Not Again

Congress passed a new 'financial reform' bill today.

The law will give the government new powers to break up companies that threaten the economy.

Like the democrap party, or the obama administration? Or maybe GM, or the energy industry?

A powerful council of regulators would be on the lookout for risks across the finance system. Large, failing financial institutions would be liquidated and the costs assessed on their surviving peers.

Oh great. Firms that run their businesses right will have to bailout those that don’t. Kind of like those of us who pay our mortgages have to subsidize those who don’t.

Republicans said the bill is a vast federal overreach that will drive financial-sector jobs overseas.

Just like the offshore drilling rigs, sailing away into the sunset.

At an eye-glazing 390,000 words — half the size of the King James Bible — the legislation doesn't offer a quick remedy, however. Rather, it lays down prescriptions for regulators to act. In many cases, the real impact won't be felt for years.

Just like obamacare. How many bozos who voted for it actually read it?

Named after Dodd and Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, the Democratic committee chairmen who steered it to passage…

And who are responsible for getting us into this mess in the first place…

Borrowers are to be protected from hidden fees and abusive terms, but also will have to provide evidence that they can repay their loans, thus halting the no-document loans that had flooded the markets.

AKA liar loans (or NINJA loans – No Income, No Jobs or Assets)

"The result will be over 5,000 pages of new regulations on traditional banks and years of uncertainty as to what the massive new rules will mean” … (the bill also does not address) mortgage financing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose questionable lending helped start a collapse in the housing market.

START the collapse?!? How about CAUSE the collapse? If they didn’t make loans to people who couldn’t afford them there wouldn’t have been a bubble in the first place, much less a bursting of that bubble.

Some supporters of the bill also voiced reservations, claiming the bill did not give regulators specific direction on how to implement and enforce new rules.

"Congress largely has decided instead to punt decisions to the regulators, saddling them with a mountain of rule-makings and studies," said Sen. Ted Kaufman, D-Del.

Gee, what a surprise. Congress ducking a tough issue and passing the buck.

To paraphrase Peter, Paul, and Mary: “When will we ever learn?”

Remember, Nov. 2 is Take Out The Trash Day.

Quick Hits on Harry Reid

Links from Drudge ...

Election 2010 has just heard from a member of the Silent Majority.

You know, from a deceased person.

Chances are good you never met Charlotte McCourt during her 84 years, but I’m willing to bet you’ll be hearing about her in the coming days now that her obituary has taken Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to task. It’s the kind of small story that has the potential to ricochet like a bullet through the campaign showdown between incumbent Reid and Republican challenger Sharron Angle.

Not because McCourt, who died July 8 after a long illness, was a political player or business powerbroker, but precisely because she was neither of those things. She was a homemaker, proud mother and grand mother and wife of 67 years to Patrick McCourt.

And she was at one time a loyal supporter of Harry Reid.

Her obituary, printed in Tuesday’s Review-Journal, reads in part, “We believe that Mom would say she was mortified to have taken a large role in the election of Harry Reid to U.S. Congress. Let the record show Charlotte was displeased with his work. Please, in lieu of flowers, vote for another more worthy candidate.”

Ouch.

Don't weep for Charlotte. I'm sure Reid and the dems will resurrect her in Nov. so she, like many other dead voters, can cast her ballot for Harry et al.

 * * * * * * * * * *
Harry says "No illegal immigrants working in Nevada."

When a reporter from KLAS-TV in Las Vegas told Reid a 2009 Pew Hispanic Center report found 17 percent of the nation’s construction workers were undocumented, the Nevada Democrat replied: “That may be some place, but it’s not here in Nevada.”

Facing a tough challenge this fall from Tea Party darling Sharron Angle, Reid has been touting the success of the Democrat-backed stimulus plan, saying it has created jobs and helped repair the nation’s battered economy.

I don't know what alternate reality Harry lives in, but it's evidently one where the border is secure, there's prosperity and full employment, unicorns exist, and obama is competent.

Talk about a tenuous grasp on reality...

A Modest Proposal

From a random email...

Like most folks in this country, I have a job. I work, they pay me. I pay my taxes and the government distributes those funds as it sees fit.

In order to get that paycheck, in my case, I am required to pass a random urine test. I have no problem with this.

What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don't have to pass a urine test.

So, here is my question: Since I have to pass a urine test to earn my money, shouldn't recipients have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check?

Please understand, I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet. I do, on the other hand, have a problem with helping someone sitting on their ass doing drugs while I work.

Can you imagine how much money would be saved if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance check?

I guess we could call the program "URINE OR YOU'RE OUT"!

Makes sense to me...

The Second Shoe Has Fallen - More to Come

I don't pretend to be an expert on offshore drilling, but I have done some work with energy companies, I have contacts in the industry, and I've lived in energy-producing regions and worked at banks that made loans - substantial loans - to drilling companies. So I think I have a reasonable understanding of some fundamental issues related to the energy industry, and the business world in general, that seem to have escaped Team Obama.

1. Companies are in business to make money. If they can't make it in one place they'll go elsewhere.

2. Offshore drilling rigs aren't fixed structures. They are mobile - essentially floating platforms - meaning that they can be moved from one location to another.

The net result of 1 and 2, combined with an ill thought out and illogical moratorium on offshore drilling, is that rig owners will move them from unprofitable locations to profitable ones when conditions warrant.

The first shoe fell on July 9:

Diamond Offshore announced Friday that its Ocean Endeavor drilling rig will leave the Gulf of Mexico and move to Egyptian waters immediately — making it the first to abandon the United States in the wake of the BP oil spill and a ban on deep-water drilling.

Larry Dickerson, CEO of Houston-based Diamond, signaled that other of his company's rigs could be relocated, too.

"As a result of the uncertainties surrounding the offshore drilling moratorium, we are actively seeking international opportunities to keep our rigs fully employed," Dickerson said. "We greatly regret the loss of U.S. jobs that will result from this rig relocation."

It was unclear how many U.S. jobs could leave with the Ocean Endeavor, but typically more than 100 workers are on the rig at any given time, doing everything from drilling to cooking meals. Onshore, a network of businesses supplies the rigs with groceries, equipment, uniforms and drilling materials.

"It's not unusual for an energy service company to have 1,000 vendors that they buy from or purchase services from," noted Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands. As a result, Brady said, the economic damage from the moratorium stretches far and wide.

Dan Pickering, a financial analyst with Tudor, Pickering Holt & Co. Securities, said the legal uncertainties surrounding the ban - and the administration's plan to issue a new, revised moratorium - ensure that no companies will resume deep-water drilling in U.S. waters anytime soon.

"Are you really going to spend $5 million … getting ready to drill a well that someone would then probably block you from drilling?" Pickering said.


Pickering added that prospects are high that a dozen rigs ultimately could leave the Gulf of Mexico because of the ban.

Brady said the rig owners are searching for revenue - even if it means relocating to get it.

"There are two types of rigs in the deep-water Gulf today: those that are leaving the country and those that want to, because with this moratorium hanging over their heads, they simply can't go back to work," Brady said. "I'm afraid this is the first of many rigs and many American jobs to leave the Gulf."

Once the rigs relocate, it could be a minimum of five to 10 years before they return, predicted Rep. Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land.

"We cannot afford to lose these jobs or the energy they provide," Olson said. "President Obama should allow this moratorium to remain lifted and let Americans get back to work."

The second shoe fell shortly thereafter.

Diamond Offshore Drilling has pulled another rig out of the Gulf of Mexico due to restrictions on deepwater drilling in U.S. waters due to the BP oil spill.

