tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76267452588115291222024-02-07T00:27:35.905-05:00OpineTreeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger202125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7626745258811529122.post-32047011160256486062009-02-12T13:57:00.003-05:002009-02-12T14:05:30.225-05:00We're Sorry...The Author You Have Dialed is No Longer In ServiceCheck out my new project, a community that can be found here:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.yourpoliticsareboring.org"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >www.yourpoliticsareboring.org</span></a><br /><br />This is the end of OpineTree. It was a great year-long run, and a big thanks to all you loyal readers, but it's time to move on to bigger and better things, and this project is certainly both. So go read!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7626745258811529122.post-78973127122436264602009-01-14T11:25:00.003-05:002009-01-14T11:42:25.390-05:00Geithner to Head Department of Irony<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">You can't make this up. Timothy Geithner, President-elect (God I'm sick of hearing that term) Obama's incoming Secretary of the Treasury, is President of the New York Federal Reserve - you know, the private bank from which our government borrows all of the money in existence, at interest? Yeah, that one.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEgLei5xqoewh99BkxfHa4VsCQDKm-LoOjlatbGIkQYWClIhZ2LIhkqewh4Lrxl2fYTbtc_MIr1se2gQzyG-yM6ayggZm_IL2F66IPj46hkV_d-n0VPI1naoiSHDWrU6RZoDLWBI5fqg0/s1600-h/geithner.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 58px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEgLei5xqoewh99BkxfHa4VsCQDKm-LoOjlatbGIkQYWClIhZ2LIhkqewh4Lrxl2fYTbtc_MIr1se2gQzyG-yM6ayggZm_IL2F66IPj46hkV_d-n0VPI1naoiSHDWrU6RZoDLWBI5fqg0/s400/geithner.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291190645398783346" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">It should be noted that this arrangement creates an obvious paradox: if all legal money has to be borrowed from a single bank with owed interest payments, and every dollar borrowed will just increase the amount the government owes to the private bank, and the amount of money in existence will never be enough to match the amount of money owed back to the bankers...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Where does the money to cover the interest payments come from? Your Federal income tax, of course. This outrageous facet of the "arrangement" is second to the fact that the implication of this is that the government (and you) are owned by the private bankers.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">It seems Timothy failed to pay more than $34,000 in federal taxes while he worked for the International Monetary Fund. Hmmm...wonder how that happened.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">The kicker is, according to the Wall Street Journal, Geithner was aware of the owed taxes in 2006, when the IRS audited his 2003-2004 taxes and concluded he "owed taxes and interest totaling $17,230." Yet in November of 2008, just after the Messiah was selected (I mean uh, elected), it came to light that Geithner had failed to pay the exact same taxes for 2001-2002.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">So Geithner paid the taxes he owed for 03-04 when the IRS notified him, but not until November 21st of 2008 (coincidentally the very day he was named Treasury appointee) did he pay them for 01-02.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Either way the Obama team tries to slice this, it's embarrassing in the most hilarious way. Their official position is this:</span><br /></span><blockquote style="font-weight: bold; font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;">"The Obama team said Mr. Geithner's taxes have been paid in full, and that he didn't intend to avoid payment, but made a mistake common for employees of international institutions."</span></blockquote><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">So he's an international banker who's "unaware" of the IMF's regulations establishing the responsibility for paying payroll taxes, despite being a director of the institution.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">At best, and as unbelievable as it may seem, he doesn't completely understand the system. While that's one way in which he's no different than the rest of us, does that sound like a good appointment to the Treasury, the department we're told is in charge of "overseeing" the IRS?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">At worst, he's a tax cheat. Again I ask, does that sound like a good appointment?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">The funny part is, the media is trumpeting this "outrage" over Geithner's tax missteps, while completely ignoring the other "complications" to his appointment, namely that as President of the Federal Reserve of New York and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, he not only oversaw the Wall Street meltdown, but is quite literally one of the men responsible for the economic situation in which we find ourselves.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">I know you're a puppet Obama, but marionettes are much more fun to watch.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7626745258811529122.post-3864909736031736392008-12-30T12:53:00.006-05:002008-12-30T13:19:44.721-05:00Injured Palestinian Girl: Hamas is the Cause of All Wars<span style="font-family:verdana;">I wish I could say this reflected the broader Palestinian sentiment, but that isn't the case. Consider this an interview with a <a href="http://www.pmw.org.il/Bulletins_Dec2008.htm#b2912082" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: bold;">human shield</span></a>, her four-year-old sister one of the 60 civilians killed in IAF strikes so far (as opposed to <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span><a href="http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2008/12/israeli_defense_force_launch_y.asp" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: bold;">over 300 Hamas personnel</span></a>)</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-family: verdana;"><object width="375" height="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fLIdxF-GHWw&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fLIdxF-GHWw&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="375" height="300"></embed></object><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">This did not air on Israeli networks, but rather Palestinian Authority TV. I have no reason to question the integrity of the clip, but some are suggesting it's a "Pallywood" attempt by Fatah aimed at undermining Hamas.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">When Hamas starts to care more about protecting the people of Gaza (instead of using their bloodied corpses as PR tools), and less about the goal of destroying Israel, the Palestinians will be much better off.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I only wish America had the stomach, the will, the nationalist pride that the Palestinians have to fight and defend every inch of the land that is rightfully ours, instead of remaining complacent as the elite throw open our borders and tell us that sovereignty is an "anachronistic" concept.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">When compared to the quislings in the United States, that particular facet of Palestinian culture is admittedly admirable.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7626745258811529122.post-75274370281408938672008-12-29T17:00:00.000-05:002008-12-29T16:57:09.913-05:00Podcast: Hamas, Heatwaves, and Hawaii<span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >Keith hops on-board as co-host as we discuss the escalating situation in Gaza, the continuing trumpeting of the man-made global warming theory, and the nauseatingly obsessive press and their love affair with Obama.<br /><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.podbean.com/wp-content/plugins/podpress/player.swf" id="audioplayer169" width="290" height="24"><br /><param name="movie" value="http://www.podbean.com/wp-content/plugins/podpress/player.swf"><br /><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=169&bg=0xF8F8F8&leftbg=0xEEEEEE&text=0x666666&lefticon=0x666666&rightbg=0xCCCCCC&rightbghover=0x999999&righticon=0x666666&righticonhover=0xFFFFFF&slider=0x666666&track=0xFFFFFF&loader=0x9FFFB8&border=0x666666&soundFile=http%3A%2F%2Fopinetree.podbean.com%2Fmedias%2Fplay%2FaHR0cDovL21lZGlhNi5wb2RiZWFuLmNvbS8xMTE1NjkvdS9IYW1hc19IZWF0d2F2ZXNfYW5kSGF3YWlpXzEyXzI4XzIwMDhfbGl0ZS5tcDM%2FHamas_Heatwaves_andHawaii_12_28_2008_lite.mp3"><br /><param name="quality" value="high"><br /><param name="menu" value="false"><br /><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><br /></object><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />(Click here to </span><a style="font-weight: bold; font-family: verdana;" href="http://opinetree.podbean.com/medias/web/aHR0cDovL21lZGlhNi5wb2RiZWFuLmNvbS8xMTE1NjkvdS9IYW1hc19IZWF0d2F2ZXNfYW5kSGF3YWlpXzEyXzI4XzIwMDhfbGl0ZS5tcDM/Hamas_Heatwaves_andHawaii_12_28_2008_lite.mp3">download</a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, or subscribe via iTunes or RSS)</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="itpc://opinetree.podbean.com/feed"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 91px; height: 17px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7YX5HEjSuqBo3rr5YdG4p9NYAeBbfavkoFOJ89mJOM1Td-wg4GTJlzfFFMJJ6uY18Mdncjdd9n8s0ccPvLTlfeNzE_6wvHfJRy0Lu08ROTUO5PQwlZeD7rjcONHWoy1MQYoCp0KLg97c/s320/add-to-itunes.