The Seven Faces of Dr. Obama (vid)

Now he, Pelosi, Reid, Dems using this senate budget rule to ram legislation down the citizens' throat. 56% to 60% of the American people are against this.

Night Song Of A Wandering Shepherd In Asia

~ “LETTERS FROM EUROPE” - by Rob (Wind Rose Hotel) ~

Yet another poetic, philosophical and aesthetic interlude between one political post and another—a sort of “ecology of political blogging” is needed, in my opinion!

In a previous post (at Wind Rose Hotel) on the great 19th century Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi I drew attention to what seems to be a fascinating intellectual paradox, but it isn’t: I mean, the “phenomenon” may well be fascinating, but on closer inspection it’s not a paradox… I’m talking about the religious reading of Leopardi himself, despite his inclination toward pessimism—Leopardi’s deeply pessimistic Weltanschauung, in both a “historical” and a “cosmic” sense, is based on an empirical and mechanistic world view (inspired, among others, by John Locke), denying purpose in the universe, and seeking to explain all phenomena solely by efficient causality.

Now it’s time for me to introduce a poem which is a sort of manifesto of both Leopardi’s pessimism and his “religiousness,” the Canto Notturno di un pastore errante dell’Asia, (“Night Song Of A Wandering Shepherd In Asia”). It’s by far my favorite Leopardi poem, a powerful meditation on the meaning of life, and, in my opinion, one of the most profound things ever written.

However, before reading, please bear in mind the following scheme: we human beings seek an infinite fulfilment, an infinite coherence, an infinite wisdom and comprehension, an infinite love, an infinite perfection. But we do not have the capacity to achieve any of these things, and the mystery of life, the mystery of happiness, seems always one step beyond us. Yet, does this necessarily mean that, at the end of the road, there’s only darkness and despair? Perhaps so.

Embedded in that “perhaps” is the possibility of hope. By our own power we are hopeless, but, as St Augustine wrote in his Confessions, “Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee” (Nos fecisti ad te et inquietum est cor nostrum donec requiescat in te). Leopardi’s “restless heart,” far more than his pessimistic Weltanschauung, is what this wonderful poem seems to be all about.


Night Song Of A Wandering Shepherd In Asia

What doest thou in heaven, O moon?
Say, silent moon, what doest thou?
Thou risest in the evening; thoughtfully
Thou wanderest o'er the plain,
Then sinkest to thy rest again.
And art thou never satisfied
With going o'er and o'er the selfsame ways?
Art never wearied? Dost thou still
Upon these valleys love to gaze?
How much thy life is like
The shepherd's life, forlorn!
He rises in the early dawn,
He moves his flock along the plain;
The selfsame flocks, and streams, and herbs
He sees again;
Then drops to rest, the day's work o'er;
And hopes for nothing more.
Tell me, O moon, what signifies his life
To him, thy life to thee? Say, whither tend
My weary, short-lived pilgrimage,
Thy course, that knows no end?

And old man, gray, infirm,
Half-clad, and barefoot, he,
Beneath his burden bending wearily,
O'er mountain and o'er vale,
Sharp rocks, and briars, and burning sand,
In wind, and storm, alike in sultry heat
And in the winter's cold,
His constant course doth hold;
On, on, he, panting, goes,
Nor pause, nor rest he knows;
Through rushing torrents, over watery wastes;
He falls, gets up again,
And ever more and more he hastes,
Torn, bleeding, and arrives at last
Where ends the path,
Where all his troubles end;
A vast abyss and horrible,
Where plunging headlong, he forgets them all.
Such scene of suffering, and of strife,
O moon, is this our mortal life.
In travail man is born;
His birth too oft the cause of death,
And with his earliest breath
He pain and torment feels: e'en from the first,
His parents fondly strive
To comfort him in his distress;
And if he lives and grows,
They struggle hard, as best they may,
With pleasant words and deeds to cheer him up,
And seek with kindly care,
To strengthen him his cruel lot to bear.
This is the best that they can do
For the poor child, however fond and true.
But wherefore give him life?
Why bring him up at all,
If this be all?
If life is nought but pain and care,
Why, why should we the burden bear?
O spotless moon, such is
Our mortal life, indeed;
But thou immortal art,
Nor wilt, perhaps, unto my words give heed.

