Big changes happening soon

This post started out as a response, in cmments, at Covenant Zone.

Now it has turned into what we are facing, real soon. So, I copy/paste it here, and leave it to you.

"truepeers --

We who wage war against the irrationality of assaults on free speech grow weary, often, at constantly facing the same assaults, time after time. (Even though we will NEVER stop fighting. But still.)

I'm wondering something.

Here is where the bullet is meeting the bone, thinks me:

“Sheikh Ghasem Al-Mazrooee , Kenyan Mufti and chief justice, in an interview with IQNA conducted at the sidelines of the 21st international conference on Islamic Unity said that CONSTANT BARRAGE of insults by western media and politicians against the SANCTITIES OF ISLAM indicate serious intentions of enemies of Islam to UNDERMINE THE PILLARS AND PRINCIPLES OF ISLAM, therefore Muslims' response should be SERIOUS AND STRONG.

(emphasis mine.)

For our Sheikh’s benefit, let’s take this point by point.

“constant barrage” of insults

Read: “Constant barrage” of QUESTIONS. Namely, people only want to ask questions, and have them answered. You know … reality-wise. You DO live in the real world … right?

“Sanctities of Islam”

What’s a “sanctity?” Everything is open to question. Sorry, pal. This is 2008.

“Undermine the pillars and principles of Islam”

Your PROOF, that that is what is actually taking place? How? When? Why? And how does this impact humanity?

Muslims’ response should be “SERIOUS AND STRONG.”

Are you advocating suicide bombers as a response, then? Hmm?


Aristotle proves these idiots are, in fact, idiots.

Okay, so we’ve got to prove ourselves afresh, every day, with every assault. It does grow tiresome. And, as life devolves to the point that we are faced with making sure we EAT every day, there are certain things we must keep in mind.

WE ARE IN THE MIDST OF A MAJOR PARADIGM SHIFT. Make no mistake.

(you really should have a stockpile of food. Ditto access to water. Trust me. You’ll need it.)

'Could bailout's pay caps launch Wall Street trend?'

They b****y well BETTER:

*New York - Lloyd Blankfein, chairman of Goldman Sachs, MADE $73.7 MILLION LAST YEAR. (outraged emphasis mine) James "Jamie" Dimon, chairman of J.P. Morgan Chase, had to make do with $57.2 million, reported Forbes magazine.

"But if either company takes part in the federal government's $700 billion rescue plan for financial firms, Mr. Blankfein and Mr. Diamon may have to be content with $500,000 a year, or their company will have to pay higher taxes.

"While it's not likely this will cause either man to skimp on meals, the proposed mandate shows the depth of animosity toward highly paid executives on Wall Street.

"Some compensation consultants wonder, in fact, if the clampdown may be the leading edge of a shift away from the enormous pay packages of the past decade."

(Gee. Ya think?)

Okay. Here's something that will absolutely blow your mind.

I just started clicking on various CEOs' salaries at random. No one earns under a mil. Many are 20 mil and better. And look at the size of the list.

That should give you some perspective on the fabulous salaries the above-mentioned bankers make. AND on just where all the money is going in these companies. Believe me -- the CEO is not the only one making loads more money than they're worth. Underneath each of them is a tier of executives getting BONUSES every year of a mil, or, depending on totem-pole status, at least six figures.

So, let's just get this straight: this is a LOT of money we're talking about. In just one company, a good deal of this money could have been used to shore up the company against the very crisis they're dealing with now. But no -- in the hyper-competitive business world, you have to pay dearly for the "talent." You have to pay MORE than Multi-Headed Hydra Inc. if you want Mr. Hotshot CEO. Meanwhile, the "assets" (read: Joe Grunt, who actually makes the company do its thing) are either taken for granted or totally ignored; risk is laughed off; tens of billions of dollars go toward multiple homes, Cuban cigars, whatever.

Kind of like Nero fiddling while Rome burns, thinks me.

And the whole irony is, better than half the time, these CEOs last about a nanosecond in service to the companies that hire them. And here comes the now becoming infamous "golden parachute" severance packages. A cunning CEO can cash in on multiple parachutes in the short space of five years -- and every day, they are doing so all the time.

THIS is what has been going on behind the scenes, and has directly contributed, along with other stupid practices, to the precipice we all stand at the edge of.

******************************************

Now. I'm conservative to the core. I do NOT approve of too many regulations on the free market, because Communists have proven time and time again how fatal it is to a healthy economy.

HOWEVER.

In order for a free market to function effectively, it is CRUCIAL that those in charge of a business act PRUDENTLY. In ALL areas of their job. This means that they have a REALISTIC picture of their own worth, based on what they ACTUALLY DO for the company -- and, if need be, curtail their own salaries and those of their underlings to help the TOTAL COMPANY EFFORT.

This kind of common sense used to be the rule of thumb. CEOs used to be held strictly accountable to their boards of directors and their shareholders, and to be fired was a huge disgrace (as well it should be).

Nowadays, it's just one big wife-swapping operation. Immoral? Sure. Destined to lead to catastrophe? We're seeing it now.

It used to be that most executives of companies went to church. You knew they didn't give one single care to Jesus' urging us to help those less fortunate -- they'd donate to "charities" (big mondo fancy ball; the crumbs left over go to "the poor;" nice writeoff on taxes) and assuage any appearance of guilt.

But still, they knew there were being held to a standard. Not no mo'.

Would real religious conviction help here? Undoubtedly. But in a time in human history when we are all questioning the nature of our beliefs, moral standards are being re-evaluated. These greedy you-know-whats are taking full advantage of the vacuum.

