Postponed

Due to unforeseen circumstances (i.e. the more research I do, the more I want to write on it), the Israel post must wait until tomorrow. Happy Memorial Day and God bless and keep this nation.

Seriously, This Really Happened?

A church was fined for pruning a tree on its property. Let that sink in for a second.

Gingrich Already Down, Now Romney

Well "She turned me into a" Newt "but I got better" Gingrich has already removed himself from any consideration that I might support him (with my vast audience that is rivaled only by your local book club for illiterates). Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who was already hanging on a ledge due to his defense of the state version of Obamacare, has completely shown he's willing to leap over logic in favor of power. Mitt "my soul is for sale for your vote" Romney has come out in favor of ethanol subsidies to appease the Iowa farmer crowd.

Let's talk about ethanol a bit. Let's ignore the issue of subsidies as generally being bad policy. Let's first note that the federal government mandates the use of ethanol in fuels. Ethanol eats up small engines, causing them to wear out early without a conversion kit. Oh, and apparently it actually harms the mileage of the vehicle it's used in. Call me crazy, but if you get less emissions but have to use more fuel, don't you just end up with roughly the same amount of emissions? That's an oversimplification But it doesn't just stop with the actual useless effects it has on cars.

Corn is notoriously poor at absorbing nitrogen from the soil. This nitrogen runs off in rain and irrigation into the local water table, eventually making its way down to the Mississippi (it's illegal to grow crops on the west coast due to environmental impact on small fish) and the Gulf of Mexico. When this nitrogen rich water reaches the Gulf, it dominates the oxygen rich waters, creating what is known as a dead zone, where nothing can live. An article on this study can be found here.

Now I don't know if you, like myself, eat, but there is an impact on this as well. There is a moral dubiousness to burning food as fuel as people starve (but in truth, we have been paying farmers not to grow crops to artificially inflate food prices for decades). Using corn crops for fuel instead of farmers growing less profitable food crops means that prices of food go up (read the first paragraph of the CBO report I've linked to, it's not like the government doesn't know this). YAY! Everybody wins! Wait, that's not right. Oh, and by the way, because corn is not the sole source of food, by lessening the supply of one source of sustenance, the demand for the other sources goes up, meaning ethanol drives up the prices of meat, eggs, milk, yogurt, etc.

So, on the basis of falsified data and a questionable hypothesis called anthropogenic global warming, as well as general environmental moronicism, we've decided to make it harder for people to eat. Mitt Romney is all for this, as long as it gets him the votes in the Iowa primary.

So scratch two people off my list of the Republican candidates to defeat the mistake that is our current President (and Mary, if you're reading this, I didn't like Bush or Clinton or Bush, Sr. either, you're right, it's a hard job, but if you can't do it don't run).

Thank God I Don't Live in California

The insane judges and environmentalists are at it again in California. Be sure to get your child's cake approved by an environmental impact study. I have a sneaking suspicion these people are staging some sort of elaborate protest to demonstrate that idiotic is not a sufficient word to describe them.

Memorial Day Posting to Come

I have been watching the issues surrounding what is going on with Israel and the putative Palestinian state. Anyone who has read this blog and my analysis of Russian President Vladimir Putin (the link provided should reference much of what I've written, but a search may turn up more) and noted the recent news of his intent to return to the Russian presidency should be able to see that I have some foreign policy acumen.

So on Memorial Day, I intend to finally put down my thoughts in another of those unreadably long posts on this subject. I hope you find it interesting and insightful.

On the other side of things, I hope to find some nice stories about the heroes of our military that we honor on Memorial Day each year to share with you. Make sure you have a hot dog. Someone died for the freedom to grind up random meats into an unnatural shape so that you could grill it beyond having to taste it in freedom! That and much more. God bless.

What Motivates NPR Listeners?

A professor of biology questioned why those crazy global warming deniers could possibly refute her position that global warming is responsible for the recent tornado outbreaks in the middle of the United States. Let's look that statement over again. A biologist is asking why people don't agree with her about meteorology based upon climatology. Because when my back hurts, I'm heading to my eye doctor because he's cheaper. This lady is like the character in "The Hangover" who keeps calling himself a doctor when he's a dentist. And she doesn't understand why I don't just roll over and accept her opinion.