Yet thou, eternal, lonely wanderer,
Who, thoughtful, lookest on this earthly scene,
Must surely understand
What all our sighs and sufferings mean;
What means this death,
This color from our cheeks that fades,
This passing from the earth, and losing sight
Of every dear, familiar scene.
Well must thou comprehend
The reason of these things; must see
The good the morning and the evening bring:
Thou knowest, thou, what love it is
That brings sweet smiles unto the face of spring;
The meaning of the Summer's glow,
And of the Winter's frost and snow,
And of the silent, endless flight of Time.
A thousand things to thee their secrets yield,
That from the simple shepherd are concealed.
Oft as I gaze at thee,
In silence resting o'er the desert plain,
Which in the distance borders on the sky,
Or following me, as I, by slow degrees,
My flocks before me drive;
And when I gaze upon the stars at night,
In thought I ask myself,
"Why all these torches bright?
What mean these depths of air,
This vast, this silent sky,
This nightly solitude? And what am I?"
Thus to myself I talk; and of this grand,
Magnificent expanse,
And its untold inhabitants,
And all this mighty motion, and this stir
Of things above, and things below,
No rest that ever know,
But as they still revolve, must still return
Unto the place from which they came,--
Of this, alas, I find nor end nor aim!
But thou, immortal, surely knowest all.
This I well know, and feel;
From these eternal rounds,
And from my being frail,
Others, perchance, may pleasure, profit gain;
To me life is but pain.

My flock, now resting there, how happy thou,
That knowest not, I think, thy misery!
O how I envy thee!
Not only that from suffering
Thou seemingly art free;
That every trouble, every loss,
Each sudden fear, thou canst so soon forget;
But more because thou sufferest
No weariness of mind.
When in the shade, upon the grass reclined,
Thou seemest happy and content,
And great part of the year by thee
In sweet release from care is spent.
But when I sit upon the grass
And in the friendly shade, upon my mind
A weight I feel, a sense of weariness,
That, as I sit, doth still increase
And rob me of all rest and peace.
And yet I wish for nought,
And have, till now, no reason to complain.
What joy, how much I cannot say;
But thou some pleasure dost obtain.
My joys are few enough;
But not for that do I lament.
Ah, couldst thou speak, I would inquire:
Tell me, dear flock, the reason why
Each weary breast can rest at ease,
While all things round him seem to please;
And yet, if  I lie down to rest,
I am by anxious thoughts oppressed?

Perhaps, if I had wings
Above the clouds to fly,
And could the stars all number, one by one,
Or like the lightning leap from rock to rock,
I might be happier, my dear flock,
I might be happier, gentle moon!
Perhaps my thought still wanders from the truth,
When I at others' fortunes look:
Perhaps in every state beneath the sun,
Or high, or low, in cradle or in stall,
The day of birth is fatal to us all.

What Religion is Your Bra?

A man walked into the ladies department at Kohl's and shyly walked up to the woman behind the counter and said, 'I'd like to buy a bra for my wife... '


' What type of bra?' asked the clerk.

'Type?' inquires the man, 'There's more than one type?'


' Look around,' said the saleslady, as she showed a sea of bras in every shape, size, color and material imaginable.
'Actually, even with all of this variety, there are really only four types of bras to choose from .'

Relieved, the man asked about the types.

The saleslady replied:
'There are the Catholic, the Salvation Army,
the Presbyterian, and the Baptist types.
Which one would you prefer?'

Now totally befuddled, the man asked about the differences between them.

The Saleslady responded, 'It is all really quite simple.

The Catholic type supports the masses;
The Salvation Army type lifts the fallen;
The Presbyterian type keeps them staunch and upright;
The Baptist type makes mountains out of molehills.'

Have you ever wondered why A, B, C, D, DD, E, F, G, and H are the letters used to define bra sizes?
If you have wondered why, but couldn't figure out what the letters stood for,
it is about time you became informed!

(A} Almost Boobs.
{B} Barely there...
{C} Can't Complain!..
{ D} Dang!...
{DD} Double dang!...
{E} Enormous!..
{F} Fake...
{G} Get a Reduction...
{H} Help me, I've fallen
and I can't get up!...


They forgot the German bra.

Holtzemfromfloppen

Michael W. Smith - Come Together Now, Music City Unites for Haiti (vid)

From Michael W. Smith's Website
(NASHVILLE, TENN.) January 28, 2010 - Yesterday at Belmont University's Ocean Way Studios, multi-platinum, GRAMMY and Dove Award winning artist, Michael W. Smith gathered a who's-who list from the music community to record "Come Together Now." The song, penned by Smith, David Mullen and Cindy Morgan - and produced by Bryan Lenox - was written to remind people of the need to help those in Haiti.

"The crisis in Haiti has left us all trying to figure out how we can help," shares Smith. "We wanted to create something that the community could support, for the greater good of those in Haiti. Everyone gave of their time: the studio was donated, the musicians donated their time and all proceeds from this song will go to designated charity/relief work through The American Red Cross and Samaritan's Purse. It's incredible to be part of something that is going to help so many people."

In addition to lending their voices in song, several artists also recorded PSA's for The American Red Cross and Samaritan's Purse for use in upcoming months.

