Too Much Time on My Hands

I can't believe that I was so bored I watched an episode of Bridezillas this week.  I happened to be in the same room as a TV that had been on for a while.  When the show started, I barely noticed.

As the bride got more and more out of control, I became fascinated - kind of like those people who can't move, even though the ax murderer is coming closer and closer.

I was reminded of the show by an article about the last state to enact no-fault divorce - NY.  Calling for a "Marital Marshall Plan", Charles Donavan states:

The problem of family disintegration is approaching that scale. The nation’s out-of-wedlock birth rate is more than 50 percent higher for all women of childbearing age than it was for the black American subset that so troubled the late Pat Moynihan when he wrote his study for the Labor Department in the 1960s. The poverty rate for children born to single parents is nearly five times higher than it is for children born into intact families.

Why is this issue so important?  Because even a mediocre marriage conveys  tremendous benefits to all the participants:

• Financial
• Lower car insurance
• Raise your credit score
• Get better loan offers
• Increase financial stability
• Combine expenses
• Share employer benefits
• Men
• Improved health
• Better pay than when single
• Keep you out of trouble
• Help you live longer
• From the US Dept of Health & Human Services, a LONG list of benefits for all parties (men, women, and children, plus the community at large), including:
• Lower crime rates
• Lower domestic violence crime rates (YES, I know this goes against all that propaganda about DV and marriage - but what you DON'T hear is that almost all of the actual DV involves unmarried couples)
• Additional reasons here (365 of them)

As a society, we benefit from marriage.  The children benefit from marriage, particularly in the fact that their father is more likely to be involved in their lives.  Women benefit from marriage - they are LESS likely to be abused in a marital situation than when co-habitating.

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Huma Abedin - Should She Be Working in Such a Sensitive Position?

Much has been written about Huma's husband, Anthony Weiner, and his indiscreet actions of late.

Some of it by me - OK, I'm a low-minded, snarky, and base individual, who joked along with the rest of the world.  It was mostly the unfortunate name, coupled with the refusal to accept his outing, apologize, and move on - as many politicians have done.

But, you have to have some sympathy for the woman, in light of her personal situation.

I have NO sympathy for her affiliations, and the way it compromises her position as aid-de-camp for Hillary Clinton.

She has MANY relatives with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.  This is an organization that openly promotes destruction of Western (non-Islamic) society.  See here, and here, and here for more detail.  From that last site, 

The Brotherhood's founder, al-Banna, was a devout admirer of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime. During the 1930s, the Brotherhood became more political in nature and an officially political group in 1939. Over the years, the organization developed an apparatus through which to provide military training to its followers and to engage in political terrorism against Egyptian Coptic Christians and government officials.

They've changed tactics somewhat, but not aims - imposition of Islam on the world, total destruction of Israel and all Jews, and imposition of Sharia on every part of the world.

So, why bring Huma into this?  Should we blame her for her family's political and religious affiliations?

Well, yes - and no.

Yes, because the Arabic world is explicitly tribal in nature.  If you are a member of a family, your highest allegiance is to them and their interests - even against any ambitions or desires of the individual.  Huma will go along with the aims of her family, even if it is not her wish, or even in her self-interests.  To do otherwise would be profoundly unnatural for someone raised in her culture.

No, because she may NOT support the MB's goals.  But, if she is to be given the benefit of doubt, she needs to openly break with her family and their beliefs.  She needs to give DHS all the information she has regarding the MB.  Otherwise, we really can't trust her in such a sensitive position.

It would be a tough decision for anyone - renounce your family, or give up your career.  But that's what is needed.

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From Felon to Pulitzer

For, Vargas is a felon - many times over.  Having been brought to this country, and having been "documented" with a fraudulent green card by his grandfather, Vargas chose to compound that error in judgement by continuing the charade with multiple faked and fraudulent papers, himself.

Vargas won the Pulitzer, it is true.  He is a terrific writer.

