Pump Shock

So there I was. Pumping gas into my little Urabus Wagon yesterday and it hit me: though it's "paid-for," my compact car gets no more than perhaps 23 or 24 mpg. I can use AWD because I must negotiate snow and heavy rain in the winter and I find myself conflicted; I'm getting the "new car" bug. But, on the other hand, I don't want to take out a loan for gas.

The conflict goes something like this: I've historically purchased smaller cars, well, because I've never had the money or inclination for large cars. Once I purchased a 1997 Ford F-150 pickup, but it turned out to be a total turd. Everything, electrically, that could have gone wrong went wrong. From my friends' experience, I just happened to buy the Black Marble. That's the largest vehicle I've ever purchased.

The most luxuriant vehicle I ever purchased was a new 1987 Pontiac Grand Am, which was optioned out completely. Of course, I purchased the car about 35 seconds before my ex-wife decided she wanted that appellation. Goodbye Grand Am.

In this order, I've had the following cars:

- 1966 Ford Fairlane 4 door, white (the GrungeMobile -- remember your first car?)
- 1974 Subaru GL, 2-door, orange (Sammy the Subaru!)
- 1979 VW Rabbit, 2-door, cream (vinyl seats: slippery!)
- 1978 Ford Granada ESS, 4-door, my first leather seats, 289 CID wimpy V8
- 1980 Ford Courier pickup, white (total dog!)
- 1982 Toyota Tercel wagon, 4-door, white (really enjoyed this one)
- 1980 Yamaha XS-11 motorcycle, maroon (went really fast in a straight line)

Then, of course, the "ex-wife" traded my car in for:

- 1985 Toyota MR-2, 2-door, red (led to my divorce, amongst other things)

and then I purchased a:

- 1985 Chevy Sprint, 2-door, blue (I had to buy the optional right side mirror!)
- 1982 BMW R100RT motorcycle, silver-blue, full bags - what a great bike!
- 1987 Pontiac Grand Am (my favorite car to this point)

Then here's my 1988 divorce!

- 1985 Toyota SR5 long bed pickup, 4X4, blue, with matching shell
- 1989 Geo Metro, 2-door, blue
- 1984 Honda Magna motorcycle, black (monster engine, but overheated too easily)
- 1997 Ford F-150 pickup, green (total dog)
- 1998 Suzuki DR650 thumper (damn near killed myself; sold it)
- 1999 Chevy Metro, 2-door, green (oddly enough, one of my favorite cars)
- 1999 Chevy Tracker, 2-door, same color green
- 2003 Subaru Outback Sport, 4-door, AWD, white

And there you have it. My compendium of vehicles.

The sad thing is that now, at "over 50" shall we say, I am getting the "new car" itch -- but for something with automatic and nice seats and cushiony and more upscale. I don't want an SUV or a pickup truck. I want something I don't have to shift, sings to me nicely, has great heat and air, and handles potholes with aplomb. I don't want a dinky car.

But, of course, theres the rub.

Check out gas prices. Now that I can "afford" a nicer car, do I want to purchase something somewhat "opulent" that, comparitively speaking, sucks gas like there's no tomorrow?

Perhaps I should throw this into the equation: I live 75 miles from work. One way. At my previous assignment, I lived 89 miles from work. One way.

I'm now about 5 to 8 years from retirement. Depending on how bad Management pisses me off.

Whaddaya think? Should I go for the EconoBox (like a Civic, an xB, Cooper S, Corolla, etc), or should I check out larger automatic models with decent mileage like the Impala, Sonata, Lucerne -- or do you have any other suggestions?

I want an automatic. I want a slightly larger car. I want the best gas mileage I can get -- all it has to do is acquire over 24 mpg. I want it optioned-out. I don't want to shift nothin'.

Any thoughts?

BZ

________________________


P.S.

Sorry about the infrequent posts. I'm still wrestling with various personal and familial issues. I'm sure you've all Been There and Done That.

BZ

New To "The Usual Suspect" List

Yes yes, I know, perhaps I should have done this months ago. It's just that so many other things took precedence and, of course, there is no dispute that James holds a massive part in the overall Blogosphere.

It's simply time I put some Left Wing bloggers into my Usual Suspect list.

DailyKos is too simple and too obvious. James would be about Right. So to speak.

I have to write two things about James: first, he has a truly incredible blog here, filled with stunning, technologically-fabulous updates. His site puts most others, quite frankly, to shame -- of course, my own included.

Second -- when left wingers have commented on my various posts he addressed the issues extant and made things involve the topics -- and not the individuals posting. In other words, I listened to what he said because he deserved listening.

James is always welcome on my site, and I have seldom excised comments from various posts except for those who were far Left of Che himself.

James writes from the heart, soul and from an experiential base -- meaning, he's "Been There, Done That."

He and I may agree to disagree on occasion, but his arguments are cogent, logical and mature. How can I possibly object to these parameters?

_______________________________

Welcome aboard, James!

"Baa."