Contributing artists include: Aaron Shust, Alathea, Amber Hezlep, Anthony Moreino, Anthony Skinner, Ashley Cleveland, Austins Bridge, B. Reith, Brady Toops, Brandon Heath, Britt Nicole, Byron Chambers, Calvin Nowell, Charmaine, Chris McClarney, Chris Sligh, Chuck Girard, Dana Jorgensen, Darwin Hobbs, David Mullen, Don Poythress, Donovan Tea, Dorothy Savage, Duane Allen, Echoing Angels, Everlife, Francesca Battistelli, Greg Jennings, Hillary McBride, Jaime Jamgochian, Jared Anderson, Jasmine Sagginario, Jason Baird, Jason Dunn, Jimmie Allen, Jody Davis, John Ford Coley, John Schlitt, Joseph Martino, Julia Ross, Justin Rivers, Kate Lazar, Kate Schettler, The Katinas, Kevin Max, Kirk Sullivan, Lara Landon, Lanae Hale, Lannie Anderson, Lee Greenwood, Mandisa, Manic Drive, Margaret Becker, Mark Hall and Megan Garrett of Casting Crowns, Matt Dowley, Matthew West, Matt Maher, Melinda Doolittle, Meredith Andrews, Michael Cavallo, Michael Olson, Michael Tait, Michael Tash, MIKESCHAIR, Mike Weaver, Natalie Grant, Nicole C. Mullen, The Oak Ridge Boys, Paige Armstrong, Phil Stacey, Point of Grace, PureNRG, Rachael Lampa, Rachel B. James, Reco Hight, Restless Heart, Ruben Mundo, Russ Mohr, Sarah Ross, Sarah Sadler, Selah, Shannon Cochran, Shawn Cavallo, Stephanie Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, Terrence James, TobyMac, Tommy Coomes, Travis Cottrell, Trey Heffinger, Wynonna, and Yellow Cavalier. (Artist list subject to change.)

The song will be made available for sale soon, with all proceeds going to benefit relief efforts to Haiti. More details on the song's release date are forthcoming.

Faith, Secularism, Obama Administration

Yesterday Obama met with "secular leaders", taking a break from meeting with celebrities (the number of 'B' listers is amazing, see TMZ) to meet with anti-religious people. Some of the groups represented were the Secular Coalition of America, Sean Faircloth, executive director; Kathleen Johnson, vice president of American Atheists and Jason Torpy of Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers.

That's fine, forming private groups to represent your interests. There were Executive Branch groups too, that attended the meeting. The Office of Public Engagement, and the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (what do these guys do?), and the assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Justice Department, Mazen Basrawi.

The secular groups were there to emphasize three issues. They want to close any legal loopholes for parents that don't provide medical care to their kids for religious reasons, ensure that there's no proselytizing or religious discrimination in the military, and religious social services (receiving government financial assistance) have to provide services to whomever the government says they have to. I read into the military religious discrimination point that it'll be okay for atheists and other secularists to have a say, but if you're a person of faith, shut the hell up. Regarding religious social services, it's better to have children suffer than help get them adopted.

The slam against religious social services is problematic. For example, The Archdiocese of Washington, DC has had to suspend its foster care program. The DC city council has passed a law legalizing same sex marriage, and says city contractors have to recognize the marriages. The Catholic service would be forced to put children in homosexual foster homes. This can't be obeyed by the Catholic Church for obvious reasons. Right now the result is adoption services have been suspended; not just in DC but in San Francisco and Boston where similar laws were passed.

We have a problem with the First Amendment violation of 'free exercise of religion'.

Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League: "If Planned Parenthood were told that as a condition of public funding it had to refer Catholic women having second thoughts about abortion to a crisis pregnancy center, it would scream violation of church and state, refuse the money and end this program."

This all is a small piece the Statist government of Obama and the Democrats must do. In history, every Statist government has to drive out religion so the State can fill the void left. Then people will worship the State. God gives us a choice whether to believe, obey, or worship Him. The State not so much; obey or be imprisoned, or have your earnings confiscated. I'd rather have a choice.

Another indication of the anti-religious bent of this Administration is secularist Harry Knox that runs Obama's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. I posted earlier about this character here.

Andrew Klavan, Liberalism Exposed: Beyond the Elitist, Preening America-Hating Stereotypes (funny vid)

Apology to the Republican Leadership

I was against the meeting that took place today between the Dems and the Republicans. My thinking was that it was staged by the Dems, and the Bamster would set them up and say, 'See, told ya so, the party of no'. He wanted to show, they don't have any thing to offer, no plan, they are just just obstructionists. Hard to fathom that thinking since for a year the Dems controlled the House, Senate and Executive. The Republicans didn't have the votes to stop anything.

After the Bamster said this was supposed to be for listening, he spoke for 119 minutes...nine minutes more than the 110 minutes spoken in total by the 17 Republicans. By the way, there were 21 Dems and 17 Republicans. The Dems talked and talked. Staged indeed, but the plan failed.

