Sick And Tired

Bear with me. This post takes a while to get to the point, but there is one.

obama was bumbling around my neck of the woods yesterday, trying to divert attention from the Benghazi hearings and at the same time fool people into thinking he's doing something to improve the economy.

Obama touts economic recovery in visit to Austin area

President Barack Obama came to Texas on Thursday to tout the economic recovery...

Traveling to the heart of a state that bounced back quicker than many after the deep recession, Obama said the government has a role in fostering policies to encourage innovation, improve education and help assure middle-class jobs and opportunity.

Obama was greeted by a half-page ad in the Austin newspaper from Gov. Rick Perry that tweaked the president, saying the lesson he should take from Texas is that economic success is the product of low taxes, light regulation and protecting businesses from lawsuits.

Gov. Goodhair has a point. barry is claiming that recent stock market gains and rising economic indicators justify whatever it is he's doing to improve the economy (Can anyone name three things obama has done that have stimulated the economy? Anyone? Bueller...?)

But underlying those optimistic and IMO misleading reports is the ugly fact that the U.S. job market is a train wreck.

For all the positivity about the April jobs report—lowest unemployment rate in four years!—the U.S. job market remains dismal. One statistic makes the point: Just 58.6 percent of American civilians aged 16 and up had jobs in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s a lower employment-to-population ratio than during the worst of the 2007-09 recession. Even though the jobless rate has fallen, millions of people aren’t counted as unemployed because they’ve stopped looking for work, or never started.

The breakdown of the labor market can be blamed on either supply or demand. Those who argue that the supply of labor is the main problem say that many Americans simply aren’t qualified for the jobs available. On May 7, the BLS reported that there were more than 3.8 million job openings in the U.S. at the end of March—at a time when more than 11 million people were looking for work.

The “supply” case hinges on the notion that the working world is getting more complicated and demanding. “Complexity has opened a great divide between those who have mastered its requirements and those who haven’t,” Brink Lindsey, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and the Kauffman Foundation, argues in a new book, Human Capitalism. The economists’ term of art for this is “skill-based technical change.”

One fact supporting the "American's aren't qualified" argument is that our institutions of higher education are doing a poor job of preparing graduates for life after college - students are taught to memorize and repeat, not to think. In my experience, there's quite a bit of truth in that accusation, as indicated by the graph below.

The other side of the coin is that the skills mismatch is a short-term and fixable problem. The real issue is that the economy is too feeble to create new jobs.

Getting the U.S. economy producing at full potential would add about $950 billion to annual gross domestic product and go a long way toward putting people back to work. For the Fed, accelerating economic growth through monetary policy is Job One. Alas, for Congress, which controls taxing and spending, faster growth appears to be Job Two, behind trying to shrink the federal budget deficit. Hence the January tax increases and the March sequester, both of which weigh on growth.

Both the supply and the demand arguments have merit. Other factors are in play as well. Automation has decreased manufacturing and other related jobs, while many white-collar jobs have moved offshore where they can be done cheaper.

But it's not an either/or problem. It's a complex and interrelated problem that requires multiple approaches to resolve

Five years since the start of the unemployment crisis, the problem with the U.S. labor market isn’t weak supply or weak demand. It’s both. At the same time, plenty of good and innovative ideas for how to put more Americans back to work are out there. Fixing aging infrastructure is a job generator that’s a no-brainer at today’s low interest rates. Youth jobs programs need more funding, not less. Jeff Madrick, a senior fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, calls for a revival of “Fordism”—Henry Ford’s sensible idea of paying workers enough to afford what’s for sale. All that’s needed is the will to act. Tackling Unemployment, a new book by Ruth Ellen Wasem on the Employment Act of 1946, describes how postwar Americans made up their minds that they would not let the economy slip into another Depression. “There was a sense of ‘let’s do it,’ a can-do spirit,” Wasem says in an interview. A little of that American swagger would go a long way right now.

I'm doing my part. Next week is my last week at work before I retire and open up a slot for some ambitious young junior professor.

Except I've learned that my duties will be filled by part-time adjunct professors, who already teach a few assorted classes. Thus one full-time position is being eliminated, shrinking the number of available jobs. One of the reasons given is that this alternative is cheaper. Part-time adjunct professors do not get benefits, such as healthcare.

obamacare strikes again...

And that's the point of this post. Until we stop creating what economists call disincentives and start creating a positive environment for job creators, this stagnant economy will persist.

Friday Follies Happy Hour 2013.05.10

Okay, I admit it. I'm a sexist pig (or a male chauvinist pig, if you prefer). I also happen to prefer Fox News to the other alternatives. I believe they're the closest thing to "Fair and Balanced" on the airwaves today.

All of which makes me really, really like this video.

So What Else Is New?

The motto of the mainstream media should be "My mind is made up already - don't confuse me with the facts."

Well, here's a few of those pesky facts that the media repeatedly ignores when they don't fit the scripted narrative.

National rates of gun homicide and other violent gun crimes are strikingly lower now than during their peak in the mid-1990s, paralleling a general decline in violent crime, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of government data...

Compared with 1993, the peak of U.S. gun homicides, the firearm homicide rate was 49% lower in 2010, and there were fewer deaths, even though the nation’s population grew. The victimization rate for other violent crimes with a firearm—assaults, robberies and sex crimes—was 75% lower in 2011 than in 1993...

Despite national attention to the issue of firearm violence, most Americans are unaware that gun crime is lower today than it was two decades ago. According to a new Pew Research Center survey, today 56% of Americans believe gun crime is higher than 20 years ago and only 12% think it is lower...

Gee, I wonder why most Americans are unaware that gun crime is strikingly lower today than in the past?

Perhaps because the media isn't doing its job of reporting the facts...?

(Source)

Continuing To Beat A Dead Horse

This is my third post in a row on the Benghazi fiasco. I don't know why it riles me so, other than the fact that I come from a military family (father a WWII decorated combat veteran, mother an early WAF, I'm a Vietnam-era vet) and it was drummed into me from an early age that you don't leave anyone behind.

Obviously obama and hillary don't subscribe to that point of view.

Anyway, I ran across the following that puts a little bit of a different spin on things.

This should make even liberals understand why Benghazi bothers us so.

We have a report the president is being threatened and his convoy is being targeted.

We need to minimize security so as not to provoke those threatening him.

Okay, now we've got a report that an attack is imminent.

Okay, disarm the secret service!  Move security out!

We have a report the president's been shot! Repeat, the president's been shot!

Stand down all secret service!  We don't want to provoke the attackers!  One of the Secret Service intervenes and is apprehended by another Secret Service agent to prevent him from protecting the president.

Now, put out a press release that this attack was prompted by a youtube video and arrest the maker of the video.