Whilst it seems as though I'm simply avoiding my writing duty (and perhaps I am, for I'm finding little time available to me with the caretaking of 4 households and work), I cannot help but reprint this article I recently found, authored by Mr. Grossman. Maybe you've read it before; read it again. It expresses in blunt yet eloquent terms the relationship between wolves, sheepdogs and sheep. After reading the following ask yourself: "What am I, what are the Dems and the DEM, and am I sufficiently thankful for the American Sheepdogs in this world?" I write about and frequently ponder the nature of Evil; I believe LTC Grossman has exposed its face by writing The Truth here. -- BZ

On Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs
by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman (RET), author of "On Killing."

Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age. It does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or as always,even death itself. The question remains: What is worth defending? What is worth dying for? What is worth living for? - William J. Bennett - in a lecture to the United States Naval Academy November 24, 1997

One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this to me:

"Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident." This is true. Remember, the murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another. Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent crimes every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which means that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one in a hundred on any given year. Furthermore, since many violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably less than two million.

Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the situation: We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people who are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep.

I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me it is like the pretty, blue robin's egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue shell. Police officers, soldiers, and other warriors are like that shell, and someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful. For now, though, they need warriors to protect them from the predators.

"Then there are the wolves," the old war veteran said, "and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy." Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial.

"Then there are sheepdogs," he went on, "and I'm a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf."

If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero's path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed.

Let me expand on this old soldier's excellent model of the sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. We know that the sheep live in denial, that is what makes them sheep. They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world. They can accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout their kids' schools.
But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police officer in their kid's school. Our children are thousands of times more likely to be killed or seriously injured by school violence than fire, but the sheep's only response to the possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone coming to kill or harm their child is just too hard, and so they chose the path of denial.

The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, can not and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheep dog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed. The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or a republic such as ours.

Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn't tell them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports in camouflage fatigues holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, "Baa."
Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog.

The students, the victims, at Columbine High School were big, tough high school students, and under ordinary circumstances they would not have had the time of day for a police officer. They were not bad kids; they just had nothing to say to a cop. When the school was under attack, however, and SWAT teams were clearing the rooms and hallways, the officers had to physically peel those clinging, sobbing kids off of them. This is how the little lambs feel about their sheepdog when the wolf is at the door.

Look at what happened after September 11, 2001 when the wolf pounded hard on the door. Remember how America, more than ever before, felt differently about their law enforcement officers and military personnel? Remember how many times you heard the word hero?

Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a sheepdog; it is just what you choose to be. Also understand that a sheepdog is a funny critter: He is always sniffing around out on the perimeter, checking the breeze, barking at things that go bump in the night, and yearning for a righteous battle. That is, the young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous battle. The old sheepdogs are a little older and wiser, but they move to the sound of the guns when needed right along with the young ones.

Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America said, "Thank God I wasn't on one of those planes." The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, "Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference." When you are truly transformed into a warrior and have truly invested yourself into warriorhood, you want to be there. You want to be able to make a difference.

There is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, but he does have one real advantage. Only one. And that is that he is able to survive and thrive in an environment that destroys 98 percent of the population. There was research conducted a few years ago with individuals convicted of violent crimes. These cons were in prison for serious, predatory crimes of violence: assaults, murders and killing law enforcement officers. The vast majority said that they specifically targeted victims by body language: slumped walk, passive behavior and lack of awareness. They chose their victims like big cats do in Africa, when they select one out of the herd that is least able to protect itself.

Some people may be destined to be sheep and others might be genetically primed to be wolves or sheepdogs. But I believe that most people can choose which one they want to be, and I'm proud to say that more and more Americans are choosing to become sheepdogs.

Seven months after the attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was honored in his hometown of Cranbury, New Jersey. Todd, as you recall, was the man on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania who called on his cell phone to alert an operator from United Airlines about the hijacking. When he learned of the other three passenger planes that had been used as weapons, Todd dropped his phone and uttered the words, "Let's roll," which authorities believe was a signal to the other passengers to confront the terrorist hijackers. In one hour, a transformation occurred among the passengers - athletes, business people and parents. -- from sheep to sheepdogs and together they fought the wolves, ultimately saving an unknown number of lives on the ground.

There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men. - Edmund Burke

Here is the point I like to emphasize, especially to the thousands of police officers and soldiers I speak to each year. In nature the sheep, real sheep, are born as sheep. Sheepdogs are born that way, and so are wolves. They didn't have a choice. But you are not a critter. As a human being, you can be whatever you want to be. It is a conscious, moral decision.

If you want to be a sheep, then you can be a sheep and that is okay, but you must understand the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and your loved ones are going to die if there is not a sheepdog there to protect you. If you want to be a wolf, you can be one, but the sheepdogs are going to hunt you down and you will never have rest, safety, trust or love. But if you want to be a sheepdog and walk the warrior's path, then you must make a conscious and moral decision every day to dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to thrive in that toxic, corrosive moment when the wolf comes knocking at the door.

For example, many officers carry their weapons in church.? They are well concealed in ankle holsters, shoulder holsters or inside-the-belt holsters tucked into the small of their backs.? Anytime you go to some form of religious service, there is a very good chance that a police officer in your congregation is carrying. You will never know if there is such an individual in your place of worship, until the wolf appears to massacre you and your loved ones.

