Answer Me This...

From CNN.com...

Jordan 'failed bomber' confesses on TV...
Monday, November 14, 2005; Posted: 2:14 a.m. EST (07:14 GMT)
"I tried to detonate mine but I failed,' woman tells interrogators."

"My husband detonated his bomb, and I tried to detonate mine but failed," Saijida Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi said on Jordanian television. "People fled running, and I left running with them."

"Jordanian authorities say al-Rishawi, 35, and her husband, Hussein Ali al-Shamari, went to carry out their bombings at the Radisson hotel. His explosives went off, killing 38 people attending a wedding reception in the ballroom."

'Jordan's Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher said al-Rishawi is the sister of Zarqawi's "right-hand man," who was killed in Falluja, Iraq. He did not identify the Zarqawi lieutenant."

This story is intriguing to me on several levels. It brings up all kinds of interesting questions...

For one thing, this woman is the sister of a very high ranking Al-Queda official, and the wife of another one (who, incidentally succeeded in blowing himself up.)

Is Al-Queda having recruitment problems? Are they now having to resort to sending their right hand men, and family members? Even the women?

That's another thing...

Haven't female suicide bombers been rare up until now?

Isn't one of the motivating factors in recruiting suicide bombers the promise of Eternity in Paradise, surrounded by seventy perpetual virgins?

How does that work for a woman?

Does she get male virgins, or female virgins?

If she gets male virgins, how does that work within the religion of Islam? Would Allah be okay with the idea of a woman in a position of power over that many men for all of eternity?

Or does she become one of the virgins for some other suicide bomber? If so, do you think it would be worth it to blow yourself up so that you could have the chance to service some dude once every 25 to 35 days? (If he was an absolute machine...)

Or would she be assigned to her husband? In that case, she would get the chance to share him with sixty-nine other chicks...

And if that is the case, then is it possible that her husband might have tampered with her bomb, so that it wouldn't go off?

Is it possible that she screwed up on purpose?

And the ultimate question on this subject...

Have you ever thought about what a woman has to do to remain a perpetual virgin? She has to refrain from EVER having sex, right?

Would you want to live for all eternity with seventy women with whom you could NEVER have sex? EVER?

FOR ALL ETERNITY??

Hmmm...

Get Killed or Die Trying

(Follow all links.)

Do you listen to Rap Music?

I do sometimes. It isn't my favorite genre, but I like some of it. I think that a lot of it is too violent, promotes the wrong stereotypes, and warps expectations and priorities, but I appreciate artistic expression.

The rapper Fi'tty Scent (Curtis Jackson) has released a new movie in a theatre near you. It is entitled "Get Rich Or Die Tryin'."

This inspiring movie chronicles the struggle of a young man, who at an early age realized the disadvantages of poverty. It tells the story of how he studied very hard, got really good grades, stayed out of trouble, went to college, and then worked his way up the corporate ladder to eventually become the CEO of a Fortune 500 Corporation.

Fans and Critics alike have sung the praises of this inspirational film, and I highly reccomend it, even though I have not yet seen it. (To those of you who are pigmentally challenged like me, I highly reccomend waiting until it comes out on home video.)

I believe that the youth of america need more positive roll models like Fi'tty Scent to help them find the path to success.

The REAL Oil Pirates...

The Senate wasted today with a politically motivated, useless, grandstanding investigation into the "excessive" profits of the oil industry in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

They were careful to leave out any mention of the real profiteers of the oil trade.

THE GOVERNMENT.

THEMSELVES.

From The Tax Foundation website...

"State and Federal Treasuries "Profit" More from Gasoline Sales than U.S. Oil Industry
by Jonathan Williams and Scott A. Hodge
High gas prices and strong oil company earnings have generated a rash of new tax proposals in recent months. Some lawmakers have called for new “windfall profits” taxes—similar to the one signed into federal law in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter—that would tax the profits of major oil companies at a rate of 50 percent. Meanwhile, many commentators have voiced support for the idea of increasing gas taxes to keep the price of gasoline at post-Katrina highs, thereby reducing gas consumption.
However, often ignored in this debate is the fact that oil industry profits are highly cyclical, making them just as prone to “busts” as to “booms.” Additionally, tax collections on the production and import of gasoline by state and federal governments are already near historic highs. In fact, in recent decades governments have collected far more revenue from gasoline taxes than the largest U.S. oil companies have collectively earned in domestic profits. "

These hypocritical politicians have engaged in a political witch hunt aimed at the oil industry, ignoring the fact that Taxes on gas and heating oil are HIGHER THAN THE PROFITS REALIZED BY THE COMPANIES THAT THEY SEEK TO DEMONIZE.

"In the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the devastation that has followed, consumers are feeling the economic consequences of the disaster. Record gasoline prices are constantly in the headlines, which leaves many asking why prices are so high. While supply and demand are the primary determinants of gasoline prices, a significant portion of the price consumers pay at the pump can be attributed to gasoline taxes. In fact, the federal gas tax alone equals 18.4 cents for every gallon purchased."

So our Senators are grilling "Big Oil" for making a 9.8% profit on gasoline while the Federal Government makes 18.4 cents per gallon?

And in addition, the Senate is considering imposing a "Windfall Profits Tax" on the oil industry, and they are doing it because they think that the American people are so stupid that they will think that the oil companies should be punished for making a profit. (And they are probably right.)

Does no one besides me realize that Corporations do not PAY taxes? Corporations COLLECT taxes. They do not PAY them. You CAN'T MAKE THEM PAY TAXES. They add taxes to the top of the price of whatever they sell. IN ADDITION TO PROFITS. The only thing that a "Windfall Profits Tax" on oil will do is RAISE prices at the pump, and send money to an already bloated and overfed Government.

Where are the tax cuts?

Wouldn't that be the quickest, easiest way for the government to provide relief from high gas prices at the pump?

Are they interested in the well being of the consumer or not?

FASCIST!!

Occasionally when a left leaning ideaologue visits my blog, or when I visit their's, I get called a Fascist. I assume that they assume that the term "Fascist" means "Extreme right wing", and it is usually associated (within this context) with Hitler, or being a Nazi. They do this, (again, I am assuming,) because they need a scary, evil sounding label to brand me with, in order to attack my credibility with any hapless reader who may happen to stumble across my writings.

(Hitler was a Socialist, by the way. Mousilini was a Fascist.)

The problem is that no one has ever used this term correctly.

I am not a Fascist. I am a "Free Market Capitalist." A "Laissez-Faire" Capitalist, which, loosley translated means a "leave us the hell alone" Capitalist. I believe the less Government interferes with the "Free Market" economic system, the better off everyone is, and the stronger our Economy becomes. (Sorry, ER, you still haven't convinced me...)

I believe that if a businessman figures out how to turn profits with his company, legally, then that businessman should be allowed to keep those profits. I also believe that if anyone, businessman, or private citizen, fails, due to bad decisions made while exercising their own freedom to make bad decisions, then they should be allowed to fail, so that the rest of us can be allowed to learn from their mistakes. So that THEY can be allowed to learn from their mistakes.

I am not, however, heartless. I do not believe that anyone in America should be allowed to starve. I also do not believe that anyone who has failed in life due to decisions that they have made while exercising their freedom to make bad decisions, should be allowed to live the same lifestyle (supported by the rest of us who have not made such bad decisions) as a working couple, both making their own income, and trying to manage their money wisely.

(How about THAT sentence?)

My point is that the term "Fascist" has a specific meaning, and it ain't "Extreme right wing."

If you look up the term "Fascist" on Dictionary.com, it says:

"fas·cist ( P ) Pronunciation Key (fshst)n.
often Fascist:
1) An advocate or adherent of fascism.
2)A reactionary or dictatorial person. "

Well, I have no interest in setting up any kind of dictatorship in America. I like our system of Elected Representative Government just fine.

The strict definition of an Economic Fascist (as I understand it) is "Someone who believes in the Government control of privately owned businesses."

I say all of that to say this.

There are evidently some real Economic Fascists in our Government.

Next week, the chief executives of all of the major oil companies are being called before the Senate to explain why their profits climbed as high as 9% during the last business quarter. (9% is not an outrageous amount of profit for a business to make, in case you didn't know...)

The Senate is also expected to demand that these oil companies "give back" some of these exorbitant profits to help pay for heating costs for "the poor".

The confiscation of profits from privately owned businesses for the public good is called "Fascism."

Do you know who the most prominent "Fascists" (by this definition) in the Senate are?

Republican Senator Charles "Chuck" Grassley of Iowa, and New York Senator Hillary Clinton. (We all know what she claims to be.)

I will say what I said on another blog recently about Wal-Mart.

If I owned Exxon-Mobil, I would shut it down.

Then watch what would happen to gas prices, and oil company profits.

Watch what would happen to consumer confidence, the stock market, inflation, and unemployment.

Do you want high gas prices?