The Houston company said this week that it has ordered the Ocean Confidence rig to the Republic of Congo. The rig departed the Gulf over the weekend and is expected to arrive off the African coast in 60 days.

Diamond Offshore said it moved the rig after rewriting a drilling contract with a subsidiary of Murphy Exploration and Production Co. Its current contract with Murphy was changed to a one-year commitment in the Gulf that will begin when Murphy is confident it can get permits to drill.

In exchange, the companies signed a new agreement to drill off the coast of the Republic of Congo.

The Congo project is expected to generate about $234 million in total revenue.

It is widely expected that many offshore operators will move equipment out of the Gulf until the backlash from BP's out-of-control well subsides.

Note that, in addition to conditions 1 and 2 mentioned above, a major contributing factor is that businesses do not like uncertainty. Sometimes referred to as FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt), this generally spurs a firm to take whatever actions it can to reduce it. In this case, that involves fleeing from a FUD-rich environment (Fear that the obama administration will hamstring the energy industry, Uncertainty about the offshore drilling moratorium, and Doubt that, under obama, the business and regulatory climate will improve) to one with greater certainty. It's pretty sad when Egypt and the Congo - the Congo, for God's sake - are perceived to have a more stable business environment than the U.S.

The disturbing thing about obama's reaction (lack of action regarding the cleanup; debilitating action regarding drilling) is that it reflects a total lack of understanding regarding offshore drilling. A few facts from a recent WSJ article:

The most recent spill of this magnitude was the Exxon Valdez tanker accident in 1989. The largest before that was the Santa Barbara offshore oil well leak in 1969.

The infrequency of big spills is extraordinary considering the size of the offshore oil industry that provides Americans with affordable energy. According to the Interior Department's most recent data, in 2002 the Outer Continental Shelf had 4,000 oil and gas facilities, 80,000 workers in offshore and support activities, and 33,000 miles of pipeline. Between 1985 and 2001, these offshore facilities produced seven billion barrels of oil. The spill rate was a minuscule 0.001%.

Got that? Once every 20 years or so there's a major oil spill. Percentage-wise, it's 1/1000 of 1%. What other industry has a similar track record?

According to the National Academy of Sciences—which in 2002 completed the third version of its "Oil in the Sea" report—only 1% of oil discharges in North Americas are related to petroleum extraction. Some 62% of oil in U.S. waters is due to natural seepage from the ocean floor, putting 47 million gallons of crude oil into North American water every year. The Gulf leak is estimated to have leaked between two million and three million gallons in two weeks.

What? Oil spills are a natural occurrence? Next we'll be told that the earth's temperature goes through natural cycles of cooling and warming.

Such an accident is still unacceptable, which is why the drilling industry has invested heavily to prevent them. The BP well had a blowout preventer, which contains several mechanisms designed to seal pipes in the event of a problem. These protections have worked in the past, and the reason for the failure this time is unknown. This was no routine safety failure but a surprising first.

One reason the industry has a good track record is precisely because of the financial consequences of accidents. The Exxon Valdez dumped 260,000 barrels of oil, and Exxon spent $3.14 billion on cleanup. Do the math, and Exxon spent nearly 600 times more on cleanup and litigation than what the oil was worth at that time.

This is Key Point #1 that obama and his ilk just don't get. Drilling firms HATE spills. They have a vested interest in doing whatever they can to prevent them, because it's bad for business.

As for a drilling moratorium, it is no guarantee against oil spills. It may even lead to more of them. Political fantasies about ending our oil addiction notwithstanding, the U.S. economy will need oil and other fossil fuels for decades to come. If we don't drill for it at home, the oil will have to arrive by tanker and barges. Tankers are responsible for more spills than offshore wells, and those spills tend to be bigger and closer to shore—which usually means more environmental harm.

And here is Key Point #2. The Law of Unintended Consequences comes into play. Shutting down offshore rigs just transfers the risks elsewhere - in this case closer to home.

The larger reality is that energy production is never going to be accident free. No difficult human endeavor is, whether space travel or using giant cranes to build skyscrapers. The rest of the world is working to exploit its offshore oil and gas reserves despite the risk of spills. We need to be mindful of such risks, and to include prevention and clean up in the cost of doing business, but a modern economy can't run without oil.

To summarize, obama's response to the situation is to take actions that eliminate jobs here, create jobs in other countries, enrich those countries at the expense of the U.S., and increase the likelihood of more spills.

I used to think his missteps were ignorance. Now I doubt that anyone can be that stupid. There has to be an element of malice in there somewhere. Perhaps he's figured out that La., Miss., Ala., and Fla. are going to be red states in the next few elections, and is punishing them. He may also be trying to reinvigorate his leftist base, which is growing increasingly disillusioned with him. In any event, it's painfully obvious he does not have the best interests of the United States at heart.

God help us all...

Cancer, Common Sense, and Perspective

I hate to start the week on a down note, but... (link to story here)

The co-chairmen of President Obama's debt and deficit commission offered an ominous assessment of the nation's fiscal future here Sunday, calling current budgetary trends a cancer "that will destroy the country from within" unless checked by tough action in Washington.

Tough action in Washington? Don't hold your breath.

The two leaders -- former Republican senator Alan Simpson of Wyoming and Erskine Bowles, White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton -- sought to build support for the work of the commission, whose recommendations due later this year are likely to spark a fierce debate in Congress.

A fierce debate in Congress? That's a candidate for Understatement of the Year.

Bowles said that unlike the current economic crisis, which was largely unforeseen before it hit in fall 2008, the coming fiscal calamity is staring the country in the face. "This one is as clear as a bell," he said. "This debt is like a cancer."

The commission leaders said that, at present, federal revenue is fully consumed by three programs: Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. "The rest of the federal government, including fighting two wars, homeland security, education, art, culture, you name it, veterans -- the whole rest of the discretionary budget is being financed by China and other countries," Simpson said (chart below).

"We can't grow our way out of this," Bowles said. "We could have decades of double-digit growth and not grow our way out of this enormous debt problem. We can't tax our way out. . . . The reality is we've got to do exactly what you all do every day as governors. We've got to cut spending or increase revenues or do some combination of that."

A combination of increasing revenue and decreasing spending? Gee, why didn't anyone else think of that? It's not rocket science, folks (good thing, since NASA is now a muslim feel-good program). It just seems so basic: don't spend more than you take in. Of course, that's part of how we got in this mess in the first place - individuals buying more house than they could afford. I guess this country's lack of common sense exists at all levels.

Here's another visual that puts things in perspective

On a related note, obama played golf again yesterday.

Sigh...

Sunday Comics

"Immigration is Abandoned, Not Broken"

(From Angie Comics)

One Last Goose

For those of you following the saga of the goose family that I've posted about previously (#'s 1, 2, and 3), here's what I expect to be the final update.

From the Boerne Star:

Weekend mornings are usually pretty quiet on Boerne's River Road, but this Saturday, a miniature parade took place with almost 100 cheering spectators on hand.

Although the event wasn't set to start until 10 a.m., Kim Kuykendall came early; she was holding down a spot by 9:15 a.m.

"I was the first one here," she said with an expectant smile.

A KSAT news cameraman as well as a couple of Boerne policemen added to the general feeling of happy anticipation.

It didn’t seem to matter that the only entry in the parade would be a small family - a mama goose and her three young who’ve been living within the protective confines of a pen, their recent world just a slice of lawn that’s sandwiched between the Dodging Duck restaurant and several heavily-trafficked lanes of road. The procession got off to a festive start when Hill Country Animal League Director J.J. Blackson “released” the mama fowl and her toddlers for the more amenable edges of Cibolo Creek.