Meanwhile one of the staff says "The president's already dead, what difference does it make? Can we move on!?"

And that - is exactly what happened in Benghazi.

Obama has a lot to answer to God for but I hope for now he answers to the American people and is removed.

Amen, brother.

Told You So

Following up my most recent post about how nothing meaningful will come out of the Benghazi hearings, I offer the following to buttress my position.

Today’s Benghazi hearing had many dramatic moments and added significantly to our knowledge of that disaster. For example, we now know that there were multiple instances when special ops would-be rescuers were told to stand down...

...the Obama administration treated the security of our diplomats and others in Libya in a grossly cavalier manner, which led directly to the deaths of our ambassador and three more Americans. Further, it is obvious that Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Susan Rice and others lied about the Benghazi travesty, weirdly blaming it on a YouTube video maker–who, by the way, is in prison at this moment as a convenient scapegoat–rather than acknowledging that al Qaeda had scored a major success.

No informed person doubts any of this. Democrats don’t want to talk about it, but they don’t try to deny it, either. So as usual, the political consequences of Benghazi depend on the vast sea of low-information voters...

The question is whether Benghazi will break out into the broader culture. Will low-information Americans, who likely don’t know that Libya is in North Africa, have their attention drawn to Benghazi? Will the scandal be featured on Yahoo!, in People magazine, at TMZ, and so on? These sorts of outlets are the channels through which most Americans get their news. Will the liberals who run most, if not all, of these popular outlets choose to spread the word about the Obama administration’s Benghazi disaster?

It will be a few days before we know the answer for sure, but so far indications are not promising. Today’s two big news stories were 1) the rescue of three women from a house in Cleveland where they had been held prisoner for a decade, and 2) the first-degree murder conviction of Jodi Arias. For the average American, Benghazi was not even a footnote compared to these major stories. Not to mention the NBA and NHL playoffs and major league baseball. If you were one of the many millions of people who accessed Yahoo’s main page today, did you see anything about Benghazi? No. Kim Kardashian’s pregnancy, yes; about Benghazi, nothing.

General agreement on the facts. General disinterest on the part of the masses.

Take another look at the heading of this blog:

"We have met the enemy, and he is us."

Sigh...

It Ain't Gonna Happen

The Benghazi hearings kicked off today. I believe to the core of my being that obama and hillary are directly responsible for the deaths of those four Americans who were killed during a terrorist attack (yes, a terrorist attack - not a spontaneous demonstration against a video that got out of hand). barry and hillary are morally unfit to hold office in this country. Outside of winning the lottery, nothing would make me happier than to see them get their just deserts. But it ain't gonna happen, for three reasons.

1. The mainstream media has a vested interest in keeping both of them in power. The media dupes will smear anyone who dares challenge the party line of what happened. They will spin, obfuscate, and flat-out cover up facts that are damaging to their little darlings. And if by any chance things reach the point where the 'i' word (impeachment) is mentioned, stand by for a barrage of "racist" mud-slinging.

2. There is a pronounced lack of outrage amongst the general public. Oh sure, many if not most of the folks you and I know are sickened and disgusted by the whole sordid mess. But a large percentage of the population doesn't care what happened to a bunch of strangers a long time ago in a land far, far away, as long as their welfare checks arrive on time and American Idol isn't pre-empted by congressional hearings.

3. There is no organized group pressing to find the truth. The republicans find themselves on the defensive on many fronts (gun control, immigration reform, gay marriage, to name just a few). Republican leaders (if such creatures exist) are busy trying to figure out how they lost the 2012 presidential election, and how to bring together moderates, conservatives, and libertarian-leaning factions for future elections. They have little time and political capital to spare on impeaching obama, no matter how much he deserves it.

So I'm just going to crack open a beer, sit back, and enjoy the show, because that's all it is - kabuki theater that will follow a strictly controlled script to a predetermined outcome.

I hope I'm wrong, but I'm not holding my breath...

Shoot Me Now

I ran across this article yesterday. Needless to say, it sent a shiver down my spine.

A Bill-Hillary ticket in 2016 has many Democrats excited...

Since the 2012 election ended, the questions have begun about whether Hillary Clinton would parlay her experience in the Senate and as Secretary of State into a presidential run. Bill Clinton of course would be barred from running again, but many people see him as a de-facto running mate for Hillary with a wealth of experience and contacts.

De-facto running mate, or actually on the ticket as the official Vice Presidential nominee? That would raise a whole host of issues, not the least of which would be a constitutional question as to what would happen if Hillary died in office and Bill, as Veep, was next in line to become prez.

If a Bill-Hillary 2016 run were to happen, the former Secretary of State would likely enter the race as the favorite. A poll from Quinnipiac University found that Clinton would defeat any Republican challengers, in hypothetical presidential matchups, including rising GOP star Chris Christie.

“Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton would start a 2016 presidential campaign with enormous advantages,” said the polling institute’s assistant director Peter Brown. “She obviously is by far the best known, and her more than 20 years in the public spotlight allows her to create a very favorable impression on the American people.”

While the possibility of a  Bill Hillary 2016 run has Democrats excited, in reality it would create a divided party going into Democratic primaries. Vice President Joe Biden is also likely to enter the race, pitting the often overlapping  support bases and fundraising machines of the Clintons and Barack Obama against each other.

Last year I would have salivated at the thought of either Hillary or Bumbling Joe Biden being the 2016 democrat nominee. Either one, I thought, would be toting so much baggage that there's no way they could win.

Then obama got re-elected...

If such an obvious loser can nevertheless scrape together enough votes to win, it's obvious that low-information voters are a greater threat to this country than al-Qaeda.

God help us all...

There Is No End To This Madness

I've been pencil-whipped at golf at few times, so I understand how a pencil in the wrong hands can do some damage.

But...

Two Suffolk (VA) second graders have been suspended for making shooting noises while pointing pencils at each other.

Media outlets report the 7-year-old boys were suspended for two days for a violation of the Suffolk school system’s zero-tolerance policy on weapons.

WEAPONS?!? Since when do pencils equal weapons?

...Suffolk Public Schools spokeswoman Bethanne Bradshaw said a pencil is considered a weapon when it’s pointed at someone in a threatening way and gun noises are made.

Oh. I see. Using that reasoning, a finger could also be considered a weapon.

Bradshaw said the policy ... also bans ... pointing a finger in a threatening manner.

Hey Bradshaw - does that include pointing the middle finger? Because that's what I'm pointing at you and all your pinhead liberal buddies right now.

Idiots...

“When I asked him about it, he said, ‘Well I was being a Marine and the other guy was being a bad guy,’” said Paul Marshall, one of the boys’ fathers. “It’s as simple as that.”

Marshall, a former Marine, said he believes school officials overreacted.

Gee, ya think?