Of course, there is always the fact that most meteorologists I've seen opine on the subject relate the tornado and severe weather outbreaks to La Nina, a cooling of Pacific waters. But then, I'm no biologist, so I won't tell you what to think either, I'll just give you the information I have and you can decide (I encourage you to do a search on that independent of the only article I'm linking to to further educate yourself, as I do).

Now I will disagree with the first article in that NPR is not coming out and staking an official position as far as I can tell. She seems to be just an editorial voice that reflects the general editorial positions of NPR. I do wonder though, how a scientist who can't imagine how someone might have a different conclusion than her own can truly be a scientist. She sounds more like what atheists say to stereotype clergy to me. The only reason I bring this up is a wonderful friend of mine often depends NPR on its news coverage, and though I cannot disagree, I don't believe in funding it because I don't believe government should be funding any news, no matter how unbiased, or any editorial opinion, such as this person, who can't believe you might disagree.

Obama's Carter Redux Regime

Ask yourself, who do you work for? Now ask yourself, who do Democrats think you work for? The answer is simple, you work for them, as a slave. Democrats are floating a plan that would raise the tax burden on anyone who makes over a million dollars in a year to over 50%. The effective tax rate would rise to levels not seen since the Carter administration (which worked out swimmingly for the United States). Now I know millionaires aren't necessarily the most sympathetic bunch, but think for a second. How much income before expenses does the local business owner make? How many people could he employ for the over $500,000.00 he will be forking over to the feds? How much more could he try to expand and improve his business?

I submit to you that the Democrats may be the first instance of economic atheists.

Congress? What's That?

President and constitutional scholar (in much the same way that Kim Jong Il is a human rights scholar) Barack Obama explained to the American public that our involvement in Libya would last "days, not weeks" and then the US would move into a supporting role. That was on March 18, 2011. Never mind that only Congress has the power to declare war. Ignore for a moment that the War Powers Act allows for a defensive war without Congressional authority and I have my doubts that Libya posed an imminent threat to the United States. Even should we all pass over the legality of bombing Libya back to the Stone Age (it is currently in the Bronze Age, as far as I can tell) there is the matter that the War Powers Act, the claimed authority for the bombing of Libya, only allows for 60 days of unauthorized war. President Obama himself once said "the president does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation".

So our scholarly President, when confronted about requesting Congressional approval to continue the mission beyond 60 days simply decided Congress doesn't matter. At least President Bush consulted Congress before Iraq and Afghanistan. The President decided that our military sovereignty rests squarely with the international community.

I guess the theory is the President doesn't have the authority, unless it's this President.

Today's Recommended Reading

I didn't discover this until after I'd put up my post on Ms. Schultz, DNC Chairwoman and proof that evolution doesn't necessarily create a superior creature, but Human Events apparently felt the same as I did about her and put out this excellent and entertaining article.

Jane You Ignorant Slut

When Dan Akroyd said it on Saturday Night Live, it was funny. Liberal Ed Shultz, MSNBC anchor and radio talk-show host with literally tens of listeners, decided that it would be wise to call conservative radio talk-show host Laura Ingraham a slut. Luckily he can always fall back on that broadcasting career in Fargo, North Dakota.

Luckily, DNC Chairmoron Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, a person known for her reasonableness and logic in much the same way as I'm known for my multiple gold medals in the decathlon, decided to call the GOP agenda "anti-women" and a "war on women". Because the enlightened members of the left are such tolerant people when it comes to women. You know, like their complete tolerance of Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann.

Maybe someday we can all acknowledge that the racists and misogynists largely inhabit the Democratic Party, like former Senator Robert Byrd, a man who, in the 1940's, started his own chapter of the KKK.

Today's Recommended Reading

This is a fascinating story on one man's opinion that the official government gross domestic product (GDP) numbers may be essentially fabricated and meaningless.

I'd Like to Take a Moment

...to thank Donald Trump for announcing he will not be running for President.

Happy Debt Day!

The United States government has hit the debt ceiling with a resounding thud. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who famously cannot even manage to pay his own taxes, has started raiding federal employee pensions to fund continuing spending. So rather than cutting spending drastically to operate within its means, the federal government is stealing money it owes to citizens to keep spending. Come to think of it, that's exactly what they do with Social Security. Just one more example of why we need to change the thought process in Washington, D.C.

