Truth Revealed...

I have another family dinner to head off to here in a few minutes.

Before I go, I wanted to leave you with something so disturbing, and so profound, it will change your lives forever. It was sent to me some years ago and I can assure you I've never looked at the world the in the same way since learning this truth. I know there will be some detractors come out of the woodwork; there always are. The simple fact, however, is that if you take the lessons that you're about to learn, the information that is forthcoming, and use it in your daily interactions, you WILL see the world in an entirely new light.

I'm going to sign now so that the message is not disturbed, for this is highly important information that needs to be shared.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

EXCERPTS FROM A DOG'S DIARY


Day number 180

8:00 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!

9:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!

9:40 am - OH BOY! A WALK! MY FAVORITE!

10:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!

11:30 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!

12:00 noon - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!

1:00 pm - OH BOY! THE YARD! MY FAVORITE!

4:00 pm - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!

5:00 PM - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!

5:30 PM - OH BOY! MOM! MY FAVORITE!


Day number 181


8:00 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!

9:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!

9:40 am - OH BOY! A WALK! MY FAVORITE!

10:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!

11:30 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!

12:00 noon - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!

1:00 pm - OH BOY! THE YARD! MY FAVORITE!

4:00 pm - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!

5:00 PM - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!

5:30 PM - OH BOY! MOM! MY FAVORITE!


Day number 182


8:00 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!

9:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!

9:40 am - OH BOY! A WALK! MY FAVORITE!

10:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!

11:30 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!

12:00 noon - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!

1:00 pm - OH BOY! THE YARD! MY FAVORITE!

1:30 pm - ooooooo. bath. bummer.

4:00 pm - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!

5:00 PM - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!

5:30 PM - OH BOY! MOM! MY FAVORITE!


EXCERPTS FROM A CAT'S DIARY


DAY 752 - My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling
objects They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while I am forced to eat dry
cereal. The only thing that keeps me going is the hope of escape, and the
mild satisfaction I get from ruining the occasional piece of furniture.
Tomorrow I may eat another houseplant.

DAY 761 - Today my attempt to kill my captors by weaving around their
feet while they were walking almost succeeded, must try this at the top of the
stairs. In an attempt to disgust and repulse these vile oppressors, I
once again induced myself to vomit on their favourite chair... must try this
on their bed.

DAY 765 - Decapitated a mouse and brought them the headless body, in
attempt to make them aware of what I am capable of, and to try to strike
fear into their hearts. They only cooed and condescended about what a
good little cat I was...Hmmm. Not working according to plan.

DAY 768 - I am finally aware of how sadistic they are. For no good reason
I was chosen for the water torture. This time however it included a
burning foamy chemical called "shampoo." What sick minds could invent
such a liquid. My only consolation is the piece of thumb still stuck between
my teeth.

DAY 771 - There was some sort of gathering of their accomplices. I was
placed in solitary throughout the event. However, I could hear the noise
and smell the foul odour of the glass tubes they call "beer.." More
importantly I overheard that my confinement was due to MY power of
"allergies." Must learn what this is and how to use it to my advantage.

DAY 774 - I am convinced the other captives are flunkeys and maybe
snitches. The dog is routinely released and seems more than happy to
return. He is obviously a half-wit. The bird on the other hand has got to
be an informant, and speaks with them regularly. I am certain he reports
my every move. Due to his current placement in the metal room his safety
is assured. But I can wait, it is only a matter of time...


.

Maybe He Saw the Thing on the Wing?

Great old classic Twilight Zone episode, wasn't it? You remember, the one with William Shatner on the aiplane, and he saw the thing out on the plane's wing?

Probably NOT the case with this obviously upset young man in this incident:

Psycho tries to open jet door in air

BY DORIAN BLOCK and BRENDAN BROSH
DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Sunday, August 26th 2007, 4:00 AM

Quick-thinking passengers and crew members managed to subdue a deranged man who tried to open an airplane door thousands of feet in the air on a flight to New York yesterday.

"There was a lot of panic," said passenger Bobby Vigil, who sat next to the man for most of the flight and later helped restrain him with duct tape and seat belts. "He tried to open the back door of the plane. He really wanted out at 30,000 feet."

Port Authority police met Frontier Airlines Flight 514 from Denver when it landed safely at LaGuardia Airport shortly before 6 a.m. After determining the culprit was emotionally disturbed, they took him to Elmhurst Hospital Center, Port Authority spokesman Pasquale DiFulco said. He was not charged.

(...)

Vigil said the crazed man was bouncing up and down in his seat for most of the flight, clutching several boarding passes and kicking the row in front of him.

"He was playing with his hair, picking at his face and counting his fingers," said Vigil, 45, of Estes Park, Colo. "I thought he was anxious to get home or something."

(...)

"I heard the flight attendant say, 'Help me!'" Vigil said. A struggle broke out, and Vigil and two other male passengers rushed over to help the attendant restrain the passenger.

"We taped him up in an 'X' pattern," said Vigil. "He wouldn't stay still or cooperate."

The man, whose name was not released, attempted to bite the tape off his hands and feet. Extension belts were used to keep him in place as the plane prepared to land, Vigil said.

My questions here are these (if you read me regularly, you KNOW I have them) "Was there no indication BEFORE this man got on the plane? Was he acting normally prior to the flight? If there were indications that he was disturbed prior to the flight, why was he allowed on board to begin with?

Or maybe he DID see Shatner's wing rider...

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

.

Here we go again...