Then support people who, for political advantage, would take the profit out of the oil industry.

How high do you want the price of a gallon of gas to go?

Acting!!...Marvelous!!!...

Did you watch "The West Wing" tonight?

I don't watch it very often becuase it usually turns me into a raving maniac for a couple of hours afterwards, but I watched it tonight.

Tonight "The West Wing" featured a "live" presidential debate between the Pro-Choice Republican candidate senator Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda), and Pro-Life (or rather Anti-reckless Abortion) (Who in the world is FOR reckless Abortion?) Democrat Candidate congressman Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits).

Just before they went onstage, the two candidates decided to bravely throw caution to the proverbial wind, and forget the rules of debate decided on beforehand by their staffers, in order to have an "honest" debate.

I watched as they presented their respective viewpionts, and a horrible thought struck me.

I would vote for the Republican candidate, even if it were Alan Alda!

He explained that it is not the job of the President or Government to create jobs, but rather to get out of the way of the market, and let IT create the jobs.

He explained that the choice was between a Republican who might not be able to "pay for tax cuts", and a Democrat who could not pay for expanding Government programs, even with tax increases. Neither balancing the budget.

He explained the importance of getting "control" of government rather than growing government. He explained that an unobtrusive Government was what the founding fathers wanted for us.

He refused to take any other pledge, other that the Oath of Office, when challenged by his opponent to pledge never to go to war for oil. (Like we have ever done that before.)

I'm sorry, but his proposals and explanations of the issues just made more sense to me, even though while I was watching him do it, I knew full well that Alda had trouble even making his mouth say the things he was saying. He doesn't believe a word of any of it.

But he sold it.

This makes me think of Hillary's drift to the right (not the right of center, just the right of where she used to be...) as we plod on toward the 2008 election cycle. She won't speak out against the war, she has softened on Abortion, and has in general tried to distance herself from the positions of the "Radical Left".

The truth is that I would never vote for Alan Alda for president, because I know how he really feels about the issues. No amount of acting skill or slick writing can change that.

I would know that even if he spouted the right rhetoric, gave all of the right answers, and sold his part perfectly, I would still take into account what I know already of his political views.

Same thing with Hillary. Even if she pleged to only nominate Pro-Life judges to the Supreme Court, promised never to socialize medicine, and to offer a tax cut for working families who pay for their own healthcare, and proposed a flat tax system, I still could not vote for her, because I know that she would not be articulating her core beliefs, but rather saying whatever she and her advisors thought would get her enough votes to win.

I have to be able to believe that the candidate that I am listening to is actually expressing his or her beliefs.

This is why, when given a choice between George W. Bush, and John F. Kerry, I choose Bush.

This is why, when given a choice between George W. Bush, and Al Gore, I choose Bush.

This is why, when given a choice between Hillary and an un-named Republican, the Republican would have to be pretty bad for me to choose Hillary.

Character, and honesty are THE MOST important factors when choosing an elected leader.

Aside from that, all we are doing is judging acting skills.

Wal-Mart Revisited...

From Brietbart.com, via the Drudge Report...

"WAL-MART ECONOMY KEEPS LID ON U.S. INFLATION: studyNov 04 12:50 PM US/Eastern


"The "rock-bottom" pricing strategy used by retail giant Wal-Mart has filtered into the US economy and kept a lid on inflation, according to a study commissioned by the company and released."

Didn't that just say that Wal-Mart commissioned and released a study into whether they, as a company were good or bad for the U.S. economy?

"The study by the economic research firm Global Insight concluded that the discounting along with other measures led to cumulative savings for consumers of 263 billion dollars between 1985 and 2004, or 895 dollars per person."

"The report also found that Wal-Mart's low pay for employees led to a 2.2 percent drop in overall wages across the economy but maintained that this was offset by falling consumer prices." (emphasis mine.)

"Consumers earned less in nominal dollars, but their income bought them more in the economy with Wal-Mart because of real disposable income gains," the study concluded." (again, emphasis mine.)

The Free Market works, folks.

Hate Wal-Mart all you want.

Wal-Mart is a good thing for America.

Tug's Wreck...

My friend, ER, in one of his recent posts, spoke of a wreck that he survived a number of years ago. It started me thinking about my own closest call.

Wednesday morning, March 10, 2004, about 8:10 am, I was pulling a load of live turkeys from a farm deep in the woods of eastern North Carolina to the Cargill processing plant in St Pauls, NC.

It wasn't even supposed to be my load, but one of the other guys had to go to the dentist that morning, and he asked me if I would trade schedules with him that night so that he could go home about 4:00 am and rest a few hours before he went. I traded.

The schedule on that job was erratic, to say the least. We went in sometime before midnight, giving ourselves enough time to get to whichever farm our first load came from, pulled two or three loads per night, and went back home whenever we dropped the last load of the day at the plant in the morning. The length of the workday varied according to how many loads, how far from the plant the farm was, and whether or not we totaled our truck that night.

The night was uneventful for the most part. I pulled my first two loads, dropped them at the plant, and took the only trailer that was left there, number 326.

Normally, none of us would pull 326, because it had weak springs on the right hand side, and was tipsy. It would scare you. We had complained about it to our supervisor, but most of our trailers were junk, and if they had put them all in the shop, we wouldn't have had any to pull the birds with. The only thing we could do was put one or two in the shop until they were fixed, and pull the rest until we got them back.

I hooked to 326, and headed to the farm. When I got to the farm, the loading crew was running behind, so I parked off to the side, and took a nap.

They woke me up about 7:30, and I pulled up to the loader. The standard procedure was to load half of one side, turn around, and load all of the other side, turn back around, and load the rest of the first side. But this what we called a "Cleanout Load." The last load of that flock, from that farm. I had to get every last bird from that farm on that load, and if it was heavy, then it was heavy.

They wound up loading the whole right side twice.

The side with the weak springs.

I made it seven miles.

I had stopped at a stop sign, and started again, and was up to around 35 MPH. The road curved around to the left, and about halfway around the curve, I glanced at my mirror, and observed my left side trailer wheels coming off the ground, real gentle like.

I cannot describe the feeling you get when you see something like that.

I backed off the fuel, and tried to set the trailer back down, but it kept on coming up, so I slammed the fuel back to it, to try to keep the cab ahead of the load. I knew at that point that I was going to turn over, and my main concern was not getting trapped under 2500 dying turkeys, out in the middle of the woods.

The truck turned almost completely upside down in a ditch with about a foot of water in it. When it stopped sliding, I climbed out the driver's side window, and surveyed the damage.

I had totaled an almost new, T-800 Kenworth road tractor, a 30 year old cage trailer, and killed 1300 of the little turkeys in the trailer, and almost killed the big one in the cab.

When I tried to climb back in to get my cell phone, there wasn't room in the cab for a human being. I had to find the headset cord, and follow it to the phone, and fish it out from outside.


Anyway, I called in, reported the wreck, and the ambulance came and took me away. (They wouldn't let me drive the ambulance...I was bummed.)

At the Hospital, I discovered that I do not have one single private part, but that I was not seriously hurt. I was one big purple bruise, but the only broken bone that I had was my floating rib on my left side. I had a cut on my head behind my right ear, a cut and sprained index finger on my right hand, and a sprained right wrist.

But that was it.

I lived through it. I don't know why.

I think about that every time I look at the pictures of that truck. I think about my wife of almost five months walking around the truck, taking pictures and crying. I think about myself, covered with mud and blood, sitting in the wheelchair at the hospital, trying through a case of mild shock to explain what happened, to the company safety manager, and what I must have looked like to him. I think about how my wife must have felt when she got that phone call at work, and learned that her new husband had just destroyed an 80,000 lb truck, and was at the hospital.

I think about how she must have felt when she realized that her new husband no longer had a job, and probably could not get another one any time soon. I think about how worthless I became as the depression set in over the next few weeks.

I'm glad she stuck with me through it. I certainly wouldn't have blamed her if she hadn't. I became a pitiful monster.

I think about how easily and quickly you can lose it all.

But she, my family and her family prayed me through the aftermath. Today I have a decent job, (Still driving tractor-trailers), my self esteem is back, and this is just an unpleasant memory.

But if anyone ever asks me how I know that there is a God, I can tell them that I know because I felt His hands close around me as the cab of that truck folded up.

Take it however you want, but I believe.

I got the pictures to prove it.

I Can't take It Anymore...

I think I will take a couple of days off from my normal cycle of blogging.

It has been a rough couple of days for me.

On Saturday, I wrote a post in which I advocated giving away free food in order to combat the problem of Hunger in America, giving free Housing and Job Skill training and Education to all of America's Homeless, Revamping the tax code in order to spur the Economy and Create Jobs, and Closing the Borders in order to stop the artificial depression of Wages and Working Conditions.

I was called a Fascist, Told that I was filled with Hatred, and mercilessly attacked, because I dared to state the belief that America's achievers should be allowed to keep the money that they make, and that perhaps people should be responsible for their own well being.