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285272235746118178" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://opinetree.podbean.com/feed/"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 80px; height: 15px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglXkMx7UIokH-kNAQ7DaGCQ1_1Bq8VBSkFnVrjmeYM7z5gDz4bkUpqbsZJFer8XrAOUKrRrvYXfldqcxNWe0P7o2ZkIu_lQrtmjFNHiB49QPI4Ep0fXtLxcaooSfYvzAp_TpqbNJ5lJGw/s320/rss_podcast.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285272268322793346" border="0" /></a></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7626745258811529122.post-78673819468386532672008-12-29T16:44:00.010-05:002008-12-29T17:02:41.605-05:00You Can't Spell Cliché Without ChéDirector Steven Soderbergh is releasing a biopic about Ché Guevara, the Marxist "revolutionary" many in America cherish for entirely naive reasons. It's another depressing chapter in the idolization of a violent thug, whose image is plastered on anything capitalism can sell, creating perhaps the only humorous aspect of his legacy: perfectly misconstrued posthumous irony.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQZ-R-k0npTfsNFqQ04iSai7KuhR9rwCUD_rZpJ-D-GeJP3WvrbPIEn8SYVHf1IT-v5Y-r-rJbq5TcsUGBeDUs7XJS8bFipvqCQoRR_JjEYxYlq6FBaaV0sffgl5Z40tx6-PeQQc9KX7s/s1600-h/che.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 58px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQZ-R-k0npTfsNFqQ04iSai7KuhR9rwCUD_rZpJ-D-GeJP3WvrbPIEn8SYVHf1IT-v5Y-r-rJbq5TcsUGBeDUs7XJS8bFipvqCQoRR_JjEYxYlq6FBaaV0sffgl5Z40tx6-PeQQc9KX7s/s400/che.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285334351326012994" border="0" /></a>Imagine if Hitler was a pop icon. At one point he was, but only when his name was Ernesto "Ché" Guevara, as he stood against everything most of his T-shirt clad worshipers claim to believe in. Most of these people stand against capital punishment. Che not only believed in it, but practiced it mercilessly and without criminal trials.<br /><br />Most of these people stand for personal freedom. Ché sent youngsters to "re-education camps" if they were caught listening to pop music. Most of them also claim to respect intellectual accomplishment, but Ché's writings are re-hashed two-bit slogans from the mouth of Karl Marx.<br /><br />Most Guevara lovers value "heroism," an attribute they claim to see in Guevara. How heroic is getting your rocks off by shooting unarmed citizens in the back of the neck? Many close to Ché would remember the legendary "Paredón" - something Ché (acting as Castro's personal executioner) loved to show off.<br /><br />It was the wall against which he executed political prisoners, stained red with the blood of countless victims.<br /><br />Imagine if someone released a biopic about Adolf Hitler and portrayed him as a vegetarian painter who loved animals and hated unemployment. Just like <span style="font-style: italic;">The Motorcycle Diaries</span>, it would be true, but rather beside the point. As someone once said, the only difference between Ché and Pol Pot is that Ché never studied in Paris.<br /><br />Although it would be hard to find someone who wouldn't point out the irrelevance of Hitler's hobbies, there are throngs of Ché-lovers in America. But just as Hitler's crimes are entirely documented, the damning evidence of Ernesto's brand of thuggery is not hard to come by.<br /><br />There is a massive amount of carefully researched and documented information telling the real story of Ché's bloodlust, as well the economic disaster over which he and Fidel Castro presided, which forced starving Cubans to choose between brutal totalitarianism and risking their lives by fleeing the island.<br /><br />Does putting homosexuals into labor camps sound heroic to you? What about mandatory nation-wide AIDS testing, and the forced quaratine of all HIV-positive Cubans on the Isle of Pines? The Castro-Ché regime murdered more people in their first three years in power than Hitler and the SS did in their first six, and the percentage of Cuba's population imprisoned in labor camps was larger than the percentage of Soviet citizens incarcerated and sent to labor camps under Joseph Stalin.<br /><br />I guess you could call him a revolutionary hero, if by "revolution" you mean "regression into a police state," and by "hero" you mean "brutal tyrant." If you're starting to realize Guevara wasn't a righteous soul worthy of heroic remembrance, Hot Topic probably didn't need your business anyway.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7626745258811529122.post-72018917385933408312008-12-23T02:31:00.008-05:002008-12-29T13:41:53.248-05:00Podcast: Greed is GoodTalking about Wall Street, Congress, Obama, Iraq, and the entire facade of government in the United States. This week's podcast includes clips from Congressman Ron Paul and veteran investor Jim Rogers, speaking of the current financial crisis.<br /><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.podbean.com/wp-content/plugins/podpress/player.swf" id="audioplayer7215" width="290" height="24"><br /><param name="movie" value="http://www.podbean.com/wp-content/plugins/podpress/player.swf"><br /><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=7215&bg=0xF8F8F8&leftbg=0xEEEEEE&text=0x666666&lefticon=0x666666&rightbg=0xCCCCCC&rightbghover=0x999999&righticon=0x666666&righticonhover=0xFFFFFF&slider=0x666666&track=0xFFFFFF&loader=0x9FFFB8&border=0x666666&soundFile=http%3A%2F%2Fopinetree.podbean.com%2Fmedias%2Fplay%2FaHR0cDovL21lZGlhNi5wb2RiZWFuLmNvbS8xMTE1NjkvdS9vcGluZXRyZWVwb2RjYXN0XzEyMjMyMDA4bGl0ZS5tcDM%2Fopinetreepodcast_12232008lite.mp3"><br /><param name="quality" value="high"><br /><param name="menu" value="false"><br /><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><br /></object><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">(Click here to </span><a style="font-weight: bold; font-family: verdana;" href="http://opinetree.podbean.com/medias/web/aHR0cDovL21lZGlhNi5wb2RiZWFuLmNvbS8xMTE1NjkvdS9vcGluZXRyZWVwb2RjYXN0XzEyMjMyMDA4bGl0ZS5tcDM/opinetreepodcast_12232008lite.mp3">download</a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, or subscribe via iTunes or RSS)</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="itpc://opinetree.podbean.com/feed"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 91px; height: 17px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7YX5HEjSuqBo3rr5YdG4p9NYAeBbfavkoFOJ89mJOM1Td-wg4GTJlzfFFMJJ6uY18Mdncjdd9n8s0ccPvLTlfeNzE_6wvHfJRy0Lu08ROTUO5PQwlZeD7rjcONHWoy1MQYoCp0KLg97c/s320/add-to-itunes.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285272235746118178" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://opinetree.podbean.com/feed/"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 80px; height: 15px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglXkMx7UIokH-kNAQ7DaGCQ1_1Bq8VBSkFnVrjmeYM7z5gDz4bkUpqbsZJFer8XrAOUKrRrvYXfldqcxNWe0P7o2ZkIu_lQrtmjFNHiB49QPI4Ep0fXtLxcaooSfYvzAp_TpqbNJ5lJGw/s320/rss_podcast.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285272268322793346" border="0" /></a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7626745258811529122.post-61137521626046651322008-12-20T16:07:00.000-05:002008-12-19T17:36:27.949-05:00Having Solved the Nation's Problems, Congress Gives Itself a Raise<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">No, this isn't The Onion. This is of course while the </span><a style="font-weight: bold; font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/congressional_performance/congressional_performance" target="_blank">approval rating</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> of Congress has hit the single digits again, and while wildly unpopular legislation bailing out failed banks and corporations is being shoved down the throats of the American people.<br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoyJG0srPaXOec1nDS917y5jsdoKbsIBLa3XnKI6fUfLXHF3_g3XHPTONSHa2jz8FgDyu64I7wdGMdj8M1uWRCf_gpsBlneykdIja0-dx49ddaVVW3ewFadS-GucnEUG9isdNV7kBqiqQ/s1600-h/congress.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 58px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoyJG0srPaXOec1nDS917y5jsdoKbsIBLa3XnKI6fUfLXHF3_g3XHPTONSHa2jz8FgDyu64I7wdGMdj8M1uWRCf_gpsBlneykdIja0-dx49ddaVVW3ewFadS-GucnEUG9isdNV7kBqiqQ/s400/congress.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281611661845811842" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><a style="font-weight: bold; font-family: verdana;" href="http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/with-economy-in-shambles-congress-gets-a-raise-2008-12-17.html" target="_blank">The Hill</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> is reporting on this unbelievable story:</span> </span><blockquote style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;">A crumbling economy, more than 2 million constituents who have lost their jobs this year, and congressional demands of CEOs to work for free did not convince lawmakers to freeze their own pay.<br /><br />Instead, they will get a $4,700 pay increase, amounting to an additional $2.5 million that taxpayers will spend on congressional salaries, and watchdog groups are not happy about it.</span></blockquote><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">I would like to propose a new law requiring all congressional pay raises to be subject to approval by the electorate. After all, we're paying for it right? Shouldn't we be the ones to decide whether or not they deserve it?