And sending the rest of us down the river in consequence.

Fire. Them. All.

(with apologies to Ezra Levant, who coined that phrase)

Okay. So here we have former and current political figures from both parties calling the financial bailout spade a spade.

Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House of Representatives:

"You have the former Chairman of Goldman Sachs asking for 700 billion dollars, and in his initial request, asking for it in such an un-American way that I think he should have resigned," said Gingrich. "I think Paulson has terminally misunderstood the nature of the American system. Not just no review, no judicial review, no congressional accountability. Give me 700 billion dollars, 700 BILLION dollars! 'I'll be glad to spend it for you.' That's a centralization of power that is totally un-American."

U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-Indiana):

"We are now in the golden age of thieves. And where I come from we put thieves in jail, we don't bail them out."

************************************

And I never, EVER thought I'd see the day I quote Michael Moore, whom I abhor, but in this case, he's right:

"No matter what they say, no matter how many scare words they use, they are up to their old tricks of creating fear and confusion in order to make and keep themselves and the upper one percent filthy rich. Just read the first four paragraphs of the lead story in last Monday's New York Times and you can see what the real deal is:

'Even as policy makers worked on details of a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry, Wall Street began looking for ways to profit from it.

'Financial firms were lobbying to have all manner of troubled investments covered, not just those related to mortgages.

'At the same time, investment firms were jockeying to oversee all the assets that Treasury plans to take off the books of financial institutions, a role that could earn them hundreds of millions of dollars a year in fees.

'Nobody wants to be left out of Treasury's proposal to buy up bad assets of financial institutions.'

"Unbelievable. Wall Street and its backers created this mess and now they are going to clean up like bandits. Even Rudy Giuliani is lobbying for his firm to be hired (and paid) to 'consult' in the bailout."

**************************************

Okay. The crisis is still in full swing, and it's difficult to remain objective while events are unfolding.

But objective we must be, if we're to make sense of it all. A good start to understanding how the whole thing got started, and snowballed, can be seen here.

But it's clear to me that the root cause is unbridled greed.

As a conservative -- therefore, a spiritual person (if not "religious") -- it is deeply ingrained in me that:

A) Markets are best left as unregulated as possible; and

B) This comes with a concomitant moral responsibility to make sure NO ONE SUFFERS as a result of personal or corporate speculation.

A handful of greedy speculators has managed to throw the entire world economy into turmoil.

Personally, I'd say they're lucky if a whole lot of people don't seek them out with pitchforks and torches in hand.

Beautiful rain.

You can call me Al

Sleep, my darling

Dear lord Jesus ...

... please be with this boy's family tonight.

From Covenant Zone:

"According to eyewitnesses, the electronic goods market was packed with shoppers when a black Pulsar motorbike went through the narrow lane intent on its deadly business. It had two helmeted riders, who dropped the polythene bag with its deadly payload in the middle of the road, in front of a shop, Anisha Electronics.

"Out on an errand, the nine-year-old boy, Santosh, thought the men had unknowingly dropped the bag. In a heartbreaking act of kindness to strangers, Santosh rushed to pick it up, running after them as he shouted for them to stop. It was then that white smoke began to pour out of the bag. The little boy dropped it, but too late to save his own life."

*************************

I have no words.

What's goin' on?

Colonel Neville fills us in.

My esteemed friend the Colonel:

"And so castles, made of sand, slips into the sea, eventually..." (Castles Made Of Sand. Jimi Hendrix.)

"Thus we get the canard that any peace is groovier than war. Nope. Most of the wars in the world are crummy little wars against the people by their own authorities or the cruddy authorities just next door. Few are major conflicts, but they will be and due entirely to the alleged masturbatory fantasy not of war but of peace. Yes, it all worked out nicely for Cambodia and Laos with their fun with Communism...

"Ooh, New Peace! Now with added status quo! Gotta love peace. It’s always good. It says so on the label. If only we could all get along and be nice to each other? Er, no thanks. I don’t want to get along with murderous bastards."

My dear Colonel ... can I offer you a foot massage?

McCain eye twitch PROOF of unfitness!

Via The Macho Response:

"This [fascination with his left eye] strikes me as yet another example of people who don't like John McCain being rather disturbingly eager to find something physically wrong with him."

-- Orac, catching the kooks trying to spread a conspiracy theory that John McCain has had an unannounced stroke, delivered with Respectful Insolence.

Man, the Democrats are insane,..."

***************************************

Looks to me like "grasping at straws" has become "grasping at sub-atomic particles."

More *head-shaking* at new depths in political gamesmanship.

We got yer gun-totin' racists right here!

A Missourian from An Advocate of the Republic quotes a Florida lawmaker:

"If Sarah Palin isn’t enough of a reason for you to get over whatever your problem is with Barack Obama, then you damn well had better pay attention. Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks. So, you just think this through."

Ohhhh-KAY.

AM notes, with wonderful irony:

"I can assure the good Congressman that at least here in Missouri, there are many black men who tote guns and go hunting. And they, like their white counterparts, rarely if ever go on pogroms when they return."

What's next? Moose hunting led to the financial crisis? Moose are really Totally Racist and Evil Republican Operatives in disguise? Nice to know our legislators are on the track of these truly scary threats.

Ode on Red Rose tea

(image courtesty of redrosetea.com)

O, beverage, whose draught is strong and plain and happy as yonder ancient hillock;
How often sought to refresh the soul; how instant the happiness, once having sipped.
Look on its perfection, ye pretenders, and despair.