What have we come to when a 7-year-old gets punished for pretending to be a Marine and shooting bad guys? I used to go hunting with a retired marine who was decorated in the Pacific campaign during WWII. I'd love to hear his reaction to this nonsense. I can guarantee it would be succinct, profane, and to the point.

I can also guarantee he would have to be restrained from heading to Suffolk and beating some sense into those fools up there.

Marshall said his son has good grades and no history of being disruptive in class. On the suspension note, the teacher noted that the boy stopped when she told him to do so.

He said school administrators failed to use common sense.

Sadly, that has become the rule instead of the exception in today's society.

According to the Suffolk School System, this is a deadly weapon.

Flag Stomping For Fun And Profit

Earlier this year a South Carolina high school teacher resigned under fire after he stomped on an American flag as part of a class lesson.

Today he was given $85,000 "to avoid a legal challenge."

The payment is on top of Compton’s salary that will be paid through June 7, even though he has been out of the classroom since December. School officials did not provide Compton’s salary Monday, but their plan pays teachers with his 12 years’ experience $43,340 to $59,647 a year.

... taxpayers also will foot the bill for more than $31,500 in attorney fees, records obtained by The State newspaper under a state Freedom of Information Act request show.

The $85,000 payment was described as “a compromise and resolution of disputed claims,” the records say.

In accepting the payment, Compton agreed not to pursue a legal challenge to how school officials sought his dismissal by seeking damages for claims that include defamation, emotional distress and breach of contract.

Compton’s resignation is not an admission of wrongdoing, and he is guaranteed a letter of recommendation for future employment, records say.

He also is free to seek unemployment benefits...

Of course he is. He'll probably also get a free obamaphone.

Heck, if I'd known I could get a bundle of cash for flag-stomping during class I'd have tap-danced all over this rag...

The War Hits Home

U.S. military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan is winding down. It reminds me so much of the final days of the Vietnam war - the casualty rate was decreasing, the public was losing interest, and no one wanted to be the last person to die in what had become a stagnant, if not failing, conflict.

I see many of the same symptoms today. Thankfully, American casualties have decreased to the point where when there are some, it makes headlines. But the sad, ugly, hidden truth behind those headlines is that each casualty is someone's son, husband, father, brother, loved one.

That truth hit home last Friday when a young man from our community died in a plane crash 'over there.'

Three airmen, including one from Boerne, were killed on Friday when their military aircraft crashed in Kyrgyzstan.

Capt. Mark Tyler Voss, 27, was part of the 93rd Air Refueling Squadron crew from Fairchild Air Force Base southwest of Spokane, Washington.

According to the Department of Defense, Voss and two other airmen were in a KC-135 refueling aircraft that crashed shortly after take off. The refueling plane was headed to Afghanistan.

The Department of Defense identified the other two airmen as Capt. Victoria Pinckney, 27, of Colorado Springs, Colo. and Tech Sgt. Herman Mackey III, 30, from Bakersfield, Calif. 

Voss graduated from Boerne High School in 2004. His parents told KSAT their son was a great kid, loved to fly and was able to fulfill his dreams of becoming a pilot.

Voss' parents said Tyler had dreams of going to the U.S. Air Force Academy, and he not only fulfilled his dreams, but also received a training award for having the highest score in his class on flight check rides. 

Voss' parents also shared a letter from one of his  former co-pilots. In it, he described Tyler as a "bright young co-pilot" who "handled the airplane with a rare deft touch." He (Tyler) "planned the mission with wisdom beyond his few years and reacted to changes in the mission with confidence..."

A more poignant  message was posted on Facebook by a friend of the Voss family.

A dear friend of mine lost her son in our country's service this week. Captain Tyler Voss was killed in the air tanker crash in Kyrgyzstan. Tyler was a 2004 graduate of Boerne High School, after graduation he attended the Air Force Academy and achieved his dreams of becoming an Air Force pilot and serving his country. He and his family attend St. John Lutheran church and I remember him coming with his parents to services whenever he was in town. He often served as an usher or helped his mother with communion. He was a wonderful young man and I would like for his family to know how much we as a community appreciate him. Could you please fly your flag and tie a yellow ribbon around a tree in your front yard in his honor for the next couple of weeks? What a beautiful feeling of love this would be for his parents if this entire town would do this in tribute to their selfless son.

This is a relatively small community - around 9000 or so residents. Most of us who have been here for a while have at least a nodding acquaintance with other old-timers. We know who the Vosses are, we say 'Hi' to them on the street, but we're not close. That doesn't mean we don't share their loss.

For such a small town, we've contributed more than our share of young men and women to the service of our country. We're very proud of that.

U.S AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (2007) The small Texas town of Boerne is making a big presence at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

It's unlikely any town of comparable size has five cadets at the Academy. They include Cadet 1st Class Mark Voss, Cadet 2nd Class Daniel Velo, Cadet 3rd Class Mike Rogers, Cadet 3rd Class Ashley Langston and Cadet 4th Class A.J. Smith.

Most of the cadets were involved with the high school Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, which helped spark their interest to attend the Academy.

When growing up, Cadet 1st Class Mark Voss had a close family friend who was an Air Force Vietnam combat veteran who spoke highly of the Academy and sparked his desire at a very early age to come to the Academy.

"I feel like there's something about the conservative rural culture that really respects military members, that motivates younger people to join," said Cadet's Squadron 36's aeronautical engineering major. "Boerne does have a lot of patriotic roots, especially in the older generations which is evident in Veteran's Day parades, Memorial Park and general flag waving or bumper stickers. I certainly don't feel the same way in say Boulder or Denver."

Graduation beckons.  Then a pilot slot and training.

"As a firstie, it is easier to reflect on my experience here," said Cadet Voss.  I will be graduating soon, but there were times when I wasn't so sure."

"Everyone in Boerne is very supportive of us going to the Academy and always have plenty of questions to ask about it," Cadet Voss said. "At church or in the store people congratulate you a lot and you can tell they receive you in a much different way than my other friends going to college or just working in the area."

There is a movement underway to have residents fly the American flag and tie yellow ribbons around trees in honor of Capt. Voss. Knowing the folks around here, I'm expecting the best.

Godspeed, Captain Voss. May you Rest In Peace. And may a merciful God grant peace to your friends and family.

A Day Late And A Dollar (Or Peso) Short

Most people don't know that back in 1912, Hellmann's mayonnaise was manufactured in England.

In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment scheduled for delivery in Vera Cruz, Mexico, which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York.

This would have been the largest single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mexico.  But as we know, the Titanic did not make it to New York.  The ship hit an iceberg and sank.

The people of Mexico, who were crazy about mayonnaise and were eagerly awaiting its delivery, were disconsolate at the loss.  Their anguish was so great, that they declared a National Day of Mourning.

