Goodbye Chrysler:

It was nice knowing you:

April 29 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama plans to announce tomorrow that Chrysler LLC will be placed into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, leading to an alliance with Italian automaker Fiat SpA, people involved in the matter said.

An alliance with Fiat is a literal death-knell for Chrysler or, as I quantify it, the Euro blind leading the American blind.

BZ

President #44: His First 100 Days

Mr Obama ends his "first 100 days" -- and much is apparently made of this so-called benchmark. Not that it's particularly important in itself, but I'll observe nevertheless.

I submit, however, that it's not about Mr Obama's 100 days; it's about the nation's 100 days.

In my opinion, these past 100 days bode poorly for our future (see the New York Post's "100 Days, 100 Mistakes"). Much of this prognostication stems, I am first to admit, from policies and decisions made under the prior Bush presidency. Yet, for someone claiming to desire "change" it appears that change is not what Mr Obama desires on many levels.

And the growing of the government continues not just unabated but abetted absolutely geometrically -- to the point where it frightens not just the bulk of US citizens but those in other nations. In no economic text or theory does it state or imply that one may spend oneself out of debt or recession. This single example personifies a complete lack of economic understanding, much less common sense, and brings to question every other policy and decision of Mr Obama.

Change involves taking steps that may not be in keeping with the public's wants. The public, more than at any other point in our history, wants its Free Cheese -- though it has clearly been beaten, over the years, into this belief by its educational and political systems.

The Left and Greens speak and write repeatedly of "sustainability." Our ecosystems, they say, and resulting human policies must be "sustainable."

I completely concur. Because our current path of government expansion with its concomitant requirement for greater taxes, and the dwindling pool of those paying into the system vs those taking from the system -- this model is completely UNsustainable.

On another level, more than at other time in our nation's history, Saul Alinsky's "Rules For Radicals" are in effect and very broadly utilized by those on the Left, specifically Rule # 13: "Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it." Meaning: attack the individual. And, more importantly, label the individual. These labels customarily include the words "racist," "sexist," and "hater."

And instead of possessing the ability to discuss, at length, any series of issues we are to the point where one almost cannot even disagree publicly with a Left agenda -- witness Miss California and her recent opinion regarding gay marriage.

Sadly, it satisfies the Left completely to eradicate public discussion or verbal or written opposition; witness the various pushes to create "hate speech" and the proposed crushing of free market thought and speech in radio. And, at the same time, witness the collapse of many of the Left's favorite media organs such as newspapers, television, magazines.

The Left fails to realize that the more it pushes, the harder it pushes, the more opposition is being bred. This is a massively important concept to comprehend -- particularly in regard to consequences or what I call the "logical extension."

Our Constitution and its Bill of Rights are under fire. From without and within. And when you erode our very foundation -- the rest of the entire house quivers.

BZ

RINO to DINO

That Arlen Specter, he was one loyal Republican, eh?

Oh wait, that's right, he switched engines today:

WASHINGTON — Veteran Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania switched parties Tuesday with a suddenness that stunned the Senate, a moderate's defection that left Democrats one seat shy of a 60-vote filibuster-resistant majority with many of President Barack Obama's key legislative priorities on the horizon.

Yes, we lost a seat but, in essence, what has the GOP really lost, eh?

First, before we can much care as Conservatives, we have to be convinced the GOP can even manage to rally around more than a single issue -- the recent Obama budget.

Sadly, I remain unconvinced.

BZ

I Think I'm Liking The Swine Flu

The swine flu may turn out to be our friend in disguise:

Lawmaker wants border closed over swine flu
By Molly K. Hooper
Posted: 04/25/09 11:28 PM [ET]
The "swine flu" that has infected more than 1,000 people in Mexico has led a lawmaker on the House Homeland Security Committee to call on U.S. officials to close the southern border.

Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) said the border should be closed until the threat is resolved.

That's the first Demorat who's had a good idea in a long time.

BZ

Asking Your Government To Pay BACK Loans

Fornicalia Representative Tom McClintock (hey, my district!) has had to draft a bill to force the Secretary of the Treasury to accept repayment, by banks, of TARP funds.

Mr McClintock said:

Mr. Speaker: Many Americans have been shocked in recent days to learn that banks seeking to repay TARP money have been told the treasury will not allow them to do so.

Taxpayers were promised that this money was only to be used to buy up toxic assets and that it would be repaid to the treasury as soon as humanly possible.

And yet, when several banks have attempted to do precisely that, they’ve been told that the treasury will not allow them to do so.

This is a travesty. Just a few weeks ago, many members of this House reacted to the AIG bonus fiasco by saying, “We want our money back.” And yet when some banks have attempted to do just that, they’ve been turned away at the treasury gates.

M. Speaker, today I have introduced legislation to require the Secretary of the Treasury to accept TARP repayments unconditionally and immediately when they are presented. I hope that I can count on the support of all those who promised constituents these funds would be repaid at the earliest possible opportunity.

Did you ever think you'd see the day there would have to be a bill requiring the federal government to accept loan paybacks? This merely indicates the issue isn't about the ability of an agency or entity to repay; it's about the federal government insisting that it keep control of the agency or entity requesting the funding in the first place.

Agencies and entities deciding, on their own, that the don't care for the strings attached to these loans.

BZ

Swine Flu & H5N1:

I warned any number of persons about this coming paradigm shift in our country:

Here.

Here.

Here.

Here.

And here, way back in 2005.

Update: US swine flu cases now total 8 - CDC

From an official source the likes of which you won't have common access:

Today: According to the World Health Organisation on April, 24 2009:

The United States Government has reported seven confirmed human cases of Swine Influenza A/H1N1 in the USA (five in California and two in Texas) and nine suspect cases. All seven confirmed cases had mild Influenza-Like Illness (ILI), with only one requiring brief hospitalization. No deaths have been reported. All seven U.S. victims recovered from a strain of the flu that combines pig, bird and human viruses in a way that researchers have not seen before. The virus was first detected in two children in southern California -- a 10-year-old boy in San Diego County and a 9-year-old girl in neighboring Imperial County.