(With apologies to Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ozymandias")

Mmmmm ... Red Rose tea. While I'm on a Canadian tangent tonight, I couldn't resist sharing with you how wonderful it is. I'm running short -- but luckily, the good folks at Red Rose have got my six.

Breaking kangaroo court news

Via Blazing Cat Fur:

(For background, go here.)

"Update: According to the Registrar of the BCHRT no decision will be released today.

As explained there exists a formal decision release procedure:

1) Parties are informed of the decision 1 day prior to release
2) Parties are sent the decision the morning of the release
3) The release is posted on the BCHRT web site the afternoon of the release date"

And from Mark Steyn himself:

"UPDATE! Not gonna happen today. The genius jurists need more time."

**************************

Grr. Come on, you wusses. Come clean. It's been since JUNE, already.

Blazing Cat Fur is very much more clear-thinking about the whole issue than me:

"(O)ne thing has bothered me. Statements have emanated from the BCHRT that they are not to blame for the mess the tribunal finds itself in, that they are simply acting on the mandate handed them and hence are technically off the hook. (emphasis mine) Does this suggest that they may feel compelled to find for the Islamists in the hope a higher court will set things right on appeal?

"Only time will tell...."

Ugh. The old "just doing my job" dodge.

As an American, I can only sit on the sidelines and cheerlead for all those brave Canadians trying to do away with the entire rotten "human rights" system. I await the BCHRT's decision with great anticipation. I just hope not TOO much "time will tell."

Another UPDATE:

The Blog of Walker checks on Steyn happenings.

Quite simply ....

... sweet.

Karmasurfer just bought the above beauty yesterday. It's a 20-inch Mossberg 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, and I'd just like to offer a little friendly advice: If (when) you ravening hordes from New Jersey and New York come sniffing around our place looking to steal stuff, because the economy has tanked and you've been a grasshopper rather than an ant, you're liable to encounter a rather unwelcoming response. Specifically, all the King's Men won't be able to put you back together again.

The K-man first tested the new weapon with its stock grip on. He blew away his target from 30 or 40 yards, and this is with birdshot, mind you.

Then he put the hand grip on. Trust me: You can point the weapon anywhere in Joe Intruder's direction, and he (and the entire wall behind him) will be vaporized. Walls can be fixed. Mr. Intruder never will be.

Karmasurfer and I have been trying every way we know how to urge people to PREPARE for a time when you've got to rely on the food and water you've saved and your own wits. We believe it's coming very soon, and so do a whole lot of other folks. The economic meltdown is only a sign of the times.

So ... hence the introduction of the blunt-speaking Mr. Mossberg into our home. Me, I think he's awesome ;)

Magical Bridgetown, Nova Scotia

(image credit: www.annapolisrivercampground.ca)

I won't have my beautiful mother with me for long. She is having health issues -- and it is my feeling that she will pass on very soon. It is my hope it will not be for a year or more, but I must accept that it will be soon.

She is not my birth mother. But she is my mother. She is from Bridgetown, Nova Scotia. So I thought, tonight, I'd remember her hometown just a bit.

Bridgetown is about 7 miles from the Bay of Fundy, a wonderful, clean expanse of coast where you can breathe freely. People there -- according to my mom -- won't have much sympathy for you if you whine about how terrible life is. But if your house burns down, every neighbor within miles will have food, or clothes, or a place to stay, for you.

Mom worked her way through Acadia University in Halifax by waitressing in Maine summer resorts. She is proud that Acadia is still one of the premier colleges in Canada. Her graduating class had 15 members. Many have passed on, but several she still visits.

When Mom was young, Bridgetown had, maybe, 500 or so citizens.

She can remember amazing things, from those days. Classmate Wally had acne, and agonized over it. Laura beat the pants off her opponent in the Debate Club. (And Wally and Laura still correspond with her.)

Things like "you do what you have to do" were not an issue, for my Mom. During her college years, she had two dresses and three changes of underwear. Period. You really DID do what you had to do.

I have been to my mom's childhood home. It is a quiet place. Owned by someone else, of course, but thankfully, sill rural, still clean.

I am thankful I can make the connections between herself and myself. I feel no such connection with my birth mother ... but mothers are mothers, and my magnificent, Nova Scotia born, wonderful mother, is everything to me.

Thus this tangent tonight :)

The best plan for the$85B bailout money

Karmasurfer sent me this e-mail forward that absolutely lays out the best way to allocate the planned $85 billion AIG bailout money:

"I'm against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG.

Instead, I'm in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a "We Deserve It" Dividend.

To make the math simple, let's assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+.

Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up..

So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billon that equals $425,000.00.

My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a "We Deserve It" Dividend.

Of course, it would NOT be tax free.
So let's assume a tax rate of 30%.

Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes.
That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.

But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket. A husband and wife has $595,000.00.

What would you do w ith $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?
Pay off your mortgage - housing crisis solved.
Repay college loans - what a great boost to new grads
Put away money for college - it'll be there
Save in a bank - create money to loan to entrepreneurs.
Buy a new car - create jobs
Invest in the market - capital drives growth
Pay for your parent's medical insurance - health care improves
Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean or else

Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.

If we're going to re-distribute wealth let's really do it...instead of trickling out a puny $1000.00 economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President.

If we're going to do an $85 billion bailout, let's bail out every adult U.S. citizen 18+!

As for AIG - liquidate it.
Sell off its parts.
Let American General go back to being American General.
Sell off the real estate.
Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.

Here's my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn't.

Sure it's a crazy idea, but it can work!

But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party!

How do you spell Economic Boom?