I was training a group of police officers in Texas, and during the break, one officer asked his friend if he carried his weapon in church. The other cop replied, "I will never be caught without my gun in church." I asked why he felt so strongly about this, and he told me about a cop he knew who was at a church massacre in Ft. Worth, Texas in 1999. In that incident, a mentally deranged individual came into the church and opened fire, gunning down fourteen people. He said that officer believed he could have saved every life that day if he had been carrying his gun. His own son was shot, and all he could do was throw himself on the boy's body and wait to die. That cop looked me in the eye and said, "Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself after that?"

Some individuals would be horrified if they knew this police officer was carrying a weapon in church. They might call him paranoid and would probably scorn him. Yet these same individuals would be enraged and would call for "heads to roll" if they found out that the airbags in their cars were defective, or that the fire extinguisher and fire sprinklers in their kids' school did not work. They can accept the fact that fires and traffic accidents can happen and that there must be safeguards against them.

Their only response to the wolf, though, is denial, and all too often their response to the sheepdog is scorn and disdain. But the sheepdog quietly asks himself, "Do you have and idea how hard it would be to live with yourself if your loved ones attacked and killed, and you had to stand there helplessly because you were unprepared for that day?"

It is denial that turns people into sheep. Sheep are psychologically destroyed by combat because their only defense is denial, which is counterproductive and destructive, resulting in fear, helplessness and horror when the wolf shows up.

Denial kills you twice. It kills you once, at your moment of truth when you are not physically prepared: you didn't bring your gun, you didn't train. Your only defense was wishful thinking. Hope is not a strategy. Denial kills you a second time because even if you do physically survive, you are psychologically shattered by your fear helplessness and horror at your moment of truth.
Gavin de Becker puts it like this in "Fear Less," his superb post-9/11 book, which should be required reading for anyone trying to come to terms with our current world situation: ". . .denial can be seductive, but it has an insidious side effect. For all the peace of mind deniers think they get by saying it isn't so, the fall they take when faced with new violence is all the more unsettling."

Denial is a save-now-pay-later scheme, a contract written entirely in small print, for in the long run, the denying person knows the truth on some level.

And so the warrior must strive to confront denial in all aspects of his life, and prepare himself for the day when evil comes. If you are warrior who is legally authorized to carry a weapon and you step outside without that weapon, then you become a sheep, pretending that the bad man will not come today. No one can be "on" 24/7, for a lifetime. Everyone needs down time. But if you are authorized to carry a weapon, and you walk outside without it, just take a deep breath, and say this to yourself . . .

"Baa."

This business of being a sheep or a sheep dog is not a yes-no dichotomy. It is not an all-or-nothing, either-or choice. It is a matter of degrees, a continuum. On one end is an abject, head-in-the-sand-sheep and on the other end is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist completely on one end or the other. Most of us live somewhere in between. Since 9-11 almost everyone in America took a step up that continuum, away from denial. The sheep took a few steps toward accepting and appreciating their warriors, and the warriors started taking their job more seriously. The degree to which you move up that continuum, away from sheephood and denial, is the degree to which you and your loved ones will survive, physically and psychologically at your moment of truth.

_______________________________


"God bless America, the finest experimental nation ever created at the hands of Mortal Men."

-- BZ

Ann Coulter Is Right -- Again

(My thanks to Rebecca for the following article!)


I'm not in the business of simply reprinting copies of others' articles for a post but in this case I make an exception. Ann Coulter -- a RWSS (Right Wing Shit Stirrer) of the first degree -- you either despise her or admire her -- has written an article that, in my estimation, deserves reproduction here in its entirety:

This is the only country on Earth that thinks it's not sporting to consider our own interests in choosing immigrants.

Try showing up in any other country on the planet, illiterate and penniless, and announcing: "I've seen pictures of your country and it looks great. I think I'd like to live here! Oh, and by the way, would you mind changing all your government and business phone messages, street signs and ballots into my native language? Thanks!"

They would laugh you out of the country.

What seems not to have occurred to the "NO HUMAN BEING IS ILLEGAL" crowd is that this is a country, not a public park.

There are more than 6 billion people in the world, many of whom apparently like the idea of living in the wealthiest democracy on Earth. But if the billions of people of the world did live here, it wouldn't be "here" anymore. America is special for a reason that must transcend the right to vote – or everyone would be trying to immigrate to Iraq right now.

America has a seller's market in immigration, but thanks to Teddy Kennedy's 1965 immigration law, we no longer favor skilled workers from developed nations, but instead favor unskilled immigrants from the Third World.

Kennedy's bill promptly cut the number of European immigrants in half and increased Third World immigrants to 85 percent of the total.

Not surprisingly, post-1965 immigrants have sharply higher levels of poverty and welfare dependence. Europeans may not seem like ideal new immigrants, but the truth is, if what they want is welfare, they'll stay in France.

It's as if we've got the last Xbox 360s available on Christmas Eve and instead of doubling the price, we're entertaining low-ball offers. Or more accurately, we're paying our customers to take the darn things off our hands – and the customers are still indignant with us.

On CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight" on Monday, Dobbs was interviewing Nativo Lopez, president of the Mexican-American Political Association about his demand for "full immediate, unconditional legalization for all persons currently in the United States."

Dobbs posed this innocuous question about Lopez's planned boycott, "You're talking about a boycott of all illegal aliens in this country?"

Lopez exploded: "Well, first off, I refute your terminology. You don't say 'kike,' 'patty,' 'WOP,' OK. You don't say "nigger"! ... You're using language that's offensive to me and offensive to my people! ... You pollute the air every day, Dobbs. ... That language is offensive, it's derogatory, it's denigrating, and don't use that terminology to me again, referring to my people!"