(Sigh)

Arizona School Suspends 13-Year-Old Boy for Drawing Gun

MESA, Arizona — Officials at an Arizona school suspended a 13-year-old boy for sketching what looked like a gun, saying the action posed a threat to his classmates.

The boy's parents said the drawing was a harmless doodle and school officials overreacted.

"The school made him feel like he committed a crime. They are doing more damage than good," said the boy's mother, Paula Mosteller.

The drawing did not show blood, bullets, injuries or target any human, the parents said. And the East Valley Tribune reported that the boy said he did not intend for the picture to be a threat.

Administrators of Payne Junior High in nearby Chandler suspended the boy on Monday for five days but later reduced it to three days.

Don't let them draw farm animals, either. There's no TELLING what they might have on their minds. Why, they might even imagine having fried chicken if they draw poultry. OR WORSE YET! For the love of PEACE don't let them draw any PIGS! We might offend some members of that peace loving religion that doesn't eat pork...



heh.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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Random Thoughts

Global Jihad

I suppose it's no secret now, except maybe to the extreme left in this country, that Radical Islam has declared war on the West. It boggles my mind how that the left can look at what is being said, HEAR what is being said, see what is being done, and refuse to acknowledge that our way of life is under attack. With two attacks on the World Trade Center, one which completely and utterly destroyed it, they stick their heads in the sand and pretend that it will all just go away if we stop our operations in the Middle East and come home. Do they honestly believe that those who wish to see us DEAD or subjected will stop just because we withdraw our troops? The stated GOAL of these people is to see the United States and Israel FALL. Are they so used to lying that they think everyone does it? Are they so blind to the fact that the stated GOAL of the Jihad is global Islam? Or is this what they want, hoping that there will be some sort of "special place for them" for their help in making this happen? Makes you wonder. I can't get over some of our retired generals with their criticisms of our involvements, our operations that ARE WORKING in securing the area; where are the Patton's, the Eisenhower's, the Bradley's of our time? Where is Stormin' Norman? Where ARE our heroes?

Superman where are you now?

We need heroes. We need someone to believe in, someone to look up to, someone to give us hope. Humankind is geared to a belief in something stronger than ourselves, something bigger, something more than what we are as individuals. Our own awareness of our mortality lends us to a belief in something bigger than mankind, something supernatural, something "beyond the strength of mortal man." Many people turn to religions for this, others turn to friends, some to individuals in the media. Unfortunately, we seem to be choosing the wrong people as the focus of our attentions...

Paris and Lindsey who?

I can't begin to tell you how SICK I am of hearing about Paris Hilton. WHAT has she done that has been in ANY way productive to society? Lindsey Lohan, Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears, I feel the same way about them. Britney Spears goes off the deep end, shaves her head, gets locked up in rehab, and she's praised for it? WHAT is WRONG with people that THIS is what we look to as "role models?" I certainly hope my OWN daughter doesn't try to emulate these "ladies." I hope she wants better for herself than infamy, because in my mind, to call this "being famous" is a horrible concept. Pacman Jones, don't think you've escaped my eye either just because you're not female. Your behavior has been appalling, disgusting, and out of control. You've yet to behave like a man.

The "Fairness Doctrine"

When a liberal complains "it isn't fair," you can rest assured that they've been defeated and are whining about how it was done. This is especially true concerning the radio waves. Air America failed miserably. No ammount of money that George Soros has pumped into it has helped. Why? The people who listen to talk radio don't WANT liberal hosts to listen to. They want to hear conservative talk hosts. Market after market has shown this over and over again. Larry King's radio show? History. Al Franken? Crash and burn. Laura Ingraham, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, G. Gordon Liddy? All thriving with growing audiences. What does this say about what people want to hear? I think it's obvious, personally. To institute the "fairness doctrine" would be completely and totally unfair to the American public, forcing them to endure periods where they would be turning OFF their radios and not listening rather than being force fed something they don't want to hear. As a talk radio listener myself, I know that the minute I hear that tripe come on I'm changing stations or slipping in a CD.

Double Standards

George W. Bush is under fire for the firing of a number of U.S. Attorney's. The Democratic controlled Congress is issuing subpeonas and demanding investigations. Where were they when Janet Reno fired EVERY U.S. Attorney during Bill Clinton's presidency? Where was the outrage? Where were the demands for explanations? Look back at things over the past few decades. The backbiting and posturing of BOTH sides of the aisle is unbelievable. "I can do such and such, but we're not letting you get by with it, no sir, no way, no HOW." It amazes me how that politicians are so willing to point fingers and accuse each other of wrong doing, only to act shocked and amazed when their own dirty laundry is aired. And the public is so willing to IGNORE wrong doing, depending on who the culprit is. Hillary Clinton is probably one of the most scandelized Senators to have ever been sworn into office. She flipflops constantly, she has no shame in changing her story to suit the moment, and she's applauded as being "brilliant." The only thing I see "brilliant" about Mrs. Clinton is her ability to lie through her teeth and point the finger of blame at others while she's as guilty as sin of the same and worse. This is the norm for several members of our government, Hillary Clinton is the main one that comes to mind at this writing, especially given her obviously Marxist leanings...

The Common Good

What, exactly, is the "common good?" According to Hillary Clinton, it means equalizing things to the point where the rich are no longer rich and the poor have more money. Think I'm wrong? Go find some of her statements. Go find some of her speeches. Listen to her when she speaks. "It takes a village?" It takes a family, not the entire neighborhood. If I caught a neighbor punishing my child for something rather than letting me know that they had done something, there would be HELL to pay. "The common good" is a way of pressing for more tax money from YOUR paycheck. More of YOUR money being put into public coffers for more public programs run by the government which will waste more of YOUR money. How much more money can you stand to pay in in taxes? Look at your paystub sometime. Look at how much you are actually paid as compared to how much you bring home after taxes. Then take a look at how much you pay in sales taxes. Fuel taxes. Property taxes. Wheel taxes. Can you think of anything else they
can tax you for? They can...