The CDC described the virus as having a unique combination of gene segments not seen in people or pigs before. The virus seems to contain human virus, avian virus from North America and pig viruses from North America, Europe and Asia. Mixes of bird, pig and human virus have been seen before, but such an intercontinental combination with more than one pig virus in the mix is highly unusual.

Testing indicates some common antiviral medications seem to work against the virus. The CDC believes the new strain can spread human-to-human, which is unusual for a swine flu virus. The CDC is checking people who have been in contact with the seven confirmed U.S. cases, who all became ill between late March and mid-April.

The U.S. cases are a growing medical mystery because it's unclear how they caught the virus. The CDC said none of the seven people were in contact with pigs, which is how people usually catch swine flu. And only a few were in contact with each other.

The Government of Mexico has reported three separate events.

In the Federal District of Mexico, surveillance began picking up cases of ILI starting 18 March.

The number of cases has risen steadily through April and as of 23 April there are now more than 854 cases of pneumonia from the capital. Of those, 59 have died.

The Mexican government closed the schools across the Mexico City area and kept 6.1 million students home from day care centers, high schools, colleges and universities.

In San Luis Potosi, in central Mexico, 24 cases of ILI, with three deaths, have been reported.

And from Mexicali, near the border with the United States, four cases of ILI, with no deaths, have been reported.

Of the Mexican cases, 18 have been laboratory confirmed in Canada as Swine Influenza A/H1N1, while 12 of those are genetically identical to the Swine Influenza A/H1N1 viruses from California.

The majority of these cases have occurred in otherwise healthy young adults. Influenza normally affects the very young and the very old, but these age groups have not been heavily affected in Mexico.

16 of the deaths have been confirmed to have been caused by the new strain, through testing at government laboratories. Samples from 44 other people who died were still being tested.

The Mexican health department put the total number of people sickened at around 943 nationwide. Samples also were sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to determine whether it's the same virus infecting seven people in Texas and California. As of now, tests show the flu is a "new, different strain ... that originally came from pigs.

"Because there are human cases associated with an animal influenza virus, and because of the geographical spread of multiple community outbreaks, plus the somewhat unusual age groups affected, these events are of high concern according to the WHO."

The Swine Influenza A/H1N1 viruses characterized in this outbreak have not been previously detected in pigs or humans. The viruses so far characterized have been sensitive to oseltamivir, but resistant to both amantadine and rimantadine.

The World Health Organization has been in constant contact with the health authorities in the United States, Mexico and Canada in order to better understand the risk which these ILI events pose. WHO (and PAHO) is sending missions of experts to Mexico to work with health authorities there. It is helping its Member States to increase field epidemiology activities, laboratory diagnosis and clinical management. Moreover, WHO's partners in the Global Alert and Response Network have been alerted and are ready to assist as requested by the Member States.

WHO acknowledges the United States and Mexico for their proactive reporting and their collaboration with WHO and will continue to work with Member States to further characterize the outbreak.

You read it here FIRST on Bloviating Zeppelin.

PLUS:

H5N1 May Have Made The Transition From Animal To Human:

A strain of bird flu infecting children in Egypt could be a sign of person-to-person transmission, the World Health Organization said. Of 11 infections in the past few weeks, almost all were in children under age 3. Experts said that could mean adults are acting as carriers without falling ill, giving the virus a chance to mutate.

"I hope to hell they are wrong," said bird flu expert Dr Robert Webster of St Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Tennessee.

Earlier strains of bird blu in Asia killed most victims so quickly that the virus didn't have time to mutate into a contagious strain.

Let's just do the math here:

Leftists, Liberals, Socialists, the Religious Left want to squeeze you into populist blocks where the footprint is small and the vertical rise is incredulous. The more people they can squeeze into a given acre the happier they are.

And the faster you, in any derisive or negative scenario, die, directly due to immediacy of contact.

Perhaps that's what they, ideally, want?

BZ

Reconciling God and Reality

Unfortunately, I'll likely lose a number of you as readers due to the following post, but I must be true to my personal philosophy:

For years and years I'd been, at best, an Agnostic. I'd left the option open for a Supreme Being. I'd never moved into the hard and fast Atheist lane.

But I always asked in my youth: if there really were a Supreme Being, a God, why did He allow so much killing and death and hate and oppression in His name?

Stemming from that, I was a hater of any Organized Religion. Today, even, I hold Organized Religions at arms' length. I am not an attendant of any particular church nor do I hold to any specific level other than that of "Christian." As opposed to Buddhist or Muslim or Hindi or Jew.

I believe that any religion is best held close by the individual. I believe that, when Man becomes involved at an overarching level, there can be amounts of corruption, immorality, misunderstanding. Specifically because Man is involved.

I also have to examine the base tenets of religions. What does the religion SAY and ESPOUSE vs its actual practice?

That question led me to more completely focus on, say, Islam. Due, obviously, to events occurring in the past 20 years. And Islam, I realized, has been corrupted and hijacked and twisted to the point that anything done or completed in its name is likely false and dangerous.

And I finally realized -- as with most any other issue in Humanity -- it doesn't much matter what you say or write; it matters what you DO.

I distilled this down to: DEEDS, not WORDS.

How many people have been killed and injured at the behest of Islam recently vs the number of persons killed and injured by Christianity?

There is no comparison.

However, further, if I were suffering at the point of a disease that could be cured by certain specific-type stem cells I would not differentiate. I would want that cure. I would want my wife, my father, my mother, my brothers to have that cure.

And here I will leave a number of you behind.

I believe in a benevolent God. Not a strictly linear God.

I've gotten to this point because I, myself, have had to deal with my own mortality quite a number of times. In my job, off duty, with my health.

I believe in Goodness, to a degree.

I also believe in Evil. True Evil. True, unexpurgated, raw, filthy, unchecked, naked Evil. I've had it shoot at me and I've shot back at it. I've literally had to fight it, arrest it, see the results of its actions laying in pools of blood and shredded tissue. Time and again.

And I do NOT believe that Man is innately "good," on most any level. Man is constantly challenged. Man has to fight. Man has to struggle against the base animalistic elements of his past.

Evil exists for any number of reasons, not the least of which include 1) It is easy; 2) It is fun; 3) It carries psychological weight and 4) It is mostly unopposed due to the naivete of Man.

