A Little Hypocrisy in Dekalb County, GA

Seems a couple of Dekalb County, GA LEOs are in trouble for running a background check on the President. Apparently they were misusing the system by running a check on someone that wasn't a suspect in a crime. Fine. I agree with that.

However, I'll bet LEOs run background checks on people all the time in contradiciton to the law and department policy. How many LEOs move into a new house or apartment without checking out the neighborhood, for example? They run checks on people randomly with license plate scanners. If running random background checks is ok for the peasants then why isn't it ok for the President?

Evacuation in Bryant, TX

Here is the link.

I hope everyone makes it out and back ok.

This is why you need to have kit ready to go. Having a bag packed with a few days worth of clothes and a basic toilet kit as well as some toys/videos for the kids would make something like this a lot easier on a family.

Woman sells her TVs to avoid seeing the President

I don't blame her. That's better than gouging out her own eyes. Here is the link.

I like this part:

A 78-year-old Carroll woman says she's so tired of seeing President Barack Obama on the airwaves that she's selling her television sets - two of them.

Deloris Nissen, a retired nurses' aide and former Kmart employee who was raised on a farm near Audubon, placed a classified advertisement with The Daily Times Herald for Friday's paper.

In the $5.50 ad, Nissen tells readers she has two television sets for sale.

The reason: "Obama on every channel and station."

In an interview Nissen said she is serious about selling two TVs - and genuine about her disgust with what she believes to be an overexposed president.

"I just got tired of watching him on every channel," Nissen said. "I thought, my gosh, does he ever stay at the White House?"

Nissen, who voted for U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in the 2008 presidential election, said she could live with seeing Obama come on television to make serious announcements. But he seems to be on all the time, Nissen said.

When the president does appear on a channel she happens to be watching, Nissen said, she quickly turns.

"I have the remote real handy," Nissen said. "I have the batteries. I'm ready for him."

After that, however, things go downhill.

Nissen's annoyance with the president as a frequent presence on her television doesn't mean she'll abandon the medium altogether.

She's keeping a bigger flat-screen television and selling an older 20-inch Sony and possibly a 13-inch set.

"It's too heavy," Nissen said of the 20-inch TV. "I can't handle it anymore."

That said, she doesn't plan on selling it for less than $100 - even if Obama was just on Tuesday pitching his health-care-reform plans.

Oh well. It started out like a great story.

Capital Trapped in a House

In terms of preparing for financial hard times one of the things most often recommended is to pay off all debt. Owning your home outright is one of the goals and a good one because if you own it then you don't have to worry so much about keeping a roof over your head as long as you can come up with enough to pay the property taxes on it and whatever other fees you may have to pay like an HOA or something.

I agree with the plan of having no debt and having your home paid for. That's why I was interested to see what was in this article titled "Housing Recovery: Sell Now Or Your Capital Will Be Trapped".

It is an interesting read. The idea is that when the mortgage interest rates double then the amount of the loan has to be reduced by a half for the payment to be the same. That is true but doesn't take into account reduced wages or the unemployment rate causing people to borrow less money than they qualify for based on their debt/income ratio. Those things tend to push down the price of the home even more. Higher income and property taxes will also push down the value of the home.

However, this does not mean the end of the world or that selling your house now to "free your capital" is a great idea. Your capital is only trapped if you sell the house. You may be forced to move for employment or some other reason, but even if you move you might be able to rent your old house out and turn a profit without having to worry about the trapped equity. If you are moving out of a "one horse town" so to speak where there is only one big employer and they are going out of business then finding renters may be difficult. However, in that situation the lack of employment in the area will drive the price lower than the high interest rates will. Look at home prices in Detroit as an example of that.

The other option to free your "trapped" capital is owner financing. Owner financing has been fairly common on rural land in some areas maybe since people started owning land instead of using open range. The buyer can get an interest rate that is lower than they could from a bank or mortgage company or they could get owner financing when they couldn't get bank financing. The seller can get more money overall because he gets the principal and the interest. The downside is that you may have to evict someone and if you do that they may damage your property and you either eat the cost or sue them. Owner financing land is safer in that respect because generally people don't do anything to permanently damage the property value. I guess they could leave piles of scrap metal and old cars on the property but these days scrap metal dealers would probably take care of that. Banks obviously don't like you having the option to sell with owner financing. Too bad for them.

My parents had a number of rent houses and they sold them all with owner financing. They had to take a couple of them back but that didn't cost them all that much. When they took the house back they got all the money the person had paid for principal and interest and after spending some money to repair the damage they were able to sell the house again for full price. They only offered owner financing to people they had rented to for a while and who had proven that they could hold a job and pay their bills on time. If you've rented to a family for two or three years and had no trouble then they are probably a pretty safe bet for paying off the house.

With owner financing you also have more options for a payment schedule. 10 year, 15 year, 20 year, 50 year, whatever you both agree on unless there are state or local laws that dictate otherwise. You can free your capital and give yourself a regular income for years to come by owner financing.

I wouldn't use this method to pay the mortgage on the new home because if the buyer does quit paying and cuts off your supply of cash then you may get in trouble as well. Only use this if you can afford to not have the payments coming in for a while.

Getting your capital "trapped" in your home is an interesting idea but it's not one that I'm particularly worried about.

Presidential Library

I've never cared much for Presidential libraries but I'll be glad when this President starts his.

Quote of the day

Tell me not what the mugger did to you. Tell me instead what you did to the mugger.

Jeff Cooper

Military planning for H1N1 outbreak

Let me tighten my tinfoil hat a little before I go on.




There. That's better. Here is the link.

The plan calls for military task forces to work in conjunction with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. There is no final decision on how the military effort would be manned, but one source said it would likely include personnel from all branches of the military.

It has yet to be determined how many troops would be needed and whether they would come from the active duty or the National Guard and Reserve forces.

Civilian authorities would lead any relief efforts in the event of a major outbreak, the official said. The military, as they would for a natural disaster or other significant emergency situation, could provide support and fulfill any tasks that civilian authorities could not, such as air transport or testing of large numbers of viral samples from infected patients.

Somebody somewhere is either acknowledging the danger of this thing mutating into something nasty, or they are planning to use a made up emergency to declare martial law and put everyone into camps.

I'll go with the first option. It's probably a good idea to make sure you are set up to take care of yourself and your family without outside support for a while.

Is this the face of a moslem terrorist?

Here is a link to the story on this guy.

This article starts out looking like it's going to be a hit piece on "right wing extremists".

WASHINGTON — Antiterrorism officials are increasingly concerned about American-bred extremists who travel abroad for terror training and then return home, sometimes quietly recruiting followers over the years.

Federal authorities have issued a bulletin to law enforcement agencies around the country on the heels of the arrest Monday in North Carolina of a man whose devotion to the cause of violent jihad allegedly began 20 years ago.

The internal bulletin — reviewed by The Associated Press — says the FBI and the Homeland Security Department are very worried about the danger posed by little-noticed Americans traveling abroad to learn terrorism techniques, then coming back to the United States, where they may be dormant for long periods of time while they look for followers to recruit for future attacks.

Finally we get to the meat of the article:

Six other suspects — including Boyd's two sons — were also charged in what prosecutors say was a long-running conspiracy to train for violence and then fight overseas.