Doing the work of the people

Why do we send people into government in the first place? To make laws, to do what we need them to do for us. What exactly is that, anyway? Do we NEED more laws? How many laws do we already have, anyway? Does anyone know? Why do we constantly need to have new laws passed? I'll confess that from time to time things come up that do need handling, yes, but to constantly bombard us with new laws? Is this freedom? Is this the "will of the people?" Just this last week the people had to FIGHT their senators to make them shoot down a piece of bad legislation, this illegal amnesty bill that was being pushed through. I'll refer you back to talk radio for this one, because talk radio made the public aware of it, along with the internet, via blog sites like ours. The dinosaur media didn't report on it, not in any detail. Now ask yourself this; how much other bad legislation has been passed that you don't know about? How many
CONTRADICTORY laws have been passed? How many that are direct violations of the Constitution? I'll give you a little hint, every law restricting gun ownership by private law abiding citizens could be taken as being unconstitutional. There is NOTHING in the Constitution that allows for an income tax. The overWHELMING reach of the federal goverment is in direct violation of the Constitution. So what can we, as citizens, do about it?

Taking a stand

The first thing individual citizens can do to retake control of their government, OUR government, is to STOP being ignorant of what our government is doing. STOP relying on the nightly news and the daily newspaper to keep you informed. STOP paying MORE attention to Paris, Lindsey, Jessica, Pacman and the rest instead of what's going on at your city council or county commission. Do you KNOW who your city council and county commission members are? The running of this country belongs to US, the citizens. It's time we the people ran our government again.

Who is John Galt?

Ayn Rand created this catch phrase in her novel, Atlas Shrugged. The character, John Galt, set out to "stop the engine that runs the world." He succeeded. How? By going around to different people in key positions in industry and showing them how that they were being taken advantage of, and convincing them to walk away and live for themselves, not for others. He established a place where they could go and do what they loved to do without the constraints of government, a government that was robbing them of their creativity and individuality. Their oath upon entering Galt's private world? "I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine." Isn't that a great concept? That
our lives belong to us, and not to others? It brings to mind a great sense of purpose to be the rugged individuals that made our country great to begin with, instead of the whining, sniveling, mooching looters that are trying to infect our country now. There was even a message for these people from the album "Hell Freezes Over..."


Get Over It

Often we hear a song on the radio that catches our ear. Most of the time we don't really pay that much attention to the words, even if they convey a specific theme or message. One of my favorite songs of all time that conveys a message is one by The Eagles, entitled "Get Over It."

In my mind, this song gives a very clear message about the feelings of a great many of us in regards to what we see and hear on television today.

Get Over It

The Eagles

I turn on the tube and what do I see
A whole lotta people cryin' 'Don't blame me'
They point their crooked little fingers ar everybody else
Spend all their time feelin' sorry for themselves
Victim of this, victim of that
Your momma's too thin; your daddy's too fat

Get over it
Get over it
All this whinin' and cryin' and pitchin' a fit
Get over it, get over it

You say you haven't been the same since you had your little crash
But you might feel better if I gave you some cash
The more I think about it, Old Billy was right
Let's kill all the lawyers, kill 'em tonight
You don't want to work, you want to live like a king
But the big, bad world doesn't owe you a thing

Get over it
Get over it
If you don't want to play, then you might as well split
Get over it, Get over it

It's like going to confession every time I hear you speak
You're makin' the most of your losin' streak
Some call it sick, but I call it weak

You drag it around like a ball and chain
You wallow in the guilt; you wallow in the pain
You wave it like a flag, you wear it like a crown
Got your mind in the gutter, bringin' everybody down
Complain about the present and blame it on the past
I'd like to find your inner child and kick its little ass

Get over it
Get over it
All this bitchin' and moanin' and pitchin' a fit
Get over it, get over it

Get over it
Get over it
It's gotta stop sometime, so why don't you quit
Get over it, get over it

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man


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Thought and Modern Man

In the generations following the New Deal era of the FDR administration, and the free love culture of the flower child generation, we find ourselves today in a situation in which thought, reason, and rationality have found themselves having been replaced by feelings and emotions. Rational thought is no longer taken into account when one is dealing with the situations that face modern society, what has become more important than the reason behind what motivates the individual is not the thought process of the individuals mind, but the feelings that the individual experienced while in the process of performing an act, be it for the benefit or detriment of self or others.

Our society is driven now by feelings, speed, and convenience than by reason or thought. In our quest for convenience, we have made for ourselves, as a society, a culture of drones who work in jobs that require no thought, no reasoning skills, only the ability to press a few buttons with not words, but pictures upon them when ringing up a sale at a fast food restaurant. And somehow, the order the customer places invariably winds up to be incorrect even with the ease and convenience of having the job all but done for the workers running the machinery. It is only in the higher quality and higher caliber restaurants that one can find the service that is both well planned and the waitresses and waiters seem to take pride in their ability to remember a customers order with few mistakes, and the chefs able to complete an order on time without it not being prepared in a manner not to the customers ultimate satisfaction.