Sunday, I voiced my opinion (on another blog) that the Second Ammendment was a good thing, and that the Gun Laws we already have on the books should be enforced, rather than enacting even more laws, designed to take guns for personal protection out of the hands of law abiding citizens.

I was then told that I was advocating the Murder of Police Officers.

Tonight, I logged onto a Friend's blog, and read a "Poor Pitiful Me" style post lamenting the fact that Wal - Mart was making money, but the author of the post could not, when he was working there. This was a mystery to him, even though, by his own admission, he wouldn't stick with the job for any length of time, and was constantly quiting, and starting back again at entry level wages.

On his comments page, I read comments lamenting the fact that Even though Wal-Mart provided Health Insurance, (they don't HAVE to, you know) that it was sub-standard, and that unskilled, hourly workers got low pay.

(I got news for you...If the kid next to you is still in high school, and makes the same money as you, you really need to re-evaluate your situation.)

Then I read a comment touting the benifits of inflation.

And then another slamming ALL big business, Mourning the death of the "Mom and Pop" mainstreet, (who didn't pay their workers anything, either...) and suggesting that we all go and burn our local Wal-Mart store down.

I left an unnessecarily harsh comment there, and for that I apologize.

I know that this post seems quite harsh as well, and again, I apologize. I am not trying to offend anyone, but rather to wake everyone up.

This kind of thinking is what will eventually ruin our Economy, on a National Scale.

Welcome to the People's Republic of the United States.

When people are tired of the Free Market Economy that built America into the strongest Nation in the History of the World in only 200 short years, then they are tired of Freedom.

With Freedom comes Responsibility for YOUR OWN ASS. It's a harsh fact, but it IS a fact.

Nobody should have to hold your hand. Nobody should have to feed you. Nobody else should have to bear the burden for YOUR mistakes.

If you are forty years old, and all you are qualified to do is take stuff out of a box, and put it on a shelf, or push a dust mop around your local Wal-Mart, then you should be glad that Wal-Mart was willing to hire you, and you should be grateful for whatever they provide, in connection with this type of job.

It isn't the fault of the American Taxpayer, it isn't the fault of Wal-Mart, nor President Bush, nor the Big Oil Companies, nor Bill Gates, nor Paris Hilton, nor Brittany Spears, nor the Olsen Twins.

It's Yours.

Figure out how to fix it.

What bugs me about all of this is that I know that ALL of these people are smarter than this.

It drives me crazy, and being driven crazy is not why I started a blog.

So have fun slamming the creator of so many jobs, and the supplier of so many things to so many people, at low, affordable prices.

Figure out how to help the poor on your own. (But keep your measley hands off my wallet while you do it.)

I'll see you all in a couple of days.

I'm going to go look for someone to talk to who actually is willing to think.

Scooter Libby

Are you sick of the Karl Rove story YET??

Five different indictments were handed down against Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, "Scooter"Libby on friday.

These indictments were the result of a two year long, seventy Million dollar investigation into who, if anyone, leaked the name of a covert (?) CIA agent, Valerie Plame, to the press.

During this investigation, it was never determined that a crime of any kind was committed in the first place, but it was determined that crimes may have been committed along the way, stemming from the investigation (into a non-crime.)

In any case, they were after Karl Rove.

The best they could do was "Scooter" Libby.

I remember the first time I ever heard of "Scooter"...

It was about thursday of week before last, when the MSM began to talk about him in conjunction with this case. Libby is by no means the "Big Fish" that the Grand Jury, or the Main Stream Media were angling for.

But he is a Bush Whitehouse person, so you can bet that they will make as much political hay with it as they can.

Rove still has not been indicted for anything.

I think this is a good idea.

We should investigate everyone in Washington, from the President, to all of our Congressmen, Senators, their Aides, Advisors, friends and family. All the way down to the Whitehouse Custodial staff.

And do a very thorough investigation on them all.

Don't just try to find out if they have committed crime, but try to determine whether they can be tricked, or coerced into committing any kind of crime, either by comission or omission over the course of a two year investigation.

Leave no stone unturned.

If there is crime or corruption in Washington, I want it exposed. Dealt with.

Punished.

With the same intensity that has been directed at Karl Rove.

How many of our elected officials do you think could stand up to this kind of scrutiny?

Who do you think would be the first to fall?

Who do you believe would be the last one standing?

Change Is Good...

I have switched to Haloscan Commenting on this blog.

While it may be a little more of a hassle to post a comment here from now on, I do not want that to discourage anyone from leaving their thoughts about my posts.

The reason that I did it is so that I can control the tone of my comments page, and ultimately this will be a more friendly place.

Dissenting opinions have always been welcome, and they still are.

If you believe that I am wrong about anything, then tell me so.

Tell me why.

If you agree with me, tell me that as well.

If you can expand on one of my ideas, then feel free.

If I am full of crap, then point it out. I will consider your opinion, and respond accordingly. Whether you agree, or disagree.

My only request is, Keep it civil.

Hateful, unreasonable comments will be removed. Personal attacks against me, or any of my guests here will be removed, or I might even manipulate your comment to make you a flaming Right Wing Conservative. If this happens to you, it will be your own fault.

If you become a repeat offender, you will be banned.

This is MY blog.

I love honest debate, and the friendly exchange of ideas.

I don't have to put up with ignorance, hatespeech, or personal attacks, nor should anyone else who visits my blog.

This just makes it a little easier for me to protect myself, and my readers and commentors from these instances of unnessecary ugliness.

I would like to think that we are all friends here, just having a discussion.

I have said before, Neither I, nor anyone who visits here (that I know of) sets National Policy.

This is a video game.

Let's have fun with it.

Tug's Plan For Helping The Poor.

There are a few things that I believe.

I believe that America is the land of opportunity.

I believe that Capitalism is the reason that America is the land of opportunity. I also believe that Socialism undermines the economic system which makes America strong by punishing achievers who take advantage of the opportunities that America offers, and rewarding behavior which creates dependency.

We in America are free. (At least for a little while longer, anyway.) We can decide where we want to live, how we want to live, how and whom we want to worship, or not. We can own property, we can choose our leaders, and we can make up our own minds about what we want to do for a living.

Our chances for wealth and prosperity in America are limited only by our individual ability to think, and our willingness to work hard enough to achieve our personal goals. (And in part, by the number of mistakes we, individually, have made in the past.)

What this means is that, ultimately, we are responsible for our own circumstances.

That being said, I will say that I do realize that some people are born with advantages that others do not have. That does not mean that these people should be punished, or that the disadvantaged people should be rewarded. Life is not fair. Never has been, never will be. To try to make life fair for everyone is an unrealistic goal, and a waste of time. It sounds good, and working toward that goal may make us feel good, for a while, but to set that as a goal means ultimate failure.

However, no one in America should be allowed to starve, no matter what situation they were born into. No child should be made to suffer because of bad decisions made by their parents.

I also realize that there are people in America who are handicapped to the point that they cannot provide for themselves, and provisions must be made for these people.

So here are a few suggestions for helping the poor and disadvantaged, without resorting to Socialist wealth redistribution programs, (Which I consider to be morally wrong.)

1. Food.

Do away completely with Food Stamp programs, and make one aisle in every grocery store completely free. Put generic items on this aisle like dry beans, rice, milk, generic breakfast cereals, canned vegatables, Spam, fatback, generic toiletries, and other household needs. Make all of these items totally free, to anyone who wants them.

This would do three things. One, it would eliminate fraud by eliminating any conversion of any of this stuff into cash, because anyone who wanted this kind of stuff could get all they wanted for free, and Two, eventually the people who could do better would get tired of living off that crap, and make an attempt to better their situation.

And Three, No one would go hungry. Anywhere, ever.

2. Clothing.

Make all clothing donations to organizations like the Salvation army, or Goodwill, completely tax deductible, at full, new, retail value, for everyone who donates anything, regardless of their income.
Make all clothing purchases from organizations like these completely tax deductible, at full purchase price, for everyone, regardless of their income.

This would encourage the "Rich" to donate unused clothing to these organizations, and the "Working Poor" to buy clothing from them. Win, win. And the Government neither made money, nor lost money on the process.

3. Housing.

This one was a little tougher. After much thought, I came to the conclusion that people who are unwilling to provide for themselves are not really entitled to the same choices as people who are, and people who are unable to provide for themselves should be grateful for whatever help they get from society.

First of all, I would put anyone who is too mentally ill to look after themselves into mental health care facilities. We used to do this, but the Democrats did away with this practice during the Carter Administration. (I don't know why.)

I would place anyone who is too physically handicapped to look after themselves into private assisted living facilities, if they had no family who were willing and able to look after them, and I would supplement these families, and facilities, with enough taxpayer money to make a job there profitable for qualified individuals who feel the calling to work there.