From the article:

Boyd and the others arrested Monday are not charged with planning attacks in the United States. Prosecutors say the seven men repeatedly traveled overseas hoping to engage in violence, and trained in military tactics at a private property in North Carolina.

and a little more:

In 1991, Boyd and his brother were convicted of bank robbery in Pakistan. They were also accused of carrying identification showing they belonged to the radical Afghan guerrilla group, Hezb-e-Islami, or Party of Islam. Each was sentenced to have a foot and a hand cut off for the robbery, but the decision was later overturned.

Their wives told The Associated Press in an interview at the time that the couples had U.S. roots but the United States was a country of "kafirs" — Arabic for heathens.

Sabrina Boyd said in her statement that her husband was in Afghanistan fighting against the Soviet Union "with the full backing of the United States government."

This makes me wonder just what is going on. Is the guy really a member of the ROP? If so, was he really acting as a sort of mercenary back when the USSR was still in Afghanistan? I wonder how many "foot and hand chopping off" sentances are overturned in Pakistan?

Some more cases mentioned in the article:

Just a week ago, federal prosecutors revealed they had in custody an American, Bryant Neal Vinas, who was raised on Long Island, N.Y., converted to Islam and traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan to train alongside senior al-Qaida operatives.

And on Monday, a Virginia man was sentenced to life in prison for joining Al Qaeda and plotting to assassinate then-President George W. Bush. Authorities say he joined Al Qaeda while attending college in Saudi Arabia.

These last two cases scare me more than Mr. Boyd. Boyd was supposedly going to fight somewhere overseas. I don't know what cause he was supporting or opposing but at least it was over there. It sounds to me like these other two intended to do harm in the US.

The common thread is Islam. Even Fox doesn't seem to want to bring that up.

Foreign Laws to Impact American Gun Owners?

Isn't this whole President Barack Hussein Obama thing getting old? Here is the link.

From the article:

Gun owners are increasingly concerned with the White House's citing of foreign law when it comes to gun rights. Look no further than the recent Senate confirmation of Professor Harold Koh to be State Department legal advisor in June. Koh, a committed transnationalist, is a passionate opponent of gun ownership.

Koh, recently the dean of Yale Law School, was confirmed as State Department Legal Advisor with 35 votes against him. He now becomes the top U.S. authority on international law, and the top advisor to the president and secretary of state about America's obligations and treaty commitments with the United Nations and other countries.

A transnationalist!? I'd never heard that term before. I guess I need to put my tinfoil hat on and get out more.

Well, we expected everyone associated with hussein to oppose people owning personal weapons so this isn't a surprise.

More from the article:

Harold Koh is also one of the most far-left legal advocates anywhere in this country, on issues ranging from affirmative action to same-sex marriage to the reach of the federal government into people's lives. While many on the Left believe that foreign law should be considered by American courts in interpreting the Constitution, as a true transnationalist, Koh believes that U.S. courts should directly cite foreign law to decide cases, and that foreign policy actions such as war-making are illegal without express U.N. approval.

This guy is more of a loony than I thought possible. As far as thinking foreign law should be considered by American courts in interpreting the Constitution I think that's insanity. The only possible consideration would be to find out what foreign laws are and make the opposite decision. That wouldn't be too far off.

As far as U.S. courts directly citing foreign law to decide cases, that is beyond insanity. The guy is an imbecile and he may even aspire down to the level of idiot.

Actually, there may be something useful here. I'll bet the law in North Korea says that people with IQs below 50 will not be allowed in high government offices. We could apply that law to Mr. Koh and be done with him.

I seem to remember that in the past in some nations people who were serverly mentally retarded were put to death. I wonder if the courts should make decisions base on foreign laws from hundreds of years ago?

Here is a little more:

There is no issue on which Koh is further from the mainstream, however, than the right to keep and bear arms. He openly advocates a global gun-control regime, run by the international community and based on foreign law, that would ban all handguns and subject all other firearms to draconian restrictions.

There you go.

American's wanted change and they're going to get it good and hard.

Are you ready for this? Have you thought about how you'd respond if this sort of rubish became the law of the land?

Quote of the day

But if the worst that Barack Obama does is ruin the economy, I will breathe a sigh of relief.

Thomas Sowell

Taxing Fat People's Food to Pay for Health Care

Here is the link.

I'll say it again: Socialized medicine makes your lifestyle into everyone else's business.

From the article:

If you happen to be the 1-in-3 Americans who is neither obese nor overweight (and, thus, considered at risk of becoming obese), you might well conclude that the habits of the remaining two-thirds of Americans are costing you, big time. U.S. life expectancies are expected to slide backward, after years of marching upward. (But that's their statistical problem: Yours is how to make them stop costing you all that extra money because they are presumably making poor choices in their food consumption.)

Why don't we just let private insurance companies charge higher rates for obese people. The more obese you are the more you have to pay. Seems like it would work for me.

I think the airlines tried that strategy and the LWM gave them a big ration of something stinky over it.

Here is some more from the article:

Key among the "interventions" the report weighs is that of imposing an excise or sales tax on fattening foods. That, says the report, could be expected to lower consumption of those foods. But it would also generate revenues that could be used to extend health insurance coverage to the uninsured and under-insured, and perhaps to fund campaigns intended to make healthy foods more widely available to, say, low-income Americans and to encourage exercise and healthy eating habits.

From that I gather that this isn't about health but rather it's about power and taking money from people to use for things that nobody wants. Obese people in general are sort of like white men in that they are one of the few groups that you can still ridicule in public and get away with it. Just tax the fat people until they are skinny and use the money you take from them to pay for socialized medicine.

What is this nonsense about trying to "make healthy foods more widely available to, say, low-income Americans"? Maybe if low-income obese people didn't spend all their money of high priced fast food and junk food they could afford fruits and vegetables. Low-income obese people don't need the government to take money from other people to buy them healthy food. They need to make good decisions about their diet and exercise.

I've got another idea: Nobody that is overweight should receive food stamps.

It never fails when I'm at the grocery store some 350+ pounder is in there using food stamps to buy 12 loaves of bread and 6 gallons of whole milk. Then they take out a wad of cash to buy twinkies, chips, beer, cigs, soda, and every other kind of fattening food they can find. How can the government give food stamps to people that weigh that much!?

More:

And although 40 U.S. states now impose modest extra sales taxes on soft drinks and a few snack items, the Urban Institute report suggests that a truly forceful "intervention" -- one that would drive down the consumption of fattening foods and, presumably, prevent or reverse obesity -- would have to target pretty much all the fattening and nutritionally empty stuff we eat: "With a more narrowly targeted tax, consumers could simply substitute one fattening food or beverage for another," the reports says.

I didn't know that many states already had these taxes. Of course someone seemed to be surprised that if you raise the price of twinkies by 25% then twinkie eaters will switch to moon pies or chips. Wow, you should have smoked less dope and paid more attention in Econ 101 when you were in college and that wouldn't be so surprising. For that matter if you had any sense at all you wouldn't need Econ 101 to tell you that.

More idiocy:

Of course, the United States also would have to adopt extensive menu- and food-labeling changes that would make "good foods" easily distinguishable from the bad ones subject to added taxes. Not to worry though: Several European countries, most notably Great Britain, have led the way in this area.

I suggest that if you raise the price of ho-ho's to where they are more expensive than raisins or apples then even stupid people will start eating more raisins and apples and fewer ho-ho's. I chuckle at the thought of certain welfare people eating something called "ho-ho's".

I don't think we need to tax food. I think we need to drop the whole idea of socialized medicine. If there is a problem with obese people driving up the cost of healthcare then let insurance companies charge more based on how overweight people are. That will motivate people to be healthier.