There are base tenets by which Man should live. I would include The Ten Commandments.

They are a logical and fundamental way by which every individual should conduct their lives, whether they are adherents to religion or not.

Religion?

I hold my religion closely within my own breast. In my own head. I don't share it with anyone. I don't attend congregations or churches because I don't trust Man. I don't make mention of it publicly. I wear a metal cross over my own chest, around my neck, on a chain, presented to me by a man the likes of which I won't question his duty or diligence because I know from whence he originates. He presented me, in passing one day, with a metal cross blessed by Pope John Paul II in 2004. You know who you are.

I wear it every day. Under every shirt. Few know it's there. But I know. That's all that matters.

It was probably one of the greatest gifts that could have been given to me in a quarter century.

Because I believe in the ultimate posture:

The individual semblance of Man, yes. . .

And the belief in a greater system, a greater power, a greater design.

God.

Because, without God, everything else is just transitory and meaningless.

And there are simply too many wonders, too many glories, too much in the Universe, too many coincidences, too many points of grace to otherwise explain.

BZ

This Sunday:

Is the day that the United States federal budget ceases to run on straight revenues for the budget year. The rest of the year will be running on debt.

This is the earliest date in the history of the United States that revenues have run short.

Simply frightening.

BZ

McCain Does A "Napolitano"

Does John McCain not read my blog?

Does he not read the news?

Has he not followed the dust-up over Janet Napolitano?

Does he not understand historical truth?

Apparently not:

Arizona Sen. John McCain made the dubious claim Friday that Sept. 11 hijackers entered the United States through Canada -- just days after Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, the former governor of Arizona, said the same thing.

Napolitano retracted her claim on Thursday after Canadian officials chided her for the remark, calling it an unfortunate misconception. Napolitano admitted Thursday that she made a mistake -- since the 9/11 Commission concluded that the hijackers entered the U.S. from overseas. But when asked about the gaffe on FOX News Friday, McCain said: "Well, some of the 9/11 hijackers did come through Canada, as you know."

I respect John McCain for the service to his country when he was younger but, now, he'd be best served by either retiring or, preferably, moving his (R) to a (D). He and John Murtha could have offices next to one another in DC.

BZ

Demorat Pork & Lies To Date:

You want a list of Demorat corruption and hypocrisy arranged in ascending monetary order? You got it:

$34,000: the amount of federal taxes that Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner (D) failed to pay during his employment at the International Monetary Fund despite receiving extra compensation and explanatory brochures that described his tax liabilities.

$75,000: the amount of money that the head of the powerful tax-writing committee, Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), was forced to report on his taxes after the discovery that he had not reported income from a Costa Rican rental property. His excuses for the failure started with blaming his wife, then his accountant and finally the fact that he didn't speak Spanish.

$93,000: the amount of petty cash each Congressional representative voted to give themselves in January 2009 during the height of an economic meltdown.

$133,900: the amount Fannie Mae "invested" in Chris Dodd (D-CT), head of the powerful Senate Banking Committee, presumably to repel oversight of the GSE prior to its meltdown. Said meltdown helped touch off the current economic crisis. In only a few years time, Fannie also "invested" over $105,000 in then-Senator Barack Obama.

$140,000: the amount of back taxes and interest that Cabinet nominee Tom Daschle (D) was forced to cough up after the vetting process revealed significant, unexplained tax liabilities.

$356,000: the approximate amount of income and deductions that Daschle (D) was forced to report on his amended 2005 and 2007 tax returns after being caught cheating on his taxes. This includes $255,256 for the use of a car service, $83,333 in unreported income, and $14,963 in charitable contributions.

$800,000: the amount of "sweetheart" mortgages Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) received from Countrywide Financial, the details for which he has refused to release details despite months of promises to do so. Countrywide was once the nation's largest mortgage lender and linked to Government-Sponsored Entities like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Their meltdown precipitated the current financial crisis. Just days ago in Pennsylvania, Countrywide was forced to pay $150,000,000 in mortgage assistance following "a state investigation that concluded that Countrywide relaxed its underwriting standards to sell risky loans to consumers who did not understand them and could not afford them."

$1,000,000: the estimated amount of donations by Denise Rich, wife of fugitive Marc Rich, to Democrat interests and the William J. Clinton Foundation in an apparent quid pro quo deal that resulted in a pardon for Mr. Rich. The pardon was reviewed and blessed by Obama Attorney General and then Deputy AG Eric Holder, despite numerous requests by government officials to turn it down.

$12,000,000: the amount of TARP money provided to community bank OneUnited despite the fact that it did not qualify for funds, and was "under attack from its regulators for allegations of poor lending practices and executive-pay abuses." It turns out that Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), a key contributor to the Fannie Mae meltdown, just happens to be married to one of the bank's ex-directors.

$23,500,000: The upper range of net worth Rep. Allan Mollohan (D-WV) accumulated in four years time according to The Washington Post through earmarks of "tens of millions of dollars to groups associated with his own business partners."

$2,000,000,000: ($2 billion) the approximate amount of money that House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-WI) is earmarking related to his son's lobbying efforts. Craig Obey is "a top lobbyist for the nonprofit group" that would receive a roughly $2 billion component of the "Stimulus" package.

$3,700,000,000: ($3.7 billion) not to be outdone, this is the estimated value of various defense contracts awarded to a company controlled by the husband of Rep. Diane Feinstein (D-CA). Despite an obvious conflict-of-interest as "a member of the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee, Sen. Feinstein voted for appropriations worth billions to her husband's firms ."

$4,190,000,000: ($4.19 billion) the amount of money in the so-called "Stimulus" package devoted to fraudulent voter registration ACORN group under the auspices of "Community Stabilization Activities". ACORN is currently the subject of a RICO suit in Ohio.

$1,646,000,000,000 ($1.646 trillion): the approximate amount of annual United States exports endangered by the "Stimulus" package, which provides a "Buy American" stricture. According to international trade experts, a "US-EU trade war looms", which could result in a worldwide economic depression reminiscent of that touched off by the protectionist Smoot-Hawley Act.

Corruption, corruption, more corruption and money -- from the Congress that Nancy Pelosi decreed to be the most ethical in the history of the United States.

