Why Character Matters

A wonderful summation of why character is more important than simply education. And why character matters. From the Dartmouth News (thanks Pete!):

Remarks by Student Body President Noah Riner at Convocation Sept. 20, 2005
Posted 09/21/05

You've been told that you are a special class. A quick look at the statistics confirms that claim: quite simply, you are the smartest and most diverse group of freshmen to set foot on the Dartmouth campus. You have more potential than all of the other classes. You really are special.
But it isn't enough to be special. It isn't enough to be talented, to be beautiful, to be smart.

Generations of amazing students have come before you, and have sat in your seats. Some have been good, some have been bad. All have been special.

In fact, there's quite a long list of very special, very corrupt people who have graduated from Dartmouth. William Walter Remington, Class of 1939, started out as a Boy Scout and a choirboy and graduated Phi Beta Kappa. He ended up as a Soviet spy, was convicted of perjury and beaten to death in prison.

Daniel Mason '93 was just about to graduate from Boston Medical School when he shot two men – killing one – after a parking dispute.

Just a few weeks ago, I read in the D about PJ Halas, Class of 1998. His great uncle George founded the Chicago Bears, and PJ lived up to the family name, co-captaining the basketball team his senior year at Dartmouth and coaching at a high school team following graduation. He was also a history teacher, and, this summer, he was arrested for sexually assualting a 15-year-old student.

These stories demonstrate that it takes more than a Dartmouth degree to build character.
As former Dartmouth President John Sloan Dickey said, at Dartmouth our business is learning. And I'll have to agree with the motto of Faber College, featured in the movie Animal House, "Knowledge is Good." But if all we get from this place is knowledge, we've missed something. There's one subject that you won't learn about in class, one topic that orientation didn't cover, and that your UGA won't mention: character.

What is the purpose of our education? Why are we at Dartmouth?

Martin Luther King, Jr. said:

"But education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society…. We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education."

We hear very little about character in our classrooms, yet, as Dr. King suggests, the real problem in the world is not a lack of education.

For example, in the past few weeks we've seen some pretty revealing things happening on the Gulf Coast in the wake of hurricane Katrina. We've seen acts of selfless heroism and millions around the country have united to help the refugees. On the other hand, we've been disgusted by the looting, violence, and raping that took place even in the supposed refuge areas. In a time of crisis and death, people were paddling around in rafts, stealing TV's and VCR's. How could Americans go so low?

My purpose in mentioning the horrible things done by certain people on the Gulf Coast isn't to condemn just them; rather it's to condemn all of us. Supposedly, character is what you do when no one is looking, but I'm afraid to say all the things I've done when no one was looking.

Cheating, stealing, lusting, you name it - How different are we? It's easy to say that we've never gone that far: never stolen that much; never lusted so much that we'd rape; and the people we've cheated, they were rich anyway.

Let's be honest, the differences are in degree. We have the same flaws as the individuals who pillaged New Orleans. Ours haven't been given such free range, but they exist and are part of us all the same.

The Times of London once asked readers for comments on what was wrong with the world. British author, G. K. Chesterton responded simply: "Dear Sir, I am."

Not many of us have the same clarity that Chesterton had. Just days after Hurricane Katrina had ravaged the Gulf Coast, politicians and pundits were distributing more blame than aid. It's so easy to see the faults of others, but so difficult to see our own. In the words of Cassius in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, "the fault, dear Brutus is not in our stars but in ourselves."

Character has a lot to do with sacrifice, laying our personal interests down for something bigger. The best example of this is Jesus. In the Garden of Gethsemane, just hours before his crucifixion, Jesus prayed, "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done." He knew the right thing to do. He knew the cost would be agonizing torture and death. He did it anyway. That's character.

Jesus is a good example of character, but He's also much more than that. He is the solution to flawed people like corrupt Dartmouth alums, looters, and me.

It's so easy to focus on the defects of others and ignore my own. But I need saving as much as they do.

Jesus' message of redemption is simple. People are imperfect, and there are consequences for our actions. He gave His life for our sin so that we wouldn't have to bear the penalty of the law; so we could see love. The problem is me; the solution is God's love: Jesus on the cross, for us.

In the words of Bono:

[I]f only we could be a bit more like Him, the world would be transformed. …When I look at the Cross of Christ, what I see up there is all my s—- and everybody else's. So I ask myself a question a lot of people have asked: Who is this man? And was He who He said He was, or was He just a religious nut? And there it is, and that's the question.

You want the best undergraduate education in the world, and you've come to the right place to get that. But there's more to college than achievement. With Martin Luther King, we must dream of a nation – and a college – where people are not judged by the superficial, "but by the content of their character."

Thus, as you begin your four years here, you've got to come to some conclusions about your own character because you won't get it by just going to class. What is the content of your character? Who are you? And how will you become what you need to be?

Why character matters, and why character is King. Who of the two presidential candidates do you believe possesses the most?

BZ

Working Hard For Your Money?

BZ

It's NOT OVER Until It's Over!

From the Washington Post:

Accuracy Of Polls a Question In Itself
Skeptics Challenge Assumptions Made
By Michael Abramowitz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 29, 2008;

Could the polls be wrong?

Sen. John McCain and his allies say that they are. The country, they say, could be headed to a 2008 version of the famous 1948 upset election, with McCain in the role of Harry S. Truman and Sen. Barack Obama as Thomas E. Dewey, lulled into overconfidence by inaccurate polls.

"We believe it is a very close race, and something that is frankly very winnable," Sarah Simmons, director of strategy for the McCain campaign, said yesterday.

Few analysts outside the McCain campaign appear to share this view. And pollsters this time around will not make the mistake that the Gallup organization made 60 years ago -- ending their polling more than a week before the election and missing a last-minute surge in support for Truman. Every day brings dozens of new state and national presidential polls, a trend that is expected to continue up to Election Day.

But buried in the next line:

Still, there appears to be an undercurrent of worry among some polling professionals and academics. One reason is the wide variation in Obama leads: Just yesterday, an array of polls showed the Democrat leading by as little as two points and as much as 15 points. The latest Washington Post-ABC News tracking poll showed the race holding steady, with Obama enjoying a lead of 52 percent to 45 percent among likely voters.

From Drudge: Rasmussen poll = Obama +3. Gallup poll = Obama +2.

THIS ELECTION IS NOT OVER!

IT IS NOT UNWINNABLE!

There just might be a very startling surprise come next Wednesday morning.

