HHS Mandate Serves Totalitarian Mindset

The mandate is not anti-Catholic; it's anti-American values.

Crush It!

Gary Vaynerchuk's book, Crush It!, discusses using the new media to reach audiences and accomplish goals. He has become something of a superstar since elevating his father retail wine business from excellent to unbelievable by starting a video blog, The Wine Library.

At a recent conference of specialists in the new media, he claimed the following points as necessary for success in any field of endeavor:
1. Love your family first.
2. Work super hard.
3. Live your passion (your mission in life).

Take Back America!

And this time it's easy - just refuse to answer the questions that are not *Constitutional whether they are asked in person or in a mail-out. Remember that in the United States, no government agent has the right to ask you anything without specific permission, such as the Constitution, a court order or a search warrant.

Watch this video clip to find out more about the Census and protecting your precious privacy.
*They have no right to ask for your race, but I still hope all of my readers, their friends, and their families will check the "Other" box and fill in AMERICAN in the spaces provided. It's time we all stood together to stop this contrived division of our country. Most of us are immigrants or descendants of immigrants who CHOSE to become Americans.

Neuropsychology in Liberals and Conservatives

If you've ever wondered what alternative universe some politicians inhabit, you will enjoy this article in American Thinker today. In in Ms. Tyler explains, "The neurons of the human prefrontal cortex are the only objects in the known universe that are functionally altered by exposure to abstract concepts such as God, truth, freedom, and justice." Read it to find out how different people answer the important questions in life, and why we need to train our children to honor God and seek the Truth at all costs.

Tea Bagging and Politics

For those who, like me, had no idea what the newly popular terms, "tea bagging" and "tea baggers" meant, I point you to an article by Kyle-Anne Shiver , Are Liberals Encouraging Pedophiles with Their "Tea Bagger" Epithet? You Decide. She has written and published it at great personal expense both emotionally and financially.

I warn you not to read it if you are at all squeamish about sexual perversion. But, whether you read it or not, please do not use these words or allow others to use them in your presence. The vile terms have no place in civil discourse, the public square, or polite society. Honest, patriotic, G_d-fearing Americans should never be associated with the idea, the phrase, or the practice. Do not allow anyone to titillate themselves or others by saying the words out loud. Write protest letters to the editor if you run across them in print.

*I have carried Kyle Anne-Shiver's blog, Common Sense Regained, on my blog roll since reading and admiring her work at American Thinker. Last April and last August, I wrote about specific columns she had written. Sadly, AT refused to publish her current article.

Another Call for Moral Clarity

Moral clarity and its relationship to political correctness are the subject of Bill Bennett's column, "Whitewashing Reality," at National Review Online.

The money quote is: There is a rot that spreads outside of Washington into the larger culture. It begins with a confusion of terms, and by not calling things by their proper names, it begins with a disassembling of the moral categories. . . . And so we are reminded again of the notion that the chief purpose of education is to know when a man is talking rot. Because, if unchecked, the rot will settle, it will metastasize.

But you really need to read the whole thing.

Who's in Charge Here?

When the Obama administration began, I kept comparing the thought processes and decisions to college sophomore midnight bull sessions. The topics covered were about on the same level as kids who think they know it all and that they're the first ones to grapple with life's problems in a serious way.

However, the decision to give KSM and other terrorists criminal trials in US courts reduces my estimation of the current officials down to the level of 10 year olds taking over the birthday party while their parents are out of the room preparing refreshments. The ensuing chaos, clowning, and excess inevitably lead to party goers getting hurt.

There are many things wrong with the decision to treat terrorists as common criminals and others have covered them well: J.R. Dunn and Rick Moran are two notable examples.

However, the most stupid action is that both Obama and Holder have already pronounced the prisoners guilty and sure to be sentenced to death. That would reduce our vaunted, impartial justice system to the level of the worst show trials that Russia ever held.

How can they be convicted if pronounced guilty by the President of the US while traveling abroad and his attorney general while testifying before the Senate? Even a third rate trial lawyer could get it declared a mistrial before it even begins.