The adult white Chinese goose didn’t need much urging. While her human fans briefly blocked traffic from both directions, the watchful parent carefully goose-stepped her wee processional trio on its waddling way toward the riverbank.

Conspicuously absent from the festive occasion was Dad-goose, still recovering from injuries incurred when sentry duty put him up against a passing car. Although the male has spent a good deal of his convalescence inside the pen on River Road, as of Friday night he'll be enjoying the idyllic grounds of the Wildlife Rehabilitation and Rescue organization, a place where his safe future is better assured.

So who, exactly, was that other goose in attendance?

"That's not Daddy," Angel Santiago, HCAL wrangler said with a shake of his head and a hint of a smile "That's just another guy who wants to be a volunteer now. Actually," Santiago added, "I think he's trying to romance her."

A bystander asked the wrangler, "What kind of guy takes up with a single mom and three kids?" Santiago responded with a wry gesture, "Well, there's one taker already."

As the young family and their new protector made it to the creekside curb of River Road, the spectators broke from their corridor-like ranks and into applause. Their cheers started up again when after a few reconnoitering moments, the strong and handsome stranger, along with the mama and her three downy young waddled down the riverbanks and into the water.

With the parade over and the family in the water, still the many attendees continued to hang around; no one seemed disposed to go home, at least not immediately.

"I'm really going to miss them," owner of the Dodging Duck, Keith Moore, said with a wistful, it’s-the-end-of-the-story kind of smile. He watched as the palm-sized goslings satisfactorily managed their maiden voyages. "(Somebody) should write a children's book about this."

Those interested in spotting the female Chinese white and her goslings, should watch for a white-plumed goose whose head and upper neck have been marked with a black Sharpie. The ink will wear off quickly, but in the interim, the markings will allow those who’ve cared for her to monitor her progress.

Pretty much a happy ending, except for the part where the heroic Father Goose, injured while protecting his mate and offspring, is cast aside by his bride once he's no longer of any use to her. She then takes up with another whom she assumes will be a better provider.

Reminds me of my first ex-wife...

Obama's Oil Spill To-Do List

re: the Gulf oil spill (Actually, that's a misnomer - it's not a spill, but a blow-out or eruption. The Exxon Valdez was an oil spill. Calling this a spill is like calling Old Faithful a water spill. But I digress...)

re: the Gulf oil crisis - a few days ago the Heritage Foundation posted an excellent analysis of what should be done to more effectively clean up the mess. The Heritage piece focused on clean-up, not the cause or stopping the flow of oil. It's a well thought out list of actions that could - and should - be done right now to help minimize the impact of the spill/flow. Excerpts below.

The oil spill crisis in the Gulf of Mexico gets worse by the day. Oil spews from the broken well, further polluting our water and shores. The clean-up efforts drag on with bureaucratic interference, making matters worse. And what is the Obama administration doing? It continues to push for unrelated responses that will have a disastrous effect on our economy, especially the economy of the Gulf states most affected.

Day after day, blind allegiance to the president causes his supporters on the left to simply say the government is doing all that it can. The national media, prone to attention deficit disorder when a president they support is in the White House, have already moved on to a myriad of other subjects, offering only sporadic updates on the continuing crisis.

Here are the first ten actions President Obama can take immediately to help solve the crisis in the Gulf.

1. Waive the Jones Act: According to one Dutch newspaper, European firms could complete the oil spill cleanup by themselves in just four months, and three months if they work with the United States, which is much faster than the estimated nine months it would take the Obama administration to go at it alone. The major stumbling block is a protectionist piece of legislation called the Jones Act, which requires that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried in U.S.-flagged ships, constructed in the United States, owned by U.S. citizens, and crewed by U.S. citizens. But, in an emergency, this law can be temporarily waived, as DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff did after Katrina. Each day European and Asian allies are prevented from helping us speed up the cleanup is another day that Gulf fishing and tourism jobs die.

2. Accept International Assistance: At least thirty countries and international organizations have offered equipment and experts so far. According to reports this week, the White House has finally decided to accept help from twelve of these nations. The Obama administration should make clear why they are refusing the other eighteen-plus offers.  In a statement, the State Department said it is still working out the particulars of the assistance it has accepted. This should be done swiftly as months have already been wasted.

Take Sweden, for example. According to Heritage expert James Carafano: “After offering assistance shortly after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, Sweden received a request for information about their specialized assets from the State Department on May 7.  Swedish officials answered the inquiry the same day, saying that some assets, such as booms, could be sent within days and that it would take a couple of weeks to send ships.  There are three brand new Swedish Coast Guard vessels built for dealing with a major oil spill cleanup.  Each has a capacity to collect nearly 50 tons of oil per hour from the surface of the sea and can hold 1,000 tons of spilled oil in their tanks. But according to the State Department’s recently released chart on international offers of assistance, the Swedish equipment and ships are still ‘under consideration.’So months later, the booms sit unused and brand new Swedish ships still sit idle in port, thousands of miles from the Gulf. The delay in accepting offers of assistance is unacceptable.”

3. Lift the Moratorium: The Obama administration’s over-expansive ban on offshore energy development is killing jobs when they are needed most. A panel of engineering experts told The New Orleans Times-Picayune that they only supported a six-month ban on new drilling in waters deeper than 1,000 feet. Those same experts were consulted by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar before he issued his May 27 report recommending a six-month moratorium on all ongoing drilling in waters deeper than 500 feet. A letter from these experts reads: “A blanket moratorium is not the answer. It will not measurably reduce risk further and it will have a lasting impact on the nation’s economy which may be greater than that of the oil spill. We do not believe punishing the innocent is the right thing to do.”

And just how many innocent jobs is Obama’s oil ban killing? An earlier Times-Picayune report estimated the moratorium could cost Louisiana 7,590 jobs and $2.97 billion in revenue directly related to the oil industry.

4. Release the S.S. A-Whale: The S.S. A-Whale skimmer is a converted oil tanker capable of cleaning 500,000 barrels of oil a day from the Gulf waters. Currently, the largest skimmer being used in the clean-up efforts can handle 4,000 barrels a day, and the entire fleet our government has authorized for BP has only gathered 600,000 barrels, total in the 70 days since the Deepwater Horizon explosion. The ship embarked from Norfolk, VA, this week toward the Gulf, hoping to get federal approval to begin assisting the clean-up, but is facing bureaucratic resistance.

As a foreign-flagged ship, the S.S. A-Whale needs a waiver from the Jones Act, but even outside that three-mile limitation, the U.S. Coast Guard and the EPA have to approve its operation due to the nature of its operation, which separates the oil from the water and then releases water back into the Gulf, with a minor amount of oil residue. The government should not place perfection over the need for speed, especially facing the threat of an active hurricane season.

5. Remove State and Local Roadblocks: Local governments are not getting the assistance they need to help in the cleanup. For example, nearly two months ago, officials from Escambia County, Fla., requested permission from the Mobile Unified Command Center to use a sand skimmer, a device pulled behind a tractor that removes oil and tar from the top three feet of sand, to help clean up Pensacola’s beaches. County officials still haven’t heard anything back. Santa Rosa Island Authority Buck Lee explains why: “Escambia County sends a request to the Mobile, Ala., Unified Command Center. Then, it’s reviewed by BP, the federal government, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard. If they don’t like it, they don’t tell us anything.”

State and local governments know their geography, people, economic impacts and needs far better than the federal government does. Contrary to popular belief, the federal government has actually been playing a bigger and bigger role in running natural disaster responses. And as Heritage fellow Matt Mayer has documented, the results have gotten worse, not better. Local governments should be given the tools they need to aid in the disaster relief.