But more importantly, where's the public outrage? Where's the press coverage and the screaming above-the-fold headlines? Why is it that no one cares and the Demorats continue to hover sweetly above the law?

Why?

Oh, that's right: because the Fourth Estate is IN THE BAG for a light-skinned, facially-subdued "black," Barack Hussein Obama, and they CANNOT admit they were even remotely wrong. Oh well -- "in for a penny, in for a pound."

Step by step.

BZ

Continuing Hypocrisy And Lies

Mr Obama has "left the door open" for investigations into those persons in the Bush Administration who crafted legal opinions believing that waterboarding and other "enhanced interrogation" practices were lawful and did not rise to the level of torture.

The president has publicly opposed prosecuting the CIA officers who carried them out, but now he’s also saying that it’s up to Attorney General Eric Holder to decide whether to prosecute the lawyers that wrote the many legal memos authorizing and justifying them.

This predicated, of course, upon the truth that the Demorats were completely unaware that the Bush Administration was leaning in this direction and also upon the fact that no one with a (D) after their name was privy to or had signed off on these techniques.

The problem with that assumption is that it is patently false.

From the Washington Times:

The CIA briefed top Democrats and Republicans on the congressional intelligence committees more than 30 times about enhanced interrogation techniques, according to intelligence sources who said the lawmakers tacitly approved the techniques that some Democrats in Congress now say should land Bush administration officials in jail.

Between 2002 and 2006, the top Republicans and Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees "each got complete, benchmark briefings on the program," said one of the intelligence sources who is familiar with the briefings.

"If Congress wanted to kill this program, all it had to do was withhold funding," said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the closed-door briefings.

Continuing, please hone in on one particular name in this paragraph:

Those who were briefed included current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia and Rep. Jane Harman of California, all Democrats, and Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas, Sen. Richard C. Shelby of Alabama and Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, all Republicans.

Yes, Nancy Pelosi -- the same Nancy Pelosi who, along with Mr Obama, is considering the above-noted investigations.

She was already "ethically challenged" back in January of 2007 when I wrote about her involvement in Starkist Tuna and the minimum wage.

She also paid her husband, Paul Pelosi, almost $100,000 from her own PAC funds for rent, utilities and accounting fees racked up by her husband's real estate and investment firm. Federal Election Commission records show those payments quadrupled after Mr. Pelosi took over as treasurer of his wife's committee in 2007. Oddly enough, Ms Pelosi supported banning this practice in 2007. But still did it nevertheless.

Are you really certain you want to open that door and walk down this road, Demorats?

NANCY PELOSI IS LYING AT THE EXPENSE OF OUR NATIONAL SECURITY!

It is as believeable as the prior Demorat bleat that "we signed off on the war, but we didn't think it would actually occur."

WISE UP, AMERICA!

BZ

Helo Fun

Call me simple, but I really enjoy pilot-perspective-type video like this.

Just couldn't subject myself to more politics at this specific moment -- my head might explode.

Maybe later today.

BZ

Napolitano: Canada's The Border Problem

I swear to God, every day brings a brand new (or a recurring) Obama Administration idiot to light.

US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano stated in a recent interview:

Yes, Canada is not Mexico, it doesn't have a drug war going on, it didn't have 6,000 homicides that were drug-related last year," she said.

"Nonetheless, to the extent that terrorists have come into our country or suspected or known terrorists have entered our country across a border, it's been across the Canadian border. There are real issues there."

When asked if she was talking about the 9-11 perpetrators, Napolitano replied: "Not just those but others as well."

CBC video here.

Now, the Obama Administration says it's just a teensy mitsake.

Hello? Is there anyone competent in DC? Are there any adults remaining in the building?

BZ

You Tell Me:

What's the difference between these two statements:

Barack Hussein Obama, 44th President of the United States:

I do not support gay marriage. Marriage has religious and social connotations, and I consider marriage to be between a man and a woman."

Miss USA 2009 candidate (current Miss California) Carrie Prejean:

Well I think it's great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. Um, we live in a land that you can choose same sex marriage or opposite marriage and, you know what, in my country and in, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there. But that's how I was raised and that's how I think that it should be between a man and a woman."

Results? "Celebrity" blogger and Miss USA pageant judge Perez Hilton, who is gay, said:

The way miss California answered her question lost her the crown, without a doubt!" Perez told Access Hollywood after the pageant. "Never before that I'm aware of has a contestant been booed at Miss USA."

Let's clear up the confusion:

Mr Obama's opinion on gay marriage is minimized and shoved under the carpet because he is black. Well, not quite black enough for some people, but close enough for government work.

Miss California loses the Miss USA pageant because a gay judge on her panel publicly admits he didn't care for her opinion.

The Leftists and Socialists in the media and beyond prove, once again, how completely MONOLITHIC, rigid, judgmental, non-accepting, uncompromising and intolerant they are with regard to OPINIONS and thoughts. "Diversity"? Quite the opposite: there is ONE scheme of thought, ONE way to speak and think: theirs.

BZ

What A Collection of Dolts

I'm sorry, I customarily attempt to temper my labels and name-calling but the "major story" in Washington on Monday was Mr Obama's stunningly-stupid order to his cabinet to locate and identify $100-million dollars in spending reductions.

I'll just cut to the chase: Mr Obama is a bleeding moron.

And the media that covered it are equally moronic, as are the sphincter-breathers who took a collective intake of air from their southern regions and gushed with approval.

$100 million dollars? An "m" and not a "b" or a "t"? As one observer wrote: "The thrifty measures Obama ordered for federal agencies are the equivalent of asking a family that spends $60,000 in a year to save $6."

The county where I work is damned near $100 million in debt -- as contrasted to the friggin' Federal Government?

Then Mr Obama, apparently not satisfied with this cretinous directive, upstaged himself in terms of lunacy and stated that the amount is a "drop in the bucket."

If so, then what in the hell was the point of making such a blockheaded announcement in the first place?

[ . . . wait for it . . . wait for it . . . ]

Because he knew the bulk of the electorate -- and certainly the media -- are actually that stupid.