He is also a criminal.  He has committed multiple felonies, by his own admission, and should be prosecuted, and deported back to the Philippines.

But, the bleeding hearts say, Vargas is an asset to this country.  No, he's not.  He has contributed to the weakening of our legal system, committed identify fraud, entangled others in his crimes, and arguably committed identity theft, which is NOT a victimless crime.

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Owellian Re-Writing of History

I really like National Review's Mona Charen.  She writes on topics, like the culture, that I blog about.  Today, she reviews a new book that explores the Liberal revision of history into a more acceptable collection of "facts".

She starts her piece with a quote from Winston Churchill, who once said,

History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it.

Which, BTW, he did - in multiple volumes.  His history of the pre-WWII period is comprehensive and riveting (The Gathering Storm).

Mona points out one of the most ubiquitous examples, one that has made into mainstream history books:

In 1963, a popular Democratic president was assassinated by a Marxist named Oswald, who had actually defected to the Soviet Union and returned to the U.S. with a Soviet wife, was an active member of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, and had attempted to assassinate a right-wing general named Edwin Walker earlier in the year.

So, who is blamed for the Kennedy assassination?  The "climate of hate" for Kennedy that supposedly existed in Dallas.  It was those nasty right-wingers.   Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain (from The Wizard of Oz).

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It's Written in Black & White

Today's National Review post by Seth Forman is an eye-opener.

After an historic election result that occurred, in part, due to the desire of White voters to put race behind them, the nation is more racially divided than ever.

even though the 2010 census reveals that residential segregation for blacks is at its lowest level ever (the average black lives in a community that is 54 percent nonblack), blacks remain the most politically segregated group. There is indeed no greater predictor of voting patterns than being black — not income, not education level, not marriage status, not age, not religious affiliation, not party affiliation, not profession. Once the voter is known to be black, it can be estimated with roughly 90 percent confidence that he will pull the lever for a Democrat.

This is behavior that the Democratic Party takes for granted.  This is behavior that the Democratic Party exploits.  Knowing that the Dems can count on the Black vote, they push legislation and regulations that are antithetical to their interests.  Examples of such legislation are the DREAM Act, Amnesty, and the requirements that mortgage lenders make a certain percentage of loans to minorities, regardless of ability to pay for that loan (which hit them hard when the housing slump wiped out what little equity they had).

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Who Will Harvest the Food?

The LA Times has a story about a Georgia farm that is short of workers.  The labor contractor, a Latino, scours his usual lists, coming up about 100 workers short, and forcing the farm to leave some of the rapidly-ripening blackberries in the field to rot.

It's quite an emotional plea to let these "undocumented" workers just do this one job.  It stands as an indictment of the new Georgia law (that supports E-Verify).  In other words, let the farms hire the illegals, or risk starving for lack of pickers.

Oh Bull-Droppings!

In the story, the labor contractor spends his time trying to find Latino workers, who HAVEN'T the right to work.  Why doesn't the farmer hire an non-Latino to find Americans who are jobless.  The story mentions the back-breaking 10 hour day.  Well, if he shortened the day to a more normal 8 hour day, he could find workers.  Better have workers for 8 hours, than no workers for 10.

In the story, when Don Pedro runs into White people, he asks them about former Latino residents, who might work for him.  Why doesn't he ask, "do you know anyone who needs a job?" of the White people.  I would be quite surprised if they didn't have personal knowledge of someone who is unemployed.  Similarly, the farmer should look to contractors that have ties to the Black communities - there is an astronomical unemployment rate in the Black population, particularly in young men.

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Why Do Major Rivers Flood?

Surprisingly, it's NOT Mother Nature taking over - it's planned stupidity.

See how environmental activists are causing communities to be devastated, jobs to be lost, and people to die.

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This, I Believe, Is What We Call A "Duh!" Moment

From The Daily Caller, Jon Stewart talking about Liberal media bias:

And to some extent they’re right. People on the right are called racists and they’re called things with an ease that I am uncomfortable with and homophobic and all those other things. I think that that is absolutely something that they have a real right to be angry about and to feel that they have been vilified for those things. And I’ve been guilty of some of those things myself.”