6. Allow Sand Berm Dredging: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has recently prevented the state of Louisiana from dredging to build protective sand berms. Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser immediately sent a letter to President Obama requesting that the work continue. He said, “Once again, our government resource agencies, which are intended to protect us, are now leaving us vulnerable to the destruction of our coastline and marshes by the impending oil. Furthermore, with the threat of hurricanes or tropical storms, we are being put at an increased risk for devastation to our area from the intrusion of oil.”

7. Waive or Suspend EPA Regulations: Because more water than oil is collected in skimming operations (85% to 90% is water according to Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen), operators need to discharge the filtered water back into the Gulf so they can continue to collect oil.  The discharged water is vastly cleaner than when it was skimmed, but not sufficiently pure according to normal EPA regulations.  If the water has to be kept in the vessel and taken back to shore for purification, it vastly multiples the resources and time needed, requiring cleanup ships to make extra round trips, transporting seven times as much water as the oil they collect.  We already have insufficient cleanup ships (as the Coast Guard officially determined); they need to be cleaning up oil, not transporting water.

8. Temporarily Loosen Coast Guard Inspections: In early June, sixteen barges that were vacuuming oil out of the Gulf were ordered to halt work. The Coast Guard had the clean-up vessels sit idle as they were inspected for fire extinguishers and life vests. Maritime safety is clearly a priority, but speed is of the essence in the Gulf waters. The U.S. Coast Guard should either temporarily loosen its inspection procedures or implement a process that allows inspections to occur as the ships operate.

9. Stop Coast Guard Budget Cuts: Now is not the time to be cutting Coast Guard capabilities, but that is exactly what President Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress are doing. Rather than rebuilding and modernizing the Coast Guard as is necessary, they are cutting back assets needed to respond to catastrophic disasters. In particular, the National Strike Force, specifically organized to respond to oil spills and other hazardous materials disasters, is being cut. Overall, President Obama has told the Coast Guard to shed nearly 1,000 personnel, five cutters, and several helicopters and aircraft. Congress and the Administration should double the U.S. Coast Guard’s active and reserve end strength over the next decade and significantly accelerate Coast Guard modernization, but for the time being, they should halt all budgetary cuts.

10. Halt Climate Change Legislation: President Obama has placed his focus to the oil spill on oil demand rather than oil in our water. Regardless of political views, now is not the time to be taking advantage of this crisis to further an unrelated piece of legislation that will kill jobs and, in the President’s own words, cause energy prices to “skyrocket.” Less than 5% of our nation’s electricity needs are met by petroleum. Pushing solar and wind alternatives is in no way related to the disaster in the Gulf. It’s time for President Obama to focus on the direct actions he can take in the Gulf rather than the indirect harm he can cause in Congress. As Heritage expert David Kreutzer opines: “Fix the leak first, and then we’ll talk.” A crisis should not be a terrible thing to waste, as Rahm Emanuel said, but a problem to be solved.

Overall, this paints a chilling, but not unexpected, picture of a vast federal bureaucracy that can't get out of it's own way, and that places more value on blindly adhering to its rules and regulations than on solving the problem. The items above are common-sense steps that most reasonable people would agree are warranted. The problem is that the obama and his lackeys are not 'reasonable people'...

More on NASA

It seems that I wasn't the only one appalled by obama's decree that NASA abandon it's original space exploration mission in favor of muslim outreach. Here's a couple of my favorite responses.

From  Barking Moonbat Early Warning System:

Hey Abdul! Remember when you were 15 and used to ride your camel naked across the desert while pulling your weasel? And you’d get the camel up to a gallop so that when you spooged off it would shoot up in the air and land right in your own mouth? That’s as close to lift-off as anyone in the entire muslime world has come to in the past 1400 years. You losers can’t even do fireworks, and your first cousins the paleoswinians make such poor baby-dick missiles that they can’t even hit the ground half the time.

So yeah, let’s send NASA over to sandland to help build up their self esteem. That’ll work!

Hey, see this rocket? Yeah, the one that’s taller than every other building in the Middle East except that one empty and unfinished office tower in Yemen. Uh huh, that one. Says Saturn V on the side. That one we spent $12 billion dollars on 41 years ago, more than your entire nation’s gross national product at the time, to send 3 white guys to the moon. Where they planted our flag. And took a zero gravity dump on the koran, but that’s part’s a state secret. Then we brought them all home again. And then we did it again ... half a dozen times. Just for fun, because we could. In your country at that time ... they hadn’t even invented clean water. Still haven’t, come to think of it. Feeling better yet?

And from the Friendly Tavern:

Seriously, folks, NASA is the organization that landed men on the moon not once, but multiple times. Once upon a time it represented all that was great about America. And now that loser-in-chief who's squatting in the White House has reduced it to a propaganda arm that's stroking a religion that treats women like second third class citizens, that is dedicated to eliminating us and our way of life, and that promotes such barbaric practices as stoning women to death. (The preferred method is to bury the hapless victim up to their shoulders, then stone away.)

This is what obama wants to reach out to?

Screw him and the camel he rode in on...

Apples and Trees

We have tried very, very hard to raise our kids in a non-judgmental, non-prejudicial environment. So I was quite surprised when the following occurred.

Sitting around the dinner table tonight, chatting about nothing in particular. Out of nowhere the 16 y/o son comes up with:

"Why don't women need drivers licenses?"

"Because there's no road between the kitchen and the laundry room."

I spewed my wine across the table. I didn't know whether to laugh or be appalled. Needless to say, my wife blamed me.

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree..."

Alex 1, obama 0

Once Hurricane Alex made landfall last week, most people lost interest. However, the remnants of Alex continued to move WNW, dumping large amounts of rain in the Rio Grande's watershed. As the Rio Grande rises, Texas-Mexico border cities are being flooded, international bridges are being closed, and the river is becoming impassible. In one short week Alex has done more to impede illegal immigration than obama and several presidents before him have done in decades. (Story here.) 

Now there are reports of freshening tropical activity in the same region of the Gulf that spawned Alex. Preliminary predictions are that it will follow a similar path.

If it does, obama will probably sue the weatherman...

News of the Absurd

NASA's new mission: Building ties to Muslim world

In a recent interview with the Middle Eastern news network al-Jazeera, NASA head Charles Bolden said:

"When I became the NASA administrator, [Obama] charged me with three things." One, he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math; he wanted me to expand our international relationships; and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering." (text bolded by me for emphasis)

Silly me. I thought NASA's fundamental mission was space exploration. You know, the "S" in NASA stands for "Space", the moon landings, the space shuttles, satellites, and all that other non-terrestrial stuff. But, as Bolden explained,

"NASA is not only a space exploration agency," Bolden concluded, "but also an Earth improvement agency."

Of course. I should have known. Everything obama does is to improve Earth - fighting global warming climate change, plugging up the oil spill, welcoming illegal immigrants new democrat voters, improving the global economy, and so forth. But what about that pesky "Space" thing?

Bolden gave a bleak assessment of the space part of NASA's mission. More than 40 years after the first moon landing, he told al-Jazeera, the U.S. can no longer reach beyond Earth's orbit without assistance from abroad. "We're not going to go anywhere beyond low Earth orbit as a single entity," Bolden said. "The United States can't do it."

That's right. Under obama the U.S. is no longer capable of doing anything on it's own. Instead, we must act in concert with people who are dedicated to destroying us, our way of life, and everything we stand for.