The National Day of Mourning occurs each year on May 5th and is known, of course, as Sinko De Mayo.

FOD 2013.05.06

New Congressional hearings on the Benghazi debacle begin soon. In my mind there is no doubt that obama and hillary, among others, are guilty at the least of criminal negligence in the deaths of those four Americans, and quite probably dereliction of duty as well. Their non-action in protecting American interests -- and lives -- along with their actions after the fact should have prohibited them from returning to office after the November 2012 elections. Of course, we live under a system where people are considered innocent until proven guilty (at least, if you're not a middle-aged middle-class white conservative veteran), so the elections were held, with disappointing results.

However, there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon. Reports have begun leaking in advance of the hearings "that senior Obama administration officials knowingly misled the country about what had happened in the days following the assaults."

As intelligence officials pieced together the puzzle of events unfolding in Libya, they concluded even before the assaults had ended that al Qaeda-linked terrorists were involved. Senior administration officials, however, sought to obscure the emerging picture and downplay the significance of attacks that killed a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans. The frantic process that produced the changes to the talking points took place over a 24-hour period just one day before Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, made her now-famous appearances on the Sunday television talk shows. The discussions involved senior officials from the State Department, the National Security Council, the CIA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the White House. 

The exchange of emails is laid out in a 43-page report from the chairmen of five committees in the House of Representatives. Although the investigation was conducted by Republicans, leading some reporters and commentators to dismiss it, the report quotes directly from emails between top administration and intelligence officials, and it includes footnotes indicating the times the messages were sent.

Read that last paragraph again. If the media were truly fulfilling their role as unbiased investigators dedicated to searching out the truth, they'd be all over this story like lobbyists on congresscritters. Instead, they're doing their best to dismiss it as partisan politics.

Barack Obama is bloody lucky he’s a Democrat, because if he were a Republican, he’d be in deep trouble right now, close to the brink of extinction.  Only his increasingly pathetic loyal media claque can save him.  It will be interesting to see if they do so at the expense of their own reputations.

But hopefully at some point enough facts -- cold, hard, verifiable, undeniable facts -- will be revealed so that even MSNBC will be forced to report them. Once those facts reach critical mass then we'll see insiders running for cover and tripping all over themselves to make deals.

We are in a fascinating period of unraveling.  Whistleblowers in the defense community are appearing.  I’m sure at State, some are looking over their shoulders, waiting for the “Night of the Long Knives” to begin.  It probably has already.

How far will it go?  We will soon, no doubt, be in the period of “limited hangouts.”  (The attempt by Jay Carney, Obama’s press secretary, to play the “Benghazi happened a long time ago” dodge on Wednesday arguably fits this definition.) Who will be the John Dean, the Erlichman, and Haldeman?  Is “Deep Benghazi Throat” talking at this moment?

I have no idea what the ultimate outcome will be. Some have even speculated about impeachment.

Let's dare to dream, America...

Long Weekend

My wife participates every year in an annual charity event held in our community. People and companies donate goods and services that are then sold via both a silent auction and a live auction. It started off on a small scale. Most of the donated items items were unwanted Christmas presents, unneeded household items, and the like. Over the years it has grown into a major event, with merchandise and services worth thousands of dollars now being donated (a .223 carbine from the local ranch supply store, home remodeling services, spa visits, etc.)

As the auction has become bigger and bigger, so has the social hoopla surrounding it. This year, for example, we went to a pre-party Friday night, another pre-party before the auction Saturday afternoon, the auction itself Saturday night (free beer and wine to get the bidders liquored up), and a golf tournament Sunday morning.

Lots of money was raised for worthy causes, a good time was had by all, and I didn't have to buy a drink all weekend.

But it was one damn long weekend...

Sunday Funnies 2013.05.05

The Rolling Stones kicked off their 50th anniversary tour yesterday in Los Angles. That's not a joke, but maybe it should be...

Keith Richards is rumored to travel to Switzerland twice a year to have his blood changed. The new blood is fresh and toxin free. The old blood has a street value of $60,000 per pint.

A frog goes into a bank and approaches the teller. He can see from her nameplate that her name is Patricia Whack.

'Miss Whack, I'd like to get a $30,000 loan to take a vacation.'

Patty looks at the frog in disbelief and asks his name. The frog says his name is Kermit Jagger, his dad is Mick Jagger, and that it's okay, he knows the bank manager.

Patty explains that he will need to secure the loan with some collateral.

The frog says, 'Sure. I have this' and produces a tiny porcelain elephant, about an inch tall, bright pink and perfectly formed.

Very confused, Patty explains that she'll have to consult with the bank manager and disappears into a back office.

She finds the manager and says 'There's a frog called Kermit Jagger out there who claims to know you and wants to borrow $30,000 and he wants to use this as collateral.'

She holds up the tiny pink elephant. 'I mean, what in the world is this?'

The bank manager looks back at her and says...

.....'It's a knickknack, Patty Whack. Give the frog a loan. His old man's a Rolling Stone.'

Friday Follies Happy Hour 2013.05.03

Willie Nelson's 80th birthday was a couple of days ago. For some reason I missed it...


Hope you had a good time, Willie...

Zero-Tolerance Rules Foil Another Terrorist Plot

Two days ago we posted a story about an Eagle Scout who was arrested, charged with a felony, and kicked out of school because he absentmindedly left his shotgun in the trunk of his car when he went to school.

Today, in another of what is a depressingly familiar series of stories about good kids running afoul of zero-tolerance nonsense, we have this sad saga from Florida.

No one ever expected to see a mug shot from 16-year-old Kiera Wilmot.

The teenager is known among staff for her exemplary record at Bartow High School and her status as a good student.

"She is a good kid," said principal Ron Pritchard. "She has never been in trouble before. Ever."

All of that changed on Monday morning.

The teen is accused of mixing household chemicals in a tiny 8-ounce water bottle, causing the top to pop off, followed by billowing smoke in an small explosion.

The chemicals in question were common bathroom cleaner (active ingredient - HCL, or hyrochloric acid) and aluminum foil. Combining the two creates a chemical reaction that produces heat, light, and smoke. When done in an enclosed container, a small explosion can result from a rapid increase in pressure. It isn't much different than dropping a Mentos breath mint into a bottle of Coca-Cola.

Wilmot's friends and classmates said it was "a science project gone bad, that she never meant to hurt anyone."

Even the teen's principal said, "She made a bad choice. Honestly, I don't think she meant to ever hurt anyone. She wanted to see what would happen [when the chemicals mixed] and was shocked by what it did.

The explosion happened around 7 a.m. Monday morning on school property, and no one was hurt. Staff, along with the school resource officer, acted quickly.

The principal told 10 News, "She told us everything and was very honest. She didn't run or try to hide the truth. We had a long conversation with her."