Anyone else who is homeless, I would relocate to closed military bases around the country. These facilities have provisions for schools, single family housing for homeless families, and dormitory style, and barracks housing for single homeless people. There are schools, and a multitude of buildings that can be converted into educational facilities for job training for homeless or disadvantaged adults.

I would even let the military oversee the education of these disadvantaged people, both children and adults, and use the power of the military to help place these people in jobs when they are trained. I would train them to be Civilian Military Contractors, and give them preferential treatment when bidding on military contracts.

There is already a "Troops to Teachers" program, and I would use this program to help poor and disadvantaged Americans.

4. Jobs.

We need to eliminate all corporate taxes, and go to a consumption based tax system, or a flat individual tax system, by which every individual American pays, say, 10 percent of their income in taxes.

No more than 10 percent, though. I have to live on the income that I get, and I believe that the Government should make do with 10 percent of all of the money that the whole working population can generate.
10 percent is enough for Jesus Christ. It should be enough for the Federal Government.

You have no idea how jobs would bloom if the drag of confiscatory taxes were to be removed from American industry. Rich people are in the business of making money. Not providing jobs, not manufacturing products, MAKING MONEY.
That's all.
All other things are peripheral. Job creation, product production, innovation, invention, marketing...all peripheral to the process of making money.
Rich people are the creators of jobs.
The more money they are allowed to keep, the more they will expand markets, the more new, innovative products they will produce, and the more new industries they will promote.

The more jobs they will create.

The better off everyone will be.

I'll say it again, in case you missed it. The more money the "Rich" are permitted to keep, THE BETTER OFF EVERYONE WILL BE.

Due to the Bush tax cuts, unemployment is already very low in America, and would be at the lowest point in history, if it weren't for the recent hurricanes which devastated large areas of our country, closing many businesses which employed a large number of people.
These businesses WILL reopen in time, because the people who own them are not tired of making money.
These lost jobs WILL be back.

I will tell you something else. The reason that I live in Florida right now is that the job market in North Carolina was very slow, and I AM PORTABLE. I can live anywhere. If I cannot find a job where I live, I will move to where the jobs are.
I've done it before, and I would do it again.

Anyone can. You just have to make up your mind as to what is important to you.

You have to decide whether you would rather be poor where you have always lived, or successful somewhere else.

There is one other factor at work here.
The job market is exactly that. A MARKET.
If you don't have anything to sell, you aren't going to make any money.

Get a skill. Get an education. Get something that belongs to you, besides time by the hour, that employers will pay you money for.

Invest in yourself. Time, effort, money.
If you do this, you will not be poor.

5. Retirement.

Let everyone who is interested, opt completely out of Socialist Security, and invest the same amount of money that would have gone to the Socialist Security system into Money Market accounts, or put it into 401k programs, or even into the Stock Market, or Real Estate Investments.
Mandate that every worker put at least some money away for their retirement, but put the individual in charge of their own account, and where the money goes.
Stop using the livelihood of our Senior Citizens as a tool to grow a voting block, and let Americans figure out what is best for them, themselves.
Put the PEOPLE back in control.
It's the American way.

6. Healthcare.

Hospital Emergency Rooms already provide stabilizing treatment for anyone who shows up, regardless of their ability to pay. I think that this is a good policy, however, it is extremely taxing to these facilities.

If all homeless people were already relocated to closed military bases, and being educated by military people, and trained for jobs by the military, then their healthcare could be provided by the military as well.

The "Working Poor" should already be offered health insurance by their employers. That is where my health insurance comes from. I have never been offered a job which came with absolutely no benefits, and health insurance is the first benefit that businesses provide for their employees.

7. CLOSE THE BORDERS.

The vast majority of disadvantaged people in America today, the vast majority of people working their lives away for minimum wage, the vast majority of people working jobs with no benifits, shouldn't even be here in the first place.
If it were not for illegal immigrants who are willing to work for sub-minimum wages, and in sub-standard working conditions, these conditions would not exist, and Americans who might be willing to do the work that illegals do, might be able to negotiate a better wage, and better conditions for these jobs.

Everyone in America who accepts any job, negotiates their own deal for that job, at the time of hire. Benefits, pay, the whole bit. Most people do not realize the power that they have during the negotiation process. Push for a better deal for yourself up front. Chances are, you will get it. (If you have anything to offer a potential employer. If you don't, then you are at the mercy of everyone. I can't help you, if that is your situation.)

Except for this. Illegals undermine this process. They will work for nothing, and because of this fact, they artificially depress wages, and benefits for all low skilled, or unskilled American workers.

They need to be eliminated from the equasion.

The last factor of my plan is, we, as a society, HAVE to leave a few people behind. This is the cold-hearted and cruel part of our system.
Examples must be made, so that we can provide motivation for the rest of us.
There are some who, no matter how easy or effective the system, in a free country, will choose not to participate. These people MUST, for the good of society, be left alone to fall by the wayside. As per their own choice.

It's a free country.

At least for a little while longer, anyway.

The Party Of Political Correctness

An interesting thing happened to me tonight.

I was invited by a commentor on another blog to visit his site because he wanted my perspective on his post about whether or not Condoleeza Rice was electable as a Republican.
(I will not identify him here.)

He seemed to be of the opinion that she is not electable on a Republican ticket, because she is black, and a woman. (Because republicans are racists and sexists, dont'cha know...)

In his post, he used the word "Crackers", referred to the Republican base as "Redneck Neocons", and basically asserted that a black woman would have absolutely no chance of winning any kind of election on a Republican ticket, because of our rampant racism.

He then concluded that Condi SHOULD run, because it would open the door for the Democrats to sweep the election, because WE are all racists.

I personally think that he is wrong about that. I think that Condi would have an excellent chance at winning a national office, no matter what color she is. I would have no problem whatsoever with the idea of voting for her, even if she was purple.
(I take that back. I HATE purple people!!)

But this is not what bothered me about his post.

What bothered me is his presumption that all Conservatives are basically racist, sexist, biggotted, knuckle-dragging, redneck crackers.

In the same breath, he called ME a racist, and then referred to me as a "redneck cracker".

This same person has disparaged Christians before, and could not understand why I got upset and called him on that prejudiced attitude as well.

Now, I assume that this is a white guy. (I don't know for sure...)
But even if he is, I find these terms, when used in this context, to be extremely offensive.

These are the terms of racists, and biggotts. These are the opinions of prejudiced people.

There is no excuse for it.

And he wants to sit over there on the left, and believe that HIS party is the party of political correctness, and tollerance.

Well they are not. They have become so self righteous (some of them) that they do not even recognize their own biggotry.

I will never say that I do not hate anybody.

I do.

I hate all idiots equally, regardless of race, color, creed, or political affilliation.

Here It Comes...

Well, as Lorena Bobbitt said, it won't be long now...

I am going to make a prediction, based on the way that Harriett Miers filled out her questionare, the fact that her "Courtesy Calls" to several Senators have reportedly not gone well, and based upon other top secret evidence that only I have access to...

Harriett Miers will withdraw her own name from consideration for the Supreme Court vacancy sometime next week.

And I don't blame her if she does.

She showed up to work one morning, and the President dumped this situation on her. I don't know if she ever asked him to consider her or not. She and the President have been friends and associates for a long time, so if she wanted the job, she has had a lot of chances to let him know, but the fact of the matter is, it is up to the President to nominate who he wants for this spot on the Court.

Suddenly, Ms. Miers was thrust into this National debate, with the Libs (Who have no problem, by the way, with other Presidents putting people like their wives in charge of restructuring one SEVENTH of the U.S. economy) screaming about "Croney-ism", and demanding her to state beforehand how she will rule on specific issues, while Conservatives are running around questioning the brightness of her bulb, her lifetime achievements, her sexual orientation, her qualifications to even be in a Courtroom, even her personal financial situation.

Does anyone out there think that Harriett Miers was the first person that the President asked to fill this spot?

I don't.

Let me tell you why we wound up with Harriet Miers as a nominee in the first place.
This has all been brewing for a while. Back when the Democrats were threatening to filibuster John Bolton as Ambassador to the U.N., (Note: "Threatening." The Dems don't actually HAVE to filibuster anyone, they can hold up the vote with a THREAT...) The President finally got tired of all of the shenanigans in the Senate, and installed Bolton with a recess appointment, showing the Senate that he would actually go around them if he had to.
So the next time the filibuster issue came up, we got the "Nuclear Option" debate, and the "Gang of Fourteen" nonsense, effectively derailing the "Nuclear (Constitutional) Option", and keeping the filibuster issue alive to smack the President with later.
Why seven Senate Republicans thought that this was a good idea is totally beyond me. (To make sure that the "minority" still had a voice? You can believe that if the rolls were reversed, Democrats would show Republicans no such consideration...)
(But then again, Republicans like to believe that THEY take the high road in matters like this...)
So the President, faced with this controversial appointment, (The "Swing Seat," whatever that is on a body that is presumed to be objective and apolitical...) knew that he could not count on his Republican Senators to support him if things got tough.