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/06/19/jon-stewart-on-msm-fox-agenda-driven-abc-cbs-nbc-ny-times-etc-not-at-all/#ixzz1PuqlAwS0

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Penn & Teller - Flag Burning

I found this on the Anchoress.



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It's Getting Real...

...In The Whole Foods Parking Lot.



This is FUNNY!  This guy may take over that sweet spot that Weird Al has in the strange video section.

The link courtesy of Mark Shea.

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A New Blog to Look At

When checking out my stats, I found a blog I hadn't noticed before.  De Birhan, a blog about the Ethiopian Experience.

The site makes a compelling argument as to the possibility of Ethiopia being the next country to work for a revolution in the country's government, using Google Insights for Research.  Thanks to Ankober Zuta for the tip on how it works!

Don't forget to check it out.

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This Woman Is Amazing!

She calls herself an ordinary person, and proceeds to wipe up the floor with the "Health Care Experts".  Y'all gotta see it - there are transcripts, too.

Thanks to American Digest, and Curmudgeonly & Skeptical.

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Will the Kindle Make a Difference in the Spread of the Christian Bible?

First, the list of countries for which the Kindle is NOT available:

Countries for which Kindle is currently not available: Afghanistan, Algeria, Antarctica, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, Chile, China, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, French Southern Territories, Gambia, Guinea, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Isle of Man, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Democratic People’s Republic Of, Korea, Republic of, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Pitcairn, Qatar, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Helena, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Sudan, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tokelau, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, United States Minor Outlying Islands, Uzbekistan, Western Sahara, Yemen

Read more: http://blogkindle.com/kindle-international-coverage-map/#ixzz1PFpH8n5P

Notice how many of those countries are repressive regimes.

I can understand those countries not wanting the Kindle available.  It is, to them, a nightmare of freedom.  Imagine not being able to control what their subjects/citizens read.  Why, they might even decide to read the Christian Bible and other books!

I can envision Christian books becoming like the samizdat of the old Soviet Union, passed from hand to hand (flash drive to flash drive?).

For those countries, technology is fast becoming their enemy.

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Ooooh, That's Gonna Be Fun to Watch!

With Obama, it's funny, but his former supporters are catching on.  The trouble he is having is that he raised expectations so high, the withdrawal of support will be quite dramatic.

Obama has in recent weeks stepped up calls for congressional approval of an immigration overhaul that would both secure the border, and offer a path to earned legalization to millions of undocumented residents who are willing to pay penalties and learn English.

He had pledged during the 2008 campaign that he would pass such a law during his first year in office.

But Gutierrez and growing numbers of Democrats in Congress say that Obama’s immigration reform campaign is political posturing, because the president knows that he won’t get the votes for congressional passage of a comprehensive immigration reform in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

Obama’s rhetoric may help win Hispanic votes for the 2012 elections by showing Republicans as the stumbling block for immigration reform, but is creating false expectations among Hispanics, they say.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/28/2240616/obama-is-deceiving-hispanics-on.html#ixzz1PBOWXpoc

This reporter, Andres Oppenheimer, talked to the Chicago-area Congressman, Luis V. Gutierrez, who suggested stopping and/or delaying deportations.  Obama has been claiming that he hasn't the power, but Hispanics don't buy that - he is clearly willing to use extra-legal measures for issues that are important to him.

Bottom line, this could be the issue that keeps Hispanics away on voting day in 2012.
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What Homeland Security Thinks is Important

How can the federal government best protect America?

If you click to enlarge, you will find out that keeping illegal aliens out is NOT in the top issues of DHS's agenda.

ICE thinks protecting intellectual property is "high priority"?

What DHS is BIG on is Biometrics - what are they?

Biometrics are unique physical characteristics, such as fingerprints, that can be used for automated recognition. Biometrics form the foundation of US-VISIT's identification services because they are reliable, convenient and virtually impossible to forge.

