Someone Is Really Upset

Very good “Afterburner” from Bill Whittle.

Follow the Ideology basically makes a very compelling case why President Obama and US Attorney General Holder developed and/or allowed Operation Fast and Furious to happen.

There is no question the dude is pissed.

Women are Women (And I Love It)

I know that most of my readers are fans of Patrice over at Rural Revolution. In fact, most of you probably came from there when Patrice was kind enough to provide me with some linkage.

If you are a fan of hers, then you certainly read her article on WND regarding equal pay. I would like to add a few observations from my point of view on this subject matter.

I really think she hits the spot and the evidence she provides is empirical fact. I know that when I have held discussions on this subject matter with my left-wing mother, these facts tend to bring the topic to a close because she can’t refute them. Facts are stubborn things.

But I would also like to add my own thoughts based on many years of experience. As you are aware, I spent a long time in the service of this great nation (it was an honor). And my observations are based on this time. I would also like to add these thoughts are my own, and in no way official military policy or stance. Not that military officials would touch this with a ten foot pole, but I felt I needed to add this to keep my butt out of sling (even though I am now retired).

Walesa Persona-non-Grata

This is rather stunning.

A guy who could be considered the father of modern day Poland is considered to political to be a visitor to the Obama White House.

Way back in the bad old days of the Soviet Union and the Iron Curtain there was an electrician who led many, many protest against Soviet occupation and the corrupt Communist Polish government. For his efforts he was arrested many times. He led a movement, Solidarity, that could be given as much credit for the end of the Soviet Union as President Reagan’s policies. He was a labor union leader.

Leah Walesa was deemed to political to be seen in the White House.

Polish leadership had requested Walesa accept Medal of Freedom on behalf of Jan Karski. But they were rejected. Too political.

So, still think Obama is a great foreign policy president? In a matter of a few days Obama and his staff utterly piss off an entire nation of 38 million. First to break was the snafu of calling the Nazi concentration camps “Polish death camps”. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on that. I mean, let’s face it, Obama is only as good of a speaker as his speech writers are. If he speech writers are not willing to do a tad bit of research, we can’t expect Obama to do any better. Jeez, that is what staffs are for. As a leader (and I am not calling Obama a leader), you expect your staff to make you look good. You hire people you expect will cover your backside. But this was a mistake of his staff, not of Obama’s.

But to turn down Lech Walesa, a union leader for goodness sake, is just plain bad form. But I guess they had to weigh his union activities with the fact that Walesa helped bring down the Soviet Union, a form of government many in the Obama administration undoubtedly admire.

Unemployment Ticks Up

The May unemployment numbers are in and they are not good. Only 69,000 jobs were created which was well off the “expected” 125,000+ thought. And the unemployment rate rose started to move upwards once again to 8.2%.

All in all, not good news for President Obama with an election only a few short months away. So far, Obama has presided over a very weak economic recovery, probably one of the weakest recoveries ever. Even during the dark days of the Great Depression, once we started to come out of it in 1935-1936, recovery numbers were much better than this. Of course, with unemployment near 30% any upward movement was good.

The question now becomes whether Romney can articulate his vision into something the voters will relate to. Can he convince voters that he is the answer to the problems in the economy? Most of you know that I am not a Romney fan, but I am firmly planted in the “anyone but Obama” camp. I am concerned of his flip-flops on several issues such as the 2nd Amendment and his “evolving” stance on abortion. But I cannot question his experience when it comes to what matters most to folks right now and that is his business acumen.

I really don’t think Obama has a clue how to recover this economy. His socialist views on the world and how to make things work doesn’t really work well in getting a stagnant economy running once again. He has tried clean energy and that has failed terribly. Almost a trillion dollars thrown into the pit of Solyndra and other companies with nothing but bankruptcy and job losses to show for it. Locking away mineral resources that could provide jobs by the hundreds of thousands and reduce our reliance on terrorist-sponsoring governments. Energy prices that are expected to skyrocket over the next few years as the EPA puts crippling regulations into force.  And don’t forget Obama Care. Not exactly the recipe for job and economic growth.

But Obama sure does look good and speaks well (as long as the teleprompter is working) and isn’t that all that matters?