I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion. We deserve that dividend more than the geniuses at AIG."

************************

Amen, brother.

Is it a left-brain thing?

The Macho Response:

“The further left you go, the more insular you get. Americans on the left tend to talk only to one another; study only under left-wing teachers; and read only fellow leftists. That is why it is a shock to so many liberals when a Republican wins a national election -- where do all these Republican voters come from?”

-- Dennis Prager, saying what few liberals will ever hear (for obvious reasons) though it's Real Clear Politics."

I'm waiting for you, Paulson.

Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson doesn't like what he calls "(T)he fact that the American taxpayer is bearing the burden (of getting out of the current crisis). (B)ut it is far worse than the alternative."

Just so we get this straight:

"The alternative" is a total economic collapse -- which YOU helped sow the seeds for, when you were CEO of Goldman Sachs, which itself is now facing ruin.

YOU'RE EXPECTING ME -- AS A TAXPAYER -- BASING EVERY SIMPLE ECONOMIC DECISION ON TRUST -- TO BAIL YOUR ASININE DECISIONS OUT, TO PROTECT MY LIVELIHOOD -- WHILE YOU AND YOUR CRONIES COAST ON YOUR GOLDEN PARACHUTES, YOUR QUARTERLY $1M-PLUS BONUSES --

Earth-to-Paulson.

The second my paycheck is gouged to pay for this --

You're @#$$%^^^&#$@#$@#$@$@#$%%^2@

You know what? You LOST my willingness to accept your explanations based on party, or on ideology.

I am now a rogue element. I am now someone who expects REAL RESULTS. In short, your basic conservative. But one who will vote an Obama in a heartbeat if you fall short.

Will I want to? Of course not.

AND BECAUSE I'M REDUCED TO THIS, IS YOUR -- FAULT.

//rant off

*Sigh.*

I'm ready to FIGHT.

Put your freakin' money where your mouth is, brer. Because I'll do what I need to do WITHOUT you.

WHICH IS WHAT YOU!!! WERE SUPPOSED TO STAND FOR ALL ALONG.

//rant off

//for now

Need a quick 4 grand?

Just accuse someone of being racist -- when they say they like people from minority groups!

And it just keeps getting better -- the nation of Canada itself is racist. Jeeze, now even the U.N. is attempting to cash in!

Via Blazing Cat Fur, who offers this appropriate musical analogy:

"I'm in the money,
I'm in the money,
A lot of hurt feelings
are what you need to get along..."

And truepeers over at Covenant Zone puts it in a nutshell:

"When will the nation rid itself of these witch hunters? Associating 'visible minority' 'victims' with this witch hunting is really racist, because it makes them seem like primitive religionists in need of human sacrifice to mediate their career resentments. I know that's true, by any standard, because, well, I can make you pay!... Yeah, I know, I'm starting to sound like a crazy man... Witch doctor can make me sane again?"

(Ha! *in best Mr. Burns voice* "ECK! cellent")

Canadians do things right

Don't ask me why -- somehow, I found The Policeman's Blog, and have since followed it.

David Copperfield -- the copper who maintains the blog -- is a police officer formerly from the UK now serving in Canada, where, he has found, to his delight, policing is done EVER so much better. (He actually wrote a book exposing all the idiocy bureaucrats in Britain have forced on the police, and got raked over the coals. That no doubt led to his expatriotism.)

Just lately, he was struck by "the contrast between the way fallen heroes are welcomed back in Canada with how things are done in the UK.

"I just happened to be on duty when I saw what appeared to be a collision ahead: I saw a fire truck with its lights on, but getting closer there was no collision. We spoke to the crew and they told us that the troops had just landed at the airport and were shortly to be escorted by the police back to their base where their families were waiting for them."

*********************

Welcome to the REAL world, my friend.

Tiny Tim on 'Ironside'

Warning: Magician Ahead

This and other amusing signs can be found at The Rocketeer's Flickr site.

(via boingboing)

Lawmakers: 'Bring it on, homeboy'

There's fights among legislators ...


... and then there's FIGHTS ...

Ever heard of 'anonymous'?

(image credit: en.wikinews.org)

Let's see ... how best to describe this emerging phenomenon.

Well, you can start with Wikipedia's definition:

"The self-styled Anonymous (used as a mass noun) is a label and Internet meme adopted within Internet culture, especially on 4chan, to represent the actions of many Internet users acting anonymously toward a given agenda. The term is used in phrases such as 'We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget.'"

But "anonymous" defies quantification. For one thing, "anonymous" people don't merely gather on the Internet. You can see them on the street at protests across the country (see photo above).

****************

"Anonymous" is a loose amalgam of people with many agendas. Very loose. The only tie that binds consists of two strands: a passion for justice, and a recognition that standing up for something, nowadays, includes the risk of being neutralized, whether it may mean loss of job, credibility or life.

"Anonymous" only wants their voices heard. Nowadays, in our ever-more surveilled world, one faces oblivion.

Well, this libertarian throws a cliche back in THAT face -- you'll pry my individuality out of my cold, dead hands.

Neoconstant has a very good overview of the latest "anonymous" incursion into the news.

HiJib-Jab

(okay, so the title's a lame pun ... I thought I did better with my entry "(S)corn on the Niqab," but no one else agreed)

A Missourian at An Advocate of the Republic notes yet another hairstyle-challenged whiner complaining about the lack of decent salons in Toronto that are men-free zones.

Hey. Ladies. There's an opportunity here. Take all that energy you're putting into complaining and put it into opening up your OWN HAIR SALONS.