The Republican's Lamar Alexander laid in the first policies in the opening that they had been promoting since the Dems tried ramming this down the throats of the American people. These are things the Jurassic Press has not been reporting. All they had been doing is repeating the Dems talking points. A few points were that citizens should be able to buy insurance across state lines, tort reform, and health savings accounts. Alexanders full opening here.

Each time a particular of Obamacare was brought up, the Bamster said that it was just a Republican talking point, the campaign is over (from the guy who still has his national campaign staff and volunteers in place) and the other Dems just had some tear jerker story about health struggles that Americans wouldn't have to suffer if only the people that ran the DMV, AMTRAC, Medicare, and the Post Office ran health care.

They did not have one substantive response to any issue, told stories, lied about what was in the new Obamacare bill, or denied something that was in there.

So. My apologies to the Republican leadership. They went in prepared. Stuck to the issues. Quoted from the Senate, House, and Obama's own health care bills and refuted them. They showed the Dems up for being the empty headed empty suits they really are. This was a huge backfire for Obama. Good. I'm happy.

If You Walk, We'll Tax Your Feet

The break down of Obama's own Obamacare bill is beginning to expose what's in it. He's taken the worse of both the Senate and House bills, added a few $Billion in costs, and increased taxes to everything except the air you breathe. He'll get to that with his energy bills.

Have a mortgage? It'll be taxed. Have rent? It'll be taxed. Paying for Medicare? It'll be taxed. Have a payed off mortgage? It'll be taxed.

From the White House summary:
“Under current law, workers who earn a salary pay a flat tax of 1.45 percent of their wages to support the Medicare Hospital Insurance (HI) trust fund, but those who have substantial unearned income do not, raising issues of fairness.” “The Act will include an additional 0.9 percentage point Hospital Insurance tax for households with incomes exceeding $200,000 for singles and $250,000 for married couples filing jointly. In addition, it would add a 2.9 percent tax for such high-income households to unearned income including interest, dividends, annuities, royalties and rents (excluding income from active participation in S corporations).”

There are lots of vids and audios of Obama saying that no taxes will be increased for anyone earning under $250,000. Bush lied! oooops...wrong guy....

Because the Dems and Obama's economic and anti-business policies, we're facing a shortfall of about $54 Trillion in tax revenue to pay for his new Obamacare with all the other stuff. That's means your personal liability to pay for this is $184,000. That's everyone. Not everyone has a job, and as we know the more government takes money from the people actually doing the work to give to those not doing the work, there will be more and more people not doing the work. Many more will become members of the Drone Force of government employees. So if you have a job, to pay for your own health care and the drones healthcare, and all the other stuff, your personal liability will be $435,000. You got an extra half million bucks layin' around? Got kids? They'll be owing more than that by the time they enter the workforce, unless they become a drone.

By the way, your 401K or any other pension plan you have becomes taxable too. Have a savings account? Taxable.

To pay for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and interest on the debt, you'll have to get rid of the Army and the Navy.

Does this scare the **** out of you?

More analysis and detail here.

The Writing Is On The Hand

There was a big to do about Sarah Palin writing her three main talking points on her hand before giving a speech as a private citizen. (I carry post it notes and pen to jot stuff down, and my note pad in my iPhone, so I must be stupid). Days went by while the Left made mockery and ridiculed her.

I didn't know this, but Dianne Feinstein (D Ca) in 1990 was in a debate with Pete Wilson. Afterwords it was revealed that she had three talking points written on her hand. There's pics. It broke the agreed to debate rules. The Republicans made a bit of a fuss, but it only lasted a couple days. Reported in the Jurassic Press? Not so much.

So a private citizen at a private event, weeks of jokes, disrespect and mockery. Public citizen, breaking rules at a publicly financed political event, zip.

Glad We Live in a Post Racial America XV

"Coconut" used this way is a racial slur, like "Oreo" for Blacks. Just 'brown' on the outside, white on the inside. Not authentic. Sellin' out to whitey...

Donny Deutch claims he didn't know it was a slur. George Allen says 'macaca' and says he didn't know it was a racial slur. Allen's run for president was put on hold probably forever and there was a big scandal. Deutch, a major Leftist, will, of course, be given a pass.

Glad We Live in a Post Racial America XIV

The Washington Post has a blog, "TheRoot.com", that compares Conservative African Americans with the worst genocidal slaughterers, dictators, murderers, and serial killers of all time.

The blog "Black Folks We'd Like To Remove From Black History"

Some examples:
Michael Steele will go down in history as the first black chairman of the Republican National Committee. We're sure that, at first, the 12 blacks who still claimed to be Republicans post-Bush were full of glee about his election. Unfortunately, Steele has since morphed into the Bozo of politics. Too bad for him and the GOP that the only people laughing are the ones on the other side of the political aisle.