His Crotch or His Country?

According to yet another picture, Obama still favors his crotch more than the country he presides over.

Thank A Veteran

Yesterday a veteran responded to the query "How can we average Americans ever thank you for your service?"

His reply: "Work to improve your family, your neighborhood, your town, and your state. Make our sacrifice worthwhile by improving the nation we are defending. "

So those our marching orders as citizens are to use our energies, talents, and influence to make things better because we were there. From gracious small talk with the check-out clerk to patience with the elderly to compassionate tough love with the recalcitrant to informed political activity to implacable personal honesty, let us continue to thank our American veterans until the next Veterans' Day.

More from Uncle Sparky

This is a story sent to my uncle by one of his friends.

"As I came out of the supermarket that sunny day, pushing my cart of groceries towards my car, I saw an old man with the hood of his car up and a lady sitting inside the car, with the door open.

The old man was looking at the engine. I put my groceries away in my car and continued to watch the old gentleman from about twenty five feet away.

I saw a young man in his early twenties with a grocery bag in his arm, walking towards the old man. The old gentleman saw him coming too and took a few steps towards him.* ** I saw the old gentleman point to his open hood and say something. The young man put his grocery bag into what looked like a brand new Cadillac Escalade and then turn back to the old man and I heard him yell at the old gentleman saying,'You shouldn't even be allowed to drive a car at your age.' And then with a wave of his hand, he got in his car and peeled rubber out of the parking lot.

I saw the old gentleman pull out his handkerchief and mop his brow as he went back to his car and again looked at the engine.

He then went to his wife and spoke with her and appeared to tell her it would be okay. I had seen enough and I approached the old man. He saw me coming and stood straight and as I got near him I said, 'Looks like you're having a problem.'

He smiled sheepishly and quietly nodded his head. I looked under the hood myself and knew that whatever the problem was, it was beyond me. Looking around I saw a gas station up the road and told the old man that I would be right back... I drove to the station and went inside and saw three attendants working on cars. I approached one of them and related the problem the old man had with his car and offered to pay them if they could follow me back down and help him.

The old man had pushed the heavy car under the shade of a tree and appeared to be comforting his wife. When he saw us he straightened up and thanked me for my help. As the mechanics diagnosed the problem (overheated engine) I spoke with the old gentleman.

When I shook hands with him earlier, he had noticed my Marine Corps ring and had commented about it, telling me that he had been a Marine too. I nodded and asked the usual question, 'What outfit did you serve with?'

He had mentioned that he served with the First Marine Division at Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima and Guadalcanal. He had hit all the big ones and retired from the Corps after the war was over.

As we talked we heard the car engine come on and saw the mechanics lower the hood. They came over to us as the old man reached for his wallet, but was stopped by me and I told him I would just put the bill on my AAA card.

He still reached for the wallet and handed me a card that I assumed had his name and address on it and I stuck it in my pocket. We all shook hands all around again and I said my goodbye's to his wife.

I then told the two mechanics that I would follow them back up to the station. Once at the station I told them that they had interrupted their own jobs to come along with me and help the old man. I said I wanted to pay for the help, but they refused to charge me.

One of them pulled out a card from his pocket looking exactly like the card the old man had given to me. Both of the men told me then, that they were Marine Corps Reserves. Once again we shook hands all aroundand as I was leaving, one of them told me I should look at the card the old man had given to me. I said I would and drove off.

For some reason I had gone about two blocks when I pulled over and took the card out of my pocket and looked at it for a long, long time. The name of the old gentleman was on the card in golden leaf and under his name.......'Congressional Medal of Honor Society.'

I sat there motionless looking at the card and reading it over and over. I looked up from the card and smiled to no one but myself and marveled that on this day, four Marines had all come together, because one of us needed help. He was an old man all right, but it felt Good to have stood next to greatness and courage and an honor to have been in his presence. Remember, OLD men like him gave you FREEDOM for America."

*Thanks to those who served...and those who supported them. These WWII vets are now dying at about 1,000 a day.

