The Second Revolution

Watch this video and tell me what you think, please. Thanks be to Maggie's Notebook.

BZ

My Government Spent BILLIONS On GM. . .

. . .and now it appears GM may go bankrupt anyway?

Billions and billions of my, of our taxpayer dollars. To General Motors. And also to the UAW -- who, by the way, made nary a concession of note.

And wasn't it me who wrote, some time ago: let these companies fail -- ? Let the Big 3 fail? Because they'd have to go Chapter 11 and be forced to restructure?

So now the Wall Street Journal writes:

GM on Monday said it will address "the tough issues to improve the long-term viability of the company," including the restructuring of its financial obligations, as it responded to Washington's calls for stronger plans to stay afloat.

The administration says a "surgical" structured bankruptcy may be the only way forward for GM and Chrysler, and President Obama held out that prospect Monday.

A " 'surgical' structured bankruptcy." Isn't that what you read as well?

So what was the damned point? Where did that money go? Don't we ALL deserve an EXPLANATION from GM and from the government?

Furthermore, has this been the object all along? That is to say, an "infusion" of cash into some industries, banks, investment firms -- with the ultimate points being these:

1. To use these massive cash infusions as "cover" for social engineering programs by the Demorats;

2. In order to let these industries, firms and banks in fact go bankrupt, so that they may ultimately be controlled by the US government?

We should DEMAND an explanation for this! It is fiscal insanity.

BZ

The Second Amendment & The Obama Administration

Perhaps some of you have thought me strangely silent on many gun issues. To a degree, I do a very precarious dance every day.

My dance is this: I am not tragically far from retirement, yet, I still am an active peace officer for a very large West Coast department in Fornicalia. I have roughly 35+ years in law enforcement, ranging from the US Marshal to the FBI to state and local experience. My dance is the attempt to not conflict with my current employer whilst still managing to express a semblance of my thoughts. There are, clearly, official and unofficial views on most anything; I have to run this razor's edge daily. I've already been forced to eliminate one "work" blog entitled "Tales From The Cockpit" because it "conflicted" with the beliefs of a certain law enforcement union. I made the rather glaring error of pointing out a glaring error. They had the power; I didn't. One phone call and a "suggestion" was made. One blog eliminated. I'm sure you can read between the lines.

So I must be, to a degree, more, ahem, *careful* than I would if not so otherwise engaged.

The Second Amendment is very short and terse; I would tend to place it also into the category of blindingly obvious:

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

And yet, in consideration of some recent horrendous and regretful events (thank you for said documentation and discussion, TF), there will clearly be another push to disarm America. And for that I cannot stand.

I disagree with the label on the YouTube video above; I do not believe Rahm Emanuel is a "Communist." I do believe, however, that he is well yet poorly educated and is possessed of Historical Alzheimers. He has been trained, philosophically-speaking, to lose sight of the obvious.

I would end the post this way, with a comment I made to Texas Fred:

You know — I hate to walk down paths like that. I hesitate to bring things like that up. But I can only see bad and dark things coming for us in our national future. And one of those things — of which I am completely CONVINCED — is a national desire, on the FEDERAL level, to disarm United States citizens except in very unusual circumstances. You don’t have to be a wizard, mesmerist or psychic to make that statement; many in the Obama Administration, INCLUDING Rahm Emanual, have STATED those things in public.

I still predicate my core and founding beliefs upon this fundamental: an UNARMED nation of citizens is a collection of persons upon which ANY egregious or freedom-removing action can be perpetrated by “their” government.

I am not and never have been convinced that GOVERNMENT has ANYONE’S best interest at heart save those very high-ranking officials IN government.

BZ

Larf

BZ

Obama's TelePrompTer

TOTUS (Teleprompter Of The United States) blog here.

TOTUS merchandise here.

BZ

P.S.

Thanks, Roland!

Government Control, You Ask?

1. Controlling The Color of the Car You Buy:

California wants to eliminate the color black from vehicles, thinking it's too expensive and draining on the environment to cool them:

In a move that will likely get California's consumers in a huff, impending legislation may soon restrict the paint color options for Golden State residents looking for their next new vehicle. The specific colors that are currently on the chopping block are all dark hues, with the worst offender seemingly the most innocuous color you could think of: Black.

What could California possibly have against these colors, you ask? Apparently, the California Air Resources Board figures that the climate control systems of dark colored cars need to work harder than their lighter siblings – especially after sitting in the sun for a few hours.

Bill Dupray then asks the next logical series of questions:

So what about a red Corvette? Too dark? How about burgundy, or are we stuck with pink? And what about visitors to California? Will Grandpa have to pay a sin tax on his navy blue Cadillac when he visits from Nevada? With all of California's existing restrictive fuel economy standards on large cars, and now color restrictions on the cars you can buy, it seems that in California you can buy any car you want, as long as it is one of these.

2. The UN Wants To Run The World; AND The United States:

From FoxNews.com:

A United Nations document on "climate change" that will be distributed to a major environmental conclave next week envisions a huge reordering of the world economy, likely involving trillions of dollars in wealth transfer, millions of job losses and gains, new taxes, industrial relocations, new tariffs and subsidies, and complicated payments for greenhouse gas abatement schemes and carbon taxes — all under the supervision of the world body.

See the 16-page UN document here.

And then read this paragraph:

In an influential but highly controversial paper called "Key Elements of a Global Deal on Climate Change," British economist Nicholas Lord Stern, formerly a high British Treasury official, has declared that industrial economies would need to cut their per capita carbon dioxide emissions by "at least 80% by 2050," while the biggest economies, like the U.S.'s, would have to make cuts of 90 percent.

Stern also calls for "immediate and binding" reduction targets for developed nations of 20 percent to 40 percent by 2020.

To meet Stern's 2050 goals, he says, among other things, "most of the world's electricity production will need to have been decarbonized."

You can read the Stern Paper here.