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Think about it. Who determines whether you get a raise at your job? Your boss, of course. It's his money. I've had several jobs in my life, and I don't ever remember one where the only requirement for getting a pay raise was signing a piece of paper and announcing to my boss that he'll now owe me more money every year.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">And they <span style="font-style: italic;">don't</span> deserve it. Let's take their approval rating, which currently sits at a pathetic 9%. If you worked in an office, and there were 100 people in that office, and 91 of them thought you were doing a poor job, do you think you'd be able to convince your boss to give you a raise?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">You'd be lucky to even have a job. In fact, the only thing separating you from a Congressman would be the fact that you actually stay at work for 8 hours a day, instead of strolling in at 11:30 (11:45 if you're Cynthia McKinney and you have trouble with security), renaming a post office, passing a "resolution" congratulating a college sports team, and eating a corn-beef sandwich before calling it a day.</span> </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7626745258811529122.post-54166159403204649372008-12-19T12:29:00.006-05:002008-12-19T16:18:15.452-05:00Hamas Ready for War<span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >Hamas has declared an end to its ceasefire with Israel, which was largely meaningless given that Hamas has violated it on more than one occassion. More than likely what this means is that the Islamist group has simply had enough time to stockpile more weapons and ammunition to feel heroic again. Super.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUU8FqRAMFCBQ0h7nSApvB50X2PoeaGstLfEUvA2jL7VNt5uEEvjIG1tZSQ_3_hWIdKf9hdgbVEOK8Q-uPBbsXHcMf55E97g16gsfOvWD6gGEZQCY-t3q_yAi99frCGvUvQGJVeFZYBvA/s1600-h/hamas.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 58px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUU8FqRAMFCBQ0h7nSApvB50X2PoeaGstLfEUvA2jL7VNt5uEEvjIG1tZSQ_3_hWIdKf9hdgbVEOK8Q-uPBbsXHcMf55E97g16gsfOvWD6gGEZQCY-t3q_yAi99frCGvUvQGJVeFZYBvA/s400/hamas.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281558388374082194" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSLI75623220081218?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews" target="_blank">From the Reuters report</a>:<br /><blockquote style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Hamas on Thursday declared an end to a six-month-old Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip, raising the prospect of an escalation in cross-border fighting.<br /><br />"The calm is over," Hamas official Ayman Taha said in an announcement after concluding talks with Palestinian factions in the coastal enclave controlled by the Islamist group.</blockquote>Israel's Haaretz is also reporting that the Israeli military cancelled weekend leave for all troops near Gaza and is preparing for "mobilization." Why does Israel keep agreeing to these "ceasefires?" They know what happens every time: The Israelis stop fighting, the Islamists fire more rockets, and then use the "calm" to reload, re-arm, and re-recruit. Then, it begins again.<br /><br />If Hamas wants to call off the ceasefire, I say let 'er rip Israel. Hamas doesn't want peace, they want the complete destruction of Israel (as they have officially stated). This is Jihad, and Jihad never ends.<br /><br />If only Jimmy Carter could save us!<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7626745258811529122.post-72553647929350674342008-12-18T11:44:00.006-05:002008-12-18T14:32:16.914-05:00OMG: Obama's Invocation to be Delivered by Christian Homophobe!Just after Dianne Feinstein and just before Aretha Franklin, evangelical minister Rick Warren will deliver the invocation at Obama's inaugural ceremony. Cue immediate gay/lesbian/transgender/bisexual/trigenital <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16693.html" target="_blank">freakout</a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpsD5pX3_v4eeJJm_sNkpiMvEPUr9cmp4U0FVLxHy56bjLm1p8tQNnt7KIbGxVsZRVIQwgJd0NAx4w2G9-SRbnf0gzcsJgPByhA7XRpuCWu3YteZExdsXTWOalKuPAhNxjF31nGVT8Uz4/s1600-h/obamawarren.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 58px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpsD5pX3_v4eeJJm_sNkpiMvEPUr9cmp4U0FVLxHy56bjLm1p8tQNnt7KIbGxVsZRVIQwgJd0NAx4w2G9-SRbnf0gzcsJgPByhA7XRpuCWu3YteZExdsXTWOalKuPAhNxjF31nGVT8Uz4/s400/obamawarren.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281215077021285986" border="0" /></a>Mark my words, this is but the first in a long series of disappointments among America's liberal community, as they will slowly realize that the mantra of "change" was simply a slogan, and Obama is only a slightly blacker (albeit more handsome) puppet, with strings tied to the same hands that have been running this country for decades.<br /><br />Gays and indeed most liberals are shocked, <i>shocked</i> that Obama would pick a Christian who supported Prop 8, the amendment to the California state constitution defining marriage as between one man and one woman. I'll remind liberals that their Messiah himself supports this traditional definition of marriage, but is in favor of legal, taxation, and employment equality, and for domestic partnerships or civil unions.<br /><br /><b>This is the exact same position as Warren's.</b> Is nobody realizing this? You want he should have picked Jeremiah Wright? Where were your voices of outrage over his 20 year relationship with that "Christian?"<br /><br />This is really just a nod from Obama to America's religious community; an attempt to bolster his manufactured image as a centrist who is sensitive to the desires of religious Americans. But liberals are fah-ree-king-out:<br /><blockquote>"By choosing homophobe Rick Warren, who helped pass Prop 8 in California, to do the invocation at the inauguration, Barack Obama just said to LGBT Americans that we're not part of that event." -- <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.americablog.com/2008/12/rick-warren-is-major-fail-and-total.html" target="_blank">AMERICAblog</a></blockquote>Get over yourself! On the one hand, I'm glad you aren't blindly following The One, but honestly, doesn't this at least show you what a calculating man he is? He is, after all, a <span style="font-style: italic;">politician</span>. I also love the notion that if you support Proposition 8, you are automatically a "homophobe." I need a couple hands to count the number of gay friends I have, and I supported Prop 8. I guess I just secretly hate gay people.<br /><blockquote>"With this choice, Obama sends three destructive messages. Number one: In Obama's America, equal rights and reproductive freedom aren't for everyone. Number two: President-elect Obama likes sharing the national stage with hate. Number three: While Obama enjoys his equality before the law, LGBT Americans can go to Hell. Literally. Gee. Is this change we can believe in?" --<a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/17/obama-selects-eliminationist-preacher-warren-for-inauguration-pulpit-the-audacity-of-hate/" target="_blank"> Firedoglake</a></blockquote>I love it! Now even liberals are asking the "change we can believe in" question with their tongue planted firmly in their cheek! Once again, supporting traditional marriage = "hate." He may not like sharing the stage with hate, but he's fine with sharing a church with it. Do they not realize that Obama has been courting Warren for years now?<br /><blockquote>"This is more than a serious faux pas; this is an insult to all the queers and non-believers who worked their asses off to elect Obama-Biden. We need to let the President-Elect know that parading a homophobic bigot at his big parade rains on ours." -- <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.miketidmus.com/blog/2008/12/17/obama-cant-be-serious/" target="_blank">Mike Tidmus</a></blockquote>Liberals generally follow certain guidelines when deciding whether or not to castigate fellow liberals. It's amazing really. Liberal feminists will still cheer the likes of Bill Clinton or Ted Kennedy. Liberals who claim to be tolerant of other races will support former KKK member Robert Byrd. The only thing liberals can do wrong is to either be insufficiently liberal, or to somehow suggest legitimacy to conservative ideas.<br /><br />The shoe incident notwithstanding, Bush is undoubtedly glad to get out.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7626745258811529122.post-46553959335239326232008-12-17T21:55:00.016-05:002008-12-29T13:43:00.516-05:00Podcast: Taxes, Nukes, and Shoes<span style="font-family:verdana;">Topics covered in this episode include: New York governor David Paterson’s scheme to tax virtually everything in existence, a persiapocalypse update in the wake of new warnings from Israel, and the now-infamous incident involving an Arab, a Texan, and 2 size 10 shoes.<br /><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.podbean.com/wp-content/plugins/podpress/player.swf" id="audioplayer4695" width="290" height="24"><br /><param name="movie" value="http://www.podbean.com/wp-content/plugins/podpress/player.swf"><br /><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=4695&bg=0xF8F8F8&leftbg=0xEEEEEE&text=0x666666&lefticon=0x666666&rightbg=0xCCCCCC&rightbghover=0x999999&righticon=0x666666&righticonhover=0xFFFFFF&slider=0x666666&track=0xFFFFFF&loader=0x9FFFB8&border=0x666666&soundFile=http%3A%2F%2Fopinetree.podbean.com%2Fmedias%2Fplay%2FaHR0cDovL21lZGlhNi5wb2RiZWFuLmNvbS8xMTE1NjkvdS9vcGluZXRyZWVwb2RjYXN0XzEyMTcyMDA4bGl0ZS5tcDM%2Fopinetreepodcast_12172008lite.mp3"><br /><param name="quality" value="high"><br /><param name="menu" value="false"><br /><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><br /></object><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">(Click here to </span><a style="font-weight: bold; font-family: verdana;" href="http://opinetree.podbean.com/medias/web/aHR0cDovL21lZGlhNi5wb2RiZWFuLmNvbS8xMTE1NjkvdS9vcGluZXRyZWVwb2RjYXN0XzEyMTcyMDA4bGl0ZS5tcDM/opinetreepodcast_12172008lite.mp3">download</a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, or subscribe via iTunes or RSS)</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="itpc://opinetree.podbean.com/feed"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 91px; height: 17px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7YX5HEjSuqBo3rr5YdG4p9NYAeBbfavkoFOJ89mJOM1Td-wg4GTJlzfFFMJJ6uY18Mdncjdd9n8s0ccPvLTlfeNzE_6wvHfJRy0Lu08ROTUO5PQwlZeD7rjcONHWoy1MQYoCp0KLg97c/s320/add-to-itunes.