Alan Keyes
When he allowed himself to be a pawn of the GOP and moved to Illinois for the sake of challenging another black politician (then-Senate hopeful Barack Obama), Keyes helped further tarnish the image of black Republicans. And over the course of a lengthy and very bizarre political career, he's never managed to make a lick of sense. It's about time black people treated him the way his Republican brethren usually do: Pretend that he doesn't exist.

Clarence Thomas
Although he's only the second man of color to serve in the Supreme Court, the Backstreet Boys have more standing in the black community than Clarence Thomas. That's because he looks to the Constitution as "colorblind," says he's a man who just happens to be black and opposes government programs intended to help minorities. I'm not sure if the late Thurgood Marshall would want to pop Clarence 'side his head with his gavel, but there are plenty of blacks who would volunteer to do it for him.

They did list some truly bad characters like O J Simpson and Marion Barry. But comparing, just because they are Conservative, to the worst of the worst people ever is just stupid.

Idiots.

Sure glad we live in a post racial Amerika.

The Mount Vernon Statement

If you believe in limited government, that the founding fathers had it right, please sign this statement of principles.

If you've had enough of the government buying US companies, trying to tell you what kind of heath insurance you have to buy, what kind of medical procedures you will have, please sign the Statement.

If you believe in Liberty, The Mount Vernon Statement.

Two Faced Libs

How Conservatives act and the response, and how Leftists act and the response is the most amazing thing.

Sarah Palin...Christian, Conservative, married to childhood sweetheart (manly macho huntin', fishin', works outdoors, does serious outdoor sports), takes care of her kids and maintained a job that she excelled at. Response: Stupid hick woman, deserving of mockery.
John Edwards... Liar, offered bribes (hush money to extramarital lover, probably with campaign money), affair while wife fighting cancer, love child from extramarital affair, built a mansion while telling the rest of us to sacrifice with higher taxes and a lower standard of living. Press covered up the affair until it no longer could, and gave him a pass on everything.

NY Times releases US government secrets during Bush administration. During Obama administration, are we hearing anything? What, the government is all the sudden doing everything right and above board?

Bush's war on terror had everything labeled as horrifying. Renditions, Gitmo, waterboarding, torture...whatever could be found. Gitmo is still open. Anything? Nope. I'd say Bush lied! about closing it. Ooooops, wrong guy. Well, we do have this president still blaming Bush, so that gets reported. How about assassinations? Predator drones are killing bad guys. Cindy Sheehan is really pissed off about this! Why isn't she getting massive coverage like she did during the Bush administration? Is she camped out at the personal residence of Obama? Where is the Obama's home anyway? Is it still that questionably financed one in Chicago?

For a year, Dems controlled the Senate, controlled the Executive Branch, controlled the House of Representatives, and the Jurassic Press was ecstatic. Now, after a year of failed economic policies, bailing out corporations that had paid off Obama's political party, failed foreign policy (the bad guys are even acting out worse)...guess what? The Dems and their lap dinosaurs of the Jurassic Press are no longer ecstatic, and all these bad things happened because of the powerless, out of power, Republicans. They don't have the votes to do squat. The Dems could pass anything they want.But...it's the Republicans fault we're in this mess!

Good grief.

For the full analysis of this massive Leftist hypocrisy, Victor Davis Hansen's article here.

Dali Lama Goes Out With the Trash

This is how we treat a world leader? It's what happens when one's enemy holds a controlling percent of an economy, and we are beholden. I'm not so certain Obama doesn't have this view of Buddhism, Tibetans, and the Dali Lama anyway. I'm not certain he doesn't agree with the view here that Tibetans are better off living under Chinese tyranny.

Hitler on Climate Change (vid) [Too funny to be legal!]

Three Minute Retreat

This is a lovely site; a brief "3 Minute Retreat". Take a moment, take a breath. I found it hard to do. Gotta get on to the next thing, ya know?

Link here. Click on "Start Your Retreat" Breathe...

Observations on Lent

This coming Sunday is the first day of Lent. This is the beginning of forty days for Christians to put God back at the center of our lives. The vid at the end is the best explanation of the observance.

Elisabeth Leseur was a devout Catholic that wrote a profound diary, and has a profound life story. In it, she wrote:

I have jotted down in my notebook my lenten resolutions, but I want to confirm them here. I must truly renew my life, and it is God whom I ask in all simplicity to transform me. I want to live interiorly more spiritually, exteriorly more gently and lovingly so as to make God better loved, who is the beginning and end of my spiritual life. More than ever I want to hide in the heart of Jesus my good works, my prayers, my self denial, to preach only through example, to speak not at all of myself and little of God, since in this sad world it only gives scandal or annoys others by showing one’s love for God. But whenever someone approaches me, or whenever it seems to be God’s will that I should approach another, I will do so simply, very prudently, and disappear as soon as the task is done, mixing no thought of self with God’s action. And should I be misunderstood, criticized and judged unfavorably, I will try to rejoice in remembering our divine exemplar, and I will seek to be of no consequence in the esteem of others, I whom am in fact so poor and little in the eyes of God.