The thing that strikes me most about the article is the condescending attitude. The whole thing reeks of liberal wanna-be elitism. Check out the last line of that paragraph from above:

Not to worry though: Several European countries, most notably Great Britain, have led the way in this area.

Isn't it wonderful that Great Britain has bestowed upon it's subjects the great benefit of a label to tell them that twinkies are bad for them. Of course the dirty, unwashed masses aren't smart enough to know what is good for them so the government will have to tell them, as if that will help anything.

The article goes on to praise the idea of food taxes and the crazy numbers they made up about how much revenue they think they can raise for other socialist programs.

I think I want to go have a donut and a Dr. Pepper.

The Chinese aren't that confident about the current administration. No kidding.

Here is the link.

From the article:

Obama dispatched his top economic officials - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers, White House budget director Peter Orszag and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke - to try to reassure China that the U.S. will not let deficits or inflation jeopardize the value of Chinese investments.

U.S. briefers said the president's team told the Chinese that the United States was committed to making sure the economic and monetary stimulus being used to fight the recession did not fuel inflation.

I'm glad they're looking out for the Chinese and aren't going to let deficits or inflation jeopordize their investments.

This made me LOL:

U.S. officials told reporters that the U.S. side stressed to the Chinese that the United States has a plan to bring the deficit down once the economic crisis has been resolved. They said Bernanke discussed the Fed's exit strategy from the central bank's current period of extraordinary monetary easing, emphasizing that the Fed was being careful to guard against future inflation.

What plan to bring down the deficit!? I haven't heard about that. It must be some secret plan that they don't want to expose to the little people.

I love the expression "extraordinary monetary easing", as in "Bend over, here comes some more extraordinary monetary easing."

Why don't they just say "We're inflating the currency"? That way everyone knows what you are doing as in "Bend over, they're inflating the currency again." I guess I answered my own question there.

From the article:

The Chinese, who have the largest foreign holdings of U.S. Treasury debt at $801.5 billion, have been expressing worries that soaring deficits could spark inflation or a sudden drop in the value of the dollar, thus jeopardizing their investments.

The Chinese aren't the only ones worried about inflation or a sudden drop in the value of the dollar. The President of the United States may not be worried about that but many people in the United States are worried.

More from the article:

"We sincerely hope the U.S. fiscal deficit will be reduced, year after year," Assistant Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao told reporters after the Monday talks had ended.

Lots of luck with that. I sincerely hope the U.S. deficit will be reduced, but it's not going down any time soon.

The "bright" side of a higher minimum wage

With high inflation just around the corner these people will soon be making less than they were before.

The down side is that we will all be in big trouble and in no condition to enjoy the show when they figure out that even though the numbers on their checks are bigger they are falling farther behind.

The President to rent The Blue Heron Farm for vacation

This "farm" is 28 acres on Martha's Vinyard. Similar properties in the area rent for $35k to $50k per week. The property is valued at $20 million. They're going to be there the last two weeks of August. Here is a link.

That adds up to $70k to $100k for the little vacation. Nice if you have the scratch.

I've got a better idea for the President if he wants to not look so elitist at a time when the economy is in the dumpster and help stimulate the economy for the little people instead of the wealthy property owners.

Here is my idea: I own a real, working farm. The kind where you actually grow things and sell them. I'll rent my farm to the President for only $15k per week for the last two weeks of August. I can charge less because I don't have to maintain a swimming pool, a basketball court, a golf practice tee, or any stone walls.

I feel pretty confident that the President won't seriously consider this because after all, my farm is located in flyover country. Only servants and the working class live in flyover country and the President wouldn't want to worry about his family getting dirty or anything. They might see someone driving a pickup or a tractor, or sweating, or carrying a gun in their gun rack.

All things considered (I wouldn't want to make the neighbors mad or ruin the road with all that traffic) maybe it's best if I withdraw that offer. Still, that's a lot of money.

Someone besides me is worried about this nation's debt - a debt bubble

Here is the link.

A debt bubble. Isn't that a nice term.

From the article:

“We’re looking at continuous monstrous issuances of federal debt, and it is only a matter of time before appetites are filled up,” said Tad DeHaven, a budget analyst at the CATO Institute, a libertarian think tank. “There’s a finite amount of debt that the market’s willing to purchase.”

“The debt bubble continues to inflate,” said J.D. Foster, a former official in the Bush administration’s Office of Management and Budget who is now a senior fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Foster predicts that the global market’s appetite for American and other government debt will erode as governments continue to shovel bonds at less and less willing investors. “Who knows the whims of mass psychology?” said Foster. “You know it’s going to happen; you just don’t know when.”

Although fear of a debt crash is generally most acute on the political right, at least one prominent liberal — former Clinton administration Secretary of Labor Robert Reich — thinks there is a “kernel” of concern that’s “plausible.”

“At some point, global investors are going to get nervous about U.S. borrowing and demand higher interest rates on their loans to Uncle Sam,” he said. “There’s no question that large projected deficits will spook global investors, and they will either dump dollars or demand higher interest rates.”

The article points out the threat nicely:

If the debt bubble bursts, interest rates would soar, with a potentially devastating impact on U.S. productivity, wage growth and employment.

Are you ready for that?

New Stands for the Rabbit Cages

At long last I made the time to build stands for the rabbit cages so we can get the little furry food supplies off the porch.

Here are the two kinds of rabbit cages we have. The bucks are in two square cages. The home made roundtop cages are slightly bigger so that's where we put the three does.


I've been replacing the porch columns and removing the old porch rails, so I started with some of this.


I added some extra wood and ended up with this.


This one will hold the two males and one female. I plan to put the bucks over the parts with a number of cross pieces and the does on the parts with cross pieces only on the ends because the bucks have trays under the cages to catch their droppings and the does don't. I'll put something on the ground under the does to catch their droppings for the compost pile.

Here is a second one under destruction. It doesn't look quite as nice. The 2x4s on this one had warped more and pulled away from the vertical bars. The bars were installed with 3 to 5 long wire brad type nails each and are a real pain to remove so I just put long exterior wood screws in through the 2x4s on each side to hold them. they look bad but they aren't going anywhere.
Yes, the board on the far corner is warped. I don't think the rabbits will care.

We aren't quite finished with them. We need to add a roof and sides to it to protect the bunnies from sun and rain. We also need to paint the frames since they are mostly white wood.

Grandma's Birthday Cake

My better half made a cake for my mom's birthday. The kids wanted a cake that looked like Grandma so we started with a "Bob the Builder" cake pan. I was going to decorate it to look like Grandma. Unfortunately, the cake stuck in the pan and we ended up with a large blob of cake and several smaller blobs. My wife asked me to see what I could do with it.

After much consideration I went to work. This is what I ended up with.

Now we know why the President doesn't like the Cambridge police

I love it!!!

It's not a surprise to me. As a wanna-be elitist he probably felt targeted by the police. I mean come on, shouldn't a high falutin' "black" (halfrican-American) student be able to park anywhere he wants without the silly police bothering him? The police are there to enforce the rules against the little people, not the elites.

From the article:

According to the Somerville Times in 2007, as a Harvard Law School student, Obama got 17 parking tickets during 1989-1991 from the Cambridge Police Department that he left unpaid until just weeks before he announced his bid for the presidency.

"In other words, as a practicing lawyer in Chicago, he allowed these tickets and penalties to remain unpaid; as an Illinois state senator he allowed these tickets and fines to remain unpaid; and as a United States senator he allowed these almost-two-decade-old signs of his disdain for the law to remain unpaid," commented John LeBoutillier on Newsmax.com.