So he nominated someone who NOBODY wanted.

Someone who the Democrats probably would not filibuster, but who would leave a bad taste in the mouth of the Conservative base.
If she made it through the confirmation process, and was installed on the Court, she would do a good job, rule fairly, and not engage in activism from the Bench.
If not, then he could use her to wake the Republicans in the Senate up, galvanize his troops, and maybe get someone a little more demonstrably Conservative through and onto the Court to counter some of the activism from the other side.

Win, win.

So, Republicans don't want Miers, and it looks (to me, anyway) like she will go away.

Let's just hope that we are ready for the REAL fight, when the NEXT nominee (the one we SAY we really want) comes along.

It won't be pretty, but it will be worth it.

Puppy Love

Hey! This is Mrs. Tug...in response to a request from ER, Tug said he needed some pictures of Sydney. Here are some of my favorites:








If you wondered what Tug looks like, he's the one wearing a baseball cap. Sydney is as spoiled as they come, he even gets to open our Christmas presents...

Memes, Memes, All Over The Place!

Sometimes it sucks to be popular...

My blogger buddies Mark, and ER, have both tagged me in the last couple of days, so I decided to answer them both in one post.

Mark's meme caused me to have to do the most actual work. (If this keeps up, I am going to just start numbering my posts, instead of naming them.)

Here it is.

1. Delve into your blog archive.

2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).

3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).

4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions. Ponder it for meaning, subtext or hidden agendas.

5. Tag five people to do the same.

Sounds easy enough...

Okay, Here y'go.

My twenty-third post (if I counted correctly...) was entitled "Side-Stepping The Real Issues."

The fifth sentence was:

"But then I realized that I had bought in to the slant (though not the way they wanted me to) that my local Media wanted to put onto this story."

Try as I might, I cannot for the life of me find any meaning, subtext, or hidden agenda in this sentence. (I am not in the habit of including any of these things in any of my sentences anyway, so this does not surprise me.)

My five victims are:

1.Rich Bachelor. (I'll teach you to comment on my blog...Tee hee hee...)

2.Daffy76. (I'll teach you to be my sister...)

3.Carrier1. (I'll teach you to be Rich Bachelor's brother...)

4.ER. (I'll teach you to meme me...)

5.Pastor Timothy. (I'll teach you to...to... Well, I'll think of something.)


ER's meme was a little bit easier.

And here it is:

"THE SEARCH FOR JOY

Search your blog for the word "joy" used in the context of "happiness." If you cannot find the word in your weblog, you may use any of the select list of synonyms below.

"Joy, amusement, bliss, cheer, comfort, delectation, delight, ecstasy, elation, exaltation, exultation, exulting, felicity, gaiety, gladness, glee, good humor, gratification, happiness, hilarity, humor, jubilance, liveliness, merriment, mirth, pleasure, rapture, regalement, rejoicing, revelry, satisfaction, wonder."

Okay then.

My September 28th post was entitled "Oh Joy!"

It was about Tom Delay being endicted, and while you might think that I meant it sarcastically, I really am glad when real corruption is uncovered and dealt with in our Government. I don't think that it happens nearly enough.

I am basically a very happy person. I work very hard, and I have my share of problems, but God has been very good to me. I have a wonderful wife, and a spoiled rotten dog. (No children yet, but nature will eventually take it's course...) I have a big TV, a DVR, a yard full of cars, some junked, some not, depending on what day of the week it is... basically everything that a redneck could ever want.

Enough of this.

My five victims for this one are:

1. RebelAngel. (I'll teach you to...Nah. It was cute the first time...)

2. TC.

3. AJ.

4. Toad.

5. Xena.

So there you have it.

I have fulfilled my meme responsibilities for now.

Illegal Immigrants, Go Home!

Hey, Check this out...

From Breitbart.com today:

"Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said his department aims without exception to expel all those who enter the United States illegally.
Our goal at DHS (Homeland Security) is to completely eliminate the 'catch and release' enforcement problem, and return every single illegal entrant, no exceptions.
It should be possible to achieve significant and measurable progress to this end in less than a year," Chertoff told a Senate hearing."

I have said before that this is THE hot button issue for the upcoming election cycle...

I just hope that he is serious...

It's about time.

Fair and Balanced...

I will admit that I enthusiastcally ran down to the polls and voted for President Bush, both times. (Suprise, suprise...)

I have not always agreed with everything that he has done, but I will say that he promised to do everything that he has done before I voted for him, so, if I was paying attention, I already knew what he was going to do.

Until the Miers nomination.

One of the main reasons that I voted for President Bush was that I knew that he was going to have the opportunity to nominate at least two Supreme Court Justices, and I did not want a Democrat President to get to nominate them.

Now, don't get me wrong. I personally have no problem whatsoever with Harriet Miers being placed on the Supreme Court. The only litmus test that matters to me is, Can she read and understand a document written in English, and can she understand the oath she will take, and will she adhere to it?

I don't care that she never has been a Judge before. I don't care if she never went to Law school. All I want is for her to apply the Constitution (The U.S. Constitution...) to whatever case she is presented with, use common sense when making her decisions, and do not institute her own personal policy preferences into National Law through the Court.

That's it.

If she can do these things, then in my opinion, she is qualified to sit on the Supreme Court.

And I believe that she can. The President believes that she will.

Good enough for me.

Here is the problem.

A whole lot of conservatives have worked extremely hard to get President Bush elected for this exact reason. They want him to select nominees to the Court who represent their viewpoint.
They (We...) expect him to.
And have every right to.

Or DO they?

Isn't that the very problem that we say we have with the Supreme Court already? That there are Justices on the Supreme Court who have a particular viewpoint, and interpret the Constitution according to their particular political leanings?

Is it a little hypocritical to want to put a flaming right winger on the Court to counter Ghinsburg?

If Ghinsburg gets to serve, then isn't it fair that the Conservatives get a Justice just as radical the other way?

In this case, do two wrongs make a right?

Happy Holidays!!

From the St. Petersburg Times:

"TAMPA - There may be no day off next school year for the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. Also on the chopping block are vacation days for the Christian faith's Good Friday and the Monday after Easter.
After considering a request to recognize a Muslim school holiday, the Hillsborough County School Board next week will discuss ending student days off on all religious holidays, whether they be Christian, Jewish or Muslim.
The only religious holiday not affected will be Christmas, which occurs during the school district's winter break."

Now.

I hope that all of you who are laboring tirelessly for the cause of complete seperation of Church and State are happy.

This is the logical conclusion of a policy of complete seperation of Church and State within a culture of such diversity as the United States, when the public Schools are controlled and administered by the Government.

And if you think that Christmas will not be affected, just wait a few years. They'll get around to that.

Think about the Holidays that are important to you and your family.

Christmas?

Thanksgiving?

Easter?

Yom Kippur?

Ramadan?

These are Religious holidays. If we completely seperate Religion from Government, then we cannot recognize ANY of these Holidays in the Government Schools.

Is this what we really want?

Is this what the framers of our Constitution really wanted?

I still contend that the First Ammendment to the Constitution was inserted in order to prevent the Government from requiring all citizens to observe one specific form of religion, not to prevent religious people from affecting public policy, nor to restrict the practice of religion from public view.

This Country was founded upon Christian principals, and the Founding Fathers (with a few exceptions) had a very strong belief in God, and wanted to follow the teachings of the Bible, and the leadership of God in their decisions and policies.

Aproximately 77% of the American People believe in God, in one form or another. To ignore this fact would be a colossal mistake.

The phrase "Seperation of Church and State" never appears in our Constitution.

Please, People, let's think about the road we are starting to go down here...

Let's not destroy all traces of American culture in the name of diversity and fairness...

Let's not lose all of our National Holidays for the sake of this argument...

The U.N.ternet...

How would you like it if you logged on to Blogger.com to write a post about some political subject, only to find out ( the hard way...) that writing about the subject that you chose was illegal?

How about if you logged onto the Internet to learn about a particular subject, and discovered that not only was access to that particular piece of information restricted, but that interest in it was against the law, and was a punishable offense?

Is this an impossible scenario?

The U.N. and the E.U. has begun to challenge the U.S. for our right to administer the Internet.

The U.S. does not really administer the internet.

"The origins of the Internet lie largely within the U.S. government, with concepts of network communication emerging in the 1970s from research at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA,) an arm of the Defense Department, along with a handful of other institutions and researchers.
Sometimes called an Internetting project - it was intended to create links among computer networks - the result became known as the Internet. For the system to function, a master list was needed to direct data to the correct destination.
Until now, the task of maintaining this master list has been overseen by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, known as Icann, a nonprofit organization based in Marina del Rey, California, that was founded on a contract from the U.S. Commerce Department."
(International Herald Tribune / Technology.)