THIS JUST IN:

From National Review's The Corner:

Obama's Moving Tax Threshold: $250,000? $200,000? $150,000? What Next? [Byron York]

One of the things I've seen at Republican rallies is that people just don't believe Barack Obama when he says he'll raise taxes only on those who make more than $250,000 a year. It's not that these people make that much money or even think they'll make that much money sometime in the next four years. It's that they believe Obama, once in office, would lower the threshold and raise taxes on people who make less than $250,000.

Obama's position in the past was that he would raise taxes on families making more than $250,000 a year and individuals making more than $200,000. But in his new ad, "Defining Moment," he seems to lower it to $200,000 for families. "Here's what I'll do as president," Obama says in the ad. "To deal with our current emergency I'll launch a rescue plan for the middle class That begins with a tax cut for 95 percent of working Americans. If you have a job, pay taxes and make less than $200,000 a year, you'll get a tax cut."

That seems kind of ambiguous, but the graphic on the screen says clearly: "Famlies making less than $200,000 get tax cut."

Now, the McCain campaign is pointing out something that Joe Biden said in a Pennsylvania TV interview yesterday:

What we’re saying is that $87 billion tax break doesn’t need to go to people making an average of 1.4 million, it should go like it used to. It should go to middle class people — people making under $150,000 a year.”

BZ

Punishment, Redistribution, Taxation, Spending, "NO," Repression, Removal of Freedoms, Abuse of Power, Socialism, Diminishment of American Power

These are just a few of the things you would experience under a Barack Hussein Obama presidency.

The most recent example? From the Orlando Sentinel:

WFTV-Channel 9's Barbara West conducted a satellite interview with Sen. Joe Biden on Thursday. A friend says it's some of the best entertainment he's seen recently. What do you think?

West wondered about Sen. Barack Obama's comment, to Joe the Plumber, about spreading the wealth. She quoted Karl Marx and asked how Obama isn't being a Marxist with the "spreading the wealth" comment.

"Are you joking?" said Biden, who is Obama's running mate. "No," West said.

West later asked Biden about his comments that Obama could be tested early on as president. She wondered if the Delaware senator was saying America's days as the world's leading power were over.

"I don't know who's writing your questions," Biden shot back.

Biden so disliked West's line of questioning that the Obama campaign canceled a WFTV interview with Jill Biden, the candidate's wife.

"This cancellation is non-negotiable, and further opportunities for your station to interview with this campaign are unlikely, at best for the duration of the remaining days until the election," wrote Laura K. McGinnis, Central Florida communications director for the Obama campaign. McGinnis said the Biden cancellation was "a result of her husband's experience yesterday during the satellite interview with Barbara West."

Here's a link to the interview: http://www.wftv.com/video/17790025/index.html.

WFTV news director Bob Jordan said, "When you get a shot to ask these candidates, you want to make the most of it. They usually give you five minutes."

Jordan said political campaigns in general pick and choose the stations they like. And stations often pose softball questions during the satellite interviews.

"Mr. Biden didn't like the questions," Jordan said. "We choose not to ask softball questions."

Obama: we don't like you? You actually ask pointed questions? Consider yourself "cut off."

From a 2001 WBEZ.FM radio interview (documented here on YouTube), Barack Hussein Obama said he advocated, even back then, the redistribution of wealth, what he called "redistribute change." Hussein campaign hacks spun here. Obama said in part from a transcript:

1) But the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth and sort of basic issues of political and economic justice in this society and to that extent, as radical as people try to characterize the Warren Court, it wasnt that radical.

2) You know, maybe I'm showing my bias here as a legislator as well as a law professor, but you know I am not optimistic about bringing about major redistributive change through the courts.

3) So I think that, although you can craft theoretical justifications for it legally, you know I think any three of us sitting here could come up with a rationale for bringing about economic change through the courts.

4) And how do we actually create equal schools and equal educational opportunity? Well, the court in a case called San Antonio v Rodriguez, in the early 70s, basically slaps those kinds of claims down and says, you know, that we as a court have no power to examine issues of redistribution and wealth inequalities.

Barack Hussein Obama says the US Constitution's deep flaws continue today.

Barack Hussein Obama says "I'm not interested in the suburbs; the suburbs bore me."

REMARKABLE BIAS IN THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA?

In a striking article actually sent to the internet under the auspices of ABC news, Michael Malone writes:

The traditional media are playing a very, very dangerous game -- with their readers, with the Constitution and with their own fates.

The sheer bias in the print and television coverage of this election campaign is not just bewildering, but appalling. And over the last few months I've found myself slowly moving from shaking my head at the obvious one-sided reporting, to actually shouting at the screen of my television and my laptop computer.

But worst of all, for the last couple weeks, I've begun -- for the first time in my adult life -- to be embarrassed to admit what I do for a living. A few days ago, when asked by a new acquaintance what I did for a living, I replied that I was "a writer," because I couldn't bring myself to admit to a stranger that I'm a journalist.

My conclusion?

THIS ELECTION IS NOT OVER, NOT BY A LONG SHOT!

DO NOT GIVE UP!

SEND YOUR ABSENTEE BALLOTS IN FOR McCAIN/PALIN!

VOTE FOR McCAIN/PALIN ON NOVEMBER 4th!

BZ

You Get What You Hire

It saddens me to write this but a deputy from my department, 43-year-old Chu Vue, was arrested recently and is implicated in the murder of a State of California Corrections officer. The situation appears to involve a "love triangle" if you will, as well as gangs, weapons, money, brothers. The common link is that the players are all Vietnamese. The overarching problem is with my department; I'll get to that in a moment.

The facts are these: CDC Officer Steve Lo, 39, was shot and killed in the garage of his home in south Sacramento in the early morning hours of October 15th. He was dressed in full CDC uniform and wearing a vest, preparing to go to work at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, some 40 miles distant.

His wife, Chia, works at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, the same place Lo worked before he was killed, state records show. She filed for divorce Sept. 12, according to court records, citing irreconcilable differences after nearly 16 years of marriage.

The Sacramento Bee writes:

A law enforcement source told The Bee on Friday that Sacramento police have spoken with the FBI and authorities in Minnesota about finding Gary and Chong Vue, the younger brothers of Deputy Chu Vue.