The Washington Post said two years ago that the tickets included parking without a proper permit and parking in a bus stop.

The Associated Press reported in 2007 that Obama's "healthy" stack" of parking tickets was finally paid, including late fees, "two weeks before he officially launched his presidential campaign."

The President is clearly a man who just doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut.

It is better to be silent and thought a fool then to speak and remove all doubt. That's ok. I thought he was a fool long before this.

Bailout money being given to laraza

I want my bailout back! Citigroup is giving the national council of laraza $1.75 million to buy houses for illegals.

They don't say it quite like that but that's where the money is going. From the article:

In a pilot program, the charitable arm of Citigroup is giving the National Council of La Raza money to help buy foreclosed homes in Phoenix for rehabilitation and ultimate purchase by low-and moderate-income Latino families.Low-income Latino families is newspeak for illegal aliens.

More:

In all, New York-based Citi Foundation is providing $1.75 million to the NCLR, of which $235,000 will go to its Raza Development Fund. That'll allow the fund to acquire, maintain and rehab properties to sell or lease.

I'm sure they won't discriminate in selling those houses. I'm certain they will sell them to low- and moderate- income black and white families. I know it because they are hispanics and only evil white people could be racist and discriminate. That was sarcasm, in case you are a little slow.

Here is another little bit:

Raza Development Fund chief Tom Espinoza says the fund will add about $4 million and federal stimulus program money will boost the total to about $12 million to target bank-owned vacant foreclosed properties.

I want my stimulus back, too. $12 million to buy houses for illegals. That's your money. How do you like the way it's being spent?

One last paragraph:

He's hoping at least 100 families in three hard-hit Hispanic neighborhoods in Phoenix will be able to buy homes.

This is the kind of hope and change a lot of people voted for. I hope you like it. Just keep practicing saying "no habla ingles" and maybe you can get a free home, too.

Read some of the socialized medicine bill

It's H. R. 3200. The title and description are:

America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009

To provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending, and for other purposes.

As usual the title is a lie and of course the "for other purposes" bit means that they plan on throwing in all kinds of nonsense.

Here is a link at the opencongress.org website. I suggest you spend a little time reading it.

Here is a link to a pdf copy. Peter Fleckman put some comments about it on twitter and someone emailed them to me so I'll just post them. I haven't verified all of them but I scanned through and checked some and they mostly seemed to be correct. Here you go:

Pg 22 of the HC Bill MANDATES the Govt will audit books of ALL EMPLOYERS
that self insure!!

Pg 30 Sec 123 of HC bill – THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE that decides
what treatments/benes u get

Pg 29 lines 4-16 in the HC bill – YOUR HEALTHCARE IS RATIONED!!!

Pg 42 of HC Bill – The Health Choices Commissioner will choose UR HC
Benefits 4 you. U have no choice!

PG 50 Section 152 in HC bill – HC will be provided 2 ALL non US
citizens, illegal or otherwise

Pg 58HC Bill – Govt will have real-time access 2 individuals’ finances &
a National ID Healthcard will be issued!

Pg 59 HC Bill lines 21-24 Govt will have direct access 2 ur banks accts
4 elect. funds transfer

PG 65 Sec 164 is a payoff subsidized plan 4 retirees and their families
in Unions & community orgs (ACORN).

Pg 72 Lines 8-14 Govt is creating an HC Exchange 2 bring priv HC plans
under Govt control.

PG 84 Sec 203 HC bill – Govt mandates ALL benefit pkgs 4 priv. HC plans
in the Exchange

PG 85 Line 7 HC Bill – Specs for of Benefit Levels for Plans = The Govt
will ration ur Healthcare!

PG 91 Lines 4-7 HC Bill – Govt mandates linguistic approp svcs. Example
– Translation 4 illegal aliens

Pg 95 HC Bill Lines 8-18 The Govt will use groups i.e., ACORN &
Americorps 2 sign up indiv. for Govt HC plan

PG 85 Line 7 HC Bill – Specs of Ben Levels 4 Plans. #AARP members – U
Health care WILL b rationed

-PG 102 Lines 12-18 HC Bill – Medicaid Eligible Indiv. will b
automat.enrolled in Medicaid. No choice

pg 124 lines 24-25 HC No company can sue GOVT on price fixing. No
“judicial review” against Govt Monop

pg 127 Lines 1-16 HC Bill – Doctors/ #AMA – The Govt will tell YOU what
u can make.

Pg 145 Line 15-17 An Employer MUST auto enroll employees into pub opt
plan. NO CHOICE

Pg 126 Lines 22-25 Employers MUST pay 4 HC 4 part time employees AND
their families.

Pg 149 Lines 16-24 ANY Emplyr w payroll 400k & above who does not prov.
pub opt. pays 8% tax on all payroll

pg 150 Lines 9-13 Biz w payroll btw 251k & 400k who doesnt prov. pub.
opt pays 2-6% tax on all payroll

Pg 167 Lines 18-23 ANY individual who doesnt have acceptable HC accrdng
2 Govt will be taxed 2.5% of inc

Pg 170 Lines 1-3 HC Bill Any NONRESIDENT Alien is exempt from indiv.
taxes. (Americans will pay)

Pg 195 HC Bill -officers & employees of HC Admin (GOVT) will have access
2 ALL Americans finan/pers recs

PG 203 Line 14-15 HC – “The tax imposed under this section shall not be
treated as tax” Yes, it says that

Pg 239 Line 14-24 HC Bill Govt will reduce physician svcs 4 Medicaid.
Seniors, low income, poor affected

Pg 241 Line 6-8 HC Bill – Doctors, doesnt matter what specialty u have,
you’ll all be paid the same

PG 253 Line 10-18 Govt sets value of Dr’s time, prof judg, etc.
Literally value of humans.

PG 265 Sec 1131Govt mandates & controls productivity for private HC
industries

PG 268 Sec 1141 Fed Govt regulates rental & purchase of power driven
wheelchairs

PG 272 SEC. 1145. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCER HOSPITALS – Cancer
patients – welcome to rationing!

Page 280 Sec 1151 The Govt will penalize hospitals 4 what Govt deems
preventable readmissions.

Pg 298 Lines 9-11 Drs, treat a patient during initial admiss that
results in a readmiss-Govt will penalize u.

Pg 317 L 13-20 OMG!! PROHIBITION on ownership/investment. Govt tells
Drs. what/how much they can own.

Pg 317-318 lines 21-25,1-3 PROHIBITION on expansion- Govt is mandating
hospitals cannot expand

pg 321 2-13 Hospitals have oppt to apply for exception BUT community
input required. Can u say ACORN?!!

Pg335 L 16-25 Pg 336-339 – Govt mandates estab. of outcome based
measures. HC the way they want. Rationing

Pg 341 Lines 3-9 Govt has authority 2 disqual Medicare Adv Plans, HMOs,
etc. Forcing peeps in2 Govt plan

Pg 354 Sec 1177 – Govt will RESTRICT enrollment of Special needs ppl!
WTF. My sis has down syndrome!!

Pg 379 Sec 1191 Govt creates more bureaucracy – Telehealth Advisory
Cmtte. Can u say HC by phone?

PG 425 Lines 4-12 Govt mandates Advance Care Planning Consult. Think
Senior Citizens end of life

Pg 425 Lines 17-19 Govt will instruct & consult regarding living wills,
durable powers of atty. Mandatory!