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285272235746118178" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://opinetree.podbean.com/feed/"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 80px; height: 15px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglXkMx7UIokH-kNAQ7DaGCQ1_1Bq8VBSkFnVrjmeYM7z5gDz4bkUpqbsZJFer8XrAOUKrRrvYXfldqcxNWe0P7o2ZkIu_lQrtmjFNHiB49QPI4Ep0fXtLxcaooSfYvzAp_TpqbNJ5lJGw/s320/rss_podcast.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285272268322793346" border="0" /></a></span><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7626745258811529122.post-21519029452442569242008-12-17T13:09:00.004-05:002008-12-17T13:16:48.869-05:00Educators Stress "Global" Values, See Nationalism as "Obsolete"The globalist agenda rolls on. In October of 2007, the annual Frontiers in Education Conference met in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Among the papers presented at the conference was "<a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://fie.engrng.pitt.edu/fie2007/papers/1015.pdf">Critical Theory, Globalization and Teacher Education in a Technocratic Era</a>," written by three professors: Mark Malisa, Randall Koetting, and Kristin Radermacher.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM_LtokJlZNGKAZHCG1461WNqMOUitBKGfMax0NmePiDiNq-FkjnFnWCQpfltyCKH9WYNwdvddX9RAlD3b6IUKzE35zY8_KMasbIh_uQC_CaCrsiu9Ph0xyhyphenhyphenFFEPSdg9sqIwmt3EOQaw/s1600-h/Classroom010-full.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 81px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM_LtokJlZNGKAZHCG1461WNqMOUitBKGfMax0NmePiDiNq-FkjnFnWCQpfltyCKH9WYNwdvddX9RAlD3b6IUKzE35zY8_KMasbIh_uQC_CaCrsiu9Ph0xyhyphenhyphenFFEPSdg9sqIwmt3EOQaw/s400/Classroom010-full.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280824608838934402" border="0" /></a>The opening statements read:<br /><blockquote>"Our perspective is that of educators who view the current world as one that is highly internationalized and intensely global, <span style="font-weight: bold;">rendering nationalistic orientations obsolete</span>. We also view education and educators as involved agents in the construction of a just social world, and contend that this implies infusing the curriculum and teacher education with cosmopolitan sensibilities, frequently, through critical theory and critical pedagogy."</blockquote>The authors assert that national identity is anachronistic and obsolete in the new "intensely global" social order, and that children ought to be indoctrinated to accept this notion. The report states that American education programs must adopt a "global perspective" and that "the time of splendid isolation is over...purposes of education have changed."<br /><br />"As globalization becomes the dominant term for describing and conceptualizing teacher education, colleges and schools of education will need to revisit their mission statements and rethink what it means to be part of the global community," the report states. It concludes by admitting that there will be resistance to these measures, stating "...a lot of work remains to be done in creating a critical consciousness that makes it possible to realize that global solidarity does not threaten nationalism."<br /><br />Though these three professors in particular may not realize it, their objectives are part of an agenda that has been pursued for decades. Tax-exempt foundations, particularly the Rockefeller Foundations, Ford Foundation, and Carnegie Foundation were instrumental in influencing U.S. education policy. Are we to believe these rich bankers and industrialists had a genuine philanthropic interest in bettering the education system of the United States, or does it make more sense that they wished to use their money, power, and influence to carry out an elite agenda? I'm convinced it's the latter.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7626745258811529122.post-16170515678427979852008-12-05T14:29:00.001-05:002008-12-17T00:02:28.521-05:00Thanksgiving in Bombay: Terror Survivor Describes the Attacks<span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:100%;" >Details are emerging about the absolutely horrifying course of events for victims of the Islamic terror attack in Bombay. The following story is from the son of Apoorva Parikh, a 57-year old father who is still recovering from his injuries. Apoorva had gone to dinner that night with two friends, and upon hearing the initial gunshots, the hotel staff attempted to hurry the guests out of a kitchen exit.<br /></span><blockquote style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">"As the guests tried to rush into the kitchen, one terrorist burst into the restaurant and began to shoot anyone that remained in the restaurant. At this point my father was in the kitchen and, along with his two friends, rushed to the fire exit. They had barely descended a few steps when they were trapped from both ends by terrorists.<br /><br />"The terrorists then rounded up anyone alive (about 20 people) and made them climb the service staircase to the 19th floor. On reaching the 18th floor landing they made the people line up against a wall. One terrorist then positioned himself on the staircase going up from the landing and the other on the staircase going down from the landing.<br /><br />"Then, in a scene right out of the Holocaust, they simultaneously opened fire on the people. My father was towards the centre of the line with his two friends on either side. Out of reflex, or presence of mind, he ducked as soon as the firing began.<br /><br />"One bullet grazed his neck, and he fell to the floor as his two friends and several other bodies piled on top of him. The terrorists then pumped another series of bullets into the heap of bodies to finish the job.<br /><br />"This time a bullet hit my father in the back hip. Bent almost in double, crushed by the weight of the bodies above him, and suffocating in the torrent of blood rushing down on him from the various bodies my father held on for 10 minutes while the terrorists left the area.<br /><br />"When he finally had the courage to wiggle his arms he found that there were four other survivors in the room. They communicated to each other by touch as they were too afraid to make a sound.<br /><br />"My father moved just enough to allow himself room to breathe and then lay still. The survivors passed over 12 hours lying still in the heap of bodies too afraid to move.<br /><br />"They constantly heard gunfire and hand grenades going off in the other parts of the hotel. They feared that any noise would bring the terrorists back.<br /><br />"After approximately 12 hours, the terrorists returned with a camera and flashlight and joked and laughed as they filmed what they thought was a pile of dead bodies.<br /><br />"They then moved to the landing below where they set up explosives. On their departing, my father decided that it was too risky to remain where they were, due to the explosives."</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:100%;" >The three survivors then climbed the rest of the stairs to reach an air-cooling plant room where they hid, drinking sips of water from the air-conditioning unit, until Friday morning when a commando team rescued them and took them to a hospital.<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7626745258811529122.post-33431478132253625712008-12-05T10:34:00.002-05:002008-12-17T11:38:46.140-05:00Surprise: Muslims Outraged by Osama Bin Lego<span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >If you thought <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1030798/Muslim-outrage-police-advert-featuring-cute-puppy-sitting-policemans-hat.html" target="_blank">this story</a> couldn't be topped, you're in for a good one. Add <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Strange-News/Lego-Like-Islamic-Terror-Militant-US-Toy-Company-Makes-Muslim-Terrorist-Bandit/Article/200812115172332?lpos=Strange_News_Second_World_News_Article_Teaser_Region_4&lid=ARTICLE_15172332_Lego-Like_Islamic_Terror_M" target="_blank">this</a> to the long list of things that have Muslims <span style="font-style: italic;">outraged</span>:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2008/Dec/Week1/15172348.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 331px; height: 186px;" src="http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2008/Dec/Week1/15172348.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><blockquote style="font-weight: bold;">"A range of Lego-style fighting figurines - including an Islamic terrorist militant - has sparked outrage among Muslims. Shocked by the playthings, British Muslim organisation the Ramadhan Foundation has branded the figurines "absolutely disgusting".<br /><br />Chief executive Mohammed Shafiq said the figures were "glorifying terrorism".