The Gingrich That Stole Christmas

Well, former Speaker of the House and Republican Presidential Candidate Newt Gingrich has managed to make my mind up about him in a rather short period of time. First, he was in a global warming ad with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D. Lala Land) supporting an Al Gore initiative some years ago. Then he called the House GOP Medicare plan "right wing social engineering" and endorsed the idea of an individual mandate on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday. He also criticized Congressman Paul Ryan's (R. Wis.) budget generally in the same interview. This is the same budget he previously endorsed and that the GOP is generally hanging its hat on.

Gingrich has given Democrats tons of ammo to attack the GOP in the 2012 elections by opening his mouth and taking too long to insert his foot. Hopefully, he will see the light and simply withdraw his candidacy.

Beyond Moronic

Get ready boys and girls, it's time to start scouting for loans in case you need to buy a light bulb. The federally mandated ban on incandescent bulbs will leave us with light bulbs that cost $40 minimum currently. There's a prize to get a bulb that will cost "only" $22. Oh, by the way, the new bulbs contain mercury, need to be disposed of in toxic dumps rather than simply thrown in a garbage bag, and require special instructions from the EPA on how to clean up should one break, including ventilating the area.

Seriously, when did we accept that the federal government should be telling us what light bulbs to buy. We're going to have to institute a light bulb stamp program for the poor. I think everyone in government who is responsible for this ban should be placed in public housing for the rest of their lives. Better yet, make them live on an Indian reservation. Their collective IQs probably don't add up to the lowest wattage bulb available. Write your congressman, it's time to stop this idiocy. I really am considering a move to New Zealand.

And in Today's Holy Shit Moment

I sourced this three different ways outside of the link I'm posting because it is so incredible (not like the Hulk, like not credible) that I couldn't believe it when I read it. In an act of supreme ignorance that has Corky from "Life Goes On" thinking, dear God, are these people retarded, the Indiana Supreme Court (the second portion of that moniker may be solely for the purpose of irony) has determined that police may enter your home without cause.

OK, brief civics lesson in case you're not familiar. States may interpret federal law, as they did here, within their own jurisdictions because states are allowed to provide protections greater than those in the Constitution. However, the Constitution provides a bare minimum level of protection and if a state interprets its laws to be in line with the protections provided by the Constitution, its courts may interpret those laws in the context of what the federal courts have said. Yawning yet? I am. I mention this only because it gets a bit confusing when the Indiana Supreme Court decides the Fourth Amendment doesn't mean what it says.

The Court, wait, they don't deserve to be capitalized after this decision...the court, felt that the legal system provides the proper remedy for violations of the Fourth Amendment. Much as in the same way that the government should be allowed to arrest you for speaking as long as you can get a court date in a few years. Pardon me while I use one of my rights to call them fucking idiots. Yes, mom, there is an inordinate amount of cursing involved in this post but, wow, how screwed up is this?

He who would trade liberty for security will soon find himself with neither. My loosely quoted memory of a Benjamin Franklin quote. Knock, knock, knock...do you have a warrant? No. You can't come in. But we have the name of a lawyer who can remedy our offense to your property and life in 6 to 10 years. Oh, well, sir, in that case, you are welcome into my home. (4th) May I board your soldiers involuntarily as well? (3rd) Perhaps when you've destroyed my country and taken my guns so that I cannot revolt, I shall sue you. (2nd) When you've shoved me in an internment camp for being descended from an enemy nation or shoved me in a cell for sedition, I can surely rely on my own legal acumen to give me back those years. (1st) Perhaps we can sue if I'm not allowed to pray or gather with friends. (1st) I can't wait to see the damage award I receive. I should have a lovely case set up when I was forced to testify to damaging information despite the fact that I didn't commit the crime. (5th) Luckily, having rotted in jail for twenty years before I got to the trial in the first place, I'm perfectly compensated by a lawsuit (by the way, read up on prosecutorial discretion, even if this worked it wouldn't). (6th) Luckily, it will never get to a jury until I file a civil suit and request a jury (paying a rather large bond I might add). (7th). Of course, I may not see an attorney (Miranda through the 5th) until I make bail after being beaten (8th) until I get to see my civil attorney about not being able to see my criminal attorney. Luckily, I have no rights other than those posted in the Constitution (9th) and apparently my state can't help me out either (10th).