PG 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3 Govt provides apprvd list of end of
life resources, guiding u in death

PG 427 Lines 15-24 Govt mandates program 4 orders 4 end of life. The
Govt has a say in how ur life ends

Pg 429 Lines 1-9 An “adv. care planning consult” will b used frequently
as patients health deteriorates

PG 429 Lines 10-12 “adv. care consultation” may incl an ORDER 4 end of
life plans. AN ORDER from GOV

Pg 429 Lines 13-25 – The govt will specify which Doctors can write an
end of life order.

PG 430 Lines 11-15 The Govt will decide what level of treatment u will
have at end of life

Pg 469 – Community Based Home Medical Services=Non profit orgs. Hello,
ACORN Medical Svcs here!!?

Page 472 Lines 14-17 PAYMENT TO COMMUNITY-BASED ORG. 1 monthly payment 2
a community-based org. Like ACORN?

PG 489 Sec 1308 The Govt will cover Marriage & Family therapy. Which
means they will insert Govt in2 ur marriage

Pg 494-498 Govt will cover Mental Health Svcs including defining,
creating, rationing those svcs

Do you like what you see? Not that it really matters because I suspect we will get a good bit of this soon whether we want it or not. We'll probably get the rest of it soon after.

People wanted change and we're going to get it good and hard.

Minimum Wage Insanity

It makes no sense for a nation to raise the minimum wage while promoting unlimited illegal immigration.

The purpose of having lots of illegals in this country is to drive wages down. Why raise the minimum wage? Rounding up illegals and deporting them would raise wages by reducing competition for those jobs. It would also reduce the financial strain on hospitals, schools, and the police.

This must be some of that diversity I keep hearing about

Remember this nonsense?

Living in integrated communities means having neighbors from all walks of life, from different ethnic backgrounds and of various beliefs, providing the opportunity for deeper and more varied experiences that will prepare us and our children for the mix of people that makes up this great country and for the interactions of the global economy. We believe it is the right of us all to live in healthy, diverse communities and that we all deserve to benefit from the richer life they bring.

I think I'll pass on the "richer life" these 4 little creeps bring.

The animals were from Liberia. What a wonderful place. Why did we bring them here?

From the article:

Phoenix police Sgt. Andy Hill, a longtime public-information officer, described the case as "one of the worst crimes we have come across in Phoenix in quite some time,"

Probably the worst crime since the last bunch from Liberia moved into the area. You can see the true quality of these people in this next little bit:

Arizona Child Protective Services took custody of the girl after the July 16 incident at the apartment complex after her parents disowned her.

Hill said the parents blamed her for being victimized and bringing shame to the family.

I guess they are expecting extra handouts because they didn't stone her to death on the spot. I think this incident and the parental response are enough for me to say "No more immigrants from Liberia!" We have enough trouble without this kind of thing.

So I enjoy Burt Prelutsky, too

From this article:

If I were running things, most high school grads would enter trade schools. America will always need nurses, plumbers, carpenters, glaziers and mechanics. What nobody needs is some 21-year-old schnook who’s wasted four years and most of his inheritance majoring in black, Hispanic or lesbian studies.

I am tired of hearing young people whine "I earned my bachelor's degree in English Literature and now I can't find a job." I guess these days it might be "Black Moslem Homosexual Literature instead.

All I can say to those people is "What did you expect?" The only purpose for a bachelor's in English Lit is groundwork for people planning on doing more advanced study. Nothing against those degrees if you have an interest in the subject but don't expect it to get you a high paying job.

The article is worth the few minutes it will take you to read it.

Thomas Sowell on socialized medicine again

I'll just post the link.

Here is my favorite part:

That is not "bringing down the cost of health care." It is sticking somebody else with paying those costs.

When healthcare is a "right" it means that someone else has the obligation to pay for it.

The Eye of the Storm

This guy makes me look like an optimist.

A little gallows humor from the article:

Without going into great detail, let me try to outline in brief the series of events which will be swirling like the eye wall storms with 200 mph gusts and record low pressure. Duck if you see one of those buildings coming at you, it’s probably a foreclosed home being wiped off the books.

Just try not to end up like the Wicked Witch of the East.

If that article doesn't keep you up at night then just go back to watching American Idol.

Commercial Real Estate Bailout - OUCH

The United States just doesn't have enough debt. We need more.

From the article:

It “may be appropriate” for the government and Congress to consider “fiscal” steps to support the industry, Bernanke said today. Ideas for fresh support for the market could include government guarantees for commercial mortgages, Bernanke also said today, while noting no proposal on the subject has emerged.

In other words BOHICA.

Here is another part:

Bernanke, testifying before the Senate Banking Committee today, urged lenders to modify “problem” mortgages to avert defaults.

Urging lenders to voluntarily offer changes to the terms of a contract sounds ok, except when the urging comes from the fed and from the federal government.

Forcing entities to change contracts is one of the worst things the government can do as far as hurting the economy. If I don't feel I have solid ground to stand on in terms of a contract then I won't risk the money.

I'll put it another way. When I sign a contract with someone then both of us know the risks and both of us know our obligations. We can both weigh the risks and possible rewards and make a reasonable decision to sign or not sign. When an outside party (the government) can come in later and change the terms of the contract then neither party can reasonably weigh the risks and rewards because nobody knows what the government will do to the contract.

Usually the government will make changes that favor the group with the best lawyers and the most votes for those in power. Look at what happened at Government Motors.

Ultimately to survive as a nation we will either have to get the government completely out of business transactions except in cases where force or fraud are used to gain competitive advantage which will be painful in the short term but healthy in the long run or we will have to accept the government owning all banks and businesses which will be somewhat less painful now but will ruin us in the end.

Efficient Government

A guy on the radio this morning was talking about wanting the government to be more efficient. He used the phrase "like a business".

I don't want that.

I don't want the government to be efficient at doing things. I want the government to not do things.

I don't want the government to be more efficient when it's agents come to my house to tell me I have to replace the indoor and outdoor units on my heat and A/C system before I will be allowed to sell my house? I don't want the government to be more efficient when it takes my money and uses it to pay for some dumb chick's third abortion. I don't want the government to be more efficient at sticking a GPS on my car so they can track my movements and charge me more taxes. I don't want the government to be more efficient by sending airplanes over my property to photograph it so they can charge more in property tax.

"Efficient government" is a contradiction in terms. If it wasn't then government would be more dangerous than it is.

Ann Coulter hit's another one out of the park on socialized medicine

Just about every sentence in this article could be a quote of the day. I think my favorites are:

People who pay $200 for a haircut are indignant if it costs more than a $20 co-pay to see a doctor.
**********************
Now the Democrats want to force us all into one gigantic national health insurance plan that will cover every real and mythical ailment that has a powerful lobby. But if you have a rare medical condition without a lobbying arm, you'll be out of luck.
**********************
Even two decades after the collapse of liberals' beloved Soviet Union, they can't grasp that it's easier and cheaper to obtain any service provided by capitalism than any service provided under socialism.

"Stopping Power"

I saw a bit on The Survivalist Blog about "Stopping Power" and I just had to put my 2 cents in on that topic.

I don't believe Evan Marshall's book is very good. I don't believe that a .357 magnum HANDGUN is as effective as a .308 RIFLE. I think all the numbers are grossly inflated in that study. I won't even attack his definition of a "one shot stop". I'll go for some other targets.

