barack Obama moved the venue to the Siegessäule monument."

History lesson for the reader.  The Siegessäule monument is a large column chosen by none other than Hitler himself as a symbol of Hitler's militaristic domination over Austria, Belgium, and France.  Obama is set to give a speech on peace at this site.  What's worse is that this is a campaign speech.  Why is Obama giving a campaign speech overseas?  To germans?  At a monument symbolizing everything but peace?  

Hat tip to HotAir.

Rock and a hard place......eeeh Nancy?

On the one hand, I can't imagine congressional democrats being this stupid but, on the other hand, I hope they go ahead with a gas tax INCREASE as it will surely sink the Obamessiah in November.

OK you government school graduates, pay attention and try to keep up: as you know, the federal government and states tax gasoline sales in the stratospheric range of about 20-cents on the gallon average. The federal government makes about 3 times as much on a gallon of gas as the evil oil companies do. The windfall to the government from this seizure of profits is theoretically used to fund bridge construction, interstate maintenance, and general road-associated infrastructure(a legitimate use of tax dollars).

Now, with gas prices sky-rocketing by the day, naturally Americans, operating efficiently under the supply/demand/price architecture of free markets, are driving quite a bit less this year. As a result, there will be a projected $9-billion deficit to the general highway fund. Ironically, craven democrats aren't happy about the American people conserving gas, because it means less tax dollars in their pockets. But I thought we were supposed to be conserving....what gives?

Here's what gives...the loathsome wretch Pelosi and the detestable boob Harry Reid are afraid that the $9-billion shortfall will translate into thousands of lost jobs blamed on democrats, just in time for the election. What they won't tell you, is that last year $50-billion, almost 10% of the bloated highway bill sadly introduced by Bush but happily passed by the democrats, was earmarked for non-highway projects such as bike paths, nature walks, museums, and urban, non-road associated visitor centers. If they cut out one fifth of the earmarks, there would be no shortfall.

But democrats never, never lower taxes. They see all money as theirs and they just let you have some of it each month. Their solution is to raise the federal take a full 10-cents per gallon on gasoline. That's right, they're going to gouge the Americans for another dime on every gallon to keep from doing without the money.

The funny thing is, if they don't raise taxes on gas, the shortfall will cost them votes in November but, effectively raising the price of a gallon of gas by a dime will look even worse. Why what's a shifty liberal to do?

Here's a question for you: let's say, as we're lectured to by the Goreacle and others, we stop using gasoline and switch to bicycles, electric cars, scooters, whatever....let's say we do all that, where is the bulk of the highway fund going to come from then? How high will other taxes go to pay for highway maintenance? Will they institute a per/mile tax on our travels by attaching a GPS meter so they know where and how far we are at all times? You know they aren't going to do without all that money. See, this is the latest step toward the liberal utopia of reducing our great, free, American society to a Soviet-style gulag where we live in towering, urban ghettos, stand in line for black bread and cabbage, and read propaganda in the Daily Worker as we walk, bike, or toil on the dreary mass transit systems every day. Of course Nancy and Harry will keep their SUV's because they are the elite ruling class. The rules don't apply to them.

Suing, The American Dream

Posted by Kevin

Here is yet another example of a company being sued for something it isn't legally responsible for. However, this time, instead of money, the company is being sued for a drug that is both untested and unapproved.  

"A Minnesota family is trying to force a New Jersey drug company to give their son an experimental drug for a fatal form of muscular dystrophy, saying he'll die without it."

Seriously? According to the family, the company, PTC Therapeutics, out of New Jersey, promised the family access to the drug known as PTC124. This drug won't be FDA approved until 2011. The family is actually suing the company for access to the drug? There is no guarantee it will work. Yes it is unfortunate that the boy will probably die before he reached his 20's.  Unfortunately for him and his family, the drug is just not ready for human testing, and probably won't be for awhile.  The company may or may not have promised the family access to the drug, but if the company is not confident the drug will work, how, morally, could they give the drug to the child?  What will happen if the drug doesn't work?  Who will be responsible?  The pharmaceutical company.  There is a process for drug development, and unfortunately, sometimes people die waiting.  

Here is a link to the full article.

