Born In The Wrong Century

From the blog of TigerHawk:

Regular readers know that I rarely post the internet joke du jour, but this one seems to be right down our strike zone. I supply it as a public service on the small chance that I am not the last conservative in America to see it:

Scenario: Jack goes quail hunting before school, pulls into school parking lot with shotgun in gun rack.

1958 - Vice Principal comes over, looks at Jack's shotgun, goes to his car and gets his shotgun to show Jack!
2008 - School goes into lock down, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers.

Scenario: Johnny and Mark get into a fistfight after school.

1958 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies.
2008 - Police called, SWAT team arrives, arrests Johnny and Mark. Charge them with assault, both expelled even though Johnny started it.

Scenario: Billy breaks a window in his neighbor's car and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.

1958 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.
2008 - Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy removed to foster care and joins a gang. State psychologist tells Billy's sister that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy's mom has affair with psychologist.

Scenario: Mark gets a headache and takes some aspirin to school.

1958 - Mark shares aspirin with Principal out on the smoking dock.
2008 - Police called, Mark expelled from school for drug violations. Car searched for drugs and weapons.

Scenario: Pedro fails high school English.

1958 - Pedro goes to summer school, passes English, and goes to college.
2008 - Pedro's cause is taken up by state. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against state school system and Pedro's English teacher. English banned from core curriculum. Pedro given diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.

Scenario: Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from 4th of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle, blows up a red ant bed.

1958 - Ants die.
2008 - BATF, Homeland Security, FBI called. Johnny charged with domestic terrorism, FBI investigates parents, siblings removed from home, computers confiscated; Johnny's Dad goes on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.

Scenario: Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Mary. Mary hugs him to comfort him.

1958 - In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing.
2008 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces three years in State Prison. Johnny undergoes five years of therapy.

Sadly, there is very little actual parody in this joke.

After reading this, I am even more convinced that i was born in the wrong century!

Give a little help

Here is something that we all can do to help someone in need. No politics here, just a young man who needs our help.

Humor with a Lesson

I've seen this before, but it worth repeating.

My only change would be to substitute "Conservative" for Republican.

Where Are We Going Part 1

What is happening to my country?
In this, the bastion of freedom in the world, I see running for president a man who refuses to allow us to see his past, who associates with a known and unrepentant domestic bomber and terrorist, a hate-filled priest, a country-hating preacher, a now-convicted wheeler-dealer, and who tells us in so many words that his goal is to redistribute the wealth of this country.
Excuse me, Mr O, but if you would take a moment to read some of the documents upon which this great country was founded, you will note that my personal possessions, my personal property, and my money is MINE; it does NOT belong to the government or to you to redistribute to anyone.
Back in the mid to late 1700's, the British government tried to tell the colonists that their personal homes could be taken and used to house British troops, and that the government in England could take whatever taxes they deemed necessary. This country came into existence because a group of men said "No" to what they saw as unfair and unjust governmental actions. I cannot even imagine what these same men would say if they came back and looked at what has happened to their ideals and dreams, what has happened to their country. Instead of a government of, by and for the people, we have become a people of by and for the government. The government....no, the government people in Washington, have become an all-consuming monster, whose function first and foremost is its own survival and growth. The term "public good" is simply an excuse, a catch-phrase, to justify whatever it is that allows government to grow and extend its reach deeper into our lives and our pockets.
The "War on Poverty" of the Johnson administration, which continues to this day, has spent literally billions of dollars, of OUR dollars, and guess what........there is still poverty, poverty as bad and as wide spread as it was back then. There are also literally hundreds if not thousands of people now on the government payroll to "administer" these programs. And what have these programs accomplished? They have given us 2 generations of people who expect, who demand that we "take care" of them. HORSE-HOCKEY!!! Our society has always been notable for its concern for the downtroden and those who needed help (No, I am not saying we did as much as we should have, but we did a darn sight better than most countries did or do). But that concern and assistance had an unstated corollary, which said that we were more than willing to help, but that the recipient was also expected to do his best to get back on his feet and recover, to once again become a part of the functioning society as quickly and as fully as he is capable of doing. I can’t go to the grocery store any more because as I stand in line to check out, counting and recounting to see if I have enough cash to pay for what food I have, I see strong, healthy people, their grocery carts overflowing with top-of-the-line foods, with their handful of food stamps, and I get so angry that I come THIS close to shouting out my anger over this ripoff of the money that is being taken from me. This is not my idea of where this country should be, or should be going. You can work, then get a freakin’ job. You have "issues’? Well guess what...we all have issues and we still manage to drag our bodies to work. (I’ll say it once again.....there are people who need assistance. God bless them and I have no hesitation in helping them. I am talking about those who have found that there is no reason to try, since food stamps, WIC, medicaid, SSI, etc etc will pay them to remain off the work rolls forever. Let us call them, for convenience, freeloaders.) Do you think the God-fearing men who sat down in Philadelphia and set up this country ever thought that this type of activity would be encouraged, let alone tolerated, by the government they were setting up? Did any of them ever consider the possibility that their creation would morph into a monster that consumed 50 % of some people’s incomes, that would insinuate itself into almost all facets of day-to-day life? Would any of them, even those most in favor of a strong central government, ever dream that the government would essentially take over medical care (Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare, etc, etc), retirement (Social security), and now the financial markets (Buy-outs, bank take-overs, etc), while at the same time impinging on the very rights for which the founding fathers were fighting and dying (Fairness Doctrine, innumerable gun-control law, IRS DEA EPA and so on)?
I dare say that if they were alive today, the founding fathers would be heartbroken at the destruction of their dream, and would be hard at work to make things right once again.