So, was this curiosity? Was it a science project gone wrong or a true bomb plot? Those who know the teen insist that this was nothing sinister.

"She just wanted to see what happened to those chemicals in the bottle," one teen said.  "Now, look what happened."

Wilmot was arrested Monday morning and charged with possession/discharge of a weapon on school property and discharging a destructive device.

A weapon?!? Bathroom cleaner and tin foil? By all accounts this is a good kid with a little too much curiosity for her own good. No malicious intent, no injuries, no damage. Yet now she has an arrest record and has been expelled from school. Below is a picture of what school administrators consider a budding terrorist.

Good thing we got this obvious threat to public safety off the streets before she did something terrible.

Polk County Schools released this statement today:

"Anytime a student makes a bad choice it is disappointing to us. Unfortunately, the incident that occurred at Bartow High School yesterday was a serious breach of conduct. In order to maintain a safe and orderly learning environment, we simply must uphold our code of conduct rules. We urge our parents to join us in conveying the message that there are consequences to actions. We will not compromise the safety and security of our students and staff."

And we will not substitute judgment and common sense for zero-tolerance rules that we can hide behind.

Idiots...

Using Their Own 'Logic" Against Them

We're all aware of the convoluted reasoning that Chief Justice John Roberts used to justify his (IMO cowardly and mistaken) decision upholding obamacare. By twisting the legislation's wording and torturing the laws of logic, Rogers concluded that obamacare was actually a tax bill, and thus was constitutional.

That justification, however, is now being challenged anew. Rather than attacking the law itself (which I will go to my grave believing is unconstitutional on it's face - how can the government force American citizens to purchase a particular good or service?) a group known as the Pacific Legal Foundation is contending that:

...the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional because the bill originated in the Senate, not the House. Under the Origination Clause of the Constitution, all bills raising revenue must begin in the House.

The Supreme Court upheld most provisions of the act in June, but Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. took pains in the majority opinion to define Obamacare as a federal tax, not a mandate. That was when the Sacramento, Calif.-based foundation’s attorneys had their “aha” moment.

Take a moment to savor the delicious irony if this admittedly long-shot lawsuit prevails.

It would be ironic if the crazy legal hocus-pocus employed to make ObamaCare compatible with the Constitution became its undoing.  ”It’s a tax… no, it’s a penalty… no, it’s a tax…”

We can only hope ... and dream...

This Country Has Lost Its Friggin' Mind

When I came across the following story I couldn't believe it. As you read it keep in mind that this happened in a small town in North Carolina. If something like this can happen there, this country is well and truly lost.

Eagle Scout Cole Withrow was just a few weeks from graduating with honors from his North Carolina high school, but now the active church member is facing a felony weapons charge and a precarious future after accidentally leaving a shotgun in his pickup truck in the school parking lot.

Most members of the Johnston County community, just southeast of Raleigh believe the 18-year-old is paying far too big a price for an honest mistake. Withrow had been skeet shooting with friends a day before, and only noticed he had left his shotgun in his truck on Monday morning as he reached to grab his book bag, said family friend Kimberly Boykin. When he realized his mistake, rather than leave school grounds, he went to the front office to call his mother for help.

“He didn’t know what to do,” Boykin, whose son is friends with Withrow, told Fox News. “If you jump in the truck and leave, then they get you for skipping school. Once you are there you have to say.

“I think it’s an injustice for this young man,” she added. “He’s a good guy. He’s loved by his classmates and his teachers. You don’t become an Eagle Scout by being a bad seed.”

She said the school district is sending a very bad message to students.

“You teach your kids if you’re in trouble or if you see you’ve done something wrong, go ahead and admit it,” she said. “Be a man and it’ll be fixed. In this case, that’s what he did and he’s being punished for it. That’s not the lesson we need to teach our kids.”

Withrow, who did his senior class project on gun safety, locked the gun in his truck before going to call his mother. But when he asked her to come and take the gun, the trouble started.

“He was overheard in a private conversation with his mother explaining what happened,” Boykin said. “He could have told a story, but he told the truth.”

A spokesperson for Johnston County Schools confirmed to Fox News that they found the shotgun in Withrow’s locked vehicle.

“The law is very clear when a person knowingly and willingly brings a weapon onto educational property,” spokesperson Tracey Peedin Jones said. “The situation was turned over to law enforcement immediately.”

Boykin said he was also expelled for 365 days – meaning that he will not be able to graduate from high school.

“He cannot go back on the campus,” Boykin said. “If that happens he won’t get a diploma. He won’t get to walk across the stage with the kids he’s known since birth. He won’t get to start college in the fall.”

Withrow’s arrest has sparked outrage across this small town, southeast of Raleigh. A Facebook page has been launched to generate support for the boy – and students have launched a Twitter hash-tag “#FREECOLE.”

“He is very honest and respectable and would never intentionally try to hurt anyone,” said classmate Kelcie Thomas. “It was an honest mistake and my whole school is backing him up and supporting him fully.”

The Withrow family is not talking to the media on the advice of their attorney – but Boykin said the family is just heartbroken.

“It’s almost like they are in a fog – something so innocent has turned into this big to-do,” she said. “When you try to do the right thing, you get in trouble.”

The school system is standing by their decision.

“Administration reacted promptly and the proper procedures and protocol were followed,” Jones said. “The situation was turned over to law enforcement immediately. As a result of our investigation, it is our best determination that students and staff were safe at all times.”

What a giant load of crap. The administration are spineless idiots. The cops are spineless idiots. All it would have taken was for one person with some common sense and integrity to stand up and say "This is the wrong thing to do." But because those involved are a pack of gutless blind rule-followers, we have an outstanding young person whose life is on the verge of ruin, and a number of other young people who are left with the impression that they next time they make a mistake, they should lie and cover it up.

If they go down that road they'll become politicians, journalists, or school administrators.

Sign Of The Week

 H/T to Jeff at A Nod to the Gods for the image.

The Stupid - It Hurts

It has become an article of faith among pro-Second Amendment folks that more gun laws do nothing to prevent crime, and in fact mostly put law-abiding citizens in a difficult position while being ignored by criminals.

Well, here's some information that injects facts into that argument.

Unknown to many if not most of us engaged in this debate is that the Supreme Court has ruled that criminals - convicted felons - are currently not required to register their firearms. In fact, it seems that they can lie on Form 4473, the U.S. government form that must be completed whenever an individual purchases a firearm from a registered dealer, without fear of prosecution.

That's because, according to Haynes v. United States, felons and others prohibited from possessing firearms are protected by the 5th Amendment against the self-incrimination that would result from them truthfully completing Form 4473 or otherwise registering their firearms. (H/T to Little Annie's Orphans for the link.)