First, these are civilian shootings as opposed to military shootings. When a soldier is hit the best thing he can do to keep from being hit again is to move faster. If he falls down where he is he will probably be shot again, unless the enemy lets him lie there in hopes that his buddies will come out to rescue him and create more targets. When a creep is shot by the police or a private citizen the best thing he can do to avoid being shot again is to fall down. That is a big difference in motivation. The creeps in the shootings in the Marshall book have a good reason to fall down even when they aren't wounded that badly, while men and women in military uniforms have a strong motivation to keep going and complete their mission or save their comrade or get behind cover.

If you are interested in fighting and shooting and people that didn't fall down despite severe wounds then go read some Medal of Honor Citations. Men with arms and legs blown completely off that continued to fight. Men hit in the head with .308 class rifles that continued to function. Men that fell on grenades and after the grenade exploded they got up and continued to give aid to a wounded comrade.

You think a head shot will stop someone every time? Check out Saburo Sakai. The Martin Caidin book "Zero!" gives more details of the fight and his flight home. In that account he describes putting his fingers all the way into his head and not being able to reach the slug. He flew his damaged plane over the ocean for hours, found his base, and landed with a .30-06 slug in his head. If you look around you'll find other accounts of men shot in the head and through the brain that didn't stop.

Another thing from my own experience. I know that deer aren't the same thing as men, but is a deer that runs 150lbs on the hoof that much tougher than a man? I've shot or personally witnessed the shooting of 30 or more deer. All but one were shot with rifles and most of those were .308, .30-06, .270 or something similar. Almost all were good chest shots. About 1/3 fell instantly dead. About 1/3 flinched at the shot or did nothing and then stood or walked for up to 10 seconds. About 1/3 ran and covered at least 50 yards with some of them going a little over 100 yards. One in particular I shot broadside through both lungs with a .30-06 150gr. JSP from a range of about 7 yards and he covered 100 yards or a little more. I lost a lot of faith in rifles that day.

I think we can all agree that a round that puts a wider and deeper hole in things will be more effective than one that makes a narrower or shallower hole. Quantifying that is much more difficult than making the general statement.

I think men and women are far tougher than that study would indicate if they have the right motivation or they are on drugs. The highly motivated and/or drugged up individuals don't make it into that study because they usually have to be shot a lot of times even with a rifle before they stop being dangerous.

I think putting faith in that study (or others like it) can get you in trouble. You read in there that XYZ round makes 95%+ "one shot stops" so you load that round in your carry gun and start thinking you are carrying the Hammer of Thor. The problem is that when reality insists and the bad guy doesn't fall down after your first shot you are left wondering "what happened?" while the fight goes on.

Far better to plan that whatever you do won't work and always have a plan for what to do next. You might be pleasantly surprised. If you aren't pleasantly surprised at least you won't be unpleasantly surprised.

Don't put too much faith in a rifle stopping a bad guy with one hit and don't put any faith in a handgun doing it.

So the President says that the police acted stupidly

Wow. This guy just knows everything, doesn't he.

Here is a quote from the President:

"I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry," Obama said. "Number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home. And number three -- what I think we know separate and apart from this incident -- is that there is a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately, and that's just a fact."

Here is the police report. From reading that it sounds like Mr. Gates has a serious chip on his shoulder, which is what I would expect from a black man that is a friend of Barack Hussein Obama. When you have friends like "Reverend" Wright it makes you look bad and people tend to remember that.

Seems to me if you just had to break into your own house and a police officer approaches and asks what you are doing you ought to try being civil towards him. After you've established that you are the owner you might even thank him for checking things out. You could offer him a soda or a glass of water or even invite him to come over for a beer after his shift is over. You might even find out which neighbor called the police and thank them, too.

I would do all of those things.

A big difference between me and Mr. Gates is that I don't have a big chip on my shoulder. He seems to be the kind of guy that looks for racism in everything that happens, and usually finds it. Some people think that every time someone is rude to them, or cuts them off in traffic, or gives them poor service in a restaurant that the other person is a racist.

There is a black woman in her 30s that works at the same company I do and she looks for racism everywhere. There was an older man that worked here (now retired) and that guy was just a jerk. He was an obnoxious old man and nobody liked him. When that black woman first crossed paths with him she said "I thought he was a racist, but I heard so many stories about him I guess he just doesn't like anyone." Well, she finally figured out the truth. It's a shame that people will reflexively assume racism just because someone is rude. I wonder if Mr. Gates will ever realize that truth.

To sum this up: You may be black and someone may really not like you, but that doesn't mean they hate black people in general or wish them ill. It doesn't mean that they hate you, either. They may just not like you and not want to be around you. Get over it.

Oh, and Mr. President, I don't think the police acted stupidly. I think your friend acted stupidly. I think he should be the one to apologize.

ETA that when the economy is crumbling and Iran and NK have or are about to have nuclear weapons that I think the President could spend his time in better ways than sticking up for his obnoxious and racist friend.

Quote of the day

Your probability of getting a hit is inversely proportional to the height of your head above the ground.

Clint Smith

Illegals to receive care under socialized medicine plan

You knew this was going to happen.

From the article:

Last week, the House Ways and Means Committee defeated an amendment that would have prevented illegal aliens from using the so-called "public health insurance option." Every Democrat on the panel voted against the measure.

As if this scam won't bankrupt the nation quickly enough. Why don't we just pay for "free" healthcare for all the Mexicans that still live south of the border, too?

A guy at the store wearing a U.S. Army Retired cap

He was parked next to our vehicle and was walking up to it as my better half was backing out of the parking space. I rolled the window down and said "Thanks for serving." He grinned and said that was ok.

I hope I made his day a little brighter.

Additional comment about Paris, TX

In reference to this, the thing that strikes me is how the Black Panthers and Nation of Islam want the same kind of "justice" that the KKK wants. They all want charges, convictions, and penalties in certain criminal cases to be based on the same two things: 1. the race of the victim and 2. the race of the alleged perpetrator.

Neither seems to care if the alleged perp is the actual perp.

Another great pick for this Administration: Surgeon General

He could have done even better if she smoked, too.

Of course when you think you are one of the elites then "do as I say, not as I do" comes naturally. An overweight surgeon general and a treasury secretary that is a tax cheat. This President knows how to pick them.

She probably doesn't have to worry about a "fat tax" on Twinkies and Moon Pies because your tax dollars will fill the vending machine outside her office. She probably won't have to suffer under the same socialized medicine plan that you will, either.

So the Obama administration "rescued the economy"!?

I wonder what it would be like if they'd trashed the economy?

From the article:

"He has a broad, broad agenda that he's in a rush to enact, and if he's not careful he will be viewed as a steamroller who tries to get things fast and not necessarily right."

Too late, although "not necessarily right" is an understatement.

Black and White Protestors almost get in Big trouble in a Small town in Texas

OK, so Paris isn't exactly a small town but it isn't the big city either, with just under 26,000 residents as of the 2000 census.

I kind of like Paris and I hate to see this kind of thing going on there.

I'm divided on the "designated protest zone" thing. On one hand I think people should be free to peacefully voice their opinions but OTOH I don't want a bunch of people screaming back and forth near my house and I certainly don't think people should be protesting at funerals, weddings, etc. If two groups started a screaming match in the road in front of my house I think I'd have to break out the old deer rifle, set up a target and start practicing. I would certainly have ear protection. If the protesters didn't, well, they could go somewhere else or have their hearing damaged.

Back to the story that started this post, here are a couple of links. Link 1 and Link 2.


Here is another. From that article:

The protest was led by members of the Houston chapters of the Nation of Islam and the New Black Panther Party, which the Southern Poverty Law Center considers black separatist and hate groups.