Noise and Shooting and all the things little boys like

Ok, so I admit it....I really like guns and shooting and big noises.
I never grew out of that, thank goodness, and hope I never do. So of course I like this video.
Now if my memory serves me right, tracers are 1 out of every 6, so there are 5 unseen rounds for every visible tracer round.....and I believe that the cyclic rate is somewhere in the order of 4,000 to 6,000 rounds/minute. Now that is serious firepower.

I Hope This is Wrong!

With every fiber of my being, I hope that this view is wrong, is being too pessimistic. But there is a nagging feeling that I cannot shake that tells me that if anything, it is being too optimistic. I truly fear for our country, what it is and what it is becoming as opposed to what it once was and should still be. I wonder if we can survive 4 years of pure socialism and come out of it intact.

Just Unbelievable

I HATE ballet, but you have to see this. Talk about overcoming handicaps!!!!!
We all can learn a lot from these 2.

A Little From Tolkien

From Lord of The Rings

Hold your ground! Hold your ground!
Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers,
I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me.
A day may come when the courage of men fails,
when we forsake our friends
and break all bonds of fellowship,
but it is not this day.
An hour of wolves and shattered shields,
when the age of men comes crashing down,
but it is not this day!
This day we fight!!
By all that you hold dear on this good Earth,
I bid you stand, Men of the West!!!

Not a bad thought on which to end the day

Freedom of Speech ???

We all know "Joe the plumber", who had the nerve to ask Mr Obama a question, and how the answer to Joe's question revealed what Mr Obama's plans were for OUR money. Those of us who have become somewhat cynical about the intolerance for dissenting views were muttering under our breath that Joe was going to pay and pay mightily for his errors. It certainly didn't take long for the media, the "impartial media", to start digging for all the dirt that they could find.

That by itself is shameful, but add to that this little note. Something here smells just a wee bit stinky......the media can dig up all the dirt on Joe the Plumber, but somehow can't find anything, ANYTHING, even vaguely nesworthy in the background of Mr Obama or any of his associates.

Update

It seems that more than a few people are upset, not just with the sliming of Joe the plumber, but also with what the answer revealed about Mr Obama's ultimate plan for our money.

"Signs of the Times"

Just a little comic relief for the end of the week

try this

or this

An Approach To Life In Today's Dangerous World

Every day, there seems to be some sort of crisis or other, either in our country, the world, or even in our own personal lives. Such crises are unavoidable and are part of our imperfect world. But how we approach them and deal with them can make a world of difference, sometimes even a difference of life or death for ourselves and/or families. The folks hit by floods, or hurricanes, or ice storms or wildfires, or any of the many disasters that we read about, all these people were cast into a situation that demanded that they respond. How they responded had immeasurable impact on them and their communities.

Years ago, I stumbled upon a webpage that had an article about living as sheep, sheepdogs or wolves. That article made a great deal of sense to me then, and still does.Whether you believe in carrying firearms or not, the underlying idea of self sufficiency, self reliance, and that character we call courage, fortitude, or whatever you want to label it, is a valid one, at least to me (and as my profile says, I admit that I may be living in the wrong century). This site (LANGUAGE IS A BIT ROUGH) carries it one step further, builds upon it, and gives what is to me a sensible basis upon which to build, a way to mentally prepare for the events that may befall any one of us. Whether we like it or not, the world is NOT a friendly place......never was, never will be. And of necessity, we better be in a position to protect that which we hold most dear.

I would also recommend that you go to this website to get some practical advice from a man who is experienced in this area. Lord willing we will never need to use the advice, but that is what the residents of Galveston, TX also said.

Bank Bailout= More Government Takeover

The Feds seem to be committed to getting more and more involved in the banking sector, whether or not they are needed. If you look back to the note I posted here, you will note that I predicted that the bailout was the beginning of the end for the free market.

Now the Government seems to be pushing like crazy to get more into the banking industry, even in areas where it is not needed or wanted.

Air Traffic

True or not, I don't know....but one CAN hope!
read here

The Troopergate Report

Well,well.....what a surprise! The Alaska senator who promised to get a report out in time to hurt S. Palin's campaign managed to release a report finding her guilty.

If you read the report, however, the case seems a bit less than convincing.

More here

Making Sourdough Bread

Making Bread

My dear wife has made bread for years, and when she makes it, it is to die for...light, soft, and delicious. So last week, I get the wonderful idea to try and start a sourdough.