Had enough yet? Time to read 1984 or watch THX1138? Just you wait; it's only to become more onerous and each day passes.

Each day, I tell you, brings a greater and greater press from governments on all sides to control every little aspect of your lives.

And I'm telling you, the government, our government, had best not press too hard. Americans are amazingly resilient and amazingly tolerant.

But only to a point.

BZ

Tell Me:

How government already intrudes on your independence and/or privacy, in any or more of these venues:

• At home;
• At work;
• In public;
• In your personal life;
• In your speech;
• In your thought;
• In your community;
• In your city;
• In your state

One point, for example: freeway cameras. My guess will be: that's the least egregious we'll read of.

Another point would be: new ways for your regional governments to monitor, tax or fine you -- with government intrusion.

I have some posts coming in the future with regard to the complete loss of individual privacy.

However, even now, I believe we -- as Conservative Bloggers -- need to realize what exists already.

I want to spread the word: Europe isn't coming -- in many instances, it is already here.

Please weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section. Be specific. Let us know how individuals or families are affected. No matter how small or large, we all need to realize what's here now and what's on the horizon.

We need to be aware!

My thanks to you in advance, for alerting one and all.

BZ

Daniel Hannan To Gordon Brown

Perhaps you've seen the YouTube video on the web. That is, the video of Daniel Hannan, Member of the European Parlaiment (MEP) for South East England, giving a speech during Gordon Brown´s visit to the European Parliament on Tuesday, 24th March, 2009. Video is here.

In this speech Mr Hannan takes Prime Minister Gordon Brown to task in the precise way that our Mr Obama should likewise be excoriated and not praised.

And as you won't readily find the text of the speech anywhere else in the Blogosphere, I reproduce it here in full; every other blog simply reproduces the video. It clearly deserves a reprint:

Prime Minister, I see you’ve already mastered the essential craft of this Parliament – that being to say one thing in this chamber, and a very different thing to your home electorate. You’ve spoken here about free trade, and amen to that; who would have guessed, listening to you just now, that you were the author of the phrase ‘British Jobs for British Workers’, and that you have subsidised - where you have not nationalised outright - swathes of our economy, including the car industry and many of the banks.

Perhaps you would have more moral authority in this house if your actions matched your words. Perhaps you would have more legitimacy in the councils of the world if the United Kingdom were not going into this recession in the worst condition of any G20 country.

The truth, Prime Minister, is that you have run out of our money. The country as a whole is now in negative equity. Every British child is born owing around £20,000. Servicing the interest on that debt is going to cost more than educating the child.

Now once again today you tried to spread the blame around, you spoke about an international recession; an international crisis. Well, it is true that we are all sailing together into the squall – but not every vessel in the convoy is in the same dilapidated condition. Other ships used the good years to caulk their hulls and clear up their rigging – in other words, to pay off debt – but you used the good years to raise borrowing yet further. As a consequence, under your captaincy, our hull is pressed deep into the water line, under the accumulated weight of your debt. We are now running a deficit that touches almost 10% of GDP – an unbelievable figure. More than Pakistan, more than Hungary – countries where the IMF has already been called in.

Now, it’s not that you’re not apologising - like everyone else, I’ve long accepted that you’re pathologically incapable of accepting responsibility for these things these things - it’s that you’re carrying on, wilfully worsening the situation, wantonly spending what little we have left. Last year, in the last twelve months, 125,000 private sector jobs have been lost – and yet you’ve created 30,000 public sector jobs. Prime Minister you cannot go on forever squeezing the productive bit of the economy in order to fund an unprecedented engorging of the unproductive bit.

You cannot spend your way out of recession or borrow your way out of debt. And when you repeat, in that wooden and perfunctory way, that our situation is better than others, that we’re well place to weather the storm, I have to tell you, you sound like a Brezhnev-era Apparatchik giving the party line. You know, and we know, and you know that we know that it’s nonsense. Everyone knows that Britain is the worst placed to go into these hard times. The IMF has said so. The European Commission has said so. The markets have said so, which is why our currency has devalued by 30% – and soon the voters, too, will get their chance to say so.

They can see what the markets have already seen: that you are a devalued Prime Minister, of a devalued Government.

Where are our Realists in this government? Where can any real journalist be located to ask Mr Obama these pertinent questions?

That's right: they're so completely invested in Mr Obama now, as far as they're concerned; HE is "too big to fail."

Others writing today about this: Maggie's Notebook; Conservatism With Heart.

BZ

P.S.

Even the rest of the EU can see that the US economy is on "the road to hell."

The Other Side: Oakland PD Officer Executions

I was originally going to write in depth, today, about the economy.

But first, I'd like to briefly cover a local situation in Fornicalia wherein a 26-year-old rapist/parolee named Lovelle Mixon shot and killed two Oakland Police Department officers last week during a vehicle stop, then shot and killed two more officers who attempted to arrest him in an apartment a short distance away from the original scene. Mixon himself was shot and killed at that apartment. He first opened fire on and killed two more officers with an AK-47 there.

It turns out that:

The wanted parolee initially shot the two motor officers who pulled him over. ABC7 also confirmed late Monday night that Mixon then stood over the patrol cops and shot them again, execution style in the head. He then fled to his sister's apartment and fired a semiautomatic weapon as he hid in closet. The bullets blasted through walls.

You may want to read what the general Oakland public thinks of this incident but, beware, take a deep breath first: go here to see.

You also may wish to read how Oakland bloggers view Lovelle Mixon.

In this blog: race relations make it acceptable to fight The Man.

Feministing.com believes that Mr Hixon needs understanding.

The black community says some people cheered upon news of the officers' deaths.

I shake my head. But you need to read how others view this horrific event.

This is 2009, not 1970.

BZ

America Is Adrift. . .

. . .in a sea of enemy submarines.

I wake up each morning with this first thought: what more can Mr Obama or the Demorats do to this country -- to either remove our freedoms, assume further illicit control of our lives, or spend more money.