Dobbs eventually ended Lopez's Tourette's episode by calmly asking him what he expected the impact of the boycott to be.

An hour later on MSNBC's "Hardball," Dave Rodriguez, of the League of United Latin American Citizens, leapt in to denounce Rep. Tom Tancredo for using the word "amnesty." He said: "There isn't any such thing as amnesty in this law. I don't understand what this debate is. That's your own terminology on it ..."

Bank robbers and drug dealers ought to start claiming that the words "bank robber" and "drug dealer" are akin to the N-word. They could accuse lawmakers of "criminalizing felonies" and claim they don't understand what the word "jailbreak" means.

At the same time on CNN's "The Situation Room," Maria Elena Salinas, an anchor at Univision, was informing Wolf Blitzer that "all Hispanics feel offended by what has been going on, by the rhetoric, the level of the negativity that you hear coming out of Capitol Hill and also on some television stations and by some journalists."

So it's really more like we've got the last Xbox 360s available on Christmas Eve and the customers are not only demanding money to take the hottest sales item off our hands, but are verbally abusing us and acting petulant. I'm offended that you would even think about asking me to pay for the Xbox 360! You say it has a "20 GB detachable hard drive"? Well, would you use the word "kike"?

As hardworking as illegal immigrants are when they come here, they are immediately demagogued by liberals into adopting the victimhood pose so popular on college campuses.

Everybody wants to act like his ancestors were brought here on slave ships.

Consider this e-mail from Michele Waslin, La Raza's director of Immigration Policy Research, to her members denouncing Sen. Lamar Alexander's proposal to provide government grants to immigrants who want to learn English and American history and to organizations offering those courses. (I'd be happy with a law that simply trained new immigrants not to be "offended" all the time.)

Even though this potentially meant free money for La Raza, Waslin – of the Guadalajara Waslins – ominously warned that while the amendment "doesn't overtly mention assimilation, it is very strong on the patriotism and traditional American values language in a way which is potentially dangerous to our communities."

Meanwhile, Americans aren't allowed to consider whether millions of immigrants refusing to learn English and American history is "potentially dangerous to our communities."

Here, please – we'll pay you, just take the whole Xbox 360 factory.

__________________


Thus endeth the lesson.


BZ

What Is Our Half-Life?

How Long Does America Have?


About the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior:

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."

"The average age of the worlds' greatest civilizations, from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years.

"During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

1. From bondage to spiritual faith;
2. From spiritual faith to great courage;
3. From courage to liberty;
4. From liberty to abundance;
5. From abundance to complacency;
6. From complacency to apathy;
7. From apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage"

Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota points out some interesting facts concerning the 2000 Presidential election:

Population of counties won by: Gore: 127 million;
Bush: 143 million;
Square miles of land won by: Gore: 580,000; Bush: 2,427,000
States won by: Gore: 19 Bush: 29
Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Gore: 13.2; Bush: 2.1

Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush won was mostly the land owned by the tax-paying citizens of this great country.

Gore's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements living off government welfare. . ."

Olson believes the United States is now:

Somewhere between the "Complacency & Apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy -- with some 40 percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.

________________________________


In truth where are we in this continuum?

I shall leave this determination to you.

________________________________


Perhaps it is time to discuss the Pygmalion Effect.




BZ

If This Is An Issue, Can Our Own CPE Be Far Behind?

They were fired "for standing up for their rights," Herrada said.

Now the issue in the United States is becoming very much like France: Can you fire a worker? And under what circumstances? And what if that worker is illegal? And what if they demand their "entitlements" -- like a job?

From the Detroit Free Press:

A manager at a Detroit meatpacking plant said Monday that 15 immigrant women were fired last month after attending a protest for immigrant rights. He said they had been told that they would be terminated if they missed work on the day of the protest. The fired workers were natives of Mexico and many had worked at the plant for several years. Most have children and are worried about supporting their families, Herrada said.

Many were employed by Minuteman Staffing. So when Wolverine wanted to fire the workers, the meatpacking company told Minuteman to let go of the workers, he said. A manager with Minuteman said he couldn't comment on the case.

But the workers say they were treated wrongly.

"It was not fair,'" said Mercedes, a 31-year-old Detroit woman who attended the rally and was fired. "We went to fight for our rights." Mercedes is undocumented and asked that her last name not be used.

"It was really unfair of a company to do that," said Edith Castillo, head of the Detroit-based Latin Americans for Social and Economic Development.

The photo: Activists wait to see the owner of the Wolverine Packing Co. in Detroit on Monday.(MARY SCHROEDER/Detroit Free Press)

As The Entitlements Turn:

Allow me to examine the issue just a bit.

First: is life really fair? Has it always been "fair" to you? Oddly enough, as shocked as you may be, this older, male Anglo has not always been treated "fairly" by life. Is that a proper expectation? Is that a realistic expectation? I submit this: those who expect life to be "fair" shall experience their life's path in two fashions -- with a chip on their shoulder and with great disappointment. Life is Attitude. Life is what you make of it -- and no one else. Why is it said that Republicans are generally more happy? Spiritual people more happy and more able to weather adversity? I think you have a bit of the answer already.

