Sunday, September 30, 2007

Why Do Some People Go NUTS Over a Post?

Connie du Toit wonders:
bloggers are nobodies. They have one vote, just like everyone else. They aren’t elected officials so they have no influence to actually do anything different from anyone else. And it’s FREE. It isn’t like you paid to read it. You can’t get a refund on a subscription where no subscription fee was charged. All the usual methods of voting with your feet and your dollars just don’t work with blogging… so I think that causes people to act out really strangely when they get upset by something a blogger writes. We don’t have a precedent for this sort of thing and I think (at least I hope) that’s why people get sort of weird about the way they treat and react to blogs.
Connie is referring to the way that some people can't just say "Eh!" and move on - they have to create anti-whoever sites, and rant, and so on.

I don't think it's a mystery - it has to do with the fact that it just KILLS them that ordinary people, you and I, can express themselves without leaning on official authority, or indulging in ca-ca pooh-pooh scatological language, or using the H-bomb (Hitler, 'ya know). The rabid ones are FURIOUS that we blogging few, without credentials or permission from the overlords, have decided for ourselves to find out the facts, think about the implications, and, in a reasonably organized way, assemble our thoughts for publication.

Our own thoughts! And, worse, those thoughts aren't simply an echo of the officially approved group-think, nor an easily-knocked-down straw man, but grounded in experience and logic.

Dear G-d, could anything be worse for the overly credentialed, expensively educated, self-appointed intellectuals of the Western world? Imagine it, a world in which the masses' opinions no longer depend on the pearls of wisdom they dangle in front of us!

One More Time - What IS an American?

Today I found an old post I've read before - Peter Schramm explains how his father told him he was an American before they immigrated from Hungary.

How can a foreigner be an American? Glad you asked.

This is a topic I've written about more than once -
  • To Be an American - what makes us different?
  • What is America? - I write about the day I heard the Declaration of Independence - REALLY heard it - for the first time:
    Regular guys wrote that. True, they were a fairly influential bunch, but not a hereditary noble or ruler in the group.

    They said, We get to direct our destiny. We get to decide our future. We get to make the rules.

    Ideally, everybody gets a say. The group who can persuade the greatest number of the rightness of his view wins. The losing side has to suck it up, and abide by that decision. No IEDs in the road. No beheadings. No blowing things up 'cause you're mad you lost.
    A little further on in that post, I add:
    What makes us Americans is that we chose to play by the rules set up under the Constitution. Those rules, symbolized by the flag, guarantee us a CHANCE at the brass ring. It's not a guarantee that we'll win - it's a guarantee that we can try. Without fear of being tossed in jail.

    As Americans, we honor that way of passing the torch. Heck, we even enshrine it in cheesy shows like Survivor and American Idol. When the contestants lose, they don't direct their supporters to rush in with guns. They (generally) smile graciously and walk away. Some of them even end up being bigger successes than the winners.

  • Yet another post on being an American - do 'ya sense a theme here?


Sometimes it's important to reflect on WHY we blog. I do so , in part, because I feel strongly about my values. I want, sometimes, to just get it all off my chest. Blogging allows me to do that. If you don't like what I say, well, walk away - click on another site, and wash it out of your mind. But, whether or not you read all of my post, I still get to write it - in full, unedited, and without anyone's permission.

I really like that.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

The DREAM Has Died - For Now

Well, the DREAM Act is dead (I hate to use those words - immigration schemes are like vampires, they never really die, just climb into the coffin for a simulated death, then, seemingly miraculously, arise to feed on humans).

What else is happening?



Yeah. Big surprise. Laws are for chumps like me and you.

I'm not, however, too much of a chump to enjoy a perfectly delightful day. Relatives are in town, and I'm off for some foolish fun.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Sunday, September 23, 2007

What Is Driving the Push to One-World Government?

This is interesting - I' confess that I was not aware that the Council on Foreign Relations was not a part of the US government. The name implies that it is at least quasi-official.