And each day brings another abrogation.

I woke up today to this:

The Obama administration is considering asking Congress to give the Treasury secretary unprecedented powers to initiate the seizure of non-bank financial companies, such as large insurers, investment firms and hedge funds, whose collapse would damage the broader economy, according to an administration document.

The government at present has the authority to seize only banks.

This government wants to run your banks. It wants to run the Big 3 automakers. It now wants to run most investment firms. It wants to run your healthcare. It wants to control your children, control their education, their thoughts, their philosophies. It wants to ensure they're dependent upon the government now and in the future.

The government wants to control your home. It wants to control your thermostat, your lights. It wants you to be cold in winter and hot in summer. It wants to control how you shop. It wants to decide what you drive, when you drive, if you drive.

It wants you to cram you into tight spaces.

It wants you only to move about by way of mass transportation. It wants you to abandon the suburbs and your 2,500-square-foot, two-story home with yard, fence, driveway, three-car garage. It wants to shove you into high rise buildings in concentrated population centers. It wants you to be unable to access open spaces with anything motorized. It wants to remove you from open spaces, period. It wants you to see only photographs and videos of nature.

It wants to monitor you. It wants to monitor your computer at work, at home. It wants to monitor you at intersections, on freeways, in businesses. It wants to monitor your car. It wants to tax your mileage, determine where you drive, how you drive. Again, if you drive.

Then, further, it wants to release ultimate sovereignty to a world body, a world court, a world monetary system.

No borders, no perimeters, no countries.

America is adrift.

Can we save her?

BZ

A Letter To My Father, From His

My father passed away just last month at age 88. It affected me much more than I could ever have imagined.

He flew for the United States Air Corps in WWII. He took his primary flight training at Stockton Field, California, and graduated in 1941. My father, Richard, apparently received a letter from his father, Verto, before Dad was off "for points West" in 1941.

I found this letter amongst my Dad's things, buried in his desk, in an envelope bearing the return address of a law firm in Dallas, Texas, postmarked 1979. It was addressed to my grandmother, his mother, likewise in Dallas. Because of this circumstance, I wondered: Why was it sent from a law firm to his mother? Did my father ever see this letter when it was meant to be seen? When his father was still alive? Or did he only see it when his mother's estate closed, after his father passed away?

I'll never know.

Typewritten on onion-skin, the words within are poignant, sage, prescient. They moved me. I think they'll speak to you as well.

________________________________

Dear Son:

I hope that I can finish this letter so that it can be mailed in sufficient time to reach you before you board the rattler for points West and your next experience in training for an eaglet in the Air Service of Uncle Sam.

I have learned that the very cheapest thing one will ever run across in this life is advice because everyone wants to give it away and so few will ever accept it. So I have been several hours in completing these paragraphs, blue penciling here and there lest I make my epistle a treatise on the "more abundant life" of New Deal parentage rather than a few timely remarks covering the fundamentals which do provide and form the background as happiness and success as America measures them.

And, I might add here, that I fervently hope that this same American measurement as applied to happiness and success will continue to be the yardstick for many years, so work hard and be ready to do your part if necessary to annihilate any and all of the cockeyed Fascist or Communist interpretations of what is best for mankind and its soul.

I shouldn't be a bit surprised that the first week or two after you leave home, that you will be amazed at the really remarkable memory you possess and in your particular case, it will be a pleasant memory. This is what is commonly called "Homesickness" but when it is stripped right down to the chassis it is merely an association of pleasant thoughts, pleasant surroundings and pleasant people who are vitally interested in you, plus an overwhelming sense of a loss of security. Doctors sometimes use what they call a counter irritant to take the mind off the chief pain or trouble of their patient and the best counter irritant to an acute attack of "pleasing memories" is deep concentration on your work.

You should be extremely grateful in that you have been a fairly regular attendant at Sunday School, of a splendid common sense religion and, without even dwelling on the manifold advantages of a good Sunday School background, one of the most practical benefits it will give you is that it will help you to see things in their true proportion.

Jesus once had something to say about people who strain at a gnat and swallow a camel, and one of the chief causes of much unhappiness in life is our confusion as to the relative importance of things.

So many trifles seem to big and important; we indulge ourselves so much in fretting and rebelling against the minor things, we can endure a severe physical pain with genuine stoicism, but the bark of a dog or the crunch of crackers upsets us tremendously.

2.

Whenever you feel that you are beset with many troubles, take a little time off and look into the Bible, particularly the New Testament; it will do you a lot of good, and you will be amazed how your troubles will disappear. The Bible does teach you to see the big things of life in a big way and the minor things as minor ones; it will give anybody true perspective.

As you go through life, you will learn that the simple life is the most effective one and also the happiest. Regardless of anyone's argument to the contrary, you will always find that the really big successful people in America today, regardless of simple pleasures, have simple taste, are very modest and usually have a deep religious character. McKinley, a great President, put corned beef and cabbage on the White House menu, and I expect, if you knew the real "low down" on that commanding officer of yours, you would find that perhaps he has a secret yen for growing nasturtiums.

The more successful they come the more big people are interested in getting information; they never hesitate to learn from anyone. Only small potatoes with warped mentalities are showy or pretentious, and those with an obnoxious abundance of conversation about themselves generally are using their long winded gyrations to cover up their deficiencies. Always remember that egotism is the cause of more conversation than learning or wit.

My experiences and observations have taught me that honesty is not only the best policy but it is the only policy, because dishonesty is its own downfall, sooner or later. It has been said that many wealthy people have obtained their money or their power by dishonest means and perhaps that is so. But you will always find that sooner or later either their conscience or the law catches up with them and the fellow with the big stick ends up either with a shiny seat in his pants or a hard cell in the hoosegow. Dishonesty is like that queer implement that Australians use, the "boomerang": it always makes the circuit and always comes back and smacks you in the face when you aren't looking.