"Haynes, a convicted felon, was convicted of unlawful possession of an unregistered short-barreled shotgun. He argued that for a convicted felon to register a gun was effectively an announcement to the government that he was breaking the law and that registration violated his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination. The court, by an 7-1 margin, agreed..."

I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on television. So please don't take this as gospel. But if there are any lawyers out there I'd be interested in your comments.

In the meantime, isn't it interesting that our political masters are doing their best to ram new gun control laws down our throats, including expanded registration requirements, without bothering to point out that felons are exempt from such laws.

I don' t know if that's due to ignorance, or something more nefarious.

I suspect it's a combination of both...

How The Teenage Mind Works

Insanity is hereditary. You get it from your kids.

I recently stumbled across a letter that a 32-year-old guy wrote to his 18-year-old self. In it, he gave some advice to the teenage version of himself that the 32-y-o version wished he had known way back when. I thought the letter made a lot of sense, so I sent it to my 18-year-old son with the following cover message.

"I know you don't always think I know what I'm talking about, but hopefully you'll listen to a total stranger."

Here's the advice.

Advice to 18-year-old me:

Hit the gym. Just because you’re not the best looking guy doesn’t mean you should give up on being attractive. Weight lifting will help you build confidence and increase your testosterone level so that taking risks literally becomes in your blood.

Cut off the television, internet, and video games. Pick a hobby such as music, writing, languages, sports, or something else that interests you and dedicate one hour per day on it. You’ll be a beast before you even hit 21, where it’ll not only make a positive contribution to your life, but give you the option to take an alternative path.

Read at least two books every month. You don’t know shit about life right now. Hell, you still won’t know a whole lot even when you turn 30. Keep yourself sharp by tapping into the brains of others through their work. Writers have spent hundreds of hours to create books that distill all their knowledge or experience in an easily digestible format. Take advantage of that, and watch your conversational skills increase as a result.

Stop being concerned about what other people think of you. They don’t really care about you. They are so wrapped up in their own insecurities and what you think of them that you’re wasting your energy worrying about impressing them. Be yourself, take risks, try new things, and learn from your mistakes. If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not doing enough.

Here's my son's response.

"If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not doing enough."

Got it. Make more mistakes

Smart-ass kid. He's driving me to drink...

FOD 2013.04.30 Tuesday Version - Part II

Insightful comment from the Wall Street Journal (actually, a reader of the WSJ) regarding the obama's failed sequester, as exemplified by the FAA furlough mess.

So far I haven't seen any commentary on the correlation between Mr. Obama's training as a community organizer and the sequester fiasco. Community organizers' main efforts are to stir up public sentiment to achieve special goals without implementing any solutions. Solutions are the province of someone else. The present administration has used this tactic endlessly, most noticeably with the White House tour shutdown during spring break and now flight-controller furloughs. This is definitely not an effort to solve problems but rather an attempt to stampede citizens to a desired result. We don't need a community organizer in the White House. We need an executive...

Hits the nail square on the head, wot?

FOD 2013.04.30 Tuesday Version - Part I

obama has painted himself into a corner with his big talk about Syria's use of chemical weapons and red lines.

Barack Obama has often warned Syrian leader Bashar Assad about chemical weapons: Wielding them, the president has said, would cross a "red line" and be a "game changer" for U.S. policy, "with enormous consequences."

Now that there are multiple credible reports that the Assad regime has in fact used chemical weapons, barry has to put his money where his mouth is. In his world, "enormous consequences" means a U.N. investigation.

Yeah, that'll teach 'em.

Combine that with the obama administration's empty threats against Iran building nuclear weapons and North Korea testing missiles ("No, no - not more sanctions!"), and the image of America that is being projected around the world is that of an aging, toothless lion.

Now couple that with a weakened military resulting from overuse/overextension, budget cuts, and sequestration, and we are in danger of becoming a laughingstock.

Theodore Roosevelt counseled us to "Walk softly, and carry a big stick."

obama has decided to do the exact opposite - spout a bunch of big talk, while going stickless.

I think Michelle has the big stick in that family...

Words Fail Me

Would someone please explain to me what on God's green earth is so terribly wrong about a kid taking a Swiss Army Knife on a camping trip? (H/T to Moonbattery for the story.)

A 10-year-old California boy was suspended and threatened with expulsion after he brought a Swiss Army Knife on a week-long school school camping trip.

Oh, it happened in California. That explains it.

Tony Bandermann told Fox News that his son Braden was on a science camping trip with his class at Garden Gate Elementary School in Cupertino, Calif.

Bandermann, who was out-of-town on a business trip, said he received a telephone call from the school’s principal informing him that his son had violated the school’s weapons policy. The punishment, she told him, must be immediate and severe.

“She threatened to expel him,” he said. “She kept telling me, ‘you can’t bring a weapon to school.’ A Swiss Army Knife is a tool not a weapon.”

Take a good look at the picture below. It's not even a full-sized knife. It's a mini-Swiss Army Knife. There's no way that thing is a weapon. I think the principal was just pissed off because the knife's corkscrew was too small to open her bottle of wine.

Since he was unable to pick up his son, the principal put the boy in 24-hour isolation at the camp – held in a teacher’s lounge where he was forced to eat and sleep in solitude.

Bandermann said it’s unreal to think that a boy on a hiking and camping trip could get in trouble for having a Swiss Army Knife.

That's not the America I grew up in. Of course, I grew up in TX, not CA - thank God!

Braden is back in school now – but his father is still fuming. He accused the school district of overreacting.

“They’re not teaching critical thinking,” he said. “That’s what she’s teaching these kids – to react on your emotions instead of gathering information.”

Yep, that's how low today's public school system has sunk. Zero tolerance based on emotional knee-jerk reactions, without an iota of common sense.

I weep for the future.

FOD 2013.04.29

The recent defeat in the Senate of ill-conceived gun control legislation has poor barry scratching his head.

“How can something have 90% support and not happen?” asked President Barack Obama on the day the Senate failed to pass even a modest reform of the nation’s gun laws.

The answer to his rhetorical question is simple: it can’t. A Washington Post/Pew Research Center poll showed on Wednesday that the public is far less enraged about the Senate’s failure to pass new gun laws than, say, Joe Scarborough. The poll found that only ... 47 percent were disappointed that the Senate did not pass any new laws ... 39 percent, however, expressed either relief or happiness over the failure to pass new gun laws. Furthermore, a plurality of self-identified independents expressed satisfaction with the fact that no new gun laws were passed.

So how can we explain this? One obvious possibility is that the polls that delivered the 90% figure were flawed - a distinct possibility of polls conducted to further the agenda of a liberal mainstream media.

Another, more meaningful, explanation is that Americans aren't as stupid as the liberal politicians and their media lackeys think they are.