If I have any liberal readers out there, could you please provide any form of rebuttal. Please give us examples of what “The Chosen Once” has done that has been good for the economy. But before you go down the stimulus road as your example, please remember that nearly all of that money was wasted paying off favored donors and pet projects. The sex habits of grizzly bears and the aforementioned Solyndra fiasco isn’t exactly what an economic recovery is made of. And he himself has said that projects weren’t exactly “shovel ready.”

Could Schools Ban Cell Phones?

If you haven’t seen the video below, you have most likely been living in a cave. But I am sure, dear reader, that you are aware. But I am not posting this as news, but as a reminder.

Plus, how long do you think it will be before schools ban cell phones in the classroom? The incident above could very well been considered a watershed event, exposing leftist and socialist teachers for what they really are. Now, before I get a bunch of comments from teachers, please note that I do know there are many teachers out there that able to maintain their neutrality and get the bias from the classroom, or have conservative values.

I know that the kind of recording that took place in North Carolina last month could embolden others to do the same thing. And while I think we may be coming close to crossing a line, keeping teachers in line who believe the classroom is for leftist manipulation is a good idea. The possibility of being recorded by a student might go a long way towards these kinds of teachers from spending too much time praising the “Dear Leader”.

But, you and I know that the teachers unions have immense power and will do everything possible to keep these records from happening. How long will it be before a school district bans the phone from the classroom? Has it already happened? How long before it more than just an isolated district here and there?

Conservative Blogger Jailed

Last Friday I posted this little article about some of the harassment being experienced by conservative bloggers from a convicted domestic terrorist. It was mostly just links to several stories by these bloggers. The blogger that is pretty much front and center of this whole fiasco is a certain fellow (and his family) from Maryland. Well, it seems that this individual has been taken into custody and placed in jail.

Read the whole story here.

Absolute miscarriage of justice if you ask me. This is a freedom of speech issue and the Maryland judge has probably violated his 1st Amendment rights.

Not only has the individual and his wife have lost their jobs through what are mostly likely lies and deceit, but he will now have a record.

Probably the scariest thing about all of this is the possibility that other could also be jailed just for speaking their minds on certain subject matters. If you are any sort of student of history, does any of this give you a moment of pause? While our current sitting President probably had nothing to do with the judge's ruling, the current atmosphere of tramping down opposing views by both the White House (Attack Twitter, since deleted) and the lame stream media's absolute silence on this issue probably gave the judge the impression that his ruling would go unnoticed.

There are times when liberty dies a sudden and voilent death (Think Germany mid 1930's) and other times it dies slowly due to a thousand little cuts (think America now).

Crybaby

All I can say is: WAAAAAAAAAAA.

You lie in the world you create.

Chris "The Thrill" Matthews created this world as one of the leftist media’s greatest Obama fans.

In the video he tries to answer an interview question regarding the “thrill” episode back before the 2008 election (coronation?) of President Barack Obama. He spends an inordinate amount of time trying (and failing) to put “the thrill” into context. Matthews should have been a politician. Just like the rest of them he is incapable of just a simple "yes" or "no" answer, which was requested by the host.

Watch the original below. Oh, and please note the slobbering by Keith “I keep getting fired because I’m an Idiot” Olbermann at the beginning of the clip.

Blogburst (Harassment Issue)

Over the past few weeks and story has been developing in the blogging world that I thought you might be interested in reading about. If you are like me and spend time reading many different blogs, you are probably already aware of this story. If you don’t spend much time on line, this story is something you really need to see to believe.

It seems that a convicted felon has been harassing bloggers who dare blog the truth about his past and current activities. This guy has a history of violence, being convicted of a string of bombings back in the early 1980s, one where a man was so severely injured that he later took his own life. In the present, there are some questions whether his non-profit organization is completely on the up-and-up. Details about all of this are within the links provided.

I am not going to rehash it all right here. Since my blogging has had to take a backseat to making a living I haven’t been part of what is going on. And even if I had been able to blog, I’m not so sure that I would have taken on this story.

The level of harassment experienced by these bloggers is some to behold and should shake your sense of freedom to its core.

But rather that spend much time on it, I am going to provide you with some links that I think you might find interesting.

Over at Patterico’s Pontifications, the writer describes a harrowing event that nearly got him killed. If you think that is hyperbole then I don’t think I can explain it to you any better than Pat can.

Another blogger and his family were forced to abandon their home after an associate of the convicted felon called the workplace of the blogger’s wife.