Remember, Freedom isn't Free, thousands have paid the price so you can enjoy what you have today.

Another True Story

The following is from another email from a friend of my Uncle Sparky.

This reminds me of what happened to myself some years ago. I was on the way to K.C. on the turn pike . Needed some gas and as I was about to pay for it there was a bit of a ruckus in the back of the shop. An old man had brought in a flat tire (it was the spare) and the guy in the shop had tore it up with out checking to see if it needed to be fixed. It didn't need any thing but some air. The old man was fuming, you could tell by his clothes he didn't have a lot of worldly goods. He didn't want to pay the charge, which was $5.00. Remember , this was almost twenty years ago that was a lot of money back then. Now it would be ten or fifteen.

The old guy was telling the young guy he didn't think the younger man under stood what was the right thing to do and on and on, really chewing him out about young people didn't care about what was right ect and ect. I intervened, payed the bill, helped the old man load the tire in my trunk telling him I would take him back to his car where he had the flat. It was ten miles back to the old man's car. I wish it had been fifty for he had a story to tell. He was a full blooded NAVAJO who had received the Medal of Honor for his time in ww2. As his story came out I drove slower and slower for he was so interesting, for you see he was a member of the CODE TALKERS. The code talkers had a unwritten language of extreme complexity. It has no alphabet or symbols, and is spoken
only on the Navajo lands of the American Southwest. He said they served from 1942 to 1945 and the Japanese never were able to break the code.

This year, for the first time, the Navajo Code Talkers are taking part in the New York Veteran's Day parade. You can read more about them here.

Nothing Is Free

This came from my Uncle Sparky who served in WWII and the Korean Conflict. . .

Back in September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social studies school teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock, did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks from her classroom.

When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks.

'Ms. Cothren, where're our desks?'

She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earned the right to sit at a desk.'

They thought, 'Well, maybe it's our grades.'

'No,' she said.

'Maybe it's our behavior.'

She told them, 'No, it's not even your behavior.'

And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom.

By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in Ms.Cothren's classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.

The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the desk-less classroom, Martha Cothren said, 'Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.'

At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it.

Twenty-seven U.S. Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall.

By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned.

Martha said, 'You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you... They placed the desks here for you. Now, it's up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens... They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don't ever forget it.'

By the way, this is a true story. Today, thank every serviceman and veteran that you know for their service to you and to our country.

What Have We Become?

Some of us have been fretting over the growth of crime and the abuse of children for years. Everytime we mentioned our concerns, we were reminded that such things have always existed and it's only because of the mass media that we think it happens more often now. References to the unlocked doors of our childhood, the freedom to play all over town without parents nervously hovering nearby, and the keys left in the ignition so they wouldn't be lost, have been generally ignored.

Today, Robin of Berkeley has a great article that explores the collapsing social mores in The Sociopathic Epidemic with the insight of a psychotherapist. Take time to read about the intertwining modern prophets of the 20th Century: Ayn Rand (novelist), Freidrich Hayek (economist), and Jules Feiffer, (cartoonist). You will be enriched and enlightened.

Time to Reboot

Ever so often, even my fabulous MacBook needs to be rebooted just to set everything straight again. And my fabulous country needs a reboot too.

We have become so used to dishonest politicians and shady deals, that we've forgotten what it was like before politics became a career path to accumulating great wealth, before tax cheats continued to hold their office despite exposure, and before our public servants rammed budget breaking bills through the legislative process without even reading them. We have forgotten what the standards of conduct for politicians should be.

Just 57 years ago we had a president who was basically honest, no matter what his other faults were. From now on we must change our thinking and our culture to demand a similar attitude in those we elect to serve us.

The following is from an email my favorite uncle, a WWII veteran, sent me.

Harry Truman: Harry Truman was a different kind of President. He probably made as many, or more important decisions regarding our nation's history as any of the other 32 Presidents preceding him. However, a measure of his greatness may rest on what he did after he left the White House.