Dishonesty never paid dividends to anyone. It is just about as dangerous as an elephant hanging over the edge of a cliff with his tail tied to a daisy.

And now to an element a little less mental than some I have mentioned, but none the less important and that is WORK. Work is essential to success in any line of endeavor and don't let any of the textbooks tell you differently. Some people have said that worry kills more men than work, and that is true because more men worry than work. So far as I know no one ever died from work in this country, but thousands may die in this country if we don't settle down to work soon.

Truly work is the most fascinating thing in the world. It rests the soul, it feeds the brain, and it gives a sense of security that is really marvelous. Never envy those who have apparently nothing on their hands but time and nothing on the brains but hair. You will get more downright thrill in the simplest job well done than

3.

they will ever get in a lifetime. Nothing worthwhile was ever accomplished except by work and any success you ever heard of was the result of one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.

As a matter of fact, you will find the economic progress of any nation is generally measured by its working hour. The real fortunes and the real industries of this nation were the result not of the 40 five day week, but a working day of dawn to dusk with Wednesday off for prayer meeting. The calamity howlers have spread their gospel that America is in terrible condition, but let me assure you that there is nothing whosoever wrong with America that work won't cure.

I must bring this letter to a close. I have merely scratched the surface of a few important things it will pay you to remember. I do hope you ahve not been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age and don't let the doleful howls of a few hair-brained spell-binders upset you.

You shall soon be in the greatest service of the greatest and finest nation in recorded history; its principles of free speech and free enterprise shall exist. You have lived as a youngster in a period when economic and social upheavals have caused a temporary distortion in the American manner of progress, but mind you, this is only temporary and America will come out of it, for faith and freedom and security are just as near at hand today as ever before.

You are indeed a fortunate individual in that you are on the threshold of the new America that will arm itself to insure the retention of its principles of freedom, and by the very reason of your being a part of this greater respect and a deeper love of those principles for which America stands.

So in the realization of a real success in the job you have ahead of you and I have complete confidence that you will be a success which can be measured only in terms of Honesty, Simplicity, Tolerance and Respectability -- there can be no greater honor or reward that could possibly come to me than in being ---

Your Dad,

(unsigned)

P. S. I am enclosing a check in case you might need a little cash before your first pay-day. Remember, never open a pot with two pair when the deuces are wild.

______________________________________

At one point, transcribing this, the tears flowed freely down my cheeks. The words are ever so valid now as then. Words of wisdom. Common words of sense and insight. Words I wish to share with you. And words I need to embrace and remember. Words this country needs to hear and see.

Let freedom ring, brothers and sisters. We cannot, we must not, let this country fall. Our Fathers tell us so.

BZ

Tax Plan

BZ

P.S.

Thanks, Dawn!

People Will Vote:

With their feet and with their pocketbooks and wallets.

Let me be blunt: a massive wave of inflation is on the horizon. Did I say: massive?

So, with this in the offing, the bulk of your liberal, "progressive" and Demorat politicians think it's a wonderful idea to increase your taxes on every level imagineable:

• Local
• State
• Federal

Nature abhors a vacuum. And when taxes, proscriptions, overbearing laws, obfuscated regulations, limitations and micromanagement result in the neck-crushing of business in highly populated (read: Blue State/Liberal/Demorat) areas, then guess what?

People will vote with their feet and their wallets.

Meaning that there will be a business exodus from blue states to the "flyover" or red states.

Because the Leftists/Socialist/Demorats/Progressives don't understand that businesses believe their primary purpose is to make a profit and not to enable social engineering. Because they're private. Imagine that.

If you live in a Blue or Liberal State, gird thy loins:

• Your taxes will skyrocket;
• Regulations will grow;
• Inflation will run rampant;
• Your wages will stagnate or even decrease;
• Local businesses will close;
• Jobs will leave -- perhaps yours;

We are going to be in a period of transition but, as I pointed out, because nature does in fact abhor a vacuum, businesses will survive.

The future exists in the Mid West states and away from any coast. Get prepared. You thought inflation in the past was bad? You've yet to see real inflation.

You read it here first.

BZ

The Ramdown To Socialism

Under President Barack Hussein Obama the US government is now a complete circus -- albeit, a very dangerous circus, but replete with an entire contingent of clowns nevertheless. It's to the point where you wonder what ramdown will occur each day, trotted out by which clown. And it's a ramdown onto which even some Demorats wish the brakes applied.

In the very first two months (58 days) since Mr Obama's inauguration on January 20th, the programs, packages, bills and spending on the part of his administration have moved with lightning speed. There is no "normal order." In my opinion it is an attempt to, literally, ram the concept of actual Socialism down the throat of the electorate -- not directly calling it such, of course -- but to ensure we are stepping smartly and immediately down that path.

This week, the "deflecting issue" is AIG.

But I ask: Who was running the New York fed when negotiations were ongoing with AIG? "Nobody here had anything to do with it," Mr Obama? The answer to the question is: Timothy Geithner. Mr Geithner did help write those contracts for AIG. That Mr Obama said he did not? That is a lie.

If AIG is to be excoriated now for its handling of employee bonuses per contract -- the White House knew and Treasury knew prior to the issuance of these bonuses. They are feigning shock because they believe it plays well with their targeted electorate -- the Citizen Ignoramuses who lap up the propagandist smegma dribbled by the Defeatist, Elitist Media (DEM). Geithner himself knew about the bonus checks to be released, last Tuesday, prior to their issuance.

Of course:

Then, Monday night, after most of the AIG bonuses had already been disbursed, Democrats began calling for a tax on the AIG executives who had received these hefty bonuses. Yet only a month ago, when the Senate considered the $787 billion stimulus bill, Senate Democrats passed an amendment by Senator Chris Dodd providing an exception for "contractually obligated bonuses agreed on before Feb. 11, 2009." That is, Senator Dodd and other Democrat leaders who are decrying the outrageousness of exorbitant executive bonuses were the very ones to guarantee that the bonus checks would be written.