Deputy Vue, a 13-year veteran of my agency, worked in the corrections arm of the department, at the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center. Following a search warrant for the Vue home, police seized five rifles, three shotguns and other items. They also took three handguns from Vue's locker at RCCC. On October 17th, Deputy Chu Vue was placed on admin leave. He was arrested on October 23rd for allegedly possessing an illegal assault rifle, stemming from the home search. His bail was set at $500,000, all the warrants were judicially sealed, and he was taken to the jail of an adjacent county to minimize conflict.

Here is what I believe (and, as I publish this post in public, I must write that this is theoretical conjecture on my part, Chu Vue is presumed innocent and has not even appeared extensively in a court of law - but I ask that you do what I call the Logical Extension): Chu Vue may not have pulled the trigger, but I believe he orchestrated the situation and, it would appear, may have appealed to his fugitive brothers for assistance. Either his brothers were directly involved or they assisted with gang contacts and other Vietnamese gang members made the hit.

Here is where my department comes in: screening. Or the lack of it.

There are generally four overarching venues for suit exposure involving a law enforcement agency:

• Negligence in hiring;
• Negligence in training;
• Negligence in retention;
• Negligence in policy.

The Chu Vue case will come to expose the first three, I believe. Here is where I get into very hot water and must clearly state: the following reflects my opinion and is not yet backed with public fact.

In the academy, Chu Vue had some major difficulties, not the least of which was the English language. Very special effort was made on his behalf to ameliorate that and other issues so as to more accurately reflect, in the department, the surrounding community. There was talk of cheating on Vue's part; he managed, however, to pass the academy.

You recall I indicated that, at age 43, a 13-year veteran of the department, he was still in Corrections. That bespeaks volumes. And that is this: he wasn't cut out for Patrol. All deputies must at least encounter some portion of Patrol training. Those who can't cut it in Patrol do, however, have a fallback position: corrections.

And here is where I step up to my soapbox and make my editorial:

I want you, the reading American public, to know one very important thing about law enforcement:

Not just my agency, but agencies nationwide are having an extremely difficult time in locating qualified academy recruits for law enforcement. The push to acquire recruits is heavy; fewer and fewer people want to make the sacrifices necessary to be a law enforcement officer.

One shining beam in the process, however, involves people leaving the military (having been assigned to Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.) and looking for jobs. We find that ex-military personnel already have, to a degree, the requisite mindset for discipline, sacrifice and service. But their numbers are not such that we can so easily replace those officers who are retiring.

Further, the current generations leapfrog about various departments. If you don't drive the right car, allow beards, allow their favorite handgun to be carried, they don't like the color of your uniform, people will leave at the drop of a hat. Because more and more they have what I call a "fallback position" and that is this: mommy and daddy. They can always go back home. And be readily accepted.

Except for returning soldiers, academy recruits have little if any cognizant grasp of the real world. Most have never been struck in anger. Most have never been challenged physically. Most are out of shape. The push is on, of course, for non-whites: females, Mexicans, blacks, Vietnamese, Hmong. My department even striates whites: Russians or Chechens are better than home-growns.

Hiring standards go up in times of plenty; they go down in times of drought. Chu Vue was hired, imagine that, during a time of drought. Sometimes it's not "have you ever done drugs?" Sometimes it's "have you done drugs during the last month?" People with gang affiliations are making it into the US military. Therefore they are making it into law enforcement. Witness the LAPD Rampart scandal a few years back.

But my department is no better or worse than many other departments encountering the same situation: where will we find our next generation of responsible law enforcement officers?

I know this: you are no better, generally, than your surrounding gene pool. If you dip into that pool and decide, for whatever exigent circumstances, that Persons A, B or C are acceptable because they allow a certain "goal" (not quota) to be reached, well, you reap what you sow.

I once applied, a few years back, for the position of department background investigator. I made ONE mistake during my oral interview. I said the Q word. There is no Q word. There are only GOALS. Imagine, if you will, what they might be.

In the meantime, it sickens me to think that a man wearing my uniform is potentially responsible for the murder of another officer.

BZ

The Real Riots

BZ

This Dude Just Said It All

Go here and see what I mean.

BZ

Why I Love Denny Crane

You should be watching Boston Legal.

BZ

Polls, Trolls, Goals

Omigosh, there are SO many things to write about and, with this exception, I'll make a multiple-issue post (though I much prefer single-topic publishings). Where to start? I know: at the start.

IT AIN'T OVER 'TIL IT'S OVER:
It greatly disappoints me that certain Conservative circles are already throwing in the proverbial towel when it comes to the McCain/Palin ticket. WRONG. That tattered towel is currently, in truth, being utilized to mop the sweat from fevered brows of Leftists who wonder, why-oh-why, it is that the Obamessiah isn't 20, 30, 40 points ahead of the ancient, doddering, balding, pasty white guy and the Alaskan Hot Chick?

Most are predicating their prognostications upon such simplistic and, at their core, essentially inaccurate things as polls prior to a given event; but, more importantly, polls that the DEM/MSM are able to pick and choose when they serve. That means there are polls that you won't hear, read, see. Investor's Business Daily reports, as of Thursday:

IBD/TIPP Tracking Poll: Day Eleven
Posted: Thursday, October 23, 2008
McCain has cut into Obama's lead for a second day and is now just 1.1 points behind. The spread was 3.7 Wednesday and 6.0 Tuesday. The Republican is making headway with middle- and working- class voters, and has surged 10 points in two days among those earning between $30,000 and $75,000. He has also gone from an 11-point deficit to a 9-point lead among Catholics.

But, of course, you won't even remotely read, hear, see of this.

Please allow me to Bloviate, if I may, on polls specifically applicable to this electoral season:

Many people purposely lie to pollsters. I make it one of my life's goals to do so. But I am an individual who tends to push and bull his way through Life; I am not what one would typify as a political Shrinking Violet.

Other people, however, for many reasons, will provide information to pollsters because they don't wish to be viewed as "judgmental" in any form -- particularly in public. They don't wish to be interpreted as against what may be contrary to the common media and -- yes -- that would be the Defeatist, Elitist Media/MainStream Media. These persons would also include those who have a natural Conservative, religious or Republican bent because they're not overbearing (in terms of telling the pollsters to f__ off) nor are they inclined to have their very personal views challenged or excoriated -- again -- in public. Their thoughts and philosophies are private.

Who are the loudest, I would ask? The Few. Who are quietest, I would ask? The Most.

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As of Friday, October 24th, there are 11 more days to the election. It is NOT over.

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This is NOT "just" a Presidential election. It is an election for the future of this nation.