Fortunately, not everyone agrees with Bolden and the clueless one.

Former NASA Director Says Muslim Outreach Push 'Deeply Flawed'

The former head of NASA on Tuesday described as "deeply flawed" the idea that the space exploration agency's priority should be outreach to Muslim countries, after current Administrator Charles Bolden made that assertion in an interview last month.

"NASA ... represents the best of America. Its purpose is not to inspire Muslims or any other cultural entity," Michael Griffin, who served as NASA administrator during the latter half of the Bush administration.

He also said that while welcome, Muslim-nation cooperation is not vital for U.S. advancements in space exploration.

"There is no technology they have that we need," Griffin said.

He said the U.S. can still [travel in space] without international aid if it wishes, and that, "To the extent that we wish to go to Mars, we can go to Mars."

How truly sad. I remember the glory days of NASA. We used to watch the manned flight launches in school on black-and-white TVs. It was a special occasion, and inspired us to study math and science. I remember the entire country being glued to the TV set during the Apollo 13 crisis - "Houston, we have a problem" - and the great surge of national pride when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. And now?

Its space initiatives junked, its administrator rhapsodizing about helping Muslims "feel good" about themselves: That is the new NASA. 

obama strikes again...

 * * * * * * * * * *

Mexico Joins Suit Against Arizona's Immigration Law

In a stunning example of "do as I say, not as I do,"

Mexico on Tuesday asked a federal court in Arizona to declare the state's new immigration law unconstitutional, arguing that the country's own interests and its citizens' rights are at stake.

...

Mexican law, however, requires law enforcement officials "to demand that foreigners prove their legal presence in the country before attending to any issues."

Amnesty International recently issued a report claiming illegal immigrants in Mexico -- typically from Central America -- face abuse, rape and kidnappings, and that Mexican police do little to stop it.

The irony and absurdity of this should be painfully obvious to even the most left-leaning moron. I can't believe that a U.S. court would even consider this nonsense. What's next? Is Mexico going to sue us because we put Mexican drug smugglers in jail for breaking our laws? GMAFB!

 * * * * * * * * * *

Postal Service Proposes Another Rate Hike

The U.S. Postal Service has proposed increasing the price of a first-class stamp by another 2 cents in the face of slumping mail volume.

If approved by regulators, the increase to 46 cents for a standard letter would go into effect Jan. 2 and be the seventh increase in a decade. As of Jan. 7, 2001, the cost of a stamp was 34 cents.

The Postal Service said it has faced "plummeting mail volume traced to the recession and increased use of the Internet," resulting in a projected deficit of nearly $7 billion for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1. The proposed increases would raise about $2.3 billion for the first nine months of calendar 2011.

That's a great idea. Volume is decreasing, so let's raise rates. That's like the old joke about the kid selling lemonade for $10,000 a glass. A passer-by tells the kid that he probably won't sell a lot of lemonade at $10,000 a glass. The kid replies, "That's okay. I only need to sell one." Sounds like that kid grew up and is now in charge of the post office.

Just for comparison purposes, UPS' net income for 2009 was $2.152 billion; FedEx's was $1.184 billion. I wonder why private enterprises can make money, while a government agency can't? Hmmm...

If You Can't Help, Get Out of the Way

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit today challenging a tough new Arizona immigration law.

This follows a consistent pattern of the obama administration making a bad situation worse. Examples abound - the economy, the Gulf oil spill, voter intimidation, Joe Biden - but this latest instance is particularly egregious.

The situation along the border has reached a point where American citizens are killed or flee from their property, narcoterrorists brazenly threaten U.S. LEOs (here, here, here, and here), and even the Department of Homeland Security admits that Muslim terrorist groups run a “large-scale smuggling enterprise” that has brought hundreds of Muslims across the border. To say nothing of the social and economic costs that an insecure border and illegal aliens impose on citizens and legal residents.  

It's pretty obvious that this is a crisis. And what is that bozo in the White House doing to resolve it? Suing a state that is trying like hell to deal with a problem that threatens national security.

Obama fiddles while America burns...

Say It Ain't So

Change isn't always for the better. From politics (see Obama, Barack Hussein) to sports (see the designated hitter rule) to music (see old Elvis vs. new Elvis), many times it's best not to tamper with the original. Which brings us to Wonder Woman.

I don't read comic books anymore, or illustrated stories, as they're now called. Back in the day I used to hover expectantly around the local drugstore waiting for the latest issue of Superman or Batman. As I grew older my interests shifted to other things, but I still have fond memories of the old standards, one of which was Wonder Woman.

Now comes the disturbing news that WW is getting a makeover. (Story and images from here.)

After 69 years fighting crime in the same spangly swimsuit, it was probably about time Wonder Woman changed her outfit.

That's what DC Comics thinks, and to celebrate the 600th edition of the Wonder Woman legend, the feminist superhero has been given a makeover. Out go the star-studded big knickers, red corset and saucy boots; in come a pair of modest leggings, a blue jacket and some rather more sensible navy shoes.

The costume is part of a reimagining of the comic book icon, which in an alternative history sees Wonder Woman smuggled out of Paradise Island as a baby when unknown forces destroy her home and slaughter its inhabitants.

The new story was devised by J Michael Straczynski, who created the television show Babylon 5 and wrote the screenplay for Changeling in 2008, starring Angelina Jolie.

He told the New York Times today that getting Wonder Woman some new clothes was one of his top priorities in the the job.

"She's been locked into pretty much the exact same outfit since her debut in 1941," he said.

"If you're going to make a statement about bringing Wonder Woman into the 21st century, you need to be bold and you need to make it visual. I wanted to toughen her up, and give her a modern sensibility."

He added: "What woman only wears only one outfit for 60-plus years?"

According to DC, it is "the first significant change in her appearance since the character debuted in 1941".

Not everything has been tinkered with: some fans will be glad to know that she has retained the bowling ball breasts – oddities which the novelist Jodi Picoult (unsuccessfully) asked to be reduced when she was brought in to work on the series in 2006 – because "as a woman, I know you wouldn't fight crime in a bustier".

Hey, if the outfit and BBB's were okay for 69 years, why mess with them now? What's next, playing baseball and football indoors? Oh, wait...

Embarrassing

This is embarrassing on so many levels - our educational system, college instructors, Texas Aggies, they should all hide their collective heads in shame. The only person who had his stuff together is some old coot about my age (towards the end of the video).

All I can say is "Old Guys Rule!!!"



(Video from Critical Mass.)

July 4th 2010

What would July 4th be without fireworks? Of course, there are always some fools who turn good things into bad.

(Caution - adult language and situations.)







What were they thinking?


On a more positive note, we have one of my all-time personal favorites.




Have a safe 4th, and remember why we celebrate it.

Warning!!!

Our 16 year-old son got his drivers license yesterday. If you see a white 1996 Crown Victoria barreling down the road clear the streets and get off the sidewalks.

So far, he's been pretty responsible. Of course, it's only been one day.

I fear that over time my genes will exert their influence. i was a big gearhead back in the day. Ed "Big Daddy" Roth was my idol. Artist, cartoonist, and custom car builder, Big Daddy's alter ego was the Rat Fink hotrodder. 

Not very appealing now, but to a teenage boy in the '60s he was a symbol of freedom, rebellion, and speed. He inspired me to basically sell my soul and go into hock so I could buy and customize a 1967 Olds Hurst 442. The picture below isn't mine - no digital cameras back then - but it's similar, before I gutted the mufflers, jacked up the rear end, and painted flames on the fenders.

Oh yeah, I also installed an 8-track tape player.

