What I'm Reading Now

I've been reading DAVID (NOT Rush) Limbaugh's latest book - I'm reading the library's e-book version, but it's available on Amazon, too.


It's really good - Limbaugh manages to find incidents from the last 2 years that even political junkies like myself have forgotten.

"Republicans - they're another story altogether.  They just kind of do what they're told."

Obama contrasts what he believes Republicans to be with Democrats, whom he flatters by stating that they think for themselves.  At least, when they agree with him.

I highly recommend the book.  David Limbaugh's website is here.   David is the lawyer brother of Rush.  Similar politics, very dissimilar style.

BTW, the Kindle edition is a real steal - about 1/3 the price of the hardcover.













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Was Our Involvement in Vietnam So Wrong?

I was reading National Review, and was struck by the following:

... the words of Gen. Vernon Walters, words I have quoted in this column before. They are (in paraphrase), “For over ten years, bombs rained down on every village and hamlet in South Vietnam, and no one budged. It took the coming of a Communist ‘peace’ to send hundreds of thousands of people out into the South China Sea, on anything that could float, or might float, to risk dehydration, piracy, drowning . . .”

They didn't leave while the Americans were there.  When we left, life became intolerable.

So, who's the Bad Guy here?

Again, from National Review:

You may have heard about Bob Dylan in China. I quote from a Los Angeles Times report, dated April 7:

At a time when many other American performers have been banned from China, Bob Dylan was allowed to play Wednesday night in Beijing, but with a program that omitted Dylan’s most famous ballads of dissent.
Conspicuously absent from the program at the Workers’ Gymnasium were “The Times They Are A-Changin’” and “Blowin’ in the Wind.” Dylan’s set list had to be sanctioned beforehand by the Ministry of Culture, which in its formal invitation decreed that he would have to “conduct the performance strictly according to the approved program.”

Oh, yes. And he apparently had no trouble complying. Which reminds me of how much I admire Björk, the Icelandic pop star. In 2008, she sang a concert in Shanghai. The authorities did not like this one so much. Because she sang a song called “Declare Independence,” and yelled out “Tibet!” several times.

Gutsy gal, Björk. Before that, I knew her as the young lady who wore a swan dress to the Oscars. After that, I knew her as — what’s the word? I’ll say “braveheart.” 

It's not the biggest names, or the strongest bodies that exhibit bravery.  Sometimes, it comes to the weak and insignificant.  Take, for example, the President's actions in hosting foreign countries:

President of China with Obama

Contrast that with his "hospitality" toward the Dalai Lama.

Accidental?  Please!  NOTHING he does is accidental (need I remind you of the incident below, after referring to Hillary?)

That's a favorite, and extremely childish, response to someone he wants to disrespect.

Impudent, but NOT brave.

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Funny Deficit Numbers

In a recent meeting at Facebook, President answered a question about deficit reduction:

Cesar Fernandez (ph) and Elisa Rectanas (ph) are participating in one of those roundtables, and they wanted to ask you this:  “Mr. President, in your deficit reduction speech last week you spoke of the need to not only reduce government spending but to also increase federal revenue.  In light of our nation’s budget challenges, will your administration consider revisiting policies such as the DREAM Act, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates will reduce the deficit by $1.4 billion and increase the government revenue by $2.3 billion over the next 10 years?”  (Applause.)

When I read those numbers, I was puzzled.  I couldn't imagine that the DREAM Act, which legalizes illegal aliens brought to the US before they were adults, and also provides for their continued education (at in-state tuition prices), could possibly be able to REDUCE the deficit.

So, I checked it out.

Read the CBO Report here.