Second: it is indicated in the article that some of the workers may be or are illegal. And they have a "right" to a job because. . . . ?

Third: let's assume everyone is legal. The workers have a right to a job because they decided, collectively or individually, to leave the job? After management told them what would occur?

Fourth: anyone hear or recall something about Free Will? About the ability to make decisions, and then accept responsibility for one's chosen actions? Ring a bell? Because a person is illegal, does that mean that person is by nature inherently stupid and unable to reason out the foreseeable consequences of one's actions?

Fifth: some or all of these people are illegal. See my previous posts for my clear and obvious opinions. Hello? Illegal.

Sixth: like France, we are becoming enthralled with the notion that more and more things are due us because we breathe and stand on two legs. Did or did not the ol' BZ write, in past posts, that the issues before us now not only include illegal immigrants but also enfold the concept of more and greater entitlements?

What's past is prologue, dear readers.

BZ

______________________________

(My apologies for the formatting. Blogger is pitching a tantrum with me and I cannot delineate paragraphs at this time. -- BZ)

Also: I am leaving for my monthly week-long trip to San Diego for school. I will be away from blogging until Monday of next week, the 17th. If I acquire an earlier flight I may post on Sunday because, after all, I just can't stay away. And who knows what might happen in the interim?

The French Reconsider; Caving Is Good. Is America Next?

MEXICANO 100%

Come check out this rhyme, The Last Laugh is Mine I just beat another case, right in your face this time. I shook a dime and a dozen- doing time with my cousins. Time flew by.

Question is... was I stressed? (thought I wasn't) Pruno- buzzin' on occassion, call it my ghetto vacation. My daily boast: "Let's make a toast, to the host of my mental frustration".

Incarceration made me stronger, yes, these words I believe. Lessons taught the laws are strict, but still got tricks up my sleeve. No need to grieve for lost moments, now there gone with the wind It's all about timin', I'll get to grindin'- soon I'll be ballin" again.

With all my friends that stayed loyal through these turbulent days and my family that understands me with my frivoluos ways.

We're going to blaze a raging fire- take the World on by Storm you'll be amazed at what transpires when true Riders perform. So sound the horns and pound the drums, call those that swore they would come.

War's been declared so best beware and get prepared with a gun.

Estamos armados, por todos lados, somos los soldados muy locos en el mente, pero siempre marijuanos. Ya nos vamos a la guerra, luchando por la tierra con yeska en el mano, y cerveza en la llielera.

_______________________________

Just a bit of insight for my readers.

_______________________________

And the French government decided Monday to reconsider the taking of a national stand. As one might expect, the decision was to, essentially, completely fold. And of course how many of us are shocked and appalled? Not many, I suspect.

From BBC News:

French President Jacques Chirac has announced that the new youth employment law that sparked weeks of sometimes violent protests will be scrapped.

He said it would be replaced by other measures to tackle youth unemployment.

Millions of students and union members have taken to the streets over the last month in protest against the law, which made it easier to fire young workers.

Union and student leaders said it was a "great victory" but it is not clear if protests set for Tuesday are still on.

Union leaders had given the government until Easter weekend to withdraw the law or face a repeat of the recent general strikes.

What is the CPE? Contrat Premiere Embauche (CPE): A new work contract for under-26s allowing a two-year trial period. In that period, employers can end a contract without explanation. After two years, the CPE reverts to a standard full-time contract. It became law on 2 April, until Chirac's revision.

__________________________

The French rolled over in another demand for government-supported entitlements.

Go here for information on the French labor law.

Illegal Mexican immigrants are demanding precisely the same thing. Give me. Make it free.

The backbone that we laughingly accuse the French of lacking -- it would seem our national political backbone is equally missing.

Perhaps next week I'll see a message for it on a milk carton.

BZ

Message To The American People From Its Politicians:

Perhaps it really is the time to roll over and let anyone who is an illegal immigrant do what they wish when they wish.

Though it is clear that a good 70% to 80% of the American public, including those persons who waded their way through the unfriendly INS system of legal immigration (a kludgy, convoluted, lengthy and costly process which, on its face, helps to cause people to move into the illegal realm) do not want an amnesty and want our borders enforced, it is apparent that both of our current political parties are not particularly interested in what the electorate wants.

From the Christian Science Monitor:

LOS ANGELES – In Los Angeles, Eun Sook Lee will march on behalf of Korean illegal immigrants, at least 50,000, living in southern California. On Boston Common, Punam Rogers will join other Indian émigrés, as well as business clients and students from China, Germany, and Britain. In Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Ivalier Duvra will take to the streets to draw attention to Haitian newcomers who he says need refugee status.

Coming on the heels of demonstrations in several larger cities, a National Day of Action on Immigrant Rights Monday is expected to involve people in some 90 US municipalities, well above organizers' goal of 10. Described as the biggest social movement of Hispanics since the United Farm Workers of Cesar Chavez, the plans for protests, vigils, and marches include a less-visible tier of people stirred to action over American immigration policy: non-Latinos.

The national day of action seems to have expanded exponentially with the organizing power of the Internet. Besides demonstrations, speeches, processions, and assorted performances (from drumming to skits), groups are planning work-walkouts, product boycotts, fasting, and other measures.