Things grew tense early on when a member of the Panthers walked into the protest zone set up for white supremacists and stood inches away from a skinhead. The skinhead screamed at the black man to go home as the two stood inches apart.

What I get from that is that there were separate areas set up for black and white protesters, no doubt to keep them far enough apart to try and avoid trouble.


Here is a good one:

"You're allowed to have gay pride, black pride, Korean pride," she said. "Everybody is allowed to have pride but Caucasians."

The "she" in that quote is the wife of the "Grand Titan" of the East Texas Ku Klux Klan. I didn't even realize that there was still such a beast in existence.

While I agree that everyone is allowed to have a racial pride celebration in this nation except white people I don't think that is the proper place or time to bring up the issue.

From reading several stories about this I think the protests are because the prosecutor isn't sure that there is evidence of a racial motive. From this article:

According to court papers, Finley and Charles Ryan Crostley, both 27, told police they left the dry town to get beer in Oklahoma, and on the way back, the three men, all apparently drunk, argued about who was sober enough to drive. McClelland, an unmarried maintenance worker, decided to walk home, taking some beer with him, the men told police.

But Finley's estranged wife and one of his friends said they had been told by the two defendants that Finley began to bump McClelland with the front of his truck until McClelland fell, and Finley drove over him, according to court papers. Crostley and Finley then allegedly drove to a car wash to clean off the blood.

Crostley and Finley are jailed on charges of murder and evidence-tampering. Finley's attorney did not immediately return a message. There was no answer at the phone listing for Crostley's lawyer.

I don't think race should be considered in terms of crime and punishment.

Some people who believe in "hate crimes" want this classified as a hate crime so they can push an agenda. Ok, fine. I disagree with them. They are members of separatist groups and hate groups. From the articles their point seems to be that criminals may not be charged under some existing law. That is a legitimate thing to protest even though I think "hate crime" laws are wrong.

Then another group that is a supremecist group comes out to disagree but instead of disagreeing on points of law, or whether "hate crime" legislation is a good thing or not, or whether it should be applied in this case these other people bring out the nazi symbolism.

I don't see any good guys in this case. I do think we will hear more about this in the debate over federal "hate crimes" legislation.

I'm just going to drop the whole thing at this point.

There is a moral in this story:

Don't hang out with people that get drunk and argue over who is sober enough to drive.

ETA: According to this article the protests are over the fact that murder charges were dropped against the two white guys. From that article:

Prosecutors initially charged two of McClelland's white friends with murdering him. But a special prosecutor dismissed the charges last month, citing a lack of evidence, after a truck driver came forward and said he might have accidentally run over McClelland.

That does put a little different light on the subject. I would like to hear if lesser charges are brought against these guys. Maybe they bumped the guy and knocked him down and the truck driver actually killed him. Is that enough reasonable doubt on a murder charge? Doesn't seem to me that there is any way to tell for sure if the two white guys killed him with their pickup or he was run over and killed by someone else.

They are certainly guilty of gross stupidity and even if someone else actually ran over him in the road I think you could make a case that they are responsible for his death. Maybe not murder but some level of homicide.

Went to a "pick your own" blueberry farm today

It was fun. We went for the berries but mostly we went to look at how they set up their bushes. The woman we spoke with told us they are 100% certified organic, which I don't really care about, but it was interesting that she admitted they had a problem with fire ants and that none of the supposed organic remedies for those critters actually took care of the problem.

We have a few changes to make in our blueberry setup.

Right now I'm eating an omelet made from eggs from our chickens and when I finish I've got a big bowl of fresh blueberries for dessert. Some time this week we are going to make a bunch of jelly.

A Richer LIfe

What is this nonsense?

From the website:

A Richer Life is a public awareness campaign developed by the National Fair Housing Alliance, dedicated to the creation and sustenance of diverse communities throughout the nation.

Living in integrated communities means having neighbors from all walks of life, from different ethnic backgrounds and of various beliefs, providing the opportunity for deeper and more varied experiences that will prepare us and our children for the mix of people that makes up this great country and for the interactions of the global economy. We believe it is the right of us all to live in healthy, diverse communities and that we all deserve to benefit from the richer life they bring.
State Farm is the major underwriter of the A Richer Life campaign and activities commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act.

A list of sponsors includes Fannie Mae, State Farm Bank, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, Ocwen Financial Corporation, PMI Mortgage Insurance Company, Freddie Mac, Saxon Mortgage Services, Inc., MetLife Auto & Home, Wachovia Corporation, and H&R Block.

In case you had any doubt about the slant of this group here is a list of upcoming events:

National Fair Housing Alliance 19th Annual Conference

" Fair Housing in the 21st Century: Realizing a More Perfect Union"

June 6-9, 2009, Washington, DC

National CAPACD 10th Annual Conference

June 3-5, 2009, Washington, DC

Poverty & Race Research Action Center (PRRAC) Annual Conference

June 9-10, 2009, Washington, DC

NAACP Centennial Convention

July 11-16, 2009, New York, NY

National Council of La Rasa (NCLR) Annual Conference

July 25-28, 2009, Chicago, IL

2009 National Urban League Conference

July 29 - August 1, 2009, Chicago, IL

This is the same kind of diversity that Judge Sotamayor supports.

Socialized Medicine Surcharge for fooling around without protection

With socialized medicine your lifestyle really is everyone else's business.

Like the surcharge for using tobacco this clown is proposing a surcharge for fooling around without protection.

How did I miss this jewel the first time around? I guess I just wasn't paying attention.

From the article:

The Congressman stated:

Someone who smokes, drinks, participates in bad conduct and behavior, unprotected sex, maybe bad things happen to them, maybe they should pay higher premiums. That is a radical thought, isn’t it?

Of course there will be some government agency that will decide what behavior is bad enough to warrant higher premiums. I suspect that attending Tea Parties, hunting, owning firearms, and reading this blog would rate higher premiums. Why do I think that Barney Frank's behavior wouldn't rate a higher premium?

Mexican law enforcement protecting us from terrorism?

Here it is on the FEMA website.

From the link:

NLE 09 is a White House directed, Congressionally- mandated exercise that includes the participation of all appropriate federal department and agency senior officials, their deputies, staff and key operational elements. In addition, broad regional participation of state, tribal, local, and private sector is anticipated. This year the United States welcomes the participation of Australia, Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom in NLE 09.

I could understand law enforcement observers from foreign nations, but participation? Seems to me that Mexican law enforcement has more than they can handle now with their own country.

Why would anyone from Australia or the UK be participating? Officials from Canada and Mexico could just drive across the border but the one's in Australia would have a little more trouble than that.

The NLE 09 scenario will begin in the aftermath of a notional terrorist event outside of the United States, and exercise play will center on preventing subsequent efforts by the terrorists to enter the United States and carry out additional attacks.

I'm not sure what they are planning but I'll bet dollars to donuts it's not closing the border.

This doesn't make me feel more secure.

Get out of war free

I saw this from Vox Day.

From his article:

Given the number of sea and barracks lawyers in the various branches of the U.S. military, it seems unlikely that it will take very long for servicemen who are disinclined to accept an unpalatable or dangerous order to figure out how to best make use of this useful little veto. If even a small number of soldiers elect to do so, the effect on military discipline could rapidly become catastrophic.

I had been thinking about that. Let me put on my tinfoil hat . . . there, that's better. Now let me make up an outrageous theory here:

What better way to undermine the military than to let this sort of thing go on? When discipline goes into the toilet and missions become impossible to accomplish then that will "prove" that we shouldn't have undertaken military solutions.