Some points I immediately saw:

• "The increase in authorized workers would affect individual and corporate income taxes, as well as social insurance taxes. On balance, those changes would increase revenues by $2.3 billion over 10 years" that assumes that all illegal aliens will immediately start paying taxes.  Doubtful, since they are generally working under-the-table, i. e., not paying taxes.
• That rosy estimate doesn't seem to take into account an "increase (in) net direct spending by $912 million over the 2011-2020 period. That amount reflects changes in spending for refundable tax credits, Social Security, Medicare, student loans, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)" - the DHS expects that they will get their costs back in fees.  Wanna bet?  I'm betting that the bleeding hearts will start lobbying for the poor, underprivileged criminals to bypass that fee thingy.
• "CBO and JCT estimate that enacting the bill would reduce deficits by about $1.4 billion over the 2011-2020 period. That result reflects an increase in on-budget deficits of about $1.4 billion over that period and a decrease in off-budget 2 deficits of about $2.8 billion over the same period. Only the on-budget effects are counted for purposes of enforcing the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010."  I'm dying to know what off-budget 2 deficits are.
• "CBO estimates that the bill would increase projected deficits by more than $5 billion in at least one of the four consecutive 10-year periods starting in 2021."  Mostly entitlements for the needy.
• On page 5 of the CBO report, there's a table of costs to the government.  Only 1 year, 2012, has a negative cost.  All others have positive costs.
• The report doesn't count the increased cost at the state level for more kids in college.  I do know that most states subsidize student tuition, some quite significantly.  That cost isn't included.

The report is also rebuffed by Huffington Post, of all things.

The CBO estimated the bill would increase projected deficits by between $5 billion and $20 billion between 2021 and 2061 after the first DREAM Act beneficiaries gain legal status.

When you've lost the Huff, you've lost BIG.

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Persecution of Christians in the Mideast

Paradoxically, Iraqui Christians were less likely to be harassed, killed, or chased out of their homes in the Saddam days.

...by empowering “the people,” the U.S. has unwittingly undone Iraq’s Christian minority. Naively projecting Western values on Muslims, U.S. leadership continues to think that “people-power” will naturally culminate into a liberal, egalitarian society—despite all the evidence otherwise. The fact is, in the Arab/Muslim world, “majority rule” traditionally means domination by the largest tribe or sect; increasingly, it means Islamist domination.

Either which way, the minorities—notably the indigenous Christians—are the first to suffer once the genie of “people-power” is uncorked. Indeed, evidenceindicates that the U.S. backed “democratic” government of Iraq enables and incites the persecution of its Christians. (All of this raises the pivotal question: do heavy-handed tyrants—Saddam, Mubarak, Qaddafi, et al—create brutal societies, or do naturally brutal societies create the need for heavy-handed tyrants to keep order.)

Another indicator that empowering Muslim masses equates Christian suffering is the fact that, though Iraqi Christians amount to a mere five percent of the population, they make up nearly 40 percent of the refugees fleeing Iraq. It is the same in Egypt: “A growing number of Egypt’s 8-10 million Coptic Christians are looking for a way to get out as Islamists increasingly take advantage of the nationalist revolution that toppled long-standing dictator Hosni Mubarak in February.”

Of course, whereas Egypt’s revolution was homegrown, the persecution of Iraq’s Christians is a direct byproduct of U.S. intervention. More ironic has been Obama’s approach. Justifying his decision to intervene in Libya inhumanitarian terms, the president recently said that, while “it is true that America cannot use our military wherever repression occurs… that cannot be an argument for never acting on behalf of what’s right.”

That bold-faced part about brutal societies leading to tyrants strikes me as a possibility - one that I hadn't thought about.  If true, than the overthrow of the dictators will NOT lead to democracy in the Mideast, but to tyranny by the Islamic majority.

The more things change...

UPDATE:  Egyptian radicals protest the new Christian governor.  Look for more of the same in the future.

historically, Muslims aware of the Qur’anic teaching on the People of the Book have reacted poorly when non-Muslims have been placed in authority over them. This happened even in the mythical proto-multicultural paradise of medieval Spain, al-Andalus. On December 30, 1066, about four thousand Jews in Granada were murdered by rioting Muslim mobs. The Muslims were enraged about the appointment over them of a Jewish vizier, Samuel ibn Naghrila, as well as about the political power of Samuel’s son Joseph. Ironically, contemporary hagiographers of Islamic Spain point to the appointment of Samuel as an example of Islamic tolerance, without bothering to mention the subsequent Muslim riots, which took place solely because Muslims resented that appointment as a violation of Islamic law.