From the sounds of things, it'll do gangbusters. And I'll expect a percentage for giving you the tip.

... and in the spirit of nonpartisanship ...

... and some pure kitty awesomeness

Kitty loses titanic printer battle

Teetering on the brink

WASHINGTON — It was a room full of people who rarely hold their tongues. But as the Fed chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, laid out the potentially devastating ramifications of the financial crisis before congressional leaders on Thursday night, there was a stunned silence at first.

Mr. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. had made an urgent and unusual evening visit to Capitol Hill, and they were gathered around a conference table in the offices of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“When you listened to him describe it you gulped," said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York.

As Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut and chairman of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, put it Friday morning on the ABC program “Good Morning America,” the congressional leaders were told “that we’re literally maybe days away from a complete meltdown of our financial system(.)"

(via Instapundit)

************************

Of course, karmasurfer was on this months ago.

Signs of the times

Forget Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, AIG, Morgan Stanley.

(Although their shakiness is enough to show us big stuff is coming.)

Homelessness is on the rise. And we're not talking about deluded "bums."

Start stockpiling food. NOW.

My daughters -- if you're reading this now, I will always be your touchstone, I will make sure you get what you need, I am your lifeline, as your mom.

Never worry.

Even if I don't "make things right," you'll at least be closer to right than not.

Everything I've got to give, you've got. And God help us all.

Thanks, Erik :)

I desperately needed a pick-me-up after the day I had today, and neoconstant sent me up just the right path -- in a roundabout way.

Awesome :)

Reasons why life doesn't suck

Wake-up call

Colonel Neville -- Who Always Dresses for Dinner --

Quotes poet William Butler Yeats, on modern times:

“TURNING and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."

------------------------------------------------

"The ceremony of innocence is drowned."

Guess what? We're no longer innocent. Why? We don't value innocence as something to be protected.

Why should innocence be protected?

It keeps us clean. Spiritual. Ready.

-----------------------------------------------

Bill Y was also prophetic. He's letting us know that if we destroy our own innocence, we sign our own death warrants. The poets always see these things.

The bulk of humanity thinks, oh, these crazy geeks. They have these thoughts, and it sounds cool, and maybe it strikes a chord. But they're basically crazy geeks.

They're not. They've been giving us a blueprint for life for ages.

-----------------------------------------------

People, the next few years coming up are big. You've already felt the rumbles. Gas prices -- the fall of heretofore impregnable financial institutions -- these are just the harbingers.

GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER for the near future. NOW. You are going to need a reliable food and power source. You're either an ant or a grasshopper. Billy Ockham has already shown us that simplest is best. And simplest, very soon, is going to mean whether you eat.

I realize I sound like a nut.

I realize we have every reason to believe that life will proceed along a comfortable linear path that we've all grown up with.

And I'm telling you things are about to change in a big way. The only justification I can give you for this is that I just know. I'm a Crab. And for all of you who pooh-pooh astrology -- Crabs KNOW. We don't know how we know -- we just do.

(Cancer the Crab -- those born between June 21 and July 21)

Start stockpiling food, matches, stuff like that. What can it hurt? You end up with stuff you can actually use.

Not only that, you're completely independent of the totally inadequate infrastructure that modern life has become. You're independent. No matter WHAT happens, you're good.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This effort at sharing how I see things happening very soon has exhausted me, apologies.

I know it's happening -- I know it's true -- but I'm a social being too, and I'm busy trying to put food in my mouth the best way I know how, which involves devoting huge amounts of energy to learning a job that doesn't come naturally. That's how you eat, sometimes.

But, just want to share ... be prepared. Boy Scout-wise. They had the original idea from the get-go. We should all be Boy Scouts.

A tribute

There is no pain you are receiving.

A bittersweet day

Via Walker Across Worlds:



Pink Floyd founding member Richard Wright has passed on.

Always and forever will I be grateful these guys existed, got together, and created the most amazing music for all of us to enjoy forever.

Rest in peace, Richard. And thanks so much.

Victory for free speech, Saudi-style!

Via Blazing Cat Fur:

"A Saudi scholar has issued a religious decree saying it is permissible to kill the owners of television networks broadcasting 'depravation and debauchery'. ...

"Earlier this year, Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, the kindgom's grand mufti, issued a fatwa (religious edict) against channels that broadcast Noor, a Turkish-produced soap opera centred on the lives of a husband and wife seeking to reconcile the conflicting pressures of traditional and modern worlds. [my emphasis, on account of ridiculousness]

"The grand mufti, the head of Saudi Arabia's highest religious authority, branded the popular show 'subversive' and 'anti-Islamic' and said anyone who broadcast it was 'an enemy of God and his Prophet'."

**************

Oh, yeah -- we're definitely on the road to sanity now! Everybody KNOWS the chief threat to moral health is HUSBANDS AND WIVES TRYING TO WORK THINGS OUT.

Pedophilia? No problem.

But the Devil (or, perhaps, the Great Satan, namely us) is DEFINITELY behind those death-worthy husbands and wives.

(Okay. Deep breath. OUT with the bad air, IN with the good ...)

Why I'm writing in Ron Paul for president

Adherent of the Constitution? Check.

Small government? Check.

Non-involvement in foreign wars? Check.

Get rid of the Federal Reserve? A phony money-making operation that sucks taxpayer dollars out of our paychecks? Check.

No conscience-raising angst issues with me.

Feminists pile on Palin

"I assume John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential partner in a fit of pique [PMS, perhaps? Oh, he's a man, so ...]

because the Republican money men refused to let him have the stuffed male shirt he really wanted. [Proof?]