Ah, youth...

Fun With Math

A: Rain + Metal Roof + Vacation Day = Sleep In

B: Sleep In + Vacation Day = Coffee + Kahlua

{A} U {B} = No Blog Today

Eclipse Fever

Our daughter had her 14th birthday party last night. We (well, actually my wife) scored some tickets to the premiere of Eclipse. I know very little about that movie, or the series it belongs to, but evidently it's a huge deal to teenage girls. As I understand it, it's about a dark, brooding, sensitive guy and a dark, brooding, hunky guy both chasing the same babe. One's a vampire, and the other's a werewolf (I think...).

Anyway, after the flick they all went out to eat and then came back to our place for a sleepover. But first, it was time to open presents, one of which was a life-size cardboard cutout of one of the guys (the hunky one, I think).

Once the wrapping paper was torn off and it became apparent what it was, there began a torrent of jumping-up-and-down-while-squealing, accompanied by a fluttering of hands and a chorus of Oh-My-God's.

I'll never understand women, even in their formative stages...

The best part of the night was when we got the cardboard cutout figure put together and stood up. Our two dogs, who as I explained before are rescue dogs and still have some unresolved issues towards strange men, caught sight of this thing and began barking, growling, and circling it. It took a while to get them calmed down and to make their little doggie brains realize that it was just a picture of a man, not a man.

So we had girls squealing, dogs barking, the older son mocking, and my wife trying to restore order. I grabbed a Shiner and snuck out to the back porch. Much more peaceful there.

First Impressions

After a while one gets tired of attempting to be 'fair and balanced.' When that happens, just going with the first impulse is a welcome respite. Ergo, we present the following.

Primus...

If you can believe the tabloids, Tiger Woods' girlfriends are costing him around $750 million. According to one calculation, that's about $25 million per wench. No offense to any ladies reading this, but that's a helluva a lot to pay for a little variety. Call me old-fashioned, but I happen to believe in "Till death do you part." If one wants to stray, one should get divorced first.

He should have taken Harper's advice and Passed Up Strange…

Secundus...

Who woulda thunk that the obama administration would indulge in reverse racism?

I have to admit that if me and mine had been treated like second class citizens for generations, I might be tempted to seek a little payback. But I hope I would be up-front enough to admit it, and not throw up a screen of bullshit.

A former Justice Department attorney who quit his job to protest the Obama administration's handling of the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case is accusing Attorney General Eric Holder of dropping the charges for racially motivated reasons.

J. Christian Adams, now an attorney in Virginia and a conservative blogger, says he and the other Justice Department lawyers working on the case were ordered to dismiss it.

Adams says the dismissal is a symptom of the Obama administration's reverse racism and that the Justice Department will not pursue voting rights cases against white victims.

(Video here.)

So if I happen to stand around outside my local polling place in 2012, holding a baseball bat and wearing a "Don't Tread On Me" shirt, that's okay? I'm sure Attorney Asshole General Holder and his minions (see below) won't press charges...

And The Hits Just Keep On Coming...

(Or in other words, I got tired of counting in Latin)

Like I said, I'm tired of tracking down original sources for much of the stuff I use. So I'm just going to post the following with only a reference to where I found it. I don't see the need to validate it further. After all, if it's on the Internet, it must be true - right...?

Advocates for illegal aliens lately have informed us those can be legitimate lifestyle choices that, rather than being prosecuted, should be supported by allowing people to obtain government papers such as driver’s licenses without having to produce supporting documents, and that people who lack legal authority to be here should be allowed to move freely, work, attend schools and receive government benefits.

Do I really need to comment on this foolishness?

One more: Oil spill visits get partisan

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) wanted to fly 10 lawmakers down to the Gulf of Mexico to see the damage caused by BP’s gigantic oil spill first hand.

House Democrats said no.

Scalise’s trip was rejected for a variety of bureaucratic and logistical reasons, but it has also opened a new vein of partisan squabbling over who should be allowed to arrange a trip to view the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Republicans want to be able to take trips using their office spending allowance. But Democrats have heard from the Department of Homeland Security, which has asked that Congress organize trips through committees of jurisdiction, to avoid having to cater to a ton of individual lawmakers in a disaster zone, Democratic aides say. GOP leaders say they’ve heard nothing of this.

The squabbling over who gets to travel to the Gulf on whose dime is the latest sign that congressional oversight of the oil spill oversight from Capitol Hill has been bogged down by partisanship. Congress has held upwards of 20 hearings on the disaster, often duplicative ones each week, as lawmakers struggle to grasp and fully realize the scope of BP’s giant oil spill.

The federal government is so dysfunctional that at this point the only solution is to throw every single Goddamn one of 'em out this Nov. - repubs and dems; conservatives and liberals; men and women; black and white and brown and yellow and striped and polkadotted - EVERY Goddamn worthless scum-sucking one of 'em!!! There ain't a single incumbent worth the gunpowder it would take to blow him/her away.

I feel the need for Shiners. Many, many Shiners...

Sigh...

The Constitution is the Precedent

A mishmash of thoughts today, from a smorgasbord of sources, all related to a central theme - the underappreciated, and hence often overlooked, impact of Supreme Court justices.

From Sen Jim DeMint (R. - South Carolina) (link here):

When a president and a Congress collude to pass and sign into law unconstitutional power grabs, bailouts and takeovers there is only one immediate backstop: the Supreme Court. Every branch of government has an obligation to preserve, defend and uphold the Constitution, and if the legislative and executive branches overstep their boundaries, the judicial branch can stop them.

On the other hand, if the Supreme Court doesn't say "no" when the other two branches go too far, there is no tax that can't be levied, no mandate that can't be imposed, no regulation that can't be instituted and no industry that can't be taken over. The only recourse Americans have is to remove and replace members of Congress and the president slowly through the election process. But when Supreme Court judges, who are unelected and given lifetime appointments, refuse to say "no" when the Constitution says they should, it can take much longer to undo the damage.

Got that? Supreme Court appointments are for life. There's no do-overs. That's why it is so very crucial to ensure that appointees are qualified, reasonable, and impartial. Trying to fill some sort of quota (so many blacks, so many hispanics, so many women, so many fill-in-the-blanks) is not the way to do it. Just look at the mess our affirmative-action president has got us into.

DeMint painted the picture with broad strokes. The next two selections provide a more focused perspective on two topics near and dear to me: the idea that legal decisions of foreign justices can be used as guides by the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Second Amendment.

For the former, we turn to Phyllis Schlafly, lawyer, and political analyst (link here).

During Kagan's confirmation hearing for solicitor general, Sen. Arlen Specter asked her views on using foreign or international law or decisions to interpret our Constitution and laws. She wrote in reply that she approves using "reasonable foreign law arguments." Au contraire. The U.S. Constitution says our judges "shall be bound" by "the Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof."

Most reasonable people would agree that U.S. law should be guided by the U.S. Constitution, not something the Italians or the English or, God help us, the French have dreamed up. Nothing against those folks, but they have different cultures, different histories, and different traditions than we do. One of the reasons for the ascendancy to greatness of this nation is it's legal framework: loose enough to allow individuals to succeed while at the same time protecting a core of fundamental liberties. Using foreign laws to govern U.S. citizens would be like wearing someone else's shoes: ill fitting, potentially harmful, and just downright icky.

As for the Second Amendment, John Lott, economics professor, author, and commentator, links Kagan with Sotomayor (the self-proclaimed "wise Latina") (link here): 

Obama's first Supreme Court pick, Sonia Sotomayor, looked no better. For instance, in one of her decisions as an appeals court judge, she argued that the Second Amendment would not block any gun-control laws as long as the politicians passing the laws thought the weapon was "designed primarily as a weapon and has no purpose other than to maim or, in some instances, kill."  