"Virtually impossible to forge"?  Have they never watched a James Bond movie (or any other thriller type)?  They are LOADED with ways to fake fingerprints.

From an ordinary use of a biometric device:

 There is also another problem with fingerprinting, I once had a laptop which had a biometrics reader and it took four or five tries before it actually recognized my fingerprint. Fingerprint readers are no where near as accurate as bar code readers so I think they will end up annoying more customers than making the process easier. 

Come on, we all know the employees that will be using those devices - if they start getting negative feedback from the reader, they'll do what people always do - start waving people through the line.

My experience is that any system that puts another layer between customers and using a service is vulnerable to being hacked, not from evil intent, but generally because the hardware is clumsy and difficult to use.

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The NEW White House Web Intro

I decided to visit the White House, and was confronted with this:

Because I typically use an enlarged text to view web sites, I didn't immediately see the "No Thanks" button.  The disclaimer does say that email addresses will NOT be used outside of the White House, FWIW.

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The Alinsky Alert Reminders

Here's the list, illustrated, courtesy of Kjos Ministries.  Perhaps someone can develop buttons for an Alinsky Alert?

All of these are Alinsky Tactics:


1. "Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have."  


Sure, you and I aren't afraid of these union members individually, but together, they can intimidate by their supposed voting power (and their fellow members eagerness to break heads of dissenters).

2. "Never go outside the expertise of your people. 


In his case, it's just about everything.

3. "Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy. 
For example, George Bush examining the barcode scanner - the actual technology was fairly new at the time.  Even today, very few people could explain, in detail, just exactly how they work, and the physics of it.

4. "Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.  


Unlike YOUR guys, who are free to ignore morality entirely.

5. "Ridicule is man's most potent weapon.
Fair?  Who Cares?  Make the most lame joke possible, and, when the target responds, insist she has no sense of humor.  Preferably, the joke should be sexist, racist, and include family members or an organization she holds dear.  Oooh, best if it's ALL of those.

6. "A good tactic is one your people enjoy."
Like Bustin' Heads.

7. "A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.
As do the tacticians.

8. "Keep the pressure on,...
And on, and on, and on...

9. "The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself."
For example, the threat to hold one's breath until he turns blue.

10. "The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition. 
For example, the operations of the MSM.

11. "If you push a negative hard and deep enough, it will break through into its counterside... 

12. "The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative."
Which the Democrats don't have.

13. Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it. 


This one, they've kind of done to death; so much so, that they had to replace him with Sarah.

Think I'm kidding about those Rules for Radicals?  You need to read them.




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Sex and Disease

This is something I've wondered about for ages, myself.

Scientifically, it has been known for more than a full century that human beings, who intimately share infected bodily secretions, spread disease among themselves and all others with whom they later come into intimate contact, and even to their innocent offspring.  Lifelong disease is not something for which sane human beings strive.  Yet it is the absolutely predictable -- scientifically! -- result of this "sexual liberation" social construct.  "Sexual liberation" has produced whole generations of smart people, who wouldn't share a glass of water with a stranger for fear of contracting a communicable disease, but will willingly copulate with the same stranger in scientifically deluded fashion.

It just amazes me that the same kids that obsessively use the anti-bacterial gels will be, many times, the same ones that engage in intimate activities with strangers.

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That's Something I've Been Dying To Know, Myself

How do you define failure?

Unemployment up?  No.

Economy in the tank?  No.

Entitlements (Social Security, Medicare, etc.) in crisis?  No.

A war started without Congressional permission (Libya), and without mandatory approval within 60 days (War Powers Act, passed by a Democrat Congress to stop those awful, war-mongering Republicans)?  No.

The President being a Republican?

YES!

This post courtesy of the Democratic Leadership, and their staunch allies, the Mainstream Media.

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Step Away From the Abortion Funding, Or I Kill This Poor Person!

Unbelievable.

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