We have taken this fast food industry approach in regards to our fuel and transportation needs, as well. The garage with the attendant who is there to fill the gas tank of the customer, check the air in the tires, wash the windows, and check the oil is rarely to be found anymore amongst the quick marts, 7-11’s, mini marts, and such. Even the major fuel distributors in large cities have abandoned the full service gas station in favor of the convenience store, a place where the customer can fuel up their car, pick up a soft drink, a snack from the deli, a pack of cigarettes if (gods help them should the politically correct elitists see them) the customer happens to need a fresh pack. But woe unto the traveler who has a fan belt or radiator hose to break or rupture while on their journey, for the gas station is no longer an option, the driver will have to find an automotive specialist to do the repair work, after scheduling an appointment and having to wait for the wrong part to be sent, returned, and the right part to arrive. And please, don’t expect the staff at these stores to be happy to see the customer come in and do business; after all, someone owes them these jobs, but that doesn’t mean that there should be any work involved, or at least that seems to be the attitude of a great many.

Yet we love our modern conveniences, and rightly so. Technology has brought about such marvels as high definition television, high speed digital communications, and a great deal of other things for modern people to use for their personal enjoyment. It has improved modern medicine to the point where it is no longer a Stone Age practice of divination, but a science. Technology has also enabled the world of production to increase it’s output to a point unheard of during the industrial revolution, and has eased the workday of the modern factory worker considerably from the conditions of early factories, making the speed and efficiency of modern production a thing that modern industrialists should view with pride and a sense of accomplishment when running a line to produce their products. Yet government regulations have so choked the production industry, and taxation has so struck the profits of such industries, that corporations have begun to move their manufacturing outside of US borders in order to find cheaper labor, therefore insuring that the stockholders and owners of these companies can insure their profits, profits that are the expected right for the fruits of one’s labor.

Our government, while not exactly going to the same measures as the government in Atlas Shrugged, has, in the past century or so, managed to become something strikingly similar TO the government that exists in Atlas. The number of regulations and standards that exist today are enough to discourage the would-be ambitions of modern inventors from developing new products and then manufacturing them. What research IS done today is done by existing companies within their laboratories, but with contracts signed by the developers that any product of the researchers mind belongs to the company, a company that would just as soon pay a gifted chimpanzee, in many cases, as to pay for the worth of man’s mind, thus discouraging the brightest of researchers and developers to fall to a point of mediocrity, for they rest in the knowledge that their best efforts will be rewarded the same as the most ludicrous of others who surround them.

The root of this crisis of thought, this lacking of ideas and reason, can be traced to our public education system, in which competition for grades has become a thing of the past, but an atmosphere of making a student feel good even though he or she is not capable or willing to produce the same level of work as a student who gives entire devotion and dedication to study and success. The earliest examples of this are to be found in the elementary years, where children are taught that there are no differences in any of us, individualism is not important but is dangerous, and it is more important to do something for the benefit of everyone than to ever do something strictly because it is what the individual desires to do. Individualism is also broken down and destroyed in the middle and high school years with the introduction of the school uniform.

The ideal of rugged American individualism is in danger of becoming a thing of the past; however, we have not gotten to the point yet where the American people, and indeed, the people of the world, are beyond hope. The political system of the 1900’s needs to be revamped and retooled, as a large government is a thing of waste and a burden to the public for which it strives (pretends) to work. This is not the call for revolutionary activity, and I speak not with the fervor or vehemence of the extremist militia, but merely as a thinking man who sees that this could be accomplished by taking the existing system and returning it closer to a form of government as existed in the days before the administration of Woodrow Wilson, after which time a great many things have been introduced as legislation that are in direct violation of the wording, meaning, and spirit of the United States Constitution. It is time to abandon the notion Lincoln forwarded in the Gettysburg Address that all men are created equal, Lincoln was a racist, and all men are not created equally, for we each are created with our own unique gifts and talents. The application of these talents, or lack of application, is what identifies us as either productive citizens or as a burden to others.

The greatest sin to be committed by man is the sin of failing to think.

The Government of the United States has become, as was foretold in Atlas Shrugged, the welfare state, a term used by critics of today’s government. This term is not used loosely, however, when one considers farm subsidies, corporate subsidies, and the general welfare program itself, which is overrun with abuses that go unchecked by social workers whose caseloads are so full that they often cannot put a face to a name when filing their reports to the larger cogs of the wheels of a government that has overstepped it’s authority and purpose in its attempt to become both mother and father to the generations of welfare recipients who are stuck in a cycle of poverty that is supposed to be a temporary state, but winds up binding its members with regulations so stringent that the incentive to work is all but killed out of those who are able bodied and willing to do so, with threats of loss of benefits to those who make an amount that the government deems too much in any given month. This is not a system that is designed to help people, it is a system designed to make a generation dependent upon the government for support and livelihood.

So often in the news today, especially during election years, politicians running for office moan and decry the state of the government systems, and promise to do something for change, while offering no solutions, no remedies, no repeals of the over reaching fingers of the government and it’s numerous agencies which, while in theory are established to serve the common good, are nothing more than machinery that is fed by the tax system, robbing the individual of his or her income by imposing a tax system that is unfair and inequitable, in the name of fairness to all. The individual is better judge of what his income is spent on than the federal government, yet the politicians that are elected, while paying lip service to tax reform to their constituency, seldom do more than token efforts to maintain the status quo rather than to do what common sense and reason deem the only logical choice of action: the elimination of redundant government programs, the elimination of government waste, and the reduction or elimination of the income tax system.

With these thoughts in mind, I close this offering of the thoughts of my mind, after years of seeing these things come to pass, and having only recently discovered Ayn Rand’s works and her incredible vision.