... when it comes to a perceived need for gun control versus the right to own guns, as interpreted by courts in the context of the Second Amendment, Americans seem split on the issue.

About 50 percent of people, in an average of three polls, were concerned that gun-control legislation would take weapons away from them, or believed protection from gun violence was a lesser concern than protecting their Second Amendment rights.

A third explanation is that people are getting tired of obama - tired of his paternal attitude, tired of his smugness and aloofness, and tired of his "the sky is falling" schtick.

Barack Obama is a lame-duck president. Nobody listens to what he says anymore, nobody is interested in winning his approval and nobody much cares if he thinks they have “let the country down”. This is typical for a second-term president who has lost all their leverage because they’re no longer running for office and everybody is patiently waiting for the day when he quits the White House. But Obama's difficult personality has doubled the size of the challenge. Gloating in victory, adolescent in defeat – the Prez doesn’t make it easy to work with him. Why should conservative senators give him a legislative victory after he has spent four years painting them as knuckle-dragging rednecks who hate women and the poor?

Whatever your position on gun control, yesterday’s events are a damning indictment of Obama’s presidency – a flash of style, lots of soaring rhetoric and, when the votes are actually counted, little show for any of it. America has four more years of this lame-duck president telling them that it has let him down. If only he could tear up the Constitution and rule by diktat he might save himself a little disappointment. Alas, American democracy is a stickler for rules.

In truth, the answer is probably a combination of all three. But I sure like the sound of that last one.

Sunday Funnies 2013.04.28

Not much humor today, because last night was our daughter's prom night and I don't feel much like laughing. Just when in the world did she grow up and become a young lady? Last time I looked she was flat-chested, missing a front tooth, had a skinned knee, and didn't like boys.

What the hell happened?

 * * * * * * * * * *

Last night was our teenage daughter's prom night. She spent a fortune getting ready for it. $500 on a new dress, $200 for new shoes, who knows how much at the hair salon and beauty parlor.

When I totaled up all the bills I was shocked. "Wow," I exclaimed. "That's more than I spent to marry your mother."

Her response: “Yeah, well, you've been married three times, but a prom is a once in a lifetime experience.”

 * * * * * * * * * * 
I tried to save some money by tinting the windows on her mother's minivan and telling her it was a limo.

Didn't work...

  * * * * * * * * * *

  * * * * * * * * * *

That last image ain't no joke!

Just sayin'...

Friday Follies Happy Hour 2013.04.26

Country music legend George Jones dies at 81

George Jones, the country music legend whose graceful, evocative voice gave depth to some of the greatest songs in country music -- including "She Thinks I Still Care," "The Grand Tour" and "He Stopped Loving Her Today" -- ... died Friday at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville...

RIP, George. We'll miss you.

Why Professors Drink 2013.04.26

I've just finished slogging through 100+ student research projects. Sadly, they have validated my decision to retire at the end of this semester.

Nothing against the students. They are, for the most part, good kids who appreciate the opportunity they've been given to go to college. They're bright and they work hard. Sure, like most 19 and 20 year-olds, they think they know more than they do, they try to get away with doing as little work as possible, and they can be little smart-asses at times. But that's no different than you or I were at that age.

No, the sad – and frustrating – part is seeing how ill-prepared they are for college. These particular students are mostly juniors.

Juniors in college, and as you'll see below, they still have difficulty expressing themselves clearly and appropriately.

Part of the problem is regional. The university where I work is located in one of the poorest regions of the state. Most of the residents are poor, Hispanic, and undereducated. Most of my students are the first ones in their family to go to college. They grew up in homes with no native English speakers, and parents who struggled to graduate from high school (if they did manage to graduate at all). They have no role models, and no one to turn to for help or support. They don't know what they don't know.

Since most of them grew up in Spanish-speaking households, most of them are bilingual – sort of. A local joke says that being bilingual in South Texas means that you speak two languages poorly. There's a lot of truth in that.

Another problem is the local school districts. Like most public school districts, over time their focus has shifted from educating to warehousing and 'feel-good' programs. Standards and expectations have been progressively (and I use that word advisedly) lowered over the years, to the point where students can graduate without the ability to write a coherent paper.

The university is not without blame either. How did these kids come to be in my class – juniors in college, remember – without that ability? Or the ability to reason, think critically, problem-solve, and all the other skills they will need to be truly successful?

Sigh…

Anyway, I didn't start writing this post intending to vent about the state of today's educational system. I just wanted to share with you a little bit of my soon-to-be-former world.

Read 'em and weep.

 * * * * * * * * * *

From a paper comparing tablets and smart phones. Here's this student's perspective on one disadvantage of tablets.

A big disadvantage is, well, personally, its bulkiness. I mean really. Nobody has pockets that big unless you’re a girl with a purse.

* * * * * * * * * *

On the use of databases by the military:

The data used by the military is not used in a common sense matter. 

Actually, this kid may be on to something.

* * * * * * * * * *

For all of you out there who are concerned that liberal college professors are indoctrinating their students, take heart. I try to provide an alternative perspective. Here's what one of my students had to say.

The question to ask is “why would people be at risk”? The answer is simple, as I learned in class. Our government likes to control things.

* * * * * * * * * *

On the other hand, I try, but I can't convince them all.

Just last year we had a presidential election in which the incumbent won because the challenger was too risky to put into office.

* * * * * * * * * *

Someone's been watching too many TV shows about paranormal events.

But what happens to our email once we're gone? As in deceased?

* * * * * * * * * *

Right idea, but not very well expressed.

Indeed it would be a devastating fact that some large bank would be hacked since money no longer is put in the form of money.

* * * * * * * * * *

Right idea, but not very well expressed – part two.

As our technology advances, it simply starts to disappear.

* * * * * * * * * *

Someone really, really needs to use spell-check.

A once-shittered warehouse is now a state-of-the art lab...

* * * * * * * * * *

And someone needs to forget that creative writing class.

Most definitely I learned that to be technologically relevant companies have to be always innovative and not sit on the ghosts of past triumphs.

* * * * * * * * * *

Oh well, that's the last time I'll have to perform this particular chore. Now it's time to add a little Kahlua to my morning coffee and get a preview of life after retirement...

YHGTBSM

I've checked a couple of different sources, and this seems to be legit.

Williams-Sonoma Pulls Pressure Cookers Off Shelves

Williams-Sonoma, the specialty retailer of home furnishings and gourmet cookware with over 250 stores in the United States, has pulled pressure cookers from their shelves following the Boston Marathon bombing.

Seriously...?

A Blow To The Head

Jesus H. Christ on a bicycle. Now some babbling liberal moonbat is questioning whether the Boston Marathon bombing was somehow caused by the fact that the older, deader brother was a Golden Gloves boxer.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev is telling no tales. The older of the two brothers who committed the Boston Marathon bombings was likely the one who planned the attack, but when he died in a shootout with police just days after the blasts, his thoughts and motivations vanished with him.