Here's a great explanation of the Lenten Season

Don't Free Tibet

"Free Tibet" has been has been a cause celeb for Lefties for decades. It's a nice cause, and fits perfectly for them because they don't have to actually do anything but have bumper stickers. Are they willing to risk military intervention? Economic sanctions against China? Just what do they advocate to free Tibet?

They may be changing their tune. Statist Issac Stone, writing for the extreme Leftest magazine "Newsweek" claims that Tibet's being enslaved and oppressed by China is good for them.

Tibetans feel chafed by the restrictions on their political and religious freedoms; many are dissatisfied with Chinese rule, and this has led to widespread rioting over the past few years. They want self-determination; fair enough. But that seems to be the only story about Tibet that is ever told. The other story is that, for China's many blunders in mountainous region, it has erected a booming economy there. Looking at growth, standard of living, infrastructure, and GDP, one thing is clear: China has been good for Tibet.

Has been good for them? Only a Statist could think that no freedom, state brutality and slavery can be a good thing. He says that they have a higher GDP because of the occupation of the country
(against the people's will). There's more stuff for them to buy! Only a materialist Marxist would think that having things is more important and better than the rich spiritual heritage and traditions of a great people.

Another good thing for them is that tourism is up. What is it that tourists are seeing? Monasteries have been destroyed or turned into buildings of other functions. Mahayana Buddhism has been essentially destroyed. Tourists see a show, not a wonderful, holy, profound religion being practiced.

Of course "Newsweek" and this Statist writer agree that materialism trumps a spiritual life. So do Communists.

The pro-communist, pro-slavery, pro-imperialist, pro-oppression article ends:

...the government is offering Tibetans the same bargain it has offered the rest of the country: in exchange for an astronomical rise in living standards, the government requires citizens to relinquish the right to free worship and free speech. The Chinese government has kept its end of the deal. Even if Tibetan residents never signed the contract, they have benefited from its enforcement—a fact Obama might keep in mind when he meets the Dalai Lama.

The whole article here.

Navy Ship and Crew Rotations

I just heard today this was going on, and has been for a few years. I'm thinking it's not such a good idea. Primarily it's being touted as a cost savings, but I think only short term. Do not ever ever ever short change the military. The number one job of government is the security of the citizens. The idea is still being tested, but with more ships and crews.

Ships are on a six month rotation to overseas stations. Traditionally, crew were assigned to a ship, and pretty much that's were you served for your hitch. When I was in, the rotation was eight months. Six months stateside in port, then sail overseas for six, then back. After I had done two of those eight month rotations, it was switched to six months. gaaarh....There was ownership: my ship, my guys, we won the competitions, we had the sharpest best performing ship. . .that kind of thing.

What's being tried is leaving ships stationed overseas, and the ships have two rotating crews. It's call forward home porting. I think those ships would be underway a lot, with the attendant wear and tear. Seems like it would reduce the life of the ship. Stateside training would probably be at land based training centers, since the government can pretend they're saving money by not having much stateside ship movement. There's the issue of ownership too. How much pride and performance is there, if you're only on a ship for six months at a time?

Part of the idea too is that, follow the money again, the fleet can be reduced by 20% as is being recommened. We're down to about 300 ships now. I'm a big advocate of a 600 ship navy. Not so much carrier groups which are great for sea battles, but helicopter and troop carriers for quick deployment into the bad guys property so we can kill them and break their stuff. The ability to get boots on the ground fast, to control the area, is paramount.

My view is that this is a bad idea, especially now that we have an anti military president and political party running things. I was in the navy during the Carter administration, and it was brutal. We didn't have enough fuel to go out as much as needed for training, or enough shells for gunnery practice. Not that I personally objected. Less time out left more time in for sex, drugs, rock 'n roll. But as a naval strategy, not such a good idea. I think, if fully implemented, it'll create a reduced naval presence, reduced naval ability, ships getting worn out faster, lowered moral, and reduced recruitment.

I've had a lot of jobs, and being in the navy was about the toughest long term. Sea duty is hard, demanding and stressful. Dr. Samuel Johnson: "No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into jail; for being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned." "A ship is worse than a gaol. There is, in a gaol, better air, better company, better conveniency of every kind; and a ship has the additional disadvantage of being in danger."

Given that, our sailors, making a huge life sacrifice, deserve better treatment. Full 600 ships, latest technology and weapon systems, traditional ship rotation, and the greatest 'conveniency' possible. They deserve, our country deserves it.

Government Job (funny)

A guy goes to the Post Office to apply for a job.

The interviewer asks him, "Are you allergic to anything?"

He says, "Yes - just caffeine."

"Have you ever been in the service?"

"Yes," he says. "I was in Iraq for two years."

The interviewer says, "That will give you 5 extra points toward employment." He then asks, "Are you disabled in any way?"