Now for those of you not into sourdough, the idea is to get some yeast, give it something to eat, and let it sit until it starts to ferment and turn sour (NOT spoil, but to ferment). There are several ways to get the yeast......the cheater way is to buy commercial yeast, and let it gradually turn wild again. Or you can get some starter sourdough from someone else and use that yeast as a starting point. Or, you can try your luck at capturing yeast from the wild and starting your own strain.

Since my wife had been baking bread for years, I was almost sure that I could capture the yeast that was floating around from her previous bread-making ventures. So I made up the necessary starter, let it sit out for a few days, and sure enough, it began to bubble and looked like some yeast had started to multiply in it.

After letting it grow for several days, it began to take on the sour smell that said the dough was becoming sourdough, so I mixed up the necessary ingredients, added the starter, and put it aside to start rising. Lo and behold, it actually DID rise, so after the necessary rising and re-rising, I shaped it into loaves and into the oven it went. About ½ hour later, I took out the loaves.....they were golden brown. Each one seemed to be a bit on the heavy side (I'd estimate somewhere in the range of an equal size of depleted uranium) but it was easy to overlook that if one just thought about the warm moist interior underneath that crust. The next problem was how to gain access to that moist interior.

Now I like to keep my kitchen knives really sharp, but even they were no match to the crust of those loaves. They couldn't even dent the crust. Finally, I was able to hack off one end of a loaf, and gaze upon the warm, moist, airy bread within.......sort of.

The inside was a pale off-white, sort of like a poorly set concrete, with a texture and taste to match. To say that it was inedible would be charitable to the point of lying. So now what to do with the loaf, or as it was now labeled, the cobblestone? I drilled a hole in one end and hung it from a limb in the front lawn tree....at least the squirrels would have something to eat beside my birdseed.

If you want to see something REALLY funny, watch a squirrel try to gnaw through a crust that has a Mohs hardness of at least 8.5 on a scale of 10. These squirrels who think nothing of eating through metal cans to get to my birdseed gave up in disgust and didn't even dent the crust!!! If I had a few more loaves, I might consider repaving the driveway.

Drs View of Bailout

In the very serious situation of the bail-out, I found this and had to laugh in spite of myself.
read and enjoy

A Change of Pace for Sunday Evening

After a lovely weekend, beautiful weather, family in visiting, I wasn't in the mood for anything too heavy or contensious, and stumbled across this.

See "A difference of religious opinions" and part 2 of same

Everyone have a really GREAT week.

Well, it's over. Mark on your calender the date Oct 3......perhaps the death of free market capitalism in the USA. Can we ever go back???

A good quote:

MICHAEL MALONE: When policies collide:

From where I sit, the United States government has embarked on two pieces of social engineering in the last few years. One was to make oil expensive as expensive as possible to drive people to greater use of alternative energy sources – because anything less would be irresponsible and destructive to the environment. The other was to enshrine home ownership (i.e., easy-to-obtain mortgages) as a new American right – because anything less would be unequal and racist.

None of us voted on these decisions – indeed, neither was even spoken about directly, much less debated. But nevertheless, both became national policy . . .and both have sparked national, now international, crises. Then, once they became crises, both were blamed on ‘greedy capitalism’, instead of what they really were: legislative interference into market forces. . . . To my mind, what makes this economic crisis different from ones in even the recent past is that it has exposed the fact that there are, apparently, no real leaders left in Washington – that the intellectual capital in the National Capitol has fallen to a new low – if that’s possible. Most of all, it shows that we can no longer look to D.C. for leadership into the rest of the 21st century.

Read the whole thing.

Well, the original 3 page proposal for the "bail-out" is now up to 400+ pages. And those 400+ pages were voted on and passed by the senate today. Now I am a fast reader, and can knock off a novel in a single sitting of 3 to 4 hours. But even so, I am SURE that I couldn't read that bill in the time available to the senators. So, in fact, they are essentially voting blind on this most important bill.

And in this "the world is ending if we don't pass this bill NOW, RIGHT NOW" bill, here are a few of the other things included:

A few examples of those earmarks:

New tax breaks earmarks in Bailout bill

• Film and Television Productions (Up to $15,000,000.00; Sec. 502)
• Wooden Arrows designed for use by children (Sec. 503)
• 6 page package of earmarks for litigants in the 1989 Exxon Valdez incident, Alaska (Sec. 504)

Tax break earmark "extenders" in the bailout bill

• Virgin Island and Puerto Rican Rum (Section 308)
• American Samoa (Sec. 309)
• Mine Rescue Teams (Sec. 310)
• Mine Safety Equipment (Sec. 311)
• Domestic Production Activities in Puerto Rico (Sec. 312)
• Indian Tribes (Sec. 314, 315)
• Railroads (Sec. 316)
• Auto Racing Tracks (317)
• District of Columbia (Sec. 322)
• Wool Research (Sec. 325).

It sure is hard to see how this is anything but just another "handout to our friends" bill.