<br /><br />He said: "I don't think there's any difference between someone that shouts hatred through a megaphone and someone that creates a doll that glorifies terrorists...It belittles the pain the families of victims of terror have gone through."<br /><br />Other fighters in the range include World War Two troops, US marines - and a Nazi SS officer."</blockquote>Ah yes, everyone knows the stereotypical evil Muslim terrorist: yellow skin, a perfectly symmetrical body, and hands suitable for grabbing only the most cylindrical of objects.<br /><br />The depressing part is that most Muslim organizations are more outspoken and "outraged" by effing toys than by the senseless murders that are carried out in their name. I'm sure the Ramadhan Foundation was "outraged" by the 10 Muslims who managed to torture and kill hundreds in Bombay last week (no, I'm not going to call it Mumbai). See any Jewish groups outraged over Lego Nazis?<br /><br />Let's do a little experiment. Pick a group, any group at all. It can be a religious group, a political group, an occupational group - whatever. Now add the word "Outraged," paste it into Google, and hit enter. Here are my scientific findings:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSxbPthA7ROPw5ZHkEoTSRaggdD2-wtBx2m4oN02IzZr7sfcCOZZvvUQiOp3c5uXjBF_0ZeHz7WA4tIe-q68AyNfOIn9_NeDRrfcChiQN9eFJlabaz4jhxyUQh5JQPhkenAE_q9DKVvnA/s1600-h/graph.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 318px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSxbPthA7ROPw5ZHkEoTSRaggdD2-wtBx2m4oN02IzZr7sfcCOZZvvUQiOp3c5uXjBF_0ZeHz7WA4tIe-q68AyNfOIn9_NeDRrfcChiQN9eFJlabaz4jhxyUQh5JQPhkenAE_q9DKVvnA/s320/graph.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276414855002261106" border="0" /></a></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >What a burden it must be to carry such a large share of the worlds outrage. Whether it's <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/1515973/Muslims-outraged-by-new-cartoon-of-Prophet-in-Hell.html" target="_blank">cartoons</a>, <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.religionnewsblog.com/21723/muslims-outraged-that-police-ad-features-a-police-dog-in-training" target="_blank">puppies</a>, <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://theopinionator.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/02/uk-muslims-outr.html" target="_blank">potato chips</a>, <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world-news/brit-muslims-outraged-over-environment-ministers-offensive-inbreeding-remark_10017125.html" target="_blank">inbreeding</a>, <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.caymanmama.com/2008/05/27/indian-muslims-outraged_200805272262.html" target="_blank">college exams</a>, <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/05/philly-muslims-outraged-that-robbers.html" target="_blank">bank robbers</a>, or <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2008/11/13/60059.html" target="_blank">wine tastings</a>, there's no shortage of outrage from the Muslim world. The non-Muslim world isn't looking for you to point out their "intolerance" in the areas of toy-making. It's looking for you to point out the subversion of your religion by Godless killers, and join the rest of the world in saying "enough is enough."<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7626745258811529122.post-4133010643020310652008-12-04T15:30:00.001-05:002008-12-17T10:52:42.490-05:00Yet Another 'No Srsly Israel Is Gonna Attack' Story<span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:100%;" >Good ol' JPost brings us this story of an <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1227702421218&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull%20" target="_blank">impending Israeli strike</a> on Iran's nuclear facilities, with or without American support. Perhaps the only thing separating this story from the slew of similar articles over the last year or so is the fact that the U.S. is currently in presidential limbo.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/images/AIR_F-22_Top_Desert_lg.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 294px; height: 220px;" src="http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/images/AIR_F-22_Top_Desert_lg.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:100%;" >Well, that and the fact</span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:100%;" > that Iran is as close as ever to possessing an Islamic Bomb (if they don't have one or several already).</span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:100%;" > From the Jerusalem Post:<br /><blockquote style="font-weight: bold;">Israeli officials have said it would be difficult, but not impossible, to launch a strike against Iran without receiving codes from the US Air Force, which controls Iraqi airspace. Israel also asked for the codes in 1991 during the First Gulf War, but the US refused.<br /><br />"There are a wide range of risks one takes when embarking on such an operation," a top Israeli official said.</blockquote>Yeah, like the Star of David getting shot down by the Stars and Bars, or God forbid the Star and Crescent. Israel's task of destroying a sufficient number of Iranian sites is daunting, but not impossible. And besides, impossible aerial missions are supposed to be what the IAF is all about.<br /><br />The even more daunting aspect of a strike is the aftermath. As disgusted as most Iranians are with their rulers, nothing will unify them more than an Israeli bombing run. And nothing will cause oodles of self-detonating Shiites around the world to murder innocent civilians, something Israel will - believe it or not - attempt to avoid during a strike. It will almost immediately awaken two particularly vile arms of the Persian Octopus, Hamas and Hezbollah, igniting war on the northern border with Lebanon, and inviting more rockets and suicide attacks.<br /><br />That is, of course, providing Iran doesn't just launch their own arsenal, nuclear or otherwise.<br /><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7626745258811529122.post-58167878939750025312008-12-03T14:15:00.002-05:002008-12-17T10:53:49.769-05:00The Big Three Killed My Baby<span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >In honor of the current chapter of the American financial meltdown, here's "The Big Three Killed My Baby" by the White Stripes, one of their few politically oriented songs.<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><object width="300" height="275"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/c8lAjmor6bg&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/c8lAjmor6bg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="300" height="275"></embed></object></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></div><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><span style="">As 61% of Americans are opposed to a bailout of the three auto giants, they're being threatened once again. Just like the subprime lending crisis, we're being warned of a potential "new Great Depression" if we don't create money out of thin air to rescue the auto industry. From Breitbart:</span><br /><blockquote style="font-weight: bold;"><span style=""><span class="lingo_region"><p>"We're on the brink with the U.S. auto manufacturing industry," [Chrysler executive] Press told The Associated Press in an interview. "If we have a catastrophic failure of one of these car companies, in this tender environment for the economy, it's a huge blow. It could trigger a depression."</p></span></span></blockquote><span style=""><span class="lingo_region"><p> </p></span></span><span style="">These companies have no plans to </span>change their business models, no plans to alter their relationships with unions or lobbyists...they have no plan other than to beg the government for their own chunk of taxpayer money. There isn't even a plan to pay Americans or the private banks back for this bailout, other than to create a "government oversight board." Gasp! A government oversight board! How I feel better already.<br /><br />Bailouts do not solve problems. They are government-issued band-aids that consist of money that never existed, created out of nothing and on loan from a private bank. Free enterprise has lifted more people out of poverty than any other system devised by mankind. Freedom has a neat way of working out like that. But economic liberty includes the freedom to fail if you don't live up to the expectations of your consumers, bind yourself with union agreements, and churn out poorly-made and decidedly ugly cars that no one will drive.<br /><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7626745258811529122.post-78202771387231598372008-12-03T13:13:00.001-05:002008-12-17T10:54:18.743-05:00The Next Film from OpineTree<div style="text-align: center; font-family: verdana;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style=";font-size:100%;" >Here's the trailer for the next film. Sorry, no more details until it's done.<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><object width="400" height="302"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2413660&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=28acd4&fullscreen=1"><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2413660&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=28acd4&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="302"></embed></object><br /></span></div></div></div><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7626745258811529122.post-40859831811068627212008-12-02T12:31:00.001-05:002008-12-17T11:41:38.474-05:00More Excuses for the Lack of Activity<span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >I know I know. There's been sparse reading here for a couple weeks now, despite promises that after the movie was done, writing would resume. Well...research and reading and thinking and brainstorming have resulted in a <span style="font-weight: bold;">new film</span> being in the works, which reprises the issue of our central bank and links the decline of the dollar to the loss of U.S. sovereignty.