I am hesitant to call anything more willfully ignorant or dismissive of the Constitution than our current administration, but congratulations Indiana Supreme Court. You have set the standard for moronic. I recently noticed that the Adult Video Awards was on cable while I was in a hotel and tuned in to see just what a train wreck that might be. The woman who accepted the award for best double penetration scene has more respect from me than you. You have defined the height of idiocy.

Here is a link to the full decision. The guy was a scumbag and deserved what he got. But this is the most ignorant decision I've seen since Roe v. Wade (and pro-"choice" people, don't get pissy, even liberal attorneys agree with me that it has no constitutional basis and should have been a state issue). The court (is there a lower than lower case c) said there is no right to resist the UNLAWFUL entry of police officers. Let that sink in. I'm almost in shock at this. I usually like to make a joke at the end of these posts but this...this makes me want to yell at mirrors hoping Alice can pull me through the looking glass.

All Politics is Local - Former Speaker Tip O'Neal (D. Mass.)

Faced with a bill proposing the elimination of tax credits for oil companies as a method to pay down the national debt, Democratic Senators Mary Landrieu (La.) and Mark Begich (Alaska) of oil-rich and producing states are departing from the party line. Senator Landrieu called the plan "laughable" and ridiculed the states that are in favor of the plan yet produce no energy.

While I'm against subsidies for any business, until the tax code is rewritten to be fair to all parties, I'm not going to envy anyone the opportunity to avoid their taxes. As much as I have little respect for Landrieu's policies, she has a point. The states that refuse to allow production off their shores but complain about the profits of the oil companies are really just welfare recipients.

My Alma Mater

Well, it seems not all college students are liberal morons. A graduate student at LSU had announced he'd be burning an American flag today. When he showed up to the parade ground to do so, he was "welcomed" by a throng of students who stopped the event from occurring. The student, Benjamin Hass, was burning the flag to honor Isaac Eslava, another student, who stole a flag from the War Memorial and burned it, apparently in protest of the killing of Usama bin Laden. He was arrested for having stolen the flag.

I'm all for free speech and I'll defend the right of a person to burn the flag in protest, even though I find it disgusting. But sometimes, free speech is also about winning the argument. My LSU bretheren made me proud today.

She Turned Me Into a Newt! Well, I Got Better!

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has announced his candidacy for President in 2012. While I'm not certain how I feel about him, I will say that he presided over a Congress that reformed welfare and actually ran a budget surplus while convincing liberal President Bill Clinton to declare that the era of big government was over. He also strikes me as the consummate politician and, as such, difficult to trust.

Haven't Raised that Debt Ceiling? Allow Us.

While Congress debates the possibility of raising the debt ceiling, it has once again been demonstrated that the executive branch doesn't much give a damn what Congress is doing. On Tuesday and Wednesday the Treasury Department went right on ahead and auctioned an additional $56 billion in debt which will push the national debt over the limit Monday.

This government is absolutely out of control.

Today's Recommended Reading

As always, Charles Krauthammer makes for an excellent read.

Thank God for That Secular Youth Revolt

Nothing like burning churches to prove you're not a radical. It remains to be seen how many churches (as little as two may be the number) or how many people did it, but how does a mob walk up on a church in the open with torches and no one calls the cops?
Dear Dr. Frankestein,
We, the undersigned mob, would like to, on Friday, 4th May, 1772, approach your tower and burn it down, due to your experiments against God.
Thanks,
Mob
cc: local Sheriff, aka mob leader

Pleased to Meet You, Hope You Guess My Name

President Obama (D. Kenya (I kid)) visited Ground Zero and laid a wreath yesterday. He was lucky anyone there recognized him since he'd never bothered to stop by as President, last visiting the site during his 2008 campaign (hmmm...I hear there's an election coming up). He's spent all the 9/11 anniversaries as President in Washington, D.C., thinking about golf. Luckily, our President, who is so sensitive that there was no need to "spike the ball" by releasing pictures of the body of Usama bin Laden, felt perfectly comfortable doing this particular end-zone dance. If he had a Bengals jersey on I would have thought he was Chad Johnson (formerly Ochocinco, formerly Johnson).