Among the members of CFR:

  • Fred Thompson
  • Rudy Guilani (big surprise - NOT!)
  • Mitt Romney
  • John McCain
  • Newt Gingrich
  • Hillary Clinton (The female Darth Vader)
  • Barak Obama ("I deserve it - did I mention that I'm Black?")
  • John Edwards ("I'm the prettiest one!")
  • Joe Biden (why is he still in the race - he's becoming the perennial bridesmaid of the Democrat Party)
  • Chris Dodd
  • Bill Richardson ("I'm the only one with executive experience - so what if it's a little, teeny state?")


The video makes all kinds of dark implications about the CFR - it's the modern equivalent of the infamous anti-Goldwater Girl with Daisies ad of the 1960s.

Who sponsors it?

Ron Paul.

Never mind.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

New Video

I'm finally reasonably caught up on work stuff, the house is starting to take shape (still filled with boxes, though), and I'm getting back to relatively regular posting - just in time.

Check out the new Blog4Borders video outburst. It's still AMNESTY, but they're not calling it that. Do the Elected Ones think we're stupid? Don't answer that, of course they do. They've buried this amnesty-substitute in a defense bill.

Please, PLEASE, get on the phone, email, fax - let them know how opposed you are. Mention that you will be withholding both money and your vote - not just national, but also state, and local. If you can, also reach the local and state politicians - they will know how to bypass the screening of the Senate offices, and reach the Senator - with a "what the @#$%^&*( are you doing? My phone is ringing off the hook! I have a job to do, and if you don't do something, I'm going to lose THAT!"

That should get some attention. And, a side benefit is that it's a local call.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Amnesty, Again!

Let me be clear - I don't have time for this.

I'm swamped at work, am taking a grad class, and just moved into a new home. I have visitors coming in about 1 1/2 weeks, and it's going to take a lot of time to get this house ready for them.

But some things are more important than personal concerns.

This is one. PC Free Zone has all the details.

The Heritage Foundation is one of the sites leading the charge. I know it's a pain, but take the time to call, write, or fax (or all three). Tell everyone you know, and stir up some justified outrage.
The DREAM Act (S. 774) is a nightmare. It is a massive amnesty that extends to the millions of illegal aliens who entered the United States before the age of 16. The illegal alien who applies for this amnesty is immediately rewarded with "conditional" lawful per manent resident (green card) status, which can be converted to a non-conditional green card in short order. The alien can then use his newly acquired status to seek green cards for the parents who brought him in illegally in the first place. In this way, it is also a back door amnesty for the millions of illegal aliens who brought their children with them to the United States.

What is less well known about the DREAM Act is that it also allows illegal aliens to receive in-state tuition rates at public universities, discriminating against U.S. citizens from out of state and law-abiding foreign students. It repeals a 1996 federal law that pro hibits any state from offering in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens unless the state also offers in-state tuition rates to all U.S. citizens.
When contacting your congressman or Senator, mention the bill's number. Make sure that they realize that your are against this particular legislation, as well as any other like it.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Miss USA's Tattoos


Because, you see she's made SO MANY GOOD decisions in the last year.

Tattoos in America


From Wikipedia
A poll conducted online in July 2003 estimated that 16% of all adults in the United States have at least one tattoo. The highest incidence of tattoos was found among the gay, lesbian and bisexual population (31%) and among Americans ages 25 to 29 years (36%) and 30 to 39 years (28%). Regionally, people living in the West (20%) were more likely to have tattoos. Democrats were more likely to have tattoos (18%) than Republicans (14%) and Independents (12%); approximately equal percentages of males (16%) and females (15%) have tattoos.[2]


The issue of tattoos as a sign of gang membership is a small factor in my dislike of them. The following story shows the international popularity of tattoos.



And, last - how much do you trust your tattooist?



It's a little like the many people who pay to have Asian tattoos - are you REALLY sure about what it says?From FoxNews, New York City jewelry designer Jane Ko speaks about tattoos she's seen
“I’ve seen some pretty funny Chinese characters that they offer on tattoo-parlor walls,” she said.

Other ridiculous tattoo translations Ko has seen include "blood and guts," mutated into "blood and intestines" in Chinese, and "rock 'n' roll" corrupted as "to sway and to roll."