Anger has been building among immigrants for decades, Ms. Hong says, but it has intensified over the past decade, as immigrants felt targeted by welfare reform, what they see as a civil-rights rollback, and, most recently, anti- terror laws. Post-9/11 crackdowns, legislation denying social services to illegals in California, and Minutemen border operations have roused immigrants, legal and not. "Immigrants have been feeling like targets for all that is wrong and want to stand up and show how they contribute to the diversity and richness of America," she says.

So anger has been building? And what would happen had the countries been reversed? What would happen had "anger" been building in:

• Russia
• Korea
• Mexico
• China
• Ethiopia
• El Salvador
• Guatemala

If we do not have the so-called cojones to defend our own sovereign nation, our borders, our language, our culture -- well then, perhaps it really is time to let the barbarians past the gates and allow anyone, anywhere, for any reason, to do what they will when they will.

I once thought we were a nation of laws. I am no longer so convinced. Why should you or me, I posit, obey any laws extant in this country?

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

-- George Orwell (1903–1950), British author. Animal Farm, ch. 10 (1945).


BZ

A Brief Reflection

My Dad made it through his fifth surgery in 1.5 years. He is now 86. I find that statistic miraculous. I should be lucky enough to make it to 65, much less any age involving surgery. In 2005 he survived a colostomy and its resection. He now has an ileostomy. I have to tell him he must now relive everything he survived last year. His stay in a skilled nursing facilty. His inability to walk. His dealing with a bag on his stomach. His knowing he (possibly; no guarantee) must undergo another surgery to reconnect segments of his colon. He has survived two malignant tumors. Astounding.

I am on Wait And See status.

BZ

Truth?

"A slew of new research shows how sorry is the plight of American blacks, most acutely men. Black men, particularly those who do not finish high school, have been falling off a cliff for decades.

If you include blacks in prison or not seeking work—which conventional unemployment surveys don't—the true jobless rate for black men in their 20s without a high school diploma is 72 percent.

At the height of the economic boom, in 2000, it was still about 65 percent. This is twice the rate for white dropouts and three times that of Latinos. A University of California, Berkeley, researcher found that black dropouts in their late 20s are more likely to be in prison than working.

There's a lot of Marxist-infused nonsense about how economics are at the root of black America's problems. But this doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

Of course poverty makes social pathologies worse, but it's the pathologies that cause poverty in the first place.

Family breakdown in the black community has occurred despite a steady rise in the wages of blacks since World War II, when 80 percent were born to married parents.

Racism alone cannot be blamed anymore for causing all black problems. By every measure, racism, particularly official racism, has declined even as these problems have worsened. Racism is surely still a problem, but it pales in comparison to family breakdown. Nothing more perpetuates the cycle of moral and financial poverty.

If you are raised by two married parents today, black or white, it is unlikely that you will be poor, or poor for long.

Obviously, black America's problems are larger than the [Congressional Black] caucus. But the caucus has failed to provide the morally serious leadership—leadership that builds on the historic social conservatism and self-reliance of African Americans—that is sorely needed."

—Jonah Goldberg

Orlando Patterson wrote, in part:

SEVERAL recent studies have garnered wide attention for reconfirming the tragic disconnection of millions of black youths from the American mainstream. But they also highlighted another crisis: the failure of social scientists to adequately explain the problem, and their inability to come up with any effective strategy to deal with it.

The main cause for this shortcoming is a deep-seated dogma that has prevailed in social science and policy circles since the mid-1960's: the rejection of any explanation that invokes a group's cultural attributes — its distinctive attitudes, values and predispositions, and the resulting behavior of its members — and the relentless preference for relying on structural factors like low incomes, joblessness, poor schools and bad housing.

Nor have studies explained why, if someone cannot get a job, he turns to crime and drug abuse. One does not imply the other. Joblessness is rampant in Latin America and India, but the mass of the populations does not turn to crime.

And why do so many young unemployed black men have children — several of them — which they have no resources or intention to support? And why, finally, do they murder each other at nine times the rate of white youths?

So what are some of the cultural factors that explain the sorry state of young black men? They aren't always obvious. Sociological investigation has found, in fact, that one popular explanation — that black children who do well are derided by fellow blacks for "acting white" — turns out to be largely false, except for those attending a minority of mixed-race schools.

An anecdote helps explain why: Several years ago, one of my students went back to her high school to find out why it was that almost all the black girls graduated and went to college whereas nearly all the black boys either failed to graduate or did not go on to college. Distressingly, she found that all the black boys knew the consequences of not graduating and going on to college ("We're not stupid!" they told her indignantly).

SO why were they flunking out? Their candid answer was that what sociologists call the "cool-pose culture" of young black men was simply too gratifying to give up. For these young men, it was almost like a drug, hanging out on the street after school, shopping and dressing sharply, sexual conquests, party drugs, hip-hop music and culture, the fact that almost all the superstar athletes and a great many of the nation's best entertainers were black.

Not only was living this subculture immensely fulfilling, the boys said, it also brought them a great deal of respect from white youths. This also explains the otherwise puzzling finding by social psychologists that young black men and women tend to have the highest levels of self-esteem of all ethnic groups, and that their self-image is independent of how badly they were doing in school.