The guy says, "Yes 100%...an IED exploded near me and blew my testicles off."

The interviewer tells the guy, "O.K. In that case, I can hire you right now. Normal hours are from 8 AM to 4 PM. You can start tomorrow at 10:00 - and plan on starting at 10 AM every day."

The guy is puzzled and says, "If the hours are from 8 AM to 4 PM, why don't you want me to be here before 10 AM?"

"This is a government job," the interviewer says. "For the first two hours we just stand around drinking coffee and scratching our balls. No point in you coming in for that."

Hat tip to R. Lee Wrights Facebook Friend

Heaviest Element Yet Known to Science Discovered (funny)

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California has now identified with certainty the heaviest element known to science.

The new element, Pelosium (PL), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.

These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.

Pelosium is inert, and has no charge and no magnetism. Nevertheless, it can be detected because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A tiny amount of Pelosium can cause a reaction that would normally take less than a second, to take from 4 days to 4 years to complete.

Pelosium has a normal half-life of 2 years. It does not decay, but instead undergoes a biennial reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places.

Pelosium mass will increase over time, since each reorganization will promote many morons to become isodopes.

This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Pelosium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical morass.

When catalyzed with money, Pelosium becomes Senatorium, an element that radiates just as much energy as Pelosium since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.

~The Patriot Post

Just Don't Go!

Jeeez.... Congressional Republicans are going to meet with Obama about healthcare "reform". It's not "reform", it's a theft of money and freedom from citizens. The Dems are taking a slightly rewritten monstrosity of their failed Obmacare ploy, that they did behind closed doors, and the Republicans are going with nothing, except maybe with their tail between their legs. Hey, Party of Stupid, you won the debate. Demand that the Dems and Barry come with a blank sheet of paper.

The other meeting is with the Republican caucus in DC, and the "leaders" of the Tea Party Movement. The caucus is primarily RINO's (Republican in Name Only), and will try and tone down the Tea Party message of lower taxes and reduced government spending. Plus, there are no Tea Party "leaders". There are local organizers.

These meetings should not take place. The losers are calling the winners. It's time for the losers to go home, both Statists and their RINO supporters.

What? There's Homeless During a Democrat Administration?

Usually I ignore homeless stats because the Dems and Jurassic Press only report and make an issue of them during Republican administrations. The numbers are inflated two or three times to lie and embarrass. I'm going to do the same here and suggest the following numbers are twice as bad as what's reported, but to get closer to the truth.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is reporting the percentage of rural or suburban homelessness rose from 23 percent to 32 percent, though a percentage of what is not explained (Jurassic Press doesn't know how to write either), just that this was an annual survey of the past year. The number of sheltered homeless families grew from about 473,000 to 517,000.

A couple stories concerned me. A woman that worked at a shelter and lived there was again homeless because the shelter was closed. It concerns me a person would make a life of being homeless. Another story, relating to the increase of homeless Latinos (read Undocumented Democrats [UD] AKA illegal immigrants), a man had to speak through an interpreter. It seriously time for Undocumented Democrats to go home. More jobs for Americans. Nadia Marin-Molina, executive director of the Workplace Project, a Latino advocacy group for Undocumented Democrats, said Mexico or Central America UD's have limited access to government-run shelters and depend on shelters and groups like hers.

I'm sorry people are homeless. I've been there myself. I got two low paying jobs, lived in friends' living rooms until I could afford to move on, careful not to overstay my welcome. I'm sorry too that a majority of Americans bought into Obama and elected him. Now we have to pay the price with increased homelessness, increased foreclosures, increased failed companies, frozen wages, increased layoffs, and a $13 Trillion dollar debt as of this post. That's about $43,000 per citizen.

Keith Jarrett - Summertime (vid)

jus' plain ol' badass piano playin' a great arrangement

Dancin' The Boogie - Silvan Zingg (piano), Will & Maéva (vid)

We love boogie woogie! Great dancing!

TSA At It Again

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) again targets American citizens as a terrorist threat, rather than the real culprits, dark, young to middle aged, mid-Eastern men.

Bob Thomas, a Camden police officer was with his wife and their 4 year old "developmentally delayed" son at the airport, taking him to Walt Disney World for his birthday. The term applies to children that were prematurely born. The child was in a wheel chair or stroller and has leg braces which he needs to walk. He was just learning to walk, and he had weak ankles and leg muscles; thus the leg braces.

His father and mother got to the TSA security check point, and the stroller was collapsed and put on the conveyor. The son walked through the metal detector and it went off. The TSA screener told them the braces had to come off for inspection. The screener was told that the child could not walk without the braces, so would not be able to walk through the detector. The mother said she would have to help her son walk through, and the screener said the child has to get through on his own. Mom in front, dad behind, he stumbled though.