In other words, as long as politicians think that they are doing the right thing, even if totally misguided, these good intentions trump any individual right to bear arms.

With an interpretation like the one offered by Justice Sotomayor, the Supreme Court would never have struck down Washington, D.C.’s gun ban, let alone any other gun-control law.

Unfortunately, there is no easy quick-fix: every place in the world that has tried a gun ban -- not just Chicago and Washington, D.C. -- has seen an increase in murder rates.  

But despite her past decisions, Sotomayor clearly promised the Senate Judiciary Committee that as a Supreme Court justice she would follow Heller and accept its decision that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to own guns for self-defense. Here's this example from her 2009 confirmation hearing:

Senator Patrick Leahy: “. . . you, in fact, recognized the Supreme Court decided in ‘Heller’ that the personal right to bear arms is guaranteed by the Second Amendment of the Constitution against federal law restrictions. Is that correct?"

Sotomayor: "It is."

Yet, in the Supreme Court’s decision on Monday to strike down the Chicago handgun ban, Sotomayor apparently completely forgot her promise last year.

"I can find nothing in the Second Amendment’s text, history, or underlying rationale that could warrant characterizing it as 'fundamental' insofar as it seeks to protect the keeping and bearing of arms for private self-defense purposes."

Breyer’s dissent provides a clear warning: the Supreme Court is just one vote away from totally reversing “Heller” and “McDonald” and declaring that the government can completely ban gun ownership.

With Kagan on the Supreme Court, there will continue to be four (out of nine justices) who support the government’s decision to completely ban gun ownership.

No Senator can seriously claim that he strongly supports gun ownership and still vote for Kagan’s confirmation.

Kagan, like Sotomayor, is just another lying liberal whose false words are betrayed by their hypocritical actions once they rise to a position of power (see Obama, Barack Hussein).

A picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll close with an image lifted from gottagetdrunkfirst . It's something that's for sure on my to-do list...

Call His Bluff

From here:

Here's something that could make for some awkward exchanges at the cash register this summer.

Americans for Tax Reform, which rarely met a tax it likes, has put out an "Obama Tax Hike Exemption Card," which (in theory) exempts "Americans making less than $250,000 from any form of tax increase signed into law by President Barack Obama."

"This card a tangible reminder that Obama has deliberately broken his central campaign promise not to raise any form of taxes on Americans earning less than $250,000," said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, in a release. "The last President to break his tax pledge - Bush 41 - served only one term."

If you'd like to give one of these cards a test run, here's how it works: If you make under $250,000 and find yourself facing any of the new taxes highlighted by ATR ("Tax on Indoor Tanning Services," "Medicine Cabinet Tax," "Special Needs Kids Tax," etc.), you present the card and, if challenged "politely ask, 'Excuse me, but are you calling President Obama a liar?'"

No guarantees, of course.

For more info go here.

It's about time that conservatives adopted some of the tactics of the left, in this case a variation of Guerrilla Theater as practiced by Abbie Hoffman, ACT UP, and other leftist commie pinko icons.

One For The Good Guys

From GunReports.com : Supreme Court Ruling Strikes Down Chicago Gun Ban

In its second major ruling on gun rights in three years, the Supreme Court Monday extended the federally protected right to keep and bear arms to all 50 states.

Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the five-justice majority, saying "the right to keep and bear arms must be regarded as a substantive guarantee, not a prohibition that could be ignored so long as the States legislated in an evenhanded manner." 

Yes, this is a win for the Constitution and individual liberties, but it's important - and scary - to note that the vote was 5-4. That means four count 'em four sitting Supreme Court justices believe that the rights guaranteed to U.S. citizens by the Bill of Rights are applicable only at the federal level, and can be overridden by the states.  

The ruling builds upon the Court's 2008 decision in D.C. v. Heller that invalidated the handgun ban in the nation's capital. More importantly, that decision held that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms was a right the Founders specifically delegated to individuals. The justices affirmed that decision and extended its reach to the 50 states.

...

The discussion over "liberty" was a major philosophical theme of the arguments. Gura and National Rifle Association lawyer Paul Clement argued that the rights articulated in the Second Amendment are fundamental freedoms and would exist to all Americans even if there was no law specifically saying so.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented in Heller and wondered why the right to bear arms was necessary to extend to the states. "[I]f the notion is that these are principles that any free society would adopt, well, a lot of free societies have rejected the right to keep and bear arms."

In a previous post I pointed out Ginsburg's belief that interpretation of U.S. law should be guided by laws of other countries (that post referred to this article). Well, here's a news flash for her: the notion is not that we should be in compliance with other "free societies," but rather that this is a right guaranteed to We the People by the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. Whatever other countries do is irrelevant. I don't know why Ginsberg has this compulsion to be in lockstep with other nations, but that's a dangerous and erroneous perspective for a United States repeat United States Supreme Court justice to have. If she believes that strongly in the rule of international law then she should resign and go to work for the Hague or the U.N. 

Here's a thought exercise. Go through the arguments and ruling in this case and substitute "First Amendment" for "Second Amendment." Is there anyone who seriously thinks the justices' votes and opinions would remain unchanged?

Bottom line - one in the win column for We the People, accompanied by a reminder why it is so critical to elect a president who understands and supports the Constitution. After all, the four commie pinko liberals who opposed this ruling were appointed by mistakes from our past (and one from the present).

A Parent's Dilemma

Our 14-year-old daughter is house sitting for the neighbors. Twice a day she goes over there to take care of pets, water plants, and generally check on things. Their house is about 1 1/2 miles from ours. We live in what is considered a 'good' area. It is out in the country, and the road between our place and theirs is lightly traveled.

My wife or I usually drive her when she goes. This morning she announced that she wanted to jog there and back. I let her go, making sure she had her cell phone. She's a black belt in karate, and has had all the usual warnings about what to look out for, how to escape and evade, etc. But still I am worried. I actually thought about grabbing my .45 and trailing her, just in case (and totally overlooking the fact that she'd be out of sight within 500 yards).

So the dilemma is this. Kids need the opportunity to spread their wings - to grow and develop on their own, building independence, self-reliance, self-confidence, and all those other life skills that are becoming increasingly rare in this country. At the same time, there is evil out there. It only takes one moment of carelessness or inattention for a tragedy to occur. So am I being overly protective and overly concerned about her, or is this an essential step in her maturing?

And how the hell am I going to handle things when she starts dating...?

UPDATE: She got home okay. Still doesn't resolve my dilemma: much ado about nothing, or justified concern?

As for dating, below is a poster I have on the wall next to the garage door leading into the house. I think it gets the point across. (Click to embiggen.)

Division of Labor

A few days ago I posted an innocent remark about my wife's housework duties. Since then, there has been a deluge of responses from overly-sensitive women (well, okay, only one comment, and it was relatively reasonable). But I thought I should clear the air regarding the division of labor around here.

It's pretty traditional. I do everything outside that requires power tools or heavy manual labor - mowing, edging, chopping down trees, digging holes, etc. The Mrs. is responsible for the more refined tasks - pruning, watering, fertilizing, that sort of thing. This is not sexist. She has a green thumb, I have a black one. Plants left under my care tend to wither and die.

Inside, it's much the same. My pet peeve is clutter, so I pick things up. Her pet peeve is dirt, so she gets to indulge her unnatural fetish for vacuuming and dusting. To facilitate this, I go in another room and watch TV.