The Internet was created by the U.S. Department of Defense, (not Al Gore...) and is now maintained by a non profit corporation called ICANN, which is supported by the U.S. Commerce Department.

Not controlled, supported.

From howstuffworks.com: (One of my personal favorite websites...)

"One of the greatest things about the Internet is that nobody really owns it. It is a global collection of networks, both big and small. These networks connect together in many different ways to form the single entity that we know as the Internet. In fact, the very name comes from this idea of interconnected networks."

Nobody owns the Internet. Nobody controls the Internet.

Not yet.

This would be a new situation, should it come to pass. The Internet works the way it works because it is a system of computers and servers that routes information to the proper destinations, without political bias.

Until this point in time, anybody, anywhere (except China...), can log onto the Internet, and learn about any subject, or say anything that they want.

One of the first things that despotic, repressive regimes do when they come to power is, they take over the Newspapers and the Television Stations. They try to control public opinion through propaganda, and restricted access to truth.

The U.N. and the E.U. want to CONTROL the Internet.

I hope that our Government will have the intestinal fortitude to tell the U.N. and the E.U. to go jump.

But if they don't, I will keep on blogging until the Goons come to take me off to the plastic shredder.

See you guys there...

Culture of Corruption...

Now, THERE'S a slogan for ya...

I am really amazed it took them this long to come up with it.

I guess it took a long time to put all the pieces into place for it to be even a little bit believable, but after enough time and enough consistant hammering in the MSM, enough unfounded and unproven allegations against enough different Republican elected officials and right wing national spokesmen and figureheads, with this week's indictment of Tom Delay, they think that now they may be able to get the lable to stick.

Culture of Corruption...

Here is something that I found at the Progressive Review website. (It's kinda long, but worth the read, unless you are more interested in partisanship, than truth.)

It is a list of records set during the Clinton administration. (Interestingly, the way I found this was, I typed in the words "Clinton Legacy" on Google, and this was the first link that came up. For those of you interested in white-washing the former President's reputation and repairing his "Legacy"... you still have a LOT of work to do.)

- The only president ever impeached on grounds of personal malfeasance.
- Most number of convictions and guilty pleas by friends and associates.*
- Most number of cabinet officials to come under criminal investigation.
- Most number of witnesses to flee country or refuse to testify.
- Most number of witnesses to die suddenly.
- First president sued for sexual harassment.
- First president accused of rape.
- First first lady to come under criminal investigation.
- Largest criminal plea agreement in an illegal campaign contribution case.
- First president to establish a legal defense fund.
- First president to be held in contempt of court.
- Greatest amount of illegal campaign contributions.
- Greatest amount of illegal campaign contributions from abroad.

And now the REPUBLICANS are the "Culture of Corruption", because Tom Delay has been indicted for one count of "Conspiracy" (to do what??) and Karl Rove is mean and nasty, and Republicans believe in GOD (!), and they want to take away ALL of our RIGHTS (!!), and... and...

Okay, All of you Democrats out there...
All of you Clinton supporters...
All of you Bush-Haters...
Maybe the President and everyone in his entire administration is as dirty as...as...

As Clinton was.

But you guys don't get to be the ones to point that out to me.

You blew your chance to make a stand against "Corruption" when it was YOUR corrupt guy in office.

So now I am going to take a page from the Democrat Playbook, and support my party, just like you guys did, and continue to do.

I don't want to hear it. Not from you...Not Now.

Oh Joy!!

I am so happy I could almost cry!!

Today, Republican Majority Leader Tom Delay was indicted on charges of suspicion of intent to commit consiracy to violate the McCain-Finegold attack on the free expression of free political speech, and association with conservatives, and (perhaps the most serious of the charges against him,) being an effective conservative leader.

I personally am all for investigating him, and if he is found guilty, I want him punished every bit as severly as congressman Bill Janklow was.

But here is something else that I hope that this leads to.

I want every single congressman and senator investigated just as intensly as Tom Delay has been investigated. If there is corruption in our Government, I want it uncovered, and dealt with.

And I am hoping against hope, that if Tom Delay is found guilty, he will appeal it all the way to the Supreme court, (with all of our new, Bush appointed, Conservative Justices...) and the stupid McCain-Finegold act can be struck down, and the stupid Texas District Attourney, Ronnie Earl can be disbarred, and removed from office.

This is gonna be GREAT!!

The National Wage...

I want all of you to imagine this for a moment.

What if tommorrow morning, at 10:00 AM, the President called a press conference, and announced that in the interest of economic fairness, the Congress and Senate have passed the "National Wage" bill, and he is now going to sign it into law.

From now on, everyone from the CEO of GM, to the janitor at Burger King will make $75,000 per year. No one will make more, no one will make less. And all fortunes amassed by people like the Walton family, and the Hiltons, and even the Kennedys or Heinz-Kerrys will be confiscated, and applied to the national deficit.

What a wonderful world it would be, right?

I mean, there would be no more "Rich", or "Poor"...Only Americans. No more class envy. We would all be able to afford the same house, the same car, the same boat, land, TV, lifestyle.

Money would no longer be an issue, right?

Complete economic equality for all Americans.

Right??

WRONG.

I can think of no more horrible scenario for our country than that.

The first thing that would happen is that no school teacher, doctor, dentist, nurse, lawyer, bus driver, truck driver, newspaper reporter, secretary, company executive, garbage collector, septic tank pumper, tire changer, cashier, dog groomer, policeman, fireman, shoe salesman, construction worker, mechanic, personal assistant, housekeeper, fast food worker, ditch digger, etc, etc, etc...would show up to work tomorrow.

I know I wouldn't.
I would become a professional musician. (I mean, if I was guaranteed the same income as if I were still driving a truck, Whether there was a market for my music or not, this is a no-brainer.)

There would be no need for anyone to go to college anymore.
If you could make just as much money slinging a mop, then why become a brain surgeon?

For that matter, why even finish high School?

And God help you if you, for whatever reason, needed to see a doctor. There wouldn't be any.

There wouldn't be any lawyers, either.

By the same token, you wouldn't be able to get a job as a janitor, either. Businesses would no longer hire people who did not generate $75,000 per year. They just wouldn't do it.
And if they wanted a janitor, there would be 800,000 applicants to choose from.

They wouldn't hire truck drivers either.

They might hire one or two, and force them to do the work of eight or ten, until they quit to go look for a job as a video store clerk or something.

I mean, the money would be the same.

Why do the extra work?

And what would housing cost if every worker on a jobsite had to be paid $75,000 per year?

What would a car cost?

What would a hamburger cost?

Okay, now.
Consider this point. If it makes no sense to set a National Wage, or a Maximum Wage, then why does it make sense to set a Minimum Wage?
You are not helping the poor by raising the minimum wage, or even by HAVING a minimum wage, you are only depressing the buying power of whatever money they DO have.

Economic equality is an myth. It is an unattainable concept.

To pursue the goal of absolute economic equality in America would destroy our whole economy, and lower the standard of living to poverty levels nation wide, for everyone.

The only economic system that has ever been devised that leads to prosperity is Capitalism.
And for Capitalism to work, you must have rich, and poor, and everything in between.

It is the only way.
Like it or not.

I See Dead People...

The wife and I just got home from Tampa, where we visited the Museum of Science and Industry. They are currently displaying the "Bodies" exhibit.

You may have heard about this exhibit. It is a collection of actual human cadavers that have been specially treated with a "cellular polymerization process", in various stages of dissection and in poses that portray real life activities, and arranged to display the various major systems of the human body.

There was some controversy surrounding this exhibit shortly before it opened in Tampa. The Florida Anatomical Board held hearings as to whether the exhibit was appropriate. The Florida Anatomical Board regulates the disposition and treatment of cadavers in the state of Florida, regardless of their origin.

These cadavers came from China, and there was some concern about whether the cadavers were obtained legally, and whether the creators of the display actually had obtained permission from the families of the deceased for the cadavers to be used in this way.

The Florida Anatomical Board decided not to allow the Exhibit to be displayed.

MOSI ignored the ruling and opened it anyway.

I enjoyed it, and the wife was absolutely riveted. It was truly amazing, and I learned a lot, but I must admit that it left me with a somewhat uneasy feeling.

I could not shake the thought that, as interesting as this exhibit was, these were actual human beings. They were people. They were born, were cute babies, were loved by their parents, grew up and most likely had children of their own. They got hungry, got thirsty, got their hearts broken by someone when they were sixteen. They hated their jobs, they loved their jobs.

And now, they are standing naked in an exhibition hall in the Tampa Museum of Science and Industry, with their skin peeled off, and the muscles which used to move their arm when they brushed their teeth cut loose from their arm bone, and plasticized so that it sticks up in the air for hundreds of people a day to look at.

"Ooooh!...Aaaah!..."