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LET'S JUST CHECK THE OIL:

Since the breakdown of a good portion of our national banking and lending institutions, another indicator that has recently been largely ignored is that of oil. I have a very specific thought regards oil. And that is this:

A barrel of oil peaked recently in July at $147. The day of this post, Thursday 10-23, oil has more than halved in price. It is now $66 a barrel. In Fornicalia, this was reflected in a personally-observed cash Arco pricing of $2.92 per gallon on Thursday.

Why has the price of oil been plunging? Why is it literally half the price of what it was a mere three months ago?

I submit this for your consideration: there are fewer speculators screwing with oil prices. They are worried about other, more overarching, issues.

Of course, I anticipate that your clarion call will be: "but BZ, don't you consider and in-factor the downturn in purchasing by the motoring public, you ignorant wienie?"

To which I would reply: yes, I have considered that fully. With my personally-crafted retort to include:

Then why, until now, didn't oil prices reduce appropriately when it was clear that the so-called motoring public was drastically diminishing their consumption of gasoline? I asked myself: what other factor might there have been?

To which I answered immediately: the general crashing of the economy.

And therefore what do I conclude, you may ask?

The issue of high petroleum pricing didn't factor that of actual global supply. Global supply is good. It became a two-pronged issue:

Actual usage, coupled with:

A poor stock market in the US and globally.

Consider power and consider oil on this specific day:

Oil prices plummeting completely emasculate Russia and Venezuela and Saudi Arabia and any number of OPEC nations seeking Oil Power.

Once again emphasizing, with factual occurrences: the sooner that the United States can begin domestic drilling on every front, coast, state, the sooner we can cast those who hate us into the wind.

The sooner that we can become "energy independent" the happier we shall be.

But that includes every source with which the Leftists object:

• No nuclear power plants;
• No coal-fired plants;
• No solar (takes too much groundspace)
• No water-provided (would require dams and gravity-fed forebays)
• No wind-powered (blades kill seasonal and rotational birds, bats)

That's about enough for this post.

BZ

P.S.

I've actually had trolls on my site. Imagine that!

Preconditions

Now it appears that Iran has one-upped the United States of America. Preconditions? Apparently Iran has preconditions of its own, prior to any meeting with the US. What would those be? To wit:

Mehdi Kalhor, the Iranian Vice President for Media Affairs, told the Islamic Republic News Agency that talks between the two nations depend on America meeting the following preconditions: ending support for Israel, and withdrawing all military forces from the Middle East.

Of the two presidential candidates, who might be the more inclined to leave Israel twisting in the wind?

BZ

Hamas: Elect Obama/Biden

From WND and WABC:

JERUSALEM – In an exclusive interview tonight, a senior Hamas official heaped praise on Sen. Joe Biden, calling him a "very nice" person and a "great man" whose record "speaks volumes" and who can be counted on by the terror group to engage in the "right policy" toward the Middle East.

During the interview with WND's Aaron Klein and WABC Radio's John Batchelor, the Hamas figure also expressed hope regarding Sen. Barack Obama's "vision for change," announcing Hamas will send Obama a letter of congratulation "the moment he will win the election."

And that is all I need to know.

I voted McCain/Palin.

BZ

Polls

The DEM (Defeatist, Elitist Media) and MSM (MainStream Media), little more than "common" organs for the Left, trust me, are doing all they can to diminish or eliminate the truth and, additionally, to purposely and unilaterally promote one candidate set and one party throughout the entire nation. Despite this, despite the intensity of the fight and the intensity of the DEM/MSM to display every bit of bias imagineable, Big 3 TV ratings continue to drop!

The bulk of the polls, therefore, are reflective of the DEM/MSM desire to deflate the spirit of Conservatives and create a sense of "all is lost" and "any further work is futile." The purpose is to get Conservatives to throw up their collective hands and decide to stay home, not vote at all. The bulk of the polls indicate Obama is steamrollering over McCain.

To which I reply: WRONG.

• We must still stay in the fight!
• If we keep the faith, we keep in the fight!
• We have to look upon this as the First Step in taking back Conservatism!
• There is still much more to do!

So what's the plan?

1. Take the White House.

2. In order to make SCOTUS appointments

3. And keep a semblance of balance in the triumvirate of legislative, executive and judicial branches

THEN we begin working on our local levels to locate, identify, groom and support True Conservative Candidates and not the RINOs we've been seeing.

But winning the White House is ONLY the First Step.

Keep the faith!

The DEM/MSM will do everything it can to portray that "all is lost" and that Obama will simply waltz into the presidency.

This fight is NOT over!

And we CAN WIN!

BZ

How I Voted

In my county, some distance away from where I work in Sacramento, Fornicalia, I've already voted by way of absentee ballot. That way I get to vote early and I get to make sure my votes are OBVIOUSLY indicated -- my absentee ballot calls for a clear and prominent filling-in, by pen, of an oval directly adjacent the choice desired. No chads. No digital nothing. Fill in the oval, make it precise, make it black. Paint it black. And trust me: my ovals are black and precise.

As opposed to so many in the DEM/MSM and Liberals who won't "own" who they are and what they are, here's how I voted in my area, my state, and the Presidential Election:

PRESIDENTIAL:

I voted for McCain/Palin. Period.

FORNICALIA PROPOSTIONS:

Prop 1A - High Speed Rail Bond

NO. Rail creation of any kind, particularly "high speed" rail, is expensive beyond measure. In 1908 it cost $0.75 per track foot, or $3,960 a mile. Recently, 6.3 miles of American "light rail" extension at 2007 prices costed out at about $2 billion dollars. The Union Pacific recently estimated per-mile costs of new freight at a minimum of $385 million per mile. Currently Union Pacific rail renovation projects for heavy freight over Donner Pass (the area where I live) include the replacement of 136-pound rail with 141-pound rail. That is to say, one yard of each rail equals either 136 or 141 pounds. Freight rail doesn't have to be incredibly precise; it just has to be durable and heavy. High speed rail must be precise, accurately-gauged, cambered in curves and inaccessible. It isn't just a matter of laying rail; it's a matter of purchasing brand new right-of-way for the track proper and sufficient extra right-of-way to ensure safety and inaccessability for those bent on damaging or derailing HSR. Finally, I want no further link from Southern Fornicalia to Northern Fornicalia. The Surenos can keep their gang bullshit right where it is, thank you.

Prop 2: Farm Animals

NO. As Tom McClintock writes on his blog: "Sorry, but farm animals are food, not friends. Plan on somewhat happier cows and much higher grocery bills if this one passes."