The only asset he had when he died was the house he lived in, which was in Independence Missouri. His wife had inherited the house from her mother and father and other than their years in the White House, they lived their entire lives there.

When he retired from office in 1952, his income was a U.S. Army pension reported to have been $13,507.72 a year. Congress, noting that he was paying for his stamps and personally licking them, granted him an 'allowance' and, later, a retroactive pension of $25,000 per year.

After President Eisenhower was inaugurated, Harry and Bess drove home to Missouri by themselves. There was no Secret Service following them.

When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stating, "You don't want me. You want the office of the President, and that doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the American people and it's not for sale."

Even later, on May 6, 1971, when Congress was preparing to award him the Medal of Honor on his 87th birthday, he refused to accept it, writing, "I don't consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any award, Congressional or otherwise."

As president he paid for all of his own travel expenses and food.

Modern politicians have found a new level of success in cashing in on the Presidency, resulting in untold wealth. Today, many in Congress also have found a way to become quite wealthy while enjoying the fruits of their offices. Political offices are now for sale. (sic. Illinois )

Good old Harry Truman was correct when he observed, "My choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whore house or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference!

The Hypocrisy Astounds and Abounds

Yesterday's press conference with Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer was not only an invitation only event, it required invitees to RSVP to be sure that no outsiders attended. Press conferences, by definition, are usually open to all comers. But this one, held on the steps of Congress, again by definition an area open to all citizens, was limited to those who agree with Pelosi and Hoyer.

In fact, protesters were walled off by a fence and some were arrested at "the people's House" because they begged to differ. So much for caring about the little people.

Pelosi claimed that this historic legislation, ". . .is fiscally sound, will not add one dime to the deficit, as it expands coverage, implements key insurance reforms and promotes prevention and wellness across the health system."

Even the perennially incorrect (on the low side) CBO has estimated that it will cost $1,055,000,000,000. And the key insurance reforms mean that sooner or later it will be government run health care. Promoting prevention covers up the fact that rationing is inevitable. Can she point to any government run health care or insurance system, like the Veterans' Hospitals, Medicare, or Medicaid that is not already bankrupt? How can this 1990 page monstrosity be any different?

Then to cap it all off, Steny Hoyer, said, "But befitting the importance of this legislation, the process of putting it together has been deliberative, transparent and open; the most deliberative, transparent and open process I have seen for any bill in my 29-year career."

Of course the Democrats have carefully excluded Republican suggestions and amendments. In fact, hardly anyone has even heard of the six healthcare reform bills the Republicans have offered.

Someone please remind me of how this press conference differed from one held by a totalitarian ruling elite.

Dismantling America, Part II

Dr. Sowell, who should have been our first black president, writes again about the real problems the US faces because of the missteps of the Obama administration. Read his first article by scrolling down the page, then read his latest column at Townhall. You will learn, among other things, why so many people defend the Won despite his obvious and egregious errors.

Thomas Sowell : Dismantling America

No one could ever accuse Dr. Sowell of wearing a tinfoil hat. So when he writes articles like this, you need to pay attention. Please read it and pass it along. It was published this morning on Townhall's website.

Just one year ago, would you have believed that an unelected government official, not even a Cabinet member confirmed by the Senate but simply one of the many "czars" appointed by the President, could arbitrarily cut the pay of executives in private businesses by 50 percent or 90 percent?

Did you think that another "czar" would be talking about restricting talk radio? That there would be plans afloat to subsidize newspapers-- that is, to create a situation where some newspapers' survival would depend on the government liking what they publish?

Did you imagine that anyone would even be talking about having a panel of so-called "experts" deciding who could and could not get life-saving medical treatments?

Scary as that is from a medical standpoint, it is also chilling from the standpoint of freedom. If you have a mother who needs a heart operation or a child with some dire medical condition, how free would you feel to speak out against an administration that has the power to make life and death decisions about your loved ones?

Does any of this sound like America?

How about a federal agency giving school children material to enlist them on the side of the president? Merely being assigned to sing his praises in class is apparently not enough.