17OCT2002

Postscript: It’s been roughly five years since I first set these thoughts down as “record.” I find myself, in reviewing them, considering a few things in retrospect. I haven’t changed my mind on anything that was said that evening these years gone by now when I first wrote this piece; if anything, I’m more convinced in rereading over it now that I’m correct in my observations. At the time of the original writing, I was “teaching” history and government classes at a juvenile justice facility. Since that time, I’ve walked away from the public education system in absolute dismay at the overwhelming apathy of school administrations that are more interested in the bottom line (money) than in the education of our children and in ensuring that students have learned to THINK.

Mind you, I’m in no way, shape, or fashion opposed to making money. I’ve stated fairly recently to those I work with that I’m VERY mercenary in regards to my work, and will go where I can make more money when and if the opportunity presents itself. However, as John Galt made clear in the book Atlas Shrugged, my mind IS my own, and I will use it as I see fit, rather than being forced to use it without proper recompense for the fruits of my thought and my labor.

“Who is John Galt,” Rand asks in her novel. The man who set out to stop the engine of the world, and succeeded. If things continue on the course that we currently travel, as a nation, as a people, I think that spree may very well see the answer to her question the other day of “Where is OUR John Galt?” As one who DID as John Galt did, one who walked away from a system that had no appreciation for my intellect or talent, one who walked away from a system that strives to squelch independent thought, I can truthfully say there was more than a little John Galt in me when I left the public education system. A move which opened the floodgates in the system where I worked and saw several others walk away as well, choosing to take employment where their minds and talents WERE better appreciated and recompensed.

"I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of
another man, nor ask another man to live for mine."

Check out my Random Thoughts, as well...

Once and Always an American Fighting Man

2JUL2007

Geritol Commandos?

It's an amazing thing how older couples who have been together for some time can read each other, know each other, and trust each other even during moments of crisis. There is something to be said for the strength of such relationships, even in this day and age, as the following story illustrates:

Graying duo keep passenger in check
By Kevin Cullen, Globe Staff | June 5, 2007

Shortly before landing, Bob Hayden and a flight attendant had agreed on a signal: When she waved the plastic handcuffs, he would discreetly leave his seat and restrain an unruly passenger who had frightened some of the 150 people on board a Minneapolis-to-Boston flight Saturday night with erratic behavior.

Hayden, a 65-year-old former police commander, had enlisted a gray-haired gentleman sitting next to him to assist. The man turned out to be a former US Marine.

"I had looked around the plane for help, and all the younger guys had averted their eyes. When I asked the guy next to me if he was up to it, all he said was, 'Retired captain. USMC.' I said, 'You'll do,' " Hayden recalled. "So, basically, a couple of grandfathers took care of the situation."

The incident on Northwest Airlines Flight 720 ended peacefully, but not before Hayden, a former Boston police deputy superintendent and former Lawrence police chief, and the retired Marine had handcuffed one man and stood guard over another until the plane touched down safely at Logan International Airport around 7:50 p.m.

State Police troopers escorted two men off the flight. Trooper Thomas Murphy, a State Police spokesman, said one of the men was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital for "an unspecified medical issue, possibly mental health."

He said State Police detectives will investigate whether the man's behavior should be treated as a medical or criminal matter. A second man escorted off the plane identified himself as the unruly passenger's brother. Murphy said police would not release the names of the men, who Hayden said appeared to be in their 30s or 40s.

Dean Breest, a spokesman for Northwest, confirmed that "there was an incident that required State Police to come on board the aircraft" but declined further comment.

Hayden said the unruly man's behavior upset some passengers. One told Hayden the man had said, "Your lives are going to change today forever," as he shouted and refused to take his seat before takeoff and at various times during the nearly three-hour flight. He said that at one point the man lay on his back and was screaming, moaning, and thrashing on the floor.

"Some people were crying," Hayden said. "I thought it might be a diversion. I kept scanning the back of the plane to see if anyone was going to rush forward. The flight attendants did a great job, literally surrounding the two guys who were making all the noise. I told one of the flight attendants I was a retired police officer and would be willing to assist, so we agreed on a signal."

When the captain announced preparations for landing, the man jumped up shouting, the flight attendant held up the handcuffs, and Hayden and the Marine came bounding down the aisle. Hayden said he and the retired Marine, whose name he never got, received an ovation from fellow passengers, and "some free air miles."

Hayden's wife of 42 years, Katie, who was also on the flight, was less impressed. Even as her husband struggled with the agitated passenger, she barely looked up from "The Richest Man in Babylon," the book she was reading.

"The woman sitting in front of us was very upset and asked me how I could just sit there reading," Katie Hayden said. "Bob's been shot at. He's been stabbed. He's taken knives away. He knows how to handle those situations. I figured he would go up there and step on somebody's neck, and that would be the end of it. I knew how that situation would end. I didn't know how the book would end."

Now THAT is not only courage from a generation that understands, but trust in one's partner, in my book.

OUTstanding.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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Hillary Clinton NEEDS YOUR HELP

My dear friends.

I know you expect this to be a blog site supporting conservative ideas, conservative values, and conservative candidates.

WE ARE NOT WITHOUT COMPASSION TO THE LIBERALS WHEN THEY ASK FOR HELP.

Hillary Clinton has asked the American people for their help with something.



I think that Wake Up America and it's readers should do our part to help Senator Clinton.

She needs a theme song for her campaign. She's asking for the input of the American people in this to choose one. Bill's theme was "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow." Let's show Hillary Clinton how we feel.