BZ

Ambivalence

My country is ready to proclaim me a Domestic Terrorist (go check out Texas Fred's post on this here -- Domestic Terrorist test here). I am considered for this proclamation because I believe in a limited Federal government, the primacy of states' rights, limited general government, the preeminence of the First and Second Amendments, national sovereignty, local powers, independence, self-reliance.

This is the U.S. government making these declarations and, though ridiculous, my government is unwavering and very clear in its position.

My government also officially believes the recent wave of TEA Parties is "unhealthy":

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Senior White House adviser David Axelrod on Sunday suggested the "Tea Party" movement is an "unhealthy" reaction to the tough economic climate facing the country.

Axelrod was asked on CBS's "Face the Nation" about the "spreading and very public disaffection" with the president's fiscal policies seen at the "Tea Party" rallies around the country last week.

"I think any time you have severe economic conditions there is always an element of disaffection that can mutate into something that's unhealthy," Axelrod said.

This is my government thinking that dissent by lawful citizens is "unhealthy."

And yet, on the other hand, my current federal government appears to have much ambivalence towards actual terrorists.

In truth, Mr Obama has kept a good deal of the hated Mr Bush's GWOT infrastructure in place whilst, at the same time, publicly declaring the War On Terror to be defunct. The GWOT is now Nerfed to read as "Overseas Contingency Operations." Terrorism is Nerfed to be "Man Caused Disasters." Mr Obama has sworn to not only close Gitmo but essentially cease waterboarding or other options altogether, cease wiretapping and all efforts at rendition. Further, his release of memos regarding interrogation techniques exists at the farthest possible point from equivocation. I say: let's just make things easier and cc the Taliban and other terror organizations when additional memos are sent to our alphabet agencies.

These are confusing, mixed messages of the worst kind. Both domestically and abroad.

The Obama Administration has it precisely backwards; this does nothing more than muddy already opaque waters and leave our country more susceptible to attacks by those determined to witness the fall of this Great Satan.

BZ

Steam Over Donner Pass

On Friday, April 14th, I happened to digitally capture a singularly exceptional event: Union Pacific's steam locomotive # 844, (an ALCO 4-8-4 Northern-type) enroute the Roseville (Fornicalia) Yard for a weekend exhibition, during Union Pacific's 2009 Western Heritage Tour. Please click on the photo for a full-sized view.

Here, I document the locomotive drifting downhill on the #1 track just past the Alta crossing. Following 844's two tenders are diesel-electric locos UP 1996, an EMD SD-70ACe in tribute colors to Southern Pacific, and UP 1983, an EMD SD-70ACe in tribute colors to the Western Pacific.

If you've never had the opportunity or pleasure to hear, see or feel one of the few remaining operating steam locomotives in America, you do yourself a disservice by not tracking down one of these three steam behemoths:

1) UP's 844 Northern 4-8-4;
2) UP's 3985 Challenger 4-6-6-4;
3) SP 4449 Daylight GS-4 4-8-4

You'll soon come to realize, particularly if you're able to watch them up close as they begin to move from a complete stop, that they remind you of living, breathing creatures -- you can literally hear their intake of breath, feel them exhale. You would swear they were alive, standing next to one.

Please note: THE finest documentation of a steam locomotive available on DVD and in stereophonic sound is Skyfire Video's presentation of "Daylight Express." Absolutely unparalleled and exquisite. You will absolutely not be disappointed if you order this DVD.

Manipulating a steam locomotive as an engineer and/or a fireman is, both at once, a science and an art.

Here is a video, pacing the UP 844 at 79 mph:



There never has been, nor will there be again, another symphonic and symbiotic union of Man and Machine.

BZ

P.S.
Took a few days off, spiriting my wife away to places unknown for a bit of decompression. Back in full force this coming week.

TEA Parties and the U.S. Media

Not just FAIL.

EPIC FAIL.

At no time in my, ahem, "50+" years on the planet have I ever been witness to such a wanton, craven, dismissive, condescending, inaccurate, biased, naive, assuming, incurious and progressively-inconsequential sycophantic media -- as now. I think the applicable phrase is: "in the tank."

"In the tank" for what or whom, you might rightfully ask?

-- for the Leftists, Socialists, Liberals, Demorats -- any "ists" or "ats" that oppose the slightest Moderate or Rightist or Libertarian philisophy.

My theory was borne out, in spades, on one simple day: Wednesday, April 15th of 2009.

Witness this exchange between CNN reporterette Susan Roesgen and attendees at a Chicago TEA Party -- could she have been more snide, biased, arrogant and dismissive? Because this video is now ablaze over the internet she'll likely be made a CNN martyr, she'll have "taken one for the team" and will shortly get her own half-hour opinion show:



As I essentially wrote on quite a number of blogs: the determinant of this day will be revealed by the coverage -- or lack thereof -- by the so-called MainStream Media. I have labeled them -- and rightfully so -- as the DEM: the Defeatist, Elitist Media.

"CNN: the most INCONSEQUENTIAL name in news."

As simply proven by ratings from Wednesday: coverage of the various nation TEA Parties pushed Fox News' ratings into the stratosphere, more than CNN, HNN, MSNBC and all others combined.

So it's clear now: the gloves are most definitely off. There really isn't even the slightest veneer of impartiality in the MSM/DEM. In fact, the only real "coverage" occurred when hosts and "reporters" snickered and giggled over how many times they could utilize "teabagging" in a sentence.

In Sacramento, the capital of the most powerfully-productive state in the Union, there was only ONE -- repeat, ONE -- major media host covering the Sacramento TEA Party live on Wednesday: ERIC HOGUE from KTKZ, 1380 AM. The other three local TV stations predominantly ignored the event, which was attended by an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 persons.

In the course of a single national event, it is beyond any doubt that Conservatism struggles against unprecedented odds where the media makes no pretense whatsoever at fair coverage or treatment; quite the opposite, in fact.

If you held any hope for "fairness," abandon that singular hope now.

BZ

Truth In Drawing

BZ

TEA: Taxed Enough Already

Today will feature any number of TEA Parties across the nation. One of the largest will be in Sacramento, Fornicalia -- where I work.

Please consider that, in many ways, the American electorate is precisely responsible for getting the country to this point -- it's not simply "the politicians' fault." It is a corruptive, destructive symbiotic relationship, a potentially endless cycle that feeds upon itself.