And you read it here first: BZ predicts that Geithner is about to be kicked to the curb most ricky-tick by Mr Obama, just as he did with The Terrorist and The Preacher.

A Cesspool of Hypocrisy:

Mr Obama received $101,000 from AIG. Why isn't Mr Obama stepping up and publicly volunteering to immediately return this money? What about the AIG money to Chris Dodd? From CNNPolitics.com:

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Senate Banking committee Chairman Christopher Dodd told CNN’s Dana Bash and Wolf Blitzer Wednesday that he was responsible for adding the bonus loophole into the stimulus package that permitted AIG and other companies that received bailout funds to pay bonuses.

But Tuesday, Dodd told CNN he had nothing to do with it.

So let me see if I've got this straight: those persons directly responsible for creating the sub prime loan problem resulting in this economic crisis are, now, the precise persons charged with its solution? And they're continuing to lie about it?

And there are more ramdowns coming. From Bloomberg.com:

March 18 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama may try to push through Congress a health-care overhaul, energy proposals and tax increases by using a partisan tactic that would thwart Republican efforts to block the measures.

The administration and congressional Democrats are debating whether to use a parliamentary procedure called reconciliation to advance some of the biggest items on the president’s agenda. The move would allow Democrats to approve plans to raise taxes by $1 trillion, create a cap-and-trade system to rein in greenhouse-gas emissions, and overhaul health care without a single Republican vote.

All in the spirit of Obama's stated bipartisanship.

Obama: Eliminate Challenges, Institute Socialism:

From CNN, Mr Obama said:

Nobody here drafted those contracts; (a LIE: see above) nobody here was responsible for supervising AIG and allowing themselves to put the economy at risk by some of the outrageous behavior that they were engaged in," (a LIE: see above) he said outside the White House. " [But] we are responsible, though. The buck stops with me."

You have, however, but to read Obama's statement from Wednesday to understand the core of his actual Socialist philosophy:

People are right to be angry. I am angry. People are rightly outraged about these particular bonuses," he said. "But just as outrageous is the culture that these bonuses are a symptom of that have existed for far too long, a situation where excess greed, excess compensation, excess risk-taking have all made us vulnerable and left us holding the bag."

"Excess risk-taking."

Excuse me? This entire nation was founded upon risk taking. Our Founding Fathers were risk takers. Our success as a sovereign nation is entirely predicated upon risk taking. We became a military and business Powerhouse but upon the back of risk taking.

Yes, Mr Obama is in fact that ignorant of our history.

This is an overwhelming swell of political assault by the Demorats, on every front -- the specific point of which is to make this wave of such depth, breadth and speed that few, if any, can understand its implications. And, finally, to have these bills and programs passed with such an alacrity that they become law in the dead of night -- and no one notices or can object.

It is a ramdown.

BZ

Obama's Socialism: Reaching DIRECTLY Into YOUR Home

Carol Browner, President Barack Obama's Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change (or Climate Czar*) and EPA Administrator under Clinton, wants to reach into your home and slap your hand. She wants to, first, tax you -- then she wants to penalize you.

If, in winter, you set the thermostat too high, your hand will be slapped.

If, in summer, you set the thermostat too low, your hand will be slapped.

California has already said it wants to get into your home and limit your thermostat. From my post back on January 12th of 2008:

California utilities would control the temperature of new homes and commercial buildings in emergencies with a radio-controlled thermostat, under a proposed state update to building energy efficiency standards.

Customers could not override the thermostats during "emergency events," according to the proposal, part of a 236-page revision to building standards. The document is scheduled to be considered by the California Energy Commission, a state agency, on Jan. 30.

The description does not provide any exception for health or safety concerns. It also does not define what are "emergency events."

Now, under Barack Obama's Carol Browner as Climate Czar*, this idea has migrated up into a national venue.

From a US News & World Report interview on March 9th Ms Browner stated:

Eventually, we can get to a system where an electric company will be able to hold back some of the power so that maybe your air conditioner won't operate at its peak, you'll still be able to cool your house, but that'll be a savings to the consumer. And so [we will be] giving people and companies a role in the management of how we use electricity.

So. Let me posit this:

Q: In 2003, how many people perished in Europe during its summer due to heat issues?

A: 35,000

And, apparently, Mr Obama and Ms Browner want Europe, right here, right now.

But wait; whose blog are you reading? Why yes, that would be the Bloviating Zeppelin. And what has BZ oft written of the Barack Presidency? Why yes, that would be notations regarding its Socialist leanings (blogpost coming on this in the future - make way!).

However -- damn, imagine this! -- it is a verifiable fact that Carol Browner is an actual Socialist:

Until last week, Carol M. Browner, President-elect Barack Obama's pick as global warming czar, was listed as one of 14 leaders of a socialist group's Commission for a Sustainable World Society, which calls for "global governance" and says rich countries must shrink their economies to address climate change.

However, this fact has been purposely removed from your learning domain. To continue:

By Thursday, Mrs. Browner's name and biography had been removed from Socialist International's Web page, though a photo of her speaking June 30 to the group's congress in Greece was still available.

Socialist International, an umbrella group for many of the world's social democratic political parties such as Britain's Labor Party, says it actively supports socialism and is harshly critical of U.S. policies.

Huh. Imagine that.

BZ

PS:

* = The word "Czar" originates from the Russian; extrapolating further, this Russian word is a corruption or, more appropriately, a diminutive of the word "Caesar" from Roma, Italia.

Happy St. Patrick's Day From:

BZ

Again, Moribund MSM Lies About Conservatives

From the hallowed halls of the staid, trustworthy, fiscally-sound, non-judgmental and accurate Los Angeles Times -- yes, ripped from today's screaming headlines:

Conservative talk radio on the wane in California

Oh, really? Call me crazy, but a teensy little initial sweep of my Bullshit Radar seems to have illuminated the BZ Threat Board. Let's peruse the article, you and I, eh?