The boodthirsty mob in Granada was incited to kill the Jews by a poem composed by the Muslim jurist Abu Ishaq: “I myself arrived in Granada and saw that these Jews were meddling in its affairs. . . . So hasten to slaughter them as a good work whereby you will earn God’s favour, and offer them up in sacrifice, a well-fattened ram.”

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If There Shouldn't Be Taxation Without Representation...

...why should there be representation without taxation?

In other words, those who vote should have a financial stake in the outcome.  Voters should have to present some form of proof that they paid a non-sales tax that year.

Theoretically, it could equally disenfranchise the non-taxpaying wealthy as well as the "paid under the table" freeloader.

Just think about it.  There is an argument to be made for keeping the franchise for those who have paid their dues.

Did I mention that I think an Alternative Minimum Tax should be levied on EVERYONE over the age of 21?  NOBODY gets all their tax back in a refund.  ALL should pay, at least something.

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More Tattoos!

These are Practical Tattoos.

I still hate them.

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Wow!!!!! This Really Puts the National Debt Into Perspective!!

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Reading on the Kindle

I downloaded a story from the Project Gutenberg site.  "The Tudors: The Complete Story of England's Most Notorious Dynasty".

It's been absolutely RIVETING.  I've been reading it late at night, on my lunch hour, anytime I have a few minutes.  It's like reading a Early Renaissance National Enquirer.  Sex, perfidy, religion, greed, jockeying for position, palace intrigue.

I'm just about 1/2 way through.  This all lead to a search for the speculation about why Henry VIII died - was it syphillis?

According to some, NOT!

His symptoms were more indicative of Diabetes II - adult onset type.  Apparently, he may not have been quite the lover he was said to be - more inclined to find a woman, and marry her.  Again, and again.  One of the clues is that his offspring were quite intelligent - the children of syphilitics are likelier to be sub-normal intelligence.

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"If You Call That Bodily Harm"

But, it's the Conservatives that are threatening, right?

From the complaint:

S/A Tijerino reports he asked the defendant if she had sent out an email to anyone threatening bodily harm and she replied, “I guess . . . if you consider bodily harm . . . .” S/A Tijerino asked the defendant to elaborate and she stated, “I sent out emails that I was disgusted and very upset by what they were doing.”
S/A Tijerino reports the defendant stated that she called them a bad word, “a——-.” S/A Tijerino reports the defendant said, “I might have said that I am going to kill you or I want to kill you.” S/A Tijerino reports he asked the defendant how many emails she sent and she answered, “I sent one to the Republican senators.”
S/A Tijerino reports he asked the defendant if he read a line from the email would she be able to remember if it was her e-mail and she replied, “Probably, yeah.” S/A Tijerino reports he read the following passage:
“Please put your things in order because you will be killed and your families will also be killed due to your actions in the last 8 weeks.”
The defendant replied, “I think I said that, but I don’t know why I said that.”

Remember the name, Katherine J. Windels.  She's one of the too-many that think threats against politicians AND THEIR FAMILIES is OK.

The really disturbing part?

An online profile lists Windels as a 2010 graduate of Madison Area Technical College with an associate's degree in early childhood education who's held multiple jobs as a home-care provider and teacher of young children.

At one of the jobs, Windels worked as a teacher's helper from 2007 to 2009 for an after-school program at St. Martin's called Jesus and Me.

Just the kind of person that I want around children and the elderly/disabled.

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A Letter to My Congressperson

I emailed the following today:

I'm completely against raising the debt ceiling.  If that pushes us into default - OK.  We're in the position of an out-of-control spender, who is getting our credit limit raised.  There is NO hope that we can pay back that amount of money.  It's not fair to the younger generations, who will owe, without ever getting any benefits from that expenditure.

I'm OK with cutting (NOT just limiting increases). 

Social Security - 5% this year, the same next year - don't scream at me, Grandma - I'm only a few years away from that age, myself, and I'd like to be able to collect a little, too.  Which, I won't if you don't get your hand out of the till.

The whole Health Care bill

Salaries of ALL federal employees, 5% this year, and the same next year - including Representatives and Senators

Completely eliminating some Departments - HUD, Education, Energy, Labor, Transportation 

Retirement benefits for non-military personnel - especially for elected officials - they should NOT qualify before 10 years, and should not collect full benefits before 20 years. 