She added nothing to the ticket that the Republicans didn't already have sewn up, the white trash vote [whoa! Racism?],

the demographic that sullies America's name [Huh? explain] ... yet has such a curious appeal for the right."

WARNING -- WILL ROBINSON -- MELTDOWN IMMINENT -- WARNING -- WARNING

Sheesh. Feminists.

Remember when feminism meant "standing by your sisters?"

(many thanks to Blazing Cat Fur)

Quick quiz -- who said this?

"We should start with the premise that the United States, like all sovereign nations, has the unilateral right to defend itself against attack. As such, our campaign to take out Al Qaeda base camps and the Taliban regime that harbored them was entirely justified… (I)f we’ve got (Osama bin Laden) in our sites [sic], we should ask for Pakistan’s cooperation, we should ask Pakistan to take him out. But if they don’t, we shouldn’t need permission to go after folks that killed 3,000 Americans."

Sarah Palin? Think again.

Masterful takedown by His Journalisticness, Andrew Bolt.

Just plain wrong

(image credit: www.wktv.com)

"Pope Benedict XVI condemned unbridled 'pagan' passion for power, possessions and money as a modern-day plague on Saturday, as he led more than a quarter million Catholics at an outdoor Mass in Paris."

Okay.

I have no problem with Their Holinesses, whomever they may be, around the world. "Holiness" is a lot better ideal to strive for than, say, "Complete Debauchery."

But I have a big, BIG problem with someone who purports himself to be our Lord Jesus Christ's representative on earth. And it's not just the current version.

Here's what Jesus said about money, power, etc.:

"Jesus answered him, If you would be perfect, go and sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; and come, be My disciple." (Matthew 19:21, Amplified Bible)

And, let's just recap how Jesus lived -- AMONG the poor. Very few clothes. Just enough to eat.

Aaaaaaand ... then we have the Pontiff. Hardly living hand-to-mouth:

"The Vatican's assets are a well-kept secret but one which is the topic of much speculation. Estimates range from $1.5bn to $15bn and more. They include works of art and buildings which for the most part cannot be sold.

"Large parts of the Vatican's assets are in securities and gold reserves. Additional assets are in rental revenues, the sale of coins, stamps and souvenirs as well as monies from church taxes in the dioceses and the so-called Peter's penny - a special, annual collection for the pope."

As far back as 1688, the servant of all mankind's routine began thusly:

"The pope's bedroom door suddenly opens, and his Holiness appears. 'Buon giorno,' says the pope in a clear, distinct voice to his aged valet-de-chambre, Signor Zangolini, who is dressed in a violet-colored robe, and who occupies his leisure moments in disposing of unheard-of quantities of snuff. Signor Zangolini then enters the pope's room, shaves him, dresses him, and then leaves him in his privacy till seven o'clock."

It's the same to this day. This is how royalty is treated. They do NOTHING for themselves, not even dress.

------

**So we've got our Lord Jesus, who maybe had one spare robe, and ate if someone was kind enough to share with Him;

-- and we've got Benny, living like the Sultan of Brunei. WHILE MILLIONS OF CATHOLICS AROUND THE WORLD STARVE.**

------

Take a look at the bling my man's wearing. That piece ALONE could feed a village in Kenya for a YEAR. Much less the billions in art treasures the Vatican sits on. Does it really need all 72 Michaelangelo paintings? Statues? Whatever? When people are starving?

So don't give me any of this "unbridled 'pagan' passion for power, possessions and money." You've got ALL of that and a BAG OF CHIPS, homeboy. You are the ANTITHESIS of EVERYTHING our Lord Jesus tried to get across. You, and all your predecessors.

If I allowed myself, I'd actually hate this guy. But our Lord encouraged us to love everyone, so I won't go there. But I'm still deeply pissed off.

At least THIS Holiness walks the walk:

(image credit: atrocitynews.wordpress.com)

Chin up, Lone Stars

It'll take more than a hurricane to mess with Texas.

I do apologize ...

New job is demanding. Results in less time here ... and less time just sharing previous stuff.

HOWEVER.

I am NOT letting blog decline.

I ... [emphasis] WILL ... [emphasis] post.

Might not be as often as previously, might not be as in-depth, but I'm here.

So, having said that -- let's rock on :)

.... and beautiful rain

More Ladysmith awesomeness.

The lion sleeps tonight

Ladysmith Black Mombazo.

Yeah.

In remembrance

(Image credit: theweblicist.com)

On the 7th anniversary of 9/11, my wish and prayer is for people to wake up, get smarter, love one another, and not permit it to happen again.

update

Dag at Covenant Zone --

"This year, this 9/11, I will walk in the sunlight, alive and free. That is thanks to ordinary men and women who live and fight and work and die for the collective freedom of individuals everywhere. Those people, mostly unknown to me, make my life possible. And yours."

Thank you, dag. You are a Knight.

Umm .... yes. Well.

(Image credit: Metro.co.uk)

"Andy Rouse is a professional wildlife photographer. He recently snapped a photo of this, er, ice penis in the Bransfield Strait between the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands. (For full effect, rotate the photo 90 degrees counterclockwise.)"

***********************

Mother Nature never fails to surprise.

(via boingboing.net)

Lock 'n' load

Colonel Neville -- who Always Dresses For Dinner --

"Yeah, I want guns, racks of guns. I want submachine guns, heavy assault rifles, sporting guns, handguns and rack mounted heavy calibre weapons. I want to have a vast array of every kind of weapon I feel like having. Sorry, but I do. And I want them all entirely legally, and stored in an advanced secure armoury. I know I shouldn’t. I should purchase them illegally within a few days to weeks like most killers, criminals and Dictators do. Hey, but that’s just me.