That leaves cooking. Our kids are old enough to fend for themselves, so they're responsible for their own breakfasts. On weekends we tend to have large late breakfasts, usually the standards - pancakes, omelets, bacon and eggs, etc. Since our schedules vary, lunches are pretty much every man for himself. My wife and I generally take turns fixing dinner. Whoever cooks, the other cleans up. On weekends we usually work together, cranking up the music and sharing a little wine as we waltz around the stove. Occasionally we go out to dinner, although this doesn't always turn out well.

The main exception is when we do a little grilling. Since I'm the man, and men specialize in meat and fire, the following chain of events are put into motion:

   1. The woman goes to the store.
   2. The woman fixes the salad, vegetables, and dessert
   3. The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils, and takes it to the man, who is lounging beside the grill, beer in hand.
   4. The man places the meat on the grill.
   5. The woman goes inside to set the table and check the vegetables.
   6. The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is burning.
   7. The man takes the meat off the grill and hands it to the woman.
   8. The woman prepares the plates and brings them to the table.
   9. After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes.
  10. Everyone praises the man and thanks him for his cooking efforts.
  11. The man asks the woman how she enjoyed "her night off."

And, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there's just no pleasing some women.

I hope that clears everything up...

You Go, Sooners

I'm normally not a big fan of Oklahoma. This stems from a profound dislike for their semi-pro football team (OU) and an unpleasant encounter a few years back with an Okie state trooper. But I've got to give 'em their props for this.

Oklahoma is poised to become the first state in the nation to ban state judges from relying on Islamic law known as Sharia when deciding cases.

The amendment -- which also would forbid judges from using international laws as a basis for decisions -- will now be put before Oklahoma's voters in November. Approval is expected. 

This is a big deal for a couple of reasons. First, it reinforces the trend of states getting tired of the federal government's inaction when it comes to controversial social issues (see AZ and SB 1070). Second, it reinforces the notion that the U.S. is a sovereign nation with our own rules and laws. This is particularly crucial when we have sitting Supreme Court justices who look to international law, not U.S. law, when making a ruling.

Of course, it would help if the idiots in D.C. actually knew what was in the laws they passed:

Pelosi on obamacare: “But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it..."

Dodd on the financial reform bill: "It's a great moment. I'm proud to have been here," said a teary-eyed Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), who as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee led the effort in the Senate. "No one will know until this is actually in place how it works..."

But I digress. Back to Oklahoma: an incident that highlights the growing conflict between traditional U.S. values and Muslim influence took place a few days ago in Dearborn, Michigan.

Police in the heavily Arab Detroit suburb of Dearborn say they arrested four Christian missionaries for disorderly conduct at an Arab cultural festival.

Police Chief Ron Haddad says his department made the arrests Friday. The four are free on bond.

Christian proselytizing at the festival has been a matter of dispute for several years.

Haddad tells the Detroit Free Press he isn't taking sides in any dispute and says police have to keep peace at a festival that draws 300,000 over three days.

On Thursday, the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals court ruled in favor of Anaheim, Calif., evangelist George Saieg (SAYGH). It overturned a lower court and said Saieg could distribute information on the festival's perimeter.

So let me get this straight. A local police chief ignores both the First Amendment and a U.S. Court of Appeals ruling to placate a bunch of Muslims?!? What's next in Dearborn? Sharia law? That's why the Oklahoma amendment is such a big deal.

It's time this country got back to basics. Simple things like secure borders, understandable laws, and adherence to the Constitution. If the feds won't do it the states must...

Dog Days

We have a couple of dogs - mutts, actually - that consume time and other resources way out of proportion to their size. They're rescue dogs; we got them when they were around 1 year old. They had either been abandoned or run away. They were found living on their own and taken to the local animal shelter.

As might be expected, they came with a set of issues. They evidently had been abused. They were alternately fearful of or aggressive towards men in general, and men wearing baseball caps in particular. They were okay with women and children, although a little skittish at first. On the plus side (sometimes) they're very intelligent and learn quickly. That's a mixed blessing. They've made a lot of progress since we got them, and for the most part behave like 'normal' dogs (whatever that is).

They're sisters, although you'd never know it to look at them. One is blond, hyperactive, and quite insecure. She has to be the center of attention. If you're petting her sister she'll come over and shove her way between you and the other dog. She's also quite territorial; lots of barking, growling, and aggressive behavior towards guests, delivery people, repairmen, and other visitors. The good news is that she only weighs around 25 pounds, although she doesn't seem to recognize that as a limitation. She's become a little more tolerant in the two years we've had them. She now accepts repeat visitors that she's become familiar with, although she still isn't happy with new ones.

The other is black and quite mellow. She must have some hound dog in her, because her favorite activity is laying. Just laying. Kind of like Duke from the Beverly Hillbillies. Her second favorite activity is eating. It's like an on/off switch, from inert canine to whirling dervish whenever the food bowl appears. She also has an extremely mournful look that she employs very effectively. Picture Eeyore as a dog instead of a donkey and you'll get the idea. She plops down on the other side of the room and then stares at you with sad, drooping eyes until you get up and go over there and pet her. This excites the blond one, who then runs over and inserts herself in the middle of everything.  

The preceding is a long-winded way of setting up the following. I mentioned that they were pretty intelligent. Well, they're so smart that they've learned to read and write. Not very well - they're still dogs, after all. Anyway, we found a diary that they've been keeping. The handwriting (pawwriting?) was hard to read, but I think I got it right. I've reproduced it below.

Excerpts from a Dog's Daily Diary:

8:00am Dog food! My favorite thing!

9:30am A car ride! My favorite thing!

9:40am Going for a walk! My favorite thing!

10:30am Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!

12:00pm Took a nap! My favorite thing!

1:00pm Played in the yard! My favorite thing!

3:00pm Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!

5:00pm Got to play ball! My favorite thing!

7:00pm Dinner! My favorite thing!

8:00pm Watched TV with my master! My favorite thing!

11:00pm Sleeping on my bed! My favorite thing!

Next day: Repeat!

Friday Night Fire Follies

My wife and I went out to dinner tonight. Just the two of us. Something that doesn't happen too often. Our kids are old enough (16 & 14) and responsible enough that we feel comfortable leaving them home alone. The neighborhood is pretty safe, and both of the kids have their karate black belt, so we don't worry about their safety. But between their activities and our schedules we don't get a whole lot of 'couple time,' so when we do get an opportunity we treasure it.

So like I said, we went out tonight. We were in the middle of a nice meal at a decent restaurant (no drive thru window, wine list, etc.) when my wife's cell phone started making noises. All at once she had voice mail, an incoming call, and a call waiting. (My cell was at home. I hate carrying the damn thing around, so when we go out she takes hers and I leave mine in its cozy little charger cradle, where both it and I prefer it to be.)

Turns out our home alarm system went off, claiming there was a fire somewhere in the house. We've drilled the kids on what to do, so they went outside, then very cautiously went back in and checked each room looking for smoke or flames. Nothing.

The calls were from our son, the alarm company, and the VFD. After we sorted through everything and made sure it was a false alarm we tried to recapture the ambiance, but it was a lost cause. So we got doggie bags, chugged what was left of the wine, and headed for the casa.

What evidently happened was that enough dust had collected in one of the smoke sensors to diffuse the photoelectric beam and trigger the alarm. We usually clean the dust out of the smoke alarms every six months, when the time changes and we change the batteries, but I guess we forgot this year. So that's on the to-do list tomorrow, along with baking cookies for the VFD guys. 

I keep tellin' that woman she needs to stay on top of her housework...