Unless, somehow, those who are actually aware manage to stop the cycle of destruction and corruption. And that is a huge, huge task because the number of persons who want their Free Cheese, truly, almost outnumber those who produce said Cheese. That in itself is a frightening thought.

Some notes from Newt Gingrich regarding the massive debt created by Mr Obama:

If you're a 50-year old-with a college degree, you will pay approximately $81,000 over your working life just to pay the interest on the debt in the Obama budget.

If you're a 40-year-old, you'll pay $132,000.

And if you're a 20-year-old, just starting out after college, you will pay a whopping $114,000 just to service the interest on the debt created by the Obama budget.

By 2019, President Obama's budget will have added over $9.4 trillion to the federal debt.

Want to find out how much interest will cost you due to Mr Obama's deficits during your working life? Click here and enter your numbers.

IN FORNICALIA:

It was written in a local newspaper today that:

A major new report profiling America's illegal immigrants estimates that 10 percent of California's work force is undocumented, while close to 14 percent of the state's schoolchildren have at least one parent in the country illegally.

Wouldn't you suspect that has an affect on taxes? And wouldn't you suspect that has an affect on spending as well, in terms of this state's deficit?

Furthermore, with roughly 3 million illegals in Fornicalia, and with double-digit unemployment (10.5%) in Fornicalia, don't you suspect the two might also be related?

And why no mention of this in ANY media outlet?

NATIONALLY:

But oh, the MSM is certainly quick to label those organizing or attending TEA Parties as nutters. From American Thinker:

In the Soviet Union, opponents of the regime were often declared insane and locked up. The American media, perhaps frightened by political demonstrations they don't understand, resort to the same despicable tactic. Rather than analyze, they sneer and fabricate lies.

Marc Cooper, "director of Annenberg Digital News at the Annenberg School for Communication at USC" writes in the LA Times that "tea parties are steeped in insanity."

Paul Krugman in the New York Times thinks:

Today’s G.O.P. is, after all, very much a minority party. It retains some limited ability to obstruct the Democrats, but has no ability to make or even significantly shape policy.

Beyond that, Republicans have become embarrassing to watch. And it doesn’t feel right to make fun of crazy people. Better, perhaps, to focus on the real policy debates, which are all among Democrats.

One way to get a good sense of the current state of the G.O.P., and also to see how little has really changed, is to look at the “tea parties” that have been held in a number of places already, and will be held across the country on Wednesday. These parties — antitaxation demonstrations that are supposed to evoke the memory of the Boston Tea Party and the American Revolution — have been the subject of considerable mockery, and rightly so.

Last but not least: it turns out that the tea parties don’t represent a spontaneous outpouring of public sentiment. They’re AstroTurf (fake grass roots) events, manufactured by the usual suspects. In particular, a key role is being played by FreedomWorks, an organization run by Richard Armey, the former House majority leader, and supported by the usual group of right-wing billionaires. And the parties are, of course, being promoted heavily by Fox News.

The DemocraticUnderground believes:

Sacramento Tea Party, Cavuto Revolution should be categorized as Enemy Combatants!

"While bailing out the irresponsible parties, the government is pushing hard-working Americans to the brink of another revolution. As the government works to redistribute wealth, we Americans work more for less – and the government takes more and more."

The Distribution of Wealth in America, under George W. Bush Tax Breaks Were "Redistribution of Wealth" to the top 10% of families have over 71% Wealth.

Fox Propaganda Channel Lies are deceitful and talking Revolution should be categorized as Enemy Combatants, and sent to detention camps in Cuba or Egypt. Cavuto and Fox News says Obama is redistributing wealth, the republicans have already done that!! Bring your old shoes To wave at Cavuto of Fox News.

Just as Janet Napolitano and Homeland Security consider you to be an "extremist" and subject to being placed on a "watch list." If you believe in limited government, you oppose abortion, you support the First and Second Amendments -- to steal from Jeff Foxworthy -- "you just might be an extremist." The report in PDF here.

Hugh Hewitt summarized it best when he wrote:

The "report" is an embarrassment to DHS, which has done so much good work over the past seven years. The only thing of interest about it is the identity of the author or authors, and whether they rode into town with the new president. The level of analysis is so childish and the conclusions so laughable as to tell us nothing at all except that the government employs some very, very limited "analysts" with big political agendas.

There are indeed right wing extremists in the U.S., a few of whom are dangerous. They are nowhere near as numerous or as dangerous as the jihadists here and around the globe. When Islamist terrorists strike at Americans or American interests here or abroad, it will be a fair question why DHS was allowed to waste its time and resources on such dribble.

And anyone wonders why there are TEA Parties?

How has our country devolved so? Because, I answer, the bulk of our fellow countrymen have demanded it be so.

Time to set things right.

BZ

Newt Gingrich in 2012?

The Associated Press writes today:

Gingrich describes his role (in politics) this way: "I'm a citizen leader who's also a Republican." Asked whether he will make the transition from citizen to candidate, Gingrich gives an impish grin.

"We'll see," he said.

I'm already sorry that Mr Gingrich didn't take the RNC Chairmanship. Mr Steele has disabused me of his own tenure.

2012 isn't that far away, ladies and gentlemen.

Thoughts?

BZ

Happy Birthday, Dad

Yesterday, April 13th, was my father's 89th birthday, and he is not here to celebrate it with me and the family.

I had to move my father, due to health issues, from his house on November 6th of last year. It killed me to do this. His health continued, unfortunately, to deteriorate. He did, finally, make it back to his own house for a week. He had to be transported back to the hospital on Saturday, February 7th; he couldn't walk or move. He passed away four days later, on Wednesday, February 11th.

He missed his 89th birthday by sixty-two days.

I drove by my father's home on Monday. It has a FOR SALE sign out front. This is tough for me to see. Dad purchased this house for $4,600 in 1946. I can remember him saying it cost him $34 a month and he didn't know how he'd possibly make the payments at the time.

Only one family has lived in this house -- mine -- for sixty-three years. It pains me to know, in some kind of strange and convoluted fashion that, when it sells, this is a place I will never be able to visit again, that will no longer be reassuring and a source of comfort. I will be forbidden from going there ever again.