Here is what the article alleges (please go with me on this and read it all):

But for all the anti-tax swagger and the occasional stunts by personalities like KFI's John and Ken, the reality is that conservative talk radio in California is on the wane. The economy's downturn has depressed ad revenue at stations across the state, thinning the ranks of conservative broadcasters.

For that and other reasons, stations have dropped the shows of at least half a dozen radio personalities and scaled back others, in some cases replacing them with cheaper nationally syndicated programs.

Casualties include Mark Larson in San Diego, Larry Elder and John Ziegler in Los Angeles, Melanie Morgan in San Francisco, and Phil Cowen and Mark Williams in Sacramento.

Two of the biggest in the business, Roger Hedgecock in San Diego and Tom Sullivan in Sacramento, have switched to national shows, elevating President Obama above Schwarzenegger on their target lists.

Another influential Sacramento host, Eric Hogue, has lost the morning rush-hour show that served as a prime forum to gin up support for the recall of Gov. Gray Davis. Now he airs just an hour a day at lunchtime on KTKZ-AM (1380).

Reading this, one would think that, literally, Conservative talk radio is physically collapsing around the greedy ears of its host stations and its equally porcine hosts. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

And here the Truth comes:

So-called "Liberal Radio" -- that is, by way of Air America -- has flown the coop. Air America is even less popular than the CIA airline of the same name. At one time, in Sacramento, just a few years ago, there were three "liberal" AM radio stations in the market. Now there are: ZERO. Nada. Zip. Empty. The Null Set.

I make these observations and writings from a bit of an "insider's" and local standpoint in consideration of the ARB: I worked for some years in radio in the mid- and late 70s, for stations in the midwest and thence in Fornicalia. One of these stations was the 50,000-watt flamethrower, KFBK-AM -- just slightly prior to the installation of Rush Limbaugh. I also worked for KFBK-FM and some other local AM -- and collegiate -- FM stations. At the ripe old age of 19 and 20 I determined what you, the listener, would hear for Major News as editor.

And I should like to reveal the Dirty Little Secret and the Dirty Little Lie that most radio hosts refuse to ever acknowledge: if your numbers are down, you're gone. With no explanation to the listeners. Zero. And moreover, within the past 10 years or so, syndication pays and locality doesn't.

That's why all "local" radio hosts WANT to become syndicated. They see the obvious "writing on the wall." Major radio networks have coalesced and Borg'd local radio. More and more terrestrial radio stations consist of a central office with three, four, five "separate" radio stations issuing from within -- though most are primarily automated save a few hours each day.

Yes, in Sacramento, Tom Sullivan from KFBK-AM migrated to New York and became syndicated. Oh, yeah -- only after he'd paid years and years of dues.

And Phil Cowen in Sacramento? Too pedestrian, too subsumed, a little too "nice" for the format. Cut-throat business in radio: gone. I miss Phil.

Eric Hogue from KTKZ? Yes, he clearly was primarily responsible for the recall of Gray Davis. And yet, despite that weak station, he's back after a disappearance -- for an hour each day at noon. In today's horribly weak and, now, infirm economy -- that he's back bespeaks volumes about his professionalism and his veracity. He kicks ass by way of -- imagine this -- logic and common sense.

But let's also reveal what isn't revealed from that article: the bulk of these changes occurred at least a YEAR or TWO prior to our current economic collapse.

Because, after all, people are expensive.

But to quantify this as a "Conservative" issue -- ?

That is: bull-shit.

BZ

Keep Pushing, Politicians:

BZ

A Hike

Sometimes, when your world goes upside down for whatever reason, the best thing to do is just go out and walk. Sometimes, when the pressures are such that you feel you'll burst, when you're anxious and unsettled, you need to release some of that adrenaline.

Certainly, you might have your favorite walk or hike; I have mine as well. A major railroad route runs through my small mountain town and over Donner Pass. When I want to escape, I don my boots and walk alongside these historic tracks.

I did so just the other day, taking a camera with me. It was between storms, and the day was cloudy, the wind rough and brisk. I don't walk on the tracks but adjacent them a number of feet away, camera ready. It's tough walking, the rock is loose and the tracks abut ragged cliffs -- sometimes straight down and straight up.

Above, the daily eastbound Amtrak California Zephyr pulls uphill towards me. The engineer hit a friendly "shave and a haircut" on the horn for me a few times as he passed, then waved from his open window (click on each photo for a full expansion with detail).

The photo below was taken at a place railroaders call Rocky Point. Here, a Union Pacific freight labors uphill. I am standing, literally, on Rocky Point whilst taking the photograph. In the 1860s, after the Central Pacific completed this portion of the Transcontinental Railroad, CP trains would stop here so the passengers could exit the cars and look west down the canyon. At night, you can stand here and see the lights of Sacramento, the capital of Fornicalia, using the canyon like a rifle sight.

As I took the photograph below, my back was roughly five feet from the edge of the above canyon. That is the north fork of the American River, approximately 1,500 feet below. Taking photos here was challenging and exhilarating.

I walked on farther. I hiked for another two hours over loose rock, through pools of water, past small falls running down the sides of hills, past railroad signal stands, dragging equipment detectors, flange greasers. I saw the prints of animals with hooves. I saw evidence of small animal scat. I am always watching for scat. Big scat means big animals. I have seen bear prints in the snow and mud. Years ago, an SP engineer hit his horn numerous times and slowed his entire train to a crawl, just to warn me he'd just seen a huge brown bear near the tracks. He said I was walking right towards it. As you might expect, I am customarily quite well armed when I hike the tracks in the mountains, with either extra magazines or speedloaders. Wrong or not, I almost always hike by myself.

I love the walking; I love the hikes along the tracks. I've learned to read the tracks, to understand the signals. I can tell when a train is coming and on which block it's running. I can tell by listening precisely which crossing it's approaching. I know on which portion of the railroad the trains run right, and where the trains run left absent track work.