I'm asking you for your opinions, here. Leave us a comment with your suggestions for helping Hillary Clinton with JUST the right song that captures "the essence of Hillary."

I know you'll come up with brilliant song suggestions.

And THANK YOU in advance for being the kind, compassionate people you are.

Oh, what's Hawk's suggestion for the Clinton Presidential Theme Song, you ask? Personally, I'm leaning toward "Liar" by Three Dog Night, "The Bitch is Back" by Elton John, or "Double Life" by Styx...

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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Start the bans NOW! STOP THE INSANITY! And could someone pass the Tobasco Sauce, please?

My friends, I have decided that I am going to jump on the bandwagon here, early, a few days ahead of what I had planned on in making any kind of commentary whatsoever after the Virginia Tech shootings.

I'm stepping up to the plate (think baseball here, not the dinner table) and joining in in promoting the beginnings of immediate bannings, thanks to the wise words of a commenter on our site who goes by the handle DigitalTraveler. Without his inspired wisdom I wouldn't have seen the light that should have been so clear to me all along. To those of you over at RadioActive Liberty, I'm sorry, guys, but we're going to have to start with the source of your battle cry; bacon has got to go. Bacon has killed so many, many people through the years, sitting there in the meat section of the local grocery store, so unassuming looking as you pass by and peruse the different brands and cures. It has caused untold heartache in it's silent but deadly overuse and abuse. Heart disease and high blood pressure, oh the sadness that this evil product causes.

In fact, let's ban all pork. That's the answer. We have to remove pork from the hands of Americans before it causes more harm, more pain, more grief.

But wait.

We don't eat pork by itself, do we? A LOT of pork is consumed at breakfast, and so are a lot of...EGGS! YES! EGGS are evil, TOO. Full of cholesterol, usually SALTED to improve their taste...wait, SALT? SALT?!? HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE! We've got to get rid of salt, too.

Wow, I'm starting to feel really GOOD now, knowing that I'm serving my fellow man and pointing out how we need to BAN the evil salt, bacon, and eggs in order to SAVE humanity.

But wait. What about the utensils? One doesn't NORMALLY eat eggs with their fingers, right?

OH MY GOD we have to ban forks. Yes, forks have GOT to go. We can no longer sit idly by and allow forks to murder us. Something has to be done. Congress MUST be made aware of the clear and present danger that forks present to us on a daily basis. I wonder how many people a DAY across this country are killed by random acts of eating involving the use of forks. Why did you know that they even make plastic forks that can't be detected by metal detectors? THIS HAS GOT TO BE STOPPED.

I KNOW! We can ask Rosie O'Donnell to be our poster-girl on why utensils MUST BE BANNED!! Every cause NEEDS a celebrity behind it, right? We can get Rosie to tell us ALL about how forks, knives, and spoons have turned her into the hate filled, fallacy speaking, drivelling idiot she is today.

We must be cautious, however; the other side is SURE to bring out heavy hitters like Emeril Legasi, Alton Brown, and, steady men, steady...Rachel Ray. She in particular would be a DEVESTATING distraction to the men in our movement...

AHEM.

I have a prediction to make at this point, regarding what I've said so far. In reading this, Conservatives are going to be laughing their asses off at the supreme ridiculousness of what I just said (um, other than that about Rachel Ray, insert wolf whistle here, and Rosie O'Donnell, insert gagging noise here), Liberals are going to be pissed as hell and think, rightfully, that they're being mocked for their lack of logic and thinking.

I'm going to save further comment on the gun side of the Virginia Tech story for now; I honestly hope that in reading this posting it will make EVERYONE stop for a moment and think how inappropriate it is to debate gun control YET AGAIN so soon after this tragedy. Those of you who follow our blogsite here know full and well that I'm a very firm Constitutionalist and a member of the NRA. Nuff said there. My hope is that people will see that there is a time and a place for every discussion and examination; right now is a time for trying to heal. We already know who is responsible, we're beginning to understand why. Guns aren't the why, mental stability is.

Remember the families of those who lost loved ones at Virginia Tech, keep them in your hearts, keep them in your prayers.

And to those of you over at RadioActive Liberty, all I have left to say to YOU, compadres, is BACON!

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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What did you learn in school today, Sally?

I'm going to start this out with three quotes, three little statements, made by a historical figure not too long ago, historically speaking. While reading what follows the quotes, I want you to keep firmly in mind each quote, and at the end, I'll tell you who said them. No fair peeking ahead, either, it spoils the surprise...

"Demoralize the enemy from within by surprise, terror, sabotage, assassination. This is the war of the future."

"How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don't think."

"Universal education is the most corroding and disintegrating poison that liberalism has ever invented for its own destruction."

I think, personally, that that last one is the most poignant in regards to what we're going to discuss here today. As I've mentioned before, I was a teacher for a time, circumstances led me back down the path of communications contracting. I fit in well with my colleagues in education, that is to say, I fit in as well as any square peg ever fits into a round hole. Most of the people that I met were, suffice to say, quite liberal, many very left leaning, and mostly democrats. And I have to say, many of them were (are) very snobbish (read elitist)...

I'll let ya'll decide from here.

Banning Legos
And building a world where “all structures will be standard sizes.”

By John J. Miller

Perhaps you’ve heard about the schools that have banned tag. Or dodgeball. Or stories about pigs. If so, you won’t be surprised to hear that the Hilltop Children’s Center in Seattle has banned Legos.

A pair of teachers at the center, which provides afterschool activities for elementary-school kids, recently described their policy in a Rethinking Schools cover story called “Why We Banned Legos.”

It has something to do with “social justice learning.”