<br /><br />That project aside, I have some larger plans for the blog, and will be restructuring soon, as well as writing more. In the meantime, read:<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:100%;" ><a href="http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=081201213246.v50zx9ik&show_article=1" target="_blank"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">BERNANKE SAYS CRISIS "NO COMPARISON" TO GREAT DEPRESSION</span></a><br /><br />Despite what President Bush says:</span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:100%;" ><blockquote>"I can remember sitting in the Roosevelt Room with Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke and others, and they said to me that if we don't act boldly, Mr. President, we could be in a depression greater than the Great Depression."</blockquote>Fed Chairman Bernanke says:<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" class="lingo_region" ><blockquote>"Well, you hear a lot of loose talk, but let me just ... say, as a scholar of the Great Depression -- and I've written books about the Depression and been very interested in this since I was in graduate school, there's no comparison."</blockquote>If you misrepresent anything on your income tax return, you go to prison. But when Bush, Paulson, and Bernanke collectively loot the Treasury, rewrite tax laws on the fly to help their cronies, and oversee the biggest robbery in American history, they get to laugh all the way to Switzerland.<br /><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7626745258811529122.post-89633723128327623242008-11-19T12:02:00.001-05:002008-12-17T11:44:04.145-05:00Oh Snap: Al-Qaeda Talking Some Major Trash<span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >Today, Al-Qaeda's second in command (if you think Osama is still alive), Ayman al-Zawahri, said that Obama's election has not changed the American policies he claims are aimed at "oppressing Muslims." But that was before he called him a Negro.<br /><br />You crossed the line, son! I know you <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D94I2RM80&show_article=1" target="_blank">didn't just say</a> that about no Barack!<br /></span><blockquote style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">Ayman al-Zawahri said in the message, which appeared on militant Web sites, that Obama is "the direct opposite of honorable black Americans" like Malcolm X, the 1960s African-American rights leader.<br /><br />In al-Qaida's first response to Obama's victory, al-Zawahri also called the president-elect - along with secretaries of state Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice - "house negroes."<br /><br />Speaking in Arabic, al-Zawahri uses the term "abeed al-beit," which literally translates as "house slaves." But al-Qaida supplied English subtitles of his speech that included the translation as "house negroes."</span></blockquote><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >Daaaaaamn</span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >, no you didn't! Listen man, I know you like our black people when they're Muslims, but my cuz Obama was born Muslim, didn't you know? He even attended school as a Muslim in Indonesia - that don't count for nothin'? Can't we just <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE4AI47X20081119?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0" target="_blank">chill</a>?<br /></span><blockquote style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">"The Muslim nation received with extreme bitterness your hypocritical...stance toward Israel...You were born to a Muslim father, but you chose to stand with the enemies of Muslims."</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >Ohhhhh </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >snap</span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >! What about Afghanistan n'all that?<br /></span><blockquote style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">"Be aware that the dogs of Afghanistan have found the flesh of your soldiers to be delicious, so send thousands after thousands to them."</span></blockquote><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >Shiiiiiiiiit</span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >...come on man, it ain't gotta be like that. This is my man Barack! Change! Y'know what I'm sayin? He's got all that hope n'shit, man!<br /></span><blockquote style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">"America has put on a new face, but its heart full of hate, mind drowning in greed, and spirit which spreads evil, murder, repression and despotism continue to be the same as always."</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >...Shit's cold as ice, son.<br /><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7626745258811529122.post-70674943825721400112008-11-17T13:42:00.002-05:002008-12-17T11:45:02.659-05:00If "Stop the Hate" is the Message, Try Setting the Example<span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >Let me start by saying that the goal of this column is clarity, not agreement. I don't seek to change your mind or have you finish reading this and end up in either support or opposition to Proposition 8, or gay marriage as a whole. I simply wish to clarify the issue, and point out what I see as the real "intolerance."<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://wnd.com/images/misc/bash.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 450px; height: 145px;" src="http://wnd.com/images/misc/bash.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Bash Back, a "tolerant" homosexual rights group.</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /></span></div><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >California recently voted for the second time (after the first decision was overturned by the state supreme court in a 5-4 vote) to amend the state's constitution via Proposition 8, which will define traditional marriage as being one man and one woman. It was not a vote on civil unions, income tax or health insurance privileges, or to take away any "rights" from homosexuals. It was a simple ballot initiative to allow the citizens of California (arguably the most liberal voting state in the nation) to decide how the state should define the word "marriage." Nearly every county (including Los Angeles and San Francisco) voted for the traditional definition, with only 15 of California's 58 counties opposing the proposition.<br /><br />It should be noted that this is in fact the second time Californians have voted as a state in favor of this traditional definition. Many opponents say Proposition 8 is a "step backward," since gay marriage is currently legal in California. But it's only a "step backward" because after the voters of California spoke for the first time, the issue was shopped to the state supreme court, who overturned the voice of the majority by a 5-4 vote, resulting in a few months of state-sanctioned same-sex "marriage." Now that the people of California have voted yet again in favor of the traditional definition of marriage, governor Schwarzenegger took a break from squat thrusts long enough to say,</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" > "It's unfortunate, obviously, but it's not the end...I think that we will again maybe undo that, if the court is willing to do that."</span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br />Democracy in action. If the state instead voted overwhelmingly in </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >favor</span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" > of redefining marriage to include same-sex couples, and one </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >conservative</span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" > judge tipped the 5-4 vote and overturned the voice of the people by re-banning "gay marriage," don't you think homosexuals and their advocates would rise up and say "Democracy has been subverted; the people have spoken and their voice has been silenced?" You'd think so, and you'd be right. But apparently the subversion of one of the last true democratic constructs in America (the ballot initiative) is completely fine if the results turn out in your favor.<br /><br />Before going on, let me say this. I am a 100% sexual libertarian. I don't care what someone's orientation is, what they do, who they do it with, how many people are involved; whatever blows their skirt up in the privacy of their own home doesn't and will never affect me, nor should it. I'll never have a problem with (much less care about) what anyone does sexually, as long as it's consensual and no children are involved. I think this is pretty basic stuff.<br /><br />After understanding that, understand that I am in favor of granting every "right" a married heterosexual couple has to homosexual couples as well. I use the term "right" loosely here, but you should know what I'm talking about: Hospital visitation, the ability to cover your partner with an employer's health insurance plan, the ability to file a tax return as a couple...the list goes on and on. I don't know a single supporter of proposition 8 who has a problem with two homosexuals taking advantage of the aforementioned benefits that society bestows to heterosexual couples. In fact, if you ask me, it's a travesty they aren't universally granted already. Homosexuality is not a choice, or a "preferred behavior." As such, society can not expect to dilute its influence by punishing it as a "choice," or creating economic incentives to "choose" its opposite.