It appears President Obama also laid an egg during his visit. Debra Burlingame, sister of the pilot of the plane that struck the Pentagon, had the impertinence to ask the President if he would recommend to Attorney General Eric Holder to stop seeking prosecution of CIA agents who used "enhanced" interrogation techniques to get the information that led to the locating and killing of Usama Bin Laden. President Obama simply said "no", turned his back on her and walked away (if he had slowly walked away I swear that would be a parody of a love song).

I'm happy that we got bin Laden, but I have to agree with David Beamer, father of Todd Beamer, the man who said "let's roll" before the passengers stormed the cockpit of United flight 97, that his excessive use of the personal pronoun shows he's putting the spotlight on himself.

As 2Pac would say if he wasn't dead, All Eyez on Me.

P.S. Yes, I'm making up for not posting since April 28. Now leamme lone, Don.

And Now a Moment From the Dissent

I would just like to note that at least one analyst for FOX News came to the exact opposite conclusions I did.

In My Mind I'm Going to South Carolina

Thanks, James Taylor, that song has been stuck in my head for at least 12 years.
A few thoughts on last night's GOP Presidential debate:
1) Paul Ryan, one of two libertarians at the debate, got the crowd stirred up and put on a fantastic show. His best moment might have been this discussion about heroin and hookers.
2) Herman Cain did surprisingly well for a relative newcomer to politics. I actually thought he was second only to Ryan.
3) Tim Pawlenty gave a rather uncomfortable and awkward justification of his earlier support of cap and trade in his time as a governor.
4) Rick Santorum was good for a generic politician.
5) Gary Johnson, the other libertarian, seemed pretty dull for the most part. His policy grounds are solid but he's got all the energy of President Obama at a Tea-Party rally.

There was criticism of Newt Gingrich and Mitt (isn't my hair fantastic) Romney for not attending in the media and some at the debate as well. While there has been a lot of talk about this not being a very strong field of candidates, I think there are a few people I could get behind early. Of course, I used to vote libertarian, so I'm used to the guy I get behind getting nowhere.

I should note that I didn't watch the full debate, so my analysis comes with a grain of salt, some lime and tequila. Enjoy!

Prezza! Prezza! (I Can't Believe I Remember that Commercial)

It appears my man-crush on former Godfather's Pizza CEO turned Presidential Candidate Herman Cain has taken a turn for the better after last night's South Carolina Republican debate. It's a shame his pizza always sucked.

In Really Not So Breaking News

Wednesday the story broke that 47% of people living in Detroit are functionally illiterate. In what can only be a coincidence (excuse me, my sarcasm seems to have dripped onto the floor) Detroit has been historically a bastion of Democratic voting. You may remember the "Obama money" incident. Democrats thrive on voting from people who are dependent upon government support. It is in the interest of Democrats to keep people in public education so they can grow up and be a Detroiter and vote them back into office. If you are a libertarian or conservative or just generally against government welfare and a liberal calls you heartless, keep in mind that its those policies of social welfare that destroy people's lives. Or just send them a copy of Losing Ground (my blatant attempt to get Amazon.com to pay me money to advertise).

Snowe Job

Senator Cynthia Snowe (RINO, Maine) has apparently started taking more conservative positions in the Senate this year, fearful of a pending tea-party challenger. A few thoughts:

1) This is proof positive that she just wants to keep being a Senator and is not acting on principle;

2) "More conservative" positions relative to Cynthia Snowe include such things as not actively promoting abortions for married couples that don't want one; calling Communism "probably a bad idea"; and fondling the current President;

3) I love that she killed her own bill based upon "long-standing principles";

4) She killed the bill because she wasn't going to be able to vote on an amendment she had added to it...was she going to vote "no"?; and

5) Snowe was not a centrist, she was left of center (hence the numerous dissapointed Democrats in the story.

In the end, if you're Ms. Snowe, you were never what you claimed to be and you aren't what you're pretending to be now. If you lose in 2012, good riddance.