My vision of social justice for children of elementary-school age is as follows: If you’re tagged, you’re it; if the ball hits you, you’re out; and pig stories are fun, especially when told over microwaveable hot dogs.

But I try to keep an open mind, so I read the article on why Hilltop banned Legos.

As most aficionados know, Legos are made by a Danish company. The company name comes from the Danish phrase leg godt, which means play well. “Lego became a national treasure and one of the strongest brands in the toy industry,” wrote The Economist last year. “Its colorful bricks are sold in over 130 countries: everyone on earth has, on average, 52 of them.”

"NO, little Johnny, you can't build any more castles, because didn't you know that Knights and Chivarly are not sensitive concepts to people who don't believe in what Knights stand for?"

Here's one the dinosaur media isn't covering at all...

Hostage drill at NJ school features mock 'Christian terrorists'

The head of a national, Texas-based pro-family group says a recent hostage drill at a New Jersey high school, which portrayed conservative Christians as terrorists, is reflective of a dangerous philosophy that has become prevalent in many parts of America, where it is having negative effects on education.

A local paper reports that a drill at Burlington Township High School in New Jersey involved police portraying mock gunmen, described as "members of a right-wing fundamentalist group called the 'New Crusaders' who don't believe in the separation of church and state." The fake gunmen were said to have been "seeking justice because the daughter of one [member] had been expelled for praying before class."

Historian and constitutional expert David Barton is president of WallBuilders, a national pro-family organization that distributes historical, legal, and statistical information and helps citizens become active in their local schools and communities. He says the stereotyping used in the high school's drill is an accurate indicator of what is being taught in public schools in the Northeast region of the country.

Commentary on my thoughts on THAT one after THIS one, which in my mind, as a historian, is tantamount to heresy and sacrilege...

Teachers drop the Holocaust to avoid offending Muslims
By LAURA CLARK

Schools are dropping the Holocaust from history lessons to avoid offending Muslim pupils, a Government backed study has revealed.

It found some teachers are reluctant to cover the atrocity for fear of upsetting students whose beliefs include Holocaust denial.

There is also resistance to tackling the 11th century Crusades - where Christians fought Muslim armies for control of Jerusalem - because lessons often contradict what is taught in local mosques.

The findings have prompted claims that some schools are using history 'as a vehicle for promoting political correctness'.

Yes, by all means, let's not offend the Muslims. By the way, have you heard the one about the priest, the rabbi, and the Southern Baptist preacher...

Are our schools trying to instill liberal values on our children? Are they subtly brainwashing our children? Are they teaching them things that go against what the children's families believe? Here's one more, just in case those past three aren't enough evidence of what's going on in our schools today...

District gags 14-year-olds after 'gay' indoctrination
'Confidentiality' promise requires students 'not to tell their parents'

By Bob Unruh
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Officials at Deerfield High School in Deerfield, Ill., have ordered their 14-year-old freshman class into a "gay" indoctrination seminar, after having them sign a confidentiality agreement promising not to tell their parents.

"This is unbelievable," said Matt Barber, policy director for cultural issues for Concerned Women for America. "It's not enough that students at Deerfield High are being exposed to improper and offensive material relative to unhealthy and high-risk homosexual behavior, but they've essentially been told by teachers to lie to their parents about it."

In what CWA called a "shocking and brazen act of government abuse of parental rights," the school's officials required the 14-year-olds to attend a "Gay Straight Alliance Network" panel discussion led by "gay" and "lesbian" upperclassmen during a "freshman advisory" class which "secretively featured inappropriate discussions of a sexual nature in promotion of high-risk homosexual behaviors."

FIND OUT what your kids are being taught in school. There is NO LEGALLY BINDING DOCUMENT that a child under the age of eighteen can sign that will hold them to a non-disclosure agreement. Take the cue of the atheist, call your school board's hand on brainwashing our children. If it is a clear cut violation of your constitutional rights and your beliefs as Christians or Jews, or if you THINK it is, contact the ACLJ, NOT the ACLU. They are leading the fight in the courts to oppose the ACLU in their attempts to undermine the American structure.

Oh, and those three quotes at the beginning of this posting? Those were the words of a man who used hatred and mistrust as his tools to rise to power and become one of the most dangerous men who ever lived, one who was responsible for the deaths of millions. Some considered him to be a madman, I'm not so sure. The insane generally don't rise to lead their nation and to inspire a following that nearly conquers an entire continent, the driven do that.

Who said those things?

You know him as Adolf Hitler...

Nuff said? I think so.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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The Eagle has landed...

The space shuttle Discovery has landed safely yesterday in Florida. Weather concerns caused some discussion and speculation on where to safely land the orbiter initially, but she came home to Earth on Friday to end a 13 day mission above our planet.

With all that is going on in the world, the war against terrorist organizations, the problems with illegal immigration here at home, and record cold temperatures following the path of Al Gore on his global warming tour, some of you may be wondering what the point is of space exploration to begin with.

I've heard all the arguements about safety problems, the amount of money involved in space exploration, and of course the arguement that there is no good reason to leave planet Earth to begin with.

Things that make you go HMMMMMMMMMM.

So, without repeating myself any more than necessary, to share my thoughts, my concerns, my beliefs, and hopefully to make you, the reader, THINK about things (thinking is my big thing, in case it hasn't become painfully obvious by now. We don't do enough of it today, as individuals), I'm going to repost something I wrote a few years ago after the explosion of the shuttle Columbia and the loss of her crew on reentry, an essay entitled Expectations.