Another thing that bothered me about it was that the cadavers, in addition to being naked, were, for lack of a better description, anatomically correct. The most crowded portion of the whole exhibit was the section on the Reproductive System, and they left nothing to the imagination. (Which was absolutely the right way to do that, given the context of the display. I understand that this exhibit was created in the interest of education, and anatomy is what was on display.)

I just couldn't help but think about how the former occupants of those bodies would feel about having their business out there on display in front of God and everybody like that.


This is an extremely popular exhibit. It was very crowded (to the point of being annoying,) and there were a lot of very young children there. I heard, (and admittedly MADE) several inapropriate comments, which would have horrified me, had someone made a comment like that about MY private anatomical details, however pitiful or impressive they may be.

I am sure that they would have had an opinion about that as well.

The most disturbing portion was the "Fetal Development" section. They displayed human fetuses, each in their own little glass case, at various stages of development. At twelve weeks, the human fetus is a tiny little person, with little fingers and toes, eyes, nose, and mouth, and the fetus that was on display was sucking it's thumb. I can't imagine that anyone who has seen this exhibit could support the practice of interrupting the development of that little person, for any reason.

Overall, it was a very interesting and enjoyable event, and if the "Bodies" exhibit comes to a town near you, I heartily recomend that you check it out.

Just consider yourself warned, up front, by Tug.

It will make you think, and some of the thoughts it inspires will make you uncomfortable.

May Justice Be Served.

The trial is over and soon the sentence will be handed down.

One news article that has largely been lost in the ad-nauseum news coverage of the "Perfect Storm", (The one that it was hoped would blow the President away...) was the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings regarding the fate of the desperate and heinous criminal, John Roberts.

He was accused of being a Conservative, of not talking about his skills as a husband and father, of withholding documents which could be spun so that they might seem incriminating, of believing in the U.S. Constitution as written, of being unwilling to use a position on the Supreme Court to right social wrongs or impose his personal policy beliefs into law, of thinking that Abortion might possibly be wrong, and (perhaps the most serious of all of the charges against him,) of being nominated to the position of Cheif Justice of the Supreme Court by George W. Bush.

The Judiciary Committee found him guilty as charged, by a vote of 12 to 5.

His fate is now in the hands of the full Senate.

If found guilty of these charges by the full Senate, he could be sentenced to serve time on the Supreme Court of the United States for the remainder of his natural life.

And may God have mercy on his soul.

This Can't Be Good...

There is a scandal brewing.

A BIG one.

Not a Democrat or Republican scandal, but an American one.

If the corruption that will be exposed when this scandal comes to light goes as high as the President, it will not only hurt President Bush, But Clinton as well, and possibly even Bush 41.

It could shake our basic faith in our very system of Government, not just our faith in our elected leaders.

The main stream media is not covering it in very much detail as of yet, they are actively trying to ignore it. If you look hard enough, though, you can get little snippetts and scattered details of it here and there.

But the time will come, and soon, when the media will have to pay attention to it.

We, as Americans, should be paying very close attention to it now.

I am going to call it "Able-Danger-Gate", so in a few weeks when you hear that term, you will know that Tug said it first.

The story, according to Fox news is that the Army's special intel project known as Able-Danger identified four of the nineteen hijackers, as well as Mohammad Atta more than a year before 9/11, and when they tried to report their findings, they were not only ignored, but threatened and told to stand down by their superiors.

They reported to the 9/11 Commission, and they were ignored there as well, and subsequently punished for trying to go public.

The Senate is currently holding hearings on this matter, and the Pentagon is issuing gag orders to stop the witnesses from telling their stories.

I want the facts, All of them, if for no other reason but to keep my imagination from running away with me.

The way I see it is like this. Either this is someone high up in the Pentagon, just trying to save his job, and save face, or the whole Pentagon and Department of Defense are covering for someone further up the food chain. (How much farther up does the food chain GO from there?)

The information that I have seen and heard so far would suggest at the very least complicity between branches of our Government, our media, and the Terrorists of 9/11, and worst case, cooperation.

That's a concept that really, really worries me.

Or it could just be a collossal misunderstanding. It could be nothing.

I don't know what to think.

If any of you can tell me something to ease my mind, I would really appreciate your thoughts...

One thing that I do know is, until all of this is cleared up, we all should put aside our partisan bickering, and idealogical disagreements, and cry out with one voice to our elected officials:

"GIVE US THE TRUTH!!"

Who REALLY Cares?

Well, the city of New Orleans is well on it's way to being fully functional. There is running water in much of the city, (although it has to be boiled if anyone plans to drink it,) and electricity and sewer service are being restored at record pace.

Mayor Ray Nagin is encouraging the citizens of his city to return as soon as they can. And they are.

Bourbon Street has several bars open, and even a couple of strip clubs are up and running, and they are even taking the FEMA $2000 debit cards.

There is one problem, though...

There is another hurricane coming.

Hurricane Rita, which, even as I write this post, is bearing down upon the Florida Keys, is projected to roar up the middle of the Gulf of Mexico later this week, and if it follows the yellow line in the middle of the "Cone of Destruction" from the National Weather Service's website, it will come ashore at Houston, Texas, as a category three storm.

(What do Houston, Texas, and New Orleans, Louisiana have in common?)

But a slight northward turn would bring Rita ashore exactly where Katrina wreaked havoc a couple of weeks ago.

Even if Rita goes to Houston, she will still bring storm surges, damaging winds and possible flooding to the New Orleans area. There is even speculation that the damaged levees may break again, causing another round of flooding.

That's the BEST case scenario.

Worst case is that another Category three or higher storm could possibly plow right into the same area that was just devastated by Katrina.

The President is urging Katrina evacuees to stay put until more is known about the path of this new storm. New Orleans is a compromised area. It is not a good idea to try to ride out a storm of ANY magnitude in New Orleans right now.

But Mayor Nagin says, "Come On Down!!"

From this I can only reach one conclusion...

Mayor Ray Nagin Does Not Care About Black People.


Update:
My Blogger buddy Mark has informed me that Mayor Nagin has changed his mind, and started telling the people to stay away for a few more days.

So I guess that maybe he DOES care about Black People after all.

The Bill Of Non-Rights

My wife recieved this in an E-mail today. A friend of ours thought that I might want to use it on my blog.

He was right.

I did not write this, although I wish that I had.

There are a lot of things that our government does with our tax money, which have absolutely no provisions in the U.S. Constitution to support them.

I will post more on that subject later (after I have had time to research the subject).

For now, here is the E-mail, copied and pasted straight to my blog. I do not know who wrote it originally, but I have not modified it in any way from the way that I recieved it.

Presented for your consideration:

"We the sensible people of the United States, in an attempt to help everyone get along, restore some semblance of justice, avoid more riots, keep our nation safe, promote positive behavior, and secure the blessings of debt free liberty to ourselves and our great-great-great-grandchildren, hereby try one more time to ordain and establish some common sense guidelines for the terminally whiny, guilt ridden, delusional, and other liberal bed-wetters. We hold these truths to be self evident: that a whole lot of people are confused by the Bill of Rights and are so dim they require a Bill of NON-Rights."

"ARTICLE I: You do not have the right to a new car, big screen TV, or any other form of wealth. More power to you if you can legally acquire them, but no one is guaranteeing anything.

ARTICLE II: You do not have the right to never be offended. This country is based on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone -- not just you! You may leave the room, turn the channel, express a different opinion, etc.; but the world is full of idiots, and probably always will be.

ARTICLE III: You do not have the right to be free from harm. If you stick a screwdriver in your eye, learn to be more careful, do not expect the tool manufacturer to make you and all your relatives independently wealthy.

ARTICLE IV: You do not have the right to free food and housing. Americans are the most charitable people to be found, and will gladly help anyone in need, but we are quickly growing weary of subsidizing generation after generation of professional couch potatoes who achieve nothing more than the creation of another generation of professional couch potatoes.

ARTICLE V: You do not have the right to free health care. That would be nice, but from the looks of public housing, we're just not interested in public health care.

ARTICLE VI: You do not have the right to physically harm other people. If you kidnap, rape, intentionally maim, or kill someone, don't be surprised if the rest of us want to see you fry in the electric chair.

ARTICLE VII: You do not have the right to the possessions of others. If you rob, cheat, or coerce away the goods or services of other citizens, don't be surprised if the rest of us get together and lock you away in a place where you still won't have the right to a big screen color TV or a life of leisure.

ARTICLE VIII: You do not have the right to a job. All of us sure want you to have a job, and will gladly help you along in hard times, but we expect you to take advantage of the opportunities of education and vocational training laid before you to make yourself useful.

ARTICLE IX: You do not have the right to happiness. Being an American means that you have the right to PURSUE happiness, which by the way, is a lot easier if you are unencumbered by an over abundance of idiotic laws created by those of you who were confused by the Bill of Rights.