Wind energy....don't buy it

I'm sure you've all seen those reasonable looking ads featuring Texas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens touting wind mill energy. You should know that he is heavily invested in this technology all across north Texas and Oklahoma. If the government were to mandate some sort of idiotic conversion to wind farm technology, Mr. Pickens stands to make billions selling electricity to Americans the same way he made billions selling oil. You can tell he's fleecing you because he parrots the democrats' line about "we can't drill out of this crisis". His plan is for the villiage moron Al Gore to become the "Energy Czar" in an Obama administration.

I have no problem at all with him making billions selling electricity but, it has to be because Americans demanded it in the market place, not because President Obama mandated the conversion to wind energy, the way Bush idiotically and disastrously mandated corn-ethanol usage. With gas prices high, Americans are already conserving energy without the government telling them to. That's how the market works, for those of you who were learning to put condoms on cucumbers in government schools instead of studying economics.

Finally, we can indeed drill our way out of this gas crisis. Bush lifted the executive ban on off-shore drilling this week(a purely symbolic gesture since Congress controls that), and the international price of oil futures plumeted about 12dollars a barrel. If wind technology can compete in the energy market, fine, but the government has no business mandating it. The Obamessiah would mandate it.

My First (and Last) Earth Day

Posted by David

My first Earth day occurred exactly 2,370 days from my first day on Earth. Encouraged by a combination of the then infantile environmental movement (proffered by both my government school and television commercials), an older (second grade) friend down the street, and a puerile desire to make an impact, I jumped on the bandwagon, at least for the day.

As you may know, the current environmental movement – now with global warming as its capstone – gained purchase circa 1970. I remember having to make an anti-pollution poster in the second grade for which I won honorable mention. (The only reason I didn't win the grand prize is that I waited until the night before it was due and THEN sprung the requirement on my parents. This was before the 24hr convenience stores and all we had was a partial piece of poster board. Therefore my entry did not meet the size requirements and could not win 1^st place.)

So me and two friends voluntarily participated in the first Earth Day: April 22, 1970. I was in the first grade. We selected an undeveloped lot in our suburban Atlanta subdivision and proceeded to pick up all the litter and, I suppose, eradicate all environmental hazards on this third of an acre. My friends and I picked up all the litter, scrap wood, metal, and other building materials on the lot. We did this alone and without mentioning it to anyone. We were not seeking fame or recognition, we merely wanted to do our part to save the planet.

As with all boys we soon were hungry and thirsty. Then a moment of stupidity occurred. Looking back all I can say is “Duh!” but I'm sure it seemed like a great idea at the time. We dug up a root of some sort, convinced ourselves it was edible, and set out to eat it. Apparently I ate most of it or maybe all of it. By the time I heard my mom calling for me to come to dinner: “David, David” – this was hands-to-the-mouth-to-form-a-megaphone, open-air call, from the back deck of our house about four houses away, and long before cellular phones. I walked home will a full stomach and possibly a satisfied feeling. I remember worrying about telling my mom how I had “already eaten” and spoiled my appetite.

As expected I did not eat much dinner. I may have not eaten anything at all. I remember laying down on my bed, still in my clothes, with that unmistakable feeling that I'm about to vomit. It did not take long. Thinking quickly I dumped the contents of my metal bedroom trashcan on the floor and began filling it with a partially-digested root. Serves me right. This is how I spent the rest of the night and my parents made me go to school the next day.

I was seven years old during the first Earth Day. Those of you my age or older will remember some of the first environmental television commercials. Probably the most well know was the “crying Indian” commercial starring none other than “Iron Eyes Cody”. The visual was a canoe-bound Indian navigating a river with all sorts of polluted backdrops, the audio is a dramatic drumming on a tom-tom – a wonderful effect. The culmination of the commercial is someone throwing a bag of trash out of their moving car. The bag hits the ground and explodes at the feet of the Indian. He turns his face towards the camera to reveal a single (large) tear from his right eye. It begins to slide down his cheek while an ominous – unfortunately pre-James Earl Jones voice – says “People start pollution, people can stop it”.

What if I told you this commercial was a hoax or at least hoaxish? The Indian was no native American but instead a Sicilian-born immigrant portraying an American Indian. The tear was not naturally occurring lachrymal water but instead a drop of glycerin. (Hat tip to a friend of mine for making me aware of this mis-perception. I did want to believe him so I verified it with www.snopes.com. Apparently it's true.) Although this was only recently brought to my attention I have to ask “Was my body trying to tell me something all those years ago?”