<br /><br />Proposition 8 supporters and indeed the vast majority of those who defend so-called "traditional marriage" do not hate gays. Many of them have gay friends, coworkers, family members - all of whom they fully accept and understand. They do not seek to destroy a homosexual's way of life, or punish them for their sexuality - something they have no control over. They see no problem in granting to homosexual couples a legal standing equivalent to traditional marriage in the eyes of the government (which is - like it or not - what these "rights" are all about; your church doesn't decide how you can file your tax return) - they simply want the term and the institution to continue to be defined by the society as male/female.<br /><br />I hear and understand the complaints and grievances of Prop 8 opponents, whatever their sexuality. I simply ask that they use democratic and peaceful means to convince their opposition and achieve their goals. Naturally, opponents of Proposition 8 are incensed, and I sympathize with them, but there have been overwhelmingly un-American tactics used in the wake of the decision, which I can't support or defend in any way.<br /><br />A 69-year old woman was <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,450884,00.html" target="_blank">swarmed by angry protesters</a>, as the cross she was carrying was yanked from her hands and trampled upon. Jose Nunez, a 37 year-old Mexican immigrant who became an American citizen only two months ago, was "<a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/prop-8-supporter-violently-attacked/story.aspx?guid=%7B665DEBA6-A1B2-41A5-BA45-2ACFEAAA2F48%7D&dist=hppr" target="_blank">brutally assaulted</a>" while waiting to distribute signs in support of Prop 8. He was punched in the left eye and his signs were stolen, after being asked by his assailant, "What do you have against gays?!" It might just be me, but it seems like now he's got a lot more to "have against gays" than he did before one punched him in the face. Well done.<br /><br />Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, a church which served as a collection point for a petition to get the proposition on the state ballot, was spray painted by vandals. I mean uh...people who want to "stop the hate." Mt. Hope, a church outside of Lansing, Michigan, was stormed by an anti-Prop 8 group called "Bash Back," whose demonstrators marched outside the church and then <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://online.worldmag.com/2008/11/13/light-gay-and-violent-ii/" target="_blank">invaded the sanctuary in the middle of a Sunday service</a>, shouting slogans, throwing leaflets and condoms (yes...condoms), pulling a fire alarm, and having two lesbian members kiss at the pulpit in front of the congregation. If church-goers didn't like gay people before, they're sure to love them now!<br /><br />Letters containing "<a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hZmLBrL36NObNyMR0ghXN7vB5hYwD94F5HFO3" target="_blank">white powder</a>" meant to resemble anthrax were sent to the Mormon church's Salt Lake City headquarters, and to a temple in Los Angeles. A 25-year old director for the California Musical Theatre was <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/1393290.html" target="_blank">pressured into resigning</a> because of his $1,000 donation in support of the proposition.<br /><br />You can even find online "anti-gay black lists" which publicly identify and call for boycotts against citizens, small businesses, and organizations that financially backed the proposition, even with amounts as little as $46. <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://antigayblacklist.com/" target="_blank">One website states</a>, "The following individuals or organizations have donated money to the California Proposition 8 campaign which seeks to ban same sex marriages. Please do not patronize them." And no, patronize doesn't mean "chastise."<br /><br />This is what is fundamentally un-American, and I don't care what your sexuality is. And this is coming from liberals, straight and gay alike, who are supposed to be the "tolerant" ones? It is not and has never been the American way for citizens to seek to destroy the property and livelihood of others who disagree with them. That isn't democracy, tolerance, compromise, or reform - that's terrorism. You don't turn someone who disagrees with you into a "hater" or a "bigot" in an attempt to tear them down or crush their businesses. You seek understanding, compromise, and unity. You don't claim to have an affinity for democracy when the vote goes your way, and then use the "inadequacy" of democracy as an excuse for violence when it doesn't.<br /><br />Oh, and since it seems to be Mormons taking most of the heat for supporting this ballot initiative, I'll remind you that not only is the Messiah himself in opposition to gay marriage (as is Mr. Biden), over 70% of blacks in California voted in favor of traditional marriage, as most of them pulled the lever (or impregnated the chad, as it were) for Barack Obama. Hear any calls for the black community, whose members voted overwhelmingly against gay marriage, to be labeled as haters and homophobes? Any black churches stormed or invaded? Nah, better stick with the Mormons. They get this kind of stuff all the time.<br /><br />Again, the point of this column is not to change your mind about anything. The point (which should be especially heeded by homosexuals) is that militant and indeed intolerant homosexual "advocacy" groups are doing for mainstream acceptance of homosexuality and gay couples what Sharpton, Wright, and Jackson have done for the progress of blacks in America. That is to say, setting it back decades. Denounce the violent acts of these groups (and any abhorrent actions of the opposition as well), encourage others to actually practice this philosophy of "tolerance," and in addition to trying to tear down walls, try to build some bridges as well.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7626745258811529122.post-15791683260950821852008-11-16T10:25:00.004-05:002008-12-23T14:53:11.673-05:00Watch "Disinterest" Online Now<span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >Oh boy. The blog's first film is stream-able right now. You can click any of the links to the Disinterest page to watch it. Hell, here's the first of 5 parts. <a href="http://opinetreefilms.blogspot.com/2008/12/opinetree-films-presents-disinterest.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Click here to watch the rest</span></a>. Enjoy!<br /></span><div style="text-align: center;font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></div><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><object width="400" height="302"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2240160&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=2bd622&fullscreen=1"></object></span><div style="text-align: center;font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><object width="475" height="358"><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2240160&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=2bd622&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="302"></embed></object><br /></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7626745258811529122.post-65133082106230542702008-11-13T11:54:00.002-05:002008-12-17T11:45:51.612-05:00The American Dream, Now with 100% More Mandatory "civil defense" training<span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >In an interview with Ben Smith of the NY Daily News, Rahm Emanuel (Obama's White House chief of staff) chuckled and brushed off plans for mandatory civil defense training. The <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2006/08/podcast-rahm-emanuel.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Daily News</span></a> has more, but first you've got to listen to this:<br /></span><div style="text-align: center;font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><object width="350" height="283"><param name="movie" value="http://www.eyeblast.tv/public/eyeblast.swf?v=e4qG6UIr8z&c1=0x000000&c2=0x0FB6D8"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.eyeblast.tv/public/eyeblast.swf?v=e4qG6UIr8z&c1=0x000000&c2=0x0FB6D8" allowfullscreen="true" width="350" height="283"></embed></object></span><div style="text-align: left;"><blockquote><span style="font-size:100%;">"Rather than figure out if you take a train ride or a barrack, think of it this way: <span style="font-weight: bold;">it will be a common experience</span>, and you'll be prepared. God forbid there's a chemical hit, there's another terrorist act, or a natural disaster (which are coming more frequent), <span style="font-weight: bold;">there will be a body of citizens who are ready and capable and trained. That's all you have to think about. We're all here for you, okay? It's a circle of love."</span></span></blockquote></div></div><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >A circle of love! Oh how I love my nanny state!<br /><br />Here's another surprise: gun sales have shot up since the election. Why can't a presidential candidate flip-flop on a definitive Second Amendment case in the middle of a campaign without people wondering if he's serious about gun rights?