After visiting the house, I drove to the gravesite of my parents. I brought a bouquet of flowers for their plaque. It was a beautiful day as you can see; mostly clear, blue skies. I shed tears nevertheless. At my advanced age, it is still very tough to take; in many ways I feel like an abandoned child. My rational mind tells me this is a preposterous thought.

A small propeller plane flew overhead just as I stood at the foot of my parents' grave. I looked up and waved.

"Hi Dad," I said. "Perfect timing."

BZ

The Piracy Update

Now the information begins to filter in. . .

And those of us who questioned the true position of Mr Obama during the incident are now apparently being validated.

From an article from Jeff Emanuel (in part -- and please read the full article):

Phillips’ first leap into the warm, dark water of the Indian Ocean hadn’t worked out as well. With the Bainbridge in range and a rescue by his country’s Navy possible, Phillips threw himself off of his lifeboat prison, enabling Navy shooters onboard the destroyer a clear shot at his captors — and none was taken. The guidance from National Command Authority — the president of the United States, Barack Obama — had been clear: a peaceful solution was the only acceptable outcome to this standoff unless the hostage’s life was in clear, extreme danger (my emphasis).

The next day, a small Navy boat approaching the floating raft was fired on by the Somali pirates — and again no fire was returned and no pirates killed. This was again due to the cautious stance assumed by Navy personnel thanks to the combination of a lack of clear guidance from Washington and a mandate from the commander in chief’s staff not to act until Obama, a man with no background of dealing with such issues and no track record of decisiveness, decided that any outcome other than a “peaceful solution” would be acceptable.

Please understand that, at this point, had a command authority on the scene made a decision contraverting Mr Obama's edict, there would be a price to pay.

I wrote, in a comment on Texas Fred's blog yesterday regarding this matter:

In many ways I suspect we’ll not know. If Obama made no decision and a naval captain made the decision independent of Mr Obama, I submit it would be safe to say that that is one captain who has jeopardized the rest of what little career he has left.

With that in mind, please continue with Mr Emanuel's article:

After taking fire from the Somali kidnappers again Saturday night, the on-scene commander decided he’d had enough. Keeping his authority to act in the case of a clear and present danger to the hostage’s life and having heard nothing from Washington since yet another request to mount a rescue operation had been denied the day before, the Navy officer — unnamed in all media reports to date — decided the AK-47 one captor had leveled at Phillips’ back was a threat to the hostage’s life and ordered the NSWC team to take their shots.

Three rounds downrange later, all three brigands became enemy KIA and Phillips was safe.

There is upside, downside, and spin-side to the series of events over the last week that culminated in yesterday’s dramatic rescue of an American hostage.

Almost immediately following word of the rescue, the Obama administration and its supporters claimed victory against pirates in the Indian Ocean and declared that the dramatic end to the standoff put paid to questions of the inexperienced president’s toughness and decisiveness.

Despite the Obama administration’s (and its sycophants’) attempt to spin yesterday’s success as a result of bold, decisive leadership by the inexperienced president, the reality is nothing of the sort (my emphasis).

What should have been a standoff lasting only hours — as long as it took the USS Bainbridge and its team of NSWC operators to steam to the location — became an embarrassing four-day-and-counting standoff between a rag-tag handful of criminals with rifles and a U.S. Navy warship.

And therein lies the rub, you see.

I and a number of other bloggers innately suspected, considering the history and philosophical bent of Mr Obama, these underlying actions and behind-the-scenes machinations.

The hostage situation turned out well. Our SEALs did their jobs. And Mr Obama takes great credit and many public bows whilst the DEM/MSM crank up the Glory Choruses.

The telling tale? Follow the career of this "on scene commander" and see how rapidly he either 1) is transferred or 2) retires.

Let this be a lesson for us all: trust our senses when it comes to Mr Obama and his Glory Chorale.

BZ

The Ramifications of Piracy

As we already know, following a firefight the likes from which there exists little information, Maersk Alabama Captain Richard Phillips was freed from his Somali captors on Sunday, April 12th. Three of the four Somali pirates were killed and a fifth Somali, not on the lifeboat, is in apparent custody.

In the meantime, the MV (Merchant Vessel) Maersk Alabama itself rests at anchor in the harbor of Mombasa, Kenya, a country just to the south of Somalia on the eastern coast of Africa, the rest of its crew intact and unharmed. A large and detailed map of Africa is here.

Seized by those four Somali pirates on April 8th, the Maersk Alabama was retaken a short time later by the crew. Captain Phillips surrendered himself for the crew and an exchange had been planned: one of the Somali pirates captured by the crew for Phillips himself. Unfortunately, the crew had little skill in negotiations with thugs and made the mistake of allowing the pirate to go free prior to the release of Captain Phillips.

Phillips was then kidnapped by force for ransom and placed into one of the Maersk's own covered lifeboats with the pirates. Adrift on the sea but equipped with a satphone, the pirates commenced "negotiations." The Maersk Alabama left the site for Mombasa, its original destination, and the FBI (its HRT unit) -- allegedly "in charge" of the destroyer USS Bainbridge -- conducted verbal negotiations.

During this time, the Somali pirates planned to have other pirate vessels make contact with the drifiting lifeboat and transfer Captain Phillips aboard one of those boats, in order to take him back to Somalia -- where, on land and hidden away, they would have a much stronger hand for a successful ransom. The US Navy stymied the plan by deploying two ships which deflected the pirate vessels.

Captain Phillips attempted escape once but was recaptured. He tried a second time on Sunday by again jumping from the Maersk's lifeboat. This allowed US Navy SEALS to fire into the lifeboat and kill the remaining pirates.

Now that the entire crew is safe, there appears to be consideration by the US military to make a land incursion into Somalia itself. Neil Livingstone and other security analysts suggest the 1801 decision by then-President Thomas Jefferson to send a naval force to assault the land bases of Barbary pirates, who were extorting money from U.S. merchant ships off Libya’s coast, is a tactic that would work in this scenario as well.