But the brain that was home to his angry mind remains, and in this case that may mean something.

Tsarnaev was an amateur boxer who won the New England Golden Gloves competition as recently as 2009 and 2010. That speaks to a young man with a healthy sense of discipline and focus, and if he had a violent streak, it was violence well-channeled.

But his sport of choice suggests the possibility of something else too: traumatic brain injury.

As the National Football League and other pro sports increasingly reckon with the early dementia, mental health issues, suicides and even criminal behavior of former players, the risk of what's known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), is becoming clear.

It was inevitable, then, that questions would be raised about whether Tsarnaev's brain may have been similarly traumatized during the years he boxed, and if there had indeed been damage, did that spark his murderous behavior?

I played football, and had my bell rung more than once. I used to ride dirt bikes, and experienced a few spectacular spills. I've trained in martial arts, and been smacked around pretty good. I've been thrown from a horse and knocked unconscious. I've been in a car wreck and suffered a fractured skull. My official concussion count is four, and I'm sure there were several more that went undiagnosed. My poor old brain has been shaken, rattled, and rolled. While there might be some who question my mental status, I have yet to go out and blow up people.

Since the bombing required premeditation, planning, and foresight, that would rule out the impulsiveness, situational anger, and paranoia that is typical of CTE. A much more likely explanation, as dictated by Occam’s Razor ("the simpler the explanation, the better"), is that the brothers Tsarnaev became radicalized islamists, and like all radicalized islamists are violently opposed to the United States of America and everything we stand for.

Here’s another point of view that the apologists who feel sorry for those poor, misguided brothers should think about. Maybe they should be held accountable for their own actions.

Don't Even Think About It...

... you worthless hypocritical dirtbags.

Lawmakers, aides may get Obamacare exemption

Congressional leaders in both parties are engaged in high-level, confidential talks about exempting lawmakers and Capitol Hill aides from the insurance exchanges they are mandated to join as part of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, sources in both parties said.

The talks — which involve Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), the Obama administration and other top lawmakers — are extraordinarily sensitive, with both sides acutely aware of the potential for political fallout from giving carve-outs from the hugely controversial law to 535 lawmakers and thousands of their aides. Discussions have stretched out for months, sources said.

I've just about had it with those sleazy weasels. We have a solution in these parts for skunks like them

A tall tree and a short rope...

Count Your Blessings

Our long national nightmare continues...

The IRS will issue official furlough notices next week to employees detailing that the agency will be closed for five days with unpaid leave for workers this summer because of the sequester.

Of course, the government and the union goons have to make it look like it's negatively affecting us taxpayers.

“On these days, phones calls to the IRS will go unanswered and Taxpayer Assistance Centers across the country will have ‘closed’ signs in their windows,” Colleen M. Kelley said. “I believe this is an unprecedented event that leaves taxpayers out in the cold.”

BFD. Those idiots can't provide the correct answers anyway.

There is speculation that the furloughs could result in fewer audits this year. A report released earlier this week by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse shows audit rates dipped 5.3% last year and could fall even more this year with less personnel available.

And this is a bad thing?!?

Hillary Lied, People Died

Sharyl Attkisson, one of the few journalists operating today who is worthy of that title, has tweeted a few teasers about a soon to be released congressional report detailing Hillary Clinton's duplicitous role in the attacks on our consulate in Benghazi and subsequent deaths of American citizens.

Unsurprisingly, the report indicates that hillary's testimony was "incorrect."

Congressional Report: Secy Clinton's testimony to Congress was incorrect when claiming she was unaware of certain Benghazi security requests.

If you or I gave "incorrect" testimony, we would be charged with perjury.

In other words, hillary lied.

It must run in the family... 

Reflections On Boston

In the aftermath of the tragic and bizarre happenings throughout last week in Boston, it's time to engage in that time-honored American tradition of second-guessing.

I'm not going to venture into the morass of whether or not DHS and the FBI should have known about and taken action to prevent the bombings. Too many unknowns, too much political maneuvering and covering up.

Nor will I get into the implications for immigration reform. If we are honest with ourselves, that can of worms is primarily concerned with people from Mexico, Central, and South America. Granted, the entire system needs massive reform, but the bombers came here as kids, were legitimate legal immigrants, and in the case of the younger one actually became a U.S. citizen.

Rather, I will focus on the implications and consequences of the bombing for our civil liberties. Days after the bombing, obama thumped his chest and proclaimed "We don't cower in fear." Less than 24 hours later, a major American metropolitan area was in lockdown, and its residents were told to "shelter in place." If that's not cowering in fear it's the closest thing to it.

What does it say if Americans further cut back on basic freedoms in response to last week's bombings? And do any of us seriously think we won't?

Of course we will. We've been surrendering liberty in the hope of keeping ourselves safe for the past decade. The marathon bombings will hasten our surrender of freedom from the watchful eye of law enforcement. The Boston Globe is already clamoring for additional surveillance cameras, which are sure to be installed to the applause of a great many Bostonians. You can rationalize increased surveillance as a necessary or reasonable intrusion on liberty, but you can't deny its intrusiveness, or inevitable abuses.

The threat of the U.S. becoming a surveillance state is just the beginning.

There are similar worries related to the door-to-door warrantless searches conducted by heavily armed -- in fact, militarized -- police (go here for a relatively calm discussion and defense of them, and here for a more opinionated condemnation).

Police or the military? hard to tell the difference.

American citizen rousted from his home at gunpoint. No warrant required.

Another topic is the lack of a Miranda warning given to the surviving suspect. I had no idea that there are exceptions to Mirandizing suspects -- I guess I've watched too many Law & Order episodes -- but apparently there are.

What really concerns me about all these issues is the cumulative effect they have on our basic freedoms. Pick your metaphor -- slippery slope; camel's nose under the tent; the drip, drip, drip of steady erosion -- but taken as a whole there can be little doubt they are diminishing our liberty.

I was a Boy Scout in my youth. I learned many things as a scout, but the one that made the greatest impression on me was the dictum to always leave things when we left better than they were when we arrived. If we had a troop meeting in a room or building we would clean it before we left. If we went camping we would always make some improvement to the area before packing up and heading for home. I've tried to apply that at all times in my personal life, and to instill that spirit in my kids. I like to think I've had some degree of success on both fronts.

But I fear I'm failing on the larger scale. I honestly do not think I will be able to go to my grave saying I've left my country in better shape than when I was born. And it's not for lack of trying.

That saddens me...

Welcome Home

This is the way all our troops should be welcomed home! (Make sure you scroll down to the bottom of the picture.)

(H/T Abby Normal)