<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7626745258811529122.post-45967395279741330702008-11-11T01:47:00.002-05:002008-12-17T11:49:06.768-05:00GA Congressman: We've Elected a Marxist<span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >Saturday, a congressman from the 10th district of Georgia deemed President-elect Obama's agenda "Marxist," and called out John McCain for running an "inept" campaign. Paul Broun is especially worried about Barack's pledge to create a "<a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt2yGzHfy7s" target="_blank"><span>civilian national security force</span></a>." First, the <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/110808/met_482679.shtml" target="_blank">local story</a>:<br /></span><blockquote style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">"In my opinion, we've elected a Marxist to be president of the United States...Mr. Broun qualified his remark, saying he believes Mr. Obama's policies of bigger government and shared wealth are Marxist..."I'm very disappointed with the McCain campaign," he said. "In my opinion, it was inept."</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >Then from the <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iRxZox4GFoIweckPDP1oRhKBlHOwD94CCDU00" target="_blank">wire service that doesn't like to be quoted</a>:</span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><blockquote style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">"It may sound a bit crazy and off base, but the thing is, <span style="font-weight: bold;">he's the one who proposed this national security force</span>," Rep. Paul Broun said of Obama in an interview Monday with The Associated Press. "I'm just trying to bring attention to the fact that we may — may not, I hope not — but we may have a problem with that type of philosophy of radical socialism or Marxism."</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><span style="">You don't need an outright Marxist revolution in America. You don't need a coup. You don't need a violent uprising. You don't even need to take people's guns.<br /><br />When you control the value of people's money, the amount of money they get to keep, and the education of their children, achieving national socialism is like shooting fish in a barrel, you just have to shoot one at a time and over a period of decades, and the public will eventually clamor for the nanny state that has already been designed for them.</span><br /><br /><span style="">Bush was just an appetizer.<br /></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7626745258811529122.post-55333932447287665742008-11-07T00:22:00.001-05:002008-12-17T11:50:57.692-05:00Patriotism Apparently Fashionable Again<span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >Of course, when Michelle Obama said she was "proud of her country" for the first time, she was the target of "racist attacks," but when Seattle liberals suddenly realize that red, white, and blue aren't venomous colors it's not only newsworthy, it sure "feels good." Somehow, patriotism is somewhat of a new concept for certain Washington residents. From the <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/386617_patrioticsales06.html" target="_blank">Seattle Post-Intelligencer</a>:<br /></span><blockquote style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;" ><p><span style="font-size:100%;">With newfound patriotism, Seattleites want to wave the flag, hang it from their homes and stick it on their cars.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;">"The thing that's kind of astounding to me is I never ever would have cared to own a flag," said Rosemary Garner, 42. "<span style="font-weight: bold;">This is the first day in my life I actually feel this funny sense of pride about my country. It's a very foreign feeling, but it's a good one.</span>"</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;">Garner, a self-described "<span style="font-weight: bold;">flag virgin</span>" who lives on Capitol Hill, bought eight flags Wednesday -- some to wave and others to stick on her car to "mix and match with some nice Obama and peace signs. Then I bought a couple of flags for some friends who wanted to hang them from their truck along with their biodiesel stickers."</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;">"<span style="font-weight: bold;">It's just a rare feeling to feel that type of, I don't know, national connection</span>," said Noah Kriegsmann, a 33-year-old builder from West Seattle. He feels that Obama's win will help America's standing in the world, and he bought a flag to fly on his truck, <span style="font-weight: bold;">though he admitted it felt strange to see the flag in his hand</span>.</span></p></blockquote><p style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">Americans have an uncanny ability to utterly loathe their own culture. A "funny sense of pride?" Liberals so ache to be loved by the world; they truly don't understand what it means to be proud of one's country.</span></p><p style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">There are Muslims in the Islamic Republic of Iran that would tell you they detested their government's sponsorship of terror, their government's stoning of women, murder of homosexuals, and blatant anti-Semitism. But they have more pride than Seattle liberals could ever comprehend in their nation and their heritage. They're proud of their Persian history, language, and culture.<br /></span></p><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:100%;" >So we elect a black president, and suddenly America</span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" > isn't the racist bully of the world, and its okay to be proud of your country and culture? Grow up, PNW.<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7626745258811529122.post-28431197556645201152008-11-06T21:46:00.001-05:002008-12-17T11:51:07.580-05:00Lowered Expectations We Can Believe In<span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >Even though the common sentiment is that this is a life-changing country-changing future-changing election, many Democrats are already lowering their expectations, and wisely so. Of all people, Nancy Pelosi has called for the Congress to be "<a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/dems-lower-expectations-2008-11-05.html" target="_blank">governed from the middle</a>."<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:100%;" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://boxstr.com/files/4031021_iva4d/gavul.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 262px; height: 291px;" src="http://boxstr.com/files/4031021_iva4d/gavul.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >I have no idea what to expect from the next Congress, other than whatever Barack, Pelosi, and Reid can cook up. The funny thing is, "the middle" is no longer the middle, as the nation has fallen victim to a sharp lurch to the left over the last 50 years. From The Hill:<br /></span><blockquote style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;" ><p style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Democratic leaders are tamping down on expectations for rapid change and trying to signal they will place a calm hand on the nation’s tiller.<br /></span></p><p style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;">“The country must be governed from the middle,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Wednesday. Repeating themes from election night, she said she plans to emphasize “civility” and “fiscal responsibility.”<br /></span></p><p style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Her comments emphasized that after an election consistently referred to as “historic,” Democrats face the daunting task of dealing with the plunging economy and two wars.</span></p></blockquote><span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >Perhaps the Democratic party as a whole, as far left as it is, is realizing that the country still maintains center-right ideology, as they learned in 1994 after their failed health care initiatives got them thrown out of power for the first time in decades.<br /><br />The truth of the matter is, the Democrat leadership knows that an immediate and sharp turn to the left will upset a suspicious electorate, namely in so-called "blue dog" districts that tend to elect more reserved and traditional Democrat representatives. If they're foolish, they'll go right for jugular and fast-forward measures like the fairness doctrine, health care "reform," and a perilous Iraq withdrawal.<br /><br />If they're smart, they'll put the more radical initiatives on the back burner and attempt to</span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" > avoid a GOP smack-down in 2010, by </span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >convincing a panicky America that the Left can be trusted with one party government.<br /><br />The hot potato is yours, Democrats.<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7626745258811529122.post-59470603631949831812008-11-05T12:27:00.000-05:002008-12-16T19:00:22.214-05:00Truthful Levity<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUdFYMYgVblkaWwFZTywlM4MOKNuJcJ3lf9GTR1NepDW85X14e4HOLVNf3jXOZKP_CtKuXMu60wju-xItC8-6exjCKA3bTShBgTPkECqVE95PODk6dvj9izu16pzh0JOMRsyNJp0K17Ps/s1600-h/funny.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 242px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUdFYMYgVblkaWwFZTywlM4MOKNuJcJ3lf9GTR1NepDW85X14e4HOLVNf3jXOZKP_CtKuXMu60wju-xItC8-6exjCKA3bTShBgTPkECqVE95PODk6dvj9izu16pzh0JOMRsyNJp0K17Ps/s320/funny.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265230548882387282" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0