In the meantime, John Press of Culturist John succinctly writes:

We should, at very least, stop Somali immigration until their piracy of our ships stop. Such culturist immigration policies would remind us that we have a culture as well as a duty and right to protect it.

I can only concur. Common sense would logically demand this.

You inherently know that no one in the current Obama Administration would even remotely touch this concept as it involves verboten subject matter: melanin count and Islam.

However, do you see or hear any Republicans calling for such an immediate and logical measure? I do not. This bespeaks, sadly, volumes about our current GOP ranks.

BZ

REMOVED

Ruth Bader-Ginsburg needs to be removed from the United States Supreme Court immediately.

She isn't fit for another moment's worth of court time. This has nothing to do with her health.

Her recent statement:

I frankly don’t understand all the brouhaha lately from Congress and even from some of my colleagues about referring to foreign law."

She cannot understand this? There is no more exacting a statement necessary to prove that she is not a friend of the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

I call for her removal from SCOTUS, forthwith.

BZ

The Demorats Lied And The Entire American Economy DIED

Watch this revealing video, whilst you still can. And a wonderful H/T to Texas Fred:



We excoriate Bush, we point fingers, we hold the Demorats blameless.

Watch this video again and again, then ask the question:

Isn't this much like John Orr setting fires and then being tasked to extinguish them?

Insanity, my dearest readers. Sheerest insanity.

BZ

Life Without The United States

This is Part I of a nine-part series on YouTube. Please take the time to watch this initial video (9 minutes, 20 seconds). Download the rest of the series if you wish. I would suggest so. In all, it will take roughly an hour of your time.

You and I both know that, as Mark Steyn suggests, America is indeed alone. You cannot count on the UK. You cannot count on Europe. You cannot count on Canada. You certainly cannot count on Mexico or South America.

And I also submit that, as William Bennett likewise suggests, America is the last, best hope of the entire planet.

This nation, Demorats, Leftists, Socialists, the Religious Left, other nations, other interests and agendas denigrate and remove power and control from the United States to their own detriment.

They are that ignorant. They are that shallow.

Let the series speak for itself.

BZ

It's A LIE

The Obama Administration states "anonymously" that, regarding our president bowing before King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia:

An Obama aide speaking anonymously denied that the president was bowing.

“It wasn’t a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he’s taller than King Abdullah,” the aide was quoted as saying by Politco.com Wednesday.

The Saudi press appreciated the move, and wrote:

Obama wished to demonstrate his respect and appreciation of the personality of King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, who has made one of the most important calls in the modern era, namely the call for inter-faith and inter-cultural dialogue to defuse the hatred, conflict and wars."

Here is the appropriate link to Politco.

Here is the video.

You can see the photo above.

And therein lies the problem -- the huge problem, the vast gap between myself and the Obama Administration. And it doesn't have much to do with Mr Obama bowing to a "king" (with the caveat that he appeared to treat Abdullah with more deference than he did the Queen of England) -- it has to do with another issue entirely.

It involves the truth.

Because the Obama Administration lied.

It didn't prevaricate; it didn't make a mistake; it didn't misunderestimate; it didn't state a half-truth. It simply LIED.

Let me spell it out: L - I - E - D.

And here is what you Demorats and Leftists and Socialists and Religious Left refuse to do, which is why I'll not now and never be in your camp: you won't OWN IT.

Mr Obama bowed to a Saudi King. OWN IT.

You're not "progressives," you're, at minimum, Liberals. OWN IT.

This administration wants to completely remake this country with Social Re-Engineering by taking American private interests and the American public hostage, so that it can control every aspect of American life:

• Where we live;
• How we live;
• What we eat;
• What we drink;
• How we are transported;
• And so much more. You know the rest.

This administration will do this, is doing this, by utilizing staggering amounts of money in order to acquire more power over every occupant of this country.

Why do you lie? Because you don't have the ethics to state your true intentions. You lack courage. And you wish to cloak your real intentions: the truth behind your actions.

You won't OWN IT.

BZ

The REAL Reason: POWER

The Obama Administration, by way of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, make it very clear that the current Demorat-controlled Washington is more concerned with acquiring power and control than it is with money -- though money is the means to that end: power.

How might one then logically deduce this? Investors Business Daily observes:

Federal Takeover
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY Posted Monday, April 06, 2009 4:20
Bailouts: Didn't Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner say that it was not the administration's intent to control private companies? Then why is it reportedly reluctant to accept TARP repayments from some banks?

If it has indeed declined to accept $340 million in payments from banks in Louisiana, New York, Indiana and California, the administration is tacitly admitting that it wants to control those banks as well as others that will try to pay back the taxpayers' money they took in the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

By refusing repayment, the government can keep the leverage it bought with the bailouts. Banks that still "owe" would not be in position to reject the administration as a "partner."

If the money is offered in return by those banks and institutions who now finally "get" that the strings attached are indeed beyond onerous, and the government refuses to "accept" said cash, that yields only one conclusion: yes, the bailout is about money but, fundamentally, it is about control the government ultimately wants to acquire over any and every portion of the private sector -- and utilizing the umbrage and disenchantment of the public to help accomplish those goals.

As I indicated earlier, the crystal-clear goal of the Obama Administration, the Leftists, Socialists, Demorats and Religious Left is ultimately the utter and complete Social Re-Engineering of this country. Hearken back to Mr Obama's original campaign words:

Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin the work of remaking America."

Not re-invigorate the nation; not re-ignite the economy; not re-employ thousands of Americans; no. To entirely remake the face and foundation of this nation. And to me that includes, tacitly, the abrogation or ignorance of the US Constitution. All of these things and more are currently in progress at an unprecedented rate with the complete condonation, at best apathy, of the bulk of this nation's lawful and unlawful residents.

I would end by a blazingly-salient quote from economist Thomas Sowell:

Socialists believe in government ownership of the means of production. Fascists believed in government control of privately owned businesses, which is much more the style of this government. That way, politicians can intervene whenever they feel like it and then, when their interventions turn out badly, summon executives from the private sector before Congress and denounce them on nationwide television."

BZ

Obama Visits Turkey And:

. . .apparently it's not just Mr Bush -- but America as a whole.

Huh. Imagine that. Go figure!

BZ

P.S.

Hat-tip to Wordsmith!