"Instead I have a trench shovel, a reading lamp and some dinner pepper. I’m ready! Ready to have every freedom stripped from me."

********************************

"Gun control" is an oxymoron. Guns allow SELF-control. Good on ya, my dear sir.

Please watch this.

I ask this of everyone, but especially my fellow conservatives.

It's a lengthy watch -- a full-length documentary. So do set aside a good block of time to be able to fully absorb it.

Because we all think the world is an open arena where fair play is the ideal, if not the rule, we must be ready to rethink things at any time. Remember Nixon? No conservative wanted to find out he was a crook, and no one was more devastated by his actions than conservatives, but we dealt with it.

In the video I'm sharing with you, there is compelling evidence -- and I mean compelling -- that 9/11 was more than the official version. We need to educate ourselves on this.

Please keep a wide-open mind. Anyone who does watch it, please share your thoughts. I'm trying to educate myself as well.

(Note: I'm only posting Part 1. Please continue viewing subsequent parts via civilian37 on YouTube.)

UPS fires woman for 'being Muslim'

Oh, boy. Here we go again:

"TORONTO, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- A Muslim Canadian woman claims she lost her job scanning boxes at United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE:UPS) because she refused to hike up her long skirt to her knees."

Okay. So she had been working for UPS for two years only having to pull her dress up mid-calf, and all had been peachy in the garden. But you know what -- on-the-job safety is a BIG issue with the parcel industry. Take a glance at the carts they use to move large amounts of boxes around, and you can see that mid-calf won't cut it -- long dresses are too easily grabbed by the wheels.

So UPS revamped their safety rules. Suddenly, the woman's fired for her religion. Not surprisingly, her case wound up in the Canadian Human Rights system.

Honey, you should have taken it up with the union. Now you're yet another statistic in the insanity that is Muslim hypersensitivity and the further erosion of REAL rights.

Nice one.

(via Blazing Cat Fur)

'Hollywood Infidel'

(Still shot courtesy of CNN via The New York Observer)

Meet the hero of Los Angeles' underground conservatives.

Thought control, green-style

"Forty years after enlightened baby boomers and academics decried conformity and told the world to ignore 'the establishment,' to not kowtow to 'the man,' to 'rap about problems to find solutions,' and to 'not guilt-trip or judge other people’s life choices,' those same sorts — the now firmly ensconced “establishment” pretending otherwise — are wondering why they can’t get people to fall in line and do as they’re told to do and think as they’re told to think with respect to the environment and the 'crisis' of 'climate change,' the 'crisis' which used to be called 'global warming' until the news got out that the earth has been cooling for the last ten years and the arctic ice is refusing to melt.

"Now, these establishment Boomers want you to kowtow to 'the man.' They’ll brook no open discussions and they prefer you would learn to judge others — and to scold them — for their own good and for the planet’s."

**************************

Ugh. I saw it as early as the '70s -- hippies donning suits like lightning. Then in the '80s we were treated to such protracted whines as the show "Thirty-something." Then in the '90s it was all money-money-money. Now it's jokes about how the youngsters are going to have to break their backs giving us a comfortable retirement.

The rank hypocrisy. The refusal to grow UP, for crying out loud. Now they want to tell us what to think?

(via Instapundit)

'Lipstick on a pig'

For shame, Obama.

(via The Drudge Report)

Temporary Ezra drought is on

Via the Walk-Man:

"Dear readers,
I am taking a break from my blog. I will miss it very much -- not only as a forum through which I have been able to spread facts and opinions about freedom of speech, and the threat to that freedom posed by Canada's out-of-control human rights commissions, but also as a way to communicate with hundreds of other civic-minded Canadians. ..."

Rock on, Mr. Levant. We're still here for you while the human-rights goons are after you. Meantime, rest up and come back fighting.

MSM in the crosshairs

Finally, FINALLY, it's beginning to dawn on the Mainstream Media that maybe, just MAYBE, they exhibit political bias:

The Wall Street Journal: "According to Rasmussen, fully 68% of voters believe that 'most reporters try to help the candidate they want to win.' And -- no surprise -- 49% of those surveyed believe reporters are backing Barack Obama, while just 14% think the media is in the tank for Sen. McCain.

"Meanwhile, 51% of those surveyed thought the press was 'trying to hurt' Mrs. Palin with its coverage.

"Perhaps most troubling for the press corps, though, was this finding: '55% said media bias is a bigger problem for the electoral process than large campaign donations.'"

(via Instapundit)

*********************

On one hand, I should be glad this is a wake-up call of sorts for the MSM to start REPORTING the news for a change instead of ANALYZING (read: putting their own spin on) it.

On the other, I love, love, LOVE seeing them make total @$$es out of themselves. And I want it to continue until they realize they're deep in a gutter of their own making, and then beg us reader/viewers for forgiveness.

But it's all good ;)

ROFL! What did I say? :)

... to get it?

Yikes! Instalanche?

Just noticed I got a huge spike -- un-tech, me, so not sure why -- can anyone enlighten?

Freakin' awesome :)

The ever fresh-and-new Colonel Neville:

"Hey, Franz Kafka. The Metamorphis. The Trial. Just like a "How To Islamise" for today! Islamisation of the West is happening incrementally, like a ratchet: always relentlessly adding one more slot and without most people really noticing. Man, until one is not only surrounded by Sharia Creep and Sharia creeps, but you yourself are eventually infected in some way, as is your neighbourhood, the body politic, the media, schools, workplaces, the government and your associates etc, etc ad nauseum.