Cutting in 1/2 - Dept of Agriculture, FDA, State, Treasury, Interior, Commerce, Health & Human Services, Justice, DEA

Feel free to add more to the mix.

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Budget Deal Met

According to Foxnews, it's a deal that allows both sides to say, "We won".

From what I can see, the only real loser is the American public.

The cuts were puny.  They didn't touch entitlements.  They didn't even touch PBS and Planned Parenthood, but of whom can make up any loss with donations.

The next big fight is the debt ceiling.  I'm contacting my Senators and Reps to make sure they understand that I don't want any increase.  They HAVE to start getting serious about their spending.

If you want to contact them, check out the Blogroll - there are links there.

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It's The 1st Amendment, NOT The 1st Suggestion!

Slate doesn't seem too excited about Justice Breyer's remarks on the 1st Amendment, in light of the Quran-burning incident.  What Breyer does say concerns me:

you can say—with the Internet, you can say this. … Holmes said it doesn't mean you can shout "fire" in a crowded theater. Well, what is it? Why? Because people will be trampled to death. And what is the crowded theater today? What is the being trampled to death? … It will be answered over time in a series of cases which force people to think carefully.

So, apparently, unlike the relatively natural reaction to hearing the word "fire", a decidedly UNNATURAL action, like murdering Christians, may lead to inhibited speech.

At least, when it offends the easily-offended Muslim population.

UPDATE:  Upon re-reading the Slate post, it's clear that they disapprove of any restriction on the 1st Amendment - what I wrote previously seems to suggest the opposite.

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Homer Capeheart - A Cassandra For His Times

I was in 6th grade during the Cuban Missile Crisis.  I followed the news reports.  Later, I watched the TV movie about the crisis, in which the Kennedy brothers were portrayed as the heroes of the day for their efforts in dealing with the Soviet and Cuban governments.

The main message I always heard was the surprise of the missiles arrival.  There was no forewarning.  There was no way to have known about the missiles, before that moment of crisis.

B.S.

That's what the American Spectator has on it's blog today, the true story about Homer Capeheart, and his fight to get the Kennedy administration to take his warnings about the menace seriously.

You would think that, after the crisis was over, Capeheart would be a hero in the press.

You would think.

Instead, Capeheart's prescience was ignored, both by the media, and by the Kennedy administration.

I never heard of him, until this post in the Spectator.  He lost his seat in the next election (to Birch Bayh),  and was relegated to obscurity.

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The 1st Amendment Should NOT Be Changed For a Murderous, Ignorant People

I'm like a lot of Christians; I do read the Bible, I do hold it in high esteem; I do think it was written by men at the inspiration of God.

I wouldn't, however kill someone who destroyed a Bible.

The Saudis, among other nations, can thank God Allah that most Christians think the same way I do.  Otherwise, they would be busy protecting themselves against Christians enraged against their routine destruction of Bibles confiscated from Christians entering their countries.

Some examples:

Not burned, but shredded - and, if their owners have more than 1 Bible, arrested.

Incidents from previous years.

Burning Christians alive - is that better than burning a book?

Would I burn a Quran?  No.

But it must be said, that the pastor who did burnt his own property.  Nothing he did was illegal.  Nothing he did should get him in trouble with the law.

He may have been rude, motivated by hatred of Islam, and disdainful of another's religion.

None of that, in America, is actionable.  Nor should be.

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Spring Flings

I'm feeling giddy - it must be that time of year:

• I'll be undergoing the Sacred Ritual that all true Cleveland Indians fans perform each spring - re-watching Major League, I and II - (III is a complete waste of time).
• The garden is blooming - dogwoods, azaleas, jonquils, and some purple thing (quite pretty, at the base of the oaks).
• I have off a week, and will be spending it out of town in Cleveland - lots of visits with friends and family.
• We've been organizing and cleaning the house - I always feel so light-hearted and virtuous when we do.
• There is a temporary lull in world/US crises.  Yes, I know about Japan, the Mideast, and the budget issue.  But, right now, it's not critical to take all my attention away from the wonderful weather.

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