___________________________


Folks, I wrote the above post last evening and I had an observation planned; since then my father has gone into the hospital suddenly and is scheduled for an operation this morning. I am surmising I might be away from the Blogosphere for a bit; unknown when I will return. Take care, and never let fly those opportunities to tell those you hold dear: I love you.

BZ

Two Counts On Terrorism Recently Won

First: FISA judges said (reported on March 29th):

A panel of former Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judges yesterday told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that President Bush did not act illegally when he created by executive order a wiretapping program conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA).

The five judges testifying before the committee said they could not speak specifically to the NSA listening program without being briefed on it, but that a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act does not override the president's constitutional authority to spy on suspected international agents under executive order.

"If a court refuses a FISA application and there is not sufficient time for the president to go to the court of review, the president can under executive order act unilaterally, which he is doing now," said Judge Allan Kornblum, magistrate judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida and an author of the 1978 FISA Act. "I think that the president would be remiss exercising his constitutional authority by giving all of that power over to a statute."

Second, the Supreme Court this morning refused to hear a case from a man held as an enemy combatant:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A divided Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from a man held until recently as an enemy combatant without traditional legal rights, in effect sidestepping a challenge to Bush administration wartime detention powers.

Stevens and two other court members, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, explained their Monday votes not to deal with Padilla's case.
Although Padilla's claims "raise fundamental issues respecting the separation of powers, including consideration of the role and function of the courts, (the case) also counsels against addressing those claims when the course of legal proceedings has made them, at least for now, hypothetical," Kennedy wrote for the three.

This, of course, does not stop the Dems from attempting to "censure" President Bush for his tapping decision as, I am wont to frequently say, "never let the facts, proportion and reality get in the way of a good, screwed up decision."

BZ

The Blackmail Factor In America: It's Coming -- Just Like France

As the French are wont to say: "It's Springtime in Paris; bring out the barricades."

“THE French constitute the most brilliant and the most dangerous nation in Europe and the best qualified in turn to become an object of admiration, hatred, pity or terror but never indifference.” -- Alexis de Tocqueville

France has been subject to what is called the Blackmail Factor for some time, in terms of street politics. Right-leaning French leaders have rarely "faced down" a popular revolt from the Left but, zounds, it appears as though Villepin and Chirac are about to do just that with the "First Employment Contract."

"Gosh BZ," you might be thinking, "I thought this was a post about what's happening in America?" Oh, rest assured, dear reader, that it is -- it indeed is. Roll with me on this. Allow me to tell a story. And allow me to stage my story in, well, France.

The CPE (First Employment Contract) is a huge issue now, with riots occurring once again. The CPE would give French employers the right to fire workers easily and freely when they are under the age of 26 and have been in a job for less than two years. As it is now, companies are hesitant to hire those under 26 with no work record because it is too hard and costly to fire them if the business minimizes or the employee is a rock.

This, in turn, has caused France to possess a jobless rate amongst 18 to 25-year-olds twice that of the rest of the working-age population and much higher than similar age groups in the UK or the US.

If you owned a French business -- would you take the risk and the chance of having to employ a Rock For Life? Likely not.

As a result of seeing the Free And Easy Life about to be removed from the screen, "French Youth" took to the streets in an attempt to, once again, hijack the politicians and paralyze the country. The French "yoots" are essentially demanding jobs for life. And since the start of March, nearly 500 policemen have been wounded in the demonstrations -- more than during last fall's riots -- and they occurred over weeks.

"Hijacking the Government" -- otherwise known as blackmail -- worked quite nicely in 1995 when the French government faced down their trade unions at French Railways and Electricity of France over retirements and health care. General strikes over two months literally shut down the country. Prime Minister Alain Juppe called a quickie election -- and lost. French Unions 1; French Government 0.

Why do the French seem to fear capitalism? The country's republican revolutionary history bequeathed faith in a strong dirigiste state as a civic religion. Today, nearly 5m French workers, or one-quarter of all jobs, are still in the public sector. Left-leaning intellectuals, with a romantic communist heritage, are not derided but treated as national treasures. There is a lingering culture of suspicion of profit, and a demonisation of business leaders, encouraged by a mainstream left that still equates efficiency with injustice.

First, the French Constitutional Council approved the CPE job law on Thursday. Here are Friday's results regarding the CPE, from EuroNews:

The French President has announced he has signed into law the highly controversial youth jobs law that has given rise to protests and strikes in recent weeks. One of the proposals was to allow employers to fire people under 26 without stated reasons within a two-year trial period. In a televised address, Chirac said there would be two modifications to the measure. The two-year trial period would be reduced to one year. He added that young employees would have the right to know why their contracts had been terminated if they were fired.

What does this have to do with America, you might ask?

Most everything -- involving entitlements -- and those persons who are not even citizens of this sovereign nation.

WE WANT IT ALL, WE WANT IT NOW, WE DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR LAWS, WE'RE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS:

The organizers of our recent illegal immigrant riots now want to organize a mass action plan to paralyze the United States economy. From the World Net Daily:

The coalition that organized an estimated 500,000 marchers in Los Angeles to protest immigration reform announced its next mass action is "an economic and labor boycott that will paralyze the U.S. economy."

Coalition member Roberto Reveles of "Unidos en Arizona" said his group will host a "summit meeting" April 8 and 9 in Phoenix to work out details of the boycott.