Expectations

In the earliest records of our history, man has relied upon the oceans and seas for his livelihood. Our earliest ancestors were fishermen and sea farers, braving the high seas in craft that by our modern standards are considered to be very crude, yet it was in these crude vessels that they circumnavigated our world, charting new lands, discovering new continents, and establishing routes for later travelers to wander, either for pleasure or commerce. Man fishes the seas, makes war and love at sea, farms the sea, and explores it for energy resources, such as petroleum or aquatic power. The seas have been and will be, for the foreseeable future, very important to the existence of the human race as a species.

But of course, it has not been an evolution of travel without risk. Since man put the first crude watercraft to water, there have been accidents. Through the centuries, mankind has lost members to the waters; many are the tales of ships lost at sea, of pirates treasures sunk in old hulks at the bottom of the Caribbean, stories like Moby Dick and the romanticizing of the wreck of the Titanic are an ever present part of our society today. Poetry has been written with the sea as its topic, books about ships at sea and their crews and adventures and misadventures, and at some point in time most small boys have daydreamed about sailing the high seas in search of adventures on distant lands, even in this century.

Millions of dollars a year are spent on oceanic research in modern times. Marine biology, geology, meteorology, and oceanography are but a few of the sciences involved in researching this vast and mostly unexplored part of our world. Tragedy accompanies this research from time to time, as it has accompanied the earliest days of the exploration of the seas. It has become something that is to be expected, even anticipated, on the high seas. There is even a certain tradition of death to go along with this, for every school child knows that the captain is expected to go down with his ship when it sinks. And yet when tragedies at sea occur, no one ever forwards the notion that oceanic research should be stopped, that it is too dangerous, and that it is too costly to continue funding. Our commercial bases, globally, are based upon moving freight across the high seas from one point to another, and it has been thus for so long that we accept and expect tragedy to follow ocean travel, therefore it is never even suggested that we stop our trade and travel on the seas in order to save lives or money.

How, then, is the exploration of space any different, when thinking on a universal level, than the exploration of the high seas? It is different because it is still a new concept, different because mankind is accustomed to the confines of his planet, different because it involves taking a step towards the unknown. It is different because religion has taught us that we are supposed to be earthbound creatures, and that the skies and the stars and the heavens belong to the gods, and we, for all of our technological advances and scientific thinking, are still by and large a superstitious species that can barely grasp the concept of what lies beyond the confines of this island Earth.

Our world is reaching a point of near crisis, yet we barely notice because we have grown comfortable listening to our governments telling us what to think about things through their mouthpieces in the media, who tell us where the problems are and we accept the things that we are told because we are conditioned to do so. The media doesn’t report to us the overpopulation of countries like India and China other than in the form or raw data and statistics, nor of the famines and plagues that cover the continent of Africa, other than as a side note that goes along with the latest happenings in Washington and in New York at the United Nations. We are presented with what is wanted to be seen, not an entire picture of things that are happening to us globally, as a people, as a race, as a species. While it is true that cures need to be found for the ills that torment us physically, and something needs to be done to resolve the starvation that accompanies overpopulation, we, the human race, must not limit our focus to things only of this planet.

Industry will, eventually, become a key player in space exploration, for one simple reason: it will become economically feasible to do so. Our world is limited in the amount of raw material that can be produced over a period of millennia; it takes eons for the earth to reproduce itself, through volcanic activity, and to recreate the ores, minerals, and metals which are important to the day to day lives of every man, woman, and child on this planet. The metal industry, indeed even the food industry, one day will be forced to look beyond our own limitations of atmosphere and gravity on this planet and seek answers beyond our borders of gravitational pull. Perhaps the cure for AIDS lies in the stars, or other viruses and diseases, in places we have not even dreamed of visiting. Geologists have assayed samples of materials taken from the moon and, in fact, from meteor fragments found here on Earth and collected in space travel, and have determined that these fragments, these small samples taken from debris from other worlds that have, for whatever reason, exploded, contain minerals and rocks of the same or similar composition to those we find here on our world. It is a commercial necessity, or will become one, that mankind explore space.

There is, of course, one other option. We, mankind as a species, can make the collective decision to allow ourselves to become extinct. Even with the colonization of the sea in underwater habitats and dwellings, eventually we will run out of room on this planet for us to survive. We can cave in to those who say that space exploration is too costly, too dangerous, and to those who say that we need to spend our research money on things planet side. We can ignore the beckoning of the stars for our exploration and simply remain a primitive planet in the backwater regions of our galaxy, and refuse to take our place among the stars. We can ignore whatever other peoples that might be out there awaiting us to come of age as a species and join them in their triumphs and tribulations, their confederations, their wars, their hopes for the universe and for whatever the future holds for all creatures who have ever looked to their skies and wondered what lies beyond their atmospheres. Or, we can reach up, reach out, and accept and embrace the change that will come with taking our species and trying desperately to evolve and change into something better than we are now. In the end, it is our choice, and our decision; do we dare defy the gods of our ancestors and seek out the unknown, or do we remain here, alone, isolated, and adrift in our orbit around a sun that will, one day, burn out and die?

Black Hawk Coeur de Lion, 22FEB2003,
In memory of the crews of Apollo 1, Challenger and the Columbia and their vision “to boldly go where no one has gone before” in their quest for our “last, best hope for peace.”

My sincere hope in posting this is that it brings a better understanding to why it is so VITALLY important to us all, as a species, as a race called humanity, that we continue our explorations of space and begin colonization OF space. To quote astronomer Stephen Hawking, "To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit." I think he's on to something there...

Once and always, an American Fighting Man

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