"That would be translating it literally, but nobody would actually use those characters to say 'rock 'n' roll' in Chinese," she said. "In Chinese people would ask, 'Why would you 'get the rolls?'"

Maria Robinson, a video game designer in Oakland, Calif., who was born in China, has often seen people with badly written tattoos that were supposed to be Chinese. In one case, the Chinese text was actually upside-down.

For the non-tattooed, at least, the results can be worth a good laugh. Ko recalled one instance in which a man approached her with a tattoo on his forearm that he had always taken to be the Chinese character for “spirit.”

“I was like, ‘Why did he have that tattoo?’” she said. “It really said ‘gas’” (Ko assured the man that it was close enough).

For the most part, the artwork errors seemed to be honest mistakes. A shaky or inexperienced hand could alter or obliterate a delicate rendering; some turns of phrase are simply untranslatable, and their literal translations laughable; and the complex dialectical shades involved in any language, but especially Chinese, mean that a character that seems profound in
Mandarin could mean something ridiculous in Cantonese.

Sometimes an Asian character will be well-rendered but upside-down or reversed as if in a mirror. And often it appears as if whoever recommends a tattoo has a less-than-firm grasp on the basics of Asian grammar, applying English-language rules to an alien tongue — sticking the word for “power” to the left of the word for “love,” for example, is nonsense, not “powerful love,” in Chinese, which requires a complete sentence of at least five characters to convey that idea.

It’s the rare tattoo artist who’s conversant with all the vagaries of Asian languages, and the Asian characters seen on tattoo-parlor walls are often pre-made renderings — or “flash” — purchased en masse at conventions or from other studios, meaning there’s no guarantee of orthodoxy or meaning.
You've been warned.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Homeless Vets?

Classical Values posts about something I've long wondered - are most homeless people who claim to be vets, actually, well, vets at all?
What percentage of beggars claiming to be Vietnam veterans are fakes? Nearly all of them. According to a survey by the Vietnam Veterans of America, over 90% of street beggars claiming to be Vietnam veterans are fakes.
I suspect that we will see the same thing long after the Iraqi War is over.

Life is Finally Settling Down

It was an interesting week. I got up and running with the MacBook, but was held up on fully implementing it, because my computer projector at work (EVERY science teacher got one - what a great surprise!) couldn't connect without an add-on device.

I tried to get it from Apple - they sent it - but I'd ordered the wrong one by mistake. No fault to Apple - they shipped it promptly.

I was rather put out, and went online to find a local store that might carry the part. Best Buy did, but not the one closest to us. We decided to make the trip, despite the time of day - rush hour in Charlotte, not the best time. We did get the part, and 2 2-gig flash drives. And, also, a discounted book that promises to explain all about the Mac operating system.

The part worked, we both now have LOTS more traveling memory, and, the book is a heavy - at least 5 pounds.

Nah, I just checked - it's ONLY 3.6 pounds. You know, I have an idea - why not sell these oversized books with a way to split them apart into 3-4 travel-sized books?

We get DISH today - I was up early, waiting for the installation man. He still hasn't come.

I pulled a muscle in my mid-back, toting stuff to the van. It seems to be handled by Naproxen well. I'm up, and moving around, but taking it easy. Not simple to do, when surrounded by boxes that need to be unpacked.

Easy does it. When I can move more, I will deal with them.

I saw an amusing video of a laughing baby - the kid was bowled over (literally) by the excitement of tearing a magazine up. It's worth the time - you can't help but enjoy his thrill.

I've been trying to view the Bin Laden appearance on video, but it's slow to load, and I'm impatient. Maybe later.

This has been around for a while, but it still makes me laugh:
Excerpts from a Dog's Diary:

8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm - Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

In contrast:
Excerpts from a Cat's Diary:

Day 983 of my captivity?

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am. Bastards!

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe...for now.

Lies of the Left

This COULD be a lengthy post. But, I'll try to winnow it down to a reasonable length. The CA Parent Bribery 'Scandal' - the 1...