Probably the most detailed accounting of harassment committed against a blogger is here at this link. Due to the nature of the harassment and the people who are doing it, the employer of said blogger, and his wife, were fired from their jobs. The employer was fearful that the harasser would do something at the job site.

As always, Michelle Malkin has a great rundown and plenty-o-links to go around.

Many have called President Obama the “Apologizer In-Chief” and for very good reason.

Who can forget this image of the president bowing to the Saudi King?

Or when he bowed to the Japanese Emperor?

Or how about how about when he apologized to Muslims during a speech in Egypt early in his presidency?

So, could anyone image him, or anyone in his administration, saying anything like these folks below?

In the early 1960’s Charles DeGaulle, President of France, told JFK’s Secretary of State Dean Rusk that he wanted all US military presence gone from France after France pulled out of NATO.

Rusk responded, “Does that include those who are buried here?”

Not a big fan of Colin Powell since he voted for Obama after flirting with a run at the presidency as a Republican a few years back. I have wanted to ask him if he voted for Obama because of his policy positions or for another reason. I mean, why would a long time Republican suddenly decided that a Socialist-Democrat had all the answers?

When in England at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of ‘empire building’ by George Bush.

Powell answered by saying, “Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return.”

There was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking parts, including French and American. During a break, one of the French engineers came back into the room saying, “Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intend to do, bomb them?”

A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: “Our carrier have three hospitals that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day; they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day; and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and their flight decks. We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?”

This one is my personal favorite:

A US Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the US, English, Australian, and French Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of officers that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but French Admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English. He then asked, “Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?”

Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied, “Maybe it’s because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn’t have to speak German.”

This next one isn’t exactly the same as above but I wanted to include it anyway. Anytime anyone tweaks the noses of the French I gotta love it.

Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman, arrived in Paris by plane. At French customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in has carry on.

“You have been to France before, monsieur?” the customs officer asked sarcastically.

Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously.

“Then you should know enough to have your passport ready.”

The American said, “The last time I was here, I didn’t have to show it.”

“Impossible…Americans always have to show their passports on arrival in France,” snorted the snotty French customs official.

The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained, “Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn’t find a single Frenchman to show a passport to.”

Memorial Day is fast approaching. For many out there, this is the start of summer. But for a rapidly dwindling generation, it is time to remember those who did not come back from Europe or the Pacific Theater. I want you to remember not only those who we left behind more than 65 years ago but those that did come home. There aren’t very many of them left and if you have a chance to say thank you, please take a moment out of your day. You’ll be glad you did, trust me on this.

Take Care Where You Park

Something a little different for you folks to read today.

As many of you know I am now driving a truck for a living. It is not exactly what I want to do with my life, but I have to put bread on the table and for the time being this what I am going to do.

So in addition to blogging my thoughts on politics and whatnot, I will also include some of my thoughts about being on the road and upload a few pictures when I can.

Some of the thoughts I will have might rub some of my readers the wrong way because I am going to complain about some of the things that I witness out there on the road. When you read this I want you to remember something. I will probably put more miles on the road in one week then you will in a couple of month. Think about this, on an average day, I will do about 500 miles. That is an average week for many of you.

The other day I was waiting on my turn to get a load of bagged seed loaded into my trailer. It was beautiful day in Eastern Washington. The sun was out with a light breeze. The location was in an obvious industrial area with many small manufacturers and similar businesses up and down the several streets. At one point this car pulled up and stopped on the side of the street and stayed there for about 30 minutes.

No big deal, right?

Actually it was a big deal.

The person had decided to park right in a location that was used by truckers to gain some space for getting their rigs in and out of a loading dock.

Here is something for you to remember: If you are in an industrial area, and this includes businesses that serve the agricultural community, take care where you park. If you see an area along the sides of the streets and roads that look heavily worn and compacted keep in mind that this was mostly likely caused be trucks repeatedly crossing over that area as they enter and exit the local businesses.

Some will claim ignorance of how all this operates and that is fine. But in the case of the person I saw parking in situation described above, I know full well they were aware of where they were at because one of the employees of the seed business came out and got their lunch from the driver. In the time this person was parked there, one truck tried to exit the dock. They were able to get the rig out, but not after backing up twice just to make the corner. And the driver of the car did nothing to help, didn’t even offer to move.

If you don’t see other cars parked in these worn areas, take heed. The space is well worn for a reason. Please notice where the cars are parked and make every effort to park there. Those spots are so designated for a reason.