ARTICLE X: This is an English speaking country. We don't care where you are from, English is our language. Learn it or go back to wherever you came from! (lastly....) NOW..

ARTICLE XI: You do not have the right to change our country's history or heritage. This country was founded on the belief in one true God. And yet, you are given the freedom to believe in any religion, any faith, or no faith at all; with no fear of persecution. The phrase IN GOD WE TRUST is part of our heritage and history, and if you are uncomfortable with it, TOUGH!!!!

If you agree, share this with a friend. No, you don't have to, and nothing tragic will befall you if you don't. I just think it's about time common sense is allowed to flourish. Sensible people of the United States speak out because if you do not, who will?"

Jesus? A Liberal?

My blogger buddy and sparring partner ER linked to an earlier post of his that I missed, entitled "Jesus was a Liberal".

After I went back and read the whole thread, I was very sorry that I missed it. A lot of good points were made by all who participated in the discussion, but it pointed out to me the fact that most people in America have lost sight of the real 'big picture".

So, since I missed it the first time, here is my take on this subject, in case anyone is interested.

The problem with this whole discussion is that everyone wants to claim Jesus as a proponent of their own point of view, whether they be Conservative, Liberal, Communist, Socialist, Republican, Democrat, whatever. What we do not realize is the sheer arrogance and sinfulness it takes for us, as mere humans, creations of God Almighty, to try to bend Jesus to our will.

It don't work that way.

Jesus did not subscribe to ANYONE'S political philosophy, no matter WHO you think you are.

We are supposed to follow HIM. Not the other way around. For us to forget that for even a moment is a sin, and we should repent as a group, and ask His forgiveness immediately. (I will now provide a brief moment of silence for this purpose.)








Now...As to what Jesus taught us about helping our fellow man, Yes he taught that.

He taught that WE (individually) should help our FELLOW MAN (one on one) by providing from our OWN RESOURCES (our own personal stuff, whatever we personally had) whatever he NEEDED (the best possible thing for him, our fellow man, not whatever he wanted or demanded), to help him out of his IMMEDIATE situation of need (food, clothing, company, encouragement), and while we did this, we were supposed to witness to him about the message of salvation of Jesus. (Or, more accurately, FROM Jesus.)

He never taught anything about us setting up impersonal Government programs, which rob from the rich, and punish achievement in order to give a meager subsistence to the poor, and allow them to sit and rot in the depths of their poverty, and discourage them from ever trying to lift themselves out of their situation, while simultaneously removing every mention of God, or Jesus, or Religion from the public lexicon.

So no. Jesus was not a Liberal.

However, he never advocated paying your workers the very bare minumum wage you could possibly get them to work for, while charging the very last dime that the market would possibly bare for your product, or taking an "every man for himself" approach to public policy issues, and pushing your own religious or social preferences down everyone's throat.

So I guess he wasn't a pure conservative, either.

So I guess neither side wins this argument. At least not in MY mind.

The very fact that we had the discussion makes me want to get on my knees and pray for forgiveness and guidance for the future of our Country.

I think that we are in SERIOUS trouble, and we don't even realize it.

Conspiracy Theory...

An idea has been gnawing on the corner of my brain for the last couple of days, and I have been debating with myself over whether to post on it, or not.

My last post may have been a little cryptic, and for that I apologize. It was a trial balloon, of sorts. I wanted to find out if anyone else would be disturbed at the idea that someone, who from what I can tell, has no reason to be suspicious of our Government, would distrust our elected officials so much as to state, as fact, that the government only wants to take over with Military Force, and enslave the population.

I guess it didn't bother anyone but me, so I guess that makes me the Kook.

But that's okay. I can live with that. I've been called worse.

You see, it gradually dawned on me over the weekend what was actually attempted by the Louisiana officials when Hurricane Katrina came ashore.

First of all, the Mayor refused to issue a mandatory evacuation order, then the Governor refused Federal help.

Then they emptied the jails.

So now all of the criminals who were jailed in New Orleans were running around in the streets, and there were just enough innocent citizens left behind to provide victims for these criminals.

Then they waited for the President to (illegally) send in federal troops, to restore order.

He didn't.

So the world was treated to a week of News footage of looting, stories of rape and robbery, and gunfire directed at relief workers trying to rescue these poor unfortunate victims from the floodwaters and the criminals, while the Democrats and the Media steadily screamed in the background,
"Why doesn't George Bush DO something??"

Instead of what they really wanted.

What they really wanted was a week of footage of federal troops, under the orders of George W. Bush and Karl Rove, sweeping the streets of New Orleans with their rifles in their hands, gunning down young (mostly) black men whenever and wherever they saw them.

Fortunately, the President did not fall for it. He let the local officials have the chance to straighten out the mess, until they asked him for help, through the proper channels, and when it was legal and apropriate to do so, he then sent in the troops to restore order.

But think for just a moment about the political fallout that would have enveloped him if he HAD fallen for it.

If you think that the news coverage of this tragedy has been overblown now, you haven't seen anything like the images you would have been subjected to if the Media had just ONE video clip of a looter getting shot in the head by a National Guardsman, under the orders of the Bush administration.

It would have been 50 years before another Republican won the White House.

The President would have been impeached, and imprisoned, and would have gone down in history as the Racist Republican Butcher of New Orleans.

But like I said, he didn't fall for it. He outsmarted the opposition again, and therein lies their anger.

Now...
I am not yet to the place in my Kookiness where I would actually believe that elected officials in America would indeed hatch out and enact such a plan, but obviously there are people in our Country who WOULD believe such a thing, just not about Democrats. (See my last post...)

But you have to admit, if such a plan were afoot, it could not have been enacted any more smoothly than the events which took place in New Orleans. The only snag was that the President didn't fall into the trap.

God help us if this is actually what was attempted...


P.S....
By the way, as of about 16:00 today, the official death toll for ALL OF LOUISIANA, not just New Orleans, was 279,000. No wait...27,900? No that's not right either.
2,790? Nope.
It was 279.
That's it.
I am DONE listening to the Main Stream Press. About ANYTHING. EVER AGAIN.
If I pay any attention to them from now on, it will be for the purpose of picking them apart, and making them look foolish.
They are no longer informing. They are pushing an agenda, and selling death, destruction, and hopelessness.
And I have HAD IT with them.
All of them.

The New Guy

We took on a new temp driver this week at work.

He is a very well groomed, very well dressed, very articulate black gentleman.

He drives an almost new Acura, with 18" Motegi rims, and a highly customized stereo system. (Judging from the booming noises coming from his car when he arrives at work every morning.)

He has easily spent 100 times as much money on his car as I have spent on mine.

I would imagine that he lives in an appartment complex where he pays roughly twice what I pay on my house and land payment every month. (Judging by the UPC code gate opener sticker on the right side quarter window on his car.)

He makes good money, at least where he is working now. (I started as a temp myself on the job that I have now, and I made more money to take home as a temp than I do now.)

This is not a disadvantaged, poor black man. He is upper-middle class, by anybody's standards.

I overheard a conversation between him and one of the supervisors (A white ex-military career man, from Ohio) on about his second day of work.

Supervisor:" They should have had the National Guard in there (New Orleans) on about Tuesday to maintain order. There's no excuse for the Government to let things get as bad as they got."

New Temp: "Well, I think that they let things go as long as they did just so that they could come in later, and take over, and declare martial law. The Government just wants to take over, whenever they can."

What's wrong with this picture?

The Blame Game

"Louisiana Officials Could Lose The Katrina Blame Game..."

"CNSNews.com) - The Bush administration is being widely criticized for the emergency response to Hurricane Katrina and the allegedly inadequate protection for "the big one" that residents had long feared would hit New Orleans. But research into more than ten years of reporting on hurricane and flood damage mitigation efforts in and around New Orleans indicates that local and state officials did not use federal money that was available for levee improvements or coastal reinforcement and often did not secure local matching funds that would have generated even more federal funding."

WHAT?? They didn't even use the funding that they HAD? And they did not secure local matching funds that would have GENERATED EVEN MORE FEDERAL FUNDING?

I thought that the President cut out all of the Levee fixing money from the Federal Budget, thereby ensuring the failure of the Levees!

I thought that he was single-handedly responsible for the suffering and misery in New Orleans!

Could it be that the local officials were incompetent long before Hurricane Katrina roared ashore to destroy New Orleans and expose their incompetence?

Could it be that the President is not to blame for all of this?

(Please go to the links and read the whole articles before you post your comments.)

According to The Drudge Report, only 13% of the American people believe that the President is to blame. 25% blame local and state officials, and 38% said that "No one is to blame."

But someone was responsible, at least for some of the failings, And the President has vowed to get to the bottom of it.

But it won't matter. Not to some people. The mindset of some people in America is "We aren't saying it was the President's fault, We said we were going to BLAME it on him..."

Good luck to you, if you fall into that camp.

The truth will come out.