"But here's the kicker: nobody believes it and that's why everyone flinches when they hear a loud bang. You just know everyone is thinking the religion of pieces as you are now. Poor bastards. Just not this time, sport."

What is NOT to love :)

Not the right kind of gay

The Gay Patriot:

"A dear friend of mine, an outspoken and self-assured lesbian, writes (and with her permission I reprint):

... have gone from Kucinich to obama {until the beiginning of this year-what an ass and an embarrassment!} to Hillary to McCain/Palin…cannot believe that I am voting Repub for the first time in 30 yrs!!

Love that woman!!! Have brother up in Alaska….they really love her up there….

"All I can say is that I’m delighted to be on the same side as this woman as we often spar on matters political.

"She doesn’t mince her words nor hide her feelings. Despite her strong views, she’s not one of those people who judges your political views by the party to which you belong, but by the way you got there. She listens to her ideological adversaries.

"I should know. When I came out to her as a Republican, she asked me tough questions, needled me about my views, but remained my friend."

******************

So, let's see.

Leftist Talking Point No. 1 -- "Conservatives are anti-gay."

...Mmm-hmm. Here's a gay conservative. What is he -- chopped liver?

Leftist Talking Point No. 2 -- "He's afraid of strong women."

...and Palin's a wuss? His lesbian friend likes Palin, despite a lifetime of leftism. SHE'S chopped liver?

Palin is not only an authentic woman, she's an authentic American. That doesn't sit well with the International Brotherhood of Victims.

O, Yes, Precious. You pretenders at being Spokesmen of Everyone -- looks like you left a few thinkers out of your equation.

You're going DOWN. Schadenfreude? Try "blood lust." Try "I'm going to enjoy every single minute of the carnival of self-destruction you're going to give me from now till election day."

It's kind of like the Roman emperors enjoying the bloodbath in the arena -- except this is a victory for correct thinking. Without the blood.

EVER so much more satisfying.

'She Looks Great ...'

(Image credit: shoeblogs.com)

The Manolo says: (I)f you are shopping for dessicated chicken tendons.

The one and only Ravi Shankar

Consider helping out a fellow thinker

My friend the Crack Emcee at The Macho Response needs a little high-fiving.

Check him out first -- then see if you don't agree that he's worth it.

Here's what I think: Day after day, post after post, he gives incredible insight into issues we're all pursuing, but he's got this funky, incredible, hilarious, SPOT-ON take on things. He is a one-man Time Magazine, the way it SHOULD be.

There is NEVER a dull moment on his blog.

Plus, if you follow the links and listen to his music, you won't regret it -- even if you don't like the "sound." I guarantee, you'll wind up liking the "sound," especially if you pay attention to the lyrics. A nice musical vacation, he is.

I know pretty much all of us are tapped out, right now. But ... consider spending a dollar for something that might not be hamburger in your stomach, but food for the soul. Anymore, to me, that's the only food that really satisfies.

Thinkers, unite! :)

'get service'

(via Karmasurfer)

Lawyering free speech down to size

... or how a few Canadians are making their nation a scary laughingstock.

Ezra Levant:

"The Canadian Human Rights Commission has said and done some pretty appalling things over the years, but one of their most-publicized embarrassments was when Dean Steacy, the CHRC 'hate speech' investigator, famously testified that at the CHRC, 'freedom of speech is an American concept, so I don't give it any value.' ...

"According to the closing arguments filed last week by the CHRC in the Warman v. Lemire 'hate speech' case, Steacy was correctly enunciating CHRC policy: they don't believe in 'freedom of speech' -- that's American. See paragraph 48 of their submissions, here.

[In part] 'Mr. Steacy did not testify that the Commission gives no value to freedom of expression because it is an American concept as alleged by the respondent(.) What Mr. Steacy said, [sic] was that the Commission distinguishes between American notions of "freedom of speech" and the different Canadian value of "freedom of expression."'

Huh?

Freedom of speech is part of freedom of expression. Speech is a form of expression -- the most common form. Is that really the best the CHRC can do to explain away Steacy's incorrect, bullying, and un-Canadian statement?"

************************

Okay. I guess it depends on what your definition of "is" is.

Read the whole thing.

(via Blazing Cat Fur)

Palin hits one out of the park

(many thanks to The Macho Response)

I've heard some good speeches. To me, this one is historic.

(Hint: Cheering occupies a good chunk of the beginning, so you may want to FF; or, revel in it.)

Peek-A-Boo (Devo, yeah :)

It's a beautiful world

'Crazy Gay Man Alert: Newspapers are Dying (And You, Sir, Are Part Of The Reason Why)'

From The Macho Response:

"'Yes, the rumors are true. The cosmic votes have all been tallied, and I do believe we can now say, with some measure of happy certainty, that God appears to be just as sick-to-death of the Republican Party as the rest of us.'"

Mark Morford, just reading God's mind and spotting rising lightworkers, for the excellence in journalism known as the SFGate."

***************

Well, I'M relieved. Mr. Morford has a direct line to the Almighty! Now, all we conseratives have to do is eat crow, or ****, or whatever it is to properly inhabit our station as God's Untouchables.

As usual, TMR nails the Unbearable Absurdity of Being. :)

By the bye -- he's a musician, and a righteous excellent one. (At least I think so -- see what you think here. He makes his living as an artist, and would appreciate any and all donations. So if you like what he has to say, and you like his music -- or even if you don't -- please consider hitting the tip jar.