How much of America would be left if the federal government continued on this path? President Obama has already floated the idea of a national police force, something we have done without for more than two centuries.

We already have local police forces all across the country and military forces for national defense, as well as the FBI for federal crimes and the National Guard for local emergencies. What would be the role of a national police force created by Barack Obama, with all its leaders appointed by him? It would seem more like the brown shirts of dictators than like anything American.

How far the President will go depends of course on how much resistance he meets. But the direction in which he is trying to go tells us more than all his rhetoric or media spin.

Barack Obama has not only said that he is out to "change the United States of America," the people he has been associated with for years have expressed in words and deeds their hostility to the values, the principles and the people of this country.

Jeremiah Wright said it with words: "God damn America!" Bill Ayers said it with bombs that he planted. Community activist goons have said it with their contempt for the rights of other people.

Among the people appointed as czars by President Obama have been people who have praised enemy dictators like Mao, who have seen the public schools as places to promote sexual practices contrary to the values of most Americans, to a captive audience of children.

Those who say that the Obama administration should have investigated those people more thoroughly before appointing them are missing the point completely. Why should we assume that Barack Obama didn't know what such people were like, when he has been associating with precisely these kinds of people for decades before he reached the White House?

Nothing is more consistent with his lifelong patterns than putting such people in government-- people who reject American values, resent Americans in general and successful Americans in particular, as well as resenting America's influence in the world.

Any miscalculation on his part would be in not thinking that others would discover what these stealth appointees were like. Had it not been for the Fox News Channel, these stealth appointees might have remained unexposed for what they are. Fox News is now high on the administration's enemies list.

Nothing so epitomizes President Obama's own contempt for American values and traditions like trying to ram two bills through Congress in his first year-- each bill more than a thousand pages long-- too fast for either of them to be read, much less discussed. That he succeeded only the first time says that some people are starting to wake up. Whether enough people will wake up in time to keep America from being dismantled, piece by piece, is another question-- and the biggest question for this generation.



Thomas Sowell : Dismantling America - Townhall.com

Why Did We Elect Obama?

Robin of Berkely has a thought provoking article about race relations and the Obama election at American Thinker this morning. A younger recovering liberal, she has had experiences and insights that I, an adult who didn't face forced school integration, had no knowledge of.

One quote from the article:

It wasn't the black or the white kids' fault. High minded liberals were culpable for hatching up grand plans without an iota of thought about how it would play out in real time: that if you create a nightmare situation for black children by removing them from their neighborhood and their friends, you traumatize them. And if you then turn them loose and give them carte blanche, some will be out for blood.
Forced busing ended years ago in most places. But over the decades, liberals have concocted new plans, and subjected later generations to fresh trauma.

American Revolution or American Renaissance?

Gerald Celente from Trends Research Institute explains his views of America's future in this video clip that is well worth watching. He believes that we are near a turning point that could lead to either revolution or renaissance. Pray that it will be a renewal of freedom and American ideals, not a socialist coup.

Please scroll down to stop the video by Robert Kiyosaki manually before watching this video. I've tried to change it to play manually, but the silly things insists on doing it automatically. As a former boss used to say, "Technology teaches you patience."

If you want to follow up with more info, this video came from Wall Street Survivor.

If He Had Only Cheated on His Taxes

But, instead Mr. George Norris, a 66 year old retiree, made a clerical error in filling out forms for his home business. So an armed, six man SWAT team from the Fish and Wildlife Service invaded his house and threw files and books on the floor as they searched for something they would not reveal to either Mr. or Mrs. Norris. Eventually the Wildlife Service sent Mr. Norris to prison because some of his paperwork on importing, buying, and selling orchids was incomplete. The aging diabetic was released at age 71. This nightmare started for the long time resident of Spring, Texas in 2003, not a resident of Zima, Russia in 1951.

On the other hand, had he just cheated on his taxes, he might be offered a position in the Obama administration.

To read the whole story of federal criminal laws that criminalize everyone, go to today's Washington Times. Then protest to your Congressional Clowns because it's way past time to scale back the reach and grasp of the federal government.