The boycott is scheduled for May 1, the Day of the International Solidarity of Workers, or May 5, the Cinco de Mayo celebration.

Armando Navarro, coordinator of the National Alliance for Human Rights, said, "We are living through very dangerous times and we must take advantage of the moment. If we just sit and wait to see what happens, everything we have accomplished so far may go to waste. That is why we must continue the struggle to once and for all defeat that racist (House) proposal."

Then, from the La Voz de Aztlan website:

byErnesto Cienfuegos, La Voz de Aztlan:
Los Angeles, Alta California - March 31, 2006 - (ACN) The coalition that brought over 700,000 pro-immigrant rights marchers to Los Angeles announced yesterday that the next mass action will be "an economic and labor boycott that will paralyze the US economy." The planned boycott, which now has international support, is to protest the racist HR4437 legislation being debated in the US Senate.

Dr. Armando Navarro, coordinator of the National Alliance for Human Rights (NAHR), said "We are living through very dangerous times and we must take advantage of the moment. If we just sit and wait to see what happens, everything we have accomplished so far may go to waste. That is why we must continue the struggle to once and for all defeat that racist proposal (HR4437)."

Coalition member Roberto Reveles of "Unidos en Arizona" said that they will help host a "Summit Meeting" in Phoenix, Arizona to work out the details of the "international economic and labor boycott". The summit will take place on April 8th and 9th. The boycott will take place on May 1 (Day of the International Solidarity of Workers) or May 5 (Cinco de Mayo). To be debated is whether a boycott beginning on May 1 and ending with a huge "fiesta" on May 5 can be sustained.

And finally: what about that strange photo at the head of my post? We gosh, that would be taken from this portion of the La Voz de Aztlan website. Indicating, perhaps, that the Jews run America?

Racist, eh? As MEChA wrote: "Por La Raza todo. Fuera de La Raza nada (For the Race, everything. For those outside the Race, nothing).”

“Aztlan” is the group’s term for the vast southwestern U.S. expanse, from parts of Washington and Oregon down to California and Arizona and over to Texas, which MEChA claims to be a mythical homeland and seeks to reconquer for Mexico (reconquista).

So let me see if I have this right?

Criminals want to hijack MY country because MY people DISAGREE with giving ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS free entitlements?

Huh. Kinda like what happened in France.

Ah yes. I think I've got it, by golly.

Do you?


BZ

Racist Moonbat of the Week Award

- "When you have nothing else, attack the accuser." -- Defense Attorneys' Axiom
- "The best defense is a good offense." -- Jack Dempsey
- "Da Man be holdin' me down." -- My Local Psychotic Drunk

Cynthia McKinney is a member of the House of Representative from the 4th Congressional District in Georgia.

From that horrible Fox News:

The incident occurred on Wednesday, when McKinney allegedly struck a Capitol Police officer after entering a House office building and refusing to stop at the request of the officer, who apparently did not recognize the congresswoman.

Congressional sources told FOX News that the officer, Paul McKenna, signed an affidavit swearing that McKinney responded to what he described as standard security procedures by punching him in the chest with a cell phone in her hand.

An assistant to Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich., witnessed the incident and gave a statement to Capitol Police, sources told FOX News. The witness, whose name is being withheld, told police that she saw McKinney hit a police officer. The witness was unaware that McKinney was a congresswoman.

McKinney was not wearing her congressional lapel pin during the altercation, which Capitol Police officers use to identify lawmakers and allow them to bypass security checks.

Several Capitol Police officials have said the officer involved asked McKinney three times to stop. When she did not, he placed a hand on her and she hit him, they said.

The department is tasked with protecting the 535 members of Congress and the vast Capitol complex in an atmosphere thick with politics and privilege.

The safety of its members became a sensitive issue after a gunman in 1998 killed two officers outside the office of then-Republican Whip Tom DeLay of Texas.

A Mouthpiece for McKinney now says she was "just a victim of being in Congress while black."

Is there anyone, possibly besides me, So Tired Of Elitist Blacks Playing The Victim Race Card? This is, by the way, the card played when one has no cogent, logical, rational or credible reason or response to a given stupid act.

Today, in a press conference, McKinney trotted out ADMs* Harry Belafonte and Danny Glover. My, how the Credence Factor exponentially increased by dint of their mere presence!

Her Mouthpiece also said: "Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, like thousands of average Americans across this country, is, too, a victim of the excessive use of force by law enforcement officials because of how she looks and the color of her skin."

Myart planned to file charges against the officer for excessive use of force, Capitol Police said.

McKinney was flanked by leaders from civil rights organization and a couple dozen schoolchildren from her district who were coincidentally in the nation's capitol on a field trip, according to a spokesman. Several of the children, most of whom were black, held up signs reading "God Bless Cynthia."

LCD*, simple-minded racist Moonbat pap, pure and simple. As Ace says:

In related news, O.J. Simpson says, "Word. All I was guilty of was sawing off two people's heads while black. They let white people do that all the time. I hear that Gary Busey has an entire basement filled with hitchhikers' severed genitals. But when a black man butchers a couple of people they make a big deal out of it, like it's a crime or something."

She's had her Day of Fame. And that's about enough of her.

BZ

*Additional Discredited Moonbats
*Lowest Common Denominator