The sun was beginning to recede just as I was nearing my car. In the background I could hear another approaching Union Pacific freight train. I clambered down some loose rock to reach the tracks below and caught this locomotive laboring up towards Rocky Point. The engineer already had his window open. He leaned his head out, smiled and waved.

It was a great hike. It cleared my lungs and cleansed my soul. For a few hours I was just able to put my face forward into the wind, watch the firs bend, listen to the hawks and the crows. I passed a low point filled with water and could hear frogs.

It refreshed me; it scoured me clean.

It reminded me: Life is a blessing.

BZ

Honoring "The Greatest Generation"

I wish I'd known about this a year ago. It was over a year ago that my father, a WWII US Army Air Force pilot, was diagnosed with leukemia.

It's too late for my father; he passed away on February 11th of this year at age 88.

It may not be too late for your father, your grandfather. If he was a veteran of WWII, please take advantage of this wondrous opportunity:

The Honor Flight Network, as is written on their website:

Honor Flight Network is a non-profit organization created solely to honor America's veterans for all their sacrifices. We transport our heroes to Washington, D.C. to visit and reflect at their memorials. Top priority is given to the senior veterans – World War II survivors, along with those other veterans who may be terminally ill.

Of all of the wars in recent memory, it was World War II that truly threatened our very existence as a nation—and as a culturally diverse, free society. Now, with over one thousand World War II veterans dying each day, our time to express our thanks to these brave men and women is running out.

It's not too late to take this journey. Too late for me. Please. Make it not too late for you.

Take the adventure. If you have a loved one, make it the adventure of their lives. Accompany them, hold them, honor them. Recognize their amazing achievements.

Trust me; they won't do it themselves. You have to do it for them.

Honor them now. Hug them now. Kiss them now. Life is so fleeting. Don't be me. Don't make my mistakes.

Every day is a new blessing.

BZ

Sheriff Joe Arpaio Investigated:

For actually having the temerity to enforce immigration laws.

When the federal system won't.

Justice Dept. Investigates Arizona Sheriff for Enforcing Immigration Law - Thursday, March 12, 2009
By Penny Starr, Senior Staff Writer

(CNSNews.com) - The Department of Justice (DOJ) has launched an investigation of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office in Arizona following requests by congressional Democrats and allegations by liberal activists that the department has violated the civil rights of illegal aliens.

A consortium of four Demorats [Reps. John Conyers (D-Mich.), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), and Robert Scott (D-Va.) ] demanded the investigation.

As the result of this, our Sheriff Joe stated:

I will not back down. What I am doing is upholding the laws of the state of Arizona, and I will not be persuaded to turn my back on my oath of office as sheriff of this county.”

Let me break this story down to its barest of essentials:

Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been and continues to embarrass the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) arm of the federal government. He dares to do nothing more than enforce laws already extant. He, as opposed to the Fed, feels unencumbered by politics and Politically Correct views. Sheriff Joe Arpaio is very much his Own Man and, as such, likely takes his Oath of Office quite seriously and literally.

As a sworn peace Officer for the State of California, I had to ceremonially state:

I, ___, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter, so help me God."

My guess is that Sheriff Joe had to similarly swear upon the US Constitution and Arizona's constitution.

Leave Sheriff Joe Arpaio alone.

He is doing the job he lawfully swore to do.

BZ

It's Not Criminal; It's A WAR

There are 150,000 Mexican military deserters -- and they are predominantly employed by the Mexican drug cartels. Because they pay better than the Mexican military.

It's a matter of time until the City of San Diego goes under. It already has huge budgetary issues regarding Mexican nationals.

And Phoenix, Arizona is the kidnap capital of the United States:

In what officials caution is now a dangerous and even deadly crime wave, Phoenix, Arizona has become the kidnapping capital of America, with more incidents than any other city in the world outside of Mexico City and over 370 cases last year alone. But local authorities say Washington, DC is too obsessed with al Qaeda terrorists to care about what is happening in their own backyard right now.

The drug violence of Mexico spills over. More:

Two men with a gun grabbed the 34-year-old from his van and dragged him 50 yards to a waiting SUV. His wife threw rocks at the car, then gave chase in her own SUV. Neighbors in northwest Phoenix called police. Yet when police found her later, she at first denied there was a problem.

Judicial Watch writes:

A major U.S. city long known as an illegal immigrant sanctuary has the nation’s highest rate of ransom kidnappings, virtually all of them connected to Mexican drug cartels that have penetrated the area in the last few years.

Federal law enforcement officials have crowned Phoenix the country’s kidnap-for-ransom capital, according to a news report published this week. Arizona’s largest city, also the nation’s fifth most populous, by far has more ransom kidnappings than any other U.S. municipality and most every victim and suspect is connected to Mexican drug smugglers from Sinaloa which is located along the Pacific Coast several hours south of Arizona.

Video here. And here.

American Sentry writes:

As our operations wind down from the successes in Iraq, and the National Command Authority is ramping up our presence in Afghanistan with an additional 17,000 combat forces, little has been addressed in the mainstream policy wonkery about Mexico's instability and brush with Civil War between the brave, but by all measures ineffectual, Mexican security and law enforcement forces, and the ruthless, well funded, well equipped, and increasingly brash Drug Cartels. I have been monitoring this for several weeks, and there are those within the periphery of National Strategy and Policy that recognize this as a serious emerging problem, but is just now getting some greater play within the Mainstream Media. What coverage it does get focuses on the crime and corruption aspects and doesn't link the severity and scope as a National Security issue for the US. I am more and more convinced that this is in fact a serious challenge to US national security, and three recent reports substantiate my position.