Ok, now I'll take off my tinfoil hat and say I don't believe this was a planned action. However, people and governments will take advantage of things that fall in their laps.

Heating up on the President's Eligibility

Now a retired general and a lieutenant colonel are joining the lawsuit brought by Army Major Cook.

Wow.

I have my doubts about his eligibility. I do not think this will go anywhere. I also do not think he will voluntarily step down under any conditions.

If Barack Hussein Obama was caught on film going Michael Jackson on a 7 year old boy he would never be impeached.

If he is forced out of office I think there will be blood in the streets. Tea Partyers, conservatives in general, and George W. Bush in particular will be blamed by the LWM.

This is an entertaining side show and something of a distraction from the impending economic train wreck but in the end we will still have the same man as President.

Socialized medicine to pay for abortions?

I was listening to the radio this morning and the talk was all about socialized medicine possibly paying for abortions. I figured that was a given.

This thing must be stopped.

Congress to dictate the fuel your car uses - Why not? They own the auto companies

The arrogance.

From the article:

According to a Des Moines Register report, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, wants Congress to use "climate change" legislation to mandate that auto manufacturers fit all new cars

to run on a blend of 85 percent ethanol.

"We own the automobile companies," Harkin said earlier this week. "Why not? I think that will be an easy one."

Government Motors in action. Next thing you know they'll decide that nobody should have more than one child so cars will only have three seats in them.

Tell me again how much ethanol comes from Iowa?

Come home safe

For all our men and women in uniform and especially the soldier held by the taliban.

I won't link to the "news" story I saw. I believe he has been abused and was forced to say things detrimental to the nation.

Come home soon.

Another chicken cage

We started another chicken cage today. We need to finish the door and hang it and finish the wire on the front and back. It is the same design we used before.

Each time we build one we are a little quicker and more efficient. That's a good thing because we need about three more. I've got to start hitting craigslist and freecycle to find something for free that we can use for shelter for the birds. We have doghouses for two of them and a square trash can about the same size as a 55 gallon drum for the third.

I've got to figure out a place for this one. Actually, I've got a good place with two cedar trees about 15 feet apart. With the cage between them there will be a tree to the east and one to the west so I'll just have to put a small sun shade over the very center of the cage. The problem with that spot is that I have a bunch of old junk like pieces of old horse-drawn equiptment and old planter boxes and plow parts piled in there that I'll have to move. I've seen enough wasps in that area that I know there is at least one nest hidden in there. These wasps are the big, aggressive ones that build nests inside of things. They aren't peaceful and forgiving of being disturbed like the kind of wasps that build nests under the eaves of your house. From what I've seen of these things they act a lot like hornets. I hate to get into that stuff in the summer but other than the wasps it is the ideal spot. Maybe I could hit the whole area with Seven Dust and see what happens.

Wish me luck on that.

Making Fire with a Magnifying Glass

I took the kids out today and showed them how to start a fire with a magnifying glass.

Here is the tool. This one was made by Bausch & Lomb. It is 2x with a small 4x area embedded in it. They make one that is smaller in diameter that is 2x with a 6x area embedded in it. I'm not sure if that would be better or not.

To start a fire you need a dry piece of wood and some kind of tinder. I used some bits of Johnson grass that I'd cut down a week or so ago. Use the magnifying glass to create a small, bright circle of light. With this particular glass it is difficult to get a circle because of the small embedded lense that is off center. We did the best we could.
The bright spot in the middle is so bright that it is difficult to look at. Be careful about getting your hand or the brim of your had in front of that spot because it will burn you.

I tried to get a picture of the smoke but the camera wasn't cooperating.

Flame!!

In this case we didn't have to blow on it or do anything dramatic. It just flamed up nicely.

I'm not an expert at this but I've found that sometimes you can take a small stick and burn one spot and get nothing but smoke. Then you can move the bright spot of light just a 1/4 inch to one side and you will instantly get flame. Maybe one part of the stick is drier than the other? I don't know.

If you don't quickly get a flame after you see smoke then you can blow on that spot and it will glow. From there you can use a little tinder and get the fire going.

At this point you put some of the smaller bits of grass and twigs into the flame and make sure the wind doesn't blow it out.

If you have bright sun on a clear day this is a very low effort way to start a fire.

Cucumbers FTW!!

I don't know what kind they are. They taste wonderful. We slice them up fresh for a great side dish with almost any meal.

ETA: I found out they are Armenian Yard Long Cucembers. Actually, it is not a cucumber but a type of melon. According to this site it is an heirloom variety. I didn't know because we bought them at Walmart.

I guess we'll see how they do next year.

More on the so-called healthcare reform bill

They plan on charging higher premiums if you use tobacco but not if you use drugs.

From the article:

The summary of the bill published by the committee specifically states that premiums may be varied to account for tobacco use, but any other use of a person’s record of insurance claims, health status or medical history will be forbidden.

I wouldn't be surprised if there aren't other little gifts like this hidden in that monster bill.

Here is the link to the summary.

An interesting bit from the summary:

Community Transformation Grants: This section authorizes the Secretary to award competitive grants to eligible entities for programs that promote individual and community health and prevent the incidence of chronic disease. Communities can carry out programs to prevent and reduce the incidence of chronic diseases associated with overweight and obesity, tobacco use, or mental illness; or other activities that are consistent with the goals of
promoting healthy communities. [§ 321]

That part in red covers a lot of territory. In fact it could cover just about anything. Maybe I could get a Community Transformation Grant of $1 million to convince people to quit cutting the mufflers off their vehicles because that makes them so loud that the drivers will go deaf and that is a community health issue.

Here is another part you might have heard about:

Immunizations: Authorizes states to purchase adult vaccines under CDC contracts. Currently, 23 states purchase vaccines under CDC contracts. These contracts for adult vaccines provide savings that range from 23-69 percent compared to the private sector cost. Authorizes a demonstration program to improve immunization coverage. Under this program, CDC will provide grants to states to improve immunization coverage of children, adolescents, and
adults through the use of evidence-based interventions. States may use funds to implement interventions that are recommended by the Community Preventive Services Task Force, such as reminders or recalls for patients or providers, or home visits. Reauthorizes the Immunization Program in Section 317 of the Public Health Service Act.
[§ 324]

Maybe states can use that money to fund "Health SWAT Teams" to come and kick in your door, hold down your children and vaccinate them whether you like it or not.

Remember the CDC studying firearms deaths as a health issue? Think about that when you read this:

National Prevention, Health Promotion and Public Health Council: Creates an interagency council dedicated to promoting healthy policies at the federal level. The Council shall consist of representatives of federal agencies that interact with federal health and safety policy, including the departments of HHS, Agriculture, Education, Labor, Transportation, and others. The Council will establish a national prevention and health promotion strategy and develop interagency working relationships to implement the strategy. The Council will report annually to Congress on the health promotion activities of the Council and progress in meeting goals of the national strategy. [S 301]
Prevention and Public Health Investment Fund: Establishes a Prevention and Public Health Investment Fund. The goal of the Investment Fund is to provide an expanded and sustained national investment in prevention and public health programs to improve health and help restrain the rate of growth in private and public sector health care costs. This will involve a dedicated, stable funding stream for prevention, wellness and public health activities authorized
by the Public Health Service Act. [S 302]

You say I'm just being paranoid about that, but are you sure?

This whole thing is just a big pile of "the government will do this" and "the government will fund that" and a lot more intrusion into our lives.

There is no system so bad that large dose of federal government won't make it worse.