The father, Bob, asked to talk to a supervisor. The supervisor said "You know why we're doing this." The father said he was going to file a report, and the supervisor walked away.

The supervisor should be fired, the screener should be fired.

When are we going to get serious about protecting this country? We are screening moms and dads, disabled four year olds, grandmas, white WWII veterans.

Meanwhile, a Muslim TSA Agent pats down a nun.

Obama's Wife is Spending Spending Spending Your Money on Herself

As Obama spends us into an infinity of debt, his wife is certainly doing her best to contribute. While they continue to request others to "sacrifice", here's what she's spending.

She has 22 people on her staff. Previous First Ladies usually had a staff under 10 people.

Chief of Staff costing $172,000 a year
Deputy Chief of Staff - $90,000
Director of Policy and Projects - $140,000
Director of Communications at - $102,000
Deputy Director of Scheduling - $62,000
Two Social Secretaries - one at $65,000, one at $64,000
Associate Director of Correspondence at $45,000
Assistant to the Social Secretary at $36,000

That's $6.3-million per year, and if sustained, $25-million during her four years as fashion plate and leader of the food police with her magic garden.

So while Barry lectures us about our spending (don't go to Vegas [again], my hometown that needs visitors to survive), adjust our thermostats; perhaps he needs to lecture his wife. Especially since it's not his' and hers money.

Deep Thoughts -by Barack Obama

"We've got to be non-ideological about our approach to [economic policy]. We've gotta make sure that our party understands that, like it or not, we have to have a financial system that is healthy and functioning. So we can't be demonizing, uh, every bank out there. We've got to be the party of business, small business and large business, because they produce jobs." Well, his approach is ideological, and his system isn't working, and will never work. Didn't work in the Soviet Union, China, and doesn't work in Cuba or Venezuela.

"This is a democracy. Look, I would have loved nothing better than to simply come up with some very elegant, you know, academically approved approach to health care [that] didn't have any kinds of legislative fingerprints on it. And just go ahead and have that passed. But that's not how it works in our democracy. Unfortunately what we end up having to do is to do a lot of negotiations with a lot of different people. Many of whom have their constituents' best interests at heart." Translation: Damn those stupid voters anyway! They should be bowing down to me like I bow down to dictators and mayors.

"It may be that ... if Congress decides we're not going to do it, even after all the facts are laid out, all the options are clear, then the American people can make a judgment as to whether this Congress has done the right thing for them or not. And that's how democracy works. There will be elections coming up, and they'll be able to make a determination and register their concerns." I can't wait to register my concerns!

"Just in case there's any confusion out there, I'm not going to walk away from health care." I'm not confused, and 60% of the citizens aren't confused and have made it clear they don't want their health insurance and healthcare run by Democrats and their mindless mediocre bureaucrats.

"I think that the most important thing for the public to understand is we're not handling any of these [terrorist] cases any different than the Bush administration handled them all through 9/11." Let's see, Bush wanted to close Gitmo, give constitutional rights to foreign terrorists that US citizens have, and not interrogate battlefield combatants before they're read their Miranda rights? Who knew?

Logan, the Sky Angel Cowboy (vid)

13 year old Logan calls in to a radio station and says something so touching and profound...

St Valentine, A Recognition of Love

St Valentine has become the patron saint of love of secularists, which I find amusing. There are 'cafeteria Catholics', and I guess 'cafeteria' any expression of Christianity. We have cafeteria secularists too. Islam and Valentine have another perspective, which I'll get to later.

On this day, there's special gifts, dinners, expressions of love. St Valentine martyred himself by refusing to give up faith in Christ and advocated for the true love of marriage. He recognized fidelity, dedication, and sacrifice, which any successful couple embraces. I know a couple that just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. I see them hold hands, and once after our choir finished the morning song, she moved over and sat with him. I heard him a few days ago call her 'babe'. It's astonishing to think of the commitment, healing, forgiveness, dedication, patience, fidelity and sacrifice to express the meaning of love for so long.

It's nice to have a day of recognition of love, true love, and its expression.

On the other hand, in Islamic countries, Valentines Day is against the law. The Morality Police (yes, an actual law enforcement agency) will arrest people that show love on that day. Islamic dictatorships every year denounce this day, and threaten people. I wonder how dictators think they can outlaw love. People die for it; have been martyred for it.

About Valentine himself, he actually existed. There exists a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to Saint Valentine. He defied Emperor Claudius II by not only helping persecuted Christians, but married them against Claudius' decree. He was beaten, stoned and tortured, yet still continued his ministry, even from prison. Finally Claudius had enough, and had him killed. According to tradition he was beheaded on February 14, circa 270 CE. Another tradition is that he had made friends with Claudius' daughter, and just before his execution wrote her a farewell letter, and signed it "From your Valentine".

Today we honor the principles of Valentine, of compassion, forgiveness, dedication, fidelity, and long lasting meaningful love.