Prop 3: Hospital Bond

NO. You're about to see a trend. That is this: NO to ANY further bonds in this state. NO MORE SPENDING.

Prop 4: Parental Notification

YES. This proposition got shot down originally in 2003; it's back in 2008. Parents must give written consent before their teenaged daughters use a tanning booth or get their ears pierced. This measure simply requires parents to be notified if their daughter is having an abortion. What part of this proposition doesn't involve common sense? Oh yes, that's right: Demorats can't quite grasp the obvious concept.

Prop 5: Non-Violent Drug Offenses

NO. Enough with the "drug diversion" bullshit. Make people responsible. Make people serve their sentences. This proposition would allow criminals to use their drug offense for leniency for other non-drug-related crimes. WRONG.

Prop 6: Police and Law Enforcement Funding

NO. I'm a cop. I've been in law enforcement in one form or another since 1975. I'm Pro-Cop. But I also have to walk the walk and talk the talk. When I vote down every bond this year, I must be consistent. More spending in this state? More bonds? No damned way -- not for any issue. Period. This spending simply has to STOP.

Prop 7: Renewable Energy Subsidies

NO: Tom McClintock writes: "This will send electricity prices through the roof. It requires the most expensive energy generation to comprise 20 percent of our electricity needs. Government should get out of the way and let simple economics determine the mix of energy generation in this state." Right on, Tom.

Prop 8: Defense of Marriage Act

YES: Tom McClintock writes: "Marriage is a unique institution in which a man and a woman summon a child into the world – creating a unique tapestry of responsibilities. Our marriage laws are designed to support those responsibilities and are simply inapplicable to any other kind of relationship. Lincoln asked, “If you call a tail a leg, how many legs has a dog? The answer is four. Calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it one.” And calling a homosexual partnership a marriage doesn’t make it one." I also say: there is a reason why a wife is called a WIFE and a husband is termed a HUSBAND.

Prop 9: Parole Reform

YES: This requires the victim to be considered when a suspect’s bail is being set or a criminal’s parole is being determined. And also victim notification.

Prop 10: Fuel Subsidies

NO: This $5 billion bond will cost taxpayers $10 billion with interest to subsidize “alternative fuel vehicles” and “renewable energy.” This bond right now? No. Not just no, but HELL no. NO MORE BONDS.

Prop 11: Redistricting

YES: As Tom McClintock writes: "This should be the all-time no brainer: voters should choose their politicians and not the other way around. This measure takes redistricting out of the hands of the legislature, removing an obvious conflict of interest." Another proposition killed in 2003 by millions of dollars provided by "special interests."

Prop 12: Veterans Bond Act

NO: Co-authored by Tom McClintock, he and I part ways on this one. It's another bond at the WRONG time. NO MORE BONDS. NO MORE SPENDING.

Regionally, I also voted DOWN a bond for my local school district. It seems they want more money because their student rolls are down. You want money when rolls are up, and you want money when rolls are down? How about you just do what I have to do: live within your means.

FOURTH DISTRICT, CONGRESS:

Tom McClintock (R)

There were two choices: Charlie Brown, the plain brown wrapper Demorat who won't own his views, and my mentor and Ideal Republican, Tom McClintock. I've sent money to Tom (twice), I've walked for Tom, I've advocated for Tom.

That's how I voted.

How about YOU?

BZ

Powell: Not So Much

Colin Powell came out this past weekend in support of Barack Hussein Obama.

If, perhaps, we had both those men hold their wrists up to the light, would their melanin count match?

I suspect it would. But -- of course -- that's not my point so much.

Is this the "startling revelation" made by the DEM/MSM?

But wait; hold for a moment. Why is it that the current Bush Administration happens to have appointed more so-called "minorities" to cabinet and other posts than any other presidential administration in history?

Oh, wait, yes, that's true. Demorats like minorities only insofar as they can hold to the Proscribum Demoratus.

Colin Powell endorsing Barack Hussein Obama? Unanticipated? A shocker? Perhaps a wrist comparison?

How about, now, an endorsement of John McCain by Joe Liebermann and Zell Miller?

Wrist comparisons, anyone?

BZ

Why He Served: From A Soldier's Blog. YOU MUST READ THIS POST.

The soldier who wrote this post in his blog on August 30th was killed on Monday, October 13th of this month by an IED. US Army Specialist Stephen Fortunato, 25, of Beverly, Massachusetts, was killed -- in a terrible irony -- on his first day back on patrol after a 19-day leave in Massachusetts to visit friends and family.

He writes of his service in a way that is at once blunt, shocking and baldly honest. I'll let his writing speak for him posthumously:

If I may …

I'd like to say something....Just to get it out there so it is clear.To all the pampered and protected Americans who feel it is their duty to inform me that I am not fighting for their freedom, and that i am a pawn in Bush's agenda of greed and oil acquisition: Noted, and [expletive deleted] You.

I am not a robot. i am not blind or ignorant to the state of the world or the implications of the "war on terrorism." i know that our leaders have made mistakes in the handling of a very sensitive situation, but do not for one second think that you can make me lose faith in what we, meaning America's sons, daughters, fathers, and mothers in uniform are doing.

I am doing my part in fighting a very real enemy of the United States, i.e. Taliban, Al Qaida, and various other radical sects of Islam that have declared war on our way of life. Unless you believe the events of 9/11 were the result of a government conspiracy, which by the way would make you a MORON, there is no reasonable argument you can make against there being a true and dangerous threat that needs to be dealt with. i don't care if there are corporations leaching off the war effort to make money, and i don't care if you don't think our freedom within America's borders is actually at stake. i just want to kill those who would harm my family and friends. it is that simple. Even if this is just a war for profit or to assert America's power, so what? Someone has to be on top and I want it to be us. There's nothing wrong with wishing prosperity for your side.

I am a proud American. i believe that my country allows me to live my life more or less however i want to, and believe me, i have seen what the alternative of that looks like. i also believe that our big scary government does way more than it has to to help complete [expletive deleted]-ups get back on their feet, a stark comparison to places where leaders just line their own pockets with gold while allowing the people who gave them their power and privilage to starve. I have chosen my corner. I back my country, and am proud to defend it against aggressors. Also, if you dare accuse us of being inhumane, or overly aggressive because we have rolled into someone else's country and blown some [expletive deleted] up and shot some people, let me remind you of just how inhumane we COULD be in defending ourselves. Let me remind you that we have a warhead that drops multiple bomblets from the stratosphere which upon impact, would turn all the sand in Iraq to glass, and reduce every living thing there to dust. Do we use it? No. Instead we use the most humane weapon ever devised: the American soldier. We send our bravest (and perhaps admitably craziest) men and women into enemy territory, into harms way, to root out those whom we are after and do our best to leave innocent lives unscathed.