The first of these predictions that got considerable play back in January came from the outgoing Director of the CIA, Gen. Michael Hayden. He commented in numerous interviews that the CIA concluded that after a potential development of a nuclear weapon from Iran, the possibility and ramifications of Mexico failing as a state as a result of the inability of the Federal government quelling the violence perpetrated by the Cartels in their continued fight for smuggling routes and market share was the second most threatening issue to US National Security. With Al Qaeda lurking around, having found proof of their desire to weaponize a biological or chemical agent to unleash on innocent Americans, let alone a dirty bomb, that is quite a statement on Hayden's part...and ominous.

American Sentry also writes here.

This bomb, this IED, is ready to explode on both sides of the border.

And yet we ignore this presence.

BZ

Mixed Messages

Mr Obama is possibly considering troops at our border?

WASHINGTON — President Obama weighed in Wednesday on the escalating drug war on the U.S.-Mexico border, saying that he was looking at possibly deploying National Guard troops to contain the violence but ruled out any immediate military move.

Are we going to have our current president commit to a move that should have occurred at least one presidency prior, but didn't?

Just on the slip of this news you can bet the Leftists/Socialists are positively apoplectic. O the betrayal! O the chagrin!

What is this Obama truly thinking?

BZ

P.S.

Other links to view:

1. http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/269040

2. http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/uselection,,obama-takes-on-the-mexican-drug-cartels,77124

3. http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/03/the-drug-war-ne.html

Cutting Taxes Doesn't Work

Just ask China:

March 10 (Bloomberg) -- China vehicle sales surged 25 percent in February, the first gain in four months, after the government cut taxes on some models, helping the country extend its lead as the world’s largest auto market this year.

BZ

Boo-Fucking-Hoo. . .

"What??" Cry the banks. "There are actual strings attached to the taxpayers' 'free money' to us? You mean to say we can't do as we wish with this money??"

O, the betrayal -- o, the chagrin felt by the banks!

They are stunned! Stunned, I tell you!

Some bankers say the conditions have become so onerous that they want to return the bailout money. The list includes small banks like the TCF Financial Corporation of Wayzata, Minn., and Iberia Bank of Lafayette, La., as well as giants like Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo.

If you were a responsible parent, what tidbit of advice did you lay at the feet of your children whilst they existed within your domicile? Did it go something like this: "As long as you live here and I'm paying the freight, you'll do what I say when I say it. You want to be independent, there you go, there's the door. And good luck to you. But at least you'll be doing what you want, when you want it."

Any reason to think that fundamental precept shouldn't be equally applied to all loaners and borrowers, any of us who wish fiscal assistance? Moreover, I should care to point out the obvious insofar as that precept was the very foundation -- at least in theory -- of every bank that ever considered loaning money to me. And you as well.

One of the biggest concerns of the banks is that the program lets Congress and the administration pile on new conditions at any time.

What? Social Engineering from the Demorats? Imagine that (sound of hand slapping forehead).

And you mean that Social Engineering just might have deleterious consequences?

But a growing chorus of industry experts are warning that asking weak banks to carry out the government’s economic and social policies could increase the drain on the public purse. These experts say that the financial assistance, while helpful in the short run, could force weak banks to engage in lending practices that will lose even more money, and that the government inevitably will become more heavily involved in dictating how banks do business.

But here's the kicker you need to realize: if the banks continue to take handouts with these and future strings attached, if there is further payment to be extracted, who will make these further payments? Who will make up for the banks' losses?

You and me.

And isn't that forcing us to go full circle once again -- with governmental interference mandating poor fiscal policies?

Have we learned anything at all?

So I say: refuse the money, banks and institutions. Some will fail, some will succeed. But you'll still be the Master of your Soul, the Captain of your Fate.

BZ

The New Obamousine

Barack Hussein Obama now possesses a new Obamousine, courtesty of General Motors and the Cadillac Division.

Called "Cadillac One" or "The Beast," this $350,000 + vehicle is based upon a GM truck frame (it is theorized that the Topkick truck is the actual base platform - see bottom) and resembles the Cadillac DTS. On that note, some are thinking the engine may even be a supercharged diesel.

Nicholas Trotta, Secret Service Assistant Director for the Office of Protective Operations is quoted in a news release as saying: "Although many of the vehicle's security enhancements cannot be discussed, it is safe to say that this car's security and coded communications systems make it the most technologically advanced protection vehicle in the world."

Some points on the vehicle include:

- 8 inches thick armor-plated doors, weighing the same as a cabin door on a Boeing 757 airliner.
- Driver’s window: tough enough to withstand armor-piercing (AP) round. The only window that opens – by just three inches – allows the driver to talk to the secret service agents running alongside.

- Windows are 5-inches thick, with anti-spall shields.
- Driver’s Compartment includes standard steering wheel, but the dashboard is installed with a communication center and GPS tracking system.
- The trunk contains an independent oxygen supply (to thwart gas attacks, the interior can be sealed) and advanced fire-fighting system.
- Defense systems include pump-action shotguns, night-vision cameras and tear-gas cannons.

- Supplies of the President’s blood will also be kept on board in case he needs emergency medical treatment.
- The fuel tank is amour-plated, while also being filled with specially designed foam to prevent it from exploding if the armor is penetrated.
- Tires on the limousine are Kevlar-reinforced, puncture- and shred-resistant, with special steel rims that allow the car to continue driving even if the tire is missing.

The body of the vehicle is a combination of dual-hardness steel, aluminium, titanium and ceramic material (to break up possible projectiles) not unlike the "reactive" armor of military tanks and aircraft.

Inside, Obama’s seat has an executive package which features a desktop, laptop computer with wi-fi, state of the art satellite phone and direct comm line to the vice president and Pentagon.

Weight is estimated at 14,000 to 16,000 pounds (6 to 8 tons). It also possesses tie-down points welded to the frame so the vehicle can be transported aboard military aircraft.

It is expected that the new Obamousine will acquire up to 8 mpg -- not quite what the Sierra Club would particularly recommend.

There may possibly be up to five copies of this vehicle, to be utilized as decoys on various occasions.

BZ

P.S.

Below is the GMC Topkick truck platform on which the Obamousine is likely based.