...One last thing...a proposal. i know it has been stated time and time again but i just think it is worthy of reiteration. If you find yourself completely disgusted with the way America is being ran, and how we handle things on the global stage, you can leave. Isn't that amazing? No one will stop you! If you are an anarchist, there are places you can go where there is no government to tell you anything. That's right...you are left solely to your own devices and you can handle the men who show up at your door with AKs in any way that you see fit.

Just don't try good old American debate tactics on them because you will most likely end up bound and blind-folded, to have your head chopped off on the internet so your parents can see it. However if you insist on staying here and taking advantage of privilages such as free speach and WIC, keep the counter-productive [expletive deleted] to a minimum while the grown ups figure out how to handle this god-awful mess in the middle east.

After I read that post, I was emotionally wrung out and the corners of my eye were wet.

This soldier, though young and relatively inexperienced back at home, implicitly understood the Larger Picture that so many Americans of all ages and stripes simply, apparently, cannot.

Joe the Plumber. Army Specialist Stephen Fortunato.

Two mere men, two commoners, two drones, two groundlings, two proles, two of what the Left would offhandedly typify as unwitting dupes -- somehow inherently know much more about how the world actually works than Barack Hussein Obama, potentially the President and Commander-In-Chief of the United States of America, that Great Experiment in Progress, the strongest nation on Earth, the savior of millions of people, the Last, Best Hope For The Entire Planet.

I ask you: go back and read Spc. Fortunato's post again if you dare.

And tell me you don't think 1) he was infinitely wise beyond his years and 2) that his views aren't yours.

God bless you Stephen Fortunato; may you rest in eternal peace knowing you served your country and that there are still some people in your homeland who understand and honor your sacrifice.

BZ

Let's Just Examine "Joe the Plumber" And Small Businesses

First, you need to understand that, under Barack Hussein Obama, you're one of the Dirty Wealthy Elite if you happen to make more than $250,000 a year.

[And even before I go further, I should like to interject at this point: who is the "party of the poor" -- Demorats or Republicans? As I wrote in November of last year, The Washington Times indicated: "Democrats like to define themselves as the party of poor and middle-income Americans, but a new study says they now represent the majority of the nation's wealthiest congressional districts. In a state-by-state, district-by-district comparison of wealth concentrations based on Internal Revenue Service income data, Michael Franc, vice president of government relations at the Heritage Foundation, found that the majority of the nation's wealthiest congressional jurisdictions were represented by Democrats."]

That in consideration, there's been much made of Joe "The Plumber" Wurzelbacher's interaction between Barack Hussein Obama and himself, documented on YouTube and the subject of numerous media points this past week.

Much has been made on the Left that Joe "isn't a union member," he "doesn't have a license," etc etc etc.

But the main point is Joe's specific question: "I’m getting ready to buy a company that makes $250,000 to $280,000 a year. Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn’t it?”

To which Barack Hussein Obama responded: "I think that when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody."

This is "income redistribution."

This is, essentially, Socialism.

Even a buck an hour increase on the minimum wage equates to $12,000 to $15,000 wages paid a year for a business that employs a few workers, and you've just lopped off 20% of the profit on a business that might nominally have yielded $60,000 a year in profits.

Further, small business profit margins aren't predictable by any means. You need to bank away the good years in order to anticipate and survive the rough years.

Everybody want to make more money. Employees want to make more money; businesses want to make more money. That, on its face is not wrong -- except as viewed by Leftists/Socialists/Demorats.

Growing a business increases taxable income. Growing a business is good for the economy.

Obama's tax plan in re his $250,000 "wealthy" line will put small business owners into the 54% tax bracket. That means over 50% of whatever profits occur will be confiscated by the government.

Obama and his ilk throughout the nation, the DEM/MSM, have disdain for "Joe the Plumber."

McCain has embraced "Joe the Plumber." And finally, though post-debate, John McCain just now becomes Captain Obvious:

CONCORD, N.C. – Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Saturday accused Democratic rival Barack Obama of favoring a socialistic economic approach by supporting tax cuts and tax credits McCain says would merely shuffle wealth rather than creating it.

"At least in Europe, the Socialist leaders who so admire my opponent are upfront about their objectives," McCain said in a radio address. "They use real numbers and honest language. And we should demand equal candor from Sen. Obama. Raising taxes on some in order to give checks to others is not a tax cut; it's just another government giveaway."

It is clearly acknowledged that "small businesses" employ the greatest number of persons in the country. If you hurt small business, you hurt the country. Obama has no grasp of this clear concept whatsoever.

Businesses aren't in business to lose money. It is not their job to "take it on the chin" for the government or the populace in general. Businesses operate on a principle with which Barack Hussein Obama and government in general have no clue: incentive. More risk for more gain. Those who take the risks should reap the gains!

Once Obama's tax plans are set into motion, businesses won't slap their foreheads nationwide and exclaim: "Shucks, looks like we'll just have to lose money for a few more years -- but that's fine because, after all, we'll know we're 'doing our part' for Obama."

No. Businesses will take one or more of the following paths:

• Raise prices on their goods and services;
• Lose employees by attrition;
• Fire employees outright.
• And expect themselves and those remaining to do more with less;
• That is, if they can even afford to stay in business.

That puts more people into the unemployement lines. That creates a greater hardship on individuals and families. It impacts family budgets. It reduces or eliminates consumer discretionary spending.

"Joe the Plumber" indeed. How about The Individual American?

BZ

P.S.

Apologies for the late post; this was written last night and about to be published until, of course, the number on the opposite end of my dial-up was, of all things, busy for hours and hours. Heavy sigh.

BUT: GUESS WHAT??

From TheDrudgeReport:

GALLUP's 'traditional' likely voter model shows Obama with a two-point advantage over McCain on Thursday, 49% to 47%, this is within poll's margin of error... Developing...

PLUS:

The Demorats, in the form of ACORN, finally were sufficiently egregious in their actions so as to actually acquire official attention regarding voter fraud.

This election, as I've been stating, is far, far, far from over.

BZ

Justifiable Homicides UP

I am not interested, just now, in the final debate.

Instead, I offer that a recent FBI reports says (via USA Today):

WASHINGTON -- The number of justifiable homicides committed by police and private citizens has been rising in the past two years to their highest levels in more than a decade, reflecting a shoot-first philosophy in dealing with crime, say law enforcement analysts.

I have some very serious thoughts about this topic in general, predicated upon my 33 years in law enforcement (I am still a sworn LE officer). I made this comment a few weeks ago with regard to the use of force as a general issue on American And Proud:

Well, here’s the deal:

Law enforcement went to the Tazer and beanbag shotguns because they were quantified as “less than lethal” force but NOT “non-lethal” force as some in copdom write. History is obviously showing that Tazers CAN be lethal dependent upon the individual’s health, history and, at the moment of impact, what is known as “drugs on board.” There is also the adrenaline affect known as “excited delirium” which also comes into play.

As Rangemaster of my department, I told my department that suits would become such that there would be little reason to spend all the extra dollars on “less than lethal” force as it would soon prove to in fact BE lethal in SOME cases. But, of course, that’s all it takes for the ACLU and various other “humanitarian” organizations to object TO “less than lethal” force. I said in an Exec Staff meeting that money would be better spent divesting of LTL and, instead, investing in more range time, rounds, placement and gun handling skills.

I am being proven correct. An injury tort settlement yields almost the same amount of liability exposure or money as a “wrongful death” suit. You may as well shoot them. Again, I am being proven correct.

All trainers in firearms state that officers do not utilize firearms to wound, “wing” or kill. They shoot to STOP the offender from the actions requiring the utilization of the firearm. We train to stop ONLY when the OFFENDER’S deadly or harmful actions STOP.

There is some serious re-thinking and re-consideration going on in the law enforcement training communities throughout the nation. Too many “stops” in the Force Continuum (Officer thinks: “Hmm. Should I use harsh language? Sarcasm?Empty hand? Baton? Tazer? ‘Found’ objects? Beanbag? Pepperball? My sidearm? My shotgun? My long rifle?”) result in muddy thinking or late thinking in human beings.

In truth, this is a very bad time to be stupid. It is a bad time to invade someone's home, particularly someone of modest means who happens to be armed with an aluminum bat, large caliber handgun or even a very nice Spyderco.

It is a bad time to do so because people are fed up. They are fed up with society's predators. They are fed up with "diversion programs" and "22 years on death row" and Mumia Abu-Jamal (see this excellent monograph about Jamal on Accuracy In Academia). They are fed up with watching the takers continue to take and the givers continue to be taken. They are fed up with the Predators' Philosophy of "What's mine is mine and what's yours is mine unless you're strong enough to stop me."

Worse yet, people are going to be a tad bit more irritable come November 5th, should Obama win the election. THE DEMOCRATS LIED AND THE ENTIRE UNITED STATES ECONOMY DIED plays into the hands of those of find that Life is difficult enough to live without having one's daughter date-raped, without having one's sacrosanct home burglarized, without having one's vehicle damaged or gas tank purged of fuel.

Further, again from the article:

The NRA and other analysts say most laws allowing gun possession have existed for years and would not likely account for a recent spike in self-defense killings.

Instead, Wayne LaPierre, the NRA's executive vice president and chief executive officer, says the 9/11 attacks and the widespread looting and violence after Hurricane Katrina spurred some people to take more responsibility for their own safety.

Immediately after those events, LaPierre says, the group's gun-safety trainers reported "big increases" in NRA-sponsored courses. "Americans are simply refusing to be victims," he says.

I completely concur. This trend will continue and rightly so. Juries and their potential nullifications may become a rule with regard to violent suspects, rather than an exception.

There is the slight smell of actual revolution fomenting in the air, my dearest readers. If there is one thing with which Shoprat and I manifestly agree, it is this.

BZ

STAY THE COURSE!

I really don't expect much from tonight's debate; I've been personally trained by the McCain campaign to think this way. You too, perhaps.

As I wrote on Monday:

I've made it no secret, here on Bloviating Zeppelin, that I'll vote for the McCain/Palin ticket simply because I will in no way countenance or be remotely responsible for an Obama/Biden win. I'll not stay home on election day (a figure of speech anyway, as I've already marked my absentee ballot -- as I receive one every election), I'll not "write in" some other minimal person whose philosophy may more mirror mine but is, realistically, entirely unelectable, nor will I vote for Obama simply because I want "change" -- whatever that word connotes.

And that philosophy shall not mutate.

Some persons on the Right are already "doomsaying." I say, avoid this phrase: "self-fulfilling prophecy."

McCain may do well, he may not. And Barack Hussein Obama is purposely portraying himself as something of a centrist when, if elected, I fervently believe the gloves shall fall off and he will lean and advocate Hard Left and there will be much "buyers' remorse" with voters. I would ask all my readers and visitors to simply stay the course for McCain/Palin because this is the alternative:

• A Demorat-controlled White House, House, Senate and SCOTUS;
• Loss of of personal freedoms;
• Loss of communications freedoms;
• Massive tax hikes;
• A purposeful downturn in prosperity;
• A purposeful downturn in national security;

Also: let us NOT forget that the OBJECTIVE of the bulk of national polls is to so disillusion Conservatives that they'll conclude their sole vote means little. DON'T LET THAT HAPPEN.

Those bulleted items are guaranteed with a Demorat-controlled political system. A political system will all three branches of government (executive, legislative, judicial) that will be, essentially, entirely unchallenged. And that is good for no one.

BZ

My Trip Is Ending

Kelp, like Monterey Bay, somehow manages to clog the entrance to Noyo Harbor as well.
The literal "deer in the headlight," except this young doe was caught a few feet from the ocean in complete daylight. She bounded off a short time later!
USCG "Coasties" exit the mouth of Noyo Harbor in their 47' motor lifeboat.
Closeup of one of three USCG MLs assigned to Noyo River Station.
Windswept pines, rocks, vertical cliffs and crashing waves all describe the Fornicalia coast. The weather during our vacation was stunning and clear!

Coasties whip their Noyo River 47' motor lifeboat about in an exercise designed to highlight its maneuverability for students.
Deep into Noyo Harbor adjacent the USCG Station Noyo River. Very few fishing vessels plied the seas whilst we were present. Economy? Price of diesel? Lack of fish? Completely unknown.
All the fishing boats weren't abandoned, however. I noticed an abundance of activity on any number of docked boats, to include this man using some apparent down time to sand a portion of his structure.
Dark green sea grass waves with the incoming and outgoing tides.
"A wonderful bird is the Pelican.

His mouth can hold more than his belly can.

He can hold in his beak

Enough food for a week.

I'll be darned if I know how the hell he can."

-Ogden Nash

My honey brought two laptops, I discovered, on our trip to Ft. Bragg. One is an older HP with XP, and the one I'm using now is a new HP Pavilion tx 1000, which is a tablet-type with a remarkably small screen. This unit, however, also runs on Vista -- therefore increasing my learning curve. But that's alright because I'm also learning how to download photos from the Sony Alpha 300 to Vista via cabling instead of CF card.

I downloaded 12 photos from the A300 to the tablet, created a new photo file and hope to post them here (with fingers crossed) in all their alleged 10mp glory. I discovered this laptop will allow me to inject photos into posts unlike the older unit with XP.

In any event, it is now Monday night at 6pm, my wife is relaxing in the Jacuzzi tub with a glass of wine, the sun is lowering in the sky and, as always, we can hear the foghorn and the occasional clank of the bells in the harbor throat. We are listening to Enya's Amarantine via my iPod Nano plugged into the motel's speaker unit.

We have to leave tomorrow morning, Tuesday the 15th, and that's always a sad time signaling, unfortunately, our leaving this nice town and the relaxation it always brings. We made the trip today to one of our two favorite coastal bookstores, the Gallery Bookshop at Main and Kasten in the town of Mendocino. I picked up Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card in paperback as I hadn't read it in years and was looking to renew my touch with OSC.

The moon was full last night and I was staggered by the beautiful luminescence at 5am this morning as it shone perfectly over the waves at the mouth of Noyo Harbor. Unfortunately, my tripod was in the back of the RAV-4 at the time, precisely where it should not have been, had I been halfway intelligent which, predominantly, I amn't. Yes, that's a new word.

I hope to rectify that error tomorrow morning and, moreover, post the photographic take.

In the meantime, more photos (with commentary) for your perusal from this current trip.

BZ

When You ENGAGE:

You do better.

McCain limp-wristed the last debate; most Conservatives would readily acknowledge that as fact. However, since then, his advertisements and his townhall meetings and stump speeches have been more adversarial. As have been those of Sarah Palin.

I've made it no secret, here on Bloviating Zeppelin, that I'll vote for the McCain/Palin ticket simply because I will in no way countenance or be remotely responsible for an Obama/Biden win. I'll not stay home on election day (a figure of speech anyway, as I've already marked my absentee ballot -- as I receive one every election), I'll not "write in" some other minimal person whose philosophy may more mirror mine but is, realistically, entirely unelectable, nor will I vote for Obama simply because I want "change" -- whatever that word connotes.

Having written as much, is it remarkable that the AP indicates:

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) - Republican John McCain vowed Sunday to "whip" Democratic rival Barack Obama's "you-know what" when the two presidential candidates meet Wednesday in their final televised debate.

Further, the Gallup poll relates:

Gallup Daily: Obama-McCain Gap Narrows
Obama leads, 50% to 43%

From the DrudgeReport:

ZOGBY MONDAY: OBAMA 48%, MCCAIN 44%... DEVELOPING...

Sarah Palin came out slugging on Saturday regarding abortion:

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) - Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin attacked Barack Obama on abortion on Saturday, saying the Democratic presidential candidate has "left behind even the middle ground on the issue of life."

And John McCain already predicted dire circumstances, back in 2006, in the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issue:

Sen. John McCain's 2006 demand for regulatory action on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could have prevented current financial crisis, as HUMAN EVENTS learned from the letter shown in full text below.

So what's the common thread throughout most of these notations?

This one fact: that the McCain/Palin campaign is engaging; I can't quite place its response into the "fighting back" territory -- but I will go so far as to allow "upscale engagement."

As it was with Bush, so it is with McCain and any other Republican or GOP representative:

When you engage, when you take the fight back to your accusers, when you STAND UP ON YOUR OWN TWO FEET:

Guess what?

People listen.

BZ

New To The Usual Suspects

Please, direct from Melbourne, Australia, welcome American Interests to The Usual Suspects.

The purpose of the AI blog is to "To disseminate knowledge of, highlight threats to, explore opportunities for, and serve as a platform of advocacy for the preservation and continuance of American hegemony." Wonderful!

All this from an Australian blogger? But wait, there's more. AI writes about himself:

Most know me as Otto, my everyday designation others as Ottavio, my birth name. I am partial to free, market driven economies, free trade principles, and freedom for individuals to structure their own lives with little Government interference. I believe in the individual, and would staunchly advocate that the "individual" is greater than any collective and that he/she should have ultimate control over their lives. I am socially conservative and support traditional morality and social structure. I champion fiscal conservatism and economic liberalism. I enjoy writing about that which interests me. To be sure, I do so to impart knowledge and understanding and to put both an individual spin and my own distinctive sensibility and perception on my chosen subject matter. Whether we share the same opinion or not is immaterial; I warmly welcome all comments to my posts. In amity, you will find me honest, loyal, dependable, and principled. So please, do not hesitate to comment, no matter what your beliefs or stance.

As I've written before any number of times (most recently this past Monday): when you damage America, be it by those internally or externally, you damage and threaten the entire planet. Here is a blog whose entire premise is precisely that.

Further, AI writes in "About This Blog":

What most folk seem to forget or simply not understand, is that for all intents and purposes, present “World Order” is stable and predictable in part due to the economic, technological, military and diplomatic superpower we know as The United States.

It is largely unacknowledged that it is in the world's greatest interests that the U.S. continues to exact its present worldly economic, political, cultural and military influence, one that extends to leadership in scientific and technological research and the production of innovative technological products.

Our democratic way of life, our economies and our national security, are irrevocably tied to a secure world order - an order, to which the present day United States, even with some imperfections, is at the heart, as the pre-eminent driver of internationalism.

This site has a four-fold purpose, to increase knowledge of, highlight threats to, explore opportunites for and above all, serve as platform of advocacy for the continuance and preservation of global American dominance because, as was stated well before me, "America must remain strong".

Intelligent, insightful, well-written, thoughtful, this is American Interests and more. Please go there now; you'll quite enjoy every visit.

Excelsior!

BZ

P.S.

Continued appy-polly-loggies for not being able to post photos from this current laptop whilst on holiday. For whatever